More Mobile Game Previews! (and a bit of Q&A)

Soul of Darkness -- Gameloft mines the Vampire lore for an action RPG that's got a very Japanese feel. The result is a mobile classic that's part puzzle part combat, excellent side-scrolling parallax graphics, and actually feels pretty long, a shortcoming in most mobile games. Action is fluid, and there's even console-style cutscenes with big dialog bubbles. Hero can sometimes transform into other creatures such as fish or bug and do special things. I'd say this game is pretty good!

Rise of Atlantis -- lousy variation of Bejeweled. Supposedly you finish all these puzzles to get artifacts that'll help raise Atlantis from the depths by going all around Ancient Middle East, from Babylon to Egypt... blah blah. It's just a SILLY excuse to have you play Bejeweled on irregularly shaped boards, and try to drop the "stars" through the "bottom". You sometimes can try to retrieve specials as well, like "bomb", "zap", "time", which respectively "destroys pieces around blast area", "zaps all pieces of that type on the board", and "puts more time back on the timer". Still, don't feel that special. Not that good.

Hamster Mansion -- Hamsters are almost gone from the city... and Gophers are moving in, and they're not nice. However, there is hope... You. You must explore various parts of the city, bring back special items to return Hamster Mansion to its glory... Basically you run around, climb ceilings, and so on. Sorry, not that good.

P.S. Some people asked me if I actually "finish" all the games I reviewed. The answer to that is "no, not always". Usually I try to "finish" it if I can. However, if I can't finish it (I don't claim to be an excellent player) or I can see how the game is going to work out, I'll just tell you my impressions.

P.P.S. In "Galaxy on Fire 3D", I've actually made it to EVERY SINGLE PLANET (5 planet per system, 25 systems per quadrant, 4 quadrants). That's a lot of "mileage". As a result of this accomplishment, your fuel is "free". In other words, there are no more charges to fly to another station. If you need a bribe to get in, that's your problem. :D And now combat is completely a letdown... I finish missions with difficulty rating of 129 easily. Guess I *could* write a strategy guide if I want to...