Hard Rock Casino transports three casino staples to the mobile platform, but leaves behind one fairly important element: the atmosphere. A port of the Pocket PC game of the same name, the game allows you to play blackjack and poker (with traditional casino rules) against a dealer, and slots by yourself. These three offerings are decent enough, and they make for quite a value when bundled together, but they also don't make for a terribly compelling casino experience overall.
Jumpin' Jack Black is a standard game of blackjack, and it allows you to run between one and three hands at a time. After being dealt, you can choose to hit, stand, double down, or split, just as you would in a real casino. The game even allows you to buy insurance when the house is showing an ace. Since the game of blackjack is traditionally played against only the dealer anyway, this game holds up the best out of three. Twist Machine is the slot machine, and it allows you to bet on up to three different rows. Of the three games, slots is the most poorly translated, because it becomes all the more apparent how arbitrary it is when you can't at least hear the spinning of the wheels and the clinking of the change spitting out below. Lonely Hearts Poker is a game of five-card draw against the dealer, whose hand you never get to see. In the wake of the Texas hold 'em phenomenon, five-card draw seems a little less exciting, especially since there are no opponents for you to compete against.
Any amount can be bet, up to $250, and the chips come in denominations of $1, $5, $25, and $100. Your wallet starts at $5,000, and can be reset at any time, which means that, unlike at the real casino, you always have money to play with. Since there is no limitation on resetting the wallet, and no other opponents (in poker at least), the risk-versus-reward dynamic is almost nonexistent. This is really the game's biggest flaw, because it renders your achievements and your overall success meaningless. You can't compare scores or compete against other people, so there's very little satisfaction in winning.
The graphics are above average on the LG VX7000 handset, but there are not many ways for a casino game to show off in this department. Suffice it to say that the graphics are sufficient, and couldn't have been much better without being distracting. The sounds, however, could have been better, particularly on the slot machines. Had there been a few more noises, the casino atmosphere might have been more closely replicated.
Hard Rock Casino is a wonderful value, but it's also very straightforward. If you have the inkling to play some casino games by yourself on your phone, Hard Rock Casino will satisfy the notion, but it won't surprise or impress in any way.
