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Pick a card...any card--no, not that one!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 29 / 30
Date: July 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Magic: The Gathering is a fantasy-themed card game--as I like to joke, the world's most elaborate form of "Go Fish"--which is, of course, more fun to play against a human than a program. But this game turns out to be a lot of fun and a great way to learn the game, which has its share of subtleties and nuances. Although it will take a while, you'll learn the game well enough from the program that you eventually spot the flaws in the computer's playing as well as the numerous bugs in interpreting cards.

Around the solid mechanics of the card game, Microprose built a spare but interesting gaming premise. Your avataar wanders around the mythical land of Shandalar running errands and fighting monsters. (Said fighting occurs, of course, as MtG duels.) What makes it interesting is the tweaks of the MtG rules that occur in Shandalar. In a "straight" duel, which this game allows you to play outside of Shandalar, you and your opponent have exactly 20 life points and the deck of your choice. In Shandalar, you start with a weak deck, fewer life points, and (by doing specific errands) you can build up to 20 points (and somewhat beyond). Other errands allow you to collect cards. Special "dungeons" themed around the game's five magic types allow you to fight certain creatures "in their element" for a chance to collect rare cards. (Not required, but fun.) Some of the creatures of Shandalar have "meta-powers", and can go into a game with certain advantages, like a card already in play. One kind can actually swap your deck for another (decent) deck. You can obtain similar bonuses by defeating these monsters, or through various "world magics" as they're called.

You're in a race against the five wizards of Shandalar, whose job it is to take over X number of cities, at which point they'll have the power to cast the Ultimate Magic Spell. In other words, game over. As they capture more cities, they get stronger. As you defeat their minions, they get weaker. In the final analysis, this game is rife with good ideas and a still too buggy implementation.

To make matters worse, retro-PC-gaming is a difficult and often unrewarding thing. Microsoft has never been much for backward compatibility and you'll have trouble running this on Windows 2000, though it can run on XP with some tweaking, I'm told. It'll run on your Windows 95/98/ME machine, but for a near fatal flaw: It'll run WAY too fast even on a 400mhz machine. (Note the 100mhz Pentium "minimum".) Shandalar, grievously, was made into a "real time" game, and your quests have time-limits. You can use a utility (MoSlo, Throttle, CPUKiller) to slow your entire computer down and make Shandalar go faster--but the kicker is during the duels, your computer opponents will take proportionally longer to decide their moves.

The "real time" aspects of the program were an unfortunate design decision ironically and irritatingly out of pace with the rest of the game. Shandalar could've just as well been set up like a board game.

With all its warts, though, this is a fine game. The real tragedy is that it wasn't maintained and updated. I'm not big on on-line games, and I don't like the MtG Online pricing scheme even if I did, but I'd shell out three Hamiltons yearly for a new version of this game, with new cards, new world "tweaks" and increasingly improved AI. It's a shame we'll never see it.

Finally, the timeline for these games, courtesy GameSpot: The original was released in February of 1997, followed in September of '97 with "Spells of the Ancients", followed at last by this version, "Duels of the Planeswalkers", which has all the new cards, bug fixes, and multiplayer. This is the last version, the version you want if you're going to play it at all.

The new Online, pay-per-pack version is not related to this game, nor is the older 1997 "BattleMage". (The latter only takes place in the MtG world, with no resemblance to the card game, so beware!)

Thats not nice...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 24
Date: January 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Look, if you guys do not have the game, it is not nice to keep it posted that you will have it in. Either supply Duel of the Planeswalkers, or take it off your page and stop wasting our time and taking advantage of us and our hopes to get a hold of that game.

Duels of the Planeswalkers on Windows2000 and XP.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: December 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

For those who have stumbled across these older reviews of the game where the incompatibility with Win2K and XP was listed as a downside, note that there is an unofficial patch that was released some time ago that let it run under NT based versions of windows, and slowed the 'shandalar' campaign down to normal levels on modern machines. It also replaces the serial networking option with a TCP/IP LAN/Internet direct connection for multiplayer(so it can still be used online), and has tons of tweaks and bugfixes to the game. Just search for 'Unofficial manalink patch 1.3.2' to find it and once again enjoy this wonderful game.

I never played much of the 'shandalar' campaign style game, but I must say that the actual card game within the engine is a top notch representation of the physical card game, and I really prefer it to the more modern and free options such as Magic Workshop, which to me was more of an interactive Magic-themed shared whiteboard, where anyone can do anything, wether it be an actual legal action or not.

Why?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 40
Date: May 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Why don't you have this item in stock every time I come to this website? You are the only website that sells it and how do you think people can buy it if you guys don't have it stock forever?

top of my list

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: July 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I began playing the card game several years ago, and when the PC software came out, I knew I had to have it. I have just about worn mine out playing it over and over again. I would say it is a must have game, but since the online version was released they have shown no interest in upgrading this version. Therefore, if you are running Windows 2000 or XP, or plan to upgrade soon then you are out of luck as far as enjoying this marvelous game. I recently upgraded to XP and now I wish I hadn't. Only the oline version works on a newer OS, but you have to buy electronic cards. This really ..., especially for those of us who started out playing the original game and spent hundreds of dollars on the cards already.

In closing, the game is awesome and if you have Windows 95/98 and plan to stick with that OS for a while then definitely add this to your gaming collection. Windows 2000 & XP users, on the other hand, are just out of luck!

Solid, but VERY hard to find

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: July 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

With the release of the new MTG Online game and the ludicrous rarity of this older version of the game, you might wonder why you should even be looking for this at all. The good and bad news is that this game was originally released without an online option, so it came with a LOT of fourth edition cards. When it was re-released (still a few years back) with an online option (which is what this item is, the re-release), they still kept the plethora of cards intact, and the game is a lot of fun. Unlike the nee Online version, you won't get bored too quickly and have to PAY for new cards almost right off the bat. You get the game, the action and can build some cool decks with some old school Magic cards.

However.

The game flew so far under the radar that even if you can actually find a copy of this, you probably won't find anyone online to play with now and will have to resolve yourself to playing against the computer. There was an expansion set that was released for this ("Spells of the Ancients"; 2 more themed sets), but it's almost as hard to find as the game itself.

In the end, you're left with a game that's GREAT for beginners of Magic (it automates all of the turns and asks your permission along the way so you get to learn the flow of the game) or for old heads who want a low-impact version of the game to put on a computer that may not be stocked with vast amounts of hardware or memory. I played it on a pretty stripped down laptop to completely adequate effect.

A grand game.. that STILL holds my attention...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: February 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

"Duel of the Planeswalkers" is a GREAT game. It was released in 1998 AFTER the initial release of "Magic the Gathering" (for PC) and the expansion pack "Spells of the Ancients". "Duel of the Planeswalkers" includes BOTH of the initial releases and also allows you to play online or via LAN. There are even a few "cards" that were designed specifially for playing on the PC... you will never find this in an actual MTG deck, they have random effects assigned by the computer when you play them!

My biggest complaint about MTG the CARD game was that it was impossible to keep up with all the rules... banned cards... and if I use this card with that card in this particular circumstance this will happen... MIND boggling problems. Its true MTG was the "father" of all other card games since 1992, and most are a far cry from MTG... but trying to seriously play and keep up on every expansion set was insane!! THUS MTG Duel of the Planeswalkers was born and is the answer to every "causal" MTG player's Prayers.

My 2 complaints about this game are as follows:
1) On today's 1.5+ Gigahertz machines this game needs to be slowed down if you play the "single player" theme game. Not a problem at all during actual DUELS, but in the "Shandalar" world everything moves WAY too fast. No big deal, just find a CPU reducer utility on the internet. Older machines might not have a problem in the "Shandalar" area, but might bog down in the middle of a duel where over 20 cards are on the "table". The CPU really has to do some massive computing to figure out it's next move.... (newer machines DON'T have this problem!)

2) This game hasn't been updated/added on to since 1998... great game... an expansion would be exquisite!

I have yet to take advantage of the online/lan playability... and I wonder if anyone is STILL playing this online... I'm not sure.

It's 2003 and I still find myself going back to this game... fun to play, easy to walk away from when necessary, no long term monatary investment.

If you are a casual player or fan of Magic the Gathering, this game is an excellent purchase. Serious players might find the game slightly old and outdated... but may yet enjoy it.

Great

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: June 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you are a magic lover like I do, you'll basically like anything related to magic. The encyclopedia is more comprehensive but that doesn't have Magical Shandalar which is a kiddie game that you walk around like an RPG game... fight with playing magic card, etc... quite fun.

A good game , an oldie, try to find one.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 23, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I recommend this game and I think it's good for Amazon to keep it listed, so other people may know it exists. I don't like the new Magic on-line version where you have to pay for everything.
Bear in mind, it's an _oldie_ (1998)! So it will be difficult to find, but once you have it... wow!
You'll have access to lots of cards from the 4th edition and old special series, like Antiquities, The Dark and more... Most cards you can't find in stores (at decent prices) but you will be able to use them and PLAY!
Which is what it's all about.

A Great Way to Get Your MtG Fix

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Magic: the Gathering has always been a great CCG... far and away the favorite of the handful I've tried. This software allows you to play the game against the computer or friends in a network, building any decks you want from it's stock of several hundred cards. It's awesome to have that kind of freedom without having to pay for it... the cards in this game are from the first sets of cards released, so any deck you build would no doubt cost you thousands of dollars if you tried to recreate it in real life! That's the main reason I loved this game, it let me indulge in the strategy of Magic without turning it into a game of who-has-the-bigger-wallet, which would oftentimes happen in the real game. The interface is quite full-featured and facilitates quick play. The game has a handful of other features too... like a humourously archaic face editor to create your wizardly visage, a video tutorial featuring people in funny costumes, and a simple adventure mode where you run around collecting cards to battle the ultimate evil fiend. Banzai!

This game isn't without it's problems, though. This is a Windows 95 game, which means newer operating systems may have trouble running it (as usual, Compatibility Mode is useless). Also, the computer's AI is far from perfect, making what many would consider awful mistakes even on the highest difficulty. There are a lot of cards in this game, but seeing as how a lot came out for this game after 5th edition (the latest set this game covers), people who also play MtG or MtG Online may wish the sets were updated.

The Verdict:

For fans of Magic and other collectible card games, I have to recommend this one. You won't find anywhere ekse where you can play Magic, against others, with the deck of your design for $40. If you're a fan of CCGs and not a fan of the price (like I am), this is your ticket. I kindof wished they'd kept making expansions like this, but once WotC realized how cool it was they decided they were going to make Magic the Gathering Online and charge people for cards.

Pros:
+Full featured MtG action
+Deck editor with 800 cards you don't have to pay for
+Online and offline play

Cons:
-It's an old game
-Doesn't include newer cards
-AI is servicable, but never good

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