4 in 1 Funpack Vol. I Game by Interplay Reviewed by Superguy3000 superguy3000@juno.com Size: 2 megabits Save: No, it's not needed in this type of game. Released: 1991 Works with: Every Game Boy **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: Packing four classic board games, one would think that Interplay's 4 in 1 Funpack Vol. I would be a great addition to one's Game Boy library. One would seem to be right. **************************************************************************** Gameplay Descripion: 4 in 1 Funpack offers four games--checkers, chess, backgammon, and reversi. Each is wonderfully recreated to suit the Game Boy screen and hardware. Checkers: Ah, checkers, the good old days of beating the heck out of kindergarteners, losing the fourth grade heirarchy... Those were the days. Now you can tote around a compact Game Boy Pocket or Color instead of that big, bulky box with the bumped-up corners. Whether you're passing the Game Boy around for every turn or play with your opponent via Gamelink, the gameplay of checkers is solid all the way. It's actually--and surprisingly-- fun to play against a computer player once in a while. Their moves are logical and the skill level can be adjusted between one and three, allowing you to reminisce of both the kindergarteners and the fourth graders. Chess: By far the best game of the lot, chess is the game of kings. Remember throwing those little horsies and castles across the gym so many years ago? Well, you won't get to do that here, but you will get to play a very good chess game. We're talking a Microsoft Entertainment Pack caliber game here, one that offers six, count 'em, six difficulty levels. I honestly don't think the difficulty level has anything to do with the actual difficulty, though. One time I beat Level 6, easily as pie. A minute later, I tried to beat Level 1 to no avail. Keep in mind, though, that chess is great for proving to your idiot friends that they're not as smart as they think they are. Chess, as well as all the other games, allows the same pass around and Gamelink features as Checkers. Backgammon: I have fond memories of backgammon, arguing with my parents about the rules, bumping my dad to the bar, losing each and every game. Here it is again, in beautiful, black, white light grey, and dark grey. Before writing this review, I hadn't played much of the backgammon game on this cart. Now, looking at it, it doesn't let you make completely legal moves. For instance, if you roll a six and try to move to an empty space sixe bars ahead of you, the game will say, "Illegal move!" That's a bunch of baloney, but it's acceptable, I guess. It gives that Mario Party-style randomness to multiplayer games. Reversi: You may know reversi better as Othello, which bears the slogan "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master." How true that is! I'll describe the game in rudimentary form, since some people probably haven't played it yet. The basic premise of reversi is to put your color pieces at the ends of vertical, horizontal, or diagonal rows of your opponent's pieces, thus turning them into pieces of your color. It's your basic classic puzzle game fare. The Game Boy version is a wonderful adaptation of the original board game. There's not much more to say. Liked: Chess, Checkers, Reversi Hated: Backgammon is screwed up **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: Once again, I'll divide up the descriptions by game. Without further ado... Checkers: The board takes up most of the screen, offering the best view possible of the pieces and the board. The pieces take up most of the squares, allowing just enough room for the board to not look cramped. You control a disembodied pointer (well, it would be disembodied if pointers had bodies to begin with) in checkers, as in most of the games. It's, uh, nice. There's not much to say about cursors in general. Unless they have smiley faces on them. :) Oh, back to the subject! Chess: Chess looks mostly like checkers, except with chess pieces, of course. They look like the pieces that come with Microsoft Entertainment Pack. I hope that's the last Microsoft Entertainment Pack reference! The same disembodied cursor thing applies here, too. Unlike some chess games, the pieces in "Sargon Chess," as it's called, are wonderfully drawn, offering a very noticeable difference between bishop and pawn, rook and queen. Backgammon: The graphics in backgammon are much like those in checkers. Unfortuneately, the game is screwed up, so it won't matter. Reversi: Again, the graphics here are much like checkers, offering circles and a grid. Same disembodied cursor, too. Liked: The graphics are very nice. Hated: We want smiley face cursors! **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: There are two theme songs, if I'm not mistaken. They're not much, but that's forgiveable. When you click on a piece, a little beep sounds. It's not an offensive beep, either. Nothing like you would hear in the nightly hockey report! The word "adequate" sums up the sound. Liked: "It ain't half bad." Hated: It's at least one third bad. **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: Here's where it all counts in a game like this. They could have made a half-hineyed control system and probably gotten away with it, but they didn't. They made a very good control system, in fact. You click with A, cancel with B, move the cursor with the D-Pad, call up a menu with Select, and pause with Start. Below is a list of notes showing some notable control notes for you to note. Checkers: Press on the D-Pad and the cursor hops to the next square. A picks up a piece and puts it down in another square. B puts the piece back where it came from. Chess: Same as checkers. Backgammon: Same box-hopping as checkers and chess, press B to roll and put back pieces. Press A to pick up and put down pieces. Reversi: Box-hopping here, too. Same basic controls as the others. Liked: Very easy-to-use control system. Hated: Some smiley faces would complimented the control system quite nicely. **************************************************************************** Improve: Obviously, color support. New icon sets for checkers, backgammon, and reversi. Some smiley faces would be nice. Show us the rest of that disembodied cursor. RIYL: MS Entertainment Pack. **************************************************************************** Final Words: While the backgammon thing is disappointing to say the least, life goes on. *song cue* Great for band trips, family vacations, or any other place where you can play against another person, 4 in 1 Funpack would make a nice addition to anyone's Game Boy library. **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: **** (1 off for the backgammon) Graphics: **** (1 off for not being anything special, and there are no smiley faces) Sound/Music: *** (2 off because it's bland) Play Control/Game Design: ***** (because it's a good control system) Personal Opinion: ***** (because it's a kick-fanny game!) Total: *x21 Final Score: 84% **************************************************************************** Currently Known Codes: I don't know why there would be any codes for a game like this.