Games published by Compton's NewMedia
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We provide a complete list of games published by this publisher.
Ocean Explorers
Released in 1995 for Windows, Ocean Explorers invited players to trade air between curiosity and danger as they plunged into a sunlit abyss. Developed by Neptune Interactive and published by Orbit Soft, the title combined adventurous storytelling with emergent simulation. Players controlled a compact submersible, charting uncharted trenches while dodging pressure, currents, and enigmatic wrecks. Its mission log framed each dive as a chapter in a wider mystery about a vanished marine civilization, inviting methodical exploration rather than arcade pacing.
Mechanically Ocean Explorers balanced risk and observation with a compact resource system. Air tanks, battery power for lights and sonar, and hull integrity demanded prudent planning between expeditions. Navigation relied on a stubby map, a directional compass, and a pulsing sonar blip that rose when forms stirred the dark. Puzzles emerged from clever use of currents, thermoclines, and the peculiar properties of underwater crafts. Encounters ranged from jellyfish to ancient ballast chambers awaiting users who thought twice carefully before moving.
On screen, Ocean Explorers wore a painterly sheen rather than glossy polish, a choice that suited the era's hardware and mood. Depth fog curled around rocky ledges, while caustic shafts of sunlight painted shifting mosaics on the seabed. Creatures moved with a measured grace, sometimes looping past the vessel like silhouettes in a dream. The soundscape blended muffled hull creaks, distant sonar chirps, and a low, windless score that earned listenable status even after long sessions. Its nights breathed softly.
Reviews framed Ocean Explorers as atmospheric rather than fast, praising its patient rhythm and tactile sub design. Critics lauded the sense of awe when unlocking a sunken temple or piloting a wreck with delicate precision. Some readers griped about clumsy inventory and opaque puzzles, yet the game built a modest cult following among fans hungry for a marine expedition with story hints rather than a quick thrill. The title earned respectful nods in several specialist magazines during lively hobbyist forums.
Ocean Explorers stands as a time capsule of mid 90s ambition, a game that dared to map an underwater world with reverent care rather than disposable shock value. It influenced later maritime adventures by emphasizing environmental storytelling, mission based exploration, and the thrill of discovering forgotten realms layer by layer. While few remasters emerged, dedicated fans revived saved games, documented hidden caverns, and kept the memory alive through fan art. For many players, the deep carried a personal atlas.
Soft Kill
Soft Kill is a classic Windows game that was released in 1993, bringing hours of entertainment to gamers all around the world. Developed by Interplay Productions, this first-person shooter game features fast-paced action and intense gameplay that kept players glued to their screens. With its unique storyline, impressive graphics and immersive gameplay, Soft Kill quickly gained popularity and became a fan-favorite among gamers.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is on the brink of extinction. Players take on the role of a survivor who has been chosen to embark on a dangerous mission to save humanity. Armed with advanced weapons and equipment, players must navigate through abandoned cities and battle against mutated creatures and hostile humans. The game's dark and gritty atmosphere is complemented by its haunting soundtrack, adding to the overall immersive experience.
One of the striking features of Soft Kill is its innovative gameplay. Unlike other first-person shooter games of its time, Soft Kill introduced a stealth mechanic where players could choose to either engage in combat or take a more strategic approach by sneaking past enemies. This added an extra layer of depth to the gameplay, making it more challenging and exciting. Additionally, the game also featured a wide range of weapons, including futuristic ones like laser guns, which gave players a sense of empowerment.
The game's graphics were also top-notch for its time, with realistic textures and detailed environments. The graphics, combined with the game's smooth controls, made for a visually appealing and seamless gaming experience. Moreover, Soft Kill's multiplayer mode allowed players to join forces and complete missions together, adding a social aspect to the game and increasing its replayability value.
Soft Kill's success can also be attributed to its captivating storyline. As players progress through the game, they uncover the dark secrets of the post-apocalyptic world and the true motives of their enemies. The game keeps players on the edge of their seats with unexpected plot twists and intense boss battles, making for an exhilarating gameplay experience.
The Berenstain Bears: Fun With Colors
The Berenstain Bears: Fun With Colors for DOS brings the familiar woodland world of the Berenstain Bears to the screen as a set of kid-friendly color activities. After selecting a scene from the main area, players guide the Bear family through bright illustrations populated with furniture, trees, animals, and everyday objects. The emphasis stays on learning colors through direct play, with tasks presented in short, readable steps that keep attention on choosing the right color and applying it to the correct area.
Gameplay centers on simple coloring and matching mechanics. Using the mouse and on-screen tools, the player selects a crayon, paint, or color swatch and then applies it to designated regions within the picture. Many areas respond only when a valid color choice is made, encouraging trial and correction without harsh penalties. As colors are placed, completed sections build the final image, and the program prompts the next area or activity, keeping the session moving from one illustrated challenge to the next.
The game’s mechanics also support learning through prompts and feedback. When a player selects an incorrect color or misses a target region, the game provides immediate guidance, highlighting the task goal and offering another chance. Successful actions typically result in clear visual confirmation—new color filling smoothly into the artwork—and are often accompanied by encouraging responses. For younger players, the interface uses large controls and straightforward commands so that even short sessions remain understandable.
Visually, the program uses colorful, cartoon-style artwork suitable for VGA-era DOS displays. Characters and backgrounds are rendered in bold outlines with flat fills, making color changes highly visible and easy to recognize. The on-screen palette presents distinct, saturated swatches, and transitions between scenes are designed to remain clear rather than flashy, supporting steady learning as the pictures evolve.
Audio in Fun With Colors uses cheerful, kid-appropriate sound effects and brief musical cues delivered through the PC sound hardware available at the time. Color selections may trigger short “success” tones, while scene changes often introduce a light theme that reinforces progress. The overall player experience is relaxed and rewarding, with a strong focus on creative interaction—players repeatedly color, match, and finish pictures while receiving constant, gentle feedback from the program.
The Berenstain Bears: Learning Essentials
Launched by Compton's Newmedia in 1992, Berenstain Bears Learning Essentials is an edutainment program aimed at preschool children, starring characters from the famous children's books of the same name.
The program is a compilation of three separate programs that teach puzzles, colors, and music. The game doesn't so much teach as it lets children play with the concepts. Berenstain Bears Colors, for example, is basically an interactive coloring book similar to Compton's earlier Wild Learning Safari, only with the famous bears as the main characters. Likewise, Berenstain Bears Puzzle is a collection of puzzles based on scenes from the book. The only obvious educational value I see in the game is Berenstain Bears Music, which allows children to compose their own music and thus teaches musical notes (albeit indirectly).
In general, however, it could be argued that preschoolers learn better by playing than by actually learning, so this program can be considered ideal ;) It's not as varied as Broderbund's classic preschool package, The Playroom, but it's worth a look, especially for young fans of the cute bears.
Wild Learning Safari
Despite the title, Wild Learning Safari does not allow children to 'learn' anything about wildlife, but is simply an interactive coloring book, albeit an attractive one with many options. Children can choose from a variety of animal scenes, and then color the picture with the colors provided. The animals can be animated, and the entire drawing can be automatically colored by the computer (using reasonable colors such as green for trees, blue for the sky, etc. ) if your little artist is too lazy or impatient ;) There are dozens of backgrounds available, as well as individual plants and animals that children can add as 'stickers' to the scene. For a finishing touch, word balloons can be added to the screen. The scene can be saved for later or printed on paper.
Overall, it is no more than a coloring book, but a nice one that offers a good variety of scenes and excellent VGA graphics.
Zoo Explorers
In 1995 the Windows line welcomed Zoo Explorers, a curious blend of educational aims and arcade vigor. From a modest studio whose name drifted through bulletin boards, the title invited players into a menagerie, guiding junior naturalists across savannahs, wetlands, and cages that buzzed with life. Its promise was simple yet bold: learn ecology by doing, not by lectures, while solving quick puzzles that tested memory, observation, and nerve. It felt like a field trip staged on a monitor, with vibrant colors and an inviting interface.
Players move a small explorer avatar with keyboard or a simple joystick, selecting tools, mapping routes, and recording animal sightings in a trusty log. Each level becomes a scavenger hunt across exhibits and habitats, with tasks that require matching footprints, decoding clues, and steering nets around curious chimps or shy parrots. Puzzles rise gradually, never punishing with harsh spikes. The design favors experimentation, with generous checkpoints and a forgiving rubric that rewards curiosity over speed, making it accessible to younger players. Its charm lies in patient experimentation for curious minds.
The graphics sit on the cusp of early 3D and sprite work, creating a cheerful tapestry of savannahs, bays, and ochre cages. Animations convey personality: a giraffe tilts its head, a monkey tinkers with a vine switch, clouds drift with patient motion. The soundscape blends light percussion with nature sounds that dip in and out to mark transitions. Color palettes are saturated to preserve readability on low resolution monitors, a choice that ages with dignity. These visuals invite lingering curiosity long after the cursor rests.
Critics praised Zoo Explorers for its unusual fusion of play and learning, noting its gentle pacing that encourages observation rather than repetition. Parents admired the safe content, teachers saw classroom potential, and kids enjoyed collecting specimens, unlocking mini games, and comparing field notes. Its influence lingered in later educational titles that emphasize environmental awareness and regional fauna. While it did not spark a major franchise, it left a fingerprint on mid decade edutainment, proving purpose and play can share a screen.
The game is remembered by collectors and retro enthusiasts who celebrate it as a snapshot of mid 90s optimism about technology aiding curiosity. In archives or vintage bundles you will notice how the pacing invites quiet attention and careful observation. Replaying it reveals subtle design jokes and tiny touches that remind us how fun learning can be when adventure pushes you forward rather than shouting instructions. Zoo Explorers remains a gentle pioneer in the lineage of exploratory education.
