So Long, Oregon! Review

By , on August 16, 2010


So Long, Oregon!
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Oregan Trail? Nuts to that, lets get some gold!
  • Challenging alternate modes.
  • Universal iDevice support.

CONS

  • Controls and gameplay are hard to enjoy, making replays less likely over time.

VERDICT

'So Long, Oregon! Let's go find... EL DORADO' is a tongue-in-cheek arcade adaption of the classic edutainment title and is bound to get a chuckle out of some long-time gamers.


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'So Long, Oregon!' by Blinkbat Games pokes fun at the classic edutainment title Oregan Trail and honestly, why shouldn't it? The distant echo of words like 'dysentery' still litter the cultural landscape and it was high time a game like this came along to bring closure to this painful chapter in the lives of many gamers.

Almost everything about this title reaches for parody, from the old-school VGA/EGA style graphics to the inclusion of 'realistic' physics that are almost guaranteed to result in a broken leg or arm in your pioneer family. The controls are kept to a minimum, with two buttons to move back and forward, while touching the screen can allow you to fire in up to two directions at the same time. However don't expect this to be an easy ride, this is a parody after all and the game is equally as frustrating in its arcade incarnation as its original one and players will need to master performing flips and shaking their iDevice in order to turn over their wagons before serious harm is inflicted on the family.

And while playing the basic mode will flip those nostalgia buttons, additional modes have been included to either ramp up the challenge to impossible levels or entering your family in to a non-stop race against 19 other wagons.

But ultimately humor and parody can only last so long and the intentionally frustrating controls and excessively difficult gameplay will eventually render the game just as irritating to play as the original; recommended for those after a good laugh.

Screenshots

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