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100 Classic Book Collection - NDSNot Rated Nintendo Usually, it would be negligent to review a game after only going through 1.5% of the content. But then, '100 Classic Book Collection', despite sounding like a potential Mario-styled collection-a-thon, isn't a game at all. Packed onto this single cart are 100 classic books, featuring the works of Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, 22 different Shakespeare plays, and a whole lot more. For the purpose of this review, as well as checking out the general features and mechanics of how the software operates, I read through 'Alice In Wonderland' (a wonderful mix of childish innocence and trippy psychosis) and half of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' (one of his best comedies). In some cases, it's not quite as convenient has reading a paper version - if you want to check the character list of a Shakespeare play to get better context for a scene, you may have to lay down a digital 'bookmark' (you get three per book) before flicking back to the first page, and if you want to flick to a specific page, the page scroll works in multiples, so you may land 5 pages away from the one you need. These are both very minor issues, only likely to really affect you if you're studying the book in question, and for general reading the 100 Classic Book Collection is excellent. Having a backlit screen makes bedtime reading that much simpler, the default font of the text is easy to read off the screen, and of course 100 books for $50 is fantastic value. The book selection is well thought out, covering a mix of books that anyone with an interest of literature should definitely have a look at - I personally find myself interested in almost all the books on offer. The game boasts a modest but cool feature set, especially if you have a Wi-Fi dongle for your DS. Aside from all manner of searching tools for books, including one that gives you an idea of which key words (i.e. "exciting", "romantic") apply to which books, there's a short quiz you can take that gives you recommendations on which books you will probably like best. Pick up any book from your virtual bookshelf and you can choose to read a short spiel about the author, or general information about the book itself. This is great for getting an understanding of the book's context, time of publication and other basic information. Background noise can be applied to simulate certain environments, such as a forest or a coffee shop, which is a cute addition, if not something you'll probably make much use of. Once you're online, you can download up to ten extra books onto your cart (which can be swapped around as more become available), extending the lifespan of this collection to essentially infinite. There are plenty of 'non-games' available for the DS, but this one is easily the best, allowing you to take all these books anywhere you go without loading yourself down with dog-eared paperbacks. Check out the list of books included on Amazon's listing of the game, and if enough of them appeal to you, pick it up. |