42 All-Time Classics (DS) Review
Posted by Steve McHugh on 10.24.2006
Does exactly what it says on the tin.
42 All-Time Classics (Or the USA title of Clubhouse games) is a bit of a lie really because not all 42 games are in fact classics. Most yes but not all of them. Although I guess they couldn’t really call it 36 All-time Classics and a couple of other ones so I’ll forgive their inaccurate title. This particular collection houses some of the best card and board games of all time and it managed to recreate most in a faithful manor. But is it worth the £20 ($35) budget price?
Graphics
The best way to describe the look of the game is to say that it does exactly enough. None of the games look fantastic and the game doesn’t exactly push the system in anyway but everything is clear and colorful with some games having quite nice touches. For example unlocking the stone skin for darts means you’re now throwing flintheads at the board. The only problem with the graphics that I’ve found is that on some games, dominos mainly, when there is a lot going on the bottom screen zooms out and it’s harder to see what is actually going on. It’s never so bad that you’ll switch the game off but it does cause a few cases of squinting.
Not the most exciting screen ever I’ll admit.
Gameplay
The games featured are mostly very playable. The card games are easy to pick up and play exactly like you would imagine. Poker and Blackjack are very limited in you ability to bet but they’re meant to be played in quick bursts and not over a few hours at a time so I can understand why the developers decided to remove certain parts of the game like limiting your bets and the like.
The game is split up so that parts of each game show on each of the 2 screens. For card games the top shows details such as how many cards your opponents have and whose turn it is and the bottom is both your own cards and what’s being played. Where as for bowling the lane stretched through both screens. It works remarkably well and you never get confused as to where you’re meant to be looking.
All of the games are controlled using the stylus and it works very well. It seems that this sort of game has found a control system that suits it perfectly as well as helping to actually keep your mind engaged on what you’re doing. Good job all round I say.
The board games are mostly excellent. Chess in particular is pretty much a spot version that I enjoy playing as is Tactics, which is a really simple version of advance wars. It’s a lot of fun though and something you’ll play again and again once you’ve unlocked it.
The other two categories are action games and solitaire games. The first one contains Darts, Bowling and Pool to name 3 of the 5 and although they’re a lot of fun they don’t have any resemblance to the actual game. In fact I don’t think pool has any physics applied to it at all and is mostly hit the ball as hard as possible every time.
Solitaire games are…well exactly what it says and they play exactly like they would if you had cards or tiles in front of you.
Nearly all of the games fall into the category of being instantly playable and fun. The one the springs to mind that doesn’t is Ludo. I don’t know if it’s because I hate Ludo when played normally but as a rule any board games involving die do not translate to videogames very well and Ludo is no exception. It takes forever to finish and the die seems to favor the computer a lot more then it does you. Although it is another game you have to unlock I certainly didn’t want to spend anytime playing it once I’d had a few goes.
One very good thing is that if you don’t know the rules to a game you can read up on them by tapping on the rules box with the stylus. They’re all very easy to follow and means it’s easy for you to check something at a moments notice.
Sound
Ok I actually hate the music on this game and after a few minutes I had to mute it so that I don’t have to put up with the irritating noise that comes from the speakers. To be honest I don’t think most people will mind it but I tend to like games like this without an accompanying soundtrack anyway. But if you do hate it then mute is only a hand move away.
Lifespan
This game will last you ages. Firstly you’ve got three modes. Free play does exactly what is says on the tin and allows you to play any game you’ve unlocked as much as you want. In fact it’s encouraged because the more times you win in free play at a game the more skins for that game you unlock.
Secondly there is Stamp Mode. Basically you play through every game through a series of levels. For example level 1 has 8 games to play through with the last one being unlockable once beaten. Every time you win a game you move onto the next game. What’s great though is that although you need 3 stamps on each game to move on you still get a stamp even if you loose so you’ll never have to get stuck at a game you loath for very long.
Thirdly there’s mission mode. This is basically a series of tasks for you to complete. Completing them unlocks icons and such for use in wireless mode. These tasks range from fairly easy to almost impossible and will take you forever to get through to any degree of success.
If that wasn’t enough you’ve got wireless mode where you can play any game against anyone.
All this means you’re going to be playing this for a long time. Especially since it has such a pick up and play mentality. You’ll play a few games, switch it off and come back later. And trust me you will keep coming back.
There really is a lot to choose from.
Fun Factor
Most of the games here are a lot of fun. You’ll find yourself playing a dozen or so of them over and over because you want to unlock everything or beat the harder difficulty levels. It’s a shame that a few of the games are a nightmare to play but you just won’t care because you’ll ignore them.
One thing I will say is that Nintendo have said they want more women to play games. Well this game seems to achieve that as my wife hasn’t stopped playing it.
Overall
Well this is a great game and you’re bound to find yourself more then a few games you’ll want to play over and over. The fact that the game is only at a budget price makes it even more of an attractive buy. Seriously if you like a game you can go back to time and time again then this is for you. Beware if you have a wife or girlfriend though you’ll never get it back.
Graphics
6.0
Does exactly enough. It's clear and easy to see what's going on.
Gameplay
9.0
Most of the games feel right but there are a few duds.
Sound
3.0
That mute button is my best-friend.
Lasting Appeal
10.0
You'll go back and play this time and time again just to unlock everything. And then there's Wi-Fi mode.
Fun Factor
9.0
It's a huge amount of fun but some of the games are more annoying and frustrating then they should be.
