Apple 2 Classic Games

Posted by Toni | on December 15, 2007

Number Munchers, Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail… remember the joy of these classic games and their floppy disk glory.

Apple 2 During the 80s, almost every school had at least a few Apple II’s. It was the beginning of Edutainment: Number Munchers, Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail… if you’re genX or Y or somewhere in there… you probably remember the joy of these classic games and their floppy disk glory.

I came across a fantastic site called Virtual Apple 2 — an online Apple II disk archive an emulator, allowing visitors to “boot” over 1200 old software titles from the comfort of their browser.

I’ve been itching to play a game called Odell Lake for the Apple II since I first played it on a classroom PC in the late 80s. It’s been a 20 year-ish itch…. and as of last week Virtual Apple 2 added this long lost title to it’s archive.

Odell Lake Title Screen

In this game you are a fish and try to eat smaller fish while avoiding otters, ospreys and fishermen. I played for a bit last night, didn’t get very far. It was a little disappointing, as my desire and nostalgia for the game had grown steadily over the last 20 years — while the game has remained the same… If you have a similar itch, here is the link to play Odell Lake.

Oregon Trail River Crossing So, I quickly gave up on Odell Lake and booted up Oregon Trail.

This game is still fantastic, imo.

Gathering supplies, attempting to ford a river, getting dysentery, wagon fires… it was all exciting and we didn’t even know we were learning.

You can play Oregon Trail on the same website.

Oregon Trail Hunting

A few other of my fav’s that you can find on Virtual Apple II:

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1984) - If you know the best way to fly is to throw yourself at the ground and miss, then this game is for you. I remember my friend bringing this game into school on a 5.25 floppy disk - so we could play it in the puter lab. Number Munchers Text-based rules! PS: Look in your pocket and eat the pill.