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"The Jet Gamer" Game Review: Ultimate Board Game Collection
9 years ago
I’m sure this isn’t something you were expecting at all.
Ultimate Board Game Collection
I know what you may be thinking when you see this name coming up in your list of reviews. You are thinking Shovelware for the Wii aren’t you? Yeah, I’m sure most of us are thinking it as well. This will actually be a thing for a little while where I look at some of the cheapo Wii games you can pick up right now if you look hard enough. The thing is of course, is this stuff actually worth the very cheap price, or is there a reason that this stuff is usually well known and avoided and really cheap? Let us take a look at this game and find out.
Gameplay
The premise of UBGC is pretty much, you are playing board games on your Wii. That’s it. There is nothing extra thrown in there, no twists or anything. It literally says on the box, play board games without the risk of losing the pieces. So don’t expect anything other than a Wii game that allows you to play some of the most common board games there are. They are so common that most of these games are games that come preloaded on most PC’s these days, checkers, Chess, Sudoku, Chinese checkers and the such. The thing is, that is all you are doing here. There are some odd choices though of course, like doing a Jigsaw Puzzle in here, that honestly, don’t seem like they really belong at all in a board game collection, because that doesn’t exactly count as a board game, though neither does Sudoku either. Well, even though it is super simple, I can’t complain too much there, as the game does do what it says it is going to do. You are playing board games, and it does portray them accurately and even offers small tutorials to try and explain the games to you to make sure you know how to play them properly. It does a good job of it for the most part, though there are some exceptions here and there. I still don’t understand how to play Backgammon at all after this, though I did understand Chess a tad more. The bad part though that does hold it back a bit is the AI. It is pretty cheap, even on the easy difficulties, as it will almost always make the same moves and be pretty cheap and hard to beat. It does stuff purposely to make you react first so that it will almost always win. I barely won any of the skill games as the AI is always a few steps ahead of you it would seem. Yeah, don’t play this on your own. I can see where this game was going though, as it is mostly meant to be played with two to four people for best effect. If you are playing other players, I can see this having some value, if you don’t own the real like board games themselves. This game is so cheap, that honestly, I could see it as a cheap alternative to the real board games, assuming you already have a Wii and the proper number of Wiimotes. Still, as a game in general though, this is a short little time waster that honestly, unless you are just looking for something to kill some time, or you just get a craving to play a particular board game, I doubt people will have much interested in this for long gameplay wise.
Story
Not Applicable, this is nothing but board games, so it gets a pass here.
Graphics
There is nothing spectacular here at all really. It is just the board games. They look the way they should and that’s that. There is nothing fancy, there are no twists and honestly, there are very few background designs at all. So really, you will be looking at the same few backgrounds flying around in the back as you are playing the standard no frills board games. Nothing looks just atrocious here, but really, everything is just so plain and boarding. You are likely going to be put to sleep by how plain everything looks. Everything represents what it should be, but that’s it. Once again, just plain and boring, that’s that.
Sound
Okay, this is just unacceptable. I can understand not having the best music in the world for something like this, but I expect more than four or so simple tracks that last only a few minutes before going to the next. Give it like five or ten minutes and you will loop back around to the beginning of the songs once again. Wow, this is just pathetic. It is almost insulting really. I would suggest, if you aren’t playing in a group, where the sound of the group will drown out the noise, put your own music on. It will be better than the few minute loops of very few songs that are in this game. The songs are even boring as well. Just mute the music and play the games. They are what you came to this game for in the first place after all.
Control
You control this game with the Wiimote motion controls only. There is nothing totally wrong with that, as it does seem to work for the most part, but I would have expected the option to switch between the motion controls and a sideways standard controller view as well. The fact it is not there, does mean that everyone you are playing with all have to use the motion controls and get used to using them to grab pieces on the boards and move them where you want them to be. So really, there is nothing inherently wrong with this control set up, but honestly, I can’t say too much positive here either. At least the game is able to be controlled, it just seems like it is missing the classic controls as well that it should have I feel. If you don’t mind the motion controls though, at least you and your family, if you can get them to play this with you, will at least be able to play the games with little trouble.
Replay Value
I don’t see people who are playing on their own really wanting to come back to this unless they are really getting a hankering for a board game and have no one to play them with at all. I can see casual families coming back to a game like this though, as this really is more of a game you play with friends or family instead of just on your own. Still, I would think playing with the real things for a family game night would be better than playing a digital version on their video game console. For people that can’t get the other stuff though or who would prefer to have all those board games in one place though, I can see this working for them and wanting to use this for a family game night. Otherwise, if you don’t have people to do this with, this is one of those games you honestly just play once or twice and likely shelve until you either need a distraction for a while, or have some people that want to play board games with you and you have no physical ones available. Not the greatest replay value around, but not the worst either.
Overall, I can see why Ultimate Board Game Collection would be considered to be cheapo Wii shovelware that no normal gamer would want. This is more just a casual family game that could have been a lot more if there were more games, more music, and a more fair AI to play against. As I mentioned above, I can only see people really wanting to play this game much, if they are having a craving to play board games and don’t have real ones available, or they have a family that wants to use this as a family game night substitute. I can see this being used for that and honestly not being that bad of a choice for it. However, there are definitely better options for a video game to be used as a family game night. So really, there is very little lasting appeal here, and unless you just want to play some board games, or are going for a decent Wii collection, I would say give this game a pass.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Ultimate Board Game Collection a four point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 5
Story: N.A.
Graphics: 4
Sound: 2
Control: 6
Replay Value: 5
Overall: 4.5
Ultimate Board Game Collection
I know what you may be thinking when you see this name coming up in your list of reviews. You are thinking Shovelware for the Wii aren’t you? Yeah, I’m sure most of us are thinking it as well. This will actually be a thing for a little while where I look at some of the cheapo Wii games you can pick up right now if you look hard enough. The thing is of course, is this stuff actually worth the very cheap price, or is there a reason that this stuff is usually well known and avoided and really cheap? Let us take a look at this game and find out.
Gameplay
The premise of UBGC is pretty much, you are playing board games on your Wii. That’s it. There is nothing extra thrown in there, no twists or anything. It literally says on the box, play board games without the risk of losing the pieces. So don’t expect anything other than a Wii game that allows you to play some of the most common board games there are. They are so common that most of these games are games that come preloaded on most PC’s these days, checkers, Chess, Sudoku, Chinese checkers and the such. The thing is, that is all you are doing here. There are some odd choices though of course, like doing a Jigsaw Puzzle in here, that honestly, don’t seem like they really belong at all in a board game collection, because that doesn’t exactly count as a board game, though neither does Sudoku either. Well, even though it is super simple, I can’t complain too much there, as the game does do what it says it is going to do. You are playing board games, and it does portray them accurately and even offers small tutorials to try and explain the games to you to make sure you know how to play them properly. It does a good job of it for the most part, though there are some exceptions here and there. I still don’t understand how to play Backgammon at all after this, though I did understand Chess a tad more. The bad part though that does hold it back a bit is the AI. It is pretty cheap, even on the easy difficulties, as it will almost always make the same moves and be pretty cheap and hard to beat. It does stuff purposely to make you react first so that it will almost always win. I barely won any of the skill games as the AI is always a few steps ahead of you it would seem. Yeah, don’t play this on your own. I can see where this game was going though, as it is mostly meant to be played with two to four people for best effect. If you are playing other players, I can see this having some value, if you don’t own the real like board games themselves. This game is so cheap, that honestly, I could see it as a cheap alternative to the real board games, assuming you already have a Wii and the proper number of Wiimotes. Still, as a game in general though, this is a short little time waster that honestly, unless you are just looking for something to kill some time, or you just get a craving to play a particular board game, I doubt people will have much interested in this for long gameplay wise.
Story
Not Applicable, this is nothing but board games, so it gets a pass here.
Graphics
There is nothing spectacular here at all really. It is just the board games. They look the way they should and that’s that. There is nothing fancy, there are no twists and honestly, there are very few background designs at all. So really, you will be looking at the same few backgrounds flying around in the back as you are playing the standard no frills board games. Nothing looks just atrocious here, but really, everything is just so plain and boarding. You are likely going to be put to sleep by how plain everything looks. Everything represents what it should be, but that’s it. Once again, just plain and boring, that’s that.
Sound
Okay, this is just unacceptable. I can understand not having the best music in the world for something like this, but I expect more than four or so simple tracks that last only a few minutes before going to the next. Give it like five or ten minutes and you will loop back around to the beginning of the songs once again. Wow, this is just pathetic. It is almost insulting really. I would suggest, if you aren’t playing in a group, where the sound of the group will drown out the noise, put your own music on. It will be better than the few minute loops of very few songs that are in this game. The songs are even boring as well. Just mute the music and play the games. They are what you came to this game for in the first place after all.
Control
You control this game with the Wiimote motion controls only. There is nothing totally wrong with that, as it does seem to work for the most part, but I would have expected the option to switch between the motion controls and a sideways standard controller view as well. The fact it is not there, does mean that everyone you are playing with all have to use the motion controls and get used to using them to grab pieces on the boards and move them where you want them to be. So really, there is nothing inherently wrong with this control set up, but honestly, I can’t say too much positive here either. At least the game is able to be controlled, it just seems like it is missing the classic controls as well that it should have I feel. If you don’t mind the motion controls though, at least you and your family, if you can get them to play this with you, will at least be able to play the games with little trouble.
Replay Value
I don’t see people who are playing on their own really wanting to come back to this unless they are really getting a hankering for a board game and have no one to play them with at all. I can see casual families coming back to a game like this though, as this really is more of a game you play with friends or family instead of just on your own. Still, I would think playing with the real things for a family game night would be better than playing a digital version on their video game console. For people that can’t get the other stuff though or who would prefer to have all those board games in one place though, I can see this working for them and wanting to use this for a family game night. Otherwise, if you don’t have people to do this with, this is one of those games you honestly just play once or twice and likely shelve until you either need a distraction for a while, or have some people that want to play board games with you and you have no physical ones available. Not the greatest replay value around, but not the worst either.
Overall, I can see why Ultimate Board Game Collection would be considered to be cheapo Wii shovelware that no normal gamer would want. This is more just a casual family game that could have been a lot more if there were more games, more music, and a more fair AI to play against. As I mentioned above, I can only see people really wanting to play this game much, if they are having a craving to play board games and don’t have real ones available, or they have a family that wants to use this as a family game night substitute. I can see this being used for that and honestly not being that bad of a choice for it. However, there are definitely better options for a video game to be used as a family game night. So really, there is very little lasting appeal here, and unless you just want to play some board games, or are going for a decent Wii collection, I would say give this game a pass.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Ultimate Board Game Collection a four point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 5
Story: N.A.
Graphics: 4
Sound: 2
Control: 6
Replay Value: 5
Overall: 4.5
Were you "BOARD" of it by the end? X3;