Mathquest with Aladdin
Reviewed by Cynthia A. Sorrels
Published by Disney Interactive

Price: $39.95 US

PC version requires:
486-66, Win 95, 16M RAM, 20M hard drive

Mac version requires:
68040, System 7.1, 16M RAM, 20M hard dr4ive, 2X CD

Description:

Agrabah is in trouble again! Bizarrah, the evil genie, tricked her way out of her lamp, has imprisoned Jasmine, Abu and Aladdin and hidden her magic lamp in pieces all over the place. Genie and Iago will accompany you as you find ways to free your friends and get to the pieces of that lamp - but be careful!

Features:

• 18 math activities; 3 levels of difficulty.
• Based on National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards.
• Celebrity voices - Robin Williams is back as Genie.
• Activities entwined with a fun storyline.
• First player perspective.
• Has 3 levels of difficulty and printable certificates.

Technical Aspects:

We tried this program on two computer systems with radically different results. On our P200 MMX with 64 M RAM, the program was impossible to control! It ran entirely too quickly and was extremely frustrating. A phone call to Disney Interactive's tech support was not helpful (at all!) and the only good thing was that they do have a toll-free number...because their phone system is so convoluted that it takes a good 5 minutes to get through all the menu options on their automated system. After listening to all sorts of technical hints that were no help, I spoke with a human - a kind gentleman who had no earthly idea of why the game was behaving that way.

Well, at this point, I considered sending the title on to one of the other reviewers, but my kids really wanted to play it and so did I! So, I tried it on the system the kids use: a P100, 24M RAM, and it was fine. Took me an hour or so to finish the game on the easy setting, and all 3 kids were glued to my side with loads of advice and cheers when we finished. Technically, the game slowed down enough that it could be played with no other problems.

Report and Conclusions:

We love Math Quest with Aladdin and would happily hand it a Gold Award, EXCEPT that it didn't run correctly on our P200 system. We were all very impressed with the 3D graphics - it reminded me of the tunnels in QUAKE but the violence is missing. The puzzles are extremely innovative, and the Genie and Iago keep the storyline moving along and provide encouragement and support along the way, besides helping to keep the interest level high with their constant antics.

Math Quest with Aladdin compares favorably with Broderbund's The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, although our review of their new Deluxe edition isn't complete yet. The characters and storyline are loads of fun and your kids will acquire important math skills, but don't tell them that - they'll think they're just having fun!

If you have any problems when using Kids Domain then please contact Cindy, who will be happy to help where possible.

[A-Z Index - Beginners - Ages 2-5 - Ages 4-8 - Ages 8 up - Grownups]

[Subject Indexes - Kids Home - Online Games - Grownups Place]

Copyright ⌐ Kids Domain, 1998.