Scrabble:The Original Game Game by Runecraft/Mattel Reviewed by Mew Barrymore 01946020@mmu.ac.uk Size: 8MB Save: Battery: 15+ slots!! Released: 2001 Works with: Gameboy Color/Advance. Little dark on Advance. **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: At last! I've waited years for a GBC specific version of my favourite board game and here it is at last. I reviewed the old version of "Super Scrabble" some time back (still available on DMG Ice) so look at that if you want a brief understanding of how the game works. **************************************************************************** Gameplay Description: I'll quote from the "Improve" section of my "Super Scrabble" review here: "There really should be a GBC only version of this game. That would be brilliant. For the update they should increase the vocabulary and put in a save feature." Well, the gods of gaming must have been listening because this version of Scrabble contains all those features and more. Sure, its still the same old word-based board game that's been around for decades but this version is definitely something special. The main improvements over the older GB Scrabble are: 15 save slots to save any game in progress, vastly improved opponent AI, nicer graphics, better music, a four player match mode, a special conundrum mode, stored user profiles, ability to input dirty words (oh yeah), a hints feature, etc., etc. The most dramatic of these changes are the conundrum mode and the save feature. The conundrum mode is very different from traditional Scrabble. In this mode players are given a random assortment of seven letters and asked to get the best possible word score out of them. You place these letters in a special grid which contains "double word", "triple letter" etc. tiles. The best player positions his word so that the most highest scoring letters (Zs, Xs, Js, Qs) fall on the special bonus tiles. The game consists of 14 rounds and the highest overall points score wins. You and a friend can take it in turns or you can try and beat the computer opponent on your own. This mode is really well designed and is a great addition to the traditional scrabble game. The "save" feature is really excellent, Scrabble games can go on for a while so its very useful to be able to save a game in progress and pick it up later on. Amazingly, this pak has space for 15 different save files so you can save numerous games in progress. What I also like is the player profiles idea. Each player has their own save file which records their highest scoring Scrabble words, win/loss ratio, high scores as well as their best Conundrum words and scores. This is an excellent feature which really adds quality to the game. The conundrum mode of play provides a nice alternative for when you get sick of traditional Scrabble. The only thing lacking is the ability to set a time limit in human Vs. CPU matches. The "Expert" CPU can take ages making up its mind and you are left to only stare at an animated cut-scene of an "expert professor" scratching his bloody head! It would have been much better if you were allowed to examine the board while the CPU is making up its mind. Another niggle is that you should be able to browse the game's own word lists so that you can learn what words are acceptable and what words aren't. And another thing, the CPU should be able to use dirty words itself, you can put as much filth in as you can creatively muster but the CPU will never cuss back at you (I suppose this is to appease some parents who would complain that the GBC is teaching their kiddies to swear. Note to parents: stop your kiddies watching South Park instead!!) Liked: Many new features. Gotta love those swear words. Hated:Could've provided a tutorial mode for new players and given access to its own word lists. **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: The graphics of any board game conversion are judged on their resemblance to the real thing. Scrabble looks bright and colourful and everything is authentic to the board game. There are lots of nice graphical touches such as animated tiles and little cut-scenes of your computer opponents. The only downer is that the game looks a little dark on GBA and the backgrounds can be hard to distinguish. Even so, the GBAs wide screen mode makes the game screen much more visible. Liked: Authentic graphics Hated:Dark GBA Backgrounds **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: Its classical baby! There are five classical tunes to choose from if you feel like some cultural indulgence. For culture-less oiks like me though, there is an ever useful Music OFF feature.... Sound FX are cool and fruity with satisfying "tile clunk" noises and nice "tile input" sounds. Liked: Music OFF feature for scummies Hated:Classical music for Yoghurt-eaters (you know who you are) **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: GBC Scrabble is very well designed. Selectable difficulty levels (from novice to expert) mean that everybody can play at their own level until they learn to be a Scrabble master. The game is very intuitive to learn but a beginner's tutorial mode would have been useful. One good thing is that the game is very easy to control, putting your tiles into place is simple and the zoom function lets you see everything up close. Liked: Zoom function, easy to navigate Hated: No beginners tutorial **************************************************************************** Improve: Scrabble GBC is almost perfect but a GBA version would be very sweet. I would like to see even tougher opponents (although the Expert is very hard to beat) a browsable/customisable dictionary, a tutorial mode and a dirty swearing CPU. RIYL: Crosswords, board-games, GB Super Scrabble, puzzles. **************************************************************************** Final Words: GBC Scrabble is a fantastic game. Its a no-brainer choice for Scrabble fans but everyone else should at least give it a go. This is a masterpiece of good gaming design and playability. GBC Scrabble will live for ever... **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: ***** Graphics: **** Sound/Music: *** Play Control/Game Design: ***** Personal Opinion: ***** Total: 22 Final Score: 88% **************************************************************************** Currently Known Codes: The word BENZOXYCAMPHORS will get you 1197 points. Use it if down the edge of the board if you ever get the chance...