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The Land Before Time Math Adventure By Pam Gleichman Tribune Media Services The Land Before Time Math Adventure, based on the animated video. Land Before Time characters Littlefoot, Cera, Spike, Ducky and Petrie dutifully guide you through five drill activities that include Sharptooth Sinking Sand Maze, Tree Star Race, Land of Mists, Egg Blasters and Adventure Run. Each time you complete an activity successfully, the program rewards you with "Tree Stars" and "Dino Bucks," which can be traded at the reward center for video clips from the "Land Before Time" movie. There are two styles of game play. The Adventure Mode takes you through the game in a certain order, while the Activity Mode lets you play games at your own pace as often as you'd like. Each activity has three levels of difficulty. The program also offers a Mists Activity Book, which allows you to connect the dots and paint by shapes and numbers. As an added bonus, you can print your finished art. The Land Before Time Math Adventure received an "average" response from our testers. Although they liked the dinosaur theme and seemed to enjoy earning Tree Stars and Dino Bucks, most children moved around the program quickly and became bored. The activities became repetitious and failed to hold children’s attention for long periods of time. I question the replay value of this title. Publisher : Sound Source Interactive, 26115 Mureau Road, Suite B, Calabasas, Calif. 91302, (818) 878-0505, http://www.soundsourceinteractive.com . Category : Math Age : 4 to 8. Installation : Easy. Use : Fairly easy. Graphics : Cute. Written Materials : Brief installation instructions are given on the CD jacket. Instructions for game play are given verbally within the program. System Requirements : Windows 95/98 or Windows 3.1, 486/66 or better, 2X CD-ROM drive, eight-bit sound card, SVGA (640 X 480 color), Windows 95/98- 16 MB RAM, 3 MB free hard disk space, Windows 3.1-- 8MB RAM, 3MB free hard disk space. Macintosh, Power PC (only), System 7.X or better, 2X CD-ROM drive, 16 MB RAM, 3MB free hard disk space. Tested Version : Windows /Mac CD-ROM. Cost : $24.95. Rating : Two stars. This program is "average". I would only recommend it if you are wild about dinosaurs and The Land Before Time and enjoy repetitious play. As an alternative math program, I recommend Piggy in Numberland by Legacy Software. DEAR PAM : Our boys are 6 and 7 and we recently purchased our first computer. We would like to buy four programs. What would you recommend? DEAR READER : Make a Masterpiece by IBM Corporation (800-426-7235) is a great drawing and painting program. My first Amazing World Explorer 2.0 by DK Multimedia (888-342-5357) is a geography program that is both engaging and entertaining. Hoyle Board Games by Sierra-on-Line (800-757-7707) consists of 14 board games that the entire family will enjoy. Finally, I recommend Reader Rabbit’s Math Ages 6 to 9 by The Learning Company. It is a two CD set with many good math activities. With the exception of Hoyle Board Games, which is a solely Windows 95 program, these programs will run on a Macintosh or PC. WEB SITE OF THE WEEK BILLY BEAR’S PLAYGROUND http://www.billybear4kids.com Billy Bear’s Playground has lots of fun activities for children. Some of the categories include Fun & Games, Animal Scoop and Holiday Fun. There is also a "Post Office" section, which lets you e-mail musical greeting cards and postcards for all occasions. In addition, the site offers clip art, fonts, screen savers and wallpaper to download. You and your children will spend hours at this site. RATING KEY : ***** — Outstanding; **** — Very Good; *** — Good; ** — Fair; * — Not Worth Purchasing. Pam Gleichman welcomes questions/comments from readers. Write to Pam at Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, Ill. 60611. Send e-mail to [email protected] . � 1999 Tribune Media Services, Inc. Techno file index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA