"The name says it all."

Basic Math. Yep, that's exactly what this game is, but sadly, that's also all that this game is. The colorful picture on the front of the box may suggest that a magical, mathematical adventure awaits your child, but don't be fooled! Turn the box over, and you'll notice that there are suspiciously no screenshots or gameplay descriptions to be found. “Why is this?” you ask. Read on and find out.

Gameplay:
An entire game consists of 10 math problems in a row. That's it. You do get to select which type of problems to solve (i.e. addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division), whether you want to work with single- or double-digit numbers, and whether or not you're timed (12 seconds for single-digit number operations, 24 seconds for two-digit number operations), but after you complete 10 problems, your score is displayed (number correct on the left, number attempted on the right) and the game is over. You can also choose to have one number appear in all problems (i.e. 8+something in each problem) or all random problems. This offers plenty of options but little in the way of variety.

There's not much to dislike about the controls. Move the joystick up to increase the number and down to decrease it. Moving the joystick left and right navigates your cursor so that you can enter two-digit numbers and remainders. The only gripe I have is that the digits go from 0 to 9 when moving the joystick up and down rather than from 1 to 0. I understand the programming logic behind it, but it makes more sense to me that if you move the joystick up three times, you should see the number 3 appear on the screen.

Graphics:
The graphics in this game leave much to be desired. Sure, everything is legible and the equation formatting is nice, but the color schemes are sometimes downright painful on the eyes. I also think it would have been cool if the numbers were more stylized and less blocky.

Sound:
I don't know why I need a fanfare every time I answer a problem. A simple high tone for a correct answer and a low tone for a wrong answer would suffice. Also, I like the concept of having a scale of tones as you toggle each digit, but you should either do it right or not do it at all, and the programmer did neither. The scale is fine from 0 to 8, but the tones for 9 and [blank] are off and ultimately ruin the overall effect. I highly recommend the mute button for this game.

Closing Comments:
This game gets credit for being a fully functional educational resource, but as an educational game, it isn't very fun or effective. Kids may be more tolerant of the bland graphics and terrible sound, but I doubt they'd be interested enough to spend more than five minutes or so playing. I think the inclusion of a quirky mascot or math-oriented mini-game would have made this game much more kid-friendly, but as it stands, I cannot recommend Basic Math.

Score: 3/10

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 08/21/06