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Clubhouse Games, known in Europe as 42 All-Time Classics and in Japan as Daredemo Asobi Taizen, is a compilation video game consisting of card, board, and parlor games developed by Agenda and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS.

In Free Play mode, the player may choose any of the 42 games available to play. Clubhouse Games divides its 42 games up into eight categories. These are the categories and the titles found in each:

• Card games: Old Maid, Split, I Doubt It, Sevens, Memory, Pig, Blackjack, Hearts, President, Rummy, Seven Bridge, Last Card, Last Card Plus, Five Card Draw, Texas hold 'em, Nap, Spades and Contract Bridge.
• Board games: Chinese checkers, Checkers, Dots and Boxes, Hasami shogi, Turncoat, Connect Five, Grid Attack, Backgammon, Chess, Shogi, Field Tactics and Ludo.
• Variety games: Soda Shake, Dominoes, Koi-Koi and Word Balloon.
• Action games: Bowling, Darts, Billiards, Balance and Takeover.
• Single player games: Solitaire, Escape and Mahjong Solitaire.

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As a game, 42 Classics has a lot to offer and has plenty to choose from. It's simple, easy to play and enjoyable if you're bored. But thats all. Classics is in short - very basic. The graphics and game design are very simple, and limited without confusing or over-using detail where not needed. The game just shows the gamer what they need to see to play without trying to be impressive. It's simplicity works and I can't see it work any other way.

The gameplay using the stylus is very smooth and works effectively. Using the D-pad might frustrate the gamer, so the stylus would be the most appropriate and best option when regarding gaming controls. Games such as Bowling and Darts can be frustrating and inacurrate with the stylus, which IS acceptable. But I would prefer these particular games to use the D-pad instead of the stylus pen.





The music and sound effects however are awful. The music in particular is very "elevator" type music and is very annoying and repetative. Sometimes it would get so unbearable that I would have to turn down the sound or turn it off completely. Having relaxing, chill out lounge music would be much better for this type of game. Since it's an "easy playing" game. No rush and no stress. A perfect example would be Animal Crossing: Wild World, which I will talk about in a later review.

Classics also uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection for online play. Which is a very good idea for this game. But sadly, to be honest - the Wi-Fi system on 42 Classics isn't very good. In other words: Very poor. Playing with friends or strangers using the Wi-Fi connection isn't really much of a difference from playing any of the 42 games by yourself. The only difference is the gameplay and istead of CPU on the top of the screen there is the other players name and picture. Plus, the only communication you have with the other player is through predicted text which is very limited and poor.





Overall, 42 All-Time Classics is a good game. It's great to pick-up-and-play and essential for a rainy day. Other than that, this game really isn't anything special of new. It's better than whipping out any boards or deck of cards, eliminating the fuss of cleaning up after a game of chess. Parlor games are great, and this game almost makes me want to put on some slippers and enjoy a cold pint of beer.

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