Read-A-Rama: The Forgotten Maxis Game (thankfully.)

I'm not sure what part Maxis actually played in making this edutainment game happen, but Read-A-Rama is a bizarre sight to behold. Also looking at its twisted Selena Studios sibling, Spell-A-Rama from 1995!
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● Download the game disc archives here:
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● Music used in order of appearance:
Parkside Lane 1, Last Ride Home 2
www.epidemicsou...

[@LGR]

On further investigation... Maxis absolutely advertised this crap for a short time. DISAPPOINTED. twitter.com/lazygamereviews/status/858115746701955074

[@FerintoshFarmsPhotography]

Well, okay then...

[@megahedgehog2039]

better get started on the other missing maxis games

[@TheHordeQ]

I feel conflicted about giving this a thumbs up.

[@fastbreak333]

This is probably why Maxis got swallowed by EA... to atone for their sins.

[@VermillionR3D]

Knowing his fanbase, I'm sure someone will be so cruel as to send him these.

[@KarlBaron]

Whoever was responsible for that empty shrink-wrapped box was clearly trying to do the purchaser a favor...

[@1Soniccool]

Karl Baron Yeah the seller is like don't play this shit it is not worth your time go and play Sim City or The Sims instead of this game

[@bloodyl_uk]

Life would have been very wrong if it was any other way.

[@TheOpponent]

It's like what Yahtzee said about Ride To Hell: Retribution except for real.

[@claudiolluberes111]

Why this comment says it was made a week ago? This video was released today...

[@minirwin]

Patreon folks get here early

[@zooeey]

6:41 thats not how i remember 9/11...

[@vinesauceobscurities]

Flies did 9/11.

[@idnyftw]

well it's a time when you can put out an "Arab-themed" piece of content and not have it associated with terrorism...

[@FinestCitizen]

Woowww, LMAO! Even before 9/11, you still had the bombing of the WTC in 1993. This came out in 1995. Poor choices made by the software creators.

[@idnyftw]

it was still way before the 9/11 shift, back then "ex-Soviets" were still the big deal

[@IsmailofeRegime]

I don't think it was a poor choice to highlight the WTC, one of the iconic sights of New York City, in 1995. It had been attacked two years earlier, but only the underground parking area was seriously damaged. Plenty of shows and movies continued to display the WTC right up to 9/11.

[@GentleHeretic]

6:45 Crashing. In front of the Twin Towers. As if this wasn't uncomfortable enough, random chance had to intervene.

[@swallowedinthesea11]

Final Destination!

[@straightpipediesel]

Not really random. The Twin Towers were the most prominent part of the NY skyline. There were a number of fiction books and movies which had planes crashing into the Twin Towers, including "The Lone Gunman" a TV series that aired 6 months before 9/11.

[@SpeedySPCFan]

This game feels like it shouldn't exist. It seems like one of those fake games, like Kekcroc or one of those many creepypasta things. I have a really hard time believing that I'm not just sleeping and dreaming this entire video :|

[@CptCPT-dl9lh]

definitely a fever dream that just...manifested. I don't think anyone made the game.

[@JanoyCresvaZero]

Like Petscop. Odd, it’s almost like inspiration for Petscop.

[@LGR]

*For the morbidly curious,* I've uploaded the full intro logo "animation" for your pleasure. It is absurd. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWWXppiBqrKbp9U

[@adamthompson6669]

Lazy Game Reviews another awesome video mate hope you are well

[@shiron222]

...Nah you're the Nostalgia Critic of Retro PC games/hardware...You remember it so we don't have to...

[@TKMachine007]

More s***t games please. I dont know why but these "family friendly" channels are so fun when they swear.

[@korvasterindar9672]

Lazy Game Reviews Maxis must have got a HUGE ammount of hard street drugs to have agreed to publish this

[@querpmuerp]

I hope that one day Clint does a review on Klik & Play. It's pure LGR material.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

Pretty sure these games violate the Geneva Convention.

[@jonnyblade3234]

Well I certainly wasn't expecting to see you here

[@marius35mm]

It's pure torture

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

@@jonnyblade3234 ;)

[@camotech1314]

Why 😭😭😭

[@spongbros]

You did a great job of building the mystery and the creepiness. And thanks for uploading them; it's really interesting to browse the Internet Archive's software collection for oddities.

[@LGR]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed and have fun with the discs.

[@joonaasd1856]

Patreon rewards

[@knubbin1827]

Patreon patrons receive early access to video uploads. ;)

[@bushwickbillOG]

how is this comment a week old already?

[@joonaasd1856]

Dude.. Patreon. You just replied on a comment that already has an answer on it..

[@sandakureva]

I've got a hypothesis about both of these games since I vaguely remember playing them as a kid either at school or at a library. Essentially, for a while back in the late 80s and 90s, state governments were handing out grants like candy to any company offering educational software to kids, and it resulted in a lot of lemons that everyone forgot, probably still sitting on 5-1/4" floppies in a file cabinet somewhere. Others resulted in companies like Davidson and Associates (of Blaster fame), The Learning Company, and Knowledge Adventure taking off. Also the voice of one of these flies is familiar. I think the lady went on to do more stuff.

[@YamiSatoshi]

Actually, she did. As far as I know, she's still active to this day -- in much, much better roles.

[@vwestlife]

No fresh oats?

[@SwitchAndLever]

My favourite part was how the flies have seven legs!

[@lando8913]

7th one wasn't a leg. It's a boy fly...

[@spiderjerusalem100]

This game is literally hard to look at.

[@Dragonfire511]

You know that a game is crap for real when Clint curses it by swearing.

[@BBHood217]

When LGR uses the s-word, you know that s-word's getting real.

[@ideitbawxproductions1880]

I think this is the first time I've heard him swear in a video that a) wasn't made like 12 years ago, or b) wasn't a collab on someone else's video (like Larry Bundy Jr's pissed off programmer rants - "We made Amiga. They fucked it up")

[@RdVortex]

Maybe the tired characters in the games are representing the state of the development team after making these? Completely tired of life.

[@LARKXHIN]

"Talk about vaporware." I legitimately laughed out loud. Honestly the bit at 3:30 is a pretty kickin' tune.

[@paulnash9851]

So it was two mutant flies who crashed into the WTC ? Conspiracy solved !!!...

[@paulnash9851]

(Apologies for bad taste)

[@gyrfalcon16]

paul nash just what I was thinking!

[@GanjsmostPrime]

Fuck wrong universe. When I find rick I'm gonna kick his ass

[@emerald.n7852]

what a difference moddern context makes

[@mariopikaman1]

Mutant flies can't melt steel beams.

[@LazerLord10]

I can count every frame in that opening animation.

[@Gojiro7]

so how many frames were there?

[@spammyv]

You know talking about the forgotten Maxis game never advertised, never promoted, with your first lead being a shrink-wrapped empty box really made me feel like this was going to be the start of a creepypasta.

[@weirdotzero7065]

Did I just see two flying.....things crashing into the World Trade Towers? Oh dear.

[@win132001]

So IT wasn't because they were actually bad games... never forget, 9/11.

[@HaydenX]

Never forgetti...

[@dhoffnun]

It's almost like this was made by aliens doing a poor job of convincing people they are human...

[@desired397]

I think this is the first time I've heard LGR just straight up call something a piece of sh*t

[@EposVox]

My god, potentially the worst game you've covered.

[@suborbitalprocess]

On the (very marginal) other hand, the main tune was kinda catchy...

[@Bread-TM]

The only thing they kinda got right

[@darkroom0716]

You and Ross Scott are like Software/Game Archaeologists, digging up ancient (by digital standard) and forgotten items and putting it on exhibit. Just another reason why you guys are probably my favorite Gaming/Computer channels on KZbin.

[@BrenTenkage]

check out Mandaloregaming he does the same thing as Ross's game dungeon

[@DamnableReverend]

For some reason, the game ultimately freezing (?) in a flurry of digital farty noises is one of the funniest things about this.

[@GeminiTasiri]

5:00 Rainbow Girl looks like somebody's first Deviantart OC

[@kris_0520]

You are partially right.

[@PCGamer77]

Rainbow Brite + Jem = the "hot" cartoon chick *nobody* wanted.

[@TylerTheDestroyer97]

...Is that boy fly in Spell-A-Rama voiced by the same chick who voiced the main character in Bubsy 3D?

[@TheRealLumpySpirit]

iHodor WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?!

[@Hawkfire360]

I'd know that voice anywhere. SO, YOU WANNA BE A VIDEO GAME STAR?

[@n00dl3gal]

Lani has some great roles to her name, Bubsy... is not one of them

[@Toonrick12]

6:44 Well ain't THAT a picture!

[@DrForrester2001]

What an unfortunate coincidence...

[@Offsettttt]

Oh dang that is creepy..

[@MangH0]

:THINKING:

[@Dewotto]

the flies did 9/11

[@ezequielhermoso5954]

Maxis was behind 911 nothing like a picture of the twin towers with what looks like a missile in front of it

[@snorp09]

At 5:58, that "Stop" Button blends in so much with the puzzle pieces, I would have clicked that so many times!

[@SmeddyTooBestChannel]

This is like one of those things you bury deep in the back of the mind from your childhood and like, have nightmares and flashbacks about it at random

[@darkmage07070777]

I'm willing to bet that the box actually *was* in the original shrink wrap. You're likely supposed to send that registration card to the developer and they would send back the "game". This was probably an attempt to avoid wasting money from burning excess copies of the "game", since they can just make an individual copy for each registration card they get, a sign that they very well knew what they were making and how likely it was to actually sell. The pretense for this was, of course, to combat piracy (though in this case, my reaction after playing would've been to make the discs walk the plank). And since it's an edutainment "game" designed for really little kids, they're probably also hoping that clueless parents would pick it up for, say, Christmas or birthdays or whatever, and would then be pressured into sending the card off instead of getting a refund when their disappointed toddler bursts into tears over their new "game" being taken away by Mommy. Of course, they had to actually have a "game" of some kind or they'd be thrown in jail, so they slapped together whatever they could using the cheapest methods humanly possible and called it a day. Never before have I seen a "game" this old scream "sham" so loudly.

[@LGR]

Neither the registration card or the box make a single mention of anything like this so I doubt it's the case here. At the same time, that still wouldn't surprise me from Selena Studios, haha.

[@chromasus9983]

The off-putting weird 3D graphics in Read-A-Rama made me think of Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou. ..Now I kinda want to see LGR review *that!*

[@camwoodstock]

The difference between this and Eastern Mind is that Eastern Mind is actually a good and well-crafted game, if a very surreal one that can be off-putting to some. This game is just awful on various accords.

[@camwoodstock]

Really? Once you get used to the setting, I'd say there's only one "confusing" puzzle in the game, with the rest being rather straightforward if you know what you're doing. It's also rather short; I've spent about 2 hours on one playthrough, and speedruns go as low as 13-minutes. It's obviously not for everyone, heavens no. But to call it "bad" and put it on par with *this* is to basically completely be ignorant of what Eastern Mind is even like.

[@kallemick]

"Great thank you so much would you like to play agai..." "NO!!!" God that made me laugh

[@bullseyestrat]

Can't believe that piece of crap came out in 1995. It would have looked dated in 1990 lol

[@ChrisPoindexter98]

Delisted games are a treasure enough, but when they're *this* strange it's a treat, holy fuck this is weird

[@seb24789]

This is the kind of animation Dingo Pictures makes fun of.

[@schalkespringer]

H-how is this real? My god that art. That voice acting. This is unbelievable. I'm weeping and laughing.

[@MoonBeamLaser]

Take a nap then FIRE ZE MISSILES!

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

AAAAH MOTHERLAND

[@Murrlin27]

F***in' kangaroos

[@TheHordeQ]

WHAT YOU!?

[@whoijacket]

But I am le tired.

[@moosemaimer]

WTF?^^ mate

[@AmayirotAkago]

Jazz Jackrabbit's Poker Broker? Wat.

[@LGR]

Haha, yep! I also have Commander Keen's Trek from the same developers. They really liked ripping off shareware game titles.

[@1Soniccool]

Amayirot Akago Jazz Jackrabbit playing poker?! Someone needs to play that game and hear the music that is so horrible that you want to play the real Jazz Jackrabbit by Epic Games

[@LeonardGr]

I want see JJ's Poker Broker and Commander Keen's Trek gameplay.

[@eduardoabarca6021]

I read Bread-A-Rama. I'm so disappointed

[@camwoodstock]

I have done nothing but teleport Bread-A-Rama for three days.

[@camwoodstock]

Whoa! Didn't expect you either, Solar.

[@bunnyboyking5215]

Eduardo Abarca That sounds the name of a bootleg BreadWinners game.

[@StephenStaver]

Oh wow, you even shared the disk archives? You are LEGEND

[@minefilms1122]

at least the opening animation's music is cool

[@ScampiTheSighted]

I think that genie was so delightfully unpleasant, almost to a superhuman level. Something we should all no doubt aspire to be.

[@streled5361]

I'm going to guess that Selena Studios's logo took over half the CD-ROM space by itself

[@gymnasiast90]

It's 11.6 MB. What's interesting, though, is that it's a video file. Nope, the 3 FPS intro is not rendered by your computer (which would normally explain sluggishness), it's a video that has this abysmal framerate baked in. To top it off, the audio even skips right at the start.

[@rommix0]

@@gymnasiast90 Now that's a level of incompetence that has to be seen to be believed.

[@alexthewongbat]

Dude, I love all your reviews good or bad - no matter what it is, your epic voice and snarky sense of humor makes these a joy to watch!

[@xan1242]

7:33 Damn man, this is AVGN level of articulation.

[@steveasat2]

If you want a real challenge, try to locate any evidence that "Virtual Valerie 1" ever existed. The sequel surely did, but although VV1 got a cameo on HBO's RealSex in a segment about adult videogames, it's hard to be sure Mike Saenz came up with anything except the earworm theme music. I love that Selena makes Reactor sound like the LESS sketchy alternative between two game companies.

[@Viehzerrer]

That reminds me a lot of Dingo Pictures' mockbuster movies, that, after just seeing one or two clips, made me hate the fact that I'm German and actually understand them (not that I know if the English dubs are any better, I'm too scared to look them up. Or look at anything Dingo Pictures-related ever again.) Seeing something like that as a game is... not pleasant. I honor your sacrifice.

[@uubrmanx]

Myro Kratios Don't worry, the English dubs are even worse than you could imagine. :D

[@yo-kaishopper5049]

Did you buy the game's box on purpose, or did you seriously get sent an empty box?

[@LGR]

I bought it on purpose, but there was no way to tell it was empty until I opened it!

[@yo-kaishopper5049]

That's kind of shady on the company's part ...

[@Toonrick12]

Oh hey! Never thought to see YOU here!

[@S0LISTARA]

I think it was a favor on their part. To keep you from viewing that abomination. But they're like "hey, at least have a memory of this stuff!"

[@HopeOrDoom]

Looks like great source material for some KZbin poops.

[@Tricob1974]

Bless you for playing through this, LGR. This was an excellent upload. B-)

[@synthraofficial5366]

Another wonderful video! On a side note, I didn't know you were a curator on steam. You were on their main page yesterday while I was game shopping, and I was like "Hey, news I actually care about!"

[@LGR]

Oh, cool!

[@synthraofficial5366]

Yea It was pretty awesome. I actually managed to get a screenshot. It's still up their today. Pretty cool!twitter.com/ZhiteraWiggins/status/857979726404755458

[@dykodesigns]

Wow, that looks like a real low budget game. No wonder it's obscure. That Maxis logo seems fishy though, I'll bet it's bogus. I doubt this game would not have past their quality control. It's amost as if the developers of the game "borrowed" the maxis logo to make them look like a credible developer.

[@Thomas__Blue]

Did those two flys who fly just crash in front of the Twin Tower? I think we all know who the real menace was on 9/11 now.

[@pikadroo]

Spell-A-Rama did 9/11?

[@sameash3153]

You bet

Oh, I had forgotten about Ninja Nannys... This one is right up there with it in the crappy "educational" games list.

[@inailboards]

Fresh Oats.... Fresh Oats....

[@KatKawa87]

Ahh, breakfast, an Ale-8, and a new LGR vid; today's starting out great.

[@coreblaster6809]

This game predicted 9/11...?

[@sameash3153]

It caused it

[@ZorotheGallade]

So...giant slobby house flies did 9/11? At least that's a new one.

[@Lim95]

You must admit the soundtrack is boppin’

[@JcGross93]

Hey, Clint, or anyone here that may be able to help. A long time ago I played a point and click adventure game that I have been trying to find for, years. I only have vague memories. I remember that you were playing a psychologist or psychiatrist. You had a pendulum that you were hypnotizing people with. The story revolved around these kids that have seen something traumatic, and there was a big mystery, and a millitary base, some kind of rocket. That is pretty much all I remember, my last hope is that someone from this community knows this game. It is the first adventure game that really excited me to the point that I wanted to finish it. Please, if anyone has an idea of what this game might be called tell me!

[@Todd_Coward]

any idea what year it came out?

[@CowboyPete]

"Overclocked: A history of violence" Seems to fit the bill Check this out: www.unigamesity.com/overclocked-a-history-of-violence-pc-review/

[@JcGross93]

Yes! I think that's it! Overclocked, now that I saw the name I remember it. :D Thank you very much, sir!

[@CowboyPete]

Hey, no problem, I know how it feels to remember a game you played and not being able find it.

[@YoshiNoir]

6:43 If they had known what was coming 5 years later after having released this.

[@TophatwithTeeth]

0:46 "It's Not About Sex" ...ok good to know, I guess?

[@maxmetalknight]

Even funnier, considering that this is Lani Minella's resume :D

[@lonivanbuni6793]

Holy crap, that 9/11 imagery

[@Zach_2026]

The bugs literally smashed into each other in front of the twin towers. o_o

[@naranciaisbestboi125]

Selena Studios did 9/11.

[@oDTRT]

404 The Errorbot That's why they hid all their names from the public

[@LazerLord10]

This is hilariously bad. EDIT: The games, not the video.

[@smokermegadrive]

Dat face of the genie... it just magical

[@staticfanatic]

man, maybe if I ask really nicely in the comments he'll upload it to the internet arcOH MY GOD HE DID IT THE ABSOLUTE MADMAN

[@itaybron]

this game is so strange and rare you'd think ross scott would be reviewing it with clint

[@chuploops9973]

I guess you could say that intro cinematic really did "Chugalong"

[@cleoh666]

"But I am le tired" "alright well have a nap..and then FIRE ZE MISSILES"

[@SchaufelPKT]

You have to review Jazz Jackrabbit Poker Broker! :-)

[@PCGamer77]

I'd say the key word in "Distributed by Maxis" is distributed. Looking through the box art scans of all "Maxis" games at Mobygames, I can only find one game with that "Distributed by Maxis" logo: Wrath of the Gods. So Maxis most likely just helped Selena get this into stores, with no involvement in the game's development or production.

[@Dewotto]

I could of sworn I've seen read a Rama in a maxis catalog before

[@LGR]

If you can find out which one, lemme know! Haven't seen it in mine.

[@Dewotto]

I'm currently away from home until Sunday but when I get back I'll look through my catalogs and send you a tweet.

[@majro7298]

You know a game is going to be good when the first character you see is a green fly that sounds like Bubsy in Bubsy 3D.

[@CrimsonSanX]

Time for someone to interview someone at Maxis to figure out how this got the Maxis logo on it.

[@1Soniccool]

ItinerantSoldier Well some of the people who work for Maxis are retired or working on other things

[@actuallyvulk]

"Stores Read-a-rama in his shelf untouched" "No disc" lol

[@WrathOfNolla]

Flashbacks to the Tunak Tunak video........

[@ebbiesoup1862]

CGI was horrible in that music video lol

[@randomango2789]

Watching ur vids after a science test feels refreshing

[@romajimamulo]

Hey, the catalog I got with my copy of SimTunes did have these in the listing. The spring 1996 catalog, page 18 These people also made: Kinderama and Math Wizard Plus I can give pictures if you want

[@iandavidwolfe]

LOL! Great vid Clint! BTW everyone should go check out Clint's other channel "LGR Foods." It's super entertaining if you like food and Clint being hilarious!

[@nerd0Chija]

Oh nice, I didn't know that LGR also have some food channel.

[@fuzzydunlop1753]

It's no Ninja Nanny, but still an all time top 5 game, objectively.

[@An_Actual_Ditto]

I made the mistake of eating breakfast while watching this video

[@smithjohn4491]

6:34 It was at this moment I realized that the fly was really Bubsy the cat.....

[@DeloreandudeTommy]

I like how 6:07 sounds like lawyer-unfriendly knock-off of Jabdah by Kato.

[@devonwilliams5738]

We now need a video on Jazz Jackrabbit's Poker Broker.

[@devilfox5310]

can you review the secret of monkey island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

[@SomeBorkedAccount]

Read-o-rama drinking game: take a drink every time you say "what the fuck!"

[@spitfire184]

6:44 Too soon, but backwards in time.

[@colly407]

That male fly.. It's a WILD guess... but he REALLY sounds like... Bu- b- B- AAH!! It's.. it's too painful to say... Bubsy Bobcat

[@srcheddar]

That wheeze after opening the empty box was sublime.

[@LGR]

Glad it was appreciated ;)

[@corbindavenport]

This is hillariously awful - thanks for the entertainment! And thanks for letting me know about Archive.org's game collection, I have a few 90s and early-2000s kids games I can upload.

[@SyddyAnne]

This is so awful why would someone create this?

[@DOSRetroGamer]

Lol, shrinkwrapped empty box

[@jabrockobiden9434]

Best maxis game ever

[@Xegethra]

So those insects have 5 legs and two arms, great artist.

[@jafizzle95]

HELP HOW DO I INSTALL FRAPS ON MY APPLE IIC I WANT A MAKE VIDEOS ON U TUBE

[@simonrichard9873]

get out

[@zdibs]

Damn, I sadly recognize this game. My local library used to have it. Though they also had some better game compilation thingie with a Dig Dug clone on it... so that's what I spent all my time with. :P

[@SonyaSaturn64]

6:43 Insert 9/11 joke here.

[@RoronoaZoro-di1rn]

this game is a gem