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07-18-25 07:37 AM

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Play Oregon Trail, The Online

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2,041
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8
Rating
5
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OPEN
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tornadocam
06-09-15 02:14 PM
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kennethg
06-13-16 04:22 PM
System
Apple II
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6.9
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Game's Ratings
Overall
Graphics
Sound
Addictiveness
Depth
Story
Difficulty
Average User Score
6.9
5.7
4.3
8
7.3
8
7.3
tornadocam's Score
7.9
8
5
8
7
7
6

06-09-15 02:14 PM
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Today we are taking a trip out west. We are going to go through the Nation's Heartland, the Rocky Mountains, and to the West Coast. Nah just kidding but I'm going to review one of the early computer games. Its a blast from the past and it is the Oregon Trail 

Plot: 7

The year is 1848 and many Americans are expanding out west. One of the popular destinations is to Oregon. In real life this was know as the Oregon trail that started in Missouri and ended in Oregon. Okay back to the video game now. The player is given the role of a Wagon Leader and must guide his or her's party to Oregon. The starting point is Independence Missouri  The trail will not be easy as the player must battle obstacles, having enough food, supplies, oxen, and battle other elements. It will be a trail to get Oregon. Will you get your party to Oregon or die trying. 

Okay this is a basic plot but was nicely done for a game that came from the 1970's. Unlike future video games, there is no bad guy to go after or anything like that. However this is an educational game. It was supposed to highlight the hardships that people faced going on the real Oregon trail. I think the makers of that game did that well by having you the player face obstacles in your quest. To me that shows creativity. I also like it how since this is an educational game they tried to make it match the real life event. Some would say this is not a good plot but as I said this is an early game. At the end of the day I give the plot a good 7 out of 10.  

Graphics and Controls: 8 

This is not a controller game that most of us have become costumed to since the 1980's. This used the keyboard as its control. Also keep in mind that when this game was developed the Desktop Computer had just come out and was being used for the first time in the 1970's. 

I think the graphics are amazing considering this was before controls and just when the first desk computers were coming out. I like the backgrounds in this game it seems to fit nicely. I also like the color of the background. The Mountains are green in the background and while its nothing fancy. You can tell they are trying to make the Mountains appear green to indicate there are trees on them. I like the clouds in the sky as well. The water is blue which was nicely done.  That was a nice touch. The sprites are good considering when this game was developed. Now by modern standards they would be out of whack some. You can tell how far sprites have come since the early days of video games.  

The controls are nicely done too since this is the early days of video games. The controls might appear to be sluggish now but again from the era this game came from they are good. The controls are the keyboard as I have stated. You gain control in the video game w hen you hunt as you can walk around and fire bullets. That was a nice touch. Overall the graphics and controls are pretty good for this being an early game. I give them a solid 8 out of 10. 

Sound: 5 

I played this game a lot in elementary school and I do not remember much of the sound. But other video games from the era this game was made in I don't remember them having much sound either. Now, the opening sounds makes me think of pioneer music. Which is what this game is based off of so that was a nice touch. Also when crossing rivers if your wagon crashes the game does make sound to let you know you goofed. So that keeps the sound from getting a lower rating. They could have put more sound in this game though. I would have liked their to have been more music and more sound effects. The second version of this game Oregon Trail II fixed that. But the makers of this game could have done that as well. So I give the sound a middle of the road rating 5 out of 10. 

Replay Value: 8 

I played this game a lot in Elementary school. I'm sure kids who grew up in the 80's and 90's played this game. This game was addictive to me and my classmates. As we would play this game during free time after the teacher got done with their lessons. Another reason I got to play this game. Is my mom also worked at the Elementary school I attended. So before I could go home I had to wait till she got done. So my teachers would let me play this game till it was time to go to my Mom's work area when she would get off. I had a blast playing this game. It was fun and it made the time fly by. I found this game to be addictive as I wanted to see how far I could get, most of the time I made it to Oregon. I also liked to hunt for food in the game that added replay value. Now as I grew older I played this game less as well homework and school work got longer as I moved up in Grades. Also as new games came out I played them more than this one. Still I give the replay or addictiveness value a solid 8 out of 10. 

Depth: 7  

The Oregon trail surprisingly had a lot of depth to it. No it is not in the same league as Mario or Mega Man games. Those games are special and came a decade after this one was made. But for an early video game there was a lot to do in this game. The hunting part and being able to hunt your own food really adds depth to this game. You could take small game, medium game or big game depending on your needs in the game. You could also get different things at the start of the game too. So it was often fun to play the game again using different tools or getting certain items. This game also took a while. It is and was not a game you could beat in less than 20 minutes. The game makes you go through the Great Plains, the Rockies, and other Mountains so it takes awhile. I give the depth rating a good 7 out of 10. I don't think it should be higher cause this is not a game like the modern video games we know today. But it does have a lot of stuff to do in this game. 

Difficulty: 6 

I wrestled with the difficulty rating on this one. When I first played this game I think I was in like 2nd grade maybe. It was kind of hard cause it required problem solving and what to do in situations. However the more I played it at the end of the school year (2nd Grade) it became so much easier. I remember when I first played this game I sometimes died on the way to Oregon in the game. Usually what would get me is crossing the Rivers and then I would die of a disease. But once you get the hang of it this game is not so difficult. One you  moved up in grades the game came easier and easier. 

But, their is a little bit of randomness to this game too. Even if your good at math and got all of the right things you could still die on the way to Oregon. You could still get sick, have bad luck such as oxen dying, and die due to the elements. There was a chance you would have bad luck while hunting too and end up starving. So even if you had all of the right things there was a chance you could still die. I found it as I got older to be random. Also other members getting sick or getting hurt was random too. I had a few members of my team in the game get sick at random or get tired. Some recovered and some died. That was pretty Random. In fact there is a good chance at least 1 or 2 of your team members in the game will not make it. 

However, the game does help you out. You have the opportunity to buy extra stuff in the game. Such as you can get extra bullets, guns, general supplies and oxen. If you buy extra things and have a surplus there is a good chance you and most of your team will make it to Oregon.  In addition, you can hunt for food as I stated you could have bad luck doing that. But most of the time you will get something to feed your team. The game gives you several chances to sheet medium to large sized game. So that helps. 

I would give the difficulty a moderate rating of 6 out of 10. Because even if you get extra items there is still that randomness that the game has. Also you can have bad luck in this game too. I liked this game cause it would test your problem solving skills or if you were a kid help develop them. As you will be faced with situations and have to take action such as crossing the river, what to do when team members get sick, and what to do when weather elements come up.  But the game is not a hard game once you get it figured out. 

Overall Rating 7.9 

Growing up in the 80's and 90's it was fun to play this game. Me and my friends could not wait till we got free time at the end of the day to play this game. If we got done with the lesson early or we only had to go to school for half a day. We were glad when the teacher told us we could get on the computers. Now days from what I hear kids today do not get that opportunity due to Common Core and standardized testing. Back in my day we did not have any of that so we got to enjoy this game. 

On days we only had to go half a day we would play this game for hours. I really enjoyed this game playing it at school. While it was fun it was educational too such as I have mentioned it helped develop your problem solving skills. But it also had the suspense too due to the randomness I mentioned under the difficult section.

The game had good graphics controls, depth, replay and the right difficulty level for a game like this. This game I think came out in the mid 1970's. It makes you look at this game and say my how we have come a long way since then in video and computer games. This game was very successful too as this computer game was available for home purchase later on as well. So people could purchase this game as a computer game too. The makers of this game hit a home run in making this game considering the desktop computer and games were in their early stages. 

Now there were some negatives in this game. First of all you can tell the graphics were pretty basic, but I do not hold that against this game cause of the era it was made in. I really though would liked the game to have a better soundtrack. It would have been nice had they had some type of music going along the journey. Music can help a game in so many ways. Sometimes as your making the journey it can create a dull feeling to the game. However the situations that come up make up for that though. Several years later they made Oregon Trail II which was a modern version of this game with better graphics. From what I remember it had a soundtrack. Even though as I stated the sprites were alright for this game and the era it came from. Sometimes it seems the sprites get out of whack while hunting. You can tell its an early game as sprites are primitive to what they are now. 

Still this was and still is a fun game to play. Even for adults this can be a fun game to play. Its one of those games that seems to age well. As far as recommending this game. Yes I would recommend this game it is fun for all ages. If you have a young child that is just starting school this would be a good game to introduce to them because its educational. They will learn some history, math skills and how to solve problems. If your an adult then play this game for entertainment. The negatives in this game are minor. So I give the overall rating a 7.9 

Hope you enjoy this game as much as I did when I was a lot younger. 
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06-09-15 09:57 PM
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Having grown up in Oregon, this game was a big part of my fun memories from Grade school. Mainly because it was one of the few games that we could regularly play in school and not get in trouble. Heck, on some days it was encouraged.

Great game and good job with the review. I look forward to reading more reviews from you in the future.
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06-10-15 11:54 AM
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Jordanv78 :   Yup.  We didn't get in trouble for playing "The Oregon Trail."  The other permitted game was "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" 
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06-10-15 02:34 PM
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MeatAndPotatoes : So many good memories.  I loved "WitWiCS" growing up.  I had the version that correlated to the PBS game show.  With "The Chief" and all that.  It's such a classic.  But my favorite educational game was "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego".  I played it many times over.  It's a classic, as well, but was also short.  The dialogue was pretty swell.
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06-10-15 10:58 PM
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tornadocam:

I grew up in a rural area, we didn't have access to this game then, so my first time with Oregon Trail was just about last year. I also enjoyed the web's zombie-filled homage game - Organ Trail, by TMWWMH.

Is a OK review for me, the best parts are your personal discussions growing up with this game, that add a unique tone to your review.
Since this is an educational game, I felt the need to point out a possible spelling error? Could be wrong though, but  I think you meant this word..


"This is not a controller game that most of us have become accustomed to since the 1980's."


maybe? 
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(edited by endings on 06-10-15 10:59 PM)    

06-12-15 09:47 AM
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Great review and a wonderful read. This game takes me back. It was my first game I ever played on a computer. God now I feel old.
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06-12-15 12:27 PM
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Despite my college degrees I have never been good at spelling a lot of that I guess is due to my Autism. Thank you all for the kind words. Yes, I remember were in the world is coming Carmen San Diego. That was another one that was allowed during school  hours. Another one that was allowed was Operation Neptune I believe is what it was called.  
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06-12-15 03:14 PM
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tornadocam :   Hmm...  I don't remember "Operation Neptune."  Sounds like a way to learn about space and planets.

Another educational game we were allowed to play was "Odell Lake."  (It's an Apple II game, here on Vizzed.) 

https://www.vizzed.com/play/odell-lake-appleii-online-apple-ii-6044-game

You're a fish, and you sit on the right side of the screen.  Another fish appears on the left.  You have to decide whether you want to try to eat it, ignore it, or run away.  You get points, based on your judgement of whether it's a fish you can eat, it poses no threat, or it wants to eat you.

Good times.
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(edited by MeatAndPotatoes on 06-12-15 03:22 PM)    

06-13-16 04:22 PM
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Did you also have the problem with it asking to flip the "diskette" to continue.
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