Pony Express Rider

Wanted!! Riders For Pony Express!

A Review of Pony Express Rider

Rich Cunningham

Buffalo Bill. Calamity Jane. Wild Bill Hickock. Wyatt Earp.

What do all these names have in common? They are all legends of the old

West. Back in the early days of the western United States, it was a wild and

wooly time, where the law was determined by who was fastest with a gun

(sometimes). It was also a time for technological expansion, the beginning

of the industrial revolution that continues to this day. In those days, the

telegraph was a new invention. Sending a message across the country, well,

that might take several months, since the telegraph didn’t reach from coast

to coast. Mail was the only way, and that was by wagon train, or by ship,

and very expensive.

For years the best way to have the pioneer experience was to play the

computer game Oregon Trail, and most recently, Oregon Trail II. These

educational games were accurate recreations of the westward movement,

simulating the trials and tragedies of taking a wagon train to Oregon. Now

there is a new game that helps students explore another side to the Old

West, and it is published by McGraw-Hill Home Interactive. The name of the

program is Pony Express Rider, and is an educational recreation of moving

the mail in the old west.

The Pony Express was an organization that was created to move the mail from

the East Coast to California on the eve of the Civil War. It was

accomplished by setting up a series of relay stations with horses and

riders. They would make short hops at high speed to accomplish this rapid

delivery of the mail. It was a dangerous job, but an important one.

The game recreates the job of delivering the mail. It basically has two

parts. The first is the planning and exploring of the towns and mail

stations on the route. Here the player learns the historical events that are

happening, and must plan his route according to them. There are chances to

interact with townspeople, learn about the small details of history, and

work on a puzzle that will uncover a plot that…..well, for that, you’ll

have to play the game. The second part is that actual ride itself, where the

player must guide his horse along the trail, avoiding animals, bandits, and

decode messages that are received along the way. The goal of the game is for

player to become a Hero of the Pony Express. This is done by building up

hero points. These points are gained by delivering the mail on time, helping

others, performing heroic acts, and solving puzzles that help uncover a plot

that.. oh, yeah, I wasn’t going to talk about that puzzle.

This program has a lot of similarities to the Oregon Trail series of games.

But the emphasis here is more on social studies and history, and is

presented in a quite unique way. It is in a “you are there” type format,

presented as if you, the player, were actually there as it is happening.

When you check in with the manager of the relay station, you get the latest

news, such as the election of Abraham Lincoln as President. History to us,

current events to the player(s) in the game. The actions that the player

takes can affect the outcome of the story, and even change history. Quite

unique, in my opinion.

Installation went off with no problems. It will only run on Windows 95 based

systems, and a Pentium Processor is recommended. It is aimed for children

ages nine to fourteen, but that can vary based on individual children and

their abilities and interests. There are a lot of historical references

within the program, and McGraw-Hill has supplemented that information with

more on their web site (http://www.mhhi.com). There is even a link to the

National Pony Express Association

(http://ccnet4.ccnet.com/-xptom/welcome.htm) for more information.

If adventure games are to your liking, get this game. If good quality

educational software is something you like, get this game. If both these

qualities are to your liking, then run, don’t walk to your local computer

store and get this title.

School House Scorecard

Product:	Pony Express Rider
Company:	McGraw-Hill Home Interactive 601 Gateway Blvd. South San Francisco CA 94080 Customer service: 801-614-5814 Tech Support: 541-884-7405 E-Mail: info@mhhi.com Internet: www.mhhi.com/
Cost:	$39.95

System Requirements:

IBM: 486/66 (Pentium required); Windows 95; 8mb ram (16mb recommended); 2X

CD ROM (4X recommended); 8bit Soundblaster or 100% compatible (16bit

recommended); 15mb free hard disk space; VLB or PCI bus SVGA 256 colors;

speakers
Macintosh: available early 1997

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 3
Learning Value 4
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 4.5
Sound 3

Overall Score: