Shanghai: Second Dynasty
Amazon.com Product Description
Shanghai: Second Dynasty extends its tile-matching puzzle and traditional Mah-Jongg game empire with 10 new and classic sports meeting. Pair up tiles as quick as lightning in Classic Shanghai, battle and build in Dynasty, and try to predict the ever-changing winds in the all-new Windstorm. Plus, delight in four versions of the genuine, four-player game of Mah-Jongg.
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This review is based on my wife’s frequently expressed views. I play Shangain only occasionally; she plays it for 2 or 3 hours a day. The conundrum is that for years she played Shanghai:Splendid Moments which she really loved. That game required Windows 3.1 and refused to operate on a screen with more than 256 colors or 640 resolution. I had a Dell computer using Windows XP Home which could play Splendid Moments although from time to time the game would not start. When that computer had to be replaced, the next computer, with Windows XP Qualified, could not play Splendid Moments at all, and my second computer, 64-bit Outlook, also cannot play it. Activision, or whoever owns Shanghai, has refused to reissue Splendid Moments for XP or Outlook. After considerable searching around, I finally found an ancient copy of Shanghai:Second Dynasty, which can play on the XP computer. We can’t use the sounds on this game because when you turn on the sound, a dragon keeps growling and won’t stop, so my wife has to play the game in silence. That does not bother her but the game itself, especially the colors, just is not as appealing to her as Splendid Moments was. She never stops complaining that I should not have replaced the ancient computer.
Rating: 3 / 5
Matching tiles is an okay game and this allows you to play that if you want, but if you reflect that is playing mah jong, it’s not. But, this game lets you play the real thing. It is fabulous!!! You can program the new card in each year(the card editor is simple to use)and you can play the real game against the computer. Or, if you want, you can use the card that comes with the game. It is the American Mah Jong League card and it is out of date. If you want an up to date card or you play with the National Mah Jong League card then you have to program it or look for it on the internet. I play the real game with actual tiles and people,with friends each week (you need a total of at least 4 to play) but in between I like playing the computer game. In addition, you can allow your opponents to be pushovers, okay players, or masters of the game. I highly recommend this game.
Rating: 5 / 5
This software includes several entertaining solitaire and two-player versions of various tile-matching “Shanghai” sports meeting, as well as a very playable implementation of the traditional 4-player Mah Jongg, with Chinese, Japanese, Western, and American-stylishness scoring. (It even comes with a AMJA playing card for the year 2000.) All the sports meeting include lots of options to customize play, but one thing you cannot do is play 4-player Mah Jongg with two real people vs. two AI players.
All in all, a splendid regard.
Rating: 4 / 5
Obviously, this program is one of the best of the Activision Shanghai family variants available for the PC, being the most recent and offering the greatest variety of options over the other versions. Indeed, the WindStorm variant itself is so unique as to have breathed new life back into mahjongg tile sports meeting in general!
But, I find that when this program is installed into Windows XP Home or Qualified on a system which has a typical built-in sound card…there seems to be no social class music available! Sound effects are present as normal under Windows XP. Clicking on ‘Sounds & Music’ under the “Preferences” tab causes a lock-up which can be resolved using the Task Manager to end the program. It may be possible to run this program under Windows XP with full compatibility if a sound card is utilized which closely represents one which was an industry standard when the game first came out (late 90s). Using the same system, this program runs well under Windows 95/98/ME, with no problems observed with either social class music or sound effects.
Rating: 4 / 5
After installing the Shanghai software on my iMac, I was unable to get the game to play. I have no distress with the sports meeting software I buy from the stores, so I don’t know why this one wouldn’t work. The software in the stores is also cheaper. I was very miserable with this product.
Rating: 1 / 5