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REVIEW: Mario Kart games on the Pocket PC

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!

REVIEW: Enigma Games releases Windows Mobile versions of turn-based game Warriors

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.

REVIEW: CrazySoft releases puzzle adventure game “Lost in the Pyramid” for PPC / SP

CrazySoft may not be unknown to many Pocket PC and, particularly, Palm OS gamers. They have released four Pocket PC (and several Palm) games so far.
Up to now, I haven’t reviewed their titles because I’ve found them all pretty mediocre (at most) with a very high price tag and, therefore, didn’t want to even waste time on writing a word on them. Here’s a quick list of these games:
The Bejeweled-clone (with some twists – you can only destroy rows next to pipes) Paintball II. However, it’s in no way so good as Bejeweled and can’t even beat freeware (!) titles like Snowed In 5 - Flaked Out.
Snake Deluxe: a typical Snake clone. This is probably one of the best (and considerably more expensive than the rest of earlier titles) CrazySoft titles.
Frutakia: a casino slot-based puzzle game. Nothing really interesting in here either.
Personality Psychology Pro: too bad this yes/no/maybe game doesn’t contain any “filtering logic” to filter out contradicting responses. With that, it would be interesting and usable (particularly because it has a lot of subgames); in its present form, there isn’t much point in paying big bucks for it. The “Fun game” tests are simply bad (especially the fill-in tests) and has a very bad GUI; for example, the animal preference input fields, instead of having some kind of intelligent, mutually self-resetting radio buttons a lot of other titles use, numbers must be manually filled in.
Best Tarot Pro: I didn’t find this game pretty interesting either.
Now that they have released an “adventure” game, “Lost in the Pyramid”, I’ve decided to, finally, publish a review, which not only reviews their latest release, but also the earlier titles.
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Availability, compatibility
It’s available here. There is a pretty usable trial version available.
Unlike with the earlier titles, which are between 12,95$ and 16,95$; this one costs 19,95$, that is, it’s pretty expensive, taken into account that REAL Pocket PC adventure games (Fade, Broken Sword etc, not to mention MS-DOS emulation of, say, Legend Entertainment titles, which are freely accessible on the Web) don’t cost (much) more.
Compatibility-wise, I haven’t encountered any problems on my WM2003+ (no pre-WM2003 support, sorry) devices (iPAQ 2210, WM5 hx4700 (!), PL720, x51v, Wizard, Universal). It is indeed compatible with all screen resolutions (including square screen devices) / orientations and even ran in left-handed landscape mode on my Universal and didn’t even have problems with dynamic screen orientation changing while running.
Gameplay
In a word: it’s very weak. The biggest problems:
the program doesn’t even try to communicate with the user through static text dialogs but through a scrolling status line. It’s not only slow (setting the “game” speed to “Highest” in Settings (see this) only makes the problem even worse because, then, the scrolling becomes unbearably fast and you can’t scroll back), but also very awkward and by itself can render a game hard to please the player. (I wish this were the only serious drawback of the title…) Switching into Landscape mode on WM2003SE+ models alleviates the problem a bit as can be seen in here; still, the way the game displays messages remains really awkward.
Note that none of the "classic" adventures had such an awkward interface. Even with graphics-packed for example Magnetic Scrolls titles (example screenshot here) leave at least 2-3 static rows at the bottom of the screen to display descriptions / messages and, when you wanted to "scroll back", you could easily do that. Here, it's impossible.
it’s VERY linear. Give a try to any “decent” game (those of Legend Entertainment or the Fade Team) to see how a real adventure game should look like.
The ways you can die are pretty silly. No decent adventure game should use such silly ways of killing the player (unless this is an adventure parody, that is).
The graphics are not only functional but, in cases, don't show objects; see the case of the metal plate half-buried in the ground in front of the pyramid.
Other problems
As with all the other CrazySoft games, the game only consist of a big EXE file. On most Pocket PC’s, it takes the operating system at least 1-2 seconds (on pre-WM5 devices when it’s installed to the RAM, about a second; on WM5 devices, 3-4 seconds) to read up the game icon from the EXE file. This is plain unacceptable if you have a WM5 device because you will for example encounter big slowdowns even when opening the Start menu after a reset when the start menu history still contains the game icon.
As with all the other CrazySoft games, there is no music at all.
The sound setting in the game overrides the system setting. For example, when you switch sound off on the system level but start the game, the sound will be restored. This isn't what you'll prefer when, for example, you would like to kill some time during the meeting and you forget beforehand to disable sounds in the game itself
As with all the other CrazySoft games, while the text / GUI widgets, the title logo (screenshot here) and hand-drawn graphics are rendered in high-resolution, some of the pre-rendered graphics are low-resolution only; an example of this is here.
Probably the only positive aspect of the game, as with all the other CrazySoft games, is the support for all kinds of screen resolutions. In addition, this title supports five languages. The English / German of the title aren’t bad: I’ve already seen games of foreign origin with even worse English (see for example the soon-to-be-mentioned Nuclear Winter) There are, however, big mistakes like “no respond” instead of “no response” in the English.
Sound
Not many sounds (and the existing ones can easily get on your nerves (as with some of their other titles; for example, Paintball II); for example, the one when you die); no music at all. All in all, very weak.
Graphics
The graphics is, for the most part (except for some digitized pictures), very simple (let’s say “functional”). It indeed brings back the C64 times, in, unfortunately, the bad sense of the word – remember the “functional” graphics of, say, Maniac Mansion? Pyramids is even worse and can’t even be compared to other static titles like Mallocware’s great RPG Nuclear Time.
Compared to classic adventure games like Fade / Legend Entertainment’s (emulated) games / the Palm OS-only Acedior / Broken Sword / Gilbert Goodmate / Myst / Myst 2 / Tetraedge Games' titles,
there isn’t much comparison. Lost in the Pyramid is incomparably weaker.
Verdict
Unfortunately, while earlier titles of the developer were passable to mediocre (but, as has already been stated, in no way recommended), this title is probably one of the worst adventure games ever released for the Pocket PC. If you want to play a silly game with illogical yes/no questions suddenly leading to death, you may want to give it a try. Otherwise, if you're a more serious adventure player, I don’t even tell you to give it a try because it’s simply not worth wasting any time on it. As I've already pointed out, this game doesn't have much to do with "real" adventures like the Zork, the Legend Entertainment or the Magnetic Scrolls games. Those games, albeit, in cases, 25 years old, were much-much better in almost every respect.
The only upside of the game, in my opinion, is the funny approach it uses (if you can stand getting killed because you give the wrong answer in a completely illogical situation). The above-explained GUI shortages (most importantly, the, for finding some objects, useless graphics and the complete lack of static message dialogs), however, really make playing this game awkward. Also, the high price tag ($20!) is againts getting the title.
Other reviews worth checking out
PocketPlayers.de (Babelfish “translation” here)

Review slightly updated

Games & emu news: SmartGear; Multiplayer CoD2 update; PDAMill: Corsair; Plasma Duel

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.

Brand new, 3.0 version of Atomic Cannon out; now, with support for multiplayer!

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