Othello
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Rate:
1 out of 5
Difficulty:
5 out of 5
Played:
10/26
Opinion:
"A minute to learn...a lifetime to master."
Sure, I can agree with that for Othello. However, this one sucks. But it's not a slight against Othello
itself because I am a fan of the board game in real life. The NES version is a slog to manuever through. Worse,
the AI is impossible to beat unless you're a grandmaster or whatever the word is supposed to be. You'll
quickly see the unfairness of gameplay. Where's the fun in that? Epic fail.
To consider Othello beat, you must win one match at level 1. Afterwards, don't waste your time
unless you're a true Othello competitor. You're better off playing the board game with family and friends.
Technical Notes
Basic Moves
♦The directional pad is move to the desired spot on the board.
♦A is to select the spot to place the piece.
Match
What To Do
All right, first understanding of the game is you can place a piece on the board that turns pieces of the
other color into yours. An example is: there are 3 whites before a black, you have to place a black piece in
front of the whites which will turn into black. This can be done vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
Suppose there are no possible moves anywhere on the board to turn over piece(s), you must forfeit your turn.
Therefore, it's a game of back-and-forth until every spot on the board has been occupied, leading to the tally
of all pieces of each color to determine winner of the match. This means it's impossible to foresee the
long-term outcome. But there are three following strategies which are absolute-must:
♦Whatever you do, stay away from a corner within one space until you have a chance to capture that
said corner. If you capture at least three of them, the match is yours for sure; if it's two, the chance of
winning is reduced to 50/50, give or take a few pieces.
♦Once you capture a corner, work your way out diagonally until halfway through the board.
♦You must try to capture any spot on the border and then keep building it up.