Math Blaster software has been around for a lot of years, and usually when a new version comes out it's just a rehash of the old. But hold on to your hats, fans, 'cause this latest version of Math Blaster Ages 8 -9 (Knowledge Adventure) breaks out-way out from that mold! As usual there's a plot. An evil mathematician has let loose a set of math bugs that have to be recaptured. But the bugs all have special characteristics and powers, and after kids recapture them by playing the games, they use the reprogrammed bugs to build a Rube Goldberg type trap to incarcerate the evil Dr. Zero. Building just the right trap proves to be quite a quest, but kids love to tinker with all the bugs and figure out what they'll do. The games are challenging and help kids practice those number facts that are the backbone of the math curriculum for this age group. Kids build bridges by matching dominos with the correct equations, capture bugs that fit certain rules, play a musical geometric figure identification game, and do a bit of problem solving. Word problems-broken down into the steps kids need to solve them-appear when kids need to reprogram the bugs, while a quick number facts game shows up when kids need more storage in the bug cache that holds the bugs until they can be used to build the trap. Printable math puzzles and connections to the Blaster web site provide even more flexibility. Thumbs go way up for this program, which entices kids to return over and over again to practice, play, and think.