Budding octogenarians rejoice!
PLAYERS: 1
PUBLISHER: American Video Entertainment
DEVELOPER: Odyssey Software
GENRE: Card game
RELEASE DATE: 1992
Your brother or sister has played solitaire. Your parents have played solitaire. Your grandparents don’t know how to use a computer, and they’ve played solitaire. And, my friend, you have played solitaire, and probably for longer than you’d like to admit. Since computers started coming pre-installed with solitaire, it has become one of the most ubiquitous games of all time, beloved by all ages for its simplicity and addictive properties. But since you can boot up a fantastic version of solitaire on your iPhone, desktop, laptop, or tablet, why fire up Solitaire for your NES? No reason. It’s clunky, it’s slow, and God help your ears if you forget to turn the music down. Besides, solitaire engineers have made great advancements in the field over the last two decades. For example, double-clicking a card automatically places it in the appropriate pile. It’s a move we take for granted now, but don’t think you’ll be able to get away with futuristic moves like that in Solitaire. Then again, Solitaire is still solitaire, slow and outdated though it may be. If you’re hard up for a game, it’ll do. Just turn the music and the sound off, lest your ears decide you’re better off deaf. PRO TIP: if you really want to indulge in some antiquated solitaire shenanigans, grab a deck of Bicycle cards and engage with the material. Winning will be that much more satisfying.
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6 replies on “#588 – Solitaire”
This game’s existence baffles me. Unlicensed NES games weren’t usually sold in game stores or Toys R Us because of Nintendo’s stranglehold and you mostly picked them up at video stores as rentals.
So who the heck would decide to rent Solitaire for a weekend? Who thought enough people would that it warranted making it? The world may never know…
Apparently, enough people did play it on NES, because there exists a version of Solitaire for the Super Nintendo – licensed by Nintendo, no less.
And yes, in grand Super NES tradition, it is indeed called SUPER SOLITAIRE.
Nabbed it for a couple bucks on a lark. Plays well enough, has a few different games, and even supports the Super NES mouse (even if it moves about slowly). Still, I’d much rather stick with the Windows version. That one goes by more quickly.
And how much did it cost? Can you imagine paying $50 for it?
My grandmother actually rented this like 2 or 3 times when I was a kid. She didn’t “game” much, but she did really like puzzle games and casino/card games. She ceased renting this once we got a new family computer, which had solitaire on Windows. lol
I can’t imagine paying anything for this game. Solitaire is, and always has been, free in my mind.
@Jesse: My grandma LOVES puzzle games, like Lode Runner, Bomberman (old-school), Othello, Tetris, etc. I think she would get down with Solitaire on the NES.
Amiga had a card game series called “Excellent Card Games” where you could play several solitaire variants including Yukon, Black Maria, Baroness, Frustration, Stonewall and more. I don’t know the exact differences off hand, but Odyssey could have done the same to increase the value of owning a cartridge. I mean a cartridge is already larger than a deck of cards. Why not stuff it with more variety?