Math Blaster: Ages 9-12 is an Edutainment Game in the Blaster series. It has also been released under the title Math Blaster for 4th Grade.
The game is essentially a remake of Math Blaster: Secret of the Lost City, although the storyline is substantially reworked. Instead of being deliberately shot down, the Blasterpals crash-land on a planet by accident. This planet is home to a simian civilization, presided over by the Terrible Monkey King and his army of flying monkeys. Playing as either Blasternaut or G.C., your goal is to assemble the Medallion of Prosperity and bring it to the Terrible Monkey King in the hopes that he'll give you a way off the planet in exchange.
This game provides examples of:
- Abnormal Ammo: Given the monkey theme, it's no surprise that you use bananas as weapons. The hostile portraits in one of the bonus levels use coconuts.
- And I'm the Queen of Sheba: After it's revealed that the Terrible Monkey King isn't so terrible:GC: Who are you?
Monkey: Well... I'm, uh... I'm the Terrible Monkey King.
Blasternaut: And I'm a monkey's uncle! - Collective Groan:Terrible Monkey King: This is my last spaceship.
GC: Not quite federation standard, but it'll do.
Spot: Do what? Crash?
Blasternaut and GC: SPOT! - Creative Closing Credits: The game's credits place the names on the bridges from the bridge builder puzzle.
- Conveyor Belt o' Doom: One of the bonus levels is set on a non-hazardous one. If you fall off, it just cuts the level short and sends you to the next puzzle.
- Delayed Safety Feature: In the intro, the Blasterpals crash-land their ship on a seemingly barren planet and only when they come to a complete stop does the severe impact avoidance inflatable device deploy, filling the entire ship and then expanding out of the airlock when they exit.
- Escort Mission: The bridge levels alternate between building the actual bridges and puzzles where you need to guide several hopping monkeys across floating platforms. Fortunately, you only need to keep them from falling.
- Expospeak Gag: The ship computer refers to the air bag as a "severe-impact-avoidance inflatable device".
- Failed a Spot Check: The Blasterpals miss an alert that they're about to crash into a planet because they're partying.
- Fantasy Landmark Equivalent: One of the areas where the bridge builder takes place is called Monkey Rushmore, which is exactly what it sounds like.
- Fantasy World Map: There's a map of the entire crater that you can use to track your progress through the game, featuring landmarks visible in the background of each area.
- Humongous Mecha: The Terrible Monkey King uses one as a disguise.
- Hurricane of Puns: Several monkey puns are thrown around at the end. Lampshaded with the line "Enough with the monkey jokes already! Stop!"
- Jungle Japes: The game takes place in an inexplicably lush crater on a barren planet, with about half of the game being in various jungle regions.
- Large Ham: The old guy and the Terrible Monkey King really ham it up.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the game that it's remaking, Math Blaster: Secret of the Lost City. The Blasterpals crash on a planet by accident rather than being shot down, and their only goal is to get off the planet with no additional goal of stopping a villain from taking over the galaxy. And while they do have some superficial similarities, the Terrible Monkey King is ultimately much less of a villain than Dr. Minus.
- The Man Behind the Curtain: The Terrible Monkey King turns out to be an ordinary anthropomorphic monkey using a gigantic mechanical suit to make himself seem formidable.
- Nerd Glasses: The Terrible Monkey King has these to complete his decidedly unimposing figure.
- No Animals Were Harmed: The game's credits end with an assurance that no monkeys were harmed.
- No Sense of Personal Space: At one point in the intro, the old guy presses himself up against GC, who cringes away from him.
- Off to See the Wizard: The game's storyline contains a lot of parallels to The Wizard of Oz. The main characters crash into a strange world, and their only hope of getting home is to go on a journey to seek out the help of the setting's mysterious ruler. Flying monkeys feature as enemies, and the ending reveals that the mysterious ruler is actually an affable con artist hiding behind a technological disguise. If you want to regard it as a loose adaptation, the old guy is Glinda's counterpart, and the Terrible Monkey King is a Composite Character of the Wicked Witch and the Wizard.
- The Trees Have Faces: The first two bonus levels take place in forests with trees that have spooky faces on them. Said trees can also appear in the background of the bridge-building puzzle depending on the route you take during your journey.
- Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: The flying monkeys have feathered wings in addition to the four limbs that monkeys normally have. Curiously, when the Terrible Monkey King himself is revealed at the end, he appears to be wingless.
- Video Game Remake: Math Blaster Ages 9-12 is a remake of Math Blaster: Secret of the Lost City that implements the puzzles differently.
