Shanghai Surprise
Written: Oct 10 '01 (Updated Oct 11 '01)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Excellent animation and graphics, outstanding variety of games, nice audio clips
Cons: Some of the puzzles reload slowly using compressions
The Bottom Line: These interesting puzzles provide a great way to relax, and hours of entertainment
|
|
|
| skbreese's Full Review: Mattel Interactive Shanghai Great Moments |
I remember years ago watching the wonderful movie Joy Luck Club and wondering about the the game that seemed to have the ladies so mesmerized. Research led me to discover that it was an ancient Chinese puzzle game Mah- Jongg, where players matched decorated tiles. I was lucky enough to find an offer for a demo of Shanghai Great Moments on a cereal box and ordered it. I was immediately hooked and went out and bought the software package.
There is an introduction by one of the stars of Joy Luck Club, Rosalind Chao, when the program is opened. She introduces the game and offers some strategy hints. The puzzles contain over 400 tiles, 150 video clips, and 300 animations.
There are four different games including:
The Great Wall which allows the player to dismantle the structure of the Great Wall when tiles fall as lower ones are removed
Beijing allows the player to slide a row of tiles to make a match, and create a new situation. If a wrong match is made, a previous move disappears
Action Shanghai requires the player to clear the screen quickly before additional tiles appear. Speed is all important here, as stacks of tiles grow higher and block the ones that were freed
Classic Shanghai is the traditional Mah- Jongg tile matching which is rewarded by a photo or video clip when all tiles are matched. Many also include lively sound bites.
My personal favorite game is Classic Shanghai, since I don't particularly like to race against time to complete a task, but other more daring players, may be challenged by such a risk.
There are 9 different sets of tiles with varied themes including:
Art -masterworks-match some of the world's greatest artwork such as the Mona Lisa
Romance -match great couples including Prince Charles and Lady Diana, Scarlet and Rhett...
People - match animations of Cleopatra, Benjamin Franklin....
Space Exploration -match animations of the Space Walk and other endeavors with a NASA theme
Music - listen to sound bites of classics and other catchy tunes from Mozart to "Old Mc Donald" as you match tiles
Events - match historic events such as "The Alamo" and "Pearl Harbor" with interesting sound bites.
Sci-Fi -identify images such as flying saucers, comets and other science related phenomena
Inventions - match inventions or ideas to their inventor, such as Edison and the light bulb
Mah-Jongg - match traditional Chinese images such as the lotus, pagodas, plums and various other interesting animations, to reveal a photo of modern day China when all tiles are matched
This software is filled with amazing animations, delightful sound bites and film clips that will add to the fun of the puzzles. I have spent hours solving a variety of different puzzles, and in the process learned a lot about inventions and inventors, famous people, art and various other categories in this fascinating array of games.
The program is very simple to install and run by simply placing it in the CD ROM, opening programs, and following instructions. System requirements are as follows:
Windows 95 Operating System
VESA Local BOS or PCI Video
Sound Card
CD ROM Drive
256 Color SVGA
8 MB RAM
Double Speed CD ROM
12 MG Uncompressed space
Mouse
The only drawback is that the games reload using compressed space, and can take 30- 60 seconds or more to reload. However, this is a minor inconvenience.
Of all of the leisure software I have purchased over the years, this is one of the most entertaining packages I have found. The puzzles are both challenging and fun, and the different themes hold my interest. The games don't require Joy or Luck, but they afford a Great Escape.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
skbreese
|
 in Movies |
 in Movies |
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Sheila Calabrese
Location: Chattanooga, TN USA
Reviews written: 1108
Trusted by: 529 members
About Me:
Dogs have owners, cats have servants!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.