Comments

1. 
   On March 18, 2010 Yoda OK says:

   I purchased this game for a 9 year old who hates doing flash cards. This game is helping her become quicker with her basic math facts. Since that is the reason I purchased the game, I am very happy with it. I get her to play the game 3 to 4 times a week for 10 – 15 minutes at a time and have already seen an improvement in the quickness that she can come up with the answer. We have had no problems with the screen being able to tell what number it is that we have written. All people in my house have played the game and we all have varying degrees of neatness/sloppiness to our handwriting and how we write our numbers. This is a good game for the kids who need to sharpen up their math facts. As an adult, I do find the game a bit boring and repetitive, but I really don’t think this game was aimed for an adult crowd. Overall, a good game for the price for the kids around ages 7-10.
   Rating: 4 / 5

2. 
   On March 18, 2010 Michael Kerner says:

   When it has came down to Nintendo, they definitely reintroduced themselves to a whole new kind of gamer. Since Nintendo came out with great mind-challenging games for the Wii and Nintendo DS a few years ago, the gaming community has been brought up for more casual gamers that want to stimulate the mind and the soul. That has shown with the DS heavily to older gamers with successful games like Brain Age and Big Brain Academy. But, it has also shown with Nintendo as they are not just maing stand outs for hard core gamers, but also exercises that make you stronger at heart and mind. they’re now showing that video games can be great teaching tools, in cooking recently with Personal Trainer: Cooking and mainly with mathematics, and now they are about to do it again for the DS.

   Personal Trainer: Math for the Nintendo DS, is a stimualting title, that reintroduces the memory and challenges of solving simple, everyday math problems. The gameplay is simple, and easy to understand, as you use your stylus, and your mind to go through everyday activities. The graphics are simple, and let the gameplay speak for itself. As you go through the game, there are numerous exercises that help stimulate your mind from basic math problems with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, to easy to understand word problems, and even memorizing flash cards. While the game might seem like it is for babies, it actually teaches math strongly to those who need to be refreshed on their basic skills. While it isn’t able to be as addictive as Brain Age was for DS woners, but expands the DS library very nicely, as a smart teaching tool that works well.

   All in all, Personal Trainer: Math for the Nintendo DS is not actually a video game, but a strong teaching tool that shows just how much you can easily be reintroduced to the basics of math skills in everyday life. Whether you are starting to learn in grade school, or if you’re forgetting the easiest of problems, it is a great buy for anyone who wants a new way to learn all about the simplicity of everyday math.

   Graphics: B

   Sound: B

   Control: B+

   Fun & Enjoyment: B-

   Overall: B 1/2-
   Rating: 4 / 5

3. 
   On March 18, 2010 Paula J. Kawal says:

   Our little boy is in the 3rd Grade and has been “getting by” in math without really liking it. We’d have to use positive reward type motivation to get him to do his drills without groaning and then my husband downloaded the demo of Personal Trainer Math.

   Both our kids (8 & 5) played this demo non-stop for two hours until they passed out on the couch (they chose this over watching a movie with us)!!!

   The game basically has them run through several different types of drills covering addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with the help of a very cute animated professor!

   The only frustrating thing is you have to teach yourself how to write the numbers so that the game can process your answers in order to get the best time.

   The kids have got that figured out and now they do their daily tests each day. Our son is at a level six. He’s very confident in his ability to solve math problems quickly (which is a huge improvement). It’s so nice to see him excited about math!!! What a change in his attitude and approach to the subject this game has made!
   Rating: 5 / 5

4. 
   On March 18, 2010 Julie says:

   I cannot recommend this game enough! My eight year old homeschooled daughter loves this game. After getting frustrated with the difficulty in getting her to remember her times tables, I purchased this game to try to help. She has gone from not wanting to even try the 7′s to getting all 10 questions correct in 30 seconds. She gets excited when she beats her previous time and tries to beat it. If your child gets motivated by trying to beat their score, this is the game for them. They don’t have to compete against anyone else, it’s just working on beating their own score. There are several different names that can be entered and their scores are independent of each other. There are different levels for addition and subtraction so even adults can tune up their skills.
   Rating: 5 / 5

5. 
   On March 18, 2010 Reviewer says:

   I bought this as a way to help my 4 children develop and maintain their computational skills over the summer. As I tried out the game so that I could show it to them, I became hooked myself! I have a college minor in math, and this game can be challenging no matter what your level, because it pushes you to improve your accuracy and your speed. I would finish and then say, “Darn! I can do better than that!” And then do it again. My oldest son is having a similar experience.

   Some reviewers have complained about how the game doesn’t recognize their handwriting. Although this is a little troubling at times, I actually really like this feature of the game: my 2 youngest sons are left-handed, and they make some of their numbers backwards, or in inefficient ways. This game requires that they make the numbers “correctly.” It’s one thing to have your old mom keep correcting your handwriting; but if you have to do it right to win the game, then you very quickly change your ways. Hooray for 7′s and 4′s going in the right direction!

   This game has all sorts of clever drill methods, and many levels of practice, ranging from one-digit to 3-digit. It provides feedback on speed and accuracy. An effective and fun way of improving skills for both children and adults.
   Rating: 5 / 5