Yes…I do mean THAT Connect 4.  The one you loved as a kid.  sliding checkers into a plastic frame, trying to make four in a row.  This is one of my son’s favorite games, and I love the fact that he is so interested in a game from my own childhood.  And thanks to the folks at Hasbro and EA Games, you can now enjoy this classic game on your Palm Pre (10 times before you will have to pay for it).

I found the graphics to be very well designed.  The board is a little small, but at the same time, I rarely had trouble sliding my checker into the correct slot.  I did find it odd, however, that the board was blue.  Everyone knows the Connect 4 board should be yellow, with blue accents.  At the same time, I did think it was nice that the plastic pieces never randomly fell apart as they can be prone to do with the board game.

Like I mentioned, to play, simply tap the column in which you wish to play your checker.  Like the real game, your checker will slide into the column until it reaches the bottom, or the highest checker in the column.  I was pretty impressed by the thoroughness and smoothness of the animation here.  They did a fantastic job replicating the real game, right down to the checkers spilling out after a win.

There are two modes of play in this game.  in Single Player Mode, you can choose the difficulty level of your computer opponent.  There is also a multiplayer mode, in which you can play with two players sharing one device (pass and play) or online.

The only thing I really did not like was the fact that the version of the game in the App catalog now is a ten game trial.  There is no indication as to how you can purchase the full game, or how much it will cost.  Otherwise, however, this is a fantastic game which did an incredible job of recreating the experience of the real board game.