This review originally appeared within iLounge’s iOS Gems series within the compilation article, iPhone Gems: 9 Click Wheel iPod Games, Re-released. Additional details may be found in the original article.
Sold on the App Store as Chess Classics, Gameloft’s Chess and Backgammon Classics ($10) is an almost identical remake of the same-named iPod title, only at twice the price. As before, you get a full chess game and a full backgammon game that can be played in 2-D, fixed 3-D, or simple camera-shifted 3-D modes, here presented solely in widescreen orientation.
Apart from the price, the big bummer here is that Gameloft has actually cut down one of our favorite features from the iPod version: themes. There used to be seven different themes for the chess board and six for backgammon; now chess has only four, and backgammon three dull ones. The backgammon set textures don’t look to have been improved much, either, in the process of enlarging the graphics for the iPhone’s screen. While the gameplay engine remains solid, neither of these games lives up to the standards of what the iPhone can really do, and at this higher price, we’d be very much inclined to look elsewhere.
Our Rating
Company and Price
Company: Gameloft
Website: www.gameloft.com
Title: Chess and Backgammon Classics
Price: $10
Compatible: iPhones, iPod touches
