SPEC SCHOOL

Remember how you conned you mum and dad into getting you a Speccy? "I won't just play games on it, honest, mum! Computers are an essential part of the modern world, and you wouldn't want me growing up deprived and technologically backwards, would you?"

And ever since it's been one long round of blasting, leaping, joystick-waggling and generally mind-rotting your-mother-wouldn't-like-it fun!

So, just to keep 'em from whinging about you wasting your life, why not check out a couple of educational programs (said through gritted teeth). No, honest, they're not as bad as they sound.

The bunch reviewed here are all for under-eights, so for most of you they'll only be any good if you've got a kid brother or sister. Still, they'll keep your mum happy and keep little Johnny from using your Kylie records as frisbees. That's if you trust him with your Speccy, of course!

COUNT AND ADD
Lander
£??.??
Reviewer: Dave Golder

Maths! Universally hated by all schoolkids (except the weird nerdy ones who don't count anyway because they're not normal). But don't worry, 'cos Count and Add is certainly a better introduction to numbers than being taught by a teacher who looks like Freddy Krueger and is twice as deadly with a piece of chalk.

There are five games here, though they're all pretty much variations on a theme. Even the graphical layout is much the same in all of them. In Sets 1 a number of things appear on screen and you have to count them. In Sets 2 you are told how many things there are supposed to be and you have to tap the space bar to reveal them.

Animals is virtually the same as Sets 1 but they try to trick you into thinking otherwise by dotting the animals all around the screen instead of lining them up neatly and having a bone to climb a ladder each time you get an answer correct (I'm not sure if there's some deep message to this imagery).

Train is where the real work starts. Yep, it's time to add things up (shudder!) If you're successful, a tram chuffs its way along the top of the screen.

Spider sees you having to rescue a Butterfly from a hungry arachnid using your mathematical prowess. If you get a fairly simple sum right the butterfly moves further away from the ever-approaching spider.

None of the games are exactly engrossing, and are not helped by some really dull graphics - they're little more than black and white line drawings on wishy-washy coloured backgrounds. The reaction time is sluggish to the point of Jeremy Beadle-type irritation. Still, the sound is excellent, and the little celebratory jingle you get if you get all the answers in a section right is almost worth playing the games for.

Lander Software
Phone: (041) 357 1659
Tape: £12.99
Disk: £15.99

It's back to school time again and although most of you may not like the idea lets face it, things could be worse... You could be facing a firing squad or being horribly tortured with some matches and a pair of pliers, or, even more terrifying, forced to watch a Bob Monkhouse TV show with special guest stars Bruce Forsyth and Jeremy Beadle. See, going back to school isn't THAT bad.

Although Mr. Brown in 4C with the long nose, dandruff and bottle bottom spectacles might be a boring old fart there are in fact far more enjoyable ways of learning. One of which is right here on your Speccy - educational software. It's puzzling, informative and fun, and best of all, it gives you an excuse to play on your Speccy during time normally allotted for homework without incurring the wrath of your elders. (It also gives you a chance to slip in the odd arcade game for mental stimulation, though don't tell your mum I said this.) There are a wide variety of educational games available so here, to help you choose, is a selection of those currently readily available and a quick guide to their usefulness.

Count and Add is for children aged 4 to 7 and is basically a series of programs combining maths and matching objects. There are five games altogether the first two of which involve youngsters matching different objects and counting similar ones. The third involves counting animals, the fourth counting and simple addition and the fifth more advanced addition. This is a much more advanced program graphically than, say, Shoe People or Funschool but the basic elements of attractive and humorous presentation and informative, developing games makes it worthwhile.