Ultimate Board Game Collection

Not what I expected ….
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I can’t express enough how disappointed I was. I had read the reviews and thought it sounded like fun. My mistake was not finding out which “classic board games” were included. Had I known, I never would’ve considered buying it. I assumed they would truly be classics, board games that families actually play. The graphics are terribly generic. I still like Wii Sports, Cross Bow Shooting & Brain Academy the best. This Ultimate Board Game doesn’t remotely measure up. My younger kids liked the checkers, but it’s difficult to get a hold of the game pieces. They also liked Battle Ship, although it lacks any challenge that the actual board game has. It’s just not worth your time or money.

Only 6 out of 12 games are worth playing
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This disc contains 12 games.

- Chess. It has 3 levels easy, medium and hard. Up to 4 players can play at the same time. I have not played it. So I don’t know how sophisticated it is.

- Checkers. This game is only suitable for kids because the moves are very limited. You can move only to the adjacent unoccupied square. I don’t even play it on the real board.

- Reversi. It’s challenging but it’s easy to play. It’s a good party game. It’s meant for 2 players only. But up to 4 players can play it by dividing into 2 teams.

- Back gammon. It requires good strategy and it’s easy to play. It’s a good party game. It’s meant for 2 players only. But up to 4 players can play it by dividing into 2 teams.

- Quattro. This game is only suitable for kids because the moves are very limited. It’s not worth it.

- Gomoku. It requires good strategy and it’s easy to play. It’s a good party game. It’s meant for 2 players only. But up to 4 players can play it by dividing into 2 teams.

- Mahjong. This is not suitable for video game because the tiles are too small to see the patterns clearly. Even though my TV is 31 inches wide I still can hardly see the tiles from my couch. It’s easier to play on the computer because you sit much closer to the monitor. It’s also better to play with the real tiles.

- Sudoku. This game has both advantages and disadvantages. You won’t lose any number tiles because they are software. It’s easier to play with the video game because when you put a number in the wrong postion, the game won’t let you! It’s meant for 1 player only but more than one person can play it at the same time.

- Jigsaw. This game is best played with the real jigsaw pieces. In the video game, you can see only 6 pieces of the jigsaw at one time. The pieces move from the bottom right to the bottom left of the screen. So the same pieces will get out of view after some seconds. This makes it very hard to play.

- Chinese checker. It requires good strategy and it’s easy to play. It’s a good party game. Up to 5 people can play at the same time.

- Wordcube. This game is best played with the real pieces. It’s because the video game has a time limit of 10 minutes. You can make it shorter but not longer. I wish there was the option to turn off the time.

- Naval battle. This game is only suitable for kids because it’s too easy.

Board Games
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
If you like board games, you’ll love this game. They’re easy to figure out, fun to play, and great if you’ve got company.

meh
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This wasn’t what I was expecting, the board games are ones that is a lot less popular so I didn’t know how to play some of them. I would think twice before getting it.

Wii Board Games
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Some of the tutorials do not explain fully the game or how to use the remote for all the things you should be able to do such as rolling the dice; I read the booklet that came with it and read the tutorial on the actual game and it did not tell you how to roll them but I finally had my son in law come over and we finally figured it out but once you get it all figured out, it has a lot of board games to choose from and most are enjoyable.

It was ok.
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Guess I expected more being a Wii game. But it is a board game. Played some but not enough excitement in it.

Wasn’t what I expected
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I bought this game because I thought it would be fun to have board games on the Wii — something I’ve wished that gaming companies would do for a long time. (I love PC games like Mah-Jong, etc. and really wanted that in the Wii format.)

I found this to be slow and, even on a 41-inch HDTV display, it’s hard to see.

Not the first game I would recommend.

boring, poor design, etc.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I read many bad reviews on gamefly & IGN as well. The music has three songs a jazzy/techno beat (the beat was a decent attempt at being hip) & another jazz like elevator music song & I forget the third. they just bleed together.

The graphics have been around since the original NES – Playstation 1 times probably. There are about 6 different 3D backgrounds, but they still don’t add to it.

The menu system could be better, the game doesn’t explain it’s scoring method or & real quick on instructions on how to use the remote (no nunchuck option). The tutorial for how to play a game can only be accessed after you START a game & decide options which it never explains some of the options that aren’t obvious. It does have easy, medium & hard settings. I was hoping/EXPECTING a training option for games, especially chess (I’ve never played), but beyond a 31 page 1 paragraph text & simple flash graphic example, it does not.

Now, board games are about strategy, right? Well, on ALL games, it highlights ALL possible moves it designates, EVEN on the HARD option.

CLASSIC GAMES

Chess – self-explanatory, simple boring graphics, anything you’d find on a multi game PC title eve up to 10 years ago.

Checkers – I kicked butt on Medium though been too many years since I played. On hard, it kicked my butt. I started remember the strategies… then realized I wanted to make a perfectly fine safe legal move away from other opponents, but it would NOT let me. It wanted me to jump my opponent which would result in my piece getting jumped as well which I didn’t want to lose. WHAT KIND OF GAME DOESN”T LET YOU CHOOSE YOUR OWN MOVES? Sure it helped to let me know I could do a move I didn’t realize, but why limit you to the computer’s CHOSEN moves which resulted me in always losing?

Reversi – I can kick butt on this game every time usually because of ONE easy strategy. the boarder titles are KEY & ESPECIALLY corner pieces. it’s easy to figure out. But even on HARD the computer couldn’t figure that out. Again, it highlights all choices though I don’t think there was a limit like checkers. Another issue I think once I hit A (selected) a piece, I could not unselect it so I was stuck.

Backgammon – I forget how to play & the instructions still left me confused, so I did not play.

FAMILY GAMES

Jigsaw Puzzle – very hard pictures like a far away shot of an oil tanker in a cloudless sky in calm water. A dark shadowy sailboat at twilight so it was all in different colors of blue only. A panda surrounded only by bamboo leaves. The pieces move along the bottom like a stock market ticker & you pick it up as it passes. You have to guage where the peice would fit almost perfectly even in the middle even if it’s the first piece. OH! & the best part? The indicator in ALL the games is a small hand.. so when you have a piece in your hand, it COVERS it as you rotate it & decide where it fits.

Backgammon – I nver played it, the instructions made it seem like a very boring, with less strategy involved then even checkers. All possible moves were of course highlighted.

Wordcubes/Boggle – make words by selecting letters that touch each other. When play alone, it doesn’t even give you a computer opponent like the other games.

Naval Battle/Battleship – graphics circa 1985. Getting bombs to hit took several attempts, it would make the square turn blue if missed & red outline of a square if hit w/sound of explosion. woo hoo. If found the full ship, it would show an outline for a second & then only the outlined red squares again. A faster but more mindless version of the game.

STRATEGY GAMES

Mahjong – I have an old CRT 27″ (I use s-video cable for the wii) & sitting close I had no problem reading characters. I like the game overall, but I find Vista’s much more engaging. Any tiles you cannot select because they are blocked are shadowed in grey instead of beige.

Connect Four – just like the board game except they look like red/yellow bulging tires or donuts with graphics from the 1990s.

Sudoku – did not play

Gomoku/Pente – never heard of it before, but played it & loved the style of game.

Some game boards are shown in easy, boring, top down view, some like Gomoku were on an angle to give it a 3D look.

This is another shovelware. The developers like most bad third parties think the secret to casual games is just slap an easy game w/o any attention to details, unique style, etc & consumers will still love it. They don’t care, use limited budget, use their first timers or worst employees for these projects & give them little time & it will still sell. This game needed a human voice, profile options, explanation of scoring & better graphics.