

All in all, it's a definite 4.Ĭan't help myself - I just love this game. The fast games are pretty tense though and you'll find yourself playing 'just one more game' quite often. The gameplay can get a little tedious, because it takes quite some time to earn fifteen points, even against the weaker opponents. The sound is limited to speaker bleeps, which is adequate for this type of game. Nevertheless, your opponents are a colorful bunch. The 16 color EGA is better then the monochrome ones from the old Apple II I rembemer, but not as pretty as those on the Amiga. Each one has a certain amount of talent and some even have special tricks with which they might surprise you. Watch out though, 'cause some aliens tend to cheat a bit. First one to score 15 points by making his of her opponent miss the puck, wins the game. From the startup screen you simply click on your desired opponent to start a match against them. In Shufflepuck Café you have to become the champion by beating the current one, a greasy pig called Biff Raunch. The puck is more or less floating on the table due to a thin layer of air that's being blown over the surface (hence the 'air' in air-hockey). Both players have a paddle and use this to direct a puck all over the place. This is sort of like those air-hockey tables you might know from arcade halls. All they do is hang around and compete against each other in the game called Shufflepuck. What's the deal in "Shufflepuck Café?" Well, there's this café filled with a bunch of weird aliens (it might even be located in Mos Eisley on Tatooine, but this information is not available). Thank heavens it was released on other platforms as well (such as Atari, Amiga and of course, DOS) because Apple II's are hard to come by these days. If you have to summarize this game in one sentence it would be "Air hockey against aliens!". He had a little game on the thing however, which I was particularly fond of. Back then, I was not very impressed by the monochrome (and puny) display the thing had and I seriously mistrusted the mouse, because I was used to nice 16 colors, joysticks and big TV's from my own C64. When I was 12 years old, my father's neighbor had bought an Apple II. The winner is the one who reaches 15 glassbreaks first.

There are single plays or the tournament where you play opponents in order of difficulty. However, you can cheat as well, as you can resize your stick to fill the whole table width, or add one in the middle, and see who breaks glass first. There are several competitors, from which some of them definitely cheat, so be prepared to be laughed at. Deflect the puck around the walled area using your bat, trying to knock it into your opponent's goal. You get a chance to match your skills at this Air Hockey style game, over 'Cantina Band' inspired music. One is the computer, and the other is, of course, you.
