No, it's not Halo 3 or GTA. It's not Zelda or Mario Kart. It's not even Lode Runner, Dig Dug, or Pit Fall.
It's The Oregon Trail!
We used to play Oregon Trail during "computer time" at elementary. We had a room full of Apple II computers, with green monitors just one step up from an Etch A Sketch. Only half the class would come for a session, so most of us got our own computer.
Oregon Trail was an educational game with two-bit graphics of a wagon and an ox team. The oxen would move their legs and the landscape would scroll across. The graphics were nothing, really. What mattered was the text! It was basically a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game, with you being the wagonmaster. You had to hunt, choose trails, buy supplies, and bury the dead as you made your way to Oregon.
I know that it was a pretty hokey game ... but I remember it with a lot of nostalgia because it was one of the first experiences I had with a computer and because it was a game that required a lot of imagination. I think about that when I see these obese couch potato kids these days. It almost makes me wish we still played sandlot baseball or shot marbles.
Ok, now I know you video game purists are upset that I referred to Oregon Trail as the best game ever, when we all know it's not. Here's my Top 10, to finish off the post:
10) Dr. Mario
9) Lemmings
8) Mortal Kombat
7) Road Rash
6) Worms 3D
5) Warcraft II 
4) Madden NFL 2003
3) Mario Kart
2) Tetris
1) Super Mario World
7 years ago
6 comments:
#1 - Tetris
#2 - Mario Party
#3 - Super Mario Smash Bros.
My classic computer game favorite was Adventurer. It was on a classic floppy disk that we played at the McPherson house.
Remember when floppy disks were actually floppy? Ahhh, those were the days.
I feel angry towards Super Mario Smash Bros. I only played it once and our friend, Daniel, worked the board with me. I came in last every time!
I don't remember Adventurer, but I remember one we had called Wizard or Magic or something, where it was just a text game and the only "visuals" was a square of letters representing a maze.
It was one of those You-see-a-ghost-take-ghost-I-do-not-understand-that-command kind of games...
Remember when thumb drives were made with real thumbs? Ahhh, THOSE were the days.
You obviously haven't played "You Don't Know Jack!" It is a useless trivia game that insults you inbetween questions. Although I guess that is technically a "new classic." It is hysterical!
John actually still plays Magic or whatever that one is called. I don't get the enjoyment of it, but maybe it is just because I never played computer games much as a kid.
Welcome back to the blog world!
One of the guys in my office was taking the course for that SERE requirement that we all have to do because a couple of Brits made complete clowns of themselves when they were being held by the Iranians (oops, sorry for the digression)... anyway, one of the questions in the course was "what are the effects of dysentery?" to which I promptly blurted out "dude, you can totally die from that! Didn't they ever play the Oregon Trail???" Only like one other person got it. I felt old.
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