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Fraction Fever! This weekend was really busy, so I decided to throw together an update at the last minute. Pondering the options, I decided another video game review was the right answer. So, look for this to become a regular feature. This week's game is a well-known edutainment classic: Fraction Fever. The plot of fraction fever is pretty simple: you're a guy on a pogo stick who bounces around and does stuff with fractions. Here is the only screenshot I could find with a Google image search: 
It's been about 12 years since I played this game, so forgive me if I'm a little sketchy. The guy on the pogo stick is you, obviously. Using the joystick, you would hop left and right. The number at the top of the screen is the fraction you're looking for. See, there would be fractions underneath some of the tiles on the floor. You had to find one that was equal to the number at top. But they'd try to trick you by having the fractions in different forms. For instance, if the top number was 2/3, then you might have to find something that said 2/3, or it might say 4/6, or have a visual representation like a pie chart. It was total bullshit, and nothing but a ploy to try to get you to learn fractions. Not that learning fractions isn't important (stay in school, kids), but whenever education and video games get mixed together, the results are always a mixed bag. "Edutainment" games generally fell into one of two categories; the first being games that are horrible (and there were a lot of them), and the second being games that fall short of their potential. I mean, Carmen San Diego was cool, right? But imagine this: what if, instead of Carmen San Diego being in the business of stealing historical artifacts, she had been in the business of MURDER? Imagine tracking a crazed serial killer across the globe, examining gruesome remains in every city in the world? And then, if you slipped up, you would meet your horrible end at the hands of Carmen's ice pick. And "Mario is Missing" could have been AWESOME if, instead of being a lame Carmen San Diego rip-off, it featured Luigi going all out and kicking goomba ass in his very own adventure game. One can only dream. Fraction Fever is one such game. Yeah, it was loads of fun. It had side to side action, elevators, platforms that broke underneath you, and horrible falls to your death if you went off the edge. But it was lacking in certain other areas. For example, falling was the ONLY way to die. And there wasn't any violence to speak of. In short, the game was lacking ACTION. Now, if the game had been stripped of any educational value, think of the possibilities. Without the fractions, you've got a guy on a pogo stick that has to go up this giant tower one floor at a time, as his footing crumbles beneath him. Not a bad start. This alone has the making of a good game, which Fraction Fever was. Now, all that has to be done to make it an AWESOME game is to dip into the Big List of Things That Make Video Games Better. For those of you unaware of this concept, the list includes the following items (any future video game developers take note): 1. Lazers 2. Ninjas 3. Martial Arts 4. Pirates 5. Nazis 6. Treasure 7. Fireballs 8. Robots 9. Naked Chicks 10. Kuribo's Shoe. The inclusion of any of these ten items increases the awesomeness of a given game exponentially. So, to make Fraction Fever better, we simply pick and choose from the list. It would be hard to work in all ten items, so we use the ones that fit the game best. Naked Chicks are a no-go, since this is an edutainment title and needs to be family friendly. We'll leave pirates out, because you have to save something for the sequel. So, using most of the remaining items, we can make a PHENOMENAL game. Here is the description of the original Fraction Fever, taken straight from the manual:
FRACTION FEVER is an exciting learning game that combines true educational value with honest-to-goodness fun for the whole family. As you hop along on your pogo stick, you'll be searching for the picture fraction that matches the fraction at the top of the screen. Spot the correct fraction and ride the Fraction Elevator up to higher floors. Eliminate incorrect fractions and score points. Matching fractions takes skill. The same fraction can be shown in several different ways, and while you are looking for fractions, you need to watch out for holes in the floor and keep an eye on the timer! For young players, FRACTION FEVER helps develop an understanding of what a fraction is. It uses numerical and visual representations to demonstrate relationships between different fractions. For the whole family, FRACTION FEVER is a terrific pogo-sticking fraction hopping good time!
Now, after our changes, here is the new description:
As you hop along on your pogo stick, you'll fight off axis ROBOT
NINJAS with your super-death action LAZER GUN. Dodge FIREBALLS and
ride the
For young players, For the whole family,
No offense to Spinnaker, but I'd rather play Nazi Treasure Fever any day of the week.
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