Caesar's World of Gambling

"Tedious gambling sim"

Caesar's World of Gambling

Philips and CD-i Systems, for CD-i, does not require digital-video card

PROS: Authentic simulations of Vegas gaming, extensive help

CONS: Slow and plain by contemporary standards, unjustifiable $50 price-tag

CUT TO THE CHASE: Take the $2.99 buffet instead

There's a fundamental problem with any computer or video-game simulation of Las Vegas gambling -- without real money at stake, the games themselves aren't that interesting. When you visit grandma and break out the cards, it's a safe bet you're not going to play blackjack or poker: bridge, hearts, and gin rummy are far more interesting for thinking adults. Virtually nobody understands all the bizarre bets in craps, and I'm willing to bet you don't have a Roulette wheel anywhere in the house.

Given that, gambling sims start out with a disadvantage. Small wonder that the best-sellers usually involve people taking off their clothes, as in the popular UK CD-i Vegas Girls.

Caesar's World of Gambling also has the dubious honor of being one of the most fossilized CD-i's on the shelf, with a copyright date of 1990... essentially the Triassic Era as far as video-gamers are considered. Why it still retails for $50 is anyone's guess.

Given its age, it shouldn't be too surprising that the game is slow-moving and generally creaky. What's impressive though, is that its lush multimedia approach still holds up.

The disc starts with one of those awful sequence-of-dissolves photo montages so popular on early CD-i titles, taking you into ''Caesar's World''. From here, you can see the casino tables, behind a screen-ful of buttons. These offer instructions, rules for the games, a tour of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, etc.

When you enter the casino, you simply click on a table to play that game -- their names will pop up as your pointer hits the hot-spots, so it's easy to see what's available.

The most successful games are the easiest ones. The game offers five varieties of slot machines: three fruit/bar machines, and two kinds of video-poker. The game is simple, but it plays well enough. More interesting is blackjack, which offers a nice animation of the dealer's hands dishing out the cards, and a complete set of betting options, including insurance, double-downs, split hands, etc.

Roulette is flawed by a fairly unconvincing animation of the spinning ball and wheel, but it does feature all the weird bets you never knew you could make, such as betting two or four numbers by placing chips on adjacent edges or corners.

Similarly, Craps has an uninspiring animation of the throw of the dice, which then cuts to a picture of the dice on the table. Fortunately, the voice of the pit boss clarifies which bets win and lose and what you're supposed to do next. A complete description of the rules is available for craps (as with all the games), but it takes about 20 minutes to go through all the possible bets.

While Caesar's is intended for multi-player gaming, it's not entirely satisfying in this regard. Each player has to remember to select an icon when you start up the disc, then pass the controller in each game, remembering whose chips went where, etc. It works reasonably well in blackjack, where each player can see his or her hand, but four-player craps can get messy quickly.

In between games, you can get more money from a ''cash machine'' located in the casino, although markers are available in most games to cover your bets. With repeated play, you'll probably find yourself taking unjustifiable risks with borrowed money to win back what you've lost. Surprisingly enough, this often works. But I still wouldn't try it in Reno or my local tribal casino!

Whether you like Casear's World of Gambling depends first and foremost on whether you enjoy casino gaming. If the red carpet, gaudy lights, and free drinks hold no appeal for you, this disc won't win you over. And without real money in play, inveterate gamblers may find out just how boring these games actually are. But if you enjoy these games, and you can find the disc at a reasonable discount, it might keep you interested for a few hours.
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©1995 Chris Adamson

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/01, Updated 04/01/01