by JustTheFacts Sun Jan 26, 2014 1:26 am
Professionally Presented, “Real” Mah-jong ****
BASED ON FULL HOUR DEMO
More business-like than business style, this version of the universally popular game offers CLEAN LINES, PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTION STANDARDS, and easily grasped BONUSES and EXTRAS.
This game is NOT offering BEAUTIFUL BACKDROPS, dozens of MODES of PLAY, or oodles of POWER UPS. What it does offer is a well packaged good old-fashioned mah-jong game, played the way it should be played, with CLEAR GRAPHICS, a CHOICE of a half dozen standardised tile sets, and clearly defined GOALS.
The backdrops are standard business fare and not a DISTRACTION, and the MUSIC is SOOTHING and unobtrusive.
There are many boards, levels and achievements. You must qualify to unlock each one before you can move on, each involving greater difficulty and more intricate GAMEPLAY. You can REPLAY any board to improve your SCORE. Your score is based on TIME, NUMBER of MOVES used, number of “SPECIALS” cleared, and the number of REGULAR tiles left at the end of the round. “Specials” must be completely cleared to complete the board.
Despite the emphasis on BUSINESS indicated in the GAME DESCRIPTION and things like the TROPHY names, I didn’t feel any sense of being involved in any kind of story or particular activity.
I like this game. It reminds me of the mah-jong I played before it turned into a game filled with stuff that made no sense to me in a traditional strategy game. I have some of those complex, “change the tiles, the boards, the nature of the objectives and gameplay, collect explosive devices, etc” mah-jong games and I find them totally unappealing.
This is what mah-jong should look like.
I recommend this game!