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Genre: Solitaire

Format: 1 CD

Developer: Freeverse

Publisher: Freeverse

Minimum System Requirements: 333MHz G3, Mac OS X v10.1, 64MB RAM, 60MB hard disk space

Review Computer: 867MHz G4, Mac OS X v10.3, 640MB RAM, ATI RADEON 8500

Network Feature: No

Price: $19.95

ESRB Rating: N/A (ESRB ratings don't apply to monkeys)

Availability: Now

I've never quite understood that business model. McDonald's uses it; just dump "Mc" in front of anything and it'll sell. McGriddle. McNuggets. McDLT. Freeverse tends to do the same thing, only with "Burning Monkey." Burning Monkey Solitaire. Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab. And now, Burning Monkey Mahjong Solitaire. Thank heavens they aren't reversed, huh? I'd hate to go into McDonald's and order some Burning Monkey Nuggets.

Regardless, I can't deny that the burning monkeys do make these games a bit more fun. It's not because I have anything against monkeys, but because the Freeverse monkeys become familiar. They're like a troupe of actors or comedians who appear in a weekly TV show. Sure, they're going to be doing the same thing they did last week, but they were entertaining last week, so why not tune in again?

Such is the case with Burning Monkey Mahjong Solitaire. The jokes, we've come to expect. The easter eggs, we've come to expect. The graphic style, we've come to expect. It's all familiar and it still works. The thing is, what I'll call "monkey dressing" isn't going to help a bad game, so Freeverse chooses wisely. They only put their stamp on games that have proven themselves to stand the test of time: solitaire, Tetris, that kind of thing. And Mahjong, in this version, has been on Macs since the days of the SE. Probably even before that.

I had a shareware game called Gunshy on my old system. The actual Mahjong, and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, I believe is a competitive game. In Mahjong Solitaire, the version most of us know, it's just one person against luck...and some strategy.

Basically, a large number of tiles are laid out and stacked before you in the pattern of your choice (Freeverse has provided dozens of clever layouts). Some layouts have just over 50 tiles, while others can have over 250 tiles. I've found that the game difficulty tends to be the same regardless of the number of tiles, but you can control the difficulty level (five options ranging from General Tso's Chicken (easy) to General Tso's Wife (very hard)). You can also control the appearance of both the tiles and the background. Some are traditional, some are whimsical, and some are downright difficult to look at.

The point of the game is to remove all of the tiles from the board a pair at a time. As long as the tile is clearly visible, isn't blocked by another tile on the left or right, and has a duplicate that's just as open, the pair can be removed. Each tile design will be on the board four times, so you don't want to just remove a pair as you find it. There may be another, more important match on the board or just a few moves ahead, so there is some strategy involved. There's plenty of luck, too, as where the tiles are initially placed can sometimes make it impossible to finish no matter how well you play. In that event, Freeverse has included a reshuffle option. If no moves are left, you can reshuffle the remaining tiles to present the possibility of victory.

Graphically, Burning Monkey Mahjong Solitaire is on par with the rest of Freeverse's Burning Monkey games. The colors are bright and charming, the animations are a bit crude but fun, and the monkeys offer their typical jokes. Well, somewhat typical. I didn't think they were as funny this time around, but hey, there are only four. I guess the rest of troupe is either on strike or on vacation...or maybe they've gone to Hollywood to make the first Burning Monkey movie. I don't know.

I guess it's good that they're not as funny, because this game is a bit more serene than Solitaire and much more serene than Puzzle Lab. It has more of a tradition, so Freeverse took a slightly more sophisticated approach to it. The music is a nice collection of classical pieces which sound quite good despite being midi. Oddly, the music doesn't have much of a Chinese influence. So, where does the Chinese influence come in? Well, in the design, in the game itself, and in the (ahem) fortune cookie displayed after you win.

That's pretty much it here, but it's enough. Freeverse has again taken a classic game and updated it just enough of their personality to give it a bit more life. There's nothing here to revolutionize the game, but it's Mahjong. It doesn't need to be revolutionized. Freeverse fans will enjoy the familiarity of the characters and the sense of humor, and Mahjong (solitaire version) fans will enjoy the familiarity and variety of the game play.

McDonald's fans will enjoy a McNugget...which, I'm told, contain no monkey parts.