3D Solitaire (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Solitaire is, well, solitaire. There isn't much to explain; match cards up alternately between colour and suit and stack them up into ascending order. 3D Solitaire gives two modes to play; Klondike 1 and 3 -- the difference being in the amount of cards flipped over at one time from the reserve pile, with Klondike 1 being the easier option. The game is set against four themes and backdrops that unlock as play goes on and the score is built up, generated from hitting full lines, speed bonuses and actually finishing the game. However, these themes are purely an aesthetic, altering the 3D backdrop to the game (the cards 'float' on top).

The only downside to playing 3D Solitaire is the controls. When using the 3D display, the face buttons must be used to interact with deck, which is too slow and sluggish and makes actually interacting with the placements a pain -- it can often be hard to judge what card is being selected.

On the other hand, however, the whole game could be played on the touch screen with the stylus -- a far superior control method increasing both precision and speed. Unfortunately, this sacrifices using the 3D screen and the visible area is reduced somewhat with the cards becoming smaller and cramped onto the bottom screen. It would have been nice to have a hybrid feature that put the cards on both screens but mirroring actions either with the stylus or buttons. Such wasted potential.

Overall, anyone looking for a decent game of Solitaire will find that 3D Solitaire does exactly what it says on the tin (or the eShop description, for the pedantic reading this!); it's as simple as that. Whether it is worth the price versus the version that's on free on any standard PC is another matter, yet one that the consumer will have to decide. It's nice having an entertainment centre all on the 3DS, though, and many will come back to it from time-to-time to try another hand.