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Review: The Super GameHouse Solitaire CollectionReviewed By: Erica Marceau Review Computer: 400MHz G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) with 768MB RAM, ATI Rage Pro 128 (16MB), Mac OS X v10.2.6 Review Date: October 27, 2003
As a general rule, I don't compare the game I'm reviewing with others in the same genre because I think each game should stand or fall on its own qualities. On the other hand, when it comes to solitaire games, I judge them all by the one I have as a favorite, Eric's Ultimate Solitaire CD by Delta Tao. Will the Super GameHouse Solitaire Collection live up to my high standards or will it fall in the dust like all of the others?
After a brief time for loading, you are taken to the game of your choice where you are presented with the rules and given the chance to deal the cards and start the game. At this point, a pair of hands deals each and every card which is pointless and makes you wait before you can start playing. Maybe this is supposed to add realism, but it's very annoying.
There's also the matter of convenience, which computer card games can provide over using actual cards. In Eric's, you can have it show you all available moves by highlighting the cards you're able to play, with a darker highlight on cards that it considers better. You can also highlight all cards of a certain number or suit by pressing the appropriate key on the keyboard. In Super GameHouse Solitaire Collection, you can do none of these things.
The Super GameHouse Solitaire Collection is an okay collection, but it doesn't really provide many more features over using a real deck of cards and a book of rules. It's just not worth the money, since there are many better versions of solitaire available.  [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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The Super GameHouse Solitaire Collection actually consists of two separate games—Super GameHouse Solitaire and Super GameHouse Solitaire 2—with 10 games each. This is the first problem I had, since you either have to remember which version has the game you want to play or just open both of them. It would have been better if a single interface was designed to access all of the games, even if after you select the game all it did was open up the appropriate version.
After the cards are finally dealt, you can start playing. This is where the differences from Eric's Ultimate Solitaire (Eric's) are the most obvious. The first thing I noticed were the lack of any keyboard shortcuts at all. In Eric's, you can hit the space bar to go through the deck and undo or redo the last moves by using command-z and command-r. In The Super GameHouse Solitaire Collection, the only keyboard shortcut available is to change the resolution from window to full-screen mode. Everything else is done with the mouse.
The graphics are also lacking; I found the card faces to be a bit fuzzy, especially in full-screen mode. It's impossible to change either the card faces or the card backs, and you can only pick the background color from among five choices. Solitaire doesn't have to use 3D graphics to be playable, and shouldn't, really, but it would be nice to give you even a few ways to change the environment. I also would have liked the window mode to be larger so it's easier to see the cards.