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World Championship Poker

Score: 62%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: Crave
Developer: Sensory Sweep
Media: Cartridge/1
Players: 1 - 2
Genre: Card Games/ Simulation

Graphics & Sound:

Most things in World Championship Poker are static. The graphics and sound could very well have been pulled out of a late NES game. There is not much in the way of variety in the background music, and the characters repeat sounds over and over again.

Each opponent is hand drawn (so you don’t have to worry about staring at a pixilated picture of a human in the face), which is some benefit, but they still look as if they were done in a hurry. I wouldn’t go as far as to say the visuals are displeasing, but they aren’t great either.


Gameplay:

There are several different modes of play in World Championship Poker. First, you may play a Quick Play game where you start with $100,000 and play with a group of people until you either lose or win all of their money. If that doesn’t sound like your particular cup ‘o tea, there is a Career mode (you knew that was coming) where you start with a measly $5,000 and work your way to the top by playing around in the casino, then entering into the tournament. Overall, there are several different casinos and many tournaments which lie in your path to becoming the World Champion of Poker.

When I first sat down to play World Championship Poker, I didn’t expect much, and surely, the game didn’t disappoint. Playing cards with your friends is fun. Playing with computer characters that have random, meaningless emotions is wholly different. One thing that is included in order to emulate playing with live players is an emotion system, see. The players opposite you will express a range of “emotions,” from being delighted to being upset about their cards. I find that trying to guess what a computer is thinking is very hit or miss, which takes a good bit of the fun of playing poker away.

When it comes down to it, it’s almost like playing Hearts on your computer. Part of the fun and allure of playing a card game outside of a casino is sitting and chatting with your friends. You don’t really get any of that from this game, so I can’t really say that I enjoyed playing it thoroughly. There is no storyline that could motivate one to play through the game to the end, and obviously the money you win is fake, so it’s just playing poker for the sake of playing poker.


Difficulty:

World Championship Poker is not very challenging at all. Sure, people who don’t know how to play poker or don’t like the game won’t get far here. But for those who have been playing any appreciable amount of time, this game really poses no challenge. There is no difficulty setting, but different characters in the game play in different ways, and some could be seen as “tough” opponents, while others are real pushovers.

Game Mechanics:

There really isn’t much that can be said about the game mechanics in World Championship Poker, as this game is essentially just poker, blackjack, and slots. The menus are very easy to learn, because quite frankly, there aren’t a lot of them. There is also no save function. You must keep track of a password that you receive when you are ready to quit, making this more of a hassle as a portable game.

In the end, if you are a fan of Poker, and don’t particularly care about playing with your friends, you may like this game. However, if playing with company is your thing, then I would suggest spending your money on a deck of cards. They’re just as portable, and with the money you would save, you could buy all your friends munchies for your poker night.


-Z64freak, GameVortex Communications
AKA Bret Hall

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