NEO CHERRY MASTER

by Graham Conorr

Neo Cherry Master- Neo Geo Pocket Colour


Neo Cherry Master is, for those of you that don't know, a gambling sim (a fruit machine simulator [Japanese style] to be exact) except of course there is no REAL money to be won or lost on this game and no REAL prizes to be won.   "So what is the point?" I hear you ask.  Good question.

Cherry Master arguably does its job quite well: you hit the A button to spin the reels and the B button beforehand to basically increase (or decrease) the amount of credits you gamble, the more credits you gamble the more chances you have of winning, basically the more you gamble the more chances you have of winning.  -but let's face it: you cant really lose.  There is no real ending to this game: you just play and play and play until eventually you lose all interest and you eventually find yourself moving on to another NGP title whilst Cherry Master is left to gather dust at the back of your games cupboard.  

The problem with Cherry Master ultimately stems from a lack of playability, it just isn't a game you can play continuously.  Sure it can be addictive on the first day you buy it, but then most games are.  After the first day purchase though I felt less and less compelled to play until, a week after buying Cherry Master, I decided to leave it to fester in the back of m games cupboard as countless others no doubt did.  It isn't exactly a bad game, its just that really there isn't a point to it -an end in sight.  The problem is really the "Who cares?" factor, I really never cared about losing credits, or about the game over screen.  "Why?" perhaps because there was nothing for me to lose, I could gamble maximum credits at will.  After all it isn't real money and there wasn't really any ending in sight [kind of like this review. -Ed]. I do like fruit machines, I'm addicted to them in fact, so why don't I like Cherry Master?  Could it be the lack of a goal or incentive?  Yes. It could also be the fact that it is really just plain boring, I switched of whilst playing repeatedly hitting A having gambled max credits.  In its favour Cherry Master does try its best and is no worse than a number of fruit machine sims I have seen.

But in my humble opinion if you want all the fun of a fruit machine, try a real fruit machine as Cherry Master does not come remotely close to recreating the thrills and tensions enjoyed by thousands upon them. I have seen Cherry Master selling rather cheaply in a number of outlets though, but I would advise you spend your money elsewhere for all the reasons in this review


Overall score

2.5/10

JAPANESE COVER

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