Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza Gundam Mahjong DS: Oyaji nimo Agarareta koto nai noni!

This game is a very refreshing take on Japanese Mahjong (modern rules). I\'d argue that it\'s the best Mahjong game I\'ve played, though I have to admit I\'m no expert.

Mahjong is presented a bit differently from the traditional Mahjong games. All the information is there, but there\'s no square table arrangement here. Instead you get a resorted view that\'s much more functional, while understanding that you are playing a videogame. By presenting your opponents as 3 grouped rows of portraits/tiles/etc... you get a clear view of what you need to see. With how small the DS screens are, this is an ideal layout as opposed to other Mahjong games going with a traditional layout with tiles so tiny you can barely make out what your opponents have discarded or stolen.

However, the main concern for a review of this game is how the Gundam presentation works with this game, and maybe how it affects it. I\'m no Gundam fanboy nor a true expert of Mahjong, but I have to say that the presentation is wonderful. The game is filled with personality, hilarity, emotions, and even material. While I can\'t understand much of the Japanese language, the exchanges between characters are hilarious. Characters have interesting things to say throughout the mahjong game itself, sometimes hinting at what they\'re thinking. Sometimes your character stresses a bit when you play a high risk tile or sacrifice a Dora bonus. Sometimes he even smiles happily and declares his confidence when his discard could only be confident. And sometimes, there are very brief intermissions between rounds where maybe a Captain gets upset at his suboordinate for surpassing him as the top dog in the game (the game, not being over quite yet). It\'s all presented wonderfully.

And the music... Even if I wasn\'t a Gundam fan, I have to admit, I\'ve enjoyed the soundtrack and I know that the Gundam fans go nuts for it. Old old tracks create new atmosphere for this oh-so-new context of Mahjong. There\'s battle music, there\'s poignant music, there\'s inspiring music.... and there are varied backgrounds too. It all adds to the sense of Mahjong as either battle or pasttime.

In addition, there are things at stakes. This game has quite a bit of unlockables, represented as military units (such as Gundams, tanks, etc...) that the Gundam cast is apparently wagering on in their games. The more you put in, the more you might take out of the whole game if you win. 2nd and 3rd place reap a bit of the awards too, but #1 pretty much gets what he wants.

It\'s not saying much, but I have to say this is the best Mahjong videogame I\'ve ever played, and I got a lot more than I expected. My personal feelings are that it\'s a 5 star game, but because it\'s not a game I can recommend to everyone outright, I put it back a bit to 4 stars (though such criteria will almost never be met).

If you\'re at all interested in Mahjong and you decided to pickup a Mahjong game, I highly recommend this one, but would also suggest you go out on the web and lookup information on Mahjong.... and find a site that explains the Modern Japanese rules of Mahjong (supposedly, there aren\'t any english language books that cover this set of rules, but there is material online).

If you love Mahjong, if you like playing Modern Japanese rules for the game, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS GAME. It\'s a loaded gem.

Even if you don\'t care about Gundam, but you like Mahjong...
Mahjong + Great Interface + Personality + Comedy + Something to Play For... there isn\'t all that much more you could ask for.