Customer Reviews

Ultimate Board Game Collection

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

not much fun at all really...it is much more fun to play board games the old fashioned way...(the loser has to clean up the game, right?) there is nothing special or extra-zippy about these games, i thought they might have made them uber cool because they are for Wii...sorry to say it is not so....these are just your run-of-the-mill board games. i bought this because i thought it might be fun to play mahjong, and chinese checkers by myself....however, mahjong is just the very basic solitaire version with no advanced scoring..which means it's really just a glorified matching game. chinese checkers would be nice except for the fact that there is no way to turn the hints off, so you really don't have to think or strategize at hardly all...(aren't thinking and strategy the whole point of the game?) the battle ship-type game on it could have potential in the multi-player mode, as it is very fast paced and i can imagine it being fun at a family get-together. the word-find game is also o.k. i have played it a few times, though the letters are so small it made my brain rather numb i think. all in all, i would say it is not worth $30, you can get a used one for less though and not experience so much guilt that's induced by overspending on a semi-lame wii game. a $20 price tag (or less) would be worth it just to have 12 games in one collection i suppose.

one star for batle ship
one star for the word find game
one star for having 12 classic games on one disc

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.

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.

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.

The games are what I expected, but I am disappointed in the overall quality. It appears to be a poorly translated game. So some of the terms used don't necessarily mean what you expect them to. It's a lot of guessing...

And some games just aren't right unless you have a big screen, which I don't. There is a boggle-like game, where you select words from a table of letters on the screen. on my 32 inch TV, the letters are so small, my eyes go buggy after awhile.

I bought this game thinking it would have to have at least some redeeming qualities, but I was wrong. I am a big fan of chess and thought that at the very least I would have that. I found it absolutely ridiculous how difficult the AI was for chess. On the easiest level it took me ten games before I finally beat the computer. The game is good for the kids, as it incorporates classic games like "Connect Four", "Battleship", and "Checkers", and if you want to play against other human players, the set-up is good, but the AI on this game is ridiculous. I wouldn't suggest this game to anyone who isn't looking for a frustrating time.

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.

Let me start my review by saying I have a six year old, a 13 year old and a 19 year old. Ultimate Board Game Collection is one of the very few games they can all play together against each other and the 6 year old has a shot at beating her older sisters. My six year old loves reversi and battleship. My 19 year old is absolutely unbeatable at quattro (connect four), and my 13 year old can kick anyone's butt at chinese checkers. That being said, I love Mah Johng. Now the graphics are not that great and I guess if I had to classify it in a budget category I'd say it's pretty low budget graphics, low budget play action, and simple play. There is a voice over that sounds a lot like Ellen DeGenerous constantly asking "Can I start again?, No?, O.K." which I think everyone can do without. I'm not sure whay the voice over thing is even in there.

This is what I would call a benign game that is fairly priced where everyone from the 5 year old to the grown-up can find something to play. I particularly love the various layouts of the Mah Jong tables. That being said, I know there are superior Wii games out there for playing Mah Jong, but again, you can't beat the price or the simpleness to each game and how to play it. If you've got a young kid who you are trying to teach strategy type lessons to, I believe it's totally worth buying. Just don't expect to be overwhelmed. It was definitly not designed to overwhelm you, just to entertain you.

Not what I was expecting. Very low grade graphics. Easier to get out the board game and play.

I personally liked this game. You can play the following, Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Chinese Checkers, Reversi, Sudoku, Word Cubes, Jigsaws, Mahjongg, Gomoku, Naval Battle and Quatro. I really like Navle Battle and Mahjongg but I'm an old school player.