Developed and published by Nintendo, Gomoku Narabe Renju is a board game simulator based on the popular Japanese game Go, similar to the game known here as Othello.
When the game boots up, you are given three difficulty options: easy, medium, and hard. There’s also a two-player mode. Here are the basics: the graphics, while basic, are fine for a game this simple. You have a gridded board and several black and white tiles. What more can you ask for? There is no music (except for the title screen), but there are sound effects, consisting of some basic beeps. Really, what I just described is all you need.
Onto the gameplay. You probably don’t need me to explain it to you if you’ve ever played Othello before, but I’m going to do it anyway. The object is to connect five pieces of the same in a row, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. If that happens, the game will repeat itself. You have to use your mind here; the opponent can find ways to block you from completing a row, and they are smart enough to complete a row as fast as they can. It’s as simple as that, you have to connect five in a row, and you have to use your noggin to make sure your opponent is unable to.
It may be as simple as that, but is it fun? Well, given that the AI is pretty smart, it is actually pretty difficult to win. So I would say, yes. Of course, playing with people is infinitely more fun, but all things considered this is a very solid adaptation of the classic game.
Rating: 10/10