Gameloft’s take on The Oregon Trail has finally arrived in the App Store. Players will embark on a journey from Michigan, to Oregon, using the iPhones touch screen and accelerometer to master the 6 minigames throughout.
The official release description offers the following features:
-- All of the decision-making and problem-solving fun of the original game, plus additional parameters to take the Oregon Trail experience even further than you’ve played before.
-- 8 skill-based mini-games, including 2 accelerometer-based challenges: hunting, fishing, river crossing, rafting, wagon repairing, telegraph, berry picking, and gold panning.
-- Random events (disease, bandits, hitchhikers, etc.) faced by real pioneers increases the challenge.
-- Side-missions add more excitement to your journey, affecting your westward trek.
-- Prepare for your departure: Select the members of your party, choose your departure date and purchase supplies.
Gameloft provides an official trailer which shows the variety of events in the game:
Name: The Oregon Trail
Publisher: GameLoft and the Learning Company
Price: $5.99
Platform: iPhone and iPod touch
Just as the more than quarter of a million emigrants did starting in 1834, The Oregon Trail sets you off from St Louis, Missouri. You lead a family of five along the rough trail, maintaining your wagon and keeping food in good supply.
The wellbeing of your family is balanced against the speed at which you travel. Travelling at a slow pace may keep your wagon in pristine condition, but it means eating more food because the trip takes longer, and risking a wintry arrival in Oregon. On the other hand, moving too fast tires out your family and wears down your wagon quickly.
2000 miles of trail is dotted with dozens of camps, river crossings, landmarks, and forts that mark your progress. These stops allow you to restock low supplies, talk with locals, and even take on simple quests such as delivering packages or competing in a wagon race.
Food stock can be replenished by purchasing goods at Matt's General Store in any fort, and you can trade with Native American villages along the route. You can also take part in hunting and gathering mini-games.
Touchscreen hunting makes shooting cuddly rabbits and nutty squirrels an easy tap. Bigger game like deer and buffalo, however, demand more effort. Fishing and a new berry foraging mini-game join the mix.
An assortment of other mini-games are tied to wagon repairs, gold mongering, river crossing, and telegraphing. Gold panning, in particular, earns recognition for tailoring to the handset's accelerometer. Tilting the device back and forth sifts out nuggets that you can collect with a tap of the screen.
While these mini-games won't have you stampeding to play The Oregon Trail, they do introduce an entertaining variety.
Improvements to the presentation and flow of play are also immediately apparent. The difficulty has been tweaked to ensure treatment along the journey, although random hazards remain as a reminder of the realities of trail life.
Vibrant vector graphics replace the pixels of old, bringing a fresh charm to this revamped release. Lengthy loading times are the price paid for this visual overhaul, unfortunately.
Having to wait a few seconds when moving between the trail and pit stops is slightly annoying, yet The Oregon Trail is so much fun to play that it's but a small hang up.
