This review originally appeared within iLounge’s iOS Gems series within the compilation article, iPhone Gems: Every Solitaire Game, Reviewed. Additional details may be found in the original article.
We’ve generally been pretty big fans of Gameloft as an iPod and iPhone developer, but we weren’t quite as taken with Platinum Solitaire™ ($4). On the positive side, it feels the most like a completely developed “game” of all of the titles in this roundup—good artwork, some music, and a casino quest mode provide different things to see, hear, and do within the title.
But the interface and depth are only so-so by contrast with its best competitors.
Gameloft has again used animated on-screen characters to guide you through the game, employing cartoony tutors and casino hosts to help break the visuals up from monotonous tables and cards. This is also the rare iPhone Solitaire game to include a gambling mode; it actually has a structured stage play system with five locked casinos and one unlocked in different world settings. While not quite the rival of Apple’s Texas Hold’em in number or detail of the casino worlds, at least Gameloft has tried.
Similarly, this is one of very few iPhone card games to include some music, and it’s casino-style no less, but it’s short-lived and limited; Gameloft lets you turn it off in favor of your iPod library. The included sound effects are very simple.
Our view of this title is influenced by competing considerations: first, while it’s limited in depth by comparison with the best titles out there, featuring only six different games (Klondike, Golf, Pyramid, Freecell, Yukon, Spiders) to choose from, it sells for only $4, which seems reasonable given the quantity and quality of what’s inside. Additionally, while the game offers better than typical tutorials, guiding you through your first game of a given ruleset, the interface is a little kludgy, and doesn’t feel as if it’s been totally optimized for the iPhone OS.
