Thursday 23 Apr 2009

Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom is a new PSN version of a game that has been made many times before on many different platforms. It’s also available for free in your browser at various online gaming portals, so to be worth buying this would have to be an exceptional game. It does compare well with other versions, but not as well as it could have. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a relaxing puzzle game for your PlayStation, I can still recommend it. If you’re looking for something to test your mettle and challenge you, then look somewhere else – Mahjong Tales is intended more as an enjoyable activity (think Spider Solitaire, or Freecell).

Shanghai, not Mahjong

It must first be noted that this is not actual Mahjong, the rummy-like set-collection game played by a set of four people. It is instead the tile-matching game played with Mahjong tiles that is sometimes called Shanghai and which is much more popular in video gaming than real Mahjong. The reason for this is obvious: the tile-matching game is a solitaire game. It is also much, much simpler than true Mahjong, a game that seems to have as many sets of rules as there are players who play it. In Mahjong Tales the tiles are set up for you in a specific arrangement and it is your task to remove all tiles from the play area by matching sets. You are only allowed to match tiles that are “available,” meaning they are not obstructed by tiles above them or to the left or right of them. As you remove tiles by matching them with another of the same tile, the tiles below it or to its side will become available to be matched. Matching continues in this way until no more matches are available (basically a stalemate) or all tiles are matched. If you reach a stalemate in Mahjong Tales the game will kindly offer to reshuffle the tiles for you, allowing you to carry on at the expense of having a reshuffle marked against your result for the stage. You can also undo moves but these are also counted. Finally you can ask for hints, in case you don’t know what to match or simply can’t see the bamboo for the reeds.

I should also note here: I find tile-matching to be a fun activity. I also find games like Picross, Freecell, Spider Solitaire and yes, Mahjong (Shanghai), fun. If those don’t appeal to you and tile-matching sounds like the most boring thing on earth then be advised that Mahjong Tales was not made for you.

Ancient Tales

Mahjong Tales adds to the basic formula in a number of ways. Firstly there is the Ancient Tales mode which sets the tile layouts within an old Chinese story. A little bit of story is told, along with some lovely Chinese artwork, and then the tiles are laid out. Once you’ve finished the layout the next bit of story is told and so you go on. The story is narrated and interesting enough, but doesn’t impact the gameplay in any way. It would all be in vain if the tile-matching wasn’t fun in itself. One of the bugbears of many Mahjong games is the way there are sometimes layouts that are very difficult (if not impossible) to complete. This is not the case in Mahjong Tales, and in particular these Ancient Tales layouts have a hand-created feel that makes them much more enjoyable than a random tile shuffle. They also don’t have the same end condition as normal Mahjong games – instead of matching every tile on the board you are only required to play until you match a set of golden tiles. These are usually placed underneath all the other tiles, but it’s still possible to make a bee-line for them and complete the stage with a bunch of tiles still left over. You score bonus points for having tiles left over too, so it’s not only quicker and more fun, but gets you a better score. I should add that the Chinese-style music that plays while you’re solving the layouts is very soothing, and it’s easy to get into a chilled state where time oozes past without you being aware of it.

Real-time tile-matching in Motion Mode

If you’d like to have time pressures added to your tile matching fun then you could try Motion Mode. In this mode there is a set of tiles in the middle that you are trying to match off to eliminate, but there is a time limit. A bunch of tiles scroll around the edge of the screen in clockwise fashion from bottom right to top right, and if one of these scrolling tiles reaches the top right corner you lose. You can either match tiles with other tiles in the layout, or you can match them with tiles that are scrolling around the edge of the screen, thus slowing down their march to your doom. Certain special tiles also appear such as tiles that freeze the scrolling tiles or tiles that remove some. This mode also has a multiplayer mode that allows you to race another player locally or over the internet. It’s a great addition to the Mahjong formula both because it offers a new spin on the mechanics and because it allows for a competitive multiplayer mode, but it suffers a little from the inaccuracy of using an analog stick to select your tiles. Ordinarily this control mechanism is pleasant enough (although a mouse would be better), but when you’re in a hurry it’s easy to overshoot a tile and miss the one you wanted to select. I generally play games of this sort while I relax with a cup of tea, so I tend to prefer the less-pressured Ancient Tales and Infinity Modes.

Classic Mahjong, or Infinity Mode

Infinity Mode is the classic Mahjong mode – a set layout with a random shuffle of tiles for you to solve. There are 100 tile layouts, some of which are huge, and most of which are quite creative, so there is a vast amount of play value in the game. Once again TikGames have got some sort of algorithm going that seems to prevent unsolvable shuffles because with enough care I was able to solve even the most complex of layouts. Don’t let anyone tell you that this game is one of sheer luck – there is a lot you can do to ensure you have the right tiles available to match at the right time. If you’re relying on reshuffles to finish each stage then you’re definitely not playing it optimally because I’m convinced you shouldn’t need to. The graphics of the tiles are decent but there is only one tileset available to you (with a choice of three differently shaded backs). Overall the style of the game is not as clean and pleasant as it could have been considering the power of the PlayStation. The Chinese artwork is lovely though, and the music is soothing.

CREAT have not turned Mahjong into an action game, thank goodness, and if you aren’t the sort that is entertained by solitaire games nothing they have done will entice you to play Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom, but if you do enjoy the style of game I can recommend it, particularly as there is nothing else like it on current consoles.

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Contributor:	Peter

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