Personal Trainer: Math is the latest in a growing line Nintendo DS titles designed to teach and instruct more than to entertain. This trend, which started with Brain Age, includes everything from language teaching games to even food preparation with Personal Trainer: Cooking. This title, of course, is meant to improve math skills.
A cartoon version of Professor Hideo Kageyama, a real-life Japanese math guru who believes in the power of the 100-Cell Math learning method, hosts the game. His 100-Cell Math technique revolves around a blank 10x10 grid with a one set of numbers on the X-axis and another on the Y-axis. Students then connect numbers similar to a standard multiplication table, adding/subtracting/multiplying the figures to fill in all the squares on the grid. The method combines rote learning with speed, and feels tailor-made for the Nintendo DS touch screen.
Kyle casts magic -- number magic. Does his brain get a workout from Personal Trainer: Math? Read on.
Electric Playground:
"Personal Trainer: Math is obviously designed to improve your skills with numbers, and it does what's required, albeit unspectacularly. Then again, there's only so much you can do to sex up multiplication. So, you'll find yourself doing all sorts of mathematical exercises such as long division, multiplying missing numbers, and so on. It's good practice, but lacking in wow factor."
WorthPlaying writes: "It would seem as though the folks at Nintendo have taken it upon themselves to solve the world's educational problems by simply using the DS and an avalanche of software. The company has released an untold number of brain-building games over the past several years, and various third-party companies have been happy to supply even more. Now the big dog is back in the game with the release of Personal Trainer: Math, the latest in the Touch Generation series. Unfortunately, the title is not only boring and monotonous, but it also commits the cardinal sin of educational gaming: It doesn't teach you a thing."
