Oh, OK. Cool. Thanks. And that's awesome, I've only ever gotten the "purple" curse that makes the back end of your wagon bump around like crazy. This game is just dead awesome.
One time when Pa died on the way back from El Dorado, we picked up an indian girl at a village who became one of my family members. Unless I'm mistaken, I think I still have the regular mode high score with 1840. Woot. I also managed to get first place in the "historical" race, that was an intense voyage... So much pressure when you're in first place.
This is one of those games that hits a certain niche right in the funny bone, and is going to leave everyone else shaking their heads and wondering why anyone is wasting their money. That theory is definitely proving itself out in this thread. I happen to be one of the "believers" as are several of my friends and coworkers and I'll attempt to explain why: - We're all in our 30's and have a certain nostalgia for old Apple II games - Oregon Trail was a part of our childhoods, and this game incorporates most elements from the original in a more interesting way than the actual Oregon Trail remake from Gameloft. If you're going to fundamentally change the source material, at least make it fun. So Long, Oregon does that. - As another poster mentioned, the game does play a lot like Excite Bike, which is not a bad game to emulate. Is it perfect? No of course not. While much of the presentation is hearkens back the original, some of the UI is just intentionally ugly and/or induces seizure. The courses appear to be randomly generated which means that some playthroughs can be maddeningly frustrating if two steep mountains are placed too close together and for whatever reason there's little chance to get enough speed to clear the valley between them. I do think the physics are a tad too sensitive so it's far too easy to roll the wagons for the slightest miscalculation on the angle. I also think the wagon stays upside down too long. I'd rather take somewhat more punishing injuries to my party and flip back over just a little sooner. But then again, this is a brutal trip back to the difficulty level of 80's video games, so that's probably intentional. One final note, I love to play the Original Oregon Trail challenge. The absurdity of 20 wagons flipping over each other in a mad dash to the finish always makes me smile.
Agreed on all points. This is turning out to be one of my favorite games on the app store. Or, if not favorite, at least one of my most played. Sure it can be intentionally frustrating sometimes, but it seems to do so in such a way that makes you chuckle at the ridiculousness of it all, rather than chucking your iPhone at the wall in a fit of rage. And really, a lot of those Apple II games were frustrating enough to make you want to rip the 5 and 1/4 '' disc in half, so it's kind of nostalgic in that way as well. It does definitely do a good job of feeding my Oregon Trail joneses too. Even though the game play is fundamentally changed, they managed to capture the addictiveness of the journey and trying to get there with all members of your party alive. Somehow Gameloft's Oregon Trail just never did this for me. They replaced all the depth I liked with a bunch of repetitive and annoying minigames that didn't fit with the tone of the rest of the game (though I did like fishing). Also, it's true that anyone I've showed this game to (that's near my age and remembers the original Oregon Trail) has absolutely loved it.
So true. I once got my wagon stuck perfectly between two hills so there was no way out. Rather than being frustrating, it was just hilarious. My solution was to shake my family to death.
Ha! Actually the exact same thing happened to me once. I ended up doing a flip in such a way that I landed back end up directly between two quite steep hills with seemingly no way to tip myself onto one or the other. I ended up just restarting because I totally forgot you could torture your family to death by shaking the device.
Just hit the little icon of a wagon on the top left of the intro screen. It should turn into the enviro bear car.
What does shaking do?... and once you hit el derado you have to go back the way you came? I'm having fun but still a little confused...
I could have sworn I got a small speed boost? Maybe it's just my imagination?.. Now what about hitting el derado and then what turn around and go back?! I'm so confused... Maybe that's what the dev's wanted though...
Yeah, once you get to El Dorado and get the gold, you have to turn back. Travelling backwards. Unless Indians give you the blue curse, which will occasionally allow you to go forwards on the way back. I think the confusion is part of the fun, but once you get used to the game it all starts to make perfect sense. Right on the splash screen when you start the game, at the very top left, there should be a little green square with what looks like an ox and your wagon in it (right beside the little white music and volume buttons). Hit that and it should change into the enviro bear car. I thought I noticed this once too, but I figured it was just my imagination. Will have to try it again. Seriously, this game owns. Whatever core element of the original Oregon Trail had me hopelessly addicted, these guys nailed. Actually.. I was an excitebike addict too. Maybe they just nailed exactly what I liked about both those games and pooled them together into this.
It doesn't flip you the whole way, but I'm sure it gives you a nudge, you have to keep shaking for it to be enough to get you over.
If you can't find the Envirobear icon, try connecting to wi-fi and enabling Open Feint. I'm not completely sure, but I think the icon didn't appear for me until after I did this.
Oh yeah, true. Forgot about that. I think you have to have Open Feint enabled and connect as apparently it's a "limited time" deal thing, kind of like the hat and mask for early adopters of Super QuickHook.
