The Travel Collection is a compilation of six games. In this pack you get Chess, Checkers, Reversi (Othello), Tic-Tac-Toe, Four in a Row, and Dots.
<review>
<author>Randy Pinneta</author>
<promoimage>travelcollection.png</promoimage>
<keyword>travelcollection</keyword>
<type>1</type>
<title>The Travel Collection</title>
<developer>Pocket Adventures</developer>
<website>http://www.pocketadventures.com</website>
<purchaselink>http://www.handango.com/ampp/store/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=812&platformId=2&productType=2&productId=122472</purchaselink>
<date>February 14, 2005</date>
<rating>10</rating>
<description>The Travel Collection is a compilation of six games. In this pack you get Chess, Checkers, Reversi (Othello), Tic-Tac-Toe, Four in a Row, and Dots.</description>
<section name="Background">
<content>It’s 5:20 p.m., and you have started the long trek home in the commuter van. Boredom starts to set in, and you wonder what you can do to relieve this feeling. The light bulb suddenly pops on above your head. You have the Travel Collection on your PDA. The next thing you know, you are at your destination. Does the Travel Collection help to relieve those times of boredom? Read on to find out.</content>
</section>
<section name="Introduction">
<content>The Travel Collection is a compilation of six games. In this pack you get Chess, Checkers, Reversi (Othello), Tic-Tac-Toe, Four in a Row, and Dots.</content>
<content><img 5.png></content>
<content>Installation begins with an EXE file on your PC. The game installs quickly and works properly on storage cards.</content>
</section>
<section name=”Graphics”>
<content>I have one word for the graphics: Wow! These are perhaps the best graphics I have ever seen on a QVGA device. They are very smooth with almost none of the boxiness that I am used to seeing. This is what I would like to see in every game that is designed for the PDA.</content>
<content><img 8.png></content>
<content>Just when you think you have seen it all, you tap on the game name and realize that you can change skins. That’s right: Skins! You have the ability to change the field you play on. Preloaded for you are a stone background, grassy field, wood grain, and the standard boards for each game. Also, Four in a Row has metal rails, and Dots has island and sheet metal backgrounds.</content>
<content>Each game comes with different playing pieces as well. In chess and checkers, you can pick fantasy characters. In Reversi, you can choose from pirates, stars and stripes, smilies one and two, flames, and ying yang one and two. Four in a row has flame pieces. With Dots, you can change the type of boxes made to stars and stripes.</content>
<content><img 4.png></content>
</section>
<section name=”Sound”>
<content>Jaybot created the sounds for the Travel Collection, and it shows. In Dots, it sounds exactly like you are using a pencil to draw the lines. In checkers, you can hear the pieces jumping and moving across the board realistically. In four in a Row, you hear a ringing bell to acknowledge you have won. With Reversi, if you make a wrong move, you get the buzzer. When you tap on a square in Tic-Tac-Toe, it sounds like a laser blast is creating each x or o. Very nice!</content>
<content>The music is fantastic also. I found myself nodding my head and tapping my toes to the music.</content>
</section>
<section name=”Controls” newpage="1">
<content>All six games are controlled by on-screen taps.</content>
<content>The options panel contains controls for the number of players, AI difficulty, hints, and volume. In the player options, you can decide if you want to play against the computer or another person (on the same PDA). You have the ability to store 5 different named profiles. These profiles allow you to store stats under each name. In the AI difficulty options, you have 5 difficulty levels to choose from. Chess and Checkers have their own difficulty options separate from the other games. Under the volume options section, you can control the loudness of the music and sound effects. With hints turned on, you can get unlimited help in playing your game.</content>
</section>
<section name=”Game play”>
<content>Chess, Checkers, Reversi, and Four in a Row are games almost everyone is familiar with; play works just like it did when you were a child.</content>
<content>However, Tic-Tac-Toe is not the version you are used to playing. This is a 3D version. It has four different levels that you can place your X’s on. This makes it a great deal more challenging than the normal version.</content>
<content><img 1.png></content>
<content>Another game you might have seen before is Dots. The idea here is to connect four lines together in a square. When a square is completed, it turns red for you and blue for the computer. The one with the most boxes in the end wins.</content>
</section>
<section name=”Conclusion”>
<content>With the fantastic graphics, great sounds, ability to change skins, and the 5 profiles, I think that you will find the Travel Collection will eliminate your boredom. It just might take up some of your work time too. This game pack should be on everyone’s buy list.</content>
<content>I tested the new 1.2 version, and I had no problems with it on my QVGA or VGA devices.</content>
<content>The Travel Collection will cost you $9.99. That would be $1.66 per game! Can you say “cheap”? There is a trial version available.</content>
</section>
<pro>Excellent graphics</pro>
<pro>Great sound</pro>
<pro>Six games</pro>
<pro>Skinnable boards and pieces</pro>
<pro>Profiles</pro>
<pro>Price</pro>
<con> None </con>
</review>
