Math Blaster in the Prime Adventure
© 2008 Majesco Entertainment
Making it's first debut on the Nintendo DS, Math Blaster In The Prime Adventure embeds math facts in an animated adventure, making it possible to practice basic math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and factors) on the bus ride to school. Originally launched back in the 1980s for Apple II computers by Davidson & Associates, the Math Blaster series has a long history. This title marks the 23rd Math Blaster title we've reviewed since 1984. So how does this one stack up? Fairly well thanks to the DS touch screen. First, you sign into one of the three game-save slots by typing your initials with the stylus. The adventure mode embeds a comic-book introduction about a fight to control the galaxy; or you can jump right to the challenge mode and play the games independently. Nebula Escape is a bit like the old classic Asteroids, where you drive a tiny ship around, zapping the correct answers to math problems while blowing up the bad guys. Nest Attack is a timed game where you carry numbered robot eggs to the correct math problem. There's a bit of clunkiness -- you have to walk to the answer instead of just tapping on it. This is one of the least fun of the four. Number Smash is a dividing game, where you race to flick numbered balls at targets in order to score points. This is confusing at first, but quickly gets addicting. More over-the shoulder-help would be useful. Chain Reactor shows you a numbered honeycomb grid. Your goal is to create number chains that add up to a desired range. Math Blaster has drifted a bit from its original mission of providing a targeted math drill, say, on the seven times tables. It would be nice to be able to have some teacher or parent options, such as to put in your own math problems. However, at least two of the games are addicting, and they succeed in getting children to work with worksheet-like math facts in an addicting setting. For informal exposure to mental math problem solving, this is a good choice. Otherwise, pass. Developed by Knowledge Adventure for Majesco Entertainment.
$20, Nintendo DS
Teaches: math facts