Summary
In my opinion, it's THE definitive Scrabble game....
The Good
I love Scrabble. I find it a fantastic game that is a classic.
Like my Summary said, it's THE Scrabble game to own.
On the surface, the game is similar to the version released in 1997, but with MAJOR enhancements.
Graphically, it looks great, and Random Games finally got out their 256-color days. The game runs beautifully in 16-bit color. The board is tilted back on the screen, so it looks like you are playing on a real board.
A great all-around feature are the menus. Instead of having them in the traditional position (top of the screen), they are on the bottom left and right sides of the screen. This way, if you need to look up a word, find an anagram, get a hint or use any other option, the menus do not obscure the game board.
The sound is really good in the game. I even found that I enjoy listening to the MIDI tracks - they are that good. The ambient sounds are plesant as well.
But where this version really, really shines is the Mini-Games and "Professor Maven". Scrabble 2.0 includes 7 Mini-games that will help hone your gameplay. In most of the Mini-games, you are presented with a rack of 7 (or 8) tiles, and you have to make words. There are separate games for 2-Letter Words, 3-Letter Words, Anagrams (make all the words you can), Hooks (like playing a "Y" word off of "PART" - "PARTY"), Prefixes (Adding letters after the given letters like "RE" - "REACT"), and Suffixes (Adding letters before the given letters like "ING" - "BREATHING"). Also there are mini-games for Best Placement (Finding the highest scoring play for a given word), and Bingo plays (Using all 7 tiles on your rack in one play).
"Professor Maven" is also a great addition. The Professor will take the last few games you played, analyze each of your racks, and then break down how you played, and then offer tips for improvement. For instance, if you played only 2 out of a possible 6 7-Letter words, the Professor will give you tips on playing bingos. More so of a number cruncher (Letter Cruncher?) it will help you identify your playing weaknesses.
Needless to say, if you are serious about playing Scrabble, then this game will help you become a better player.
Another added improvement for online play is the ability to play phoneys (Fake words). In the Scrabble 1.0, if you played a fake word during online play, the game would automatically remove it. But now you have the option to challenge a word off the board. This allows for phoney words to be played. Some may think that this is "unethical" to play fake words, but when playing in real tournaments, the ability to spot phoneys and to play phoneys is a skill that is admired.
The Bad
But on the flipside of the phoneys, when playing a single player game, you can't challenge the computer. Therefore you must assume that the computer only play legitimite words. But I think it would have been neat to let the computer play fake words, and then let you decide for yourself.
Other than that one pet-peeve, I love every aspect of the game.
The Bottom Line
Forget all the other Scrabble wannabes. This is THE Scrabble game to own. Easy enough for the beginner, and challenging enough for the hardcore player, this version of Scrabble is a must-own in any puzzle lovers library.
