Best of Solitaire (3DS E-shop Game Review)

Review Written By: Adolph Vega

 3D

The 3D element within this game is fairly insignificant and forgettable. When playing a game of solitaire the 3D top screen essentially mirrors the action on the bottom touch screen.  The game has 3 layers of 3D and the one closest to the player is a black border with some general information. The second layer of 3D is in the mid-ground and displays a table that the cards are being placed on and mirrors your actions on the touch screen. The third layer of 3D is the floor texture that the table is resting upon and is in the far background. The 3D is also present in the menus before you enter a specific game of solitaire.  The names of the different versions of solitaire are presented in squares that flow from the background to the foreground as you scroll through them; this effect is nice but again is totally forgettable and does not enhance the gameplay in any way.  In fairness to the developer the stereoscopic 3D doesn’t hurt your eyes or badly presented its just not interesting. The vast majority of the time you play this game you will probably ignore the top screen all together since it’s not necessary to view during gameplay.

 

Final Verdict: Terrible 3D

Game:

Solitaire has been a card game that’s been around for centuries and the video game version has been around for decades. I remember the first time I played the game wasn’t with physical cards but on my cousins Windows 95 PC.  Solitaire video games are easily accessible and found on every platform, and many versions are free, therefore making a new version stand out can be very difficult task to accomplish. I feel Best of Solitaire successfully stands out from the crowd of other solitaire games and is a very well made game with a nice graphical user interface and amazing amount of content. Just in case you have never played a game of solitaire it's a single player card game with a deck of cards. Solitaire uses the standard 52-card deck and the goal is to organize/build up the cards with certain suits in specific stacks until you finish the set. This game has several different ways to play Solitaire and they include the following: 

1.     Aces Square  

2.     Aces Up

3.     Acme

4.     Ali Baba 

5.     American Toad 

6.     Aunt Mary    

7.     Baker's Dozen

8.     Baker's Game 

9.     Baroness

10.  Bastion

11.  Beetle

12.  Beleaguered Castle 

13.  Betsy Ross

14.  Big Forty

15.  Blind Alleys

16.  Blockade

17.  Bristol

18.  Busy Aces

19.  Calculation  

20.  Canfield

21.  Canister

22.  Carlton

23.  Castles in Spain

24.  Congress

25.  Corners

26.  Corona

27.  Deuces

28.  Dieppe

29.  Diplomat

30.  Double Baker

31.  Double Canfield

32.  Double East haven

33.  Double Free cell

34.  Double Klondike

35.  Double Rail

36.  Double Scorpion

37.  Double Yukon

38.  Eagle Wing

39.  East haven

40.  Eight Off

41.  Famous Fifty

42.  Fan

43.  Florentine Patience

44.  Flower Garden

45.  Fortunes Favour

46.  Forty Thieves

47.  Four Colours

48.  Four Seasons

49.  Free cell

50.  Gargantua

51.  Giant

52.  Golf

53.  Good Measure

54.  Indian

55.  Josephine

56.  King Albert

57.  Klondike

58.  La Belle Luccie

59.  Lady Palk

60.  Limited

61.  Little Forty

62.  Little Napoleon

63.  Little Windmill

64.  Lucas

65.  Maria

66.  Milligan Cell

67.  Number Ten

68.  Parliament

69.  Penguin

70.  Pyramid

71.  Quadrangle

72.  Raglan

73.  Rainbow

74.  Rank and File

75.  Red and Black

76.  Royal Parade

77.  Russian Solitaire

78.  Scorpion

79.  Scotch Patience

80.  Sea Towers

81.  Shamrocks

82.  Simple Simon

83.  Somerset

84.  Spanish Patience

85.  Spider

86.  Spider One suit

87.  Spider Two Suit

88.  Spider cells

89.  Spiderette

90.  Stalactites

91.  Steps

92.  Steve

93.  Storehouse

94.  Superior Canfield

95.  Trefoil

96.  Tuxedo

97.  Twin Queens

98. Waning oon

99. West Cliff

100. Whitehead

101. Yukon

To be honest I had no clue that so many variations of solitaire existed before playing this game. All the different game modes play the same with dragging the cards on the touch screen to move them. Moving the cards with the touch screens feels precise, smooth and as responsive as you would expect and want in this sort of game. You can also use the circle pad or directional control pad to select and move cards, but I found those controls inferior to using the touch screen. The graphical user interface / operating system for this game I found to be very well done, and the player has many options easily and quickly accessible. The menus pop up and easily change the play fields background, music, and card face style. The music within the game has lounge music / elevator music sense. The music has a relaxed jazz style that fits the game well. I didn’t find any of the specific tracks memorable or amazing quality, but they all made sense for this type of game. Going back to the graphical user interface / operating system the touch screen also has the option to go back and forward in your moves, and a hint icon that gives you clues to what can be done next. The touch screen also has a button to press that gives you information on each version of solitaire. Sometimes the info button doesn’t respond to touch screen taps right away or needs to be clicked several times or pressed hard to function correctly. Another minor issue I had with the game is the top screen sometimes cuts off the image and doesn’t seem to fit the contents it’s displaying. Both these issues are really small glitches and don’t hamper the gameplay. Unfortunately the game does not have a full tutorial or demo, it’s only a block of text you can scroll and read for yourself. With so many variations of solitaire within this package only having a text block to read instructional material is a major oversight. The main gameplay of solitaire has lasted the test of time and is fun and simple game to play, and with some patience you will learn the other modes without much issue. The large variety of modes within the game will keep me coming back and the great operating system/ graphical user interface is what makes this game stand out from the rest. Overall I did have fun playing the different versions of solitaire within the game and I can highly recommend Best of Solitaire.

 

Final score: 7/10  

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