Spore, the revolutionary game from EA, has been rocking the gaming world. It’s no wonder then that Spore would emerge as the best mobile game of the year 2008.
The game is all about creating your own species, making it evolve and finally reaching the top of the food chain as the ultimate predator. In other words, the gamer plays god and may be it is this aspect of the game that has made Spore so popular ( we humans love to play god, don’t we?)
The mobile version of Spore succeeds because it includes just the right aspects of the Spore game for PC, thereby making sure that the game is enjoyable and playable on a mobile. Spore for mobile is a 2D game and is in no way inferior to the full blown 3D version. The game also concentrates only on a fraction of the PC version - the cellular levels. The creature creator is limited as well, but still allows for some level of customization. The basics of customizing our creations, like adding scales, teeth, antennas, etc and changing the size and shape have been reatained and are enough for hours of pure fun on a mobile.
Bottomline is that Spore Mobile is a 2D shooter that allows you great scope for customization- limited, but still great fun on a mobile. Spore is the Game of the Year, without an iota of doubt!
Gameloft, the developer of many wonderful mobile games ( and now across various platforms including the Xbox), have created another racing game that is sure to keep your racing adrenaline on a high.
If any mobile gamer was asked the question of the best racing game on mobile, the answer would be Asphalt, another game from Gameloft. Asphalt has always been my personal number one when it comes to mobile games. Now, Gameloft has introduced competition to its own game in the form of Ferrari Evolution GT HD.
The game makes it possible for those of us out there wishing to own and ride a Ferrari . This reason alone is enough to make you play this game. But this is a Gameloft game after all and it offers you the amazing graphics, detail and ease of play that Gameloft is known for.
The game moves across various locations ( including Italy, of course) and recreates the vibrancy present in each of those locations as true to the real world as possible. The tracks are wonderfully designed and seeing “your” Ferrari make the turns and drift its way to the finish line is priceless! The various racing modes like Career, Arcade are well designed to keep the enthusiasts entertained. The game itself is easy to learn, but hard to master, as the old gaming adage goes. The controls are very responsive, as in Asphalt.
The competition for Asphalt has arrived (at last!) in the form of a sibling!
Ever played the Line Rider flash game? It is not a game in the original sense of the world, but if games are entertainment, then this one sure is a game providing tons of entertainment. The game has come to mobile ( inevitable, considering its popularity) and has managed to keep the gamers hooked to it.
The game provides you with a tool set to create a landscape that will enable a man on a sledge to travel. The games uses real world physics so there is every chance that a faulty landscape feature from you will cause the man to fall off. This makes for an excellent way to spend your free times -designing tracks and see how your “sledgeman” performs. The more daredevil acts you make your sledgeman perform without falling off, the better it gets!
The problem with mobile version is that the mobile controls dont allow for the flexibility needed in creating the track. The flash version was known for its ease of use. But In-Fusio, the developer, has made sure that the game stays true to the original and has made the landscape sculpting process as easy as possible. Creating the tracks takes more time, but atleast you can recreate what you had in mind. Kudos to the developer for that! The “auto curve” feature helps you to make the curves easily, considering the limits that the mobile keys impose.
The game is completely like the original and has been very well designed for mobile gaming. A must for any Line Rider fan and others alike.
What with the arrival of N-gage 2.0 , Android, iPhone and of course the ever present Symbian games, the good old Java games seemed to be on a deathbed. Am not talking about Java’s survival in phones that support Java games alone. Am talking about Java’s relevance in phones that can also support other other game type - like the Symbian phones and thir native games.
Java games always seemed crappy, slow loading, memory hogging games in Symbian phones and were nothing when compared to the native Symbian games (those that come in a .sis package). Recently though, Java mobile games have been staging a fight back. Som J2me games are being noticed and are showing that Java is here to stay, atleast for another 3 to 5 years.
One such game is Furiae. It’s a RPG title for mobiles and you have to actually know that it’s a java game to realize that you are playing one. Very different from other Java games in graphics as well as gameplay. Furiae shows the potential the java platform still has and makes one realize that developers arent doing much to take java games to a new level.
Another is Rally Master Pro. An excellent 3D game that shows Java in its full splendour and glory. If RMP can be so beautiful, there is no reason that other games cant be so.
Java games are again being noticed, in a very competitive scenario. It’s time for the developers to take the initiative and make sure that Java lives!
EA has introduced an intriguing concept called Console Boost, through which gamers can improve their stats on the console version of a game by playing the mobile version.
Tiger Woods 09 is one such game to have the Console Boost. Get both the console and mobile versions , and by playing on the mobile you can actually improve your rating on the console side. The console features works in both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 versions.
It basically works by storing your mobile performance in your EA account and by linking the account to your console and thus applying the CONSOLE BOOST, the skill level increases in the console version. Of course, some kind of translation formula will be applied while translating from mobile performance to console performance.
I dont actually see the utility of the feature, except some marketing gimmick on the part of EA. Playing a MMORPG game on your console and with your mobile, both reflecting the performance in the other, is a neat concept. But what do I get by playing golf ( of all games!) on my mobile and see the achievements on console? Even if EA extends CONSOLE BOOST to other games, I wouldnt be interested. And hey, one has to buy both the console and the mobile versions? Get real EA!
One of the leading mobile game developers, Gameloft, is offering a try before buy scheme for mobile gamers at its site, GameloftLive.com.
At GameloftLive.com, one can register and try the great games from Gameloft in their computer browsers before actually buying them. People signing up also get a free copy of the popular Blockbreaker deluxe game. That’s a sweet offer indeed! The games are presented in a JAVA/Flash interface for trying them.
GameloftLive is basically promoted as a way for gamers to connect with each other. A social networking site of sorts. The site is slowly emerging as THE place to be for Gameloft fans and the gamers at large. Of course, the site is not for mobile games alone and is for every platform that the game developer is involved in, including XBOX and the iPhone.
The site is pretty decent when it comes to providing the social networking features. Am happy that Gameloft has taken the initiative to provide gamers the platform to mingle with link minded people. And adding the browser based trying concept just clinches a winner for Gameloft. I was satisfied with my experience at the site and recommend it for any kind of gamer - novice or expert.
When it comes to mobile games, be it the high-end N-gage games or the pixelated JAVA games (sorry, am always biased against JAVA games), two game developers standout from the rest of the crowd- Gameloft and Electronic Arts (EA).
But which is better? Which game developer manages to create games that have your thumb, sorry, heart, aching for more. Both the game developers churn out wonderful games and we would like to have games from both of them in our mobiles. But who is the leader of the mobile gaming industry? The choice is difficult, but my vote goes to Gameloft.
Gameloft wins over EA because of the sheer variety of games it has released. Just when you thought Gameloft has come up with the best game ever, they go on to outdo themselves by bringing in an even better game. When Asphalt 2 was release for the older N-gage QD, I spent hours before the little screen pushing my car with help of tons of nitro and drifting my way to the finish line. I can still remember going stealthily through buildings with night vision on in Splinter Cell Chaos theory for the QD.
Asphalt 2 and Chaos Theory were gems. But Gameloft had made sure that more such gems were released from its stables. With the onset of the new N-gage and even the Apple iPhone, Gameloft has managed to keep giving us those games we love to play. They are in a lofty position indeed when it comes to mobile games!