Oregon Trail Comes to iPhone

Death by dysentery just went mobile. The edutainment classic Oregon Trail is coming soon for Apple's iPhone.

The reputation of Oregon Trail has certainly seen a boost in popularity in the past few years as childhood nostalgia has become a certifiable commodity. When you can buy a t-shirt that has a picture of a covered wagon rendered in Apple II-era graphics with the words "you have died of dysentery" underneath, it's only a matter of time before you're going to see a remake of the game for current technology. And where else to sell the game than on everyone's favorite handheld everything-machine, the iPhone?

Developed by Gameloft for other mobile phones and now coming soon for Apple's phone, the new Oregon Trail remake gives the original game a new cartoony art style that's more reminiscent of free-to-play MMOG Maple Story or maybe Metal Slug.

Otherwise it seems to have all the same gameplay hallmarks of the original: you stock up on supplies and choose when to set out at the beginning (protips: don't go in the winter and bring a doctor) and then you ride the Trail and hope to make it to the best part, the water rafting minigame at the end. Along the way you'll shoot bears and buffalo (looks like Gameloft eschewed the first-person shooting for a third-person style), try out various new minigames like fishing and wagon repair, avoid being robbed by bandits and dying of diseases like dysentery.

The game will be available on the App Store on February 28, according to the Los Angeles Times. No word on pricing, though the other mobile versions of the game go for 4 bucks. Try out the demo here, and do not pay the Indian. Who needs their help?