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REVIEW: multiplayer-capable Air Hockey Challenge

It was some months ago that I’ve published a roundup of all Air Hockey clones on the Pocket PC. In the meantime, having seen the lack of a really up-to-date and, most importantly, multiplayer-capable Air Hockey clones, the excellent folks at 4Pockets have developed a really decent clone, which has just been released (therefore, the current, tested version is 1.0).
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There isn’t much to be said of the genre itself: if you’ve ever played an Air Hockey clone, you already know what it’s about. If you don’t know the genre, you’re strongly supposed to check out the demo – it’s really entertaining. Fortunately, the implementation of the game isn’t at all worse than the other, decent 4Pockets titles (see the Appendix for some of them).
Availability, compatibility
The game is available here and costs $14.95. There is a playable trial (which lets the players play some 1-2 minutes a game).
It’s compatible with most devices I’ve tested it on (WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720, WM2003 HP iPAQ 2210, WM5 HTC Wizard (2.26 ROM), WM5 VGA Dell Axim x51v (A12 ROM)). Unfortunately, it’s incompatible with both the WM5 (2.01 ROM) HP iPAQ hx4700 and pre-WM2003 (Pocket PC 2000 / 2002) devices.
I've tested the title in all possible Bluetooth PAN and Wi-Fi peer-to-peer combinations (the former between Widcomm BT stack-based devices; the latter between Wi-Fi-capable ones) in multiplayer mode; I've never had any speed / lagging problems in either configuration. That is, it'll work just great in multiplayer mode, independent of your particular Pocket PC model. Of course, you may need to disable the particle effects if you play against/with a slower device because it'll cause considerable lag to both participants.
Note that while the homepage states the game requires a 300 MHz XScale/StrongARM CPU, it’s perfectly playable on the 195 MHz OMAP HTC Wizard too if you disable the particle effects (you can do this on every game setup screen – NOT in the general preference settings!)
Pros
Definitely better than any other Air Hockey clone on the Pocket PC, even Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D. For example, particularly in Landscape, the screen estate is far better utilized than with the Paul Ellams game, which only uses a portion of the screen to render the board.
LAN-based (BT PAN & Wi-Fi P2P-compatible) Multiplayer, meaning compatibility with both all Widcomm/Broadcom Bluetooth-based and Wi-Fi-capable Pocket PC’s (unlike in other Pocket PC Air Hockey clones, which have absolutely no multiplayer support)
Good ambient sounds & effects (not stereo though)
As with all 4Pockets games and unlike all other Air Hockey clones, spectacular particle effects (must be turned off on slower devices like the HTC Wizard though)
Power-ups (unlike in other Pocket PC Air Hockey clones)
Playable on slower devices too
Selectable screen orientation: the presence of (selectable) Portrait mode is welcome news for devices having screens that (may) have polarization problems in Landscape mode (for example, the Dell Axim x50v/x51v)
Cons
No Bluetooth serial support any more, as opposed to 4Connect from the same company (bad news for Microsoft Bluetooth stack owners that don’t want to use Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connections to save battery life)
No Pocket PC 2002 support any more, as opposed to most previous titles (for example, Great Gold Rush or Harry Putter) from the same company
No in-game or menu music (unfortunately, most newer 4Pockets games lack this)
Considerably more expensive than even the so far best Air Hockey title Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D (of course, much better too)
(No map editor, unlike in Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D)
Verdict
If you are looking for the best Air Hockey clone, particularly if you need multiplayer, go for this title. You won’t regret it, I'm pretty sure - this title lives up to the (high - 4Pockets has always produced quality titles) expectations.
Appendix: other apps / games of 4Pockets worth mentioning
Some other games and apps of the 4Pockets folks are 4Talk, a great walkie-talkie app; some really fine sound applications (AudioBox, PocketRTA (Pro), Auto Tuner), multiplayer games (4Connect; The Great Gold Rush) and some really great single player games, for example Super Elemental (one of the best color matching titles with really great in-game music and explosion effects), Particle Wars (a great vertical scroller; while not as good as SkyForce (Reloaded), I still heartily recommend it), Marble Worlds (a very good Marble (Gyroscope) clone), Harry Putter's Crazy Golf and some other titles. Also see the Roundup of All Pocket PC Games Part I for more information on some of these titles.

how come this game is lag with my hermes using wm6? is there a way to lesser the lag? ty.

blyx21 said:
how come this game is lag with my hermes using wm6? is there a way to lesser the lag? ty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't tested it myself on the Hermes so I can only guess; most probably, because of the infamous HTC touchscreen CPU usage bug.

REVIEW: HeroCraft's new Breakout clone BallRush Aqua

Russian multiplatform game developer company HeroCraft HiTec isn't a newcomer to the mobile (including Pocket PC) gaming scene. They have released several titles: Arcade Park, which I kinda like; its watered-down and, therefore, not recommended Arcades for Adults, the multiplayer Cake Press and the highly recommended (for multiplayer fans) Battle Cake. Now, they have come out with BallRush Aqua - a Breakout clone.
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As opposed to coin-up conversions (Arcade Park) or multiplayer titles (Battle Cake), there are quite a few Breakout clones for the Pocket PC. This means a new Breakout clone must be substantially better than the alternatives already available so that I can recommend it. Let's see how the new game compares to already-established games like Isotope 244 Graphics' really excellent Acky's XP Breakout, the, in my opinion, by far the best breakout game for the Pocket PC.
BallRush Aqua is a traditional breakout clone with a twist and some new, in Pocket PC Breakout clones, not used powerups and a slightly different approach to finishing a level (you don't need to destroy all blocks, just make sure the ball gets to the upper part of the screen; in this way, even an otherwise negative powerup ("Ghost") will help).
For example, it has an autopilot power-up, which makes the Pocket PC itself control the platform. (A side remark: unfortunately, this control is "sticky" and you don't have any chance to switch to manual mode, not even temporarily, to pick up bonuses. Furthermore, when you have more than one ball on the screen (for example, you've triped the number of the balls with the related powerup), auto mode will only follow one of these balls and won't try to keep all of them in game.)
In addition, it has another unique power-up, the radio control, which makes it possible to remotely control the ball. Controlling is pretty hard because you can only have a direct effect on the trajectory of the ball. Without some getting used to, you won't really find this powerup useful. When you, however, do learn how to effectively use this powerup, you'll find it OK.
Availability, compatibility
The developer's homepage still doesn't contain any information on the game. Therefore, you'll need to get it from, say, PocketGear.
As far as compatibility is concerned, it's compatible with WM2003+. Haven't had any problems on any of my (compatible) Pocket PC's: HP iPAQ 2210, Dell Axim x51v, HTC Wizard, Pocket Loox 720; it was only on the WM5-upgraded HP iPAQ hx4700 that it didn't even start.
Sounds
There are some three or four in-game tracked music tracks and a different menu music. All of them are sufficiently long (except for the menu music, which is about 1 minute long only) and played back in stereo. In this respect, this title fares better than, say, Spb Arkaball II but is still much inferior to Acky (Acky has probably best in-game music, as far as Pocket PC games are concerned).
Visuals
There is no high resolution support on VGA devices, unlike with Spb Arkaball II or Acky. This is a definite minus. Otherwise, it's pretty OK, albeit it doesn't really have much to write home about (for example, the exposions aren't particularly nice).
Other remarks
Unfortunately, the game uses the CPU all the time, even when there's absolutely no sound/animation on the screen (for example, on the starting screen). This causes high battery drain. Hopefully the HeroCraft folks look into this problem and, preferably, fix it.
Unlike with Acky and like many other Breakout titles, the platform can't be instantly positioned.
Compared to Acky
Pros
No need to destroy all blocks to pass a level
Cons
No instant platform positioning capabilities (you may, however, consider this a Pro instead)
Low-resolution graphics on VGA devices
Less and shorter music
Portrait only (Acky has native support for Portrait/Landscape orientation (you can play the game in both orientations))
$0.02 more expensive
As far as Spb Arkaball II (also part of Spb AirIslands) is concerned: well, hard to decide between the two titles. Spb Arkaball II is definitely cheaper ($9.95) and supports VGA natively. Its in-game music and sound effects are, however, in my opinion, far inferior to that of this title (and you can't change the in-game music in the former).
Verdict
While this title definitely isn't an Acky killer, you may still want to give it a try, especially if you dislike the in-game music of Spb Arkaball II.
Recommended links
ROUNDUP: 3D Arkanoid (Breakout) clones on the Pocket PC
REVIEW: Breakout clone Another Ball Magic version 1.8 by Paragon Software
Roundup of All Pocket PC Games Part I (for some other Breakout clones)

Review: Fire Hawk by c2matrix – a vertical scroller shooter

I was told about the brand new, multiplatform (desktop PC, PPC & ALL Smartphone platforms, including even Landscape QVGA models like the Q) in THIS MoDaCo thread. The Smartphone (not counting in Skyforce (Reloaded) and, of course, arcade emulation with FinalBurn Alpha) heavily lacking GOOD vertical scrollers, I hurried up to test the game on my handhelds.
It’s, as can also be seen in the above-linked MoDaCo thread, is constantly updated; the current version (1.21) was released just a few days ago (06/25).
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The game supports all current screen resolutions. This, however, doesn’t mean it makes use of high resolution on (W)VGA Pocket PC’s – just that it supports the common Smartphone resolutions and orientations (in addition to the standard QVGA and 240*240 square resolution on Pocket PC). Note that, on 176*220 Smartphones, some of the titles are not readable or hard to read (see for example THIS and THIS screenshots); fortunately, in-game graphics is pretty good (example screenshot HERE). On QVGA models, everything is OK.
Speed-wise, I haven’t encountered any speed problems on any of my handhelds, not even on my comparatively slow Vox (s710) with A2DP activated (A2DP takes a lot of CPU cycles).
Getting the game
Get it HERE or on c2matrix’ official homepage.
The trial version is one-map only (fortunately, it contains several submaps and a lot of graphics); the commercial version costs $14.95.
Note that the c2matrix server, unfortunately, returns the CAB files as text. This means you will have problems with some Windows Mobile Web browsers downloading the CAB files for direct install – even the latest Opera Mini 4 Beta. See the Download Bible and the “Saving, downloading group:” section in the Web Browsing Bible for more info & help, should you REALLY want to get the OTA (Over-The-Air) installer without having access to any desktop PC.
Compared to…
Let's compare the game to the two best alternatives, Skyforce Reloaded and FinalBurn Alpha:
Skyforce Reloaded, this title is definitely weaker:
The in-game music is WAY worse, low-quality, mono and repetitive. Sound effects are mono only.
In general, there is less happening on the screen: fewer sprites, slightly less spectacular vision effects etc.
While there are 3D (mostly hills and towers) models in the game, those of Skyforce Reloaded are clearly better and much more please the eye
emulated CAVE, CPS and NeoGeo games (with FinalBurn Alpha reviewed HERE),
it isn’t THAT good either. These commercial arcade games have really good music, sound / visual effects. Make sure you give them a try – read THIS tutorial, get some games and play – you’ll LOVE them!
Note that neither Skyforce Reloaded nor Finalburn Alpha support vibration, while this game does. Not that it’d be THAT important – it’s only when you die or when your main enemies are destroyed that the vibration is used.
Also, this is the only vertical scroller I know of to support replay functionality. It’s definitely a nice addition, should you want to see recorded playing sessions. (And, of course, it supports map codes so that you can quickly return to a given one, without having to play through the ones you already know. Of course, Skyforce Reloaded also unlocks already played maps and, with non-Neo-Geo titles, Finalburn Alpha support state saving / loading.)
Compatibility
I had absolutely no problems on any of my WM2003+ Pocket PC’s I’ve tested it on (HP iPAQ 2210, WM5 2.01 VGA HP iPAQ hx4700, WM2003SE VGA PL720, A12 Dell Axim x51v). The same stands for my MS Smartphones: the 176*220 WM5 HTC s310 (Oxygen) and the QVGA Portrait s710 (Vox).
The game, by default, isn’t compatible with the old Pocket PC 2002 operating system. Rewriting the DLL’s with Executability Check (also see the page HERE) helps, but the graphics will still be messed up and unplayable.
Verdict
While this game is clearly better than the VAST majority of vertical scrollers on the Pocket PC (and, particularly, on the MS Smartphone), there are still better alternatives. Both Skyforce Reloaded and arcade (CAVE / CPS / NeoGeo) emulation delivers definitely better, more enjoyable results – at a reduced price (Skyforce Reloaded is cheaper) or for free.
This, however, doesn’t mean this game is bad, not in the least (except for the in-game music, which is REALLY bad). Even if you’re a fan of the above-listed games, you will want to give it a try to find out whether it’s your taste or not. Also, if you only know lower-quality titles (the old Burning Armor, Star Invader II by IBE Group, Super Invade, AngelFish or Resco Guardians), you’ll certainly like this title (but, as has already been pointed out, go for Skyforce Reloaded and Finalburn Alpha first).
Also see…
Allen Gall’s review

Games & emulator news (07/25/2007)

This is the latest part of my Games News series; you can find the previous part HERE. The news in this part applies to both the Pocket PC (Windows Mobile 6 Pro / Classic) and MS Smartphone (Windows Mobile 6 Standard) devices - that is, no matter what Windows Mobile device you have, you WILL want to read on.
Arcade Park 1.3 out – now, with redefinable fire button!
Arcade Park is, in my opinion, a really good collection of reimplementation of old arcade games reviewed HERE (you may also want to check out the two other reviews linked at the end) containing several old subgames. It’s available for example HERE for all mobile platforms, including both the MS Smartphone (both 176*220 and QVGA) and Pocket PC (it’s even compatible with 240*240 square-screen devices; unfortunately, it doesn’t make use of high resolution on VGA ones).
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(main menu on a 176*220 Smartphone; the same on a QVGA/VGA PPC / QVGA Smartphone)
In-game screenshot on a 176*220 Smartphone; the same on a QVGA/VGA PPC / QVGA Smartphone)
The biggest problem with the game, so far, have been the inability to redefine keys; most importantly, the Action button. Now, oin the new version, you can do it in the new Controls menu. Example 176*220 SP screenshots: 1 2 (on a QVGA PPC / SP)
(Incidentally, as can also be seen in the in-game screenshots, you no longer need to defend the Soviet flag, which may be good news for several players, particularly in post-Soviet countries. Another plus for the developers.)
(Guys, I’m really sorry you’ve just missed the deadline date for the Awards 2007 with this upgraded version. Should you have published the new version some days earlier, I would definitely have nominated it for this year’s awards. No problem – I’ll do it next year.)
Verdict
Now that the button redefinition problem is fixed, highly recommended, particularly if you have a Smartphone (given the lack of good MS Smartphone games).
SmartGear 0.28 out!
SmartGear is one of the best gaming console emulatrors I’ve featured in my past emulator news / roundups.
So far, one of the biggest problems with the emulator was the sound problems (in addition to its incompatibility with some games – for example, enhanced NES titles; the PC Engine version of Turrican – unfortunately, this hasn’t been enhanced. The only change is that for example Turrican no longer starts (with all 0.2x versions, as opposed to 0.12)). Now, according to the developer, this is supposed to be fixed.
Note that there are still some problems with the sound: for example, the PC Engine (TG-16) version of Bonk's Adventure still plays the same FM-like sounds during the game as earier versions. Also, very few Genesis (Mega Drive) games have music (for example, Xenon 2 (Xenon 2 Megablast (E) [c][!]) and Risky Woods (Risky Woods (UE) [!]) don’t have, the former not even sounds; one of the very few games that do have music is Alien 3 (JUE) [!]. Also, the FitWin* mode still crashes on my VGA devices and FitWin is unberabaly slow – you will still need to use either the 100% or the 150% mode, which means stamp-sized screens on VGA devices. On the other hand, on 176*220 Smartphones (for example, on my HTC Oxygen / s310), where it’s REALLY needed with most desktop games (otherwise, they’d be too big even in 75% mode) FitWin works just great and doesn’t result in any really bad speed decrease (tested this with the GG version of Sonic and the PC Engine version of Bonk's Adventure; they both worked just great with the default sound / frame skipping / throttling settings on my Oxygen).
The desktop Windows version of the emulator, after closing it once (because I couldn’t continue a paused game), kept crashing after restarts.
All in all, while this title is REALLY good (particularly on slower devices – for example, non-overclocked TI OMAP ones, including, screen size-wise, both types of Smartphones), the FitWin performance may need to be addressed on VGA Pocket PC’s as soon as possible, along with the Genesis (Mega Drive) music issues.

RESETgame releases multiplatform pool game Vegas Pool Sharks

Ever wanted to play pool on your handheld device, let it be either a Palm, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Symbian or just a Java-enabled phone? While there already are some pool games for most of these platforms, new titles are always welcome.
(Examples of already-existing games:
for Windows Mobile and Palm OS, the excellent Virtual Pool Mobile reviewed HERE; note that the review also contains some links to other, multiplayer-enabled pool games and is, therefore, highly recommended. Note that Vegas Pool Sharks (as with Virtual Pool Mobile) doesn’t support multiplayer. Both support high resolution on VGA devices; in addition, Virtual Pool Mobile also supports the 2700G in the Dell Axim x50v/x51v devices.
for Java-enabled phones, there’re several pool MIDlet games; for example, Gameloft’s 3D Midnight Pool or, even better and more recommended, I-Play’s 3D World Championship Pool, just to name probably the two most widely known titles). See the MIDlet Bible for more info on what MIDlets are, how you can run them on Windows Mobile / Symbian etc.
RESETgame’s new title is, however, pretty much welcome, mostly because of its price tag (at least half of that of Virtual Pool Mobile, particularly when compared to the $24.95 of the Dell Axim x50v/x51v-specific one) and support for all kinds of screen resolutions. It has native support for even the highest-resolution ((W)VGA) screens – while still also supporting the lowest-end Smartphones. Two screenshots showing this:
On a VGA PPC:
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and on a low-end 176*220 Smartphone:
Unfortunately, it doesn’t support any 3D hardware acceleration, but it isn’t a problem either as, as opposed to Virtual Pool Mobile, it has no 3D animation (you can’t arbitrarily change the camera’s viewpoint) and has no other, 3D-related goodies either.
Availability
The games are available HERE for a trial (ClickGamer’s page doesn’t have downloadable trials) and, as far as Windows Mobile is concerned, are compatible with both Pocket PC’s and Smartphones starting with WM2003 (SP2003).
Palm OS
It ran flawlessly on my Palm Tungsten T3, utilizing its HiRes (320*320) screen but, unfortunately, not HiRes+ (320*480), not even in Landscape mode. (Note that Virtual Pool Mobile 1.48 runs great on the T|3 too).
Symbian / Java
Interestingly, the ClickGamer page of the game lists the game having a Symbian S60v3 / UIQ 3 version. I couldn’t find a track of this on their homepage. The Java version (the trial JAR file is accessible HERE), on the other hand, worked flawlessly and fast on my Nokia N95 and had exactly the same goodies (sound, shortcuts etc) as the native Windows Mobile / Palm versions. It even (flawlessly) supports the Landscape orientation.
Problems on touchscreen-enabled platforms
Unfortunately, it doesn’t support aiming using the touchscreen, as opposed to all the other native Pocket PC (or Palm) pool games. In this regard, for example Virtual Pool Mobile is WAY better (and it offers a lot of other goodies; for example in-game music, free camera movement and career mode). However, if yours is a no-touchscreen platform (MS Smartphone, Symbian S60, dumbphones), this won’t be a problem.
Verdict
If you have a non-touchscreen device (MS Smartphone, Blackberry, Symbian S60 or any Java MIDlet-capable, compatible phone) and you don’t like the above-linked Java-based (or native, if any) games, give it a try – you might like it and/or find it substantially better than the alternatives.
On Pocket PC’s and Palm OS devices (that is, ones with touch screens), however, don’t expect it to be better than Virtual Pool Mobile – give the trial version of the latter a try first to see whether its merits are indeed worth the double (or, if you have a Dell Axim x50v/x51v, double-and-a-half times) price and, then, compare Vegas Pool Sharks to it – after all, you get what you pay for.

UPDATE (11/14/2007): the game has turned out to have touchscreen support on the Pocket PC and Palm platforms. It works entirely differently from other pool games because, as opposed to them, it doesn't let for dragging by the stylus: if you leave the stylus on the screen, it'll immediately shoot. The other usage is (make sure you touch the screen VERY quickly in order to avoid shooting!) quick aiming. This is certainly good news (albeit, again, you might find the touchscreen-based control strange if you've got used to alternative pool games - this is why I haven't found out how the touchscreen control works, in the first place).
Also, I've remembered the price of the game wrong. It's $14.95 as opposed to what I've stated ("at least half of that of Virtual Pool Mobile"; that is, below $10).
(end of update)