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Oh dear. You're not going to like this. Hooray For Henrietta is an educational game. Oh dear. Sorry, but it features no aliens, no laser death cannon or anything like that. This is all about maths, sums, adding-up, taking away, y'know the stuff. If you're over 12 years old, it's okay, you're excused: but for 5-12 year olds - tough! You're going to learn a bit more about addition, subtracting, multiplication and division (the very words that strike terror into my heart).

But wait, what's this? It's not boring? No, not at all. What makes Hooray For Henrietta is the fun story behind the game and the consequences if you can't solve the sums. It's like the Sesame Street way of learning - give 'em something to laugh about and they'll forget it's homework (Fat chance - Ed)!

The story's this: Hopeless Henry is due to be married to Henrietta, but the mischievous bird John The Parrot is out to cause trouble. John has stolen Henry's coal, hat, trousers and boots and kidnapped Henry. To make matters worse, it you can't rescue Henry in time, John drops him into a vat of cold custard! Ugh.

Hooray For Henrietta comes with two standards of play - one for 5-8 year olds, and one for 9-12 year olds, both are essentially the same except for the level of difficulty in the questions. Both versions have eight different levels ranging from easy to hard. Each mathematical skill has its own mini-game. If you answer enough questions correctly within the time limit Henrietta gets to save Henry, if not John drops the custard. Get through all sections correctly and the marriage can go ahead. Doncha just lurve happy endings?

Succeeding on all levels, Hooray For Henrietta achieves a perfect balance of learning and having fun. With a little bit of adult help even the very young should have no difficulty handling the program: all the user does is type in the numeric answers and the program does the rest. The pack comes complete with a John The Parrot badge, a guide to the program for parents and basic instructions and story card. The graphics are basic, but are a welcome addition, brightening up a usually hated subject.

RICHARD