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[IF Conspiracy Review] Reverzi

by Duncan Stevens

Posted 14 March 2000 to rec.games.int-fiction

This review is posted under the auspices of the IF Review Conspiracy, which is run by Marnie Parker, Stephen Granade, and myself. For more about the conspiracy, visit http://www.textfire.com/ifreview.html.

TITLE: Reverzi
AUTHOR: John Menichelli
E-MAIL: menichel@pixi.com
DATE: 2000
SUPPORTS: Z-code interpreters
AVAILABILITY: Freeware (GMD)
URL: ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/games/zcode/reverzi.z5
VERSION: Release 1

I'm not sure there's a good way to assess Z-Abuses. The interfaces are all fairly clunky, due to the limitations of the medium--i.e., this isn't what the Z-machine was really designed for--and most players will probably find themselves longing for a mouse.

As Z-Abuses go, however, Reverzi is perfectly competent. The game is known in its board game form as Othello, and the playing experience isn't really any different. The computer player is competent but not expert--I lost narrowly, and I haven't played the game in years. There's a help facility that explains the basic rules but doesn't give any hints (such as, say, don't make plays that would give the computer player a spot on the edge, and never, ever make plays that would give it the corner). Cursor movement is handled with arrows or with W-A-S-Z. You can play as white or black, whichever you prefer, and you have the option of a "slow mode" that prompts for a key press after every move--I suppose the purpose is to make it easier to distinguish the effect of your move from the effect of the other player's move.

If you like Othello, you'll be happy with this, though the computer player may not be a challenge for long. The interface is good enough that it doesn't really slow down the game all that much, I suppose. Likewise, if Z-Abuses invariably delight your soul, for some reason, you may get a kick out of this one.

This article copyright © 2000, Duncan Stevens

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