Absolute Reversi

Genre: Board Game

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local Wireless Alternating), Download Play Supported

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Review:

Absolute Reversi is a Board Game released on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in 2010 and then grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when that system was released. This game is… Well, Reversi. Otherwise referred to as Othello. Two placers take turns placing down double-sided reversible tiles, surrounding opposing tiles and flipping them to change their color. It’s a classic game design and while it’s far from my favorite, it has clearly withstood the text of time, having been originally invented in 1883 (apparently two men both claimed credit for inventing it that year, with each denouncing the other as a fraud).

I should note that many of the features and elements of the presentation are identical to Absolute Chess, and as such I have copied over much of that review to use here.

The presentation in this game is pretty good, using simple but unimpressive pixel art 2D visuals. In addition to the simple-looking board and pieces, this game is also adorned with anime-style characters representing the players, and they even have little win quotes at the end of matches like you often see in Fighting Games, which is a cute touch. These visuals are backed by a decent theme playing in the background, and it’s good that it’s decent, because it’s the only one you’re getting here.

There’s no tutorial here to get newer players acquainted with the game, but there is at the very least a written guide explaining the way the game works, how to place pieces, and even some very basic strategy elements.

When actually playing a game, players have a few different options. There’s a standard “free play” mode to just play a single game against either a human opponent or an AI opponent of one of three difficulty levels. There’s also a Challenge mode where players are given increasingly harder conditions that they must play under, such as winning a certain number of games in a row, or by a certain number of pieces.

The controls here work very well, letting players use either the touchscreen or traditional gamepad controls. However, there aren’t many options within individual matches – you can’t set time limits, there’s no “undo” button or move suggestions for more novice players. You’re really just playing Reversi. However, on the bright side of things, this game does support download play for playing against a friend… but not same-system alternating play, which seems like it would have been easy enough to implement.

In the end, Absolute Reversi is missing a few features, but for a game that only costs $2, it does offer a decent amount of good content. The core Chess game here is good, the Challenge mode content is unexpected but welcome, and the support of Download Play is excellent. This game is still, in the end, just Reversi, but if that’s all you’re looking for, this is a decent version of it at a good price.

tl;dr – Absolute Reversi is a version of Reversi that lacks some basic features, like an undo button, a tutorial, and same-system alternating 2-player gameplay. But on the bright side of things, it offers multiplayer via download play, has some interesting challenges to try to complete, and the core game here is presented well enough. For its low $2 price tag, this is a pretty decent game of Reversi. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll find this well worth it.

Grade: C+

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