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| GENRE |
| Simulation |
| DEVELOPER |
| DSI Games |
| PUBLISHER |
| Mattel |
LOCAL WIRELESS
MULTI-PLAY |
| Yes |
Wi-Fi/GLOBAL ONLINE
MULTI-PLAY |
| No |
| MICROPHONE |
| No |
BUY NOW AT
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Uno/Skip-Bo/Uno Freefall
Computers haven't improved everything yet. A case in point being the classic card games of Uno and Skip-Bo. If you're all alone, Uno/Skip-Bo DS's got you covered, but with a few friends you're better off with a real deck.
visuals
Visuals are generic considering the effective brand aesthetic of Uno and Skip-Bo cards. NPCs are represented by icons which are not very human or entertaining; faces would have alleviated some of the blah. Much of what makes playing card games fun is who you're playing with, even if it is just a face on a computer AI.
audio
The audio is generic, but unoffensive. A number of BGM tracks are there for the choosing. But here again, a little humanity could have been injected into Uno with a voice shouting "Uno!" or actually letting players shout "Uno!" into the DS microphone.
gameplay
It's hard to ruin a game of Uno or Skip-Bo, but it happens. In "real world" Uno, you can get a hand that's half the deck, or the game can go on for far too long. In "real world" Skip-Bo, when the other team gets disproportionate numbers of Skip-Bo (wild) cards, it's simply unfair. Happily, the electronic versions of these games rectify both issues. Both games are kept in check by rule structure and coldly computed probability. Controls are solidly intuitive for all modes. Players can use either the face buttons or the stylus to select and play cards. Besides Uno and Skip-Bo, Uno/Skip-Bo DS also contains an entertaining Tetris clone called Uno Freefall. Nothing groundbreaking here, but the twist on other falling puzzle games is that falling cards have two sides. Some cards fall face down and can only be flipped when a set touching it is completed.
multiplayer
All three games, Uno, Skip-Bo and Uno Freefall, are multi-card play only for up to four players in the same room. It really is too bad there's no download play for this game, as that would seem more in the spirit of pick up and play card games. This also begs the question of why not just buy a deck of Uno and Skip-Bo? At $7 a pop, this is the cheaper and more accessible option.
overall
Uno/Skip-Bo DS's greatest strength is its single player diversion for those who can't get enough of either game. All modes are nonetheless solid, backed by a considerate number of options. A few more touches could have polished this up to a stellar game, but as is it stands at average.
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