Fortunately, the Pocket PC also has some Mario Kart games (please check out the link to find out what Mario Kart is all about if you don’t know the genre – I won’t elaborate on it in here).
You have, basically, three choices (and another one if you don’t necessarily want to stick to the “real” Mario style) to choose from if you want to play Pocket PC. In this roundup, I elaborate on all of them, along with a direct comparison.
Emulators
As handheld/console gaming devices also had / have Mario Kart ports, it may be a great idea to try to run them under an emulator on the Pocket PC. Fortunately, some later emulators of (comparatively) powerful handheld and console devices (mostly the newly-released 2700G-enabled PocketGBA and the OpenGL-enabled PocketSNES) are pretty usable on the Pocket PC, I’ve also examined one of them, PocketGBA:
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Pros
Free if you have the ROM image (PocketGBA is free)
Cons
Speed only acceptable on 2700G-enabled, hardware accelerated Pocket PC’s
In no way so spectacular as the other two “real” Mario Kart clones
Other console platforms (for example SNES) also had their Mario Kart clones; for example, SNES had Super Mario Kart. I didn’t have the chance to test it because I only have the GBA-specific Mario Kart ROM’s.
Crazy Kart 1.03 by Int13
(current version 1.04; tested version 1.03 (I could only access the trial, which is version 1.03). Version 1.04 doesn’t seem to have anything over 1.03 except for some bugfixes.)
This is a good remake of the original game with some minor annoyances (for example, the lacking in definable on-screen controls). It, as opposed to the other titles, even has in-game music. It’s, however, isn’t anything to write home about: it’s mono, pretty short and, therefore, repetitive. Unfortunately, the add-on packs (the only contain new maps as targa images) don’t contain any new music either.
Pros
Gameplay is fast
Freely accessible add-on courses (albeit only four of the six are loadable)
Cons
Not compatible with any VGA devices (tested on three – none worked)
No steering on-screen controls
Map loading is VERY slow, even on fast devices
Note that, albeit the author of the game announced being working on part two, it has never been released.
MicroQuad 1.1 by viex games
This is another remake of the classic title. The developer, viex games, is known for a lot of quality, multiplatform titles (see for example their latest quality release, Gold Miner Joe) – MicroQuad is another example of these titles.
What distinguishes this game from the rest is, first, the multiplayer support. The multiplayer mode in MicroQuad 1.1 is really good – mainly that’s what makes this title definitely better than Crazy Kart. Both Palm OS and Pocket PC-based multiplayer is supported (Symbian doesn’t seem to be supported, multiplayer-wise). The two platforms aren’t, unfortunately, interoperable – that is, a, say, Bluetooth-enabled Palm OS T|3 device won’t be able to play Pocket PC’s via a BT PAN network and vice versa.
As the Pocket PC multiplayer is TCP/IP-based, it works over a several types of networks. I’ve tested the game with both Bluetooth PAN and Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connections (the latter is what you need to use when there’s no support for BT PAN in your device) – all worked. I’ve been able to play games between any of my Pocket PC’s over both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
In order to play multiplayer games, only one game (the one running on the hosting device) needs to be registered; the other(s) may be unregistered, demo devices. This is certainly good news for casual players (ones that want to quickly deploy the demo of the game on the Pocket PC’s of other people to play, without being forced to purchase the game for them too).
Unfortunately, there’re some bugs in the multiplayer mode. Sometimes (in about 5% of the cases) the game would just exit. Also, albeit, theoretically, the game supports more than two players at the same time, in no way (I’ve tested all the possible configurations) could I start the game with more than two players (only the client Pocket PC being the first in the client list would be connected by the server Pocket PC). This is certainly a program bug I’ve reported first to the author (this is pretty understandable, after all – not many people have more than two wireless Pocket PC’s to play mass-multiplayer games on). Hope it will soon be fixed. (I’ve offered the author my help and the ability to directly, remotely access my Pocket PC’s in order to run tests on them.)
Unfortunately, it’s only with ActiveSync-based connections that it displays the first three address segments of the local subnets; otherwise, with other kinds of connections (Wi-Fi P2P, BT PAN) you will need to enter them yourself.
Second, it has very well definable on-screen controls, unlike Crazy Kart, which only allows for acceleration/brake controls on screen (if not in auto-accelerated mode).
Pros
Great on-screen controls – much better than with any other title. You aren’t forced to use the D-pad with this game, unlike, with, say, Crazy Kart.
Unlike some of the other multiplayer titles, you can play multiplayer games with (all non-hosting devices running) the demo version
TCP/IP-based multiplayer, meaning the broadest compatibility
Unlike Crazy Kart, it's fully compatible with VGA devices - even the WM5-upgraded hx4700.
Cons
As of now, a little buggy multiplayer mode (no more simultaneous players than two). This will, however, surely change in the future.
Michael Schumacher Racing World Kart (MSRWK) by Inverse Entertainment GmbH
(current, tested version 1.46; the homepage of the developer is German-only but definitely worth checking out)
This game is hardly a “simple” remake of Mario Kart. It’s more of a self-standing, high-quality 3D title. As it’s still bears the most resemblance to Mario Kart from the list of the other Pocket PC racing titles listed for example here, I’ve decided to include it in the test, while leaving out titles for example the otherwise excellent Motocross Stunt Racer (see review here) because they’re even more different from the “classic” Mario Kart style.
Pros
a real 3D title, unlike the “simple” Mario Kart clones. However, it may be also considered its drawback, especially by younger players.
Cons
While Crazy Kart and MicroQuad runs on any (slow) device, you’d better run MSRWK on fast(er) devices
Not as appealing to little children as “real” Mario Kart clones
Feature and comparison chart
Available here, in the blog version of the article. Sorry for the need to click; there is no table support in the forum engine and, therefore, can’t include it in here. Make sure you scroll down for the chart.
Verdict
My personal favorite of all these titles is MicroQuad because of the excellent on-screen controls and support for multiplayer modes.
Crazy Kart comes as second; I, however, certainly prefer MicroQuad to it because of the lack of multiplayer capabilities of the former and the much worse controllability of Crazy Kart.
MSRWK, while indeed being a good racing game, in my opinion, too “heavy” a title. Not really meant for some quick Mario Kart runs but for die-hard 3D racing fans. The latter, however, may want to decide for a 2700G-enabled racer on the x50v/x51v; for example, GeoRally EX.
Other sources of information
Which is the best PPC Racing Game available? – this thread list all the available racing games two years ago, not only Mario Kart clones.
Crazy Kart review by PocketMatrix / PocketGamer (also see this thread). Note that this pretty bad review discusses an earlier, buggier version. However, some of what it states (for example, the lack of really configurable on-screen controllers) is still topical.
The Definitive Multiplayer PPC Game Roundup
The Games subcategory in my Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine blog
A Roundup of All Pocket PC Games Part I
Discussions of this article
PocketGamer (with sponge's comments!)
AximSite
Thanks for that v comprehensive review - excellent!
I will give microquad a go. cheers!
Related
Enigma Games, a less-known Pocket PC, MS Smartphone, Windows PC and Blackberry developer (with two previous titles for all these platforms: Jacks (ClickGamer link) and EFL: Strategy Football (ClickGamer link) and two titles for Windows only: the RPG Aveyond and the pool game 3D Live Pool), has just released a Windows Mobile port of their, previously, Blackberry-only Warriors.
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Gameplay
An excerpt from the blurb:
Game Information
• 12 Classes (Guardian, Gladiator, Paladin, Rogue, Mage, Cleric, Wizard, Sorcerer, Stormcaller, Elemental, Ninja, Archer)
• 4 Methods of attacking and defending (Mental, Physical, Ranged, Mind Control)
• 3 Levels of AI (Rookie, Advanced, Expert)
• 136 total characters
• 15 unlockable hidden teams
• In-Game Strategy guide
• 4 vs 4 combat system (3 vs 3 for Mobile)
• Immersive combat and interface sound effects
• Online score and ranking system
• Multiple Tournament modes allowing for a more competitive strategic experience
• Play in fullscreen or windowed mode
Gameplay
• 5 round tournament style play (3 rounds for rookie level)
• Turn based strategic battles
• Play the Practice mode to enhance your knowledge of the characters and develop a core strategy for victory
• Use unlocked teams to unlock more powerful special teams and increase your status as a great Warrior
• Characters have the option of attacking enemies or aiding allies (some classes do no have the aid option)
• Balanced gameplay that allows for a variety of team combinations and unorthodox victory strategies.
Personally, I haven’t found the game very interesting or challenging. This may have been caused by just playing the pretty useless trial version, which only allows for playing one round in both practice and tournament modes and, therefore, doesn’t allow for really developing any character / strategy or getting known to enemies. I will, however, ask the developer for a registered version to see whether it’s indeed as addictive as they and the other reviews (see the links at the bottom) promise.
Contributing Editor Nurhisham Hussein at Pocket PC Thoughts wasn’t sold on gameplay either; see his comments here.
I also recommend the two reviews at the bottom of this article if you want to find out more about the game.
Availability, compatibility, bugs
The official page is here; the title is also available at ClickGamer and Handango. There is also a (pretty useless, game progression-wise) trial available, unlike with the previous games of the developer.
The official forum of the game is here (currently with three Blackberry-only threads).
There is also a Blackberry, a Smartphone and a desktop PC version (screenshot of the latter here). The latter doesn’t differ much from the Pocket PC version, except that it works OK and has no bugs, unlike the Windows Mobile port.
Unfortunately, compatibility-wise, the Windows Mobile version of the game is a typical example of rushed-to-the-marked products. It not only has major VGA compatibility problems (it’s not compatible with VGA devices at all – yes, I’ve tested it on all my four VGA devices), but refuses to run even on some? a lot of? QVGA devices; for example, on my WM2003 iPAQ h2210. (The game is supposed to be WM2003+ compatible - sorry, no Pocket PC 2002-compliance.)
In addition, even on the only one Pocket PC I could run it on (a HTC Wizard), had some problems.
The logos have originally been optimized for Landscape but the game shouldn’t be started in there (you can’t click anything and, as with Portrait mode, you can’t use the D-pad to move the highlight either in fighting menus, only in the main menu and its submenus). In portrait, the main logos are heavily misplaced (example here and here); fortunately, this only applies to the logos, not the game itself: fortunately, while the logos are displaced and the main menu only uses the upper 240*240 of the screen; the upper 120 pixels in the game itself are at least filled in with some background.
If you don’t use an A2DP or a wired stereo headphone for listening to the music / sound effects, then, you’ll facing severe volume problems: the game overrides the system-level sound setting after entering any submenu (for example, the settings) or the game itself (from the main menu) and always switches to a very loud sound level – even if you have muted your device in the system-level audio applet. With A2DP, this problem is, fortunately, non-existing. Fortunately, if you disable the music/sounds in the game, you won’t encounter this problem – even after restarts.
All these problems / bugs are quite typical of newbie Pocket PC developers. Hope they will be ironed out in later versions.
Music, sounds
The title has a highly repetitive in-game and menu music – the same as in the desktop PC version. That is, nothing to write home about – you may end up having to disable it. (If not because of the sound bugs I’ve elaborated on above.) The attack sounds are pretty low-quality too.
Multiplayer?
These kinds of games (where two parties play each other in a typical turn-based scenario) would benefit a LOT from multiplayer (please read the Multiplayer Bible for more info). Even mediocre games can be much more fun when played against friends. Unfortunately, it seems multiplayer won’t be added: the GamersInfo review asked for multiplayer some 8 months ago and, still, there’s not any sign of it.
Verdict
Personally, I don’t really like this game. It may have been a great title on the Blackberry, a platform which certainly lacks good games (very few developers develop games for the platform; for example, the great iDreams folks, while they support a lot of smart phone platforms, don’t support Blackberry either), but not on the Pocket PC, where there are a lot of much stronger titles – also titles that do support multiplayer and have no bugs / severe incompatibility problems.
Currently, I don’t recommend the game. I will, however, let you all know if the registered, unlocked version is indeed as good as promised – then, at least some QVGA users will be able to enjoy it.
Other reviews
Check them out for some additional info on the game. Note that the version they refer to didn’t have sounds or the pause functionality either; the Pocket PC version does. The latter, however, doesn’t have save functionalities either.
GamersInfo
Mobile Game FAQS
UPDATE (01/10/2007): PocketGaming.de frontpage. I also recommend the posts HERE at PocketGamer for more info.
Games & emu news: SmartGear; Multiplayer CoD2 update; PDAMill: Corsair; Plasma Duel
It was just a few days ago that I published the last part of my Games & emulator news series. In the meantime, a lot has happened; therefore, I decided to publish the new part much earlier than I planned to.
(Note that all the reviewed / listed titles are Pocket PC-only, except for, of course, SmartGear, which also supports the MS Smartphone platform.)
First and foremost, I’ve finished publishing my article series on Emulators – the only REAL and up-to-date guides for emulating computers, calculators and gaming consoles on Windows Mobile, Pocket PC and MS Smartphone alike. I’m pretty sure I’ve fixed the, after the generic Games category (which was fixed last year with a heretic effort on my, Allen Gall’s and Hal Goldstein’s part) most problematic category of the Smartphone & Pocket PC Mag annual Awards of Best Software; that of emulators. You’ll soon see the results in both the Encyclopedia of Software & Accessories and the Best Software Awards 2007 public nomination lists as soon as I get all the emulator products into the database (which is quite a lot of work as all emulator authors need to be contacted, be made enter their products themselves and so on) and some of them nominated. I’m pretty sure we’ll no longer receive criticism like that of, for example, Rirath HERE and HERE. On the contrary - I'm pretty sure everybody will be VERY pleased with the results.
Now let’s move on and take a look at the new developments.
Brand new, 0.26 version of BEST Smartphone (and highly recommended Pocket PC) gaming console emulator SmartGear out!
It has fixed some of the sound issues (the sound of the emulator, as has also been pointed out in my articles, used to leave a lot to be desired); more sound fixes will follow.
PDAMill releases The Corsair, a Crosshair / Shooting Gallery game
There have been many Crosshair / Shooting Gallery (some may also call them Light-gun games, even without the actual usage of a light-gun) games. As is also explained in the Wiki, this genre, on arcade / home consoles and home computers, includes the Virtua Cop, the Time Crisis and House of the Dead series, Blood Bros., Cabal, Laser Invasion, NAM-1975 and Operation Wolf . While these just-listed titles don’t natively exist for the Pocket PC and you can rely on emulating these console / computer platforms (in which the Windows Mobile platform is pretty good at, except for emulating the Commodore Amiga), you won't really find the emulated versions any fun: unfortunately, as most gaming consoles didn’t ever have mouse support and, with home computers, mouse emulation is either mostly flaky (see the example of CastCE, the Atari ST emulator, where you need to “drag” the mouse pointer) or non-existing (see for example the totally lacking mouse emulation in C64 emulators, including the Neos mouse emulation to play Operation Wolf). That is, you will need to rely on using the D-pad to control these games, which is far from ideal.
The only two platforms that, generally, have emulators to offer flawless mouse pointer emulator, Commodore Amiga and MS-DOS, both have problems running Operation Wolf, as has also been explained in my related emulation articles. The Amiga emulator, PocketUAE, can’t swap the disks of this two-disk game (and the game, being released in 1988, still doesn’t handle multiple Amiga floppy drives or hard disks) and all MS-DOS emulators have major mouse control problems with OpWolf.
Some conversions / shooting gallery games do exist for the Pocket PC; for example, Pop Drop by Momentum Games, Shape Shifter by Astraware and Turbo Reaction 2 by MoreGames Entertainment. In my opinion, they aren’t as amusing as classic titles like Operation Wolf (the latter played with a mouse, of course).
If you’re a fan of these games, you will certainly welcome PDAMill’s new title, The Corsair, which is pretty much like the ones above. It has pretty great, professional, stereo (!) music, nice sound effects and (QVGA – don’t expect high-resolution VGA graphics) graphics. It’s pretty much like Operation Wolf in that you also need to shoot at flying targets like bombs while trying to avoid shooting down innocent girls (just like hostages / medical crew in OpWolf).
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In general, I do recommend it if you’re looking for an entertaining and professionally written, albeit VERY shallow and a bit overpriced ($19.95 – I’m pretty sure there will be some rebates in the near future) game. If you look for a game with some substance (or just fnd the price too high), on the other hand, never ever consider this title – go for, say, Orions: Legend of Wizards instead. Also, if you dislike traditional Shooting Gallery games, stay away from the title – however much it has great graphics and sound, you’ll find it just too shallow. Otherwise, give it a try - you'll find it cool.
(News source & further discussion: PG.org)
Call of Duty 2 has received the long-awaited Multiplayer update!
I’ve been waiting for this for over 7 months and, now, it’s here! Hope I soon receive a review / trial code so that I can report on its multiplayer capabilities (see my Multiplayer Bible HERE), glitches, problems, tested on no less than four Pocket PC’s at the same time! Right now, not much is known, expect that it uses Wi-Fi P2P. No word on BT PAN or TCP/IP.
(News source & further discussion: PG.org)
Secretwood releases Plasma Duel for Windows Mobile
You may also want to check out this game, a cross between Arkanoid and Pong, particularly if you’re looking for a hotseat multiplayer game played at the same time, one player controlling its pod with the D-pad, the other with the stylus.
(a screenshot of setting it up)
It, unfortunately, has some bugs; for example, it lacks an icon (no associated icon is displayed by the operating system); there’s no way of exiting the game; after setting the buttons in Options, it’s not possible to exit the menu at all etc. Hope these bugs will be ironed out and, maybe, some kind of wireless multiplayer support introduced, making it possible to play the game on two connected Pocket PC’s to avoid having to using the same Pocket PC (and to avoid the party using the D-pad be in a worse position, pad controllability-wise, than the other.) I've tested the game on several Pocket PC's; these problems surfaced on all of them.
(News source: PPCT)
Notable reviews published in the meantime:
Al Harrington’s Astraware Solitaire review
Pocket PC Thoughts has collected the Mastersoft Brain School Reviews from Around the Web; the list is available HERE
JAMM has just published their The Arcade: A Monthly Roundup of Freeware Games, which is, as usual, worth checking out.
Note that the following news items apply to both the Pocket PC (Windows Mobile 6 Pro / Classic) and MS Smartphone (Windows Mobile 6 Standard) devices!
SmartGear, updated to version 0.27, goes official and is also released for the desktop PC!
I’ve often elaborated on SmartGear, one of the best handheld and desktop gaming console emulators for both the Pocket PC and Smartphone. The author, Larry Bank, is well-known for his excellent knowledge of the assembly programming the ARM processor. Fortunately, this also means he’s making use of extensive assembly programming.
Its homepage is HERE.
Being finally formally released also means I was able to nominate it in the various Emulator categories of the Best Software Awards 2007. It certainly deserves it as it’s apart from some compatibility problems with some games, it’s easily the best emulator, CPU usage- and TI OMAP-friendliness-wise. Now, the new Emulators categories really contain the BEST emulators available today.
I’d like to also point out that Larry is working on the brand new, speed-wise much enhanced and WM5-compliant PQV version; he’s looking for feedback HERE and HERE.
FinalBurn for WinCE 0.011 released!
MasterAll, the other big name on the Windows Mobile scene that has been constantly releasing top emulators in the last few months, has just (some hours ago) released version 0.011 of his arcade machine emulator FinalBurn for WinCE.
This emulator is a MUST for anyone wanting to play modern (NOT ancient! Don’t think of simple Galaga and Asteroids games!) 2D arcade games on his or her handheld, let it be either a Pocket PC or a Smartphone.
As usual, the title is available HERE.
See THIS for a complete review & tutorial on using the emulator.
Final version of BEST Windows Mobile Real-Time Strategy game Machines at War released!
I’ve published a review (which was frontpage-mentioned no less than two times at PPCT!) of Machines at War (MaW), Isotope244’s brand new real-time strategy game right upon the release of the first beta version, 0.9.
In the meantime, also based on my remarks (for example, my asking for Attack being the default behavior for units and Move + Attack being implemented, unlike in most other Pocket PC RTS games), a lot of improvements have been made to the game and a final version has been released.
Also, VGA support has been added, which is GREAT news for all VGA users. It’s not enabled by default; you only need to rename Settings VGA.xml to Settings.xml to make it work. An example screenshot (looks GREAT, doesn’t it?):
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Note that I had no speed problems on my 624 MHz HP iPAQ hx4700, not even with many units on the screen. I didn’t have memory problems either. I don’t, however, know whether you’ll find the game controllable with VGA models having a smaller screen (Toshi G900 and all the other models, except for the (old) Toshi e800/e830 and the X7500 / Athena) – the units and the buildings will be pretty small.
MaW is without doubt the best Windows Mobile (both Pocket PC and Smartphone) RTS game right now. I, however, need to admit that, on desktop Windows, it’s not really a Starcraft-killer, mostly because of the lack of multiplayer support and the complete lack of speller units like Science Vessel, Defiler, Queen, the two Templars etc. in Starcraft + Brood War; unfortunately, the lack of speller units make the game a bit shallower than RTS games with speller units. It’s still great to play, particularly if you would like to play the same game on the desktop as on your handheld, but at a much higher resolution (the max is 1280*780 – unfortunately, there’re no higher vertical resolutions) and using the keyboard / mouse shortcuts. Unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely speller units will be added to the game.
Note that the developer may implement multiplayer support if the game is sold well. This also means you WILL want to purchase this game so that you support the developer and to, later, receive a multiplayer update.
Finally, note that you will transfer the OGG files from the desktop version to your handheld so that you can listen to them in quality. Also, don’t forget you can put ANY soundtrack in there after you convert them to OGG format (with, say, the free, excellent CDex introduced for example in my SCUMMVM article – just select Convert / Re-encode Compressed Audio File(s) after setting Options / Settings / Encoder to Ogg Vorbis DLL; I used 100 kbps). I’ve, for example, converted the in-game (and title) music of Starcraft + Brood War (just leaving out the Protoss in-game music of Brood War – there are five in-game music titles in the game, named 1...5.ogg; therefore, I needed to refrain from using one of the in-game music tracks of Starcraft). It worked just GREAT! If you’re a Stracraft fan, you WILL want to convert the in-game music to be played back under MaW!
Speaking of RTS games and the Awards 2007, I’ve created a brand new RTS category for the Best Software Awards 2007 (along with a separate, new Turn-based Strategy category). With this, I’ve hit two birds with a stone: first, I’ve decreased the number of nominees in each category; second, I’ve separated the, currently, two best strategy games right now, Orions and MaW into different categories; therefore, they both have a big chance to win.
Finally, don’t forget to check out Just Another Mobile Monday’s review HERE.
Great mobility blog Just Another Mobile Monday has published several new games reviews of interest:
Boneyboy
Machines At War
3D Lawn Darts
TradeWinds 2
The Arcade: A Monthly Roundup of Freeware Games (featuring for example Retro Detonation, which I’ve just nominated for the 2007 Awards, now that I've introduced a separate Bomberman category).
As usual, they are worth reading; also, make sure you keep an eye on JAMM for other reviews!
It’s pretty hard NOT to like AIM Productions’ games. In the Bible of Pocket PC Games– Part I, (use Ctrl-F to search for “AIM Productions”) I’ve reviewed most of their titles and was very happy with most of them. For example, despite its being at least five years old, it was me that, as the Nominations Manager, nominated both their Toki Tori and TMax both last and this year for the Smartphone & Pocket PC Mag Best Software Awards. I really recommend giving their titles a try – you’ll find most of them VERY good. Don’t be afraid of some of them being pretty old - as I’ve stated, even their aged games are definitely worth a try.
(Note that in addition to Part I of the Games Bible, you will also want to check out THIS review of their Gyroid and THIS review of their Frosty Factory.)
Their latest title is Rabbit Wars, a turn-based, multiplayer-enabled (!) strategy title. Yes, it’s multiplayer-enabled, which is great news for all Windows Mobile players not really having many games to play against other Windows Mobile users. In addition, it also supports MS Smartphones (not only Pocket PC’s).
1. Availability, price; free desktop Windows version!
It’s available for purchase / demo download HERE. The restrictions of the (mobile) trial is the complete lack of multiplayer and being restricted to one map only (also meaning you won’t be able to test the advanced units like the Medicopter). The full version costs $19.95.
Note that, thanks to leading Windows Mobile gaming site PocketGamer.org, you can download the desktop Windows version for free (as opposed to the mobile versions). See THIS thread for more information on this. I really recommend this – the desktop version, while it’s pretty much low-resolution (being pretty much a mobile port), is still fun to play, particularly in multiplayer mode, which it fully supports.
2. Solo mode; what’s the game is all about?
As a generic overview, I heartily recommend THIS review by Solsie (it has a French translation HERE and HERE). In here, I only discuss questions not present in that review.
Also note that the game has a very good help (accessible right from the main menu; the in-game help is pretty much useless – for example, it doesn’t contain any information on the different capabilities, range etc. of the units, which is essential information on coming up with a decent strategy) you WILL want to read. An example screenshot:
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2.1. A quick overview – what it’s like?
Despaired of the fact that PDAMill’s excellent Snails is no longer playable in multiplayer mode (as its central server / lounge has long been stopped)? Don’t like the fact that the otherwise excellent Atomic Cannon doesn’t support multiplayer? Looking for a lighter, multiplayer version of X-COM UFO Defense (a.k.a. Enemy Unknown)? While there’s a free (!) and pretty decent port of UFO by Russian developer SMK, you may still want a, by gameplay, pretty similar, but much easier-to-master and multiplayer-supporting game.
This game an optimal mixture of these games: Snails (and other Worms clones), Atomic Cannon and X-COM UFO Defense. And, again, it has (as opposed to Snails) working multiplayer support!
Also note that the homepage of the game has a decent animation. As it’s Flash (and not a, say, animated GIF), I can’t directly link it in here (Object tags are refused / ignored by the engine).
3. Multiplayer support
It’s mostly multiplayer that can make a game a kick-butt one. For example, I didn’t particularly like the Pocket PC port of Call of Duty 2 because it just can’t reproduce the atmosphere of the original game on the desktop. Not with the (LAN) multiplayer version, which I loved. The same stands for several other, multiplayer-enabled titles.
This is particularly true of non-action games (that is, games where connection lag isn’t a problem) playable over the Internet, even through slow and/or lagging connections like GPRS. Examples of these games include probably the best Pocket PC game today, Orions: Legend of Wizards (and its expansion pack, Orions: The Second Age) reviewed HERE, which is, being also a turn-based strategy title, is also playable over lagging connections.
Fortunately, the title supports all the three kinds of most important multiplayer technologies: lounge-based Internet play, local LAN-based multiplayer with multicast discovery (no direct IP entering necessary, which is great news) and, finally, the (currently, not really working) native Bluetooth.
Please refer to the Multiplayer Bible for more information on all these modes, shouldn’t you know what this all means. Also, it’s from there that I’ve linked in tutorials on setting up for example Wi-Fi or Bluetooth PAN peer-to-peer networks.
3.1 Initiating / joining multiplayer games
In the main menu, go to New / Duel, and, depending on the type of the game, select Internet (for central server / lounge, typically long-distance games), LAN (for local games when you have a direct, even peer-to-peer, network between the two devices) or Bluetooth. (Note that the latter is, at the time of writing, may not work on all / most devices).
After this, the game will search for available games. After a while, it lists them all (in native Bluetooth mode, it lists all the Bluetooth-enabled devices in the vicinity) and also enables the “Create server” button at the bottom right. If you plan to start a server, tap it, select a map (screenshot HERE) and press Go (again at the bottom right). The server will start waiting for incoming connections.
Now, the client handsets can go to New / Duel, select the appropriate game type (Internet lounge / LAN / native Bluetooth) and, after some searching, the server will be listed. Just click the name and the game starts.
In the three subsections that follow, I elaborate on the three multiplayer modes.
3.2 Lounge (central server)-based multiplayer
In addition to (Internet-less, peer-to-peer) LAN games, this is the most important form of multiplayer gaming, making it possible to play anyone else from anywhere. The lounge- (central server-) based approach makes it possible to avoid directly entering remote IP addresses (unlike with Internet-based games lacking the lounge model like that of Orions or a great Stratego clone, Napoleonix, reviewed HERE) and also help for running into strangers wanting to play others, should you just want to look around for an opponent.
In the following screenshot, you can see the Internet lounge showing two games waiting for opponents:
There, you only need to click one of them and the game starts.
3.3 LAN (local) play
Fortunately, the other most versatile and important multiplayer mode, that of LAN play, also works and, what is more, supports multicast discovery, which means you won’t need to enter IP addresses anywhere, unlike with, say, the excellent Doom port DoomPPC / DoomGLES, which is very hard to configure, particularly if there’re more than two players in a game.
LAN play also includes Wi-Fi peer-to-peer gaming (this is supported by the vast majority of today’s handsets – only the lowest-end Windows Mobile phones come without Wi-Fi). Bluetooth PAN is also supported (as one would guess – after all, the networking architecture is totally transparent to multiplayer games – all they see is a local network where they can discover others / the server using multicast discovery protocols).
This is the game type that you will want to play if you don’t want to use your PDA’s phone (and/or it’s not a phone / you don’t have a data plan) and your opponents are nearby – say, in the same room, during a boring meeting. Of course, you can still use Internet play in this case too if both of you have Internet access.
3.4 Native Bluetooth support
If you have played games with native BT support, you know well enough their compatibility issues can be a real pain in the back. For example, it took me a lot of work for me and the HeroCraft Hitech folks (see THIS and THIS) to make Battle Cakes and Infinite Dreams multiplayer titles work with some Widcomm BT stack-based models.
Unfortunately, as of this writing (15/11/2007), the native Bluetooth gaming (which only supports the MS BT stack – there’s absolutely no Widcomm BT stack support) is pretty much useless. I’ve done some VERY serious and long compliance testing with all my MS BT stack-based Pocket PC’s and Smartphones (testing them against each other in both (client & server) modes). I could only find one combination (the HTC Wizard acted as a server and the Dell Axim x51v (A12, official WM5 ROM) and the HTC s710/Vox (WM6, official, original ROM) as the client. However, this setup only worked once; upon subsequent gaming attempts, it no longer worked. All the other combinations (in addition to the above-listed three models, I’ve also tested the HTC s310 (Oxygen) Smartphone and the HTC Universal Pocket PC) refused to work.
Note that the AIM folks have reported native Bluetooth gaming (generally) works between the Samsung Blackjack i320 and the HTC Kaiser (TyTN II).
As the AIM folks are pretty capable programmers, I’m pretty much confident they will release a version with working native BT support. For the time being, however, don’t assume it’ll work. You can, of course, safely give it a try. Just don’t worry if the client doesn’t start – it displays the Loading splash screen for about half a minute and, then, just exits to the operating system.
3.5 Hotseat mode
Finally, the game supports hotseat (non-inter-device) multiplayer mode up to four players. It, unlike with real inter-device multiplayer games (which need to be started from Play / Duel), must be started by Play / New.
There’re no different gaming modes in hotseat mode (assuming more than two players); the game is free-for-all (FFA). However, of course, if you team up with your friend to beat one or two AI enemies, you can effectively get rid of this problem. As your soldiers and machines won’t shoot anything in their range (as opposed to real-time strategy games), the lack of teaming capabilities aren’t a problem at all.
3.6 Multiplayer limitations
Unfortunately, in-game chat or even game lounge usernames (so that you know who you play) aren’t supported. In the game lounge, as has already been shown in THIS screenshot, only the map is displayed, and not the creator itself. This will definitely become an issue if many people start to play the game through the lounge.
As opposed to the hotseat mode (and games capable of running even four-person games – examples are like CoD2, Battle Cake, DoomPPC/GLES and the Great Gold Rush), inter-device multiplayer can only be played between two opponents.
There’s considerable lag (about five seconds) even on no-lagging LAN games. I don’t know whether this is absolutely necessary – most other multiplayer titles are almost lag-free, even non-realtime ones (that is, games where quick response isn’t a must.)
The AIM folks have stated they would implement at least the lounge name and/or the in-game chatting if and only if the game sells well. This means I really-really recommend you go and buy the game (I’d recommend doing this otherwise too – it’s a very nice title!).
4. Smartphones; resolution issues
When Blizzard’s Starcraft (which is, in my opinion, still the best RTS for Windows and Mac computers) was released, Blizzard explained it being locked to the VGA (640*480) resolution only was not to give an advantage to users having higher-resolution screens and, therefore, gaining a view of a bigger area of the map, avoiding the need for scrolling.
Let’s see how the resolution difference affects players on 176*220 MS Smartphone devices. First, two 176*220 screenshots:
(in-game)
(a map)
As can clearly be seen, compared to the QVGA version HERE, it’s pretty much usable and 176*220 users won’t be handicapped, not even when playing a QVGA user. (Note that the game doesn’t make use of (W)VGA resolution on Pocket PC’s equipped with high-resolution screens.)
4.1 Control
Controlling the units on a Smartphone, because of the lack of the touchscreen, is a bit harder (you need to rely on the D-pad – note that the dialpad buttons (2/4/6/8) aren’t supported at all). As there’s no pathfinding algorithm at all on the Pocket PC (that is, you must explicitly tell the unit where to move all the way), this isn’t that big a handicap when playing a Pocket PC user either.
In addition to the D-pad and the multi-function (changing between the overview / move / fire mode) Action button, you can access the menu with the Back button and the map with the right softkey.
4.2 Make sure your phone is application unlocked!
As of this writing, the game doesn’t check for the Smartphone’s being app locked. If it’s app locked, then the game installs and starts, but the phone will inevitably freeze while showing the initial splash screen to a point of having to remove the battery. This problem (that is, the game doesn’t explicitly check for the phone’s lock state) will surely be fixed in later game builds.
See for example THIS article for more links on application unlocking. Note that it’s absolutely legal.
5. Verdict
This title continues the best traditions of AIM Productions and delivers the same quality as that of their previous, quality games.
If you like (at least in Windows-based systems – unfortunately, as opposed to Infinite Dreams’ excellent multiplayer-enabled multiplatform titles like Super Miners and Explode Arena, there’re no Java / Symbian / Palm versions) multiplatform, multiplayer gaming with VERY flexible, both lounge-based and local multiplayer support, you should definitely give it a try. It’s one of the best multiplayer-enabled game released this year and a must for Snails / Worms, Atomic Cannon- and UFO-fans looking for a multiplayer-enabled mixture of these titles.
Also, if you don’t care for multiplayer, you might still want to give it a try – but, remember, games like this are the best when played in multiplayer mode.
you should cameo Simon from Frisky Dingo (in one episode it shows him fighting rabbits with knifes taped to them, calling it DEATH RABBITS)
hell, maybe adult swim might bump you for it, shameless free promotion.
UPDATE (11/28/2007): AIM Productions has released a fix for the native Bluetooth issues. I've thoroughly tested the new version between all my MS BT stack-based WM5 and WM6 Pocket PC's and Smartphones (Universal, Wizard, Vox, Oxygen). It works flawlessly. Just remember to make the server device discoverable so that it's found by the client.
All in all, now, you can safely rely on the native Bluetooth multiplayer mode as well - as long as you have the MS BT stack (and not that of Widcomm / Broadcom). Thumbs up for the quick & excellent fix, AIM Productions!
No wonder Atomic Cannon was the winner in both the Pocket PC: Games: Classic Arcade and the Smartphone: Classic Arcade categories. It’s a far cry away from “traditional” strategic artillery simulations where you only have a handful of (or, in cases, a single) weapon type(s). Even the, during judging, still current pre-3 versions had a lot of contents and depth; for example, they had 86 different weapons. Yes, WAY more than any Windows Mobile Worms clone.
Now, with version 3.0, major updates have been done. First and foremost, a (lounge-based) multiplayer mode supporting 2…16 players, which also displays the creator’s name (as opposed to, for example, the last-reviewed lounge-based MP title, the otherwise excellent Rabbit Wars by AIM Productions) and lets for chatting, has been added. (More on this later.) In addition, the new version boasts the following:
• 18 all new weapons
• Supply drops which contain credits, health, weapons, or traps
• Walls and bunkers
• Airburst weapons
• Jetpacks
• Mines
• Sentry turrets
• Hazmat armor
• Balanced weapons
• Fixed beam weapons
As with all the recent titles of Isotope244 Graphics LLC (except for the Shadow of the Beast-alike Atomic Battle Dragons), it natively supports all screen resolutions, including VGA (in high-res mode!) and even low-resolution (176*220) MS Smartphones. A handful of screenshots follow, showing these two extremes:
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(Main menu - VGA PPC)
(Main menu – 176*220 Smartphone)
(In-game - VGA PPC)
(In-game – 176*220 Smartphone)
Availability, compatibility, price
The game is available HERE and is a free upgrade for all previous Atomic Cannon customers. If you're a new customer, it'll cost you $19.99.
There is a trial version with some restrictions (for example, no multiplayer support).
It's compatible with all WM2003 devices. I haven't had any problems running it on any of my recent WM5 / WM6 Pocket PC's or Smartphones, including even the WM2003 HP iPAQ 2210.
In-game music
As with Machines at War, if you purchase the game and ask the developer for the high-quality soundtracks, you’ll be sent their URL. Then, just remember to copy these MP3’s to the Music subdirectory of your installation. (Note that the version so far, before my discovering it, had a bug that prevented these MP3 files from being played, except for the very first one.) These music tracks are, at last, not worse than those of Acky's XP Breakout, another high-quality title of the same developer – which is certainly good news, as Acky has really-really great in-game tunes.
MS Smartphone support
As has already been mentioned, the title supports the touchscreen-less MS Smartphone platform. It’s a lot slower to aim, select the weapon and set the power (due to the lack of the touchscreen) on this platform, but, after all, it’s working.
(A quick tip: on MS Smartphones, the game starts in Landscape mode. There’re several Smartphone models (for example, the HTC s310 / Oxygen) with very bad and headache-causing polarization problems in Landscape. With them, you’ll want to switch to Portrait mode at once.)
Strategy – more than ever!
As has already been pointed out, this isn’t just a simple artillery game (any more). While the randomness is indeed a factor (unlike, for example, in comparable, high-quality titles like Orions or Starcraft). For example, each weapon has different characteristics. In Strarcraft or any decent strategy game, it’s essential to know these in order to be able to win (fortunately, there’re fewer units / spells in Starcraft than in this title); Atomic Cannon takes this further and even provides the necessary weapon stats in-game. This is shown in the following example screenshot:
(low-res SP screenshot)
Indicentally, it’s the second tab of the weapon purchase dialog, which is as follows (again, in its full VGA glory):
(same on a low-res SP)
Multiplayer
Unfortunately, as of this writing, multiplayer still doesn’t work on Windows Mobile, only on desktop Windows and Mac. Hopefully the developer will very soon fix the problems.
While it’s possible to start a server and see these servers from a client as can be seen in the following screenshot:
(QVGA screenshot)
connecting to a server will always result in being failed (screenshot HERE).
Adding support for multiplayer to Isotope244’s other, recent “best played against another human”, excellent Real-Time Strategy title, Machines at War (reviewed several times on my blog) is, currently, the most demanded feature. This can clearly be seen in the current state of the votes on the game’s homepage. This also shows people do want multiplayer – hope this will help in Isotope’s quickly fixing this bug. However, in the meantime, feel fee to enjoy the game in single player or hotseat (non-inter-device) multiplayer – it certainly is one of the best Windows Mobile games.
I'll let you all know (in an article update) when a version with really working multiplayer is out. Until then, only use it in the desktop (Windows / Mac) versions.
Verdict
Go and check out this title and forget your preconceptions about the genre (if any) - you'll love it. Atomic Cannon has become a GREAT strategy game. Don't be mislead by the "oh, it's just a simple, boring artillery shooter" first looks. After some minutes of playing (and, particularly, when the multiplayer support is fixed), you’ll see how strong the strategy component is.
Does anybody get this error?
"GX Pixel properties are invalid, error code 0x80004005", I've got a XDA 2 and im shekars ROM: 6.1.1a16CS (WM6.1 AKU 1.0), Trying to run atomic cannon 3.0