Month: February 2010

NAME: Dastardly and Muttley in their flying machines VERSION: 1.0 COMPANY: Cobra mobile PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: TV based SIZE: 260KB TEST PHONE: Nokia 6500 RATING: 8/10 DEMO:

Dastardly and Muttley in the Flying Machines game review.  The characters and images in the games are all based on the cartoon of the same name.  They also appear in the Wacky Racers cartoon series.  So the aim of the game the same shoot down the Yankee Doodle Pigeon.

Gameplay is standard shoot-em down scroller with a good dose of cartoon like powerups like the punching fist and swirling cue ball.  It all works very well and dare we say one of the best ones out there.  Game speed and levels work perfectly on the phone.

Graphics are 2D cartoon like but matches the games premise.  Nothing to complain about.  The music track is limited to 1 repeating track over and over – like 99% of of mobile phone games.

This game is good!  It is challenging reasonably fast paced with a good dose of powerups. It is probably the best flying or shooter game we’ve tried for a long time.  Worth a purchase or download!  It was quite a surprise honestly.

NAME: Guitar Hero III VERSION: 3 COMPANY: Hand-On Mobile PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: Platformer SIZE: 944 KB TEST PHONE: K800i RATING: 7/10 DEMO: uk.guitarheromobile.com

Welcome to the Guitar Hero III game review for JAVA capable mobile phones.

There’s not much we can add as to the gameplay.  It’s like the Lava lava game but at the next level – so to speak. The graphics, sound and so forth are standard – good but not exceptional.

Our version had quite a few different tracks still in MIDI but in the end it does not have the physicality of the xBox and PS3 versions.  So if you want a mobile version then go for it.

NAME: Journey to the center of the Earth VERSION: 1.1 COMPANY: Ig Fun PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: Action SIZE: 550KB TEST PHONE: Nokia 6500 RATING: 7/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the Journey to the center of the Earth game review for mobile phones.

This is the first game that we’ve purchased from Ig Fun, their only other mainstream release so far is the mobile phone version of Bioshock.  We did not expect too much when we bought this one because its another move tie-in.  Thankfully we where pleasantly surprised!

The game is basically a interactive version of the movie.  So you are the one guiding the actions of the characters as they head to and from the center of the Earth!

Gameplay is easy enough since there key press indicators for quite a number of levels – which really really help!  It’s fast, smooth enough and easy to get into.  In game dialogue and levels are similar to the movie which helps continuity.

Graphics are 2D and sort of cartoon like but it does look pretty good.  Music is standard MIDI.

Overall we enjoyed the game if we had one comment it would be that the levels are a tad long.  However it is worth a download regardless of what sort of gamer you are.

NAME: F22 Raptor VERSION: 2.0 COMPANY: EA Games PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: Top scrolling shooter SIZE: 580KB TEST PHONE: Nokia 6500 RATING: 5/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the F22 Raptor game review for mobile phones.

We’ve reviewed a number of top down shooters and from recollection not many of them are memorable enough to play after a while except for Centipede which is not really a plane shooter but comes close.

F22 Raptor follows the same path as the others with what we feel is a good control system but there are several things missing.  It is the power up system way too slow – and hence excitement.

Gameplay, graphics, sound are all pretty much standard as won’t go into detail.  Dare we say there’s not much here to look at, play or write about.  If you collect shooter style games than you’d probably like it but for others it doesn’t have enough.  It technically works well but that’s it.

NAME: Command & Conquer Red Alert VERSION: 1.0 COMPANY: EA Games PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: RPG Action SIZE: 800KB TEST PHONE: Nokia E71 RATING: 8/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the Command & Conquer Red Alert game review for mobile phones.

The Command and Conquer C&C game franchise has been around for at least a decade on the PC.  We first experienced the original version on the 1St Gen Playstation all those years ago.  It’s a classic and genre defining game. The Red Alert version puts the player in an alternate universe to the regular tiberium story line.

There are not many games that replicate the C&C gameplay and this official release of the C&C Red Alert for a mobile phone was something we where looking forward to!  So read on to see how they have changed the PC game play for the mobile phone and whether its really any good!

Graphics for C&C red Alert are very good for a mobile phone games.  It is all in 2D like the original PC game but shruken and updated!  It looks better than the original PC game – and so it should.  The E71 we played this game for has more CPU and graphics power then PCs 10 years ago!  The menus and navigation all make the game feel well made and even close to the iPhone/iPod touch version.  The Natasha icon doing kung fu moves during any loading sequence is a nice touch!  We also like the Kirov’s.

Music and sound effects are limited to the standard MIDI tracks.  You can play the game without sounds or music easily which helps in public places.

Gameplay has substantial missing from the PC games.  The radar the buildings and units are all available and honestly do look good.  Even the story line adds to the overall playability.  There are some visual gags like snowmen which does help lighten the mood.  Game speed is very good although the environmental effects can be jerky – which looks intentional rather than a fault of the game.

Changes from the PC version are substantial, missions and resource collection are simplified for the limited screen size on the phone. It all makes sense and works on the mobile phone platform.

Overall Command & Conquer Red Alert is a pretty good game even if your not into the resource collection because the revisions have been made to appeal to a broader range of players.   We liked it overall but found the the missions take a tad long to be playable unless you’re at home.  This is the best of its type for the mobile platform we’ve seen to date.