Review: Power Chips and High Roller

Reviewed By: Bill Stiteler

Review Computer: 800MHz iMac, 256MB RAM, GeForce 2

Review Date: June 18, 2003

Genre: Puzzle

Format: CD

Developer: MumboJumbo

Mac Publisher: MacPlay

System Requirements: MacOS X v10.1.5, 128MB RAM, OpenGL-compatible video card, 12MB free HD space

Network Feature: No

3D Support: OpenGL Required

Retail Price: $19.99

Availability: Out Now

Rating: E for Everyone

Following the lack of response to my Tony Hawk review, I've come to the conclusion that people simply don't respond to negativity. That's why I've decided to make this review a positive one.

Reasons Why Power Chips and High Roller are One Million Times Better Than Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3

1. They're playable.

Not just one, but both programs available on this disc are actual games. This represents a major advance in computer technology, when compared to Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3.

Both games are simple, addictive puzzlers from Mumbo Jumbo. Both have casino themes, but that's just a window dressing.

In Power Chips, you try to eliminate falling poker chips by selecting groups of three or more matching types. But the chips keep falling, and if a chip gets isolated, the stacks will start to rise. If it rises so far that it breaks the "fault line," game over.

High Roller features a screen filled with different colored dice. You try to create sets of three or more in a straight line by choosing one die and another adjacent. The dice change places, and if you've got a set, the set disappears and the ones above them drop down.

2. Rules.

Unlike Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, both Power Chips and High Roller have consistent rules. Doing the same thing will produce the same action, rather than simply requiring you to mash a series of keys in a completely random manner. And as a special bonus, these rules are explained to you!

3. Fun.

This is perhaps the biggest difference between Power Chips and High Roller. Granted, Tony Hawk Pro Skater's programmers were so busy stuffing the game with "half-pipes" and "ollies" and "wicked," perhaps they just didn't have enough room to include any fun.

Thankfully, although Chips and Roller are both beautiful graphically, the games are much smaller, and thus have ample room for fun. Deceptively simple, you'll soon discover that the games require strategic thinking and concentration. In Power Chips, you'll need to balance your desire for big combos with an eye to spot chips that might be left stranded, while making sure you keep track of the chips about to fall. In High Roller, working with the dice at the bottom of the stack can bring down new sets to create combos, but they can also screw up potential sets you had above. Run out of combos, and you're out of the game.

And remember how tremendously ripped off you felt when you saw Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 at the store and thought, "Oh, they wouldn't possibly make a skating game! I'm going to find out what enjoyable topic they really did choose. It must be really fun if they had to disguise it by saying that it's about skating. A skateboarding game. HA HA HA!" Remember that? Remember how you clearly enunciated all three "HAs?" Remember how you felt when you got it home and found out it was really about skating? Remember your existential despair? Remember how you sat at the coffee shop, smoking thin, hand rolled cigarettes and reading the autobiography of Klaus Kinski?

Well, you don't have to go through that here. You can experience the style of the games, if not the actual themes, free online. Simply go to Mumbo Jumbo's website to try either game. Then, go and buy this package because you'll get new features such as high scores, better graphics, and enhanced play...

...and my personal word that none of the money will go into making Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4.

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