Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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168 of 169 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best pocket Scrabble ever?, 30 Sep 2007
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
Firstly , I have to say that I have bought quite a few incarnations of this game, to run on various computers, going back to the days of the Sinclair Spectrum, and I reckon Ubisoft have done a sterling job.
INTERFACE
The main problem is really the size of the screen on the DS. In their wisdom, the makers have decided to make the board a little larger than the screen to maximise letter size. This works better than it sounds, the touch screen allowing you to easily nudge the board up or down to see the last few rows of letters, but it is a shame you can't look at the whole board at once. It is certainly nice to be able to 'pick up' and move the tiles with your stylus, making it more tactile and intuitive in play.
GAMEPLAY
The game stays true to the rules of scrabble, and the machine takes only a few seconds to make a move. Opponents can vary...at first you can only play a basic challenger, but as your Scrabble 'career' takes off, different characters appear, to give you a stronger game. I reckon (...subjective assessment alert...) I'm above average strength, but I can't, so far, beat the strongest two characters.
There are various mini games that can be played, but they are not that stimulating, unfortunately, you have to play a number of these to unlock some opponents. On the standard Scrabble game, there are a few pre-sets on the timer for minutes per move, time per game, or unlimited time.
GRIPES
* No high scores
* Only about 80% of the board visible at any time
* Highest levels of tournaments are only 'blitz' (ridiculously short time limit) type games
* The programme plays the occasional questionable word.
* You can only unlock some opponents by playing the tedious mini-games
NICE TOUCHES
* Dictionary definitions of the latest word appears at the bottom of the screen...educational on some of the more obscure ones
* You can randomise the letters on your rack with two swipes of the stylus
* You rise to your own level of opponent
* Partly played games can be saved
* Pleasant, intuitive interface
ALTERNATIVES
Plenty out there, but this is the only DS version I'm aware of. I heartily recommend the free online version on Facebook...you can get a game against a real human 24 hours a day, high scores, best word score, nifty easy letter layout tool, online dictionary, permanent list of all two letter words, fast play, or move a day, or move a week...play multiple games at once, great graphics, live comments...it's great!
VERDICT
This is a pleasing rendition of a classic game, which should suit players of all strengths, with clear graphics and smooth animation. Well done Ubisoft. **** (originally 5 stars, but it was rightly pointed out in the comments that I had found several shortcomings and this should be reflected in the rating...and Amazon will not allow reviewers to change original star ratings)
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39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tough scrabbler, 25 Sep 2007
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
Anyone who loves Scrabble won't be dissapointed with this DS version, the graphics are gorgeous, silky scrolling and zooming (strange eerie music though...like playing scrabble in the afterlife?) I like to think im a average scrabbler (350-400points) but this beat me hands down on the fourth tournament rubber. It has a theosaurus description as you play the tiles...a nice touch, plus a simple save game option.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another outlet for my addiction!, 18 Feb 2008
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
My name is Elaine, and I am a Scrabble addict!
There - that's my confession - now for the review!
I bought this game for myself, in the hope that it would feed my addiction whilst I was on holiday, away from the computer and unable to play Scrabulous on facebook - and it has worked! I spent hours playing - ran out of battery power on the first day of the holiday, realised I had forgotten my charger, and had to go out and buy another one!!!
Disadvantages
- You can't see the whole screen at any one time
- The computer appears to have a range of very unusual and rather dubious 'made-up' words which it accepts at random - however, once you have spotted these, you can then use them in your own play. However, unlike Scrabulous on the internet, it does at least accept the variations of 'zo'! (Hooray!)
- The tournament version of the 'career' section can only be played on a strict time limit of 4 minutes playing time per player. Clearly this is no problem to the computer, but to the average human it is very little time, making it virtually impossible to win against the 'best' opponents.
- It's extremely addictive and can cause you to waste several hours very easily! (LOL)
Advantages
* It's fun and easy to play
* You can choose from a range of opponents
* The games can be over very quickly, allowing you to move on to another, or to play a full and quick game during a coffee break - something you can never manage on scrabulous, as no-one ever plays as quickly as you want them to!
* Some of the other games are great for encouraging speed, accuracy and vocabulary building
* Definitions of main words used are posted along the screen - but wehn you are playing several 'virtual' opponents, there can be very little time to read these.
* It's extremely addictive! (LOL!)
Buy it and see for yourself! Enjoy!
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