All of those changes, and more, have been captured by the programmers in the CD version. The basic game that I first played thirty-eight years ago is still there, but so are some variations and some custom pieces and rules.

KABOOM!

The introduction of a "cannon" piece in the optional set is especially charming. A cannon can move or fire. If it fires, it shoots a ball over two empty spaces (including the lake) to hit the third space. Anything there is destroyed. Depending on which option you play with, the cannon may stay in the game AND "jump" to the space of the unit it destroyed, OR it must be removed and placed "in reserve." During your turn you may either take a move or bring in a piece from the reserve.

SAVE ME!

Other variants include half-size armies to which you can add forces by "rescue" missions or "reserve" actions. Rescue is similar to the move in Chess where if you get a pawn to the opposing side's start line you may exchange it for a previously eliminated piece. Each piece may only make one rescue per game.

CALL UP THE RESERVES!

Reserve play works the same as the cannon rule: make a move or bring in a new piece. You have a limited reserve pool to draw and this can make for a very interesting game. You can just sit and gather strength but it is more fun (and a better game) if you move with what you start with and use your reserves to "pop up" as surprise defenders when the enemy approaches your lines. This is true "fog of war" action, and is arguably the strongest feature among the optional rules.

CHARGE!

There is also an abbreviated "knights" move option for the captains. They can move two spaces, either in a straight line or by changing direction after they enter the first space. They still only attack once in a turn and do not jump people.

Scouts can still move any number of spaces in a straight line (through open spaces, of course), but instead of racing across the board to certain doom, you can give them the special enhanced scout-miner option. This gives scouts the power of miners (they can remove bombs).

OH, FLAG BOY! SAVE THE FLAG, BOY!

In one variant of the game, the flag can move. It is carried by an ensign - they call him "Flag Boy." That alone adds a whole new dimension to the game. No longer is your flag a sitting duck. He can be chased around the board while leading an opponent into traps and ambushes from your higher-valued pieces laying in wait for the foe.

These kind of simple, elegant and delightful rules not only make sense and add to the enjoyment of the game, they are also in keeping with the spirit of the original design.

There are many other nice additions. You can choose from a variety of playing surfaces (some look like wood, paper, or folded cardboard, among others). If you are playing human opponents, you can alter the board itself (get rid of or move the two lakes that divide the armies and channel movement along three defiles). You can play this hot-seating or over the net, but have to make sure you and your opponent are playing on the same board, of course, and the computer cannot play on a non-standard layout (I said it was smart, not omniscient).

All of these options, bells and whistles would be for naught if the computer were a dummy. Fortunately, it is not. The game's simplicity allows the computer to look at the board with a chess-type algorithm. It can also remember the values of your pieces that it has seen more accurately than you can remember some of its pieces that have munched your units. This is not a hard decision for the computer. Each unit is valued from 2 (weakest) to 10 (strongest), except for the bomb, spy, flag (and cannon), which have their special values. When one player moves his unit onto the square containing an opponent's piece, both units are revealed. The stronger unit prevails and the weaker is eliminated. If two units of equal power meet, the annihilation is mutual. If a unit walks into a bomb, the unit is "blown up" and the bomb remains. If a miner unit meets a bomb, the bomb is removed. The best unit, the marshal, can kill anything except a bomb, yet in turn can be killed by the weakest unit in the game - the spy, provided the spy strikes first.

The potential to set up traps and ambushes, and to pull surprise moves and bluffs is tremendous, and it is what has made and still makes Stratego a great game.

This kind of gameplay is still in the computer version. True, you do not have an opponent to look in the face (even if you are on-line), but the satisfaction or frustration of setting up, solving or falling into such traps has been captured by the programmers.

When two units meet, they fight, and the one that is supposed to win does so, but only after a little animated conflict (a la the "Battle Chess" class of chess games). Shots are fired, swords are drawn, heads are chopped off, and so on. There are some cute little animations in combat, and you can turn them off after you have seen it once.

Before I was given the "right-click fix," I had despaired of playing the game again. The funeral pace and the maddening tick-tick countdown so frustrated me that I began to loathe going back to play the game. Thankfully, the fix has "fixed" that. It has removed the barrier to my enjoyment and has restored my sanity while playing. Although I would much rather sit down with my son or a friend and pull out the old plastic game, the computer version is a delightful diversion for the late night lonely gamer or the lunch-time game fix. It is light, bright, and full of fun.

(On a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high)

• Mental Challenge: 3
• AI Ability: 4
• Excitement: 3
• Replayability: 4
• Artistic Appeal: 4
• Realism: 5* (the "reality" being the board game - it does look and play like the game)
• Overall Bang for the Buck: 4+ (if you right-click to deal with the pacing)