90 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
90 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
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VEGAS CASINO 2
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VEGAS CASINO 2 (VG2) is a craps and roulette simulation written by Tarheel
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Technologies and distributed by Mastertronic. As VEGAS CASINO was "The Ultimate
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Gambling Compendium Program," it must be assumed that VG2 is merely a misplaced
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or delayed part of it, rather than a sequel or an original program. In any case,
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the low-priced ($9.99) VG2 supports as many as four players and offers decent
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graphics, easy play, keyboard or joystick control, a betting help screen, and
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copy protection. The package comes with a flippy disk. The Commodore 64/128
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version is the basis of this review; IBM-PC version notes follow.
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Once you've figured out the rules of roulette and craps, and determined the
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correct keystrokes (the ones listed in the manual for the C64 are wrong), VG2
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plays easily enough. The rules are based, for the most part, on those used in
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Las Vegas. The best thing about VG2 is that each player's $1000 bankroll never
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changes, regardless of wins and losses. Although the money isn't real (it's not
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even fake!), this is much better than actually going to Las Vegas with $1000 and
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returning home with twelve cents. The screen photos on the back of the package
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do show bankrolls larger than $1000, but in the game itself, the cash outlays of
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the players never changed.
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The rules of roulette are simple: Place bets on the numbers and spin the wheel.
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The rules of craps are simple: Place bets on any of the many possible outcomes
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and roll the dice. Craps has many betting options and excellent odds; roulette's
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options are limited and the odds mostly favor the house. Rather than attempt to
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list all the possibilities, many of which seem senseless, I'll let VG2 itself do
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the explaining: When you place the cursor on any part of the betting area (in
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either game), and press F8, a help screen will give the odds, payoff, house
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commissions, and results of a win or loss for that particular bet.
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For roulette, the C64 screen display consists of wheel and player bankrolls at
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the top of the screen, beneath which is the betting table, beneath which are
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four color-coded blocks that designate the chips for each player. For craps, the
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C64 screen display is the same, except that there are dice at the top of the
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screen.
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Both games are controlled with either keyboard or joystick, although all the
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joystick did was move the pointer around. Because bets must be placed and
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wheel/dice put into action with keystrokes, you might as well use the cursor
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keys to move the pointer and avoid the joystick entirely. Point to a chip block,
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and each F1 keypress picks up a chip; move the pointer (which now carries the
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chips) to the betting table, and each F3 keypress drops a chip on to your
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betting choice. F8 calls up the help screen.
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When you've placed all bets, press the Return key: The roulette wheel spins and
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the bankroll display is replaced by an extreme closeup of the spinning red and
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black wheel slots. In craps, a tiny pair of dice rolls across the betting table.
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Graphics on the C64 are fair, although some of the numbers are fuzzy due to a
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strange and muted pastel color scheme. The limited keystrokes make gameplay
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easy, and since your bankroll won't ever change, you can play for a month and
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never lose any money.
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The VEGAS CASINO 2 package comes with one copy-protected flippy disk and an
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instruction booklet ("booklet" is an exaggeration).
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VG2 looks okay and plays easily enough but, contrary to the claims on the
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package, it isn't really so close to the fast lane that it'll make you feel as
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though you're "on the strip." In fact, VG2 is extremely low-key. Everything is
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accomplished with a minimum of fanfare, which I suppose has something to do with
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the $10 price tag.
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IBM-PC VERSION NOTES
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The IBM-PC version is much the same as the Commodore 64 version. The program
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supports IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2, and Tandy 1000 machines, as well as most
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compatibles. (The test machine, a Northgate 386 with six megabytes of RAM, hard
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drive, and VGA, was compatible.) You'll need 256K and a CGA, EGA, VGA, Hercules,
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or Tandy graphics card. The 5-1/4" flippy disk is copy-protected, which did
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away with the hard drive. VGA looked more or less like EGA; both modes provided
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game screens with better clarity than the C64 version.
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Mouse, joystick, and keyboard are the control modes supported; however (as with
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the C64 version), the keyboard worked best. While either mouse or joystick will
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move the selection pointer, both devices caused it to jump wildly around the
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screen; sometimes the pointer got stuck in two positions simultaneously.
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Keypresses are few; if you stick with the keyboard, you'll have no problems with
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gameplay.
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Neither version will make you want to do handsprings, but the program seems
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more tractable on the IBM. The C64 version is an afterthought, as if the
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programmers of VEGAS CASINO 2 decided users should be given something extra for
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their ten bucks.
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VEGAS CASINO 2 is published and distributed by Mastertronic.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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