Golden Nugget 64

Remember how lame the original Golden Nugget for the PlayStation was? After you got through the sluggish interface and the multitude of options, you were then forced to interact with...Adam West!? Uhh...OK. Well, apparently someone at Westwood Studios got the message. Golden Nugget 64 is a lean, mean gambling machine. No FMV, no inane story mode and no Adam West (no offense. Batman). It's stripped down to the bare essence of gambling, and it's simple to play. Check in. select your purse and shoot off to the tables. The menu interface is amazingly functional, as are all the games. The crisp 3D graphics lay out the detail of the tables nicely, although occasionally it's hard to discern clubs from spades. Still, no big deal. And while you need to think of gambling games in a different way, this one does more than simply teach you the games--it's actually fun on its own merits. I found the Poker and Blackjack games to be most enjoyable. The dealers distribute the cards quickly and keep the overall pace of the game speedy. The voice work is spot-on as well. The two-player mode is tricky; some of the games (Poker, Texas Hold 'Em) can't support multiplayer due to card exposure problems. Still, this is the best gambling game I've played. It got me so pumped, I wanna go to Vegas!

Golden Nugget 64 gets kudos for packing in so many games. Texas Hold 'Em is especially nice, since you don't see it too often. The four-player mode is great as well, especially for games like Roulette, where players have their own window in which to examine the table and bet. The presentation is a yawn-fest though--all you do is methodically pick a game and play it. No story mode, no virtual casino (which would've been ideal).

What can you say? It really is everything you'd want from a casino with the exception of free drinks and old ladies playing the slots at 4 a.m. There are more than enough different games, and they're all presented in a clear and easy-to-understand way. Add the excellent presentation, great speech and the mellow music and you have a fine gambling experience. It won't tickle everyone's fancy, but it's fun...especial!y multiplayer.

For a casino video game to be long-lasting and worthwhile, it has to have some sort of angle--some sort of hook. If it doesn't, all you do is play a bunch of rather boring casino games. Unfortunately, Golden Nugget 64 doesn't have any of these so-called hooks. At times this is nice because you can jump right into a game without having to worry about extraneous options and such, but then a little something extra would've been nice.