There's a lot of stuff about mystical orbs and animals, but at its heart, Shanghai Pocket is a decent Game Boy version of Mah-Jongg. Several dozen pairs of matching tiles are arranged in stacks to form a shape vaguely reminiscent of an animal's head or body, and the player must eliminate the tiles one pair at a time, sometimes passing up obvious chances to remove tiles - all while the clock is ticking down. Removing the wrong tiles can leave you in a deadlock where no more matches are possible. (Sunsoft/Activision, 1999)

Hmmmm. The game, kids, is Mah-Jongg. It doesn't really involve animals and stolen orbs of power or any of that nonsense. But I guess these modern-day Nintendo-esque trappings sell games, so who am I to criticize? While I was a little skeptical at first of a decent Mah-Jongg on the Game Boy's tiny display, I must admit to being impressed with how well Sunsoft carried off this task without the tiles looking incomprehensibly small.

If you think PC-based Mah-Jongg games are nerve-wracking when you have to pick out every pair of tiles with the mouse, try the sluggish joypad selection in Shanghai Pocket. That's really the only thing I'd change in this game - well, aside from adding a few extra tile sets, but the two sets provided are adequate.

Rating:  Four quarters - a couple of minor irritants, but mostly a compelling and addictive game.

Reviewed by Earl Green
theLogBook.com editor/webmaster