Microsoft: The Best of Entertainment Pack

• Release Date: June 01, 2001
• Genre: Compilation
• Style: Miscellaneous Collection
• Similar Games: Puzzle Master (Game Boy Color), Gobs of Games (Game Boy Color), Puzzled (Game Boy Color)

Game Description

Microsoft: The Best of Entertainment Pack is a collection of seven Windows-based mini-games converted for portability on the Game Boy Color. The compilation features three solitaire card games, three puzzle challenges, and one action title. Detailed instructions are available on a help file prior to gameplay, as the manual provides only an overview and a single screenshot for each game.

Card games include Tut's Tomb, a renamed version of traditional Pyramid, with casino, standard, and no-scoring modes, Tri Peaks, and the challenging Free Cell. Puzzlers include the Windows staple Minesweeper, a 3D version of Tic-Tac-Toe with 3x3x3 and 4x4x4 grids entitled Tic-Tac-Tics, and a scaled down version of Life Genesis, a game of logic based on mathematical abstracts developed by John Horton Conway. Rounding out the collection is Ski Free, which contains three modes of play.

Roots & Influences

Microsoft: The Best of Entertainment Pack for Game Boy Color includes games from the original Best of Entertainment Pack V1.0 released for the PC. The collection features games originally released for the Windows operating system.

Review: Overall

Perfect for those times you're waiting in the car while your spouse or parents shop at the grocery store or the ten boring minutes prior to the movie's start, Microsoft: The Best of Entertainment Pack offers seven certified time wasters with a limited mix of solitaire titles. The collection features absolutely nothing that hasn't been released before, but the games are familiar, easy-to-play, and quick. Looking for mind-benders? Look elsewhere. Have your heart set on plotting and plunder? Sorry.

Three of the titles are card games, three are puzzlers, and one is an action clone that seems oddly out of place, but makes for a nice diversion. Gamers who are predisposed to pick up the collection for the non-action titles (cards and puzzles), will most likely ignore the ski game since it relies on hand-eye coordination and fast reflexes, while the others are more leisurely and based on thought.

The odd-game out, Ski Free, is a not so simple dodge 'em exercise in which you ski downhill in either slalom races (tree or flag) or freestyle while jumping, swerving and tumbling. Slalom scores are based on time with five seconds deleted for each flag you miss, while points earned in freestyle result from jumping, scaring dogs, or making novice skiers or snowboarders take a header. Crashing (-32 points) and crash-landing (-64 points) are score killers, so avoid obstacles. The game doesn't really work on the small Game Boy Color screen and is better suited for computer or arcade action. Obstacles flash on screen at a terrific rate, and only the most coordinated gamer will manage flawless runs.

The card games are all variations on themes or renamed standards. For example, Tut's Tomb is nothing more than traditional Pyramid, where you combine and remove cards from the display that add up to a total of 13 (Q + Ace, J + 2, 10 + 3, etc.). Three modes, casino, standard or none make playing for dollars, points or fun easy, with options to time the game or change the number cards drawn.

Tri-Peaks relies on memory and luck, but has a surprising amount of strategy due to the scoring rules. The object is to earn money, and that doesn't always equate to clearing the three "peaks" every game. At times, it's more advantage score-wise to re-deal a new layout than waste money turning over cards (each costs $5) from the deck; you'll have to weigh your chances of earning $15 for clearing each of the first two peaks and $30 for the last. Each card left on the table at the end of a game also costs a $5 penalty.

The best of the card games is Free Cell, which relies more on strategy, logical thinking and skill than luck and is hotly debated as a game that can be won every time played, though, in reality, it's the toughest and the most enjoyable of the three. Of the card games, it's also the only one in the collection where you can keep track of the number of games won and lost, and winning and losing streaks. For solitaire aficionados, Free Cell offers more challenges than the other two.

Unless you've never owned or used a computer or been anywhere near Microsoft games, chances are fair you've been exposed to Minesweeper. To this day, it remains one of the top quick strategy contests with its mix of observation, luck and timing. Anyone can play Minesweeper at a snail's pace and do well, but the experts know that beating the best time is what it's all about.

Life Genesis is probably the most complex game in the collection, and novices will need some time to master gameplay. The rules are somewhat complicated, and the game is based on mathematical abstracts developed by John Horton Conway that relate to evolution of life: "who lives, who dies, and where new life begins." For gamers interested in creating patterns and surprising symmetry from seemingly random beginnings, Life Genesis has provided untold hours of gameplay since its design over two decades ago. The translation to the GBC works well, with the exception of unlimited displays, which are controlled by what designers call Edge Effects for the system due to space limitations.

The final entry is Tic-Tac-Tics, which takes simple tic-tac-toe and converts it to 3x3x3 or 4x4x4 grid variations of 3D gaming, similar to 3D chess. The standard version is also available, along with settings for easy, average or expert AI competition. On expert competition, chances of winning are very limited, though not totally impossible.

The collection is accompanied by a selection of music that is at times reminiscent of the lounge-like tunes from the Leisure Suit Larry series and jazzy tracks that serve as good background for the games. Detailed rules are available on screen for each game, with the manual serving only as a source for overviews. Controls are simple in Microsoft: The Best of Entertainment Pack, and gameplay just keeps on coming at you. The cartridge offers solid time-wasting gameplay for those short moments in between the more serious bouts of gaming and life.

Review: Enjoyment

Other than the odd inclusion of the action ski game, the selection of three puzzlers and three card games provides diverse gaming, though the overall number of games seems low. Minesweeper is probably the weakest link, due to its exposure on nearly every computer running Microsoft products, and may be considered a poor choice.

Review: Graphics

Colors are a bit muted on a couple of the games and the screen size makes certain symbols on cards and puzzle blocks hard to differentiate without paying close attention. Background colors can be changed in several games, along with decks.

Review: Sound

Music, though repetitive during long-term play, seems suited for gameplay. Standard beeps and bleeps during gameplay.

Review: Replay Value

A couple of the games, particularly Life Genesis (puzzle) and Free Cell (card), offer excellent replay value for the bucks. Tri-Peaks is fairly easy to win, and Tic-Tac-Tics, while strategic, is limited. As a collection for solitaire addicts, portability on the GBC is a major factor.

Review: Documentation

Detailed instructions are given within each game, not in the manual.

Production Credits

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