Unfortunately, except for Sean O'Connor's PocketGeneral and Blitsoft’s Battle of the Generals (BoTG for short), there has been no Stratego clones for the Pocket PC. Fortunately, now, Inscenic, developers of well-known title Warring Nations and Creatonia has released a pretty cool implementation, Napoleonix.
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Availability, compatibility
The official homepage is here; the ClickGamer download here. The game costs $9.95 and there is an, unfortunately, pretty restricted trial version.
The title is compatible with all WM2003+ devices and I had no problems in running it on my various test Pocket PC’s.
Visuals
Very good – it supports high-resolution VGA.
Music, sounds
Yes, this is an area where Inscenic's games have traditionally been weak. It has no music / sound effects at all. Hope the developer will fix this problem. (Note that the two alternatives don't have in-game music either - except for a short menu tune in Connor's game. BoTG only has in-game beeps and a drum menu tune.)
Some remarks on the alternatives
(Also see the Bible of All Pocket PC Games Part I for more info!)
Sean O'Connor's PocketGeneral is an old, but very good implementation of the game.
Blitsoft’s Battle of the Generals has recently beeen removed from the Net – from both the official homepage and that of all Pocket PC download sources (I’ve checked Handango, PocketGear and ClickGamer). I think this was done because the most recent version, 1.1 (released back in 2003; incidentally, it's the version that I've compared NapoleoniX to), doesn’t support WM5. I don’t know more about when it will be upgraded because the developer’s contact form and forum doesn’t work either. Also see this and this for reviews. Please also see the former on the rules of Stratego.
Note that according to sponge the developer of BoTG is out of business.
Multiplayer
The title also supports real multiplayer (not only plain hotseat - it's also supported here -, as was the case with Warring Nations!) capabilities, which is painfully missing from both BoTG and Connor's Pocket PC game (unlike his desktop Windows version).
The multiplayer uses the best approach, that is, full TCP/IP (see this screenshot) and not, say, LAN multicasting or native Bluetooth connections; that is, to be able to run it without an Internet connection you'll need either a Bluetooth PAN or a Wi-Fi P2P network to be run. Of course, it'll run over traditional Internet connections - as far as the server host isn't behind a firewall or a NAT'ed connection. That is, you'll be able to play even people on the other half of the planet.
Unfortunately, it has no in-game chatting, unlike many other multiplayer-enabled titles.
Note that the only problem in multiplayer mode is exiting on the other PPC when one party surrenders. Restarting the game, however, works in this case too.
Compared to the other two titles,
Pros
REAL TCP/IP MULTIPLAYER!!!!
Much more spectacular, particularly in (the otherwise pretty useless) 3D mode
Hi-Res on VGA devices
Costs the half of that of Connor’s game (Connor's games, while being pretty good, are rather overpriced.)
Shows possible move directions
Excellent built-in help, which can always be invoked. The game rules are explained very well.
Supports WM5, unlike BoTG 1.1
Has no speed problems on the Dell Axim x51v, unlike Sean O'Connor's game (the latter very slow on the A12 x51v; it seems it has no speed problems with other WM5 models)
As opposed to Sean O'Connor's PocketGeneral, automatically rotates the screen to Portrait when you start the game in Landscape mode (and it has built-in portrait/landscape switching, which works even on WM2003 devices). Connor’s game, then, is unplayable and must be exit.
It’s available for purchase / download, unlike BoTG
Cons
“Only” supports WM2003+ (BOTG supports all ARM CPU’s and Sean O'Connor's PocketGeneral also supports very old MIPS / SH3 Pocket PC 2000 devices)
Verdict
Highly recommended for both Stratego fans and people that have never played the game but would like to have a decent, flexible multiplayer game. Give it a try - you'll like it.
Updated version posted.
Related
I’ve been closely watching (see my early compatibility reports for example here, here, here, here and here) the evolution of Styletap, the Palm OS emulator for the Pocket PC, for almost two years now.
Palm OS has some really cool and unmatched applications (for example, MathLib, powerOne Graph and MedCalc) and games (for example, Edge and Acedior) that hava never been ported to the Pocket PC.
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(the above screenshot has been taken on the VGA x51v and shows how HiRes (320*320) games are scaled to 480*480 to – horizontally – completely fill in the available screen estate of VGA Pocket PC’s. The same screenshot taken on the QVGA HTC Wizard can be seen here; it shows how the LoRes (160*160) rendering looks on a QVGA device. As you can see, it’s much less spectacular and pretty hard to read)
StyleTap (rightfully!) is also the winner of the Utilities: Miscellaneous Utilities category of the Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine Best Software Awards 2006.
Availability
The application is available here for all ARM-based platforms (that is, even on Pocket PC 2000 / 2002 ARM-based Pocket PC's). The commercial version costs a whopping $49.99 but there is a 14-day and, otherwise, unrestricted trial.
Edge compatibility
Of course, the first program I’ve tested was Edge, the greatest role playing game for the Palm OS - and probably all non-gaming handheld device platforms (see this, this and, again, this for more info on how it compares to other (Pocket PC) RPG games). I was really delighted to see that, it was clearly more enjoyable than the beta versions of the emulator.
On my 624 MHz WM5 VGA Dell Axim x51v, there aren’t really annoying sound problems (hiccups in the background stereo music) with the game any more unless you have a conversation with someone. Then, the music has very short, but quite annoying pauses every 2 or 3 second.
On my 624 MHz WM5 HP iPAQ hx4700 and 520 MHz WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720, the situation wasn’t this good; there were constant pauses in the background music.
I’ve also tested the game on the HTC Wizard and it turned out to be pretty good, taking the speed of the CPU of this model into account. Of course, there were pauses in the ambient music, but the game itself was pretty playable.
Acedior compatibility
The second game I tested was Acedior, the other Palm OS-only “big hit” – the second adventure of the folks that have created Fade, which has won the “Best adventure game for the Pocket PC” prize several times. Acedior isn’t at all worse than Fade, quality-wise – I certainly recommend purchasing it if you own a (preferably HiRes(+)) Palm model.
Unfortunately, as with the 0.x betas, the new StyleTap version isn’t compatible with this title either – it still can’t load the bitmaps as can be seem in here. This is a BIG problem - Acedior is a REALLY good game!
Other tidbits
Pros
Definitely faster and more compatible than beta versions!
Cons
There is still(?) no HiRes+ (that is, 480*320, as opposed to the “plain” 320*320 HiRes) support in the emulator
The price ($49.99, which is considerably higher than in the beta stage) is pretty steep – you can get a second-hand, say, Palm Tungsten 3 for not much more money, and it offers both seamless HiRes+ (not just HiRes) compatibility with all the applications / games out there (not to mention its other uses; for example, as an A2DP-enabled multimedia player). And, yes, it runs both Edge and Acedior flawlessly - and in HiRes+
Verdict
If you have Palm applications or games you’d like to run on your Pocket PC, give StyleTap a try. Also, make sure you check out Edge under it if you have a sufficiently fast, preferably VGA Pocket PC (for example, the x51v) and you don’t dislike games – you’ll definitely like it!
Other discussions of the new version
AximSite
It was just a few days ago that I reported on the new Tradewinds / Pirates! clone High Seas: Guns & Gold of Venan Entertainment and, now, they have released the Pocket PC port of another title, a minigolf game Super Putt Xtreme.
I particularly like playing minigolf games on the Pocket PC; also see my article on this subject here. This is why I really looked forward to testing this title.
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It has most features and hazards a basic minigolf game should have; for example, water hazards and the like. Here’s the operation tip dialog; it also has bonus power items (also see the “Other Screenshots” section for their capabilities), which are mostly usable in (hotseat) multiplayer mode.
Availability, compatibility
See this Handango link. It's (comparatively) cheap and has a decent trial version.
I had no probelms on my WM2003 iPAQ 2210, WM2003SE VGA PL720 and WM5 QVGA HTC Wizard. It, however, didn’t run on any of my WM5-based VGA devices – Venan Entertainment’s games are entirely incompatible with WM5 VGA models.
Compared to the most important alternative, Momentum Games' Pocket Mini Golf 2 2.0
As with Pocket Mini Golf 2 (PMG2) 2.0, it only supports hotseat multiplayer – that is, no real, inter-device multiplayer (see the Multiplayer Bible for more information).
Pros
Cheaper ($9.95 as opposed to $19.95)
Power items, which make the game much more interesting, particularly in hotseat multiplayer (some items can only be used in multiplayer mode)
Cons
No hi-res VGA support (2.0 of PMG2 is just beautiful in VGA!)
As with all other Venan Entertainment titles, absolutely incompatible with WM5 VGA devices; as far as WM5 is concerned, it’ll only run on QVGA ones
No in-game music (even when Momentum Games' titles have always had a bit short and, therefore, monotonous in-game music)
Far fewer settings – in Pocket Mini Golf 2 2.0, there’re a lot of settings capabilities. Note that while in-game Portrait / Landscape switching isn’t available, if you start the game in Landscape, it’ll use it
The only way to examine the environment is using the pretty slow Pan mode (you click the ‘Pan’ title in the lower left corner and, then, click one of the four arrows). PMG2 used a far faster solution: zoom in/out and switching camera directions
Not compatible with PPC2k2 (unlike Pocket Mini Golf 2 2.0)
No ambient sounds (they make PMG very cool)
No weather effects
Other Screenshots
Instructions: 1 2 3 4 5
Verdict
While this title is pretty promising (particularly as far as the power-up items are concerned) and is pretty cheap, I, a die-hard VGA user, would still prefer the new, 2.0 version of Pocket Mini Golf 2 (or, if you like full 3D, revolutionary titles, 4Pockets’ Harry Putter's Crazy Golf – also see my already-linked article for more info) to this title. Hope subsequent versions of Super Putt Xtreme will surpass these two games VGA-, music- and sound-wise too – not only price-wise (in which respect it’s already the best).
If, on the other hand, you NOW look for a comparatively cheap (!), QVGA minigolf game with excellent hotseat multiplayer capabilities (again, the power pick-up system adds a lot to the multiplayer mode), definitely give this title a try.
Ever wanted to play platformers on your Pocket PC? So far, unfortunately, few REAL platformers have been released for the Pocket PC; they are as follows:
Atomic Dreams,
SuperTux,
Gold Miner Joe,
the free OpenJazz,
Bayside Studios' Quigley's Quest 1.10,
the not-sold-any-more Rayman Ultimate by Gameloft,
the non-WM5-compliant, now-free Tommy Kombat,
N.I’s great Retro Games collection,
Momentum Games’ pretty good platformer-alike, brand new Meltdown
and the to-be-released Titus’ Prehistorik clone Prehistoric(it, unfortunately, has just been delayed to March).
This means all new, decent platformer releases are a must for real Pocket PC game freaks.
Fortunately, Jadeware’s new game Grizzly Adventure is a pretty good platformer game – if and only if it flawlessly runs on your Pocket PC. Read on!
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Availability, compatibility
The homepage of the game is here. Alternatively, here’s the Handango page.
The title is supposed to the compatible with WM2003 and later operating systems (sorry, no-pre WM2003, contrary to what the official homepage states).
Unfortunately, it seems to have severe problems with VGA devices. As far my VGA test devices are concerned, I’ve tested the game on my Pocket Loox 720, WM5-upgraded HP iPAQ hx4700 and the A12 Dell Axim x51v. Of the three, it’s only the Axim that could run the game with an adequate speed and tolerable playability. The Loox was unbearably slow (even with Picard’s GAPI hack) and the iPAQ was only a tad faster (with stuttering music). It should be pointed out, however, that the x51v was still slower and less pleasing-to-play than the QVGA HTC Wizard.
As far as QVGA devices are concerned, I’ve tested it on my HP iPAQ h2210 and HTC Wizard overclocked to 240 MHz. The game had very annoying stuttering problems on the former (while it, basically, ran the game otherwise OK); the Wizard ran the game without any problems.
That is, before paying anything (fortunately, it’s pretty cheap - $7.95 only) for the game, make double-sure it does run on your Pocket PC without major problems!
Note that there also is a Mac and a desktop Windows version. Unlike the desktop version of MANY Pocket PC games (4Pockets and OmniGSoft titles, for example), it does make use of the increased screen estate – give it a try.
Installer
It should be pointed out that Grizzly Adventure uses a non-standard installer (screenshot here). This, as usual, presents a lot of problems: lack of user-deployable CAB files, lack of Mac / Linux compatibility, not possible to re/uninstall from ActiveSync, a current connection is needed to install and so on.
I really hope the developer switches to using standard CAB files.
Also note that the starting link it creates is linking an ogg music file in Programs. You must manually create a link to GrizzlyDemo.exe in the main directory of the title, which is \My Documents\Grizzly Demo when installed to the main storage.
Audio
There is pretty good in-game music in OGG format; this also means it can be freely copied / swapped. They’re played back in mono during the game. There are three different, pretty good in-game music tracks (also see the \audio subdirectory in the home directory of the game) and another menu music. There are sound effects too in the game.
All in all, the audio department is OK.
Verdict
It’s a pretty good and, what is even more important, cheap platformer IF it runs on your Pocket PC well. Give the trial a try to find it out - it's worth the trouble.
Many of you may know the color matching / Tetris clone Dr. Pocket from the author of for example Travel Collection (reviewed in the <code>Windows Mobile Multiplayer Bible</code>).
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While the previous version didn’t have much to write home about, the new one is MUCH better. First, it sports multiplayer capabilities and, second, no other than Jaybot7 (well-known musician; for example, most PDAMill games sport his music) himself has written some really cool music tracks for the game. (Note that, should you want to listen to Jaybot’s tracked music, it’s in the res/music subdirectory of the home directory of the game. Should you want to have a module player to play them, read my related roundup HERE)
Availability, price
It’s available here. Note that the new version is free for anyone who's ever purchased Dr. Pocket and only costs $9.95 if you want to purchase it.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer is lobby-based (screenshot). This means that, unlike with Travel Collection, it’s not possible to play Internet-less games (for example, over local Wi-Fi peer-to-peer or Bluetooth PAN connections). Hope the developer adds support for direct IP-based playing (it’s already there in Travel Collection), while, of course, keeping the central server (lobby)-based approach too. This would offer the advantages of both game types (lobby-based: no need for entering IP’s; works when both parties are behind firewalls / NAT’ed; easy to find opponents; direct: no Internet connection needed and works over even really local (pico)networks).
The game, when played in multiplayer, is simply parallel, as with the similar, comparable multiplayer Teris & color matching titles (for example, CanTris and Quartz 2). While you do see the other player’s current game on a minimap (in the lower right corner), along with his or her frags (three is needed to win the game), he has no direct effect on your playing – except for someone’s entirely filling in the entire playfield, that is.
A decent feature is that the two parties can agree upon the game type (there are three of them), the game speed (three), the number of colors (three or four) before starting the game using a GUI (screenshot). You can even select your favorite music in here.
There are, unfortunately, no in-game chatting features.
Compatibility
I’ve encountered no compatibility problems on any of my test Pocket PC’s (PPC2k2, WM2003, WM2003SE, WM5, WM6; some of them VGA). Note that the game is one of the VERY few titles that (still) support the Pocket PC 2002 OS; note that you may want to install GAPI before running the game (if it doesn’t find it, it’ll report so you don’t need to keep in mind whether it’s already installed). Note that, as can also be seen in the screenshots (taken on my VGA WM5 Dell Axim x51v), there is no hi-res mode.
Verdict
I really recommend the new game if you like Jaybot7’s music and/or just want to have a simple Tetris-alike game. As with Travel Collection, highly recommended if you don’t hate color matching titles.
Anyone having read my emulator reviews (particularly the NES (Famicom) and the TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine) ones) knows SmartGear is one of the best 8/16-bit gaming console emulator for both the Pocket PC (Windows Mobile 6 Classic / Professional) and Smartphone (Windows Mobile 6 Standard).
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(the About screen)
Just after my publishing my reviews of the previous, 0.12 version, the developer, Larry Bank, released a brand new, 0.24 version of the emulator.
Let us see how it compares to the previous, well-known version! (Please DO read the two above-linked reviews to find out how the old version fared against the competition, what its major strengths and weaknesses are. In here, I do NOT provide you a FULL introduction / tutorial, “only” an up-to-the-point elaboration on the changes.)
Pros
Fortunately, the new version, as opposed to the old one, does save battery life automatically as can clearly be seen in this screenshot. (The previous version, as can be seen in here, didn’t offer any battery saving as it used the CPU close to 100%. This is great news!
When you pause the game, the menu bars will be displayed at once (on all platforms) as can be seen in here. This also means resuming a game after you’ve done some for example settings changes will work, unlike with 0.12.
There’s a new option, Rapid Fire, with freely definable target button (in here, for example, I’ve made it work together with Button B ). This is certainly welcome!
The menus are also easier to handle (here’s the new Settings screen and here’s the old)– for example, instead of the old “Throttle Framerate”, now, “Throttle to 60 fps” is used, which is easier to understand. As can also be seen, there’s a brand new checkbox, Quick & Dirty Rendering, which also results in some speedup, which can prove pretty useful on lowest-end handhelds.
Now, there is some way to change the video size with the newly added “Video Size” option, which allows for using 75, 100, 150%, Fit2Win and Fit2Win*.
With NES emulation, Landscape mode works OK, unlike previously.
Generic speedup / optimizations.
Cons
There is still no VGA support. You can, of course, play with the new “Video Size” settings, but none of them will help (and some, for example, Fit2Win*, will result in the program immediately exiting on some VGA models)
Screen buttons / tap areas are still not supported
The highly useful (as the emulator, unfortunately, still doesn't have any kind of manual state saving / loading) “Auto Load/Save” option can’t be enabled in the trial version, unlike with the previous one, where it worked (almost) flawlessly.
Compatibility-wise, there don’t seem to be changes. As far as the NES emulation is concerned, BattleToads still stops after displaying “1991”; Elite is still having problems and Famicom Wars (MMC4) still displays the “#10 missing” error. PC Engine emulation-wise, Street Fighter II Champion Edition (J) and Shinobi (if it starts at all – it was only on my HTC Wizard that it did) still have the same bitmap problems. The platform bug of Turrican still exists, making the game unplayable.
Several previously flawlessly running PC Engine games just refuse to start. For example, F1 Dream has refused to start on ALL my test devices. Operation Wolf and Afterburner 2 has only started on my QVGA HTC Wizard (but not on any of my VGA devices – not that it’d be any fun to play a game only occupying the upper left quarter of the VGA screen...)
Verdict
While this emulator still has its share of problems (particularly VGA- and generic game / ROM compatibility-wise), it’s clearly got better and his, as usual, highly recommended (particularly for MS Smartphone users). If it runs your particular favorite games, that is.