Category: Game Reviews

NAME: Sheep Mania Barn Yard Dash VERSION: 1.0 COMPANY: Progressive Media PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: Sheep Racing SIZE: 275KB TEST PHONE: Nokia 6500 RATING: 7/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the Sheep Mania – Barn Yard Dash JAVA game review.

It is a racing game where the sheep are the ‘vehicles’ you’ll be racing.  They have names and different capabilities which you can also upgrade.  The racing involves a straight track and includes hay bales which you have to leap over.  It’s all presented in a farm scenario with various environment settings.

The gameplay involves pressing one button, so anyone can play without difficulty.  It works well apart from a slight delay which can ruin timing. (Could be the test phone) Either that or you need to press the button with more precision. Having to press the button to stop your sheep from being knocked out is annoying.  Consistent timing is required if you want to do well in this game.  The most annoying thing out this game is the farmer giving suggestions and unnecessary menus.

The graphics are cartoon like and very good. The animation on the main menu is 3D but the rest is presented in 2D.  It’s all done very well.  The sheep have different facial expressions to differentiate them and done very well.  The cartoon like running animation is funny.  So overall very good.    The sound is typical MIDI but its farm themed.

The game is really well made and thought out just got to fix that timing thing and menus and it would be perfect example of a mobile phone game. Entertaining and worth the download.

NAME: Inspector Gadget VERSION: 1.0 COMPANY: Namco PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: TV platformer SIZE: 385KB TEST PHONE: Nokia E71 RATING: 7/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the Inspector Gadget Java game review. The game is based on the very popular cartoon series of 1980’s.

All the characters from the cartoon are there.  The Chief, Penny, Brain The Inspector and of course Dr Claw’s henchmen.  All the gadgets are there too. The game’s background story however is completely new!

The game is a standard platformer where you control the Inspector collecting stolen gems.  You defeat killer bees, plants and henchmen with the gadget mallet, float around with the gadget coat and umbrella.

The gameplay works well and responsive and the graphics are 2D and replicate the original cartoon. I cannot complain about anything except for the very long levels.  Thankfully the save feature works well.

So overall a decent and polished game.  Worth the effort if you want some nostalgia and a good platformer.  For those unfamiliar with Inspector Gadget give it a go anyway.  You could do much worse.

NAME: Street Fighter II VERSION: 1.2.5 COMPANY: Capcom PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: Fighting 2vs2 SIZE: 589KB TEST PHONE: Motorola V3XX RATING: 9/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the Street Fighter II Java game review.  They as its not a remake but more a port of the benchmark arcade game from the 1980’s. We haven’t been impressed with many ‘remakes’ so did not expect too much.

The game is in a 2 vs 2 fighting format. You pick the fighter you want to use and battle a roster of other fighters.

Gameplay matches the original and the game speed and responsiveness is very good almost like the arcade version. In fact I would say that its the most responsive action game we’ve played for a little while.

Technical features include volume control and difficulty – excellent options since its on a difficult to press in a rush mobile phone.  The difficulty settings can make things reasonably easy or very hard.

Graphics are also true to the original which although cartoon like works very well.  Music is typical MIDI but there are sufficient variation and quality we think to make it rise above the others.  Unfortunately there are not any SFX for the punches or special moves.

Overall a great fighting game.  We haven’t played anything of this quality before so a benchmark for the time being.  Admittedly if you’re not into fighting games the repetition may bore you quickly.

NAME: Stranded 2 Mysteries of Time VERSION: 1.0 COMPANY: GLU PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: RPG – Adventure SIZE:  600KB TEST PHONE: Nokia E71 RATING: 7/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the Stranded – Mysteries of Time java game review.  This is a sequel to the original Stranded game we review earlier and one that we regard as a benchmark in all respects!

I wanted this game to be a proper sequel to the original game but its not.  Instead we have all new characters and all new story line.  I would have liked to know what really happened to Mark and the weird doctor lady did they get it on or did Mark was seduced by Mike the policeman, did they ever get back home Ha Ha! (see the continuing walkthrough) – play the original game guys and see what I mean.

I have not finished the game yet because it is quite long.  The new characters so far are stereo types – which actually helps the game progress.  However the introduction chapter is just too long winded and dear I say boring? 15 minutes a least to get into the main story if you rush. This may deter new gamers.

You play Alex Howell a muscle bound doctor of presumably medicine with a typical skeptical attitude but obviously mentally brilliant.  You’re on a island much like the one Jurassic park but with military personnel grounding bit of the island.  You don’t find out what the whole aim of the story yet until at least about an hour into the game.

Technically the game represents the latest in programming so it does look good in particular on the E71’s widescreen!   Graphics are slightly  better than original with trees that sway and birds or bats flying dependent on the games time but the music is virtually the same.  Adds atmosphere but is repetitive.  The day time and night time feature is still there.

The game has some charms – such as the boxes of stuff that magically reappear soon after you kick them.  All the NPCs have the same face.  Your character’s backpack is huge! There a a few odd things like a wood fired time machine and a targetting system that takes time to get used to.  I preferred the old bow an arrow of the original.

There are different 2D and 3D versions dependent on your phone and mobile network.  We bought both to see what the difference was and we preferred the 2D version.  3D does not add anything to the game.

Overall we are enjoying the game.  For new players it will take time to get into the game.  It is not a new benchmark but it is a good detailed game for more serious adventure gamers. We may consider a walkthrough once we’ve finished writign the original Stranded one first!

NAME: South Park 10 VERSION: 1.0 COMPANY: Comedy Central Mobile & Mr Goodliving Ltd PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: TV based SIZE:  595KB TEST PHONE: Nokia E71 RATING: 7/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the South Park 10 Java game review. It’s game set  in the South Park TV universe by a game developer we’ve never heard of before!  If you ever seen the Comedy Central cartoon before prepare to be a little shocked since the series is driven by its topical and satirical and often adult story line and characters not by its deliberate lack of state of the art animation.

The game’s graphics replicates the cartoon’s cut out style and all the better for it.  Simple 2D in the trade mark primary colors works really well.  The game’s theme tune unfortunately is not the same as the TV series likewise the in game sounds.

The format is based completing 3 levels in an ‘episode’ titled after a certain actual episode in each series of the cartoon.  So you’ve quite a lengthy 10 episodes.  The character you play is based on that TV episodes key character!  For example you play the leader of the cows in episode 2 of the game which corresponds to Series 2 of the TV series.  During each level you must collect all  the ‘cheesy poofs’ to unlock special features.

Game controls and gameplay is standard platformer and uses the usual control keys.  We where impressed that the game also had in game volume control which is nice when you can have the music turned on.

Overall its a simple game and entertaining.  Since I do like the TV series I found the game had extra pull.  However those who have not seen the show may find it unimpressive.  Worth getting for fans and those after something familiar but different.

NAME: Frogger Evolution VERSION: 0.0.4 COMPANY: Konami PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: Classic remake SIZE:  228KB TEST PHONE: Nokia E71 RATING: 7/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the Frogger Evolution Java game review. It’s a remake of a classic game released in 1981.

We expected a lot from this game because the original was made for computers with next to no RAM, CPU and graphics capability that now belongs in a regular TV remote control.  So the latest Nokia E71 with better specifications than the most expensive computers in 1981 you’d expect a perfect replica.

This version has two modes the classic mode and evolution mode. The classic mode with blocky graphics is indeed a clone of the original BUT it is not a perfect.  There is stuff cut out such as a row or two of additional cars and little things like that but it does not make it as good as the original.  The most annoying thing is the small size of the FROG!  Could be because we played it on the wide screen E71 but unlikely.

The gameplay is simple and requires patience and accurate timed button presses.  Fast enough and overall well programmed.  However we can’t say much about more because we got bored trying to complete stage 2 of the game!

Great game techincally but unless you’re a Frogger fan it may not work for you.

NAME: The Dark Knight VERSION: 1.0 COMPANY: GLU Mobile PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: Movie based platformer SIZE:  530KB TEST PHONE: Nokia E71 RATING: 7/10 DEMO:

Welcome to The Dark Knight java game review. It’s a game based on the Batman – The Dark Knight movie story line.

The game is in a platformer style so it involves jumping, hitting things with the bat-arang, and rope.  As we all known Batman does not use outright weapons that kill!

We played this after the Watchmen game also by GLU so expected a similar experience.  In that frame of mind we where expecting at least similar experience.

Menu graphics are great – detailed and stylish in a Batman way.  The in game graphics very good 2D with a detailed background.  The animated Batman is detailed and clear likewise his enemies are detailed but seem like clones.  In game SFX and music in typical MIDI tracks.  Technically the game works well and no programming glitches to ruin the experience.

Gameplay is good with helper icons when you need it.  There are not many moves you can get Batman to do but they are done very well.  We liked the 2 part black out move.  There are numerous levels all quite entertaining although felt flat overall.

Problems include slow load time and the last enemy – the Joker at the end. The ultimate boss battle was fiddly to play through.

Overall a good game and worth getting.  It’s easy to play each level on the train or bus but there is not much replay value.

NAME: MotoGP09 VERSION: 1.1 COMPANY: I-Play PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: Motorcycle Racing Game SIZE:  595KB TEST PHONE: Nokia E71 RATING: 8.5/10 DEMO:

Welcome to the MotoGP 09 java game review. It’s a  game set in the 2009 MotoGP racing season.  MotoGP is the official name for the International Motorcycle Grand Prix.  The F1 racing for motorcycles.

MotoGP game is amazingly detailed for a mobile phone based game.  There are 17 tracks, unlockable motorcycle upgrades that cover all the major aspects of the motorcycle, details of all the leading MotoGP riders, awards system, track time, track length details – all the key things needed for a decent motorcycle game.

Graphics are very good for this style of game.  I would say that it probably the best of all the racing games I’ve tried.  It uses 2D and 3D elements.  Your character even looks back at other riders and even falls off if you have an accident.  The back grounds change dependent on which track you are racing on too!  Excellent work.

The in game sound is typical MIDI but this game with ‘heavy rock’ sound track it becomes very repetitive – I didn’t hear and SFX either.

Gameplay is the downfall of many of these games.  Some games have too many real world physics which makes the game unplayable then there are other which are too fiddly, too fast or you have to ride to a specific formula and when you exceed that it punishes you.  Then there are those games that are just fantasy based which are just too easy.  MotoGP avoids all of these and it is actually very playable and enjoyable.  Great job there.

I was impressed with the effort.  The game works really well considering its on mobile phone.  It’s has all the features of a console of PC based game!  It is a benchmark game in the racing game catergory not just the motorcycle game class.  Worth getting because it will take ages to finish properly yet you can enjoy it in quick sessions.