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.
Related
If you have MS-DOS background and played demogroup Renaissance's (Epic (Mega)games’) famous shooter title Zone 66 (another link to check out here) back in 1992, you may welcome the brand new game Alpha Rebellion by SwordAndSpirit, which is based on the same “360 degrees turning” scheme and has (at least compared to some of the alternates) pretty good in-game music and sounds.
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Availability
The title is available on the homepage of the developer. ClickGamer page here. There’s a trial version; the full version costs $9.95 (I think – being in Europe, I’m shown the price in Euros, which is €7.96 ).
Gameplay
Please see the above-linked pages on how the games in this genre are played. If you know Zone 66, then, the new title will be familiar.
Compatibility
The game is compatible with WM2003+ (sorry PPC2k2 users, it isn’t compatible with your devices – I’ve tested.)
On all my VGA devices (Pocket Loox 720, Dell Axim x51v and the WM5-upgraded iPAQ hx4700 - yes, the game runs on the latter too, which is certainly good news), the scrolling was pretty choppy and uneven (this is pretty bad news particularly for x51v users – most scroll-intensive, well-written and optimized games, even ones without explicit 2700G support, run OK on the Dell, unlike on the other two, listed VGA devices). That is, I don’t necessarily recommend the game if you have a VGA device. (Note that the game, as you may have guessed, uses QVGA in-game resolution only – there is no hi-res graphics.)
On (faster) QVGA devices like the WM2003 iPAQ 2210, I had no problems like this – on them, the game is pretty enjoyable. As far as slower QVGA devices are concerned, the non-overclocked HTC Wizard, unfortunately, had the same choppy scrolling problem as the VGA devices. With overclocking, this problem may go away.
Controls
The game is stylus-controllable; that is, you don't need the D-pad. This is certainly good news.
For shooting, switching between weapons and displaying/hiding the minimap, you'll need the hardware buttons. They were available on all my devices except the hx4700, where the tap-and-hold functionality of the WM5 device made it impossible to keep the fire button constantly down. (But, as has already been pointed out, I don't think you'll find the game enjoyable on a VGA device because of the choppy scrolling.)
Visuals
Pretty good, albeit the hand-drawn debriefing characters are pretty ugly. Also, the explosions (particularly air - ground bombs), while definitively not so spectacular as with SkyForce Reloaded, the king of all scrolling shooters. The bomb explosions also really slow down the animation.
Sounds, music
Pretty nice, albeit repetitive, mono in-game music. Not as good as that of SkyForce (Reloaded). The sounds are OK.
Verdict
If you’ve been a fan of Zone 66, you have a fast QVGA device and would like to give a try to a 360-degree shooter on the Pocket PC, give this title a try. Otherwise, SkyForce (Reloaded) is still a much better choice because it’s visually stunning, doesn’t have choppy scrolling and offers far more action.
Much as this racing title isn’t particularly new on the Pocket PC (not even the latest, 1.2 version), now that PocketGamer reported on it, I’ve realized I still haven’t dedicated a review to this SuperCars clone (without, unfortunately, any kind of multiplayer capabilities, which made SuperCars II just great on 16-bit home platforms back in 1990), which may be of interest to all Pocket PC gaming freaks before Infinite Dreams’ K-Rally is released.
It’s a classic example of top-down 2D racing games like Gangsta Race (also reported on in the Roundup of All Pocket PC Games Part I).
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(VGA screenshot; on QVGA devices, a similar one is here)
Availability
The game is available here for $14.95. The trial is one-level only.
Compatibility
It’s compatible with all my test Pocket PC’s. Note that while the homepage doesn’t list the game as PPC 2002 compliant, in reality, it is – it’s running just great on my PPC2k2 Compaq iPAQ 3660.
The other PDA’s I’ve tested it on are the following:
HTC Wizard (runs great even at 195 MHz)
HP iPAQ hx4700 (on it, you MUST use the stylus to control the car as not even button redefining works)
Dell Axim x51v
Pocket Loox 720
HP iPAQ h2210
It's also compatible with the MS Smartphone and the Palm OS platform.
Compared to Gangsta Race (GR) 1.1…
(Note that Garga Games’s official homepage is not accessible – this may also mean they’re out of business)
Pros
It shows much more of the playfield on VGA devices and is, of course, hi-res (GR screenshot here on VGA - note that it doesn't support hi-res on VGA)
Has better in-game music
Cons
It doesn’t show the relative position of the other cars, which is a real pain in the back particularly on QVGA devices, where it shows less of the playfield than GR
It has no stereo (!) sound effects, unlike GR – the sound effects in Dreamway are much poorer
It can’t switch to any non-Portrait mode, unlike GR
Doesn’t have a Pocket PC 2000 (MIPS) port (on my Casio E-125, the MIPS version of GR runs just great)
Compared to the Palm OS version…
There are no differences. The Palm version runs a bit slower on my T3 (even in HiRes-only (that is, 320*320, as opposed to the 320*480 HiRes+ mode) than on my Pocket PC’s. The Palm version, however, uses a clearer in-game music track with much better highs (it’s sampled at a higher sampling frequency)
Verdict
Give it a try if you liked Gangsta Race. It is in no way as spectacular than the forthcoming K-Rally, but is certainly worth giving a try, particularly on VGA devices.
Momentum Games, developers of well-known, high-quality titles like Pocket Mini Golf 2 (see review & comparison here), has just come up with a remarkable, new, platform-like game. Since there are very few really good platformer games for the Pocket PC (SuperTux, Gold Miner Joe, the free OpenJazz, Bayside Studios' Quigley's Quest 1.10, the not-sold-any-more Rayman Ultimate by Gameloft or the non-WM5-compliant, now-free Tommy Kombat come to mind as examples, in addition to N.I’s great Retro Games collection and the to-be-released Titus’ Prehistorik clone Prehistoric), I gave it a test ride right away.
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While the game isn’t exactly a traditional platform game (unlike the above-listed games) but more of a logic / puzzle game (in this respect it’s a bit like, for example, Lemmings, Cavemen, AIM productions’ Tmax or Astraware’s Mazera, reviewed in the Roundup of All Pocket PC Games Part I). It is also slightly similar to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Jet Pac (screenshot here), one of the favourite games of my childhood.
Availability
The game is available HERE, costs $15.95 and has a perfectly playable trial version.
Compatibility
I’ve tested it on my WM5 Dell Axim x51v (A12), WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720 and 5-year-old (!) Pocket PC 2002 Compaq iPAQ 3660 (yes, Pocket PC 2002 compliance is VERY rare with new titles!). It worked flawlessly on all these devices. It’s also compatible with square-screen devices and also has MS Smartphone and desktop Windows versions.
Visuals
They’re pretty good: the game, just like the new version of Pocket Mini Golf, supports hi-res VGA. On these devices, it looks pretty cool. The “thrust” effects (see the screenshot above) are pretty cool too, a bit like those of 4Pockets (the most known, excellent Pocket PC game developer company to use movement effects like these.)
Music / sounds
While the music is pretty cool, it’s pretty repetitive (as with Momentum Games’ other titles in general – they should pay more attention to less repetitive in-game music with better quality) and played back at a low quality and in mono.
Verdict
If you’re looking for a “traditional” platform game, you may be disappointed with this title. Still, give it a try.
If you more like platformer-like games where thinking is more necessary (in the Tmax / Mazera / Lemmings / Cavemen way), definitely give this title a try.
Would you like to play an Astraware's Tradewinds / Sid Meier’s Pirates! clone? Do you find Tradewinds’ battle system far weaker than that of the Pirates, the father of all such titles? I have good news for you – read on!
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Unfortunately, there are very few Pirates clones on the Pocket PC – a classic game that is, as with Elite (see the Bible of Pocket PC Gaming Part I on the latter), based on both trading and battling and can be played for weeks or even months long. Up to now, the only Pocket PC game that was, to some degree, similar to Pirates! has been Astraware’s well-known Tradewinds (not counting in the even less Pirates!-reminiscent Seven Seas, also by Astraware and also discussed in the Bible of Pocket PC Gaming Part I), but, as it almost completely lacks all arcade elements, can be quite a disappointment for a die-hard Pirates! fan.
The new, recently released game High Seas is different in this matter – it has a far better battle system than that of Tradewinds. In this respect, Pirates! fans that wanted something more reminiscent of the classic may rejoice.
Availability, compatibility
The official homepage, the game being pretty new, still lacks some essential menu items. The title is available at Handango and costs $9.95 (half the price of Tradewinds).
It’s, currently, only compatible with WM2003 and WM2003SE devices. It is NOT WM5-compliant! I had no problems running it on my WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720 and WM2003 iPAQ 2210.
Visuals, music
Pretty OK; music-wise, not so good as that of Tradewinds though (in my opinion). Note that neither of the two games makes use of the high resolution of VGA screens.
Compared to Tradewinds (as of version 1.03)
Pros
Much better battle system, pretty close to that of Pirates!
Shows low / high prices in shops and, in about 50% of cases, even for remote harbors – this greatly reduces wasted time and routes!
Landscape version also available (albeit as a separate download) – Tradewinds is portrait-only. (A quick note: the landscape version must be started in landscape mode; otherwise, you’ll be presented an error message that can only be cleared by resetting the Pocket PC) when you start the game in Landscape
Only costs the half
Cons
As of version 1.00.08, no WM5 compliance
Worse in-game music
Not so spectacular
No PPC2k2 compatibility (Tradewinds is compatible with Pocket PC 2002)
Verdict
Give the trial a try if you have a WM2003 or WM2003SE device - you may like it.
The company Oasys claims to have released Pirates! I have seen no reviews of it on the web though. The screenshots look great.
http://www.oasysmobileinc.com/products/pirates.html
TITAN-23 said:
The company Oasys claims to have released Pirates! I have seen no reviews of it on the web though. The screenshots look great.
http://www.oasysmobileinc.com/products/pirates.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's still "coming soon" and, based on how lame the WM / BB Civilization IV port is of the same developer (ConcreteSoft; they're poering all these classics to the WM and BB), I'm afraid it won't be as good as the original.
Sid Meir's Pirates! works well on my Kaiser using emulators.
There is a NES version.
And a Sega Genesis/Megadrive Pirates! Gold version.
Both run full speed.
Sid Meier's Pirates for Java also works on my Kaiser 6.1 rom. You can even use the touchscreen.
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.