Cheaper than crack and just as addictive

"UNO" on Xbox Live Arcade is exactly like the card game. That's the best compliment I can give it and also the biggest complaint that I have. For those of us who never played the game when we were kids, the object of "UNO" is to empty your hand of cards by filling your opponents' hands by using special cards, skipping their turns and just by all around screwing them over.\nSince all the shuffling and dealing is handled by the computer and the interface is extremely clean and easy to use, the gameplay is fast and furious, almost too fast to plan out any kind of strategy, but this also keeps the game from getting boring. It's amazing how addictive this version is. After downloading the game I was glued to my TV for the next three hours, practicing in single-player, taking my skills online and unlocking achievements (which is way too easy to do, I got 10 out of 12 in those three hours).\nThough the computer AI is perfectly acceptable opponent, the real fun is to be had connecting to Xbox Live, talking trash to people all over the world and rising up the leaderboards. Make no mistake, this is not the next Halo 2 or even Perfect Dark Zero (and not nearly as fun as either while drunk), but more of a fun little distraction in between rounds of those games. I was able to find a game within a couple minutes of connecting most of the time too, which is more than I can say about some other bigger name Xbox 360 games (yeah, I'm looking at you "Project Gotham Racing 3" Career Mode).\nAnd unlike a lot of other online games, I was able to hop in and win my very first game even though I haven't played a real life game of "UNO" in years.\nReally my only complaint is the elevator music soundtrack, but that's easily fixed by listening to a ripped CD or iPod.\nFor 400 Microsoft points (or about five bucks to those of you not familiar with Bill Gates Monopoly money), "UNO" is a great value. I highly recommend it to fans of the card game, or any gamer looking for a quick fix during this usual summer drought of quality new releases.