Super Caesar's Palace (SNES) review "At least once in a lifetime, all American citizens must make a pilgrimage to the distant land of Las Vegas. It is a strange land, where the air is warm at night; here, people come to indulge in more gambling, showgirls, and low-priced buffets than they’ll ever find anywhere else. With Super Caesars Palace for the Super Nintendo, one can now enjoy a veritable microcosm of the entire Vegas experience – only without the distance, warmth, showgirls, and low-priced buffets. "

At least once in a lifetime, all American citizens must make a pilgrimage to the distant land of Las Vegas. It is a strange land, where the air is warm at night; here, people come to indulge in more gambling, showgirls, and low-priced buffets than they’ll ever find anywhere else. With Super Caesars Palace for the Super Nintendo, one can now enjoy a veritable microcosm of the entire Vegas experience – only without the distance, warmth, showgirls, and low-priced buffets.

Armed with the dress shirt/black tie ensemble of a faceless American male, your quest is to gain entry to the high roller’s club. The setting for this hot, gambling action is an interactive facsimile of the Palace’s main lobby, where the paths are littered with blackjack tables, roulette wheels, and a plethora of authentic slot machines. I haven’t completed the statistical analysis on the payout percentages, but I’m pretty sure that they meet the minimum set by the Nevada Gaming Commission. (If anyone feels like doing the math, it could be countless hours of entertainment already.) You can also receive a fair bit of instruction on how to play some of these, which is helpful; craps was never the most intuitive of games.

During your epic journey to win a million billion dollars, you won’t have to worry about starting over when you leave for the day. Super Caesars Palace features a password system that allows you to return to your ever-increasing account balance anytime you like. Each password is basically a long, random string of characters. Admittedly, they’re cumbersome to use, considering how you have to write them down and reenter them each time. A small price to pay, for a million billion dollars.

So even in pico Vegas, some are naturally going to go home unhappy. First of all, that dollsome showgirl appearing on the box art never once shows up in game. Not every game available is also well-suited to playing in a virtual environment. The slot machines in particular can feel even more meaningless than the real thing; now you’re shoveling worthless coins into a hole where you’ll probably never see them again.

Of course… what you win in virtual casinos, inevitably stays there. Money just for the sake of money can get a bit dull. Really, you could obtain winnings equalling that of the nation’s gross domestic product and you still wouldn’t have anything more than access to the high-roller tables. Faceless male avatar needs many things. (Starting with a face.) Nicer suits would have been welcome; Joe Avatar has the perpetual look of a man who works in a small cubicle.

The scope of Super Caesars Palace probably isn’t enough to merit much long-term satisfaction for most people. Caesar must have been simply using this product to advertise the real place. Nevertheless, it fares pretty well for a distraction. Much like the real Vegas: a nice place to visit, even though not everyone wants to live there.

Personally, I think it’s enough to enjoy feeling like a rich man on the inside. Now, gimme them chips.

Community review by disco1960 (September 19, 2006) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.