Mobile Game Reviews

Alpha wing 2

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 09:31:00 +0000

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The award-winning space-shooter is back and better than ever! Alpha Wing 2 puts the throttle in your hand as one of three brave intergalactic heroes and it is up to you to destroy the menacing invaders. Each of three spacecraft has its own deadly weapons to exterminate the vicious alien forces. Be warned - the enemy is highly dangerous, and possessing advanced space combat skills are essential to avoid their devastating attacks.

Yes it's the sequel to Alpha Wing, yes it's just as great (actually better!) and YES it IS my favourite cell phone game ever since I bought my cell phone!

Alpha Wing 2 is one of the best arcade style spaceship shooters. Why ? you might ask. The reason is simple, it's the combination of 2d and 3d graphics, the great sound and great gameplay.
The way it feels when you play the game with the 3d background bellow you, accelerating or going slower is just great, it really makes you feel like you're flying, even though the ships are in 2d. And don't be too disappointed, the 2d graphics are just as pretty and polished as the 3d ones.

Also the game has a little Rpg element in it, giving you the option to complete it's 9 stages with one of three characters, each with a different ship: Summer, aboard the flamingo; Tareq the alien, aboard the gecko; and Robot-X, the big friendly robot. I did say 9 stages didn't it? Well don't worry they're more than enough and provide quite a challenge, and more importantly are diversified enough that you'll probably stop to look at the scenery from time to time.

Oh and one last thing... even though it looks great, plays great and sounds great (I'd play the music track over and over), it's been made in 2005! So yeah, it's a classic ^_^ If there's any chance you've missed it, go out and get it right now!

Introducing Nokia's wave of the future

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 08:12:00 +0000

You've already seen a glimpse of the evolution of mobile phones through the iPhone, which although not great from a hardware point of view, brings a lot of innovation when it comes to the interface and usability.

Now let's take a short look at these Nokia concept phones and observe some similarities. Of course if you're not really the Apple fan, just like I'm not, you'll probably wait for the next big and innovative Nokia to come your way, and it just might look like one of these phones:

Common Knowledge Quizz

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:52:00 +0000

"Common Knowledge Quiz" provides a series of questions covering typical matters from your everyday life, and aims to increase your proficiency in areas such as art, history, science, nature, society and logic. Your score is based on how well you perform the daily test and is recorded for convenient progress tracking. It will automatically build a personal & adaptive program accordingly. This game is sure to make you smarter, regardless of your age, education or cultural background!

Ok don't get too excited now, this game isn't really spectacular. Actually you might be wondering what the hell am I wasting my time writing about this one. Well the answer is really simple :). While the game doesn't have anything amazing to offer in terms of gameplay, sound or graphics it does stand out with one thing: it's idea. The questions are really interesting and not once has it happened to me to be asked a question by the game for which I wasn't able to figure out the answer, even though the questions were generally simple.

So if you want to learn a little bit about the world, or find out that there are things around you everyday about which you don't know everything (or sometimes anything!!!) you should grab this game and take it for a spin, it really is "enlightening" sometimes.

And now for a quick run through of the features: 5 categories of questions (art, science, nature, society or logic), 5 levels of difficulty, a practice mode and some charts to keep track of your progress throughout the days you play it. Not much extra content really. One other nice thing is that the questions don't just have a, b, c answers but sometimes need you to pick a picture or animation out of several as the answer.

Asteroids

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:03:00 +0000

Rocks. Space rocks. Evil space rocks.

Ahh the classic Asteroids with it's complicated game mechanics and plot. Just kidding. Actually a very nice game though, I'm pretty sure everybody knows what the Atari Asteroids game was about but just in case you don't, to sum it up, you've got a ship with which you need to blow up asteroids and alien space ships.

So what does this game bring to the table ? Well besides the classical asteroids game with it's ancient arcade style graphics there are also 3 themed games: Modern, Techno and Virus. The Virus mode is a little bit different, instead of having asteroids that blow up your ship there are virus cells that attach themselves to your ship and drain it's energy. To shake them off you need to go to hyperspace.

Also part of the game is a Power-Up mode, in which you have only one ship but can pick-up power-ups like shields and all kinds of missiles and laser targeted shots. A very diverse game, more like 4 games in one actually, Asteroids is a nice pass time and there's nothing more fun than trying to beat your friends high-score and bragging about it all day. The sound is good and the auto-fire button is a blessing, making the controls of the game really simple and easily playable with one hand and all o the themes and game modes make this game definetively worth buying.

iPhone funny videos

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:11:00 +0000

If you've been following the news than you know all about the hype the iPhone's been making. Here's a couple of my favourite funny videos about the iPhone from YouTube.
And my honest opinion, 500$ is A LOT to spend on a phone just because it's got an Apple logo on it.
Enjoy ;)

Xpango - The free generation

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 12:11:00 +0000

While browsing the web I found a website that looks pretty damn interesting and might just be my next source of mobile gear and gadgets. It's called Xpango and it's one of those "get paid to sign-up" sites, but instead of getting a few cents, here you can get stuff like iPods and mobile phones (yummmmy!).

Of course this isn't really free since to get the credits you need to get your gift you need to complete an offer, and most offers (although not all) need you to pay for something, but there's one offer that costs only 1$ and since you can get credits for referring friends too, it takes only a couple of friends willing to pay 1$ for you to get your new iPod or mobile phone.

The site also has a mobile accessory store, and buying stuff from them will get you some credits too so you get something back for your shopping. Anyway I'm giving this one a shot since it seems pretty cool, here's the link:

Rubiks Numbolution

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 11:08:00 +0000

Go mad for math with Rubiks Numbolution! Select the correct numbered blocks to add up to a goal number - but watch out for those pesky Power Blocks, as they try to ruin your sum success. It all adds up to addictive number fun!

This looks to me like one of those educational games you should have your kids play to teach them basic maths and counting, or if you're an adult it might help you work on your short term memory a bit. Besides that this game will entertain you for a while but it becomes rather dull after the first few levels.

The graphics in the game look ok, nothing fancy, but the loading screen and some of the backgrounds look pretty weird and not polished enough. The music and sounds aren't really important in this type of game.

As for the gameplay, well the whole game revolves around adding up the correct number blocks to get the result equal to the goal number, and after that the goal number changes. The more blocks you use in a sum the more points you get. The game's over when you run out of time or when the play area fills up with blocks. Each level new and "exciting" kind of blocks are added to make the game less repetitive, and each fourth level is a "boss level", that just means that instead of having to earn points you need to answer a question like "6+3=?".

A nice game for your kids, but as a grown-up you might find it a little boring unless you're really into puzzle games or numbers.

Technorati Tags:rubiks, puzzle, mobile game

Honeycomb Beat

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:20:00 +0000

Puzzle lovers are all abuzz over the brain-teasing fun of Honeycomb Beat - Puzzle Master from Hudson! Clever bees can rule the hive by matching hexagonal tiles correctly to the playfield. To score, you must form the perfect combo of combs, changing them from orange to all grey – not an easy task, even though this game offers pick-up-and-play ease to players of all levels! A friendly host bee buzzes around the honeycomb grid to guide you throughout the game and keep you going. Invite your friends to join in...

Get ready to have your brain put to the test with this game. A simple puzzle game in concept, the objective is to turn all of the honeycombs in the level to the color gray. You can do this by selecting a honeycomb and changing it's color using the Ok or the "5" button, but the trick is that by doing this you also change the colors of your selected honeycomb's neighbours, as many as 6 of them.

The game features a hundred different levels, each being more and more difficult to solve. And while the levels themselves are hard enough, you also have only 10 switches, or as the game calls them "beats" to solve the level. In case you use more than 10 beats it's game over and you have to try again. Oh and did I mention you're on the clock too? That's if you want to have a high score that is, because even if the time runs out you can still attempt to finish the stage. And thank god there is an Undo button, that works all the way up to your first move!

As an added feature there is also a bonus game mode, where lines of honeycombs start rising from the bottom of the screen upwards, and you role is to turn each line gray before it reaches the top of the screen. This game mode is much more exciting than even the game itself.

One thing to remember is when the game asks you if you want music, say no! The one track available becomes really annoying after a few minutes and since it takes a lot of time to complete the later puzzles, there's a good chance that that track in a loop for that much time could drive you nuts.

Either than the annoying sound and the rather bleak but effective graphics, this game is sure to keep you busy. It's quite addictive actually and at least different from most puzzlers out there.

Some videos are down

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 09:46:00 +0000

Unfortunately the biggest channel about mobile games on YouTube, that of project NeXt, has been closed down for having one video of an adult targeted game out of the whole 600 available (which is really unfair of YouTube since they did this without any warning), so some videos for the reviews might not work. You can of course still read about the games here and see some pictures.

Die Hard 4.0: Live Free or Die Hard

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 12:39:00 +0000

The Cybercrime Division suspects that the certain individuals are disrupting national information networks. Matthew Farrel is one of the suspects. McClane is sent to apprehend him.

Obviously you get to play mister Die Hard, John McClane, as the rest of the story will be unfolded throughout the in-game cut-scenes, which you can thankfully skip.

The game looks pretty cool when it comes to the graphics, all of the stages look different which makes the gameplay less boring in that aspect. The detail is good enough for this kind of game, you really shouldn't have the time to look around when you're in danger of getting shot or blown to bits. The music is acceptable, it's the typical 'get ready for some action' track which works ok.

In Die Hard 4 there are 3 types of levels, and if you've played any Gameloft action game lately you'll be accustomed to the formula. The main levels are in a side-scroll shooter manner, with mini-games from time to time so you don't get too bored of shooting people and blowing stuff up (as if that could ever happen ).

The mini-games aren't overly-complicated and sometimes seem like a nuisance standing in your way as you try to advance the plot rather than a healthy distraction. There are also some driving levels with are excessively full of explosions, I just don't get why some cars blow up in those levels but anyway I guess running from a helicopter which is trying to kill you can be fun. At least until you jump from a ramp and crash into in, thus destroying it, unrealistic isn't it ?

One must note that there aren't two side scrolling levels that are the same, each one having a new challenge or obstacle to make it different from the other. For example there's a level in which you'll have no ammo, even though you can use Bruce's, uhm I mean John's rage power, which will kill anything on the screen and show him firing some guns and then a big bazooka. I guess there's always ammo for the good old trusty bazooka.

The formula works however, so there's no wonder why Gameloft keep using it. The Die Hard brand will probably sell the game more than anything else, but I don't see a lot of people being very disappointed of their purchase.

The game is short and doesn't bring anything truly exceptional, but well made and fun nonetheless, definetively worth buying if you're a die hard Die Hard fan.

Technorati Tags:die hard 4, action, live free or die hard

Spectrobes

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 12:14:00 +0000

A game like Jewel Quest but with a Pokemon twist.

The game puts you in the role of a space cop named Rallen, whose spectrobes (space creatures of the light) have been robed by pirates. With only one left, your job is to get back your other missing pets with the help of your friend Jeena and battle the evil Krawl, the natural enemies of the spectrobes, as well as destroy their alliance with the space pirates.

Spectrobes begins with you traveling in your space ship on an overview map of the surrounding area. All of your travels from planet to planet will take place on this map. The map itself is detailed enough as to make you wonder if that flying asteroid in front of you should be avoided or not, but don't worry it's all part of the scenery :) However one must note the lack of detail in the ship itself as well as the stars which just look weird. The game has two different music tracks, one for the map and another for the puzzle part, adding to the "think under pressure" atmosphere pretty well. Also the characters Jeena and Rallen are pretty well drawn, in a colorful anime style.

The gameplay involves two kinds of levels, the ones in which you feed your spectrobe minerals in order to make it stronger and the ones in which you battle the evil Krawl. Both have the same objective, to move the colored minerals in such a way as to form rows or columns of 3 or more minerals of the same color.

Now if you're in a feeding level, your aim is to help your spectrobe grow stronger in attack, health or light (a different kind of attack). You do this by filling up differently colored bars, bit by bit, by matching their respectively colored minerals (ie. to fill the green bar match green minerals). You can visit these planets in which you grow your spectrobes stronger more than once, but each time it gets a little more difficult as neutral rocks are added to the level, which don't disappear or fill a bar.

If you're in a fighting level, each type of mineral will have a different effect on the enemy krawl or yourself: green will regenerate some health, red or yellow will fill your attack bar, which once full enables your pet to make an attack, and so on. Also from time to time you will get powerups that can help you change the colors of a mineral, destroy it or other things. Your enemy will do the same of course.

It's pretty hard to get all of your spectrobes really strong, so you might as well stick to just your favorite, even though the game recommends a different one for enemy krawl, the difference is not very important.

The game also has a dedicated wap portal with goodies like free wallpapers, more information on the story and characters, and a place for you to register your high score and brag to your friends about how good you are.

Technorati Tags:puzzle, spectrobes

Rise of Lost Empires

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:02:00 +0000

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Several centuries have passed since the Empire of Light defeated the Empire of Darkness and destroyed the gates of Hell. But now the howls of the Orcs can be heard once again, compelling men, dwarves, and elves to come together under the banner of Light. Hell's gate has been rebuilt: a new war is inevitable!

The classical story of good versus evil with nothing complicated, similar to the old Warcraft 2 story, yet again it is the noble humans against the evil orcs.

Graphically the game looks very good and it is very easy to tell apart the different units which is useful when it comes to real time strategy games where making fast decisions is crucial. However even better than the graphics are the sounds which feature some nice music tracks for the menu screen and loading screen as well as the units talking when selected or given orders. Of course the voice quality isn't tremendous but it sure gives a better gameplay feeling.

And now for the bad parts. Unfortunately for all of the buff spells (yes heroes can cast spells, gain levels and lead armies) the animation and sound effects are the same, so whether you cast Heal or Stamina the in-game effect and sound will be exactly the same. Also the effects and sounds when casting offensive spells aren't really that great, so even if you cast fireball it sure doesn't sound like it.

There is a lot to talk about when it comes to gameplay so I will start with all of the good points and then get on to the bad ones.
First of all there are a lot of missions, a lot of unit types and buildings, lots of spells and about 8 hero types, more then enough to satisfy any RTS fan. The heroes can gain levels and learn a fixed number and kind of spells depending on hero class, obviously the paladin will learn buffs and the wizard will learn offensive spells. Secondly the strategic element is quite present, in one mission for example you have to hold your castle against waves of enemy troops, some of which have catapults which of course you need to destroy before they destroy the gates to your castle.

That was the good, here's the bad. The game gets really really hard to control later in the campaigns as using your keypad to scroll the screen is very time consuming and you just can't react to the enemies movement on time. Add to that the time it takes to give build orders, explore the map or recruit troops and it will all become very chaotic. Also the path finding AI leaves a lot to be desired, not once have my troops frozen in place because they cannot find a way to their destination.

After all is said and done, this game is a very good attempt to bring a RTS game to the mobile platform, but lacks playability later in the game which is a disappointment.

Technorati Tags:rpg, strategy, rise of lost empires

Pyramid Bloxx - official trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:53:00 +0000

Here is the official trailer for Pyramid Bloxx from Digital Chocolate, one of the best puzzle games yet.

Pyramid Bloxx

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:17:00 +0000

If you ever thought building your own Pyramids and achieving immortality can't be fun, then this is the game for you!

The Ancient Gods appear in front of you, a lowly worker, knowing that you are destined for great deeds. They make you Pharaoh and promise you a place amongst them, if you will only build 3 great pyramids in their honor.

The object of the game, as stated above, is to build 3 pyramids of increasing size, each made of a number of blocks according to how big the pyramid is. You can build them from different colored blocks, some worth more points and some less, so it is possible to fill the score gauge (main objective) before you have finished placing all of the blocks. However the pyramid is only considered complete when it's score gauge is full and when all of it's blocks places are filled.

The game features an overview map where you can select which of the pyramids you want to build, as well as see them and other buildings that sometimes appear around the pyramids themselves as you progress in the game. The graphics are very cartoon-ish and sometimes funny, the backgrounds aren't very detailed but they don't need to be either since you won't have time to enjoy them. As for the music, the same egyptian themed track plays throughout all of your adventures.

The gameplay combines a little bit of strategy with a lot of simple fun. The strategy part is in figuring out how to place the blocks in the pyramid to get the highest score, while the fun part is getting the blocks out of the mine. In that part of the game you only need to push one button to throw the blocks up from one worker to another. The better you throw them, the more magic you gain, magic being used to polish the blocks and make them more valuable. While this may seem simple, at higher levels besides increasing speeds you will also encounter earthquakes or sand storms which will make the game harder for you. However with a little bit of practice you can become really good and have only perfect gems.

A very nice game, living up to the style of it's predecessor Tower Bloxx. Being both fun and addictive, I can say I recommend this game to be part of anyone's collection.

Technorati Tags:pyramid bloxx, puzzle, phone game

Transformers

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:12:00 +0000

Suddenly your cell phone gets a strange transmission... A robots face comes up and sends you a message: he's name is Bumblebee and he's an autobot. He and he's fellow autobots have come to Earth in hopes of saving it from the evil decepticons.

Both the autobots and decepticons are in a race to find the Allspark, a cybertronian object of unlimited power. However upon their arrival on Earth, their leader Optimus Prime was damaged and the rest of the autobot team was scattered and landed in different places. Since they can't risk sending a undisguised signal so YOU are going to have to help and guide Optimus through the use of your "cell phone". The race for the Allspark is dangerous but might be the only way to save the Universe.

So here you step in the shoes of Optimus Prime, on a quest to find a powerful artifact and battle the evil decepticons. How classic.
The game is a platform shooter that features a 'robust' combat system, Optimus can use his auto-targeting rifle or get up close and personal and punch his enemies. He can also transform into a truck and run them over which is always fun to do. The auto-targeting is weird sometimes since his bullets go up or down but the rifle doesn't always move in that direction.

The game has several stages, about 20 of them, which can be selected from an overworld map. Although at first it would appear the game isn't linear, if you try to go to a stage that you're not meant to too early, you'll just get a message and be turned around. The music is nice but not spectacular. There is variety in the stages however too many of them have the same city theme, but I guess that's to be expected. Not a bad game but not a spectacular one either, it will entertain you for a while but doesn't really bring anything special.

Technorati Tags:transformers, phone game, platform

Antopia

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:09:00 +0000

For years, the colony of Ugo under the gentle command of Queen Isgaea has been home to the great ants of Laurasia. While the kingdom grew through both colonization and invasion, an alarming new threat began to take place-a dwindling supply of food.
Under orders from the Queen, scouts set out a dangerous mission to find a solution to this problem. A great many disappeared, traveling too far from home and getting lost. Those that returned gave news of a mysterious place overheard from other creatures in the realm.

Wonderful tales of never-ending food and healthy land for home digging were told. Rain showers and storms would never ever threaten the colony or wipe out citizens for the weather there was quiet and calm. This haven was called Antopia.

And so the Queen's army goes ahead to secure the path, leaving all the cute little pink younglings behind. Well that's not much of a surprise is it ? And what's best is that the Queen leaves her most trusted commander, Iggy, behind as well.

Thus the game places you in the role of the greatest hero of the ants with one purpose: to get all of the young ants to antopia as well. And for this you must reach the surface. After careful consideration I presume, you find that the only reasonable way is for you to use the younglings as a human ladder, and since "younglings nowadays have no strength", you're going to have to coordinate them yourself.

The game consists of two kinds of stages. The first kind involves coordinating the ants so as to form a ladder while at the same time making the ladder tilt left or right so you can collect leaves or mushrooms for extra points. You also need to collect water to refill your stamina, which if completely empty means "game over". The second kind of stages are boss stages where you need to dodge attacks and fight back, in these stages you will control Iggy directly.

The music is nice and always present, however there is only one soundtrack which becomes rather annoying after a while. The graphics are sweet, making you just wanna cry every time you miss and one of those cute green-eyed ants falls to it's inevitable doom. I never liked bugs anyway.

Now here comes the annoying part: you need to collect that water no matter what! And this can be very difficult because you never know where it's gonna pop-up, and if there aren't any ants below it there's almost no way you can tilt your ladder in time for you to get it. And once the stamina is gone and you die, there isn't any continue option, you only have one life. This has discouraged me from playing the game much, since it's a pain to start over all the time.

Technorati Tags:antopia, platform, adventure, phone game

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 10:00:00 +0000

When an unexpected dementor attack in Little Whinging forced Harry to perform magic to save himself and his cousin, Dudley, the Ministry Of Magic notifies him that he has been expelled from Hogwarts. Soon members of the order of the Phoenix (a secret society who fought Voldemort last time he came to power) appear at Privet Drive to rescue Harry. The take him to their headquarters in London, where Harry learns of Voldemort's efforts to rebuild his army. Mr Weasley escorts Harry to his hearing at the Ministry where Harry is found 'not guilty' (thanks to Dumbledore's assistance). Harry and his friends then return to Hogwarts for their fifth year but soon learn that things have changed. Ministry appointed Defence against the Dark Arts professor, Dolores Umbridge cruelly punishes Harry for daring to speak the truth about Voldemort's return. What's more she is unwilling to teach practical defensive magic, leaving the students to take matters into their own hands...

And that's where you come in. As you can see the game follows the movie's plot and puts you in the role of Harry Potter as you explore the corridors and magical rooms of Hogwarts. The game is fairly similar to Darkest Fear, your main objective being to go from one place to another, while staying in the dark so as not to be spotted by Hogwarts students unsympathetic to your cause.

This going back and forth obviously has a few twists to make the game progressively more interesting and challenging. Sometimes Hedwig the owl will come along and allow you to scout the area before you make your sneaky moves, other times you will find Fainting Fancies, sweets that you can drop on the floor for the watching students to pick up, eat and fall fast asleep, enabling you to pass by them even in the light.

And between all of these there will be the occasional interruption when you will need to cast a spell. Spells are cast through playing a mini game which involves a wand spinning around the screen with you having to press a button when it's over one of four circles, the more on target you are the more you advance to completing the spell. Once you have hit enough circles the spell is cast.

The graphics are very good for this kind of game, with a lot of atmospheric lighting, shadows and detailed environments. The story is very rich, containing a lot of dialogue and really immersing you in the whole plot of the game. The only bad thing about this game is that some of the levels can be frustraitingly difficult.

Technorati Tags:harry potter, order of phoenix, adventure, puzzle

The Show of Hangman

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 08:44:00 +0000

If you're looking for a classic game of hangman, this is pretty much it! The Show of Hangman features 7 different categories of words: cinema, music, sports, history, art, literature and anatomy.

Each time you need to guess a word, a category and the word from that category are randomly chosen. You have 2 minutes to guess the word or the game is over. You get 10 points for each guessed letter and 100 points for each guessed word, the aim of the game being to guess 10 words consecutively.

So what makes this game different from the classical hangman game? Well you can choose to play either a male or female character. The graphics are very nice, the whole tropical island setting is cool as well. But most importantly the hangman looks suspiciously similar to a Dragon Ball Z character ... Must be my imagination. Actually it's just a puppet made out of balloons that get popped whenever you say a wrong letter.

I guess this is one of those games when you want something simple, classy and that you can always play again and again. And maybe learn a new word in the process...

Technorati Tags:hangman, words, tv game show

Ali the Penguin

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 09:15:00 +0000

Put yourself in the role of the penguin Ali who was chosen for a dangerous mission. Your task is to bring back a precious relic - the sacred golden egg - to the nation of penguins. The relic was captured by malevolent beasts battling with the nation of penguins for ages. It is going to be a hard way to the relic with many obstacles and enemies. Do not be polite to the thieves and throw snowballs at them, they deserve it.

Well since it's summer I thought why not cool off a bit with something, and what better than a game with a bazooka wielding snowball firing penguin with a funny name :) A platform adventure game, Ali the Penguin brings a few extras to the general formula. Besides being fun and having cool graphics this game is also non-violent since your cannon only fires snowballs, which makes it great for kids and grown-ups alike.

And last but not least, the thought of a mad penguin with a snowball cannon going on a quest to find a sacred relic is just well... funny! If you love penguins, like dreaming about winter snowball fights or just want to play something simple and fun, than this game is definitely for you.

The only downside is that aiming your cannon straight up can be a little bit tricky since you have to use the same keys you use to go left or right, and having played the game for a while now I still can't say I've gotten a grip on it, but you can manage even without that by just jumping up and shooting instead of aiming up. All in all a nice game though!

Technorati Tags:penguin, game, platform

X-men Genetix

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:48:00 +0000

At first when I got this game I hadn't seen any pictures of it yet except for the loading screen so I thought to myself "an x-men game... must be some great platform or shooter type". To my surprise it wasn't, it was a puzzle game, and a good one too.

Save the X-Men from extinction as a deadly virus threatens all mutantkind in this thrilling puzzle adventure. Cyclops, Ice Man and some of the other X-Men have been infected by a marauding anti-mutant virus and only you can help Dr Hank "The Beast" McCoy to cure them all. With the X-Men on the operating table you must manipulate healthy cells to form groups of the same three colours and destroy nearby viral cells. Puzzle your way through 30 stages of action as the storyline evolves via interactive comic book panels. Rack up the combos, chains and score multipliers and help save the X-Men from their deadliest threat yet!

Well that's about it to summarize the story and purpose of the game. As for my personal opinion, there are of course a few things that I like and a few that I dislike. To start with the music in the loading screen is really good and lively and puts you in the whole x-men action mood. Also the graphics are pretty good and the characters portraits are well drawn.

Unfortunately the game doesn't offer a lot of diversion when it comes to gameplay, the power-ups are random and can contain anything from a freezing effect of the whole game area, to destruction of all the viral cells on the screen to just some extra points which makes relying on them a bad idea. Also the controls are a little bit weird, since you have to use 4 directional keys to move the nanoscope and switch the position of two cells, however selecting the exact 2 cells that you want to switch can be difficult at times. The game can also get a little too complicated for it's own good when there are too many channels through which the cells can travel, and your nanoscope can't always follow them directly so you might need to use "bridges" which is just confusing at first. Either then that though, it's a good game.

Technorati Tags:x-men, puzzle, mobile game, genetix

Top 5 RPG games of the moment

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:08:00 +0000

After playing mostly RPG games in the last few days, I've decided to make a list with my favourite 5. In my opinion all of these games are worth playing even if you're not necessarily a fan of the genre. Bear in mind that these are recent games, there are older ones that I haven't got to playing yet like Baldur's Gate or Might and Magic.

I've covered some of them in my reviews and where that's the case there will be a link to the specific page. I'll try to cover the others in the near future too. Well here's the list:

Here's a fairly complete list of all RPG games developed for mobile phones so far:

Ancient Ruins part 1
Ancient Ruins part 2
Black Citadel
Black Cidatel 2
Chaos Realms
Chronicles Of Avael: Prolog
Doom RPG
Dragon Tale
Dragonfire
Dungeon Storm
Elven Chronicles
Fantasy Warrior
Fantasy Warrior 2 - Good
Fantasy Warrior 2 - Evil
Forsaken Fortress
Ghost Hunter
Gurk
Kamikaze 2 - Samurai
Kamikaze 2 - Way of the Monk
Knight Tales
Largo Winch
Might and Magic
Mystic Islands
Mystic Islands 2
Mystic Islands Forever
Nuclear Collapse
Orcs And Elves
Poetical
Quest for Alliance
Rok & Role
Shadows of Malquidious
TDE - The Secret of the Cyclopses
TDE Nedime - The Caliphs Daughter
The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold
The Evil Lords
The Fourth Seal

Technorati Tags:rpg, mobile game, top 5

Fightality

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:04:00 +0000

A fighting game reminiscent of Mortal Kombat 4, Fightality is one of the best fighting games for mobile phones that I've seen.

Besides being able to move towards or away from your opponent you can also move sideways up and down in order to dodge your opponents attack, which gives the game a semi-3d feel, even though the sprites and backgrounds are 2d. In the beginning you have a choice between 2 fighters and are able to unlock more by playing the "Career" game mode. There are a total of four gameplay modes: Career, Quick Match, Survival and Challenge Bloodclaw with only Career and Quick Match available at first. By playing Career mode you also are able to unlock another 3 fighters bring the grand total to 5. Challenge Bloodclaw is the hardest of the modes, consisting of a single fight against the most powerful enemy of the game in his most powerful form.

The fighters gain points by winning battles and are able to level up just like in RPG games, having 3 attributes that you can increase: Agility, Strength and Health. Strength enables you to do more damage, agility enables you to hit the enemy more often and dodge their attacks (yes attacks CAN miss and do so quite often) and health obviously increases your hit-points. Also during combat by hitting your opponent you can power up a Rage gauge, which when full enables you to either go into a rage mode and do more damage or do a Fightality which is a special and very powerful attack, different for each fighter.

However the most important thing that makes this a great game is that the controls are very easy to learn and master, making it quite easy and enjoyable to play. Also there is a Tutorial mode which has a Free Fight option where you can practice your combos and special attacks against an opponent that doesn't fight back. All in all a great game that I highly recommend.

Elven Chronicles

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:41:00 +0000

Well first of all I must admit something: I'm a RPG fan. Even more than that, I'm a Final Fantasy fan. And if you're wondering what this has to do with anything and haven't guessed from the pictures already, read on...

Elven Chronicles is a role playing game, where you are put in the shoes of a knight called Rogan who has lost his memory and is on a quest to find out who he was. You travel alongside an elf called Jada who is a spellcaster, master of all of the worlds elements: fire, ice, lightning, earth, holy and dark. The quest takes you through forests, cities, icy mountains, caves and dungeons
in search of your forgotten past, battling a variety of monsters.

The level up system is automated, each time you achieve a new level spells are automatically given and attributes are raised. Thus the only customization you have as far as how to play your characters is with what items you choose to equip them, for instance weapons can have added elemental damage of a certain type which may help against monsters weak to that element.

The magic system is based on elemental, holy and dark attack types, with each monster having a weakness to one element and a strength against it's opposing one. Unfortunately if you attack the monster with the element it is strong against you will heal it instead of damaging it. The game designers were very uninspired when it came to naming the spells, instead of fireball or something they just use "Earth 1" or "Fire 1", the number indicating the level of the spell obviously. At least there is no shortage of spells.

The combat system is specific to old Super Nintendo RPG series and of course Final Fantasy which I mentioned earlier. Combat takes place in turns, where each character can choose one of four actions: attack, use magic, use item or retreat. Of course monsters won't ever retreat, but they will use spells against you, some of them even having the ability to cast the extremely annoying "Heal" spell on themselves, making battles last two or three times longer then they should. However this can be overcome by appropriate timing, since monsters only heal themselves when under a certain amount of health so the key is to kill them with your most powerful spells before the get a chance.

The music is really good as is the sound in general, which does a lot to add to the atmosphere of the game, sometimes even more so than the NPCs or the relatively vague dialogue. On the map you move your party on, enemy monsters all appear as whirlwinds, color coded by battle difficulty (eg. green - very easy, blue - medium and so on), which is a really bad choice if you ask me.

Unfortunately the game is extremely long, with many battles which become repetitive, there are loading times everytime you enter a battle, leave a battle, enter an area, open the menu or the inventory which make the game seem even longer. Unless you like playing for tens of minutes in the same area this game will put your patience to the test. All in all a good game though, with a lot to offer especially if you want to dedicate it a lot of time.

Pro's:

lots of variety in spells, monster types, terrain and NPCs
great music and sound
one of the best combat systems for RPGs
good story

Con's:

long game with long and sometimes boring battles
all enemies look the same on the map

Starship Troopers: Roughnecks

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:29:00 +0000

If you're a fan of the series you will enjoy this game. If you're not than let me summarize the story for you: evil giant alien bugs want to take over the world and destroy mankind. You are a soldier in the human army and your mission: to go from planet to planet and kill all bugs. Unfortunately that's almost always your mission!

There isn't a lot of diversity in the things that you need to do, for example, first mission: kill all bugs with your rifle, second mission: kill all bugs with your rifle and bombs, third mission: kill all bugs with rifle, bombs and flamethrower etc. Well at least it makes up for it with nice graphics. However the controls can be really annoying, for instance to place a bomb you need to select the bomb, go into fire mode, select the direction and then move the hell out of there or the bomb will just blow up in your face. I really don't know why you have to enter "fire mode" to place a bomb, and if you don't do it fast enough you'll have bugs all over you anyway.

There are different planets you have to kill bugs on and all kinds of ugly evil bugs so at least from that point of view the game doesn't get boring very fast. And of course there are more types of weapons you can use, each one suited for a different kind of situation if you want to take the strategical approach, if not you can always use your trusty rifle.

On a side note, another really annoying feature is that sometimes to advance in the level you need to shoot rocks, and since they made your ammo limited, you can find yourself out of ammo and unable to advance. They really should have given you a wimpy unlimited ammo weapon like most of the other shooters have, but I guess limited ammo is another "realistic" touch to the game, just like shooting rocks is...

Pro's:

if you hate bugs this is the game for you
nicely done graphics, detailed and varied

Con's:

unnatural control system, really bad for a shooter
same objective each level

Gameplay demo - Legend Of Spyro

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 11:28:00 +0000

Here's a gameplay demo of the cell phone version of Legend Of Spyro, a Play Station classic.