eSoft Interactive (product list HERE) have released quite a few titles in the past, some of them (for example, Open TTD, Traffic Jam, Traffic Jam Extreme and Traffic Jam 2) being pretty famous. Let’s take a look at their three latest titles compatible with both Windows Mobile Pocket PC’s and touchscreen-less Smartphones.
Hot Pursuit is the latest title of eSoft interactive promising “[a game] that sets you on a thrilling chase of crime solving action right at the palm of your hand! Catch the most sinister thieves by travelling from one country to another and climb along the Interpol ranks by solving hot cases! Hot Pursuit will keep you glued to your device for hours of crime-solving fun and challenge!”
Personally, I didn’t really find this title worth paying 10 bucks for. It seems to be quite shallow. I think, should you need a detective game taking you all around the world, which, at the same time, also teaches you a lot on the different countries, go for for example Learning Company’s (ex-Brøderbund Software) Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. I really think it’s a much better a choice, particularly if you run it under PocketDOS. (Under n0p’s DOSBox, even the just-released 0.72, it has mouse cursor control problems; see THIS for more info on this.) An example screeshot of it (running under PocketDOS):
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Some other in-game shots:
I didn’t find Totem, eSoft’s previous (released in October 2008) Windows Mobile release very interesting either (as opposed to the JAMM review). It’s just too expensive ($9.99) for what it offers (which is pretty shallow and, in my opinion, pointless). It has better feedback on the iPhone, where it only costs a buck ($0.99 – for that price, I would already consider purchasing it) and (of course) has better resolution (HVGA as opposed to QVGA). Neverthless, if you’re an iPhone / iPod Touch user, you might want to check out the best title in this category, Tower Bloxx™ Deluxe 3D instead, which takes advantage of the iPhone’s 3D hardware acceleration and looks very-very nice. It’s a bit more expensive than eSoft’s title ($4.99), though.
Yes, I know I’m a bit spoiled (when I want to play a quick game, I just take out my iPhone 3G with tons of cheap (!!) and great games) – anyone not having an iPhone or an iPod Touch might still enjoy this title.
Finally, Earth Day, an arcade game, which was released before Totem. Probably the best of the bunch: thanks to the weapon / rotation / clone / shield / rapid fire upgrades, it can become pretty much entertaining. Of course, if you also have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, you’ll want to go for that version (just like with Totem): the game is, technically, far superior (far better resolution) and far better playable. In addition, on these platforms, it only costs a buck (that is, one-tenth of the Windows Mobile price). Nevertheless, if you only have a WinMo phone, you might also want to give it a try. Also see THIS thread for more info. Note that the WinMo version was nominated in the 2008 Windows Mobile awards in the Classic Arcade category.
Related
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.
SuperCars (2)? Does it ring a bell? Gangsta Race? Dreamway? Ever wanted to play something like them – but something MUCH better, with freaking good visuals, sound effects, animation, in-game music, incredibly good controls and, last but definitely not least, multiplayer?
I’ve often reported on the current state of the K-Rally project. Thanks to the excellent folks at Infinite Dreams, who provided me a pre-release beta version of the Pocket PC version of this EXCELLENT racing game, I’ve been playing this title for a week (played it almost entirely through) and am absolutely astonished.
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I don’t think I exaggerate when I state K-Rally is by far the best game released (or a game that will be released – I don’t know when it will be released for the Pocket PC; hope really soon, which means either minutes, hours or 1-2 days – dunno exactly when) in 2006. Yeah, SkyForce Reloaded, the best top-down shooter for the Pocket PC, is a very close second (and there have been some other outstanding titles too; for example, Enslave), but I’d say K-Rally is even better, particularly when played in multiplayer.
Unfortunately, there’s still no Pocket PC version out (albeit the one I’ve played is very-very good and could be safely released as the final one – it all, of course, depends on the iDreams folks), only for Symbian S60 and S60 version 3. However, if you do/also own smart phones running these operating systems, make sure you visit THIS and purchase the game. (There’s no trial version, but you can take my word: it’s really worth the $14.98, it’s so damn good.)
Expect a VERY thorough review as soon as the Pocket PC version is released In the meantime, you may want to pay a visit to the homepage of the game and, for example, check out the just-posted manual and the online high-score board.
BEST GAME OF 2006, K-RALLY, IS FINALLY OUT FOR THE POCKET PC!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, now that I’ve posted several news items on it in the last few months (the last one some 2-3 hours ago), you probably know what K-Rally is about. It's the BEST top-view racing game ever released for the Pocket PC.
It’s available for purchase at ClickGamer and Handango.
Expect my full review later today or early tomorrow (not right now – sorry, just going to the sauna and, then, to a concert.)
Some user reviews / remarks: AximSite.
U Mobile Game have just released a brand new vertical scroller shooter Dragon Bird for both Windows Mobile (both Pocket PC and Smartphone) and Symbian (both S60v3 and UIQ3).
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Availability
The game is available for download HERE. The trial version has the first two stages unlocked; the full, commercial one all the eight. The latter costs $19.95 for all platforms, which is quite a bit more than the price of SkyForce Reloaded, the, currently, undoubtedly best vertical shooter on both Windows Mobile and Symbian.
Compatibility
I've tested the game (as of the current, 1.0 version) on my VGA HP iPAQ 210 WM6 Windows Mobile classic PDA, WM2003 QVGA HP iPAQ 2210 and the Symbian S60v3 Nokia N95. On the latter two, it ran flawlessly (I've disabled the sound on the iPAQ 2210); on the iPAQ 210, it frequently crashed, necessiating a soft reset (and also losing the credits I've collected in the last one or two games). I don't know whether it's an iPAQ 210-specific issue – while I've run into similar crashes now and then, in other games, on the 210, in no way so frequently as in this case.
Note that, while it's compatible with (touchscreen-less) Windows Mobile Smartphones, it won't run on lower-res 176*220 phones like the HTC s310 (Oxygen), only the higher-res QVGA ones like the HTC s710 / Vox: it just chops off the right / bottom part of the game, it being strictly wired to QVGA devices. (I don't know whether it's also compatible with QVGA landscape models like the Moto Q; I bet it isn't.)
Controllability
On touchscreen-enabled devices like Windows Mobile Pocket PC's, you can entirely rely on the touchscreen. This is pretty good news for future for example HTC Touch Pro HD users, which entirely lacks a D-pad. Note that I haven't tested the game on 2.8" QVGA titles with the infamous touchscreen CPU usage bug, plaguing every single non-XScale-based model HTC has ever released. I bet you'll encounter quite a bit of slowdown / choppyness on these models.
Differences between Dragon Bird and most other games of the genre
Most importantly, Dragon Bird has a different approach to weapon / ship / shield upgrades than other, pickup-based games like SkyForce Reloaded. (Games like Xenon 2 use a hybrid approach: you can both purchase upgrades and pick up some while advancing.) You get no upgrades for free as a pick-up; this means you need to earn money by
1. shooting down as many opponents as possible
2. not exiting the game and not being killed easily (then you get a penalty and lose half of the main boss' credit)
This also means you'll need to play through some levels at least several times to be able to purchase a weapon (or another upgrade) to be able to pass the next. For example, I've found it's impossible to get past the second stage without purhcasing the $25000 triple cannon. In order to be able to purchase this weapon, I had to play through the first level at least three times. The repetitive need to play through the same level can become pretty boring and annoying when compared to, say, SkyForce Reloaded's linear approach not forcing you to do the same.
Enjoyment factor
The game itself, while is technically far inferior to SkyForce Reloaded (far less spectacular or plain non-existing visuals like explosions, much more spectacular 3D effects etc., duller music), has turned out to be pretty entertaining. I, however, don't know whether it's really worth the (quite high) price tag.
Verdict
While the game is definitely inferior to the multiplatform SkyForce Reloaded (and, to a lesser degree, to other, excellent titles like FireHawk and Burning Armor Code-E on Windows Mobile) and is much more expensive, you, if you have already played through the latter and wouldn't want to touch it any more, might still want to give the trial version a try.
The price has just been reduced to $9.95.
The Redshift folks are back with an excellent title! Some months ago, they’ve announced they’d completely leave the Windows Mobile platform because of the rampant piracy. Now, they’ve returned with a remarkable action-puzzle mix, Dungeoned. If you like a combination of fast-paced action and puzzle games, you will really want to give it a try. It’s a bit similar to some maze games (for example, Astraware’s Mummy Maze, Monkeystone’s Hyperspace Delivery Boy! and AIM Productions’ TMax) quickly introduced in the Windows Mobile Bible of Games Part I, but is much more varied: in addition to having to find out Sokoban-like puzzles, you not only need to fight other (static) creatures, but, on some maps, also a second player, which is controlled by a pretty good AI (unlike the droid opponents in, say, the Commodore 64 classic Paradroid) and you must be very fast to attack him. This certainly makes a refreshing change to the gameplay.
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(more screenshots HERE; a mini-video HERE)
The title is Pocket PC-only; that is, as you MUST use the touchscreen, won’t work on touchscreen-less MS Smartphones.
The price has just been lowered to $9.95 (along with the release of a new build). The game is available HERE and is compatible with all Windows Mobile operating systems starting with WM2003. On VGA devices, it uses high-resolution sprites; in addition, as usual with Redshift’s all titles, it supports all the screen resolutions commonly used on Windows Mobile devices. What is more, it’s one of the VERY rare games that don’t use the CPU at 100%, resulting in the game quickly chewing through the battery. On my 624 MHz Marvel Xscale PXA-310-based VGA HP iPAQ 214, the CPU usage has never exceeded 35%, which is indeed very good news - few Windows Mobile game / emulator developers strive to lowering the CPU usage.
The problems of the title is the lack of in-game music (while the in-game sounds are without doubt good). There is only (very short and repetitive) music in the menus and the shop screen. Also, completely stylus-based control would be highly beneficial as in most, say, Bomberman clones; for example, PalmStorm’s excellent, free (!) Xplodus!. What I mean is tapping the close vicinity of your character to instruct it to go (attack) that way. This would really help players with devices with a, for gaming, sub-par (or plain non-existing – see the HTC Touch series, including the forthcoming Touch HD) D-pad. Yeah, the game does have on-screen arrows, but, in my opinion, they aren’t the best.
Verdict
Highly recommended, particularly now that the price has been dropped. Well worth at least a try.