The Amazon Trail

Did You Know?

• The game incorporates realism including photographs and audio recordings taken at the corresponding locations.
• Facts on 30 different famous people of the Amazon basin are covered.
• Computer Gaming World in 1993 warned of the game's severe hardware requirements.

Plot

In the opening sequence, a person in Peru, Indiana dreams of a jaguar who calls himself the jaguar of the Inca King. The jaguar explains that the Inca people are threatened by malaria and European explorers, and sends the player back in time to find cinchona for the king. Throughout the game, the jaguar appears as a hazy vision, listing items the Inca King desires and offering gloomy remarks about the rainforest.

Gameplay

The player starts in Belém, Brazil, and chooses one of two native guides, Isabel or Antonio, each with a different supply spread (Antonio has more tents, Isabel more food). Players navigate the Amazon, avoiding hazards like other boats, logs, whirlpools, and wrong tributaries; travel through the forest to photograph and identify plants and animals; fish with harpoons and identify the catch; and trade with people at stops along the river. A guide lists all species except new ones. Dangers include capsizing (which can cause loss of supplies, injury, or drowning and game over), spearing an electric eel or stingray (which reduces health), and contracting diseases such as malaria or yellow fever, requiring rest. Paddling up the wrong tributary too long leads to capture by headhunters or western explorers. A unique time-travel element lets players pass through a blue mist before arriving at landmarks, where they can talk to two people—often a native and a Westerner offering conflicting information. The timeframe spans from 1993 back to the Middle Ages, and historical figures such as Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, and Claude Lévi-Strauss appear, with items tradeable for food or clothing.