Shanghai: True Valor (PlayStation)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.7 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Christian Nutt
• Reviewed on: 06/01/1999
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 05/31/1999
• Originally published on GameSpot: Shanghai: True Valor (PlayStation) Review

Shanghai. A puzzle game that has been with the human race since before time was time. OK, maybe not, but it's certainly been floating around on PCs and console systems for many years now, even if it isn't exactly ancient. If you've never played it before, it goes something like this: mahjongg tiles are set up in a complex pattern a few deep, and you must remove them from the playing field in pairs. Tiles you remove must be free to slide to the left or right and must match each other. It's basically just another form of solitaire - using tiles instead of playing cards.

Simple? Yes. But it is also a nice, mellow time-waster, and that's why it's been around as long as it has. It's nothing to get excited about, obviously, but it does offer some mind and finger activity. True Valor endeavors to liven up this traditional game with some new modes, and they aren't half bad. To begin with, there are classic and arcade modes; classic has no time limit, but arcade does. Arcade also has different levels, which can be accessed through a password. It's kind of bizarre that the game uses a password system - as it frequently alerts you, it writes to the memory card. The only thing that is saved, however, is system data. There is also a new "rolling" Shanghai, in which the tiles are set up around four sides of a cube, and L and R rotates this construct. Not exciting, but it's something.

This brings us to versus mode: a cute idea for what is essentially solitaire. In this mode, you get to pick your favorite ancient Chinese warlord to represent you in the Shanghai arena. (As you will discover if you read your history, the ancient Chinese often ended deadlocked battles with a calm game of Shanghai.) You are then presented with two side-by-side mini-Shanghai setups. Clearing blocks quickly and cleanly adds to the mayhem on your opponent's side. The loser is the one whose time runs out first, as clearing a set of blocks also momentarily halts the flow of time. It's not exciting, but it helps add to the variety of the game, and that's always a good thing.

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