{"id":6965,"date":"2018-03-13T15:48:32","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T19:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/?p=6965"},"modified":"2018-03-13T16:24:17","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T20:24:17","slug":"review-the-oregon-trail-handheld-basic-fun-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/2018\/03\/13\/review-the-oregon-trail-handheld-basic-fun-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Oregon Trail Handheld (Basic Fun, 2018)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As one of the most popular educational computer games of all-time – heck, one of the most popular computer games<\/em> of all-time – it’s not surprising that The Oregon Trail<\/strong> has popped up again as memes<\/a>, tchotkes, and hip card games<\/a>. But a full-featured, stand-alone, mass market handheld game? In 2018?<\/p>\n

Although seeming like an early April Fool’s joke, this Target-exclusive handheld from Basic Fun is quite real. Retailing for just $24.99<\/a>, it falls strictly into the classic plug and play impulse buy territory.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The front of the box. Photo credit: Bill Loguidice<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

The rear of the box. Photo credit: Bill Loguidice<\/p><\/div>\n

Although the physical design of this handheld brings to mind a classic Macintosh<\/a> –\u00a0The Oregon Trail <\/strong>–\u00a0which started life in 1971 on an HP 2100 minicomputer, became legendary in the 1980s on the Apple II<\/a> via MECC<\/a>, with countless school children vying to stop their wagon-bound avatars from dying of dysentery and finally settle in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Although it’s still unknown as of me writing this review whether this is some type of modified emulation or a new creation (I’m leaning towards the latter), it’s pretty clear that the assets at least are either from or inspired by the 1990 PC DOS version<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The front of the unit. Photo credit: Bill Loguidice<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

The rear of the unit. Photo credit: Bill Loguidice<\/p><\/div>\n

The handheld itself is about 5.5″ high, 3.5″ wide, and 1.5″ deep. The full color screen is 2.5″ diagonal. Although this may be a bit small for older eyes, the low resolution visuals should keep things readable for most.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, while the physical design says classic Macintosh, the feel of the buttons do bring to mind both mainframes and other classic computers like the aforementioned Apple II. This is definitely a nice, if somewhat intentionally vague, shot of nostalgia.<\/p>\n

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Despite having old eyes myself, I really like the screen. Photo credit: Bill Loguidice<\/p><\/div>\n

Besides the screen, the handheld’s other front facing elements include a power button (mock floppy disk), speaker, volume control button, status button (wagon icon), Enter button, Y button, N button, and unusual directional controls. This directional control consists of a four direction, triangular d-pad style control that’s flanked by four discrete diagonal buttons. This setup works well for most in-game situations, save for the hunting screens, where it can prove clumsy.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly for this price point, the required three AAA batteries<\/a> are included and pre-installed. You just need to pull the tab limiter from the back of the handheld and you’re ready to go.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Bill Loguidice (@bill_loguidice)<\/a> on