If you have fond memories of playing the educational game “The Oregon Trail” in elementary school, you should download the free lite offering for kicks. Don’t waste your money on the $4.99 edition.
Computer class was probably my favorite part of elementary school. And the only thing I remember from that class is playing “The Oregon Trail,” a game where you lead a family across America’s famed trail from Missouri to Oregon.
The game is now an iPhone app developed by Gameloft, which has added a few bells and whistles to enhance the nostalgic effect. The first thing you will notice is the improved graphics, which are dramatically better than the PC game. This version of “The Oregon Trail” also has plenty of new mini-games, such as picking berries, fishing and repairing your wagon.
After about 10 minutes of game play you realize that just about everything in this game is a mini-game – and yet I remember the original being a lot more fun. While I could spend hours hunting in the original game, I was bored within seconds in this version.
Some of the games are fun, like fishing and the river game, but nothing in here captured my attention like the original “Oregon Trail” did. The controls are simply too limited to offer a game that is fun for more than a couple of minutes.
