“Educational” games were all over the road in the late 80s and early 90s. Sometimes they’d just be a cartoon rabbit trying to get you to do math problems, and sometimes they’d have you driving across the country to try and teach you geography. But one game of the time stands out in my memory — and, I’d imagine, the memories of many who played it — for kind of an unexpected reason: it was goddamn terrifying. I’m speaking, of course, about Super Solvers: Midnight Rescue.

Released in 1989 by The Learning Company, Midnight Rescue casts the player as the titular solver, tasked with the goal of stopping Morty Maxwell (The Master of Mischief!) from covering the school with invisible paint and making it disappear. But Morty isn’t alone, no — like fellow mustachioed mad scientist Dr. Wily, he’s built a number of robots to assist him in his mission of world conquest making a school invisible. He’s hiding in one of these robots, and the player has to deduce which one he’s in by answering questions about texts found throughout the school while avoiding Morty’s maniacal machines.

The solver isn’t totally defenseless, though. They’re equipped with a camera with which they can take photos of the robots, giving them useful information and scaring the bots away with the flash in the process. Getting hit by a robot will cost the solver film or time — yes, this is a timed game. See, if the clock strikes twelve, then Morty will be successful in making the school disappear, hence the title Midnight Rescue. Correctly guess which robot Morty is hiding in before the timer runs out and you win. Get it wrong, and you’re turned invisible along with the school.

All of these factors came together to make Midnight Rescue a thrilling, if frightening game for a young child. Think about it — you’re wandering alone through the darkened halls of your school at night, being stalked by robots commanded by a mad scientist who wants to make you literally disappear, while all you’ve got to save the day are a camera and your wits. If I described that premise to you without any context, you’d probably think I was describing a survival horror game. And that’s kind of what Midnight Rescue was — a pint-sized Resident Evil with robots before Raccoon City was even a glimmer in Shinji Mikami’s eye. Oh, and did I mention that throughout the whole thing, you’re hearing Paul Ducas’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and Edvard Grieg’s “In The Hall of the Mountain King?”

Was The Learning Company actually trying to frighten children? If so, then they did a bang-up job. Regardless, the game was apparently well-received enough that they went on to make further Super Solvers titles, and later even stuck the Solver character into Treasure Mountain, a much less daunting game set in a fantastical world. The Learning Company was eventually acquired by SoftKey in 1995, who then assumed the name and brand until 1999, when they were subsequently purchased by toy giant Mattel. The Learning Company may be gone, but Midnight Rescue is seared into the memories of every child who ever played it.