The villainous Ratso takes over a medieval castle and traps the staff and most of the royal family in a mirror. It's up to CJ Frog (the royal flycatcher who wants to become a knight) and his sidekick Edison to solve math problems so they can collect various ingredients for potions to free those imprisoned. The princess, who escaped the fate of her family and friends, is there to help them along the way.
This game provides examples of:
- A Lizard Named "Liz": The main villain, Ratso the rat.
- Alphabet Soup Cans: It is a JumpStart game, after all.
- Anthropomorphic Shift: This is the point at which CJ becomes a Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal. He was an Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal in the original JumpStart 2nd Grade, as well as in his cameos in JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain and JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Haunted Island. However, he is still more frog-like here than in later appearances.
- Banana Peel: One of the Jester's items.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: At the beginning of the game, Ratso easily traps five people in a mirror. Throughout the rest of the game, he never attempts to do this to CJ and Edison, which would be the most effective way of stopping them.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": All of the royal subjects are referred to only by their titles.
- Evil Laugh: Ratso does one of these when he takes over the castle.
- Fetch Quest: In order to free the prisoners, CJ has to collect various ingredients for potions.
- Grande Dame: The Queen has somewhat this vibe.
- Gratuitous French: The Cook uses this.
- Large Ham: Ratso can be this.
- The Middle Ages: The setting, of course. In the time song, years are illustrated with calendars for the years 1341 through 1345, so the game is presumably set in the 1340s. Incidentally, that's during The Black Death. How appropriate that the villain is a rat.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Ratso's voice actor is doing a Paul Lynde impression.
- Perpetual Smiler: The Jester.
- Plucky Girl: The Princess.
- Purely Aesthetic Era: Naturally. Some of the potion ingredients you have to find are medieval-themed versions of modern items, such as an "electric lute" and an issue of Better Homes and Castles
. In the "Rat Tax" Mini-Game, you pay in U.S. currency, way before the U.S. was even close to being a thing. Not to mention, everyone speaks modern English, and with American accents no less. - Species Surname: CJ Frog and Edison Firefly.
- Surfer Dude: The Squire.
- Theme Naming / Letter Motif: The villain and his henchmen all have names ending in 'o': Ratso, Chunko, Melmo, Buzzo, and Zombo.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: The King and the Queen.
- Universal-Adaptor Cast: So why are C.J. and Edison, who normally reside in the Present Day, suddenly living in medieval times? No reason, just this trope.note
- The Usurper: Ratso imprisoned the royal family in order to usurp the throne. See also: Tyrant Takes the Helm.
- You Dirty Rat!: Ratso and his henchmen.
- Zero-Effort Boss: Releasing the royal family doesn't end your quest - you have to defeat Ratso in a game very similar to The Hollywood Squares. Only that Ratso is programmed to never succeed in getting the final square for the win. He's also programmed to miss any square that would result in the game ending with a stalemate.
