Shufflepuck Cafe by Tim Holt (El Paso)
NOTICE: This article originally appeared in the February issue of Atari Interface Magazine and may be freely distributed or reprinted in non-profit User Group publications as long as the article's author and Atari Interface Magazine are credited AND this notice is reprinted with the article. All other publications must obtain written permission from Unicorn Publications, 3487 Braeburn Circle, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, Phone: (313) 973-8825 before using this article.
Shufflepuck Cafe by Tim Holt (El Paso)
Imagine the bar scene from Star Wars. All of those strange creatures, some almost human, some far from human, all playing together in the bar. It was a Hollywood classic scene, and several movies have tried to steal it...most recently, Star Trek V. Ok, now that you have the bar scene in mind, place the famous non-video arcade game Air Hockey in your mind. Remember Air Hockey? You had a little red paddle, a four inch puck that rode on a cushion of air and your task was to defend your goal. The first person to score 10 points won. Simple, elegant and no longer in many arcades because arcade owners found that four video games could earn four times the number of quarters and take up the same amount of space as one Air Hockey table. Such is life. Now, you put both of those great parts of my teen years together and what do you get? A great new game from Broderbund: SHUFFLEPUCK CAFE.
In Shufflepuck Cafe, you are the opponent of several aliens in a tournament to determine the champion of the Shufflepuck board. The puck glides across the table as if on a cushion of air, and all you have to do is keep it from going past you and breaking the protective glass. Sounds easy. And for the first few opponents, it is. Skip (no relation to Skip, our DRC BBS sysop) is your first opponent, and he is, by far, the wimpiest. Every time you get it past Skip, he congratulates you with a digitized "Nice shot!" With each win, you move on to a different opponent, such as DC3-ALSO, Vinnie the Dweeb, Princess Bejin, and finally the ultimate test -- Biff Raunch, current champion. There are nine opponents in all, each with their own mannerisms, that make the game interesting. Lexan Smythe-Worthington for instance, will take a sip from his cocktail and give a drunken hic-cup and wink whenever you put one past him. When the game is over, he will fall backwards, passed out from all the inebriations he has had that evening. Princess Bejin has interesting psychic powers, and Visine Orb cries when he loses. All of these effects make the game visually fun to play.
The play itself in Shufflepuck Cafe is excellent. The puck moves realistically across the play field, and I could not notice any "scrolling effect" that plagues so many games. A great job by the programmers. Your paddle is controlled by the mouse. Move the mouse forward, the paddle moves forward. Backward is backward, etc. I did notice that you cannot move the mouse extremely fast in the forward direction, as the action on the screen cannot keep up with your movement. However, reverse and side to side movements DID keep up with my movements. If ever a game cried out for the Cordless Mouse by Practical Solutions, this is it! If you have such a mouse, get this game immediately. I got so mad at my mouse cord I could have screamed! You literally will lose control over your mouse, not because of any fault of the game, but because the game enthralls you so much, the placement of the mouse on a mouse pad is secondary on your mind. I suggest either removing the mouse pad or getting a 4 foot by 4 foot mouse pad.
Okay, so you get so darn good (sure!) that you beat old Biff in the tournament and become champion. Now what? Well, the makers of Shufflepuck Cafe thought you might ask that, so they added a few extras that would make the game more interesting for you "experts." For instance, you can adjust the size and weight of your paddle. Too good at normal size? Shrink it in half and see how good you are. You can also adjust the amount of power your forward and sideways spins will have on the puck. (In pool they call that "English.") Still not enough for you? Okay, you can add blockers in the middle of the Shufflepuck table that make the puck bounce back to you when you least expect it. You can adjust the size of the blockers as well. You can also adjust the size and weight of the puck.
You can even adjust the playing ability of the practice robot so that you can practice on him before you enter the tournament. The robot can be as good as Biff, or as poor as Skip. You may save the tournament at anytime, I suggest BEFORE each opponent. That way, if you lose, you can reload the tourney at the point you lost at, instead of having to start all over again with Skip.
Shufflepuck Cafe is a winner! Challenging for the adults, and easy enough for the kids. I highly recommend that you make Shufflepuck Cafe from Broderbund one of the first purchases of the new year.
Shufflepuck Cafe $39.95
Broderbund
