"Caesars Palace" (Game Boy)

A title that has spanned nearly every console that were active in the nineties decade. While this portable version presents some quirks, we recommend playing the console versions.

If you're a frequent visitor of, or a current resident at, Las Vegas, then you'd know about Caesars Palace and its nonstop expansion and renovation that has taken place since—personally, it's been going on before I was a teenager. Also, Caesars Entertainment has partaken on the sports betting realm pushing the national legalization of sports betting that much closer. Caesars Palace continues to keep busy, so why not talk about their very own branded game that was released back in 1990?

Possibly the most amusing part is the beginning as you boot up the game. It features the classic Caesars Palace sign along with the temperature of the environment and the "current" time. That information may not exactly reflect the accuracy of the location to where you're playing this game at, but it was a bit funny to see. Upon entering the casino, you receive $1,000 in Caesars credit—chips—to start you off. When I played this the first time, cashier Suzy scared the crap of me. It may not be creepy as the jumpscares that are common today, but man, aren't cashiers in cashier booths brightly lit?

After you get your chips, you can play any game to your heart's content: Slot Machines, Blackjack, Video Poker, Roulette and my personal favorite, The Big Six (Money Wheel). The odds of winning vary completely, however, like most casino gambling experts who have written countless books about casino gaming would agree that Roulette and The Big Six are a money waste. Both games, like real life, don't expect to break even when playing these games, leaving the other three choices to play. Slot machines are okay, depending on the theme of the machine and the paylines. The Video Poker game is neat but seems to pay off whenever it wants. If you're used to poker games like Deuces Wild, you'll be frustrated with this, as some hands don't qualify for a payoff. That leaves the player with one choice: Blackjack. The game is easy: Beat the House going close to 21 without going over. At times, the dealer's hand can be utterly ruthless against yours; An example would be if the dealer had an Ace, asking Insurance or not. During our gameplay, the dealer had the higher chance of having a blackjack (21) than anything. Pathetic.

When I think about it, this is a game a video gamer plays after their blood pressure has broken its limit playing a challenging game, say, Zanac AI. After raging, the video gamer would pop a random game like this to kill off the frustration and focus on something irrelevant to what they focused on from the game previous. I'm sure all this happens while video gaming at the corner of their room on a brisk, chilly Friday night while all their friends clocked out of work to meet with others at a dive bar to get tipsy, inadvertently getting involved in brawls against other patrons and the bouncer. The video gamer knows that having dealt with enough from the game previous, they chill out and play a game like Caesars Palace. Certainly not as dramatic as getting into a fight with a drunken prick who spiked your girlfriend's drink, even though she gouged the bouncer's eyes with her heels for refusing to allow her partner to fight off the jerk until the drunkard is defeated, laying flat on the cement, bruised up next to the dumpster where his bloody wounds become a buffet for ants, flies and rats to feast on (Karma always finds a way). It takes a substantial amount of effort to break even, or profit, playing a game like Caesars Palace than it is to beat up a drunkard and make him food for nature (leave no animal hungry).

There's no reason to go to bars undergoing drama like that; Playing this game is your therapy to ease off the agitation you went through playing a difficult game prior. Only difference is you and your girlfriend's drinks won't get spiked by a prick who thinks Failure is the new hipster (a "wasteman" in British terms).

You do have the option to use the restrooms, but all you hear is the water running. Our guess was you went in to wash your hands.



One can only do so much...

The feel and play of the game is rather nice, giving that Vegas vibe with the lights and presentation. The ending of this game, after you cash out, is kind of neat for a handheld game. We'll save that for you to watch.

All in all, remember this: Beating up a drunken idiot isn't hard, playing this game and breaking even is. Challenge yourself, and stay away from drama.

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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