Marathon

Author Geoff Brown is the founder of US Gold.

Nothing turns off the typical home arcader more than even a whisper of the word "educational". All electronic games are learning experiences, at least to some extent, but the ones which overtly attempt to drum some particular subject into the player's noggin are often looked upon with considerable disdain.
It isn't hard to explain. Electronic gaming is supposed to be entertainment and few people are that entertained by extra doses of schoolwork.
On the other hand, a program like Marathon, simple to play with good visuals to hold attention, can transform tedious drills into something a bit more pleasurable.
This well-done game tests the abilities of one or two players to quickly solve simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division questions. It is possible to have all questions involve one type of arithmetic operation or a grab bag approach can be chosen to sharpen overall mathematical skill.
Runners advance along this race's course by successfully picking the right answer to each problem from a series of possibilities by using the joystick. Every fifth question challenges the player to furnish the multiple of a given number as quickly as possible.