Remake the educational games, but KEEP THEM AS IS. In other words, keep all the original graphics, sounds, and controls, but make them work on current platforms.
Here's the problem--when CD-ROM became popular in the mid-90s, all the educational games tried too hard to be video games. They added distracting music, cutsey graphics that added nothing to the program, corny speech, and tons of unnecessary videos. The programs became too much about the presentation and not enough about the education. Customization started to go the way of the dinosaur as well, which led to differentiation becoming tough--all while educational research supports differentiating as much as possible.
The current stuff is mostly junk. The remakes are glitchy and don't retain something which worked--the old interface. The web-based stuff is web-based. If the network goes down, so does your lesson. The iOS stuff is crude and unpolished, plus everything is way too cartoony.
The old programs had the right balance of educational focus and visual appeal, plus the sounds were simple and non-distracting--they were just enough to enhance the experience. Why can't we do something like that again?
Could some things be added? Possibly. Here are some ideas:
--New Math Blaster Plus--
Remake the program (all four modules). Keep all graphics and sound as-is. Add an option to change the number of right answer tries for Rocket Launcher and Trash Zapper, add an option to use variables in Trash Zapper (instead of blanks), and add the option of a timer.
--Midnight Rescue--
Remake the program (floppy version). Keep all graphics and sound-as is. Add a customization option for difficulty (rather than self-adjustment) and increase the number of objects the robots can have (not in terms of having more than 4 each, but have more so kids don't figure out which answers are usually right).
--Kid Pix--
Remake the program (original floppy version). Stick a few extra rubber stamps in the program. Boost the number of available colors slightly to allow for more variety of skin tones, pinks, and purples.
--Kid Works 2--
Remake the program (original floppy version). Increase the number of icons. Add a separate box for adverbs. Enhance the voice module.
--Spell-A-Saurus--
Remake the program. Keep all graphics as-is. Redo the music in the driving game. Enhance the voice module.
--Munchers-- (all four--Word, Number, Super, Fraction)
Remake the programs. Keep graphics and sound as-is. Make it easier to edit words in Word Munchers.
--Carmen Sandiego-- (World, USA, Europe, Time--all original, non-Deluxe versions)
Remake the programs. Keep graphics and sound as-is. Update the programs to reflect changes since the 1980s.
--Print Shop--
Re-release the original, non-deluxe graphics as a clip-art set, but make them scalable.
--Math Blaster Mystery--
Remake the program. Keep graphics and sound as-is. Increase the number of word problems and randomize them better.
--Alge-Blaster Plus--
Remake the program. Keep graphics and sound as-is. Allow for slightly more customization.
--Original Sim Games-- (City, Ant, Earth, Life, original Sims)
Remake the programs. Keep graphics and sound as-is. Update SimCity to include schools and hospitals. Increase quality of graphics in remake of Sims, but keep it simple like the original program. Emphasize psychology a little more here to make it more educational.
--Oregon Trail--
Remake the program. Add a few more landmarks/rivers and set the year of travel to 1847 to include the Whitman Mission, which was destroyed that year.
--Shufflepuck Cafe--
I know it's not educational, but remake it anyway. Use the original graphics, colorize them, and allow for a B&W toggle switch for purists. Keep all sound, but add the awesome intro music from the Amiga during the loading sequence.
--Battle Chess--
Remake the B&W version. Colorize it, but do better than the mess that is the DOS version. Don't add the music, but keep everything else (including sounds) as-is.
--OutNumbered--
Remake the floppy version. Keep as-is in all respects but allow a switch to disable the on-screen calculator.
