Master All Classics (Nintendo DS)

This game has made me really anti-social! I am totally addicted to this fabulous addition to the DS / DSi.

There is a wide variety of games including Air Hockey which is my absolute favourite. This is easy to navigate around and you can play for hours without realising as this is so much fun.

I think this represents great value as there are so many different games on one cartridge. I just love it!

With Master All Classics, you will find loads of games! You can choose from a range of board, card and puzzles games. You can play with family and friends or on your own. Whatever the level (Beginner, Intermediate or Expert), you will have the opportunity to train your reflexes or learn different strategies with the Classroom Games which get you thinking! These come with training videos and helpful tutorials if you get stuck.

There are 15 Playground games which are fun and relaxing Games, that you can play on your own or with a friend. You start off with 15 games and you can unlock another 15 as you go along.

Classroom games include: Chess, Chinese Checkers,Backgammon, Draughts, Dominoes, Mastermind, Connect 5, Bridge, Black Jack, Poker, Hold Em Rummy and Hearts.

Playground games include: Pool, Connect 4, Air hockey, Sudoku, Solitaire, Bowling, Battleship, Roulette, Tic tac toe, Classic mines, Match 3. As you go through the game you get points and credits that you can use in the to unlock even more games.

This is a good addition to your DS collection of games.

I had so much trouble getting one of these DS games that I almost gave up completely; missing parcels, none delivered items, and the need for a refund, but it was probably my own fault for ordering before Christmas.

The cartridge contains 3 gaming areas: classics; games room and bonus games

The 15 "Classics" games are: flip flop; chess; hearts; blackjack; Texas hold'em poker; bridge; rummy; backgammon; draughts; mancala; dominos; decode; straight 5; go; Chinese checkers.

The 15 "Games Rooms" games are: battlefield; jackpot (one-armed bandit); rush3; roulette; bowling (doesn't handle as well as 42 classics"); shapes; kakuro; straight 4; paddle play; solitaire; soduko; tic-tac-toe (noughts and crosses); table hockey; mines and pool

The 10 "Bonus" games: three throw; code winder; crownfall; tentacle; dicy; beanstalk; tri-match; bi-contract; hunt heart and dance floor.

When you play a game you can win coins which you can use to "buy" new games from the locked games in the "Extras" section.

The "Extras" section has an "Item Shop" where you can spend those coins you win; a "modify profile"; "sound" (where you can turn off the sfx noises and the lift music; Language and Credits.

Within the "Item Shop" there is a section where you can buy new avatar faces ("Faces"); where you can use your coins to buy harder versions of existing games ("Hard Mode"); and unlockable "Bonus Games".

The 14 unlockable Hard Games are chess; Chinese checkers; backgammon; draughts; mancala; dominos; decode; straight 5; hearts; rummy; go; texas hold'em; bridge and flip flop.

There are an extra 15 bonus games: hide `n' seek; chip smash; pip shot; dot link; code play; trap around; off centre; 4+1; pentagon; crackjack; trick track, horse shoot; royal rush; dot fall; paddle flip; trap suit; dot fall; paddle flip; trap suit; bet set go; tap dance; dish dash and spinner.

Each game has a brief description of how it's played, occasionally these descriptions are misleading (though not always incorrect), and some of the dullest sounding games turn out to be extremely playable.

Many of the games come with instructions on game play: basic instructions; how to play; strategy guide and practice games. All of which are very nicely done.

I have one problem with it though - I have rediscovered backgammon, and it is currently my favourite game, and the problem occurs when you try and move the piece to a new location - you can try multiple times and it bleeps at you and returns the counter to its previous place, then suddenly it will accept the move. When you try and move another counter, even if you place it at exactly the same spot you placed the last one on. Sometime it accepts it at the bottom, sometime the top, the middle, sometimes on top of the highest counter on that's already there. It can get very annoying when you are trying to move a counter and for several minutes all you hear is a bleep.

This is, however, a small problem which I am sure I will find a way around and doesn't mean that I won't play that game again.

I can recommend this collection of DS games, it is a great addition There are some games I don't like and some I'm not to sure of yet, but there are plenty that I enjoy and play over and over again (but that is to be expected). This has made a great addition to my DS games 42 All-Time Classics (Nintendo DS)and Touchmaster (Nintendo DS).

This was the first game I bought to go with a Nintendo DSi for my dad. Having borrowed my DS he finally had his own and this game suits him perfectly. In fact, I'm not sure I'll get much chance to borrow it!
There are lots of games to choose from, whether you have two spare minutes for a quick game of solitaire, or want a full game of chess lasting half an hour.
The graphics are excellent and it makes good use of the two screens.
The menus are easy to navigate and you can earn bonus points to unlock extra games.
Lots to keep you amused and excellent value for money.