GamesRelay

Name: Mahjong

Mahjong is one of those games that people will either like or dislike, through its simplicity anyone can play without knowing anything about the ancient Chinese game and enjoy it. GameOn's WiiWare version of Mahjong isn't true to its Chinese roots, it's a matching game where you have to spot two tiles that match on a specific layer and match them to remove them and so on until the playing area is clear. Mahjong fanatics will say this isn't really a Mahjong game and they'll be right in saying so since outside of China the majority of people don't know what Mahjong really is, otherwise known as Sparrow in English, but nearly all Mahjong games you'll find outside of Asia will be the same two pair matching game and not true to its Chinese counterpart.

If you read our review of Solitaire which was GameOn's previous release you'll notice the similarities between the two titles throughout the game, the controls and the interface are practically the same which is no bad thing, but, where the game offers playlists to customise the music in game and the backgrounds, they are re-used from the Solitaire game, the music isn't terrible, quite far from it in fact as long as you turn it down to play quietly in the background, if you don't own or haven't played Solitaire then you shouldn't be bothered but for gamers who own both, it can seem a little disappointing.

So what does Mahjong offer that other games don't? Considering this is the only Mahjong game on the WiiWare channel, quite a bit in fact. The game includes two game modes for play; Matching, which true to its name is simply a case of matching the tiles from the top level down until you either finish and win or get stuck and lose, and Memory, which is similar to the former yet the tiles are faced down and you have to try and match them up by flipping two at a time over, the aim of each game is to not just complete them but to do them in the fastest time possible. Besides the two game modes you'll find thirty different tile patterns to choose from which add some variety to the gameplay. Each game you attempt will always be different however since the tiles are randomly placed, but any sort of difficulty changing feature is absent from the game so if you're an expert Mahjong player the game shouldn't put up too much of a challenge.

Of course if you aren't an expert Mahjong player or don't know the game at all, it's fairly easy to get into since each game you play offers a small tutorial on how that particular game works. The games biggest asset however is the hints system, you'll be allowed up to three hints in a game which can be used for showing a matching pair, a great feature if you get stuck and one you'll become very grateful of towards the later end of a session.

Controls are fairly simple in Mahjong and easy for anyone to pick up since only a few buttons are used, the Wii Remote is used to control a pointer on screen for selecting the tiles and matching them up. The D-pad is used for tilting the tiles either left or right to get a better view, while the Z-axis is included, for no apparent reason the Y-axis isn't which is unusual but not really required for play, you may find you don't even use the tilting feature. Much like GameOn's Solitaire offering, the zoom feature is included which is a huge benefit and comes in handy especially when playing on a small TV. One issue which was apparent throughout the game whether it be a bug or not, it is certainly an annoyance, is that when you move your cursor to the top of the screen where the Options button is located the game freezes for a few seconds, it happens whenever your pointer crosses over the top of the screen, thankfully it's out of the play area but it can become annoying when trying to access the options and this didn't happen in there Solitaire game which uses a similar if not the same game engine as Mahjong.

The graphics themselves are fairly good on either 480i or 480p though not without their own small niggles. If you're fortunate enough to own the cables to display in 480p then you shouldn't have any problems, the games graphics are well displayed, while simple and intuitive, the tiles are easy to see especially with the zoom feature. However, if you have the default cables which come with the Wii and only display 480i then the graphics aren't so good, since 480i isn't as sharp as 480p whether it be on a HDTV or a CRT the tiles themselves can be difficult to distinguish especially the ones with Chinese writing on and small symbols on some of the tile sets, this can be avoided with the zoom feature of course and shouldn't really be an issue on any larger TV.

GameOn's Mahjong comes in at 500 Nintendo points on the WiiWare channel and for this you'll be getting a pretty solid game. It does have its problems such as the pointer freezing and the viewing difficulty when playing in 480i but they aren't game breaking or anything that would want to distract you from playing the game if you're a fan. Mahjong, love it or hate it is not for all however, it can be a little too simple for some but for the 500 point asking price you can't go wrong for what you're getting.