Algebra as an Archfiend?

Education is about stretching knowledge, skills and attitude.
Last month, the headline of a New York Times article about a Math video game for middle schoolers designed by Dimension M:

"Video Game Helps Math Students Vanquish an Archfiend: Algebra"speaks volumes about attitudes about Math! In the print verson, the word "foe" was used.

How about "ally", "comrade", "challenge", "opportunity"?

"Students at Intermediate School 30 in Brooklyn played a video game on Monday, and learned a little algebra at the same time. " was the caption on a photo.
The juxtaposition of this sentence would be:
"Students at Intermediate School 30 in Brooklyn learned algebra on Monday and played a little bit of video game at the same time. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/nyregion/08video.html