Blaster (video Game Character)

The ''Blaster Learning System'' is an educational video game series created by Davidson & Associates and later published by JumpStart (formerly Knowledge Adventure) after the two companies were acquired and merged by CUC Software. The games primarily focused on mathematics, later expanding into language arts and science, and spawned an animated children's television series in 1999 called ''Blaster's Universe''.

Starting in 2011, development of the series focused on an online version of ''Math Blaster'' played through a browser or mobile app rather than standalone game software. JumpStart Games ended the support for ''Math Blaster'' and was closed in July 2023.

History

Davidson

The series began with the 1983 title '' Math Blaster!'' released for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers. The initial game was ported to other platforms and received gradual improvements to graphics and sound, with "Plus" added to the title in 1987 and "New" in 1990. The initial release was a collection of four unrelated activities with a space theme, with later versions connecting the activities with a simple narrative and introducing the character Blasternaut.

Spin-offs intended for older children included ''Alge-Blaster!'' in 1985 and ''Math Blaster Mystery'' in 1989. These titles, along with their 1990s remakes and sequels, would not follow the Blasternaut character but would still be marketed by Davidson as part of the Blaster series.

The first reboot of the Davidson fundamentals line came in 1989. The original ''Math Blaster'' was written in Applesoft Basic and the Microsoft equivalent. Under the direction of Mike Albanese, the Davidson programming team used Fig Forth to make a cross-platform development system; it was the first of many Forth-based products that Davidson would make.

The 1993 release '' Math Blaster Episode I: In Search of Spot'' was the first in the series to feature a storyline told through animated cutscenes and voice acting. The version of Blasternaut seen in this game, as well as his robot companion Spot and supervisor Galactic Commander (GC), would become recurring characters seen in the 1994 sequels ''Reading Blaster: Invasion of the Word Snatchers'' and '' Math Blaster Episode II: Secret of the Lost City''.

A redesign of the characters was introduced in the 1996 title ''Mega Math Blaster'' (later rebranded ''Math Blaster: Ages 6–9''), which served as a remake of the activities from Episode I with a new storyline, although references to the previous games in the series implied a shared continuity. This redesign would carry over into ''Reading Blaster 2000'' (also rebranded ''Reading Blaster: Ages 6–9''), the Episode II remake ''Math Blaster: Ages 9–12'', and three "Junior" prequels for children ages 4-6 focused on math, reading, and science.

Knowledge Adventure

The characters were redesigned again in 1999, coinciding with the CBS Saturday morning cartoon ''Blaster's Universe'' animated by the Canadian studio Nelvana. The Blasternaut and GC characters were altered to be 12-year-old earthlings and Spot was replaced with a robot dog named MEL ("Mechanically Enhanced Lapdog"). The changes also coincided with Knowledge Adventure's rebranding of the full series and switch to identifying games by grade levels instead of age ranges. This would be the last time games in the ''Reading Blaster'' sub-series were released.

''Math Blaster: Master the Basics'' was released in 2006, featuring another redesign of the Blasternaut character, comic book styled cutscenes, and 3D graphics in-game. This version of the character would also appear in the 2008 Nintendo DS title ''Math Blaster in the Prime Adventure''.

Starting in 2011, development of the series focused on an online version of ''Math Blaster'' played through a browser or mobile app rather than standalone game software. JumpStart Games ended support for ''Math Blaster'' and was closed in July 2023.

''The Blaster'' series

Math

Reading

Other subjects

Compilations

Other languages

Math:
* Swedish (titled "Matte Raketen")
* Finnish (titled "Matikkaraketti")
* Japanese (titled "算数戦士ブラスター(Sansū Senshi Burasutā)")

Reception

The original game was praised by ''InfoWorld'' for its high resolution graphics, and considered it a standout title in the drill-and-practice edutainment video game genre. ''II Computing'' listed ''Math Blaster'' second on the magazine's list of top Apple II education software as of late 1985, based on sales and market-share data.

''New Math Blaster Plus'' was reviewed in the '' Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Guide Book'' where it was praised for its "arcade-quality graphics akingdrills snappy and entertaining".

''Math Blaster Episode I: In Search of Spot'' was rated as one of the top 100 CD-ROM games of 1994 in ''PC Magazine''.

''Math Blaster Mystery: The Great Brain Robbery'' was given a 4 out of 4 star rating by the ''Home PC'' magazine adding that "most games aren't educational AND fun, but ''Math Blaster Mystery'' is both".

By June 1997, the series sold 5 million copies.

After starting off with a huge boom and providing the base for the establishment of a successful public corporation, the ''Blaster'' series eventually fell victim to marketing cuts. In an attempt to sell both up and down the age group added more, ''Blasters'' were designed with increasingly thin, fuzzy and overlapping target age groups. Finally, the line came under fierce attack from the Gross brothers of Knowledge Adventure (now JumpStart), led by Barton Listic. Knowledge Adventure countered with a simple grade-based sub-division with their ''JumpStart'' logo. Eventually, Knowledge Adventure and Davidson were acquired by CUC International to form CUC Software, and the company lines were merged.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Math Blaster'' website

Children's educational video games
Video games developed in the United States