Category: Game Reviews

NAME: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
VERSION: 1.0.4
COMPANY: THQ
PLATFORM: JAVA
GENRE: Platformer
SIZE: 640 KB
TEST PHONE: K800i
RATING: 7/10
DEMO:

Welcome to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull JAVA game review. You’re probably planning to see the movie and perhaps even buy the game? Yes big movies these days have even bigger merchandising opportunities and the games aspect is no different! There are so many versions of the game released with the movie to go for – but is the mobile version worth it?

You play as Indiana Jones action adventure archaeologist tomb raider. The only weapon he has is his whip and physical skills eliminating Nazi enemies and dangerous animals. So jump, swing, whip and run as much as you can.

The game also alternates between Jones and his sidekick (aka son – Mutt) who doesn’t have any weapons but you must complete the various Mutt stages to unlock keys for later stages by doing time based stages.

The story line is not the same as the movie so it is worth the playing time.

The graphics and sound are standard mobile phone, so it’s a 2D and MIDI based game. There is nothing exceptional at all. However there is something nostalgic about hearing the theme tune again after so many years that adds to the anticipation of playing the game.

The controls are basic but it works better using the keypad as opposed to a navigation key. Easy to play in most locations you’re at.  The collision detection is forgiving enough to make the game enjoyable rather than a technical exercise in positioning.

There is nothing new or special about this game – it works well, better than the fiddly Tomb Raider series for the mobile phone but most of all Indiana Jones is entertaining. Worth the download.

NAME: Puzzle Quest Warlords
VERSION: 1.0.4
COMPANY: Infinite Interactive/THQ
PLATFORM: JAVA
GENRE: RPG
SIZE: 513 KB
TEST PHONE: K800i
RATING: 8/10
DEMO:

Welcome to the Puzzle Quest Warriors game review. This review is for the JAVA based mobile phone version of the game. You can get it for all the other consoles and PC? platforms by the time you read this review.

This is an interesting game, as it part RPG and part matching colors games. It reminded us of a game called Archon released way back in the 80’s except that it was a chess game then a shoot’em up when pieces met. In puzzle quest it’s an RPG and when characters meet they have a matching colours game.

Game play is initially simple until you realise that you need to learn about the other combat moves like casting spells and mana collection into order to proceed and complete the game. Additionally you will need to learn about activating or tuning runes and learning new and different spells. All these tasks are done via the matching colored gems game. Once you get the drift of the game mechanics it all becomes quite easy to remember.

You can pick from 8 different characters with differing attributes, warrior classes and even male and female avatars. This is quite unusual in a mobile game. Each character has a different ‘featured ability’ but it largely becomes irrelevant by the time you reach the maximum level of 20 since by then you should have virtually all the spells and runes at your disposal. Even after your character reaches level 20 you can still upgrade your abilities!

The RPG or adventure part of the game is pretty much fixed, meaning you get the same quest regardless of character, however the puzzle part of the game is quite random. That said the AI can defintiely tell when you’re on a winning streak because your opponent can get ‘suddenly’ VERY lucky with the matches – so we reckon its biased! This is good because it makes the game far more interesting to play.

Gameplay is done very well and simple to control even on the test k800i which has the fatal flaw of dodgy joystick and poor ergonomics. We’d play the game on a Nokia or Samsung any day!

In game sound and music is typical mobile phone MIDI ‘middle age’ theme and boring.

Graphics are 2D but are done very well. They are usually static except for the various effects when using spells of when you’ve collected the required minimum of 3 matching puzzle pieces. The animated effects are quite effective and also well done.

Conclusion: This is a great game however it takes a little while to bet into. Due to this it won’t attract a huge following but anyone who does get it and learns the ropes will be rewarded. It is that it is different to any other RPG style game and more a matching colors game than out right quest RPG.

Check out our game help section for game hints.

NAME: The Sims2 Castaway VERSION: 1.0.8 COMPANY: EA Games PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: RPG SIZE: 457 KB TEST PHONE: K800i RATING: 6/10 DEMO:

Welcome to The Sims2 Castaway review. We like the Sims series games in general and although the first Sims2 games for the mobile we tried wasn’t the breakthrough we where expecting we where still happy to give the latest release a go.

The scenario for castaway is shown in a few slides at the start of the game of how you go to the island, essentially thrown off your sailing ship where you where having a party with others due to some sort of natural disaster. I didn’t quite catch the name of the ship on the life ring but I sure it had some corporate significance. You wash ashore and have to start fending for your self.

There are several versions of this Castaway game, namely for the Nintendo DS, PC and so forth. However this mobile version plays quite differently compared to the say – the DS version. The Sims2 Castaway for mobile phones gameplay although ties in with the other versions in that it involves collecting food and any other items lying around so we can use them later, it’s obviously less complex play.

The story is all about how to get off the island and back to civilisation.  All the sub-quests lead up to this ending.  The quests are very simple, collect this item from that person , play mini-game to accomplish and so forth.  The locations are: The Bay, Waterfall, Beach, Cave, The Cliffs and your Camp.  Throughout the game you’ll meet the characters on the island,  Mike the geek, Sandi the snobby cook, Higgins the hid pea in the pod monkey, Leyla the fashionista and ‘So you think you can dance’ wannabe, Crazy Carl the cave and psycho treasure hunter dweller, Jeff the surfer guy, the local monkeys, and of course the Pineapple man.

Although a reasonable game to play it doesn’t have the character development of say the Stranded game.  The games characters are supposed to represent stereo types but it just doesn’t work.  For example the surfer guy isn’t stereotypical or chilled out he comes across as sly, like wise the geek isn’t vaguely geeky, he’s just w….er hermit.  Sandi the supposedly snobby character is actually helpful.

The game controls are easy enough to master, the game music is the usual MIDI and graphics, current industry standard. See the Larry game for one of the better graphics in a mobile phone game.

To conclude Castaway reminded us of our favorite desert island game ‘Stranded’. However Castaway is not as good. For example, the lack of a proper introduction like in Stranded amongst a variety of other things, disappointed since this one is made by EA. You can choose to leave the island at the end of your tasks or continue to wonder around the island completing all the optional mini-tasks.  It’s a good game but spoiled by poor characters and lack of a sub-plot or interesting story line.

NAME: Need For Speed ProStreet
VERSION: 4.2
COMPANY: Electronic Arts
PLATFORM: JAVA
GENRE: Car/Street Racing
SIZE: 291 KB
TEST PHONE: LG U810
RATING: 7.5/10
DEMO: EA Games

Welcome to the Need For Speed ProStreet for mobiles game review. The Need for Speed series has been around over 10 years on the PC so the reputation is there. One of the better ones until the release of the Playstation based Grand Tourismo.

EA has done a great job in translating the latest Need For Speed game to the JAVA and the mobile phone. So much so that we can’t really say anything specifically negative about the way the game plays. The graphics are as good as any other 2D racing games the icons not too big or small, sound is limited as always…

The game has a quick race mode and a career mode which impressed us – because the file size was so small! It has the ability to customize your car with various performance additions and of course buy new cars. There are a number of different race courses to try out too!

The game controls are very simple for a game that allows you to drift and use Nitro boost – they used to call it turbo boost in the last decade! The auto accelerate is a great feature, it even as a drift button.

As for difficulty the game is perfect for beginners. First stages are really easy to get you started with although the course could have taken less time to complete – since it does require more concentration than the normal games. If anything we where disappointed that we only had $14,000 in cash to start with because the cheapest car to the career mode in costs $8,000. This is a mobile phone game guys it doesn’t need to be that realistic.

Overall a very good racing game but nothing really different to set it apart from any other good racing game. At least you won’t regret paying  for this one.

NAME: Monopoly Tycoon
VERSION: 0.0.5
COMPANY: Mforma Group
PLATFORM: JAVA
GENRE: Board game
SIZE: 291 KB
TEST PHONE: Sony Ericsson K800i
RATING: 7.5/10

Welcome to the review of Monopoly Tycoon for JAVA. Although we enjoy the physical Monopoly board game we have never enjoyed the mobile version -because it doesn’t well to the small mobile phone screen. So When Monopoly Tycoon was released we happy to give it go.

Tycoon is a really simple game to get into. We where hooked after the first game. It is not like the regular Monoploy game but an extension. Essentially you are micro managing the streets that you have bought with businesses and hotels.

Game play is turn based. One turn to buy and another to build and another to manage. The situation for each street changes so building the right type of buildings and businesses will win you the game. There are 5 game types so you won’t get bored for a little while. All are challenging and open ended. Money management is key in this game so watch how much you spend.

The game AI pits you against 2 other computer characters.  One of them is usually not very smart so you end up with one one computer opponent.  The remaining AI player can be quite tough to beat if you are slack!

Game controls a simple to buy the streets, utilities or building or changing businesses. Use the navigation keys and the center button to activate the various options.

Graphic quality unfortunately a let down. Sure there are animations of construction and people but the lack of quality in the actual graphics is a let down. For example there is very little difference between a low quality building and a high quality building.  We understand there are different versions catering for the specifications of phones so we may have just been sent the basic version.  Regardless the K800i we tested it on isn’t short on power.

Music is likewise simple and quite catchy but repetitive just like any other mobile phone game.

Overall a good game that shows that game play does overcome other traditional short falls of mobile phones games. We liked it and you probably will too. It’s not a classic or ‘must have’ but it’s not a complete waste of your $$$ either. Fun to play.

NAME: Art Of War N.A.C
VERSION: 1.0.8
COMPANY: Gear Games
PLATFORM: JAVA
GENRE: Real Time Strategy RTS
SIZE: 457 KB
TEST PHONE: K800i
RATING: 7.5/10
DEMO: Art Of War

Welcome to the Art Of War for Mobile phone game review. The Art of War is basically a Command and Conquer (PC) clone. You build our type and number of forces from resources that you gather then destroy the enemy. The game even has a C&C like story line.

Graphics reminded us of the original C&C over ten years ago so it not state of the art- even for a mobile phone but perfectly adequate for this genre. The icons are on the small side which is fair enough given the limited mobile phone display. But we feel a little more details or redesign could make it stand out more. Music is generic MIDI.

Gameplay is Real Time Strategy so you need to work quickly before your forces are decimated by the enemy. Finding resources and building sufficient force does take a while so you will find it challenging. Each stage is over very quickly if you get the balance right. The game arena or real estate was surprisingly large. However the game ended quite abruptly just when we thought we where 1/2 way through. There are only 6 stages all up.

Game controls are simple but you really need a phone with a joystick or properly designed navigation key to make the most of the game. For example the K800i and most new Nokia’s. Some unexpected features included the ability to group your forces and a number of different, a mini-map zoom feature and clearly defined buildings.

It didn’t take very long to get in to the game. Unfortunately there are some issues mainly due to the small screen and timing which means that you really need to concentrate to win one or two stages. The cause was the AI of your troops – that said overall the AI was very good even the enemy forces.

The variety of unit types to build was very good for a mobile phone game.  4 moving units and 2 stationary defensive units.  Personally they could have added one more – an air based unit would have really impressed us.

We liked the Art of War and recommend it to any one who wants a RTS for your mobile phone. It is challenging if you use the higher difficulty level setting. Using easy level settings we could complete the game except for the last level in one try. The ending was disappointing since it’s not really an ending

NAME: Leisure Suit Larry Love for Sail VERSION: 0.6.4 COMPANY: Vivendi Games PLATFORM: JAVA GENRE: Graphic Adventure SIZE: 554 KB TEST PHONE: K800i RATING: 7/10 Demo: Larry-mobile.com

The Leisure Suit Larry series of games have been around for about 20 years! and this is the first known mobile phone version! You play Larry who is basically a stereotypical geek from the 80’s as he basically tries to find a lady and love of his life.

The Leisure suit is basically a Safari suit from the 70’s and was a ‘fashionable’ piece of clothing all those years ago. Watch an old James Bond movie to see it for real. Yes, 30 years ago a Safari suit and Flares where the height of fashion!

So how is the game? Leisure Suit Larry – Love For Sail (JAVA) for the mobile phone promised so much at least in title since it harked back to the genuinely witty and non-politically correct age of the 80’s. It’s relaunch in the 00’s is hence going to be interesting since it is without its original creators and in a totally different world. It’s also very different from the PC version of the game.

Graphic wise this game is state of the art 2D. It honestly looks great. Realistic graphics on a mobile phone game is NOT a pre-requisite to success but playability is. We can’t understand why everyone is so focused on 3D or real life graphics when they haven’t got the gameplay down pat. Larry is thankfully not presented in fake 3D but is comic style 2D like the original series. Some of the non-layer characters you meet resemble real life celebrities and movie stars, The Hoff, Tom Cruise, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton are just a few parodies to watch out for.  Their alternative names are quite funny – for most.

Gameplay is simple enough but takes some time to get used to than most. Combining actions is the trickiest since it takes quite a few steps to manipulate objects. Trial and error with the not consequence (unless successful) was one of the fun parts in the original series and thankfully its been retained.

In game music in the original PC versions where a very important part in revealing the tone and mood of the game. It hasn’t been translated well to the mobile version.  There are only about 3 versions of the theme.

The adventure or story line its self is classic Larry although cut back for the mobile phone.    The witty one liners, a standard Leisure Suit Larry feature does not always work due mainly to political correctness and target audience of the game.  The games lasts for at least 2 hours on first play.

Overall its a good game but not a classic – something is missing.  Try Stranded by Glu if you want a game that scores top marks with us.

NAME: Star Wars Battle Above Coruscant
VERSION: 1.3.5
COMPANY: THQ Wireless
PLATFORM: JAVA
GENRE: Space Shooter
SIZE: 316 KB
TEST PHONE: K800i
RATING: 7/10

There’s a war going on – Star Wars that is! There have been quite a few game releases based on the famous movie series in the last 12 months, sometimes we think there’s going to be a new movie out with all these releases! Regardless we decided to do a review of the Battle Above Coruscant for the mobile.

The Battle Above Coruscant is a space shooter game where you play Anakin Skywalker before he turns into Darth Vader. You take control of his Jedi fighter and R2-D2 of course in shooting down droid fighters as he goes to the rescue of the Supreme Chancellor AKA the Emperor in disguise!

As far a games reviews go we are rarely surprised by the in game graphics. After all most mobile phones still don’t have the power for true 3D graphics or have the memory to make something truly stand out. However when we ran this game we where almost impressed by the quality of the graphics. Although presented in 2D we loved the independent background environment that was going on – it’s just like the movie. That said your Jedi star fighter sprite could be made a little better. Anyway it proves that 2D graphics still work in the latest games.

The game features different powerups which you collect for the normal thing like weapons and health. Unfortunately you lose all of them and  have to start at the beginning of each level should you get shot down.

The game’s music theme is the usual MIDI based Star Wars Theme however we expected better due to the graphic design.

As for the the game controls, they are the only thing that lets the side down. It has auto-fire which you clearly need on a mobile phone platform but there is something else missing. Maybe the game’s AI is to hard or the keyboard on the K800i is not responsive enough? We found it difficult to avoid getting hit. We looked long and hard and conclude that it’s the small and other times over large size of some of the icons, specifically the missiles and certain laser fire that make this game harder than it should be. Playing the game requires a higher degree of concentration than many others. This makes it difficult to play on the move or casually Ie. on the train.

We want a to be able to finish the game at the basic level – at least without too much thinking. This is a mobile phone game not a console!

That said, the game is divided into 6 levels: Fighters, Missiles, Battleship, Cruiser, Obi-Wan and Shields. The hardest level in the Cruiser Level purely due to the number of small objects coming at you. Requires concentration that should never be made on a mobile phone game.

Anyway, in the end we loved the graphics and the concept but it needs to be made easier for beginners, after all the game already has a selectable difficulty – the Jedi level for the die-hards.

NAME: Stars Wars The Empire Strikes Back
COMPANY: THQ Wireless developed by G5e Entertainment
PLATFORM: JAVA
GENRE: Movie Tie-in
SIZE: 615 KB
TEST PHONE: Sony Ericsson k800i
RATING: 6/10

We liked the last LEGO Star Wars game. So when this non LEGO version was announced we quickly got one to review. The developer of this game was different from the LEGO based versions and it shows.

Each of the key scenes from the movie are replicated with you controlling the lead characters at the time, guiding them through the adventure. So you can relive the Hoth battle, Dagobah, the Asteriod field and Bespin locations. So there’s no need to elaborate on what tasks you need to perform.

The graphics are good and the sound mobile phone standard. (It uses pesudo 3D top down perspective for most of the game play.) But it doesn’t help the game play.

Of there is one definite criticism with the game it is the game controls. Sure the controls are logical and easy to master but unless you have a joystick based phone you will find it difficult to play. Needless to say if your phone has small keys even worse.

To conclude the game is not as entertaining as the LEGO based versions. Yes there are lightsaber duels. However it’s missing something…