Title Publisher	Shanghai Pocket / SunSoft
Genre	Puzzle
Features	GameBoy, Color GameBoy Compatible / 2 Player Link-Up
Reviewer	Eric
Summary Gameplay	Shanghai Mahjong, unlike regular Mahjong, is a puzzle game that requires you to take matching tiles, a pair at a time, in order to clear a specific stacked layout. This might sound easy, but believe me it isn't, since you can only choose tiles that are 'free'. A tile is considered 'free' if no other tile is on top of it and if it can slide out to the left, to the right, or in both direction. Now do you see the problem? Add a time limit, pulsing music, and an opponent that's really tough, and you have the ingredients for a panic-attack! Shanghai Pocket offers three modes of game play: Shanghai, Kong Kong and Gold Rush. Shanghai is the single player mode, and takes place in twelve stages, played out on twelve different layouts. Each stage corresponds to an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. So each time you clear a stage, the corresponding animal appears on the screen and thanks you for freeing him. I'm not going to tell you why, so you'd best buy the game if you want to know the story. Kong Kong and Gold Rush are the two Versus game modes, where you can challenge either the Computer or Human opponent via link-up cable. Kong-Kong is basically a puzzle-bubble type game played in a split screen, where the clearing of your tiles results in your opponent getting dumped with those that you've cleared. There are various Attack and Cure tiles which you can use to gain an advantage. Gold Rush is also a challenge game, where the first person to get the hidden Golden tile buried in the layout wins. Kong Kong Gold Rush Shanghai is played using standard Oriental Mahjong tiles, but for the Western or European inclined, they can be substituted for Arabic or Roman numeral tiles in the Configure menu. You can also adjust time, background music on or off and difficulty levels.
Verdict	There is only one word to describe Shanghai Pocket - Addictive! Yup, S.P. is undoubtedly a worthy addition to the "Addictive Hall Of Fame" where the likes of Tetris and Puzzle Bobble are already enthroned. Once started, you can't put it down, and as I've said before, the pulse-pounding music which quickens to a deafening crescendo as time runs out could easily give you a heart attack. The game is simple and intuitive, but requires good eye-sight when played on the Color GameBoy's little screen. The use of color in S.P. also seemed functional rather than cosmetic. There didn't seem to be 56 colors at any one time, but what there was, was used well to differentiate the different tiles. I know this for certain, cause' I popped the cart in my Pocket GameBoy and discovered first-hand how difficult it was playing without color. My only gripe with S.P. is the fact that you can't control the speed of the pointer. I found it excruciatingly slow at times, particularly when traveling diagonally from one corner to another. The Computer opponents are also hard to beat, with the A.I. (artificial intelligence) seemingly intent on rubbing your face in the dirt even at the easiest setting. Bottom line? Get Shanghai Pocket if you don't have a life or if you don't crave sex and nourishment. It's that good!