Portable Pilgrimage- Oregon Trail Reviewed

If nothing else, most action or puzzle games can train one’s reflexes,
logic, and spatial-relation skills. Still, the creation of educational
games is a daunting task to be sure. While it may seem that the amount
of actual teaching put in to an educational game is inversely
proportional to its level of fun, this is definitely not the case.
Students and gamers alike have fond memories of their encounters with
the
Oregon Trail computer
games. The games have previously featured surprisingly successful
attempts at realism (even in the early days of computing), combined
with genuinely fun simulation gameplay, and a dark possibly
unintentional comedic value. The Oregon Trail is now meandering through iPhones/Touches everywhere and it’s still swarming with determined but disease-ridden pioneers.

The Oregon Trail has seen several iterations and updates
(sequels, as well) over the years. The gameplay has usually been an
interactive statistical, partly randomized simulation of the tasks and
dangers that were faced by pioneers traveling the actual Oregon Trail
back in the 1800s. Some action gameplay elements involving hunting,
floating down rivers, etc. are interspersed to break up the potential
monotony of simply making choices along the trail. The Oregon Trail
was a game that successfully taught you a good amount about the plight
of our American ancestors while being fun and even funny. Afterall,
it’s a bit jarring to have a simulated family member easily die of
dysentary when, in our time, most of us don’t want to so much as leave
the house with a bad headache.

Unfortunately, the iPhone/Touch version of the Oregon Trail is
best summed up with the word, “almost”. It seems they’ve made the poor
decision of making the game a bit too accessible for the recent trend
of casual gaming. The action gameplay elements took the form of decent
minigames that were usually much too easy. Granted, I do routinely
state how I enjoy difficult games, but the “normal” difficulty was no
challenge at all. I had no trouble easily completing normal mode “Ahead
of schedule” with my family members all accounted for and in decent
health. I then unlocked hard mode, which should have been playable from
the beginning, and found not much more of a challenge until an eagle
swooped down (when I opted not to shoot it) and took one of my robust
children and gave me no recourse once it happened. She was gone for
good. Yes, while the game doesn’t set out to strictly devote itself to
realism, that was way too absurd and random for a game like this.

The iPhone/Touch version is attractive and colorful with well-animated
Looney Tunes-like animation. The music, while a bit too similar to
midi-files for a device with an iPod built in, is fun and successfully
utilizes a few different styles of music while remaining fairly
appropriate to the time-period and setting. However, it does get
somewhat repetitive even in the course of one trip down the trail. The
sound features some nice samples of the appropriate gunshots or
hammer-strikes, but the voice samples, while amusing and well-acted
were repeated too often. Despite the mostly successful aesthetics and
audio, the game is plagued with a loading screen with practically every
change of task or location. Most are quick enough to bear and contain
interesting historical facts, but they grow tiresome. I have to wonder
if they couldn’t have been lessened or removed with code optimizations.

Still, this is a good game that has just been stricken with some
unfortunate ailments. I was pleased to see a good amount of
historically accurate facts and
personalities in my travels down the Oregon Trail. The story elements
in the game were mostly culturally sensitive but
not overly politically correct either. If you enjoyed the original
games but thought they were a bit on the overly sadistic side, you may
be happy with a trip down this Oregon Trail. Just be aware the trip will cost you $5.99 USD and I can’t guarantee you’ll want to take it more than once.