- Release Date: July 01, 1999
- Genre: Traditional
- Style: Tile Game
- Similar Games: Shanghai (Atari Lynx), Shanghai (Game Boy), Shanghai (Arcade), Shanghai (Sega Master System), Shanghai Great Moments (IBM PC Compatible), Shanghai (TurboGrafx-16), MahJongg Master 2 (IBM PC Compatible), Shanghai: Second Dynasty (Hybrid PC/Mac)
Game Description
Shanghai Dynasty is based on the tile game of Mahjongg. In addition to the game of Shanghai, which involves removing Mahjongg tiles from a design, players can now also play the game of Mah-jongg, and includes both Chinese and Japanese rules.In addition, this version of Shanghai includes a special version of Shanghai for kids, including three new tilesets just for children alone. Also includes more tilesets, more layouts, and more fortunes, plus special fortunes available when you successfully finish removing all the tiles from a layout.
Also new are layouts just for kids and multi-player layouts such as Pandemonium, which can also be played over the Internet by Windows users.
~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
Shanghai Dynasty is based on the ancient tile game and contains four variations of the classic game including Dynasty, Pandamonium, a version suited for kids, and Mah-Jongg.~ Matthew House, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
When I purchased Shanghai II: The Dragon's Eye, I thought I had seen it all when it came to the game of Shanghai. Well, with the publication of Shanghai Dynasty, I have been proven wrong. And to be honest, I'm glad.The game as a whole has been extensively re-worked, with new layouts in addition to the ones that came with Shanghai II: The Dragon's Eye. In addition to layouts that players can complete solitaire, new multi-player games have been added that players can play against flesh and blood opponents, either in person or on the internet or modem. All of these games, like Pandemonium, are cutthroat, every player for themselves games, trying to rack up the most points to win.
The graphics have also been beefed up, with animations that are or come very close to being three-dimensional. Each tileset also boass a unique background that comes to life when a player has successfully completed a layout and gives the players their fortune. Unlike earlier games, the fortunes are no longer presented with the same animation each time, but a variety of animations can precede the giving of the fortune.
Included with the many games of Shanghai is the game of Mah-jongg. The rules are complex, taking up most of the space in the fairly thick manual that comes with the game. Most of this information is devoted to showing the winning hands players can try for. Even the reference card is solely devoted to showing winning hands and point values for the Chinese version of the game and the Western version.
As yet, after many times of trying, I have been unable to actually win a game of Mah-jongg against the computer opponents. Despite all the rules of the game given in the manual and the winning hands shown, this is a game learned more in the playing (lots of playing) than in the reading of the rules.
The only other flaw in this game package is that the index of the manual bears no actual resemblance to the pages within. A heading that the index gives as starting on page 74 actually starts on page 108. And so on. This is only a problem on the later pages. The ones before the manual starts to explain Mah-jongg are accurate.
Wether or not you wish to try and learn Mah-jongg, this is an excellent game. You can be perfectly happy just playing the many variations of Shanghai and enjoying the graphics that come with each tileset. Mah-jongg is a complicated game, and the rules for learning it included with the game are the clearest I've seen. Not that this makes it any easier to learn, since it involves a great deal of memorization, but the clear explanations do help a great deal.
Kids will also love this game, and it is a game the entire family can enjoy.
~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
Extremely enjoyable for Shanghai, less so while learning Mah-jongg.~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
Excellent. Some of the animations are 3D or appear so.~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
Excellent. Very clear, and the kids game has a voice giving explanations and help.~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
Endless variations of layouts, tiles and games. There is a lot here. You can play for months on end and never run out of new combinations to try.~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide
Review: Documentation
Excellent. The fairly thick manual covers all aspects of the game.~ Lisa Karen Savignano, All Game Guide
Production Credits
Designer: Tom Sloper; Producer: Tom Sloper; Director: Tom Sloper; Associate Producer: Eveline Cureteu, Jenny Park; Original Shanghai Design: Brodie Lockard; Company 1: Quicksilver Software, Inc.; President: William C. Fisher; Lead Programmer: Michael Gerard ; Producer: Gary Graeper ; Mah-Jongg Programmer: Dan Clarke; Shanghai Programmer: Terry Koken, Ron Meyer ; Engine Programmer: Rob Barris, Justin Butler, Michael Gerard, Tung-mei Liu, Michael Donovan Mandap, Gregory Marsters, George Shackelford, Bill Snyder, David Steffen, Barry Sohl, Vincent Tagle ; Additional Design: Bob Settles ; Post Production Assets Editing: Sarah McKinley Oakes; Company 2: Presage Software, Inc.; Art Director: Steve Snyder ; Senior Artist: Nina Chen Gentile, Garrick Damir ; Art and Animation: Ken Harris, Dan Barry ; 3D Animator: Bill Hennes ; Macromedia Director: Chris Thacker; Macromedia Art Processing: Chris Thacker ; After Effects Animator: Mike Terpstra; Audio Director: Paul Gorman ; Voice Over Director: Derek Sorrentino ; Voice Over Recording Facility: Laughing Tiger Studios; Audio Engineer: Daniel Daniel ; Mah-Jongg Voice Actor: Bruce Inoue, Chris Pflueger, Lisa Valdez, Samantha Wong ; Kids' Mode Voice Actor: Amelia Rosenberg ; Multi-Player Voice Actor: Lisa Valdez; Company 3: WaveGroup Sound; Audio Post Production Supervisor: James Allen ; Sound Designer: Mark Lee, Akemi LeVa ; Assistant Sound Editor: Rob Erdmann ; Apprentice Sound Editor: Dave Crane, Sue Pelmulder; Music: Jeehun Hwang; Music Advisor: Kelly Rogers; Company 4: Activision; ActivLink Technology Producer: Mark Lamia ; ActivLink Associate Producer: Rick Baumgartner ; ActivLink Network Programmer: Dan Kegel ; ActivLink Net Shell Programmer: Leif Bennett, Loren McQuade ; ActivLink Additional Programming: Christian Grunca, Anita Lee; Art Direction: Larry Paolicelli ; Additional Art: James Mayeda, Wyndham Chow ; Creative Executive: Chris Hewish ; German Localization: Natascha Conrad ; German Translation Services: Effective Media ; German Studio: M & S Music ; French Translation: Berlitz International; Italian Translation: Berlitz International; Spanish Translation: Berlitz International ; Localization Coordinator: Nathalie Dove ; Japanese Localization Producer: Mika Hayashi ; Japanese Localization Production Coordinator: Ryan Kamemoto ; Japanese Production Assistant: Satomi Kadoi ; Japanese Localization Tester: Pole to Win Testing Services ; Japanese Translation: Kirin Mochizuki ; Japanese Voice Over Recording Facility: MC2 Studios ; Japanese Recording Director: Mieko Mochizuki ; Japanese Sound Engineer: Keita Yanagida ; Japanese Graphic Artist: Jiro Mase; Japanese Box Design: Jiro Mase; Japanese Manual Layout and Design: Susumu Nagoshi ; Other Japanese Assistance: Ayumi Hata; Mah-Jongg Consultant: Carol Kaiserman, Ricky Shiraishi, Masakazu Teranishi; Fortune: Eveline Cureteu, Tom Sloper ; United States Product Manager: Peter Karpas, Maria Chow Zajac, Rachel Silverstein, Barbara Matias; United Kingdom Product Manager: Chris Lewis; Latin America Product Manager: Salvador Fernandez; Pacific Product Manager: Peter Oey ; Director of Quality Assurance: Jim Summers ; Manager of Quality Assurance: Dave Arnspiger ; Quality Assurance Senior Project Lead: Jason Wong ; Quality Assurance Project Lead: Tanya Langston, Nadine Theuzillot ; Tester: Kip Stolberg, Dan Hagerty, Mike Denny, Joe Favazza, Winnie Lee, Rick Moreno, Brian Ullmer, Nelson Grande, Jerry Pao, Jai Polidore, Sam Nouriani, Michael Spann, John Chiu, Damien Fischer, Liza Clary, Steve Rosenthal, Clay Retzer, Eric Lee, Michael Brady ; Quality Assurance External Test Coordinator: Jonathan Moses ; External Tester: Paul Amala, Deidre Anderson, Marc Baime, Michele Case, Chris Chao, John Chiu, John Chow, Sin-Quan Chow, Greg Crowder, Matthew Czubakowski, Michael Czubakowski, Angela Czubakowski, Tim Czubakowski, Tony Evans, J.R. Fitch, Don Geppert, Mary Craig, Pany Haritatos, Adam Heller, Steve Holiday, Wei-Hwa Huang, Clayton Jung, Ted Kao, Lenore Kaye, Michael Kelly, Lori Marlowe, Heather Moses, Lynda Moses, Terry Olson, Bryna Olson, Tom Pfister, Fred Philipp, Theresa Rohr, Joe Ruffolo, Ethan Sherman, Rex Thomen, Timothy Wilson, Karen Woys, Dimitri Zelepuhin, Eric Zolnowski, Dr. Tak-On Ko, Julien Bressler, Somalia Goldsby, Ani Janszyan, Louis Marshall, James Marshall, Stevan Weibel, Scott Weibel, Neil J. Thompson ; Internal Tester: Ed Clune, Tanya Martino, Heather Maxwell, Laird Malamed, Samantha Lee, Carolyn Pedego, Jim Summers, Jenny Park, Maria Flagg, Neysa Harris, Dan Atkins, Julie Grovdahl, Paul Trowe ; Associate Producer of Installation: Adam Goldberg; Installation Programmer: Ben Siron; Installation Production Coordinator: Tanya Martino, Kevin Cohen, Jason Feffer; Installation Technical Help Files: Jason Feffer; Manual: Belinda M. Van Sickle, Mike Rivera, Sylvia Orzel ; Package Design: Ron Gould, Veronica Milito, Erik Jensen, Cindy Whitlock, Denise Walsh, Samantha Lee
~ Matthew House, All Game Guide
