Hoyle Classic Board Games
Reviewed by Craig Sorrels
Published by Sierra
Age Group: Age 4 to 8, Age 8 and Up, Adults
Type: Board/Card Games
Price: $34.95Description:
Hoyle Classic Board Games by Sierra has enough games to keep the whole family happy. There's Checkers or Snakes & Ladders for the little ones. Chess, Battling Ships, & Chinese Checkers will entice the strategist, and if you want to see how your luck is running, there's Dominoes, Pachisi, Backgammon, & Yacht. Finishing up the top ten is a Chinese game called Zen Bones. The idea behind this game is to match the tiles (bones), which come in seven categories. If you don't know Chinese characters, don't worry - the computer will find the matching tiles for you. The bonus card games are Hearts and Pyramid Solitaire. The handbook has a history of each board game as well as comprehensive rules.
Features:
- 10 classic board games.
- Shortcut keys.
- 2 bonus card games.
- Multiplayer over the Internet.
- Excellent documentation.
Technical Aspects:
Game play is smooth, but a little slow, and the audio is a choppy with the 2X CD. Internet play was also a bit slow. To keep things interesting there are three skill levels & 12 opponents, including a bear. I even enjoyed Snakes & Ladders because of the characters. Besides the skill level of your opponents, you can decide how talkative they are. The more they talk, the more smart-mouthed they become. You can't make them shut up, but you'll probably want to turn Langley down as far as you can - he's an extremely irritating attorney. The graphics are all very realistic, and the artwork adds to the characterizations.
Report & Conclusion
Classic board games are always a favorite around our house, so this title has been used quite a bit. The one drawback is that you cannot play a turn-based game; it's you and the computer or multiplayer over the Net. If that one problem doesn't scare you off, though, you'll have a great time playing your way through Hoyle Classic Board Games.
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