WiiWare Review: V.I.P. Casino Blackjack

May. 14 1:50 AM by Sardius

The power of the Wii allows you to hit AND stand.

You know, I don't think anyone in the world likes Blackjack this much.

Do you love Blackjack enough to pay seven dollars to play it? Given the choice, I'd decline before I even knew any further details. While Blackjack can be fun in small doses or as part of a larger collection of casino games, it's still a fairly simplistic card game that won't hold your interest for long. There's some element of strategy involved -- carefully weighing your hand against the dealer's opening card is key to winning -- but after a few hands, you'll be ready to head off to the craps table.

help help all of our arms are too long :(

Thunder in Mr. Paradise

V.I.P. Casino Blackjack could be the best Blackjack simulator ever made and it still wouldn't be worth seven bucks. Unfortunately, it doesn't excel in any way, even within in its niche. There are no options to customize characters beyond their defaults, and there aren't even any alternate tables or card decks to spice things up. It's just you -- a beefy, vaguely humanoid gambler named "Mr. Paradise" -- against a dealer in a small, enclosed room. There, you will play Blackjack until the world ends. Oh, and there's an aquarium.

The creepy lifelessness of it all can be mitigated somewhat with the addition of up to three human opponents in a barebones multiplayer mode, but otherwise, the most fun you'll have with V.I.P. Casino Blackjack is in watching Mr. Paradise slowly clap his hands like one of those cymbal-playing toy monkeys whenever he wins a hand. It plays a competent game of Blackjack, sure, but don't you want more for your seven dollars?

PROS: Convenient one-handed play via the Wii Remote's D-pad; Achievement system provides mild replay incentive.
CONS: Your attention span will die in ten minutes; only one save slot; Mr. Paradise is made of lumpy meat.

GRAPHICS: 3.00
SOUND: 4.00
CONTROL: 5.00
FUN FACTOR: 2.00

Comments

I, sir, consider lumpy meat to be an advantage!

However, the game of Blackjack is abysmally boring. I couldn't see spending any sort of money on a Wii iteration of it. I mean you might as well spend $2 on a deck of cards and play Blackjack with yourself. It's not like there's any strategy involved.