Explores the Human Body (internally MSBHuman and abbreviated to ETHB) is The Magic School Bus PC games. It is the second installment in the Explores series, and it released in 1994 for Microsoft Windows and macOS operating systems alongside its predecessor.
Summary[]
Ms. Frizzle takes her class on their greatest field trip yet, exploring inside the human body. After the class finishes having lunch at the picnic table, they leave Arnold behind for their field trip. Afterward, they shrink down and enter his body through his mouth. As soon as they're inside, it's the player's job to explore all 12 locations of his body. Once they do so, they can exit through his mouth, nose, or skin.
The player views what Arnold is doing while inside his body.
Once inside, the player can freely explore Arnold's body. Liz accompanies the player in the front of the bus, where the steering wheel allows the player to look around and observe. Every location has a unique mini-game, and some allow the class to exit the bus and explore. Inside the bus, there is a monitor that allows the player to see what Arnold is doing while the class is inside him. Here, the player is able to take control of Arnold, and can make him perform miscellaneous activities such as eating Cheezie Weezies and running around. It also shows a diagram indicating how far inside Arnold's body they are.
The bus takes on four different forms for traveling through different locations: normal, helicopter, submarine, and traction: which have different steering wheel shapes depending on the form, however the traction kind retains the full circular wheel as the normal form which will go unchanged when transforming between the two forms. The helicopter uses a cutaway-style steering wheel with fixed positions for hands to be used and the submarine uses a U-shaped steering wheel. The bus can automatically change form when the player clicks on the signs to travel to other parts of the body via normal routes.
Locations[]
There are 12 different locations to explore inside Arnold's body.
Mouth[]
The class enters Arnold's body through his mouth, making it the starting location of the game. The player can observe everywhere in there from his teeth to as far back as his tonsils. In the mini-game, the player can make him experience various tastes by activating the taste buds on his tongue.
Once facing the back of Arnold's mouth, the bus is swallowed and ends up in his esophagus. It can also enter his nose from this location. If the player returns to the mouth, the bus will be facing at Arnold's teeth and the uvula cannot be seen if the player steers the bus to face southwards from this point on.
Esophagus[]
This is the second location in the game. The player can see down his esophagus, where it opens into his stomach. The player can either continue down and enter it, or they can fly back into his mouth. In the mini-game, the player can control the different components of his mouth and esophagus to ensure he swallows his food safely. This is the only location the player cannot steer left or right.
Stomach[]
Entering Arnold's stomach through his esophagus, the bus parachutes down and lands safely in his stomach acid. The player can interact with the foods digesting in there. In the mini-game, the player can fill Arnold's stomach with acid and watch it digest various foods.
The player can enter Arnold's small intestine through a valve in his stomach.
Small Intestine[]
Once in Arnold's small intestine, the bus shrinks even smaller and gets close up to the villi, a body part that takes the nutrients from the food. The class is able to exit the bus and explore his small intestine, where they climb up and down the villi. In the mini-game, the player can adjust the length of his small intestine and see how it effects his nutrient intake.
The player can enter Arnold's large intestine through this location as well.
Large Intestine[]
This is the deepest location in Arnold's body that the player can explore. The class can exit the bus and do so. In the mini-game, the player can observe how bacteria decompresses the food that enters the large intestine.
The player can enter Arnold's liver from this location.
Heart[]
This is the location that pumps blood throughout Arnold's body. The class can exit the bus and explore it, where they watch blood cells pump between the valves while surfing on the red blood cells. In the mini-game, the player can make Arnold run while observing how much blood his heart is pumping into his body.
The player can enter Arnold's lungs through this location.
Lungs[]
This is the location that gives Arnold the air he needs to breathe. The class can exit the bus and explore it. In the mini-game, that player can adjust the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the lungs to see how it affects his breathing.
The player can enter Arnold's nose from this location. Ironically, the player can also return to Arnold's mouth from here despite that the latter cannot be traveled from to the lungs.
Kidneys[]
This is the location that keeps Arnold's blood clean and urinates his waste. It is one of the few locations that is presented from a top-down view. In the mini-game, the player can pass water through the kidneys and observe how it is filtered.
The player can enter Arnold's heart from this location. Alternatively, the player can also travel to Arnold's brain without the convenience of the nervous system.
Liver[]
This is the location that maintains Arnold's blood sugar levels by carbohydrate metabolism. It is also presented from a top-down view, like the kidneys. In the mini-game, the player can observe how the liver breaks up various nutrients and sends them to different parts of the body.
The player can travel to either Arnold's heart or kidneys from this location.
Brain[]
This is the location that is important for Arnold to live, think, and act, and a part of his central nervous system. The class can exit the Bus and explore the cerebral cortex. While walking around on it, they can experience his memories by touching certain spots. In the mini-game, the player can make him do various actions, such as scratching his arm or jumping in place, by activating certain parts of his brain.
Unlike all other organs, this is considered a rather dead-end location since there are no signs to normally travel to any other organs one at a time. The only way from here to any other organs is via fast-traveling using the Nervous System, whose floating signs appear in all directions the Bus faces.
Nose[]
This is the location that Arnold uses to smell things. The bus perches itself near the edge of it, right by the septum. The player can see his shoes if they look down from his nostrils. In the mini-game, the player can control his olfaction, making him experience various good and bad smells and see his reaction to each.
Skin[]
This is the location that create sweat when Arnold's gets too hot. The bus is inside it and can observe his nerves, bloodstream, and bodily hair. According to the monitor, it is near his right shoulder. In the mini-game, the player can adjust his body temperature and watch his skin make sweat.
The player can travel to Arnold's heart from here, and this is the only location where the latter can be normally accessed without using the Nervous System.
The only way to travel to Arnold's skin is via the nervous system, and the only location that cannot be accessed normally without using the Nervous System.
Trivia[]
- This game, in the original software, is loosely the software adaptation of The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body and "For Lunch" (from the original series books and TV series).
- The controls used to change the bus in this game appear in the opening sequences of Explores the Ocean, Explores Inside the Earth, Explores in the Age of Dinosaurs, and Explores the Rainforest.
- The image of the bus used on the 1997-present cover art of the game is a digitization of Bruce Degen's drawing of it on the cover of the book, On the Ocean Floor, and is based on the iconic "bus in the stomach" scene used in various human body videos and books. However, this time, the bus is in bus form, and the decal stickers are changed to organs.
- The cover art also depicts Cheesy Weezies, an in-multiverse brand of Cheetos(TM)-like snacks.
- Arnold is in the bus in the cover art even though the game takes place inside him. This was either a mistake or a reference to the similar happening in "For Lunch," in which his TV counterpart was inside his own esophagus.
- The image of the bus on the cover art is reused on the cover, disc, and opening to the menu of the 2012 Human Body DVD. There, the brain and heart decals on the bus' bumper were removed.
- This artwork of the bus was also reused in the rerelease of Catches a Wave the same year. Only this time, it is a submarine, and its decal stickers were changed to nautical flags.
- The original 1994 cover art had the Bus facing the same angle as the book it was based upon, and had the word "BURP" on the bus's head sign. However, in the 1997 re-release, the cover art changed, the Bus is facing more to the right, and the "BURP" was replaced with a bone symbol on the Bus's overhead sign. In that release, Arnold's stomach is also mirrored, so it is seen as if viewed from his backside rather than his front.
- Liz talks in this game (akin to the Cole/Degen books) even though she is silent in the TV series, the original series books, and the TV tie-in books (regarding with the original franchise --counting the TV series, the classic series books, TV tie-in books, and video game series) and The Magic School Bus Rides Again.
- This is the second of the three games in the original software where she (Liz) speaks. The previous one was Explores the Solar System and the third and last one is Inside the Earth.
- Arnold occasionally feels the bus exploring his body, noticing a "funny scratching" feeling from inside him.
- The Producer appears in this game, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner reprises his role.
- Some mechanics in this game are used in episodes of The Magic School Bus and The Magic School Bus Rides Again:
- Inside Arnold's brain, the player can control his actions. Something similar happened in "Ralphie Strikes a Nerve," when the class went inside Jyoti's brain and controlled her motor cortex via the bus' Brainometer feature.
- In Makes a Stink, the class experiments with different olfactory receptors while inside Janet's nose. This was probably inspired by how one could make Arnold react to good and bad smells while inside his nose.
- If the player enters the esophagus from the mouth or large intestine from the small intestine in any Bus form other than indicated by the sign to said locations (helicopter for the esophagus and traction for the large intestine), the Bus will appear in its default, but retain the steering wheel styles of the forms in prior to traveling.
Goofs[]
- The pathways to the heart and brain while inside the kidney are being indicated by the artery and vein respectively. However, it should be the other way around since arteries actually carry blood out of the heart while veins on the other hand return it to the heart.
- Arnold has nasal hair. Even though Arnold should be 8-9 years old in this game due to him being in the third grade at the time, males do not enter puberty until at least the age of 11 or 12, and it is not possible until at the age of 17 to have fully grown nasal hair.
Gallery[]
