A Waste of a Waste of Time
Written: Feb 18 '03 (Updated Jul 18 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Nice display, handy 'Undo' function
Cons: Unresponsive buttons, No display light,
It 'Cheats', seems overpriced.
The Bottom Line: If you like to lose, this game is for you.
|
|
|
| tangento's Full Review: Radica Solitaire |
This thing is about to have its 'durability' tested in the REAL world.
Before I am dismissed as a nutcase, let me explain.
I have owned a few different versions and brands of these "hand-held solitaire games".
They are a nice addition to the bathroom. (amid the stench)
The last one I owned was made by the same company, Radica, and it was the smaller but back-lit display version known as 'Solitaire Lite'.
My wife, myself and our guests finally just wore the buttons out on that one.
This one is brand new, but already has buttons that are 'unpleasant'.
Why would they want to change a good thing?
These are petty complaints, so let's get to the real problems:
This thing has worse odds than the tightest Vegas casino video game. I have been playing this thing under the Vegas set of rules for what now amounts to several HOURS worth of playing time, and have been unable to even break the 1000 dollar mark!
Now, like I said I have played enough of these things to know when I am being hoodwinked.
I have also played this game with real cards, and I have never gone 50-100 hands without a win like I have on here.
This thing is tighter than Chinese Handcuffs, and is so stingy, you would think it was trying to protect REAL money or something.
Come to think of it, the old 'Solitaire Lite' version actually seemed a bit too 'soft', making wins a bit more frequent than is natural.
Why can't they program these things to play for real without tampering with the odds?
The most obvious tactic is that it buries some or all of the Aces and low cards deep, making any sort of success virtually impossible, game after game.
This takes all the fun out of the whole experience, and if I don't return this thing to the store soon, it is going to learn about MY odds and MY set of rules, and they are considerably more harsh and unfair than its own...
i.e. a shattered and scattered heap of overpriced electronic components on my lavatory linoleum.
- Which wouldn't be difficult, as this version seems very lightweight and much less durable than the 'Lite' game.
The only positives here are the large, easy to read display, and the new addition of an 'Undo' function
(with a more than fair 2-point penalty)
...for those hasty mistakes.
All in all, $16.99 is a huge price to pay for an experience of sheer frustration and futility.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 16.99
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
tangento
|
|
Location: Coon Rapids, MN USA
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
"I see holes like eyes; my head is full of them".
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.