Reversi

 After reviewing a few other games we are back to a simple board game, this time the popular and complex Reversi (otherwise known as "Othello"). Reversi is, like Chess and Checkers a very strategic and intelligent game and one that again sees players playing on an 8x8 board with small pieces. The idea is to try and end up having more of your coloured piece showing at the end of the game (more about the rules of the game can be found here on Wikipedia). Though how does this fair when taken over to the android system?

The game comes with the 3 modes, One Player, Two Player or Puzzle. First we will look at a 2 player game which (which is played with a share phone) and is pretty much identical to the One Player game (which is played against the AI). This game mode is the one that people will be familiar with except using  the phone to play it is much quicker than playing it for real (which is slow and arduous in all honesty).

The game is swift and tactical and the 2 player mode is pretty good, certainly more fun for a novice like myself than playing with real tiles which would take a long time. Though the lack of a timer can make the game drag on at times if you are playing a mercifully tactical player who likes to take their time.

As well as the 1 and 2 player games which follows the standard Reversi rules we also get a puzzle mode, a very addictive and brilliant extra where you are given a patter that you need to replicate by using the rules of the standard game. This is a wonderful extra and a smart move by the the games creators (Magma Mobile) which separates their version from many of the other versions available on the market.

Although it's better to play than the original board game (due to the fact it's less fiddly) it is the same game at heart and a game that although fun is limited. The graphics and sounds are pretty authentic though as with many board games that are authentically reproduced for the Android system they limit themselves an awful lot. It's a catch 22 admittedly and people who want to play Reversi won't mind too much but it's hard to be impressed by either the sound or the looks.


Addictiveness-4/10 If you like Reversi this should be right down your alley, otherwise it's unlikely to convert people. The Puzzle mode however is a nice addition.
Controls-9/10 They do their job and it actually makes the game more playable than the board version
Graphics-5/10 They do a job but are limited to the authenticity of the game
Sounds-4/10 Again they are authentic as opposed to being amazing. Could have added some music however.
Originality-2/10 It's a board game ported to the android system. Not original at all except for the puzzle mode (which is a great addition)

Total score: 24/50

This is an authentic enough version of Reversi and although it's not going to run down your battery it is very playable and if you are a fan of Reversi you will find yourself playing it a fair bit. Sadly though I'm not a big Reversi fan and won't be coming back to play this often. The puzzle mode may see me turn it back on at some point though I'm not hugely excited by it.

Game mark C-