Taipei

"Challenging.."

Taipei. An epic game featuring one of the most creative and innovative stories ever seen before in a video game. Not to be dismissed are the incomparable graphics and the unrivaled sound. Nothing can top the legendary gameplay, with its sheer amount of modes and unlimited replay value. A masterpiece.

Aw, who am I kidding? Taipei is nothing but a modernized version of the ancient oriental game known as mahjongg. Wildly popular overseas, the game of mahjongg has a simple premise that anyone can understand. Several 'tiles' are placed on a playing field with the goal being to remove all of the tiles from the field. Getting rid of the tiles can be done by matching similar ones together. Sure, it sounds simple in writing, but mahjongg is really quite the difficult game.

Perhaps the biggest reason why mahjongg is so difficult is that you can only match 'free' tiles. A tile is considered free when it is not directly surrounded by other tiles. Since tiles can be stacked on top of each other as well as placed side by side, finding free tiles can get very difficult and also very frustrating. Having patience is a very helpful attribute if you plan on playing Taipei.

There are several different layouts that the tiles can be placed in - standard, bridge, castle, cube, glyph, pyramid, and spiral. Each of the layouts match their names; the tiles are stacked in the shape of a cube in that particular cube layout, and the tiles are used to make a castle in the castle layout. The difficulty of Taipei varies with each layout, as some are easier than others due to their shape. The cube and pyramid are easiest since you only have to match between a few tiles at once, while spiral and castle are two of the hardest since you must choose from a plethora of tiles. The option of choosing your own layout is a nice addition to this modernized version of mahjongg.

Even with the different layouts, each game of mahjongg has a pre-set route to victory. One bad move at the beginning and you may find yourself left with no free tiles later on in the game. As a result of the game's pre-determined nature, one game may take hours to finish if you have plans of winning. Finishing a game never took that long for me, but I did find myself frequently having lapses where I couldn't find any matches. Once you do find a match after a long drought, you will feel a sense of accomplishment. A thinking man's game indeed.

What is the reward for successfully finishing a game of mahjongg, you ask?

A fortune message such as ''A joyful reunion awaits your arrival.'' These little fortunes are about as useless as horoscopes, but they are a better reward than a lame 'Well done!' screen I have seen in other mahjongg games.

Taipei is a simple game with simple graphics. The game has a slightly dark green background upon which the tiles are placed. The tiles themselves are plain white with little icons slapped onto the front. The icons are of a simple state, featuring such drawings of oriental symbols and colored dots. The game can also be played in black and white if the player is looking for even more of a challenge. The simplistic visuals fit the simple concept of Taipei.

Overall, Taipei is a great puzzle game with a high level of challenge. Taipei is also one of the better video game versions of mahjongg I have found, thanks to its many layouts and simple presentation. If you have never played mahjongg before, then there is no better place to start than with this game. Even if you have played mahjongg, check this out. You might just become as addicted to it as I have been..

Best Feature: Challenging; many layouts.
Worst Feature: Winning can take a while.

Final Analysis:
Graphics 4/10 - simple, plain
Sound NA/10 - none besides your default Windows sound settings
Gameplay 8/10 - thinking man's puzzle game
Control 8/10 - click click click
Replay Value 8/10 - can get addicting at times
Challenge 9/10 - very difficult and easy to lose
Overall 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/02, Updated 01/02/02