CARD GAMES FOR THE ENTHUSIAST
A Review of Bicycle Limited Edition CD-ROM
by Susan Davis
Bicycle Limited Edition CD-ROM contains an excellent group of card games
that the true card game enthusiast can appreciate.
It offers Solitaire,
Poker, Cribbage, and Bridge; each is run independently, but with the
advantage of a simple, but well-rendered, common interface. The DOS version
is run directly from the CD-ROM, and the Windows version does the same, with
the exception of loading the four game icons into a program group for you.
It is wonderful to finally play a game without dumping a horde of files onto
my hard drive.
Each game has the same intuitive menu interface, and you can quickly pick up on how to change the various options and setting available to you. You use a point-and-click or drag-and-drop interface, depending on the game. The help system is wonderful; if you don't know how to play a game, or can't remember the rules, the help system can teach you what you need to know. Before playing Bicycle, I didn't even know how to play Bridge, but it taught me the rudiments well, and even suggested a good book to learn more.
The Solitaire game is fantastic. You can choose from 49 different games, and
the program even groups them into categories from Easy to Hard to Favorites,
so you can choose the type of game you want - easy to win or challenging and
tricky. With all four programs in the series, you can control your
background colors and sound. In some solitaire games, you can control
options to the games, if the rules allow. All you have to do is check the
Options section of the menu. The statistics are pretty complete, including
information on number of games played and how well you are doing overall.
You can even save games or game sessions in progress! About the only things
I would have added would be an Autoplay feature once you know you have won,
and some sort of notification once you had made a move that stalemates the
game. Other than that, I really enjoyed these versions of solitaire.
The Poker game was equally well done. Each player brings different skills
and habits to the table. The instructions are good for beginning poker
players, so even novices like me can enjoy the game. However, it seems to be
complex enough, with two poker game variations, to entertain even more
skilled players.
You can vary the wild cards, betting limits, and the
players. Like all of the other games, you can also save games and sessions
in progress, which is a feature I found really useful. You don't have to
give up on that winning streak just because it's late at night.
The Cribbage game is a good version; and, unlike many versions, it offers two variations (duplicate cribbage and losing cribbage) for some variety. The great thing about playing versus the computer is that it keeps count of everything. When you are trying to learn to play, this can be a wonderful teaching mechanism. It also offers hints, which are usually pretty good, although experienced players might want to trust their hunches at times. The computer is a savvy player, which gives skilled players a challenge, while the hint system allows even beginners to have a chance to win.
Bridge turned out to be quite a bit more like Pinochle or Hearts than I had thought. I had never played Bridge before, but the game has good instructions, and it scores for you, as well as providing hints if necessary. If you are familiar with the hand play in Pinochle or Hearts, the basics of Bridge won't be that hard to learn. For experienced Bridge Players, it seems that you have access to the normal features of Contract Bridge, but you don't have to worry about the little details, like scoring, because the computer tracks it all for you. I found that trying to figure out the auction and scoring was difficult, but friends who know how to play Bridge assured me that these are also some of the hardest things to learn when playing Bridge with live opponents.
Each game was quite enjoyable to play. On slower machines, you can turn off
various animated effects to speed things up, but my 486DX2-66 played the
games very smoothly, and there was no noticeable lag time on any features.
In fact, the game-playing interface was extremely well done. I had no
problems at all with installation, running the programs, or learning how to
play. All I had to do was sit down, choose a game, and play. It wasn't even
as hard as hunting around the house to find a deck of cards. I didn't need
to find an opponent, and I didn't have to shuffle or deal the cards! All in
all, in Bicycle Limited Edition, SWFTE has produced a real winner in both
playability and entertainment value.
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: |
Bicycle Limited Edition CD-ROM |
| Company: |
SWFTE International
|
| Cost: |
$19.98 |
System Requirements:
IBM AT/286/386/486, MS-DOS compatible,
MS-Windows 3.1 or later (for Windows version),
MS-DOS or PC-DOS version 3.1 or later,
CD-ROM Player,
EGA, VGA or higher resolution monitor,
Mouse optional, Hard Disk recommended
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 4
Graphics 4
Sound 4
Interface 4
Replayability 5
Overall Score:
Copyright © 1997 InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.