An educational program which is entertaining and good value for money? Read on.

There are two "games" on this cassette, each offering practice at the basic arithmetic skills.

First there is Sum Vaders.

You choose whether to add, subtract, multiply or divide. A flying saucer with a number on it crosses the sky and drops a robot which also has a number. You have one chance at typing in the right answer. If you're correct you destroy the robot; wrong and it lands. When five robots land you are destroyed in a display of pyrotechnics! There is also a choice of skills which will stretch anyone.

The second program is Robot Tables. Again you can choose skill levels and specific tables. But in this program you also get to choose foreground and background colours.

The idea is to make quick decisions. A machine is chugging away making robots. Along the conveyor belt come the boxed components which are numbered and have to match the sequence in the multiplication table you're working on. Sounds confusing? It's quite a simple idea but sounds complicated when you explain it. A good feature is the ability to check for persistent mistakes after completion by the visual representation of good and deformed robots.

As the title suggests it's not intended to teach but to sharpen your reflexes. For this purpose it is excellent. So long as it's taken in small doses this cassette could prove to be quite valuable. Enjoyable graphics and simple to operate commands, which at this price has to be excellent value.

M.P.