Play This Play That: Air Hockey and Skeet Shooting

PC version requires:
486/66, 8MB RAM, 20MB hard drive (Pentium 75, 16MB RAM suggested)

Mac version requires:
System 7, 68K CPU, 8 MB RAM, 20 MB hard drive

Description:

Play This Play That features an Air Hockey game that is an excellent simulation of the real game your kids may already play. Your mouse becomes an air hockey paddle as you play in a choice of 4 different environments (arcade, hotel, sports club, or stadium) to the cheers or applause of the corresponding (and invisible) crowds. This game is totally customizable and has options to adjust such things as mouse sensitivity, airflow, puck mass, score totals--the list goes on and on. You can even choose from a wide palette of colors for the puck and paddles! You must select your "artificially intelligent" computer opponent's skill level from 5 levels, starting at beginner and up to champion, as well as whether you want to play a single game or a "best of" competition. Choose to play one-on-one, Tournament mode against 15 opponents in 4 single-elimination rounds, or Round Robin against 31 or 63 competitors. In addition, you can even host or join a LAN game.

Put your reflexes to the test in the other featured game of Skeet Shooter, in which you must shoot clay pigeons as they fly across the target board. There are 3 types of play: Championship, Timer and 25 Shot, and plenty of options to allow you to customize your game. The other 4 games are Odd Man Out (similar to the board game Hi-Q), Shooting Gallery (with moving and stationary objects to shoot at), Memory (which can be played as the classic memory game or with a unique face-up twist), and Walk the Plank (a hangman game with a pirate theme). There are various rating systems or high score record-keeping in all of the games, which will please competitive types.

Features:

• 6 fun games
• Plenty of options to customize games
• Totally realistic Air Hockey sound effects
• Difficulty levels
• Save/load feature

Technical Aspects:

Installation works with Windows 95/98 Autorun. There is the option for a minimum or full install. A nice option is the ability to install the games individually, which is great if there are one or two favorites that you would like to install fully. Direct X is required and can be installed if necessary. The interface, which attractively borders the screen, is consistent for each of the 6 games. This simplifies navigation. The graphics are vivid and very nice to look at.

Report and Conclusions:

To be honest, I didn't expect too much from this software, mainly because there are so many lower-priced game packages on the market that don't always measure up. I was pleasantly surprised by Play This Play That! Air Hockey is an excellent rendition of the actual game. The sounds and the whole "feel" of it are extraordinarily realistic. I am so impressed with this game that I've already placed it in my Windows toolbar, which is reserved for my personal favorites. Particularly outstanding is the range of game play. Not many games can boast the ability to entertain the entire family as this game does! Beginner level is easy enough for my 2 and 4 year olds to play (although my 2 year old admittedly doesn't really know what she's doing, she still wants to play), and the highest level, Champion, is extremely challenging to the adults of the family. My 7 year old is comfortable somewhere in the middle, at least for the time being. Best yet, he can play Air Hockey even when no one else wants to - now he not only has an eternally willing opponent, he can even choose his opponent's skill level!

The other games are quite entertaining but, at the moment, do take a backseat to Air Hockey in my family. However, each is enjoyable in its own right. There are so many options in every game to please a wide variety of people. Play This Play That brings some nice innovations to some popular games. If you are in the mood for some (almost) mindless fun, this software likely won't disappoint!

You can download a Mac demo.
You can download a PC demo.