Here's an oddest offering for the VC so far - a gambling game! In Vegas Stakes, sequel to the NES’s Vegas Dream, you heads to Vegas with a group of friends to try to make it rich.
There are 4 casinos to go to, ranging from the-run-down Hideaway, which only allows small bets, to 2020, a futuristic-looking casino that allows high bets. Your goal is to increase your $1000 starting funds to 10 million dollars - quite a feat! Earning $100K unlocks Laurel Palace, where you can win big but must bet high. If you drop back below a hundred thousand, you get kicked out of Laurel Palace and have to earn your way in again.
There's 5 games to play in Vegas Stakes - Craps, Roulette, Blackjack, Poker, and the infamous slot machines. I just stick with the classic slots, but they might not be your thing. The locations and games aren't the main "gimmick" though -- sometimes, one of your friends or a random person may ask you for a small donation to pay for somebody's wife's operation, buy a watch, etc.. If the borrower succeeds with the borrowed money, you will get a higher sum back. However, it's just as possible that the person's a con artist or will lose your money. These events are entirely random, but add a little flair.
At all times, one of your friends will be with you to offer advice, which can be handy, or lead to disastrous results (certain friends give better advice at certain games, so experiment a little). This adds a little more interaction to the game.
After earning 10 million dollars, the credits roll and you can start over from scratch. It's a bit unfortunate that you can't continue after this, but 10 million is a large sum, so it should take you quite a while to get that far anyway. However, when you're done you can try multiplayer mode with your friends for any game but poker (which is not practical for this mode as everyone would see each other's cards!). In this mode there are no random encounters, so it's just the games. If you don't have a craps table at your house (and I assume you don't!) and you've got friends over, then why not play it digitally?
The music's your typical casino stuff. It might get annoying eventually, but it fits the mood well. All of the games have their own sound effects which actually sound pretty good. Vistually, the backgrounds are nice and detailed and a pleasure to look at.
This is most likely the only game of this kind you're going to find on the VC. There are games on other systems that include one or two of the games here (Super Adventure Island II, for example, includes roulette and slots), but none of these are announced for release yet, and none feature multiplayer and interactivity. If you're a gambling fan, I highly recommend this title. If you're not, maybe you'll discover something good!
NOTE: The original version was compatible with both a controller and the SNES mouse, leading some to believe that this version would possibly use the Wii remote pointer as mouse - it does not, you have to use buttons.
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1. Eric42
16 Jul 2007, 23:04 GMT
Vegas Stakes was a pretty good casino sim for the SNES... I loved it at the time. It may not completely be the best out there, but it did the job very well. I look forward to the possiblity that this game will be released.
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2. Adamant
18 Jul 2007, 01:54 GMT
It's okayish, but I already own a gambling game (Caesar's World), and it's not exactly the kind of genre you need a lot of titles in.
Hm, aren't gambling games automatically rated M nowadays? Will this be the first "omgmature" VC game?
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3. Jazzem
18 Jul 2007, 19:06 GMT
Adament, 42 All Time Classics/Clubhouse Games on the DS was rated just a 12+ (And a T in America, I *think*) despite having a fair bit of gambling. It was also an excellent little game =]
I wouldn't mind knowing why video game gambling is hazardous to people under 12 (Or indeed 18!) though =/
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4. KJ
30 Aug 2007, 02:47 GMT
Sweet! Of all the casino compilation games I've ever played, this is by far the best. I'd love to see a sequel to this, but in the mean time I'll settle for this on VC.
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5. mattyl149
31 Aug 2007, 02:08 GMT
This looks alright, but there are so many PC based gambling simulations for free out there, I'm not really tempted. It's nice to have one on the Virtual Console though, it just means waiting at least another two weeks for Super Metroid
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6. Mendez
31 Aug 2007, 04:57 GMT
They did have to cut 2 of the minigames out of Harvest Moon DS to avoid an 18 rating though =/
The game looks alright, I'm not really tempted though. I'll just stick to 42 all time classics.
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7. Smile Guy
31 Aug 2007, 15:21 GMT
Obviously, if you're not into games that rely completely on luck you will hate this game.
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8. deggs
31 Aug 2007, 17:16 GMT
yeah, the one major drawback to old casino games is that there's no hold'em because this was before hold'em was super popular. still, at the time, i remember liking this game a lot...
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9. Tennant
05 Sep 2007, 17:47 GMT
It's ok, not worth the download if you ask me, this is probably my worst download to date. Play cards in real life, it's a lot better.
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10. Steven
04 Oct 2007, 18:11 GMT
I hope this comes out in the US. I remember playing this a lot as a rental-couldn't get enough of it. Way better than Super Caesar's Palace.
There's a funny TAS video on Youtube of someone winning this game in a few minutes using savestates. If only that worked in real life.
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11. Kevin
26 Nov 2007, 13:18 GMT
This was fun on the original game boy, but I won't be buying it for VC.
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12. Atlantis1982
26 Nov 2007, 14:06 GMT
As one mentioned, there are several casino simulators for free on the web now; this just doesn't seem that exciting.
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13. Radio KJ
27 Nov 2007, 06:34 GMT
Nice! This is the only gambling sim i ever really liked. The little added bits with other random characters walking by made this more interesting than any generic sim. I've been waiting for a sequel to this.
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14. Clayfrd
29 Dec 2007, 06:29 GMT
I've just downloaded this, and I like it a lot. It's got your casino basics and the random goodies, such as people who need a loan. All of these things add up to a charmful game that is worth a download. Very fun so far, but I haven't played it quite long enough to make a fair rating, but it is currently between 4 and 5
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15. ericwithcheese
19 Mar 2008, 20:05 GMT
I didn't know this was a sequel to Vegas Dream, my favorite gambling game on the NES. I noticed the similarities with the interaction between random strangers and your character, but didn't think much of it. Good game.
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16. aut0matic
09 Apr 2008, 05:02 GMT
umm, no fun unless you win money.
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