Hugo: The Bewitched Rollercoaster

***Hugo: The Bewitched Rollercoaster*** or ***The Bewitched Rollercoaster*** is a 1999 video game developed and published by ITE Media in the "Play and Learn" series. It was titled ***Den Forheksede Rutschebane*** / ***Hugo: Leg Og Lær 3*** in Denmark, ***Taikavuoristorata*** in Finland, ***Die verhexte Achterbahn*** in Germany, ***Zaklęta Kolejka*** in Poland, and ***Кузька: Путешественник во времени*** (*Kuzya/Hugo: Time traveler*) in Russia.

The game was re-released in the 2007 *Best of Hugo* series, together with *Hugo Classic #3* (*Hugo 5*) in Denmark, and standalone as one of the ten games in the 2006 *Hugo Złota 10-tka* series in Poland.

## Plot

Hugo's three children, Rit, Rat and Rut, go on a walk a discover an amusement park which is strangely quiet. They go on an exploration tour and suddenly hear a noise. As they pursue these sounds, they find a history rollercoaster with wooden figures sitting in their carriages depicting various historical figures. Buzzy, the park handyman, explains to the children that nothing works because the hateful witch Scylla, who cannot stand for the others to laugh and have fun, has cast a lighting and put out the electrical supply. The kids of course offer their help immediately.

Rat and Buzzy now have to find different things to get the park going again. There are a total of eight puzzles to solve to fill the fair with happy people again. Soon, the children find out the rollercoaster is magical and they can use it to travel through time and space in search for the objects they need.

Eventually, they manage to restore electricity to the park, which is reopened for all the animals of the forest. And Scylla (who just crashed there after flying into a flock of bats) herself turns into the main source of amusement for them, as the most popular attraction in the whole park instantly becomes the high striker machine with her bound and put in place of the lever to hit the gong.

## Gameplay

The third title from the *Hugo* educational software series brings the subject of history in a playful way. Three difficulty levels provide many challenges for the children aged 6 and up.

* **The Industrial Age**:
* **Ancient Egypt**: Hugo's son Rat embarks on a journey into the past to ancient Egypt. Here he has to fight against grave robbers and quickly put back mummies in their sarcophagi before the sun rises. (Also in *Hugo Titan*.)
* **The Wild West**: Help to catch the bulls, in typical Western way, with the lasso.
* **The 60s**: In this game Rat is help land on the Moon, but he needs to be careful that the rocket does not descend too fast and also to pay attention to avoid space rocks. (Also in *Hugo Krypton*.)
* **The Middle Ages**: An old dragon captures a beautiful princess in a castle. To free her, Rat needs to answer five questions correctly.
* **The Roman Empire**: The toilet of Caesar is supposed to get drainage pipes. Put the pipes together so that the toilet is connected to the drain at the end, but hurry up, Caesar is in the bathroom right now. (Also in *Hugo Krypton*.)
* **The Stone Age**:
* **Ancient Greece**: Olympics are coming up, but the five rings have disappeared. Help to collect these quickly to light the fire.

## Credits

* Creative director: René Bidstrup
* 2D graphics & animation: Bill Bach, Pele Madsen, Nikolaj Holm, Jørgen Ørberg, Laust Palbo Nielsen
* 2D graphics: Jannie Guldborg Johansen
* 3D graphics & animation: Jan Krogh Larsen
* Programmed by: Mogens Hvidtfeldt, Martin Skovgaard, Michael Barklund, Peter Olsen
* Core programmers: Bo Krohn, Lasse S. Tassing, Thomas Christensen
* Music & sound effects: David Fliskov, Asbjørn Andersen, Joachim Michealis, Christian Steen Jensen, Klaus Mulvad Nielsen
* Cover design: Jørgen Ørberg
* Production coordinator: Pernille Falk Byriel
* Educational consultant: Lars Ostenfeld

## External links

* *Die verhexte Achterbahn* at Hugo-Troll.de (German)
* *Hugo: Rollercoaster* at Square Faction (Russian)