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.
Apple has used the iPhone’s release as an opportunity to substantially overhaul its original iPod 5G poker game Texas Hold’em into a better version for the same price.
While the new version isn’t any more fun to play than the original—you’ll either like or dislike this gambling-heavy, card-limited version of poker pretty quickly—the graphics, music, and multiplayer modes have received very substantial overhauls.
On the graphics front, there are new backgrounds and countries for 10 stages, better-digitized and -animated characters, and profile information. Apple has also improved the audio, replacing not only the honky-tonk introductory song, but also the in-game stage music and sound effects.
More interestingly, there’s a new two- to nine-player multiplayer mode that depends upon the iPod touch or iPhone’s Wi-Fi network connection—we tested it using both devices—to create a simplified, virtually animation-free widescreen version of the game. On a positive note, it’s cool to have the ability to wirelessly play cards with someone else, but Apple’s multiplayer visual interface leaves something to be desired: thanks to tiny on-screen character icons, you can get a few dogs or aliens to play poker together, but you can barely make out their faces.
Give that it represents a big improvement over the prior version and doesn’t jump in price, Texas Hold’em merits a higher rating on the iPhone than it did for the iPod touch.
