Product Description

42 All-Time Classics brings all the best-loved card, board and parlour games to Nintendo DS for anyone to play; with simple touch screen control and a multiplayer mode that pits your skills against players across the world! With no boards to set up or cards to deal out, you can get straight into the action in seconds and play more than 40 gaming favourites - from draughts to darts, poker to bridge, and backgammon to billiards - with simple touch screen control. You can play solo or challenge up to seven friends by sharing one game card. And if you don't have anyone to play with, simply log on to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and find opponents across Europe or in the US. You can even chat to each other, PictoChat-style, while you play!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #158 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: 45496735555
• Published on: 2008-09
• Released on: 2006-09-29
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .64" h x 4.97" w x 5.76" l, .25 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review:
In a nutshell:
Possibly the least obscure game title ever, this does exactly what it says on the tin with forty-two classics from chess and backgammon, to darts, poker, bridge and solitaire.

The lowdown:
The surprising thing about this game is that nobody’s thought to do it before. The games are split into three varieties of card game and two of board games, plus a selection of "action" games including bowling, darts and billiards. Playing the card games is just as easy as you’d expect with two screens and a stylus, whether it’s Old Maid and Pig or Texas Hold ‘Em and Bridge. The board games work just as well, with Chinese Checkers, Checkers (i.e. Draughts), Dots and Boxes and more. You’ll also find games like Turncoat (i.e. Othello), "Connect Five", Ludo, Mahjong and Solitaire. You have got to go to some effort not to find something of interest amongst this selection.

Most exciting moment:
The best thing about having so many games is that, except for the ones that are purposefully single player, they can all be played online. If you’re playing against a friend you can even chat using a PictoChat style interface.

Since you ask:
The Japanese and Western versions of the game have several different exclusive games. Japan never got Texas Hold 'Em, Dots and Boxes, Grid Attack, Ludo, Dominoes, Escape or Mahjong Solitaire but instead have Napoleon, Goninkan, Bozumekuri, Sugoroku, Size Game, Last One and Mini Golf in their version.

The bottom line:
The one video games compendium that really is for everyone. - HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description
It's game night and everyone's invited. Play 42 classic board, card and party games alone, with friends or via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. With familiar favourites like checkers, darts and poker, 42 All-Time Classics is for everyone and part of the Touch Generations library. Video game newcomers will appreciate the easy-to-use interface.

Players can challenge up to seven friends with one game card via Multi-Card Play or DS Download Play. Can't play checkers without shouting KING ME! across the table? The in-game (PictoChat-like) feature takes table talk to a new level. There's no need to lug around cards or boards when you want to play a quick game. 42 All-Time Classics is one-stop gaming that will appeal to everyone's tastes, whether they're in the mood for bowling, backgammon, bridge or billiards.

Customer Reviews

Great game to pass some time.
I originally bought this title when enduring an incredibly boring shift at work to pass some time because I saw that there was Darts and Billiards on the game list. Little did I know that I would be purchasing a game that has now become a game so dear to my heart, that if I have a bit of time to hand, I will whack it in and play games that I would never have thought of playing in a million years.
I have never been a big card game player, but have passed a large amount of my time playing a game that before buying this game, I had never heard of (President). How many of you have been sat there on the couch with nothing to do and suddenly thought to yourself "I know, I think I will have a game of dominoes!"? Not many would be my guess. Play this game for an hour or so and i guarantee next time you will!
Even games that at first look like they're going to take an age to learn become fun. When I first saw Mahjong Solitaire I wondered what the bleeding heck I was letting myself in for. Now I find this one of the greatest and most addictive things that I have ever come across.
In all, I have not found one game in "42 All Time Classics" that has bored me or made me want to switch off. I would definitely recommend this game to anybody who enjoys a challenge, or constantly finds themselves with time on their hands they have nothing to do with!!
Brilliant game.

Not exciting, but very worthwhile.
I have had this game for a while now, and I think it's definitely one of the DS games that will continue to be in and out of the DS for a while to come.
There is a really good variety of games in here, really something for everyone- card games, board games, action games, single player, sports.. it is surprisingly complete, and despite there being 42 games, they really almost all play fine on DS.
There is alot of in-depth tutorial in game if you need it, and this can be looked at at any time while you're playing too.
The obvious aspect of the game is that there are the games that can be played multiplayer- or vs CPU if there are no humans to play. This works fine, though playing cards etc vs CPU isn't that satisfying, it is good anyway.
The single player only games work well though- my favourite is a game where you have a square with several bricks in it and you have to slide them to release a special brick, I find it really hard but very addictive.
Aside from cards and there are also the action games- some of these are "Balance", where you take turns balancing bricks on a see-saw and whoever makes it fall down loses.. It is very fun on multiplayer and the DS makes this possible with the touch screen in a way that makes it really satisfyingly interactive. There is also a game where you have to hit a little rock onto numbered squares, you take turns and whoever has the highest score is the winner.. but you can knock other people's rocks off to get their points.. again fun on multiplayer.
The lone player can either play any game at their leisure (you can on multi too), or else you play through them all sequentially unlocking a few as you go (these are included in the "42" by the way!).

Some nice features are the online multiplayer- if you have no friends with the game, or no one to trade friend codes with, you can play random strangers and can comminicate only with pre set phrases and faces etc, but if you add people as friends you can scribble to each other Pictochat style messages.
The games are playable on multiplayer with one game only too, so you can easily play some quick cards or something with any DS owning friend, even if they don't own the game. They can download any of the 42 games onto their DS too- it stays until they power off.

There are a few incentives in game like different board/card graphics, different icons to put by your name, music, etc which is always nice, but the bulk of the game is already there for you.

It's a very good game, and if you enjoy puzzle games, card games, board games, etc, then I recommend this. Unlike most puzzle games or even most card game games, if you get tired of something, there are always a lot of other things you can be doing on it! And for multiplayer it's timeless.

For negative points, a few of the 42 games don't work well- mainly billiards. It's no great loss really, but it has horrible physics.

Really any complaints of the game boil down to whether you like the particular game or not, and I don't know how you play alot of the games so I can't complain! If you have the patience to learn them I think they are worth it.

Perfect Game for Golden Oldie Gamers!
Thanks Nintendo for providing great games which appeal to an older and more mature audience!

If you are more of an oldie gamer you may well appreciate playing popular card games such as rummy and solitaire, popular board games such as chess, backgammon and also more sporting games such as bowling and darts.

It isn't just the fact that here we have 42 games on one single cartridge which is on the ultra-portable DS system but also the fact that there are several other clever modes including:

Mission Mode: Complete some very challenging pre-set missions (such as score 3 bullseyes in darts in just 10 tries, complete the memory game in less than 3 mins) to unlock cute little icons you can use to display against your name. Ok, I'm not that bothered about the icons, but the difficulty of the missions is something that will keep you going for a long time.

Stamp Mode: This is really fantastic. You start playing through all the games on Easy mode in a pre-set order. Winning, coming second or third determines how many 'stamps' you get against that game. Get three stamps and you move to the next game and so on. It will take you a good long time to work through this - but very worth it as you unlock all the games which are not immediately available to you at the start in Freeplay mode. Once you have done the easy setting, you go through medium and hard settings. This is the mode I have enjoyed the most due to the variety and the challenge of it all.

Freeplay mode: Play any game which you have unlocked in Stamp mode. Basically pick your favourite games and play. Hubby loves bowling, solitaire and darts while I love rummy, chess and most of the card games.

Multiplayer: play against your family, friends or even gamers worldwide with the DS WiFi capabilities.

It is a very fun game providing card and board games are your cup of tea. So it probably won't appeal to most kids who enjoy their fast-paced action games but many adults and even non-gamers (like my hubby) can pick this up and be entertained with it.

I should also mention that the touch screen of the DS is perfect for games like these where you simply click on items on the screen or drag items. Makes the control system very intuitive. Full rules are included with every game.

I think it is absolutely excellent value for money!