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Card Heaven

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 47 / 54
Date: October 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is the Third Hoyle 2003 game I have gotten. I like the series because I can learn how to become more competent different games. I don't know many card games. One thing that is nice about this version is that you can slow down the game play when you are unfamiliar with a card game. Then you can learn how to play and become more proficient.
If you like Solitaire; there are lots of different versions to keep you entertained. The basics like Hearts, Spades, Old Maid, and Go Fish are here. Old Maid and Go Fish use whimsical themes. Go Fish takes place under the Sea. Old Maid uses farm animals.
There is a good variety of other card games. However, as the number of games expands on the Hoyle Seies increases; the controls over what the cards look like or the backgrounds on screen have lessened. There have been issues when people play online where the Facemaker; which allows you to personalize how your personal character looks online; hasn't displayed correctly with the online gaming website. The characters within the game are different. Some are funny and some are irrirating. But everyone has their own preference in who they like when playing against the computer.
I think that this is a great series. It is the best there is. I think it is user-friendly. It has a great variety of games and characters to play against.

Hoyle Does Great Games!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 44 / 50
Date: February 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Though I have the older version of this game...1999 or 2000, I have used it on Windows 98, 98 Second Edition, Windows ME and now, for a new system, Windows XP Home Edition...and it works on all of them! (It's a bit slow to react on the Windows XP...probably because the XP computer has a 2.4ghz P4 and the Windows XP is a bit different platform than the other Windows OS...plus, this was made before the Pentium 4 processors even came out...but it works fine otherwise.)

The graphics are great, the interaction with the players is loads of fun...especially Marvin, the T-rex...("stick a fork in me, I'm done", when he's losing!) There are different levels of skill for each game, as well, which is super...and the expert-level player is really pretty good!

You have a wide variety of card games to choose from...Solitare has numerous styles, Spades, Hearts, Pinochle, Pitch, Euchre, Bridge, Crazy Eights, Old Maid, Fish, etc...and there are enough different computerized players to always keep it interesting. You can even play against a real person, if you want! You choose the level of skill, amount of animation and how much they talk during play, as well as whether you want background music and what style.

I have honed my card-playing skills on this game for over 3 years and find it to be one of the best investments I made for my computer. You and your family will love this game!

Hoyle Card Games 2003

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: November 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am satisfied with most games except for Bridge, the main reason I made the purchase. The players take far too long to respond and even longer to play their cards. It is so bad that I never even play bridge!
In hearts, the players make inappropriate comments when playing the queen of spades.
In gin rummy, you don't get a good look at the cards when the game is over.
Overall, the older versions are better for both the games and the characters. I look forward to reviews for the 2004 version to see if there is any improvement before I think of buying it!

Mac users watch out

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 13 / 16
Date: January 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

As a Mac user, I was very disappointed to find out that these games are not native under MacOS X. It'll be two years in March that OSX was released, and the folks doing Mac development for Hoyle are way behind the curve. It's not going to be sufficient to keep cranking out slightly different Hoyle games each year so long as OSX support is missing.

All that aside, the net play is misleading, to say the least. The games in the package do not allow for net play. Rather, it launches a website that has a selection of games, some very different from those in this set. Furthermore, small print on the back of the box again adds disappointment for Mac users - the web site does not allow Mac users to play.

Program incorrectly reads the WRONG value of Poker Hands

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: December 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

While playing Omaha Hold'em or Omaha Hold'em Hi-Lo periodically
the program with state the one player has two pairs and the player has only one pair.
(No Good).
Or the program will state
that the player has a straight and the player only has a 4 card
straight. I stop playing this game because you can't gamble with
the program incorrectly stating wrong value of hands. Therefore,
not until Sierra remove the bugs or completely checks out Casino
2003, I advise you to wait for the corrections. Otherwise it
could be a great game.

Bridge

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: February 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Like another reviewer. I found that this game needs a lot of work. While playing the game is fun, the biggest problem is that the partner fails to bid with good cards, bids with bad ones, and does not follow the conventions provided in the game's help package! This game should be revised as an offering by itself, I would be prepared to pay more, if it simulated correct bidding. With Vb.Net and the collection objects, programmuing this game should be much simpler than in the past.

Not much improvement

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Other than different computer people to play with there has been no real improvement. Your team mates still work against you while the opposing team helps you. The revenge button does help but I really want to hit the programmers who apparently don't know how to play cards. You won't get real life-like play like you do online playing with real players or at a card table but it's a decent diversion.

Just like Super Street Fighter 2: The new characters!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 14
Date: December 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is just like Super Street Fighter 2, the new characters.

I know that that game came out quite a long time ago. But my point is that the game allowed for more features, such as the group battle and the tournament mode.

They also included 4 new players: Thunder Hawk, Dee Jay, Fei Long, and Cammy.

But they took all the balance out. Ken and Ryu, before powerful but survivable, could dominate the entire game with ease. The very concept of defending yourself was tossed out the window, and wouldn't be returned until Street Fighter Alpha created the "Alpha Counter."

It's the same with Hoyle 2003.

The computer ai hasn't been improved much. At least, your partner's ai hasn't.

And they removed the characters I liked, except for Elayne. What they did to Elayne was worse.

I have always been a big fan of Hoyle. I play this game too, though I only play it because they made a single improvement.

It's now possible to play Omnibus hearts (jack of diamonds.) Beyond that, the only really added features are the new characters. And some of the new characters shouldn't even be in it!

Tony is a fireman. How disgusting and commericalistic can one get? Hedda is so cruel that no one wants to use her, and Rhett is pretty much ridiculous.

Also, the programs used to give you nearly complete control over a great many things. Now, you can hardly do anything. Even the facemaker system is ruined, since you can't save your face like you used to.

I wish that they would drop the price. I'd pay about ten dollars less gladly, but it doesn't rate the full price until later on.

If you really want to play Hoyle, you'd do best to buy either 2000 or 2002. (Avoid 2001. It wasn't worth it.)

Don't waste your money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: May 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Nice graphics, and clear audio. But, many of the games are poorly programed. In the case of hearts, I doubt the programmer had ever played a game before he programmed this joke. The computer plays very similar to the hearts game built into windows (poorly) The characters make comments, but half the time they are inappropriate. Like gloating when they're losing, and complaining when they're winning. Over the years, I've never had a Hoyle game that really "got it right." This is no exception, and is the last one I'll buy.

Canasta, Go Fish, Old Maid, You Name It!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The Hoyle Card Games are really great! There are many characters you can play against in the different games, with different personalities. The facemaker isn't as great as some other Hoyle Games, but I got used to the difference quickly. The only other negative is that only one person can play the gamesat a time, because otherwise you could see each other's cards. This is a really great game, though! I give it a thumbs up!

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