JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Haunted Island was released in December 2, 1996, but was retired from the line in 1999 and 2000 and replaced with JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Sapphire Falls, due to the game getting negative receptions from parents and teachers alike, complaining how the game was too intensely frightening for children. On November 24, 1997 and on August 26, 1998, a revised version of the game was published. Although little was changed in terms of gameplay, an in-game map was added, and the difficulty select was given an icon.
During the game, the player is given missions by Madame Pomreeda. These missions require the player to complete three games to find a student's favorite things. Once the player has completed four missions, the character will be returned to normal, and the player will move on to another student. The game keeps track of a player's successes and failures, and a poor performance in one minigame will lead to it appearing more often.
The player also must collect 25 keys in order to reach the attic, where the kids are being held. These are collected by earning 5000 points in one particular minigame.
The user has a limited amount of "health," which is indicated by a candle in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Health is depleted through answering Repsac's questions incorrectly and is indicated by the candle burning down. If the candle burns out, the user is cast into the island's labyrinth, which contains a "fountain of health" that will cause the candle to reburn and, eventually, grow back to its original size. However, finding one's way out of the labyrinth is difficult. A peaceful schoolhouse with white picket fences are shown in the beginning with pleasant music. Suddenly, lightning flashes, and the schoolhouse and the fences take on a twisted shape. Inside, the substitute teacher named Ms. Grunkle, who is really a witch, casts a spell on a frightened girl named Zev Cosmo. Although Zev's face is blacked out when the effects take place, we can see her turning into a monster. The same thing happens to Wolfgang, then Albert Brayne. Then a half-dozen of frightened students named Violet, Jane Plain, Penny Scilin, James, Tiffany, Stanley ZeBlucky, and Joe are all turned into monsters one-by-one. Ms. Grunkle flies on her broomstick to her house. Along the way, she drops the skeleton keys to her house and her magic wand by Madame Pomreeda's carriage. After that, the words "Haunted Island" appear on the screen. (The other three students not shown in the introduction are: Calvin, Laura, and Debbie.)
Source: Wikipedia, "[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JumpStart_Adventures_4th_Grade%3A_Haunted_Island JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Haunted Island]", available under the CC-BY-SA License.