KMGR of "GT Racing: Motor Academy"

Image by ktpupp via Flickr

GT Racing: Motor Academy is another variation of GT Racing from Gameloft. This time, they decided to go for more of a Gran Turismo feel. The result is a pretty good driving sim that's more on the realistic side than most. Add a dozen cars, 6 tracks, 4 levels of "license", quite a few race types, and the result ain't bad!

Motor Academy gives you one car to start (a Citroen C4), and you're supposed to finish everything by buying cars and participate in multistage events. There are a lot of different race types, but some of which would be familiar to the Grand Turismo folks... The acceleration and brake test... Accelerate to top speed, then stop inside the end zone. How fast can you do it? There are even 3 levels of success... Gold, silver, and bronze. There are also "obstacle" (go through some openings in the walls, without hitting anything), curve challenge (go as fast as you can, but stay ON the track!) There's also race, duel, "tire test", and more.

KMGR of "Deer Hunter 3D"

Image by Crowhand via Flickr

Deer Hunter is one of those programs that you didn't know people would actually buy for the PC. It was cheap to develop (reputedly for less than 50000 USD) and at $20 it was far more palatable and mature than those kiddie games to adults. And thus it started a "hunting game" subgenre from the shooters. How does this version fare for the Mobile? Quite well, but in a way, it is even MORE limiting, so it's a tradeoff.

For those who don't know Deer Hunter, basically you go on a hunting expedition. In this case, there are three locations: American Midwest, Northern Europe, and Western Russia. Each offers different terrain. You can choose 4 different difficulty levels, which affects the game you can hunt, and how much aim time you have. Finally, you can choose from variety of weapons: bolt rifle, shotgun, single-shot rifle, compound bow, black powder rifle, and finally, just for fun, AK-47. Locations, weapons, and difficulty levels are unlocked as you finish hunts at certain difficult levels and achieve some minimum scores.

KMGR of "ESPN Homerun Derby"

ESPN Homerun Derby (just "Derby" from now on) is a fun little game that does manage to teach you a little bit about baseball, and the multiplayer mode really puts it over the top. Except for the occasional graphics glitches, it may be one of the best mobile games available, even though it looks very childish.

As the name suggest, in Derby you are participating in a homerun derby event similar to those in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game related events.

In single-player, the rules are relatively simple: the pitcher can pitch anything he wants, as long as it's a strike... (and there are 9 different choices: fastball, change-up, knuckle ball, slider...) and you can swing high, middle, or low. The objective is to hit homeruns, or at least don't hit foul or get struck out. You have 10 pitches to accumulate as many "points" as you can. The points are determined by the distance you hit the ball (foul does not count). Only strikes and fouls will decrease the pitch available count (in other words, if you hit the ball and it stays in, you get another chance). You get bonus if you hit consecutive homeruns, or hit a "cycle" (hit homeruns into three different sections beyond the fence), and so on. When you ran out of pitches, you are given a score and the maximum distance you achieved.

More Previews! More Previews!

And yes, SIX previews this time!!!!!

ESPN Homerun Derby -- is hitting homeruns fun? Are you good enough? Kinda comical, but it works online with most WAP enabled phones

Deer Hunter 3D -- is this Deer Hunter the best ever? Is that good enough?

GT Racing: Motor Academy -- will you play a 2D-ish clone of Grand Turismo, on a mobile phone?

Spore Creatures -- Original Spore Mobile is a bit passive. Is this any better?

Assassins's Creed II 3D -- play AC2 on a mobile... Kill people, and avenge your family. Is that fun, or just fancy/shmancy?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 -- is the mobile version any good? Or is it more of a marketing gimmick?

KMGR of "Addiction"

Image via Wikipedia

Addiction has a cute name, and is interspersed with a comic book story about some cliche alien invasion, but it is actually just a variation of Puyo Pop, which is itself a variation on Tetris. As such, this game is derivative, but can be challenging.

The concept behind addiction is that you drop 2 attached balls, maybe different, maybe same colors. You can rotate the balls so it's vertical, horizontal, in 90 degree increments. There are on the game field some "fixed" blocks of various colors. If you drop balls onto blocks to form a "quad" (4 pieces in a row or column, all same color, ball or block), they'll disappear, and anything held up by them will "collapse" to the bottom. If you can chain these together, or make even LONGER combos, even better. You can slide the pieces as you drop them before they "settle in", and there is a "next piece" indicator, a LOT like Tetris or Puyo Pop, isn't it?

KMGR "South Park: Mega-Millionaire"

Image via Wikipedia

The South Park gang is here for a game... That makes fun of Japanese game shows, general American culture, and just about everything else they can, including offending a lot of people! The problem is the gameplay is unforgiving, and thus frustrating, and even the presence of "achievements" doesn't really help the game that much. If you dig that type of humor, AND have the reflexes of a cheetah, give it a try.

The premise of the game is simple... The four main kids from South Park are invited to compete on a game show called Mega Millionaire... A very Japanese style game show where physical challenges are the usual... There's a "meta-gameboard" where you move from square to square, finding out what challenge you have to master.

KMGR of "Breakspin"

Image via Wikipedia

Breakspin mumbles something about the war between light and dark in a 2D universe. What it REALLY is... is a new variation of Breakout, where the "bricks" are round, often require multiple hits, and they explode in pretty confetti fashion. And there are random "creatures" that move about the playing field. Thus, the game is really quite derivative, though it is somewhat fun to play.

There are two versions of the playing field: the standard "Breakout" where you have a paddle at the bottom and you bounce this energy-ball to destroy the various "energy prisons" that are holding the "light creatures" hostage. The other version is the same idea, except the field is CIRCULAR, and you have two rotating paddles that you need to move around to keep the "ball" inside the circle.

KMGR of "Silent Hill Mobile 2"

Image by Roscoe Van Damme (In Memory of Maureen) via Flickr

Silent Hill Mobile 2 is another chapter in the psychological horror adventure. The idea is you are somehow caught between two worlds, the real world, and the "other world". The only way you will find out what is going on is to figure out how to travel between the two, then explore one world for items that can be used in the other world, and vice versa. Again, it's a story from multiple viewpoints in the same locations. If you dig this type of game, give it a try. On the other hand, on a mobile it seems to lose a lot of the "flavor".

The game starts creepy enough. There's a voice about "Karen" will take care of you. You woke up in a locker room, having no idea who you are or how you got there. You start to explore, and get clues and objects, which you then apply to various other items to open up more rooms and such.

There are actually two chapters, as you play as two separate persons. However, the interface is the same. Move mode lets you use the arrow keys to forward, turn left/right, or turn 180. Tap a key and you'll toggle between move mode and lookover mode. The lookover mode turns the cursor into a contextual pointer where you can then look or grab the object, or apply one of your inventory items to the object. One of the first objects you will pick up is the map, which you can access separately.

KMGR of "Disneyland Kart Racer"

Space Mountain
Image via Wikipedia

Disneyland Kart Racer is a very derivative product... It's basically Mario Kart on Disney-esque tracks, with Disney characters, and not the usual ones you'd expect either. Instead, they had to do with the famous rides. The camera is horrendous. The controls are weird and unresponsive, and the result is a kart racing game that's both good and bad at the same time, and ends up as merely average.

The tracks in DKR are based on the rides at Disneyland, such as FantasyLand, Pirates of Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain, and you get to race as some of the famous characters from those rides. However, I must admit that it's been decades since I've been there, and thus I don't recall any of these names: Jane (cowgirl?), Pete (pirate), Misty (sprite), Starman (space mountain, I guess), Ezra (zombie?), and Yeti (Big Thunder Mountain, of course). Each is rated differently in speed, acceleration, and strength, except those ratings and how they affect your race is NOT explained. The ONLY help in the game is which buttons controls what. As you win races, you may win stars which you can use to "improve" the character you're racing as. And different characters have different max for each of the 3 ratings. However, as there's no explanation on what they do, there's no much point is playing with the different stars, other than as another "achievement".

November previews, really! Lots of games in the review queue!

Image by Joe Penniston via Flickr

And here's are just a bit of the taste...

Disney Kart Racer -- will you play a Kart Racer (like Mario Kart) with characters based on Disney rides, not the FAMOUS Disney characters?

Silent Hill Mobile II -- will you be scared by a game on a cell phone? Or is this medium not scary enough?

Breakspin -- breakout variation described as war between light and darkness in a 2D universe...

South Park: Mega Millionaire -- South Park gang of four in a Japanese-style game show... More Mario than South Park though...

Addiction -- sounds cool, plays like Puyo Puyo with cliche comic panels.

And there are five more for the next preview set... so, stay tuned!