Mobile Game Review of "Journey to the Center of the Earth"

Yet another remake of an old movie, or should we say... reimagining? The big-screen version is kinda campy fun for kids, but the game... well, let's just say it is lousy.

The game follows the plot of the movie, but turned some sequences into gameplay sequences. There are basically four minigames: rappel, vehicle, dodge-the-dino, and hop. Vehicle was reused twice with slight variations. Everything else was used only once.

Rappel: while rappelling down this huge lava tube, you need to dodge left and right, or "hop" to avoid hitting the rocks (that look like SHELVES) while avoiding falling rocks. There's really no need to move left and right other than to avoid rocks. Just "hop" periodically and there's nothing else to do. You have 5 lives, hit anything and you lose one.

Vehicle: you control a mine-cart, a mine-train, or the raft, and you need to negotiate each corner at the optimum speed... By pressing the required key at the right time, but NOT ahead of time. It's basically a SUPER-SLOW version of Dance-Dance-Revolution. Every mistake you make, you slow down. If you miss too many, you won't be able to make jumps over chasms and such. Fortunately, making the right choice speeds you up (!). Id you die you have to play the whole level ALL OVER.

Dodge-the-dino: well, there has to be a dino chasing scene... Since that was in the movie. In the game, you are at the bottom of the screen, and you see this huge dino head just behind you. Your objective is to jump over or run around obstacles. If you hit an obstacle you lose a life. Lose all lives and it's time to restart the level.

Hop: worst game of the bunch. You basically can jump straight ahead, left, or right. Don't hesitate as it means you won't reach the next rock. Aim for the wrong rock and it's too late (some rocks disintegrate as you land on it). Aim off and it's too late. You have 5 lives to make it all the way to the end. Argh!

Graphics are below normal to par, no likeness of the actors are used except in very generic terms. Music is annoying as heck, and there really isn't much game play at all. At the end, you are simply prompted to try again to beat the previous high-score. Why should I even bother?

Rating: 4 out of 10
Pros: Covers most of the exciting scenes in the movie
Cons: The movie is much more exciting than the game

Mobile Game Review of "The Dark Knight Movie Game"

The Dark Knight grossed the largest revenue ever for superhero movie, as Batman battles Joker for Gotham city. Is the game any good? It's okay, but not much more.

Basicaly, you are following the movie's general plot... Batman is chasing down Liu, the moneyman for the mob, mainly by moving around this 2D level, punching and kicking goons (and blocking), often ambushing, and basically removing goons until you arrive at end of stage or the specified location. You can glide with your batwing, climb using your skyhook, and swing with your skyhook. And that's about it. Really.

The "coolest" move in the game is revealed about midgame. You can use the Batarang to blow out the light over the door, then you can move to the door and hide in the door. If a goon comes to the door, you'll come out and do an insta-kill.

Different goons are armed differently. Some are good in defense and you have to let them hit you (but you blocked), then they go into "fear" stance, then you can beat them up. Others can be taken down straight, yet others require yet other combinations. Still, the best way is to come up BEHIND the goon, then you get to perform insta-kill again. You can do this by going to higher level and glide in behind them, or approach from below, then skyhook up behind them.

The levels are fun, but not well 'guided' as you aren't always sure which way to go. Esp. on the levels where you must find the bombs or gas canisters. One of the levels had me exploring left and right and up and down, and only found the exit by accident.

Joker is pretty much the only "boss", and you get to fight him TWICE... at least not one right after the other.

The graphics are decent, but nothing outstanding. The extra screen real-estate on the LG VX9900 enV was well used, as the levels look okay in general. It's combat that can wear you down as you try different combinations of attacks and blocks that will actually damage your opponent.

All in all, the game is okay, competent, but not much more. It feels Batman-ish, but not enough, and you don't get to play with any of the Batman's famous vehicles such as the Batcycle and Batmobile. Argh!

Rating: 7.0 out of 10
Pros: Game feels Batman-ish, follows movie
Cons: Not enough Bat-toys to play with, feels more "Gotham Street of Rage" than Batman

More Mobile Game Previews!

The Dark Knight -- the movie tie-in game is a 2D platformer, with Batman battling various henchmen using martial arts, a bit of jumping and flying around, and finally, get Joker. Not too bad, but a bit short. Feels Batman-ism, except the combat. Prelim rating is 7/10.

Journey to the Center of the Earth -- another remake of an old movie, with Brandon Frasier, means another ridiculous game. This one is really sorry, as you're forced to perform sequences that means exact timing, rote memorization, or death. Skip this game. Prelim rating is 4/10.

Big City Stickball -- street baseball, with no base running, just targets, bonuses, and hitting. You need to beat 4 different teams to be the best in the city. Each zone is harder than the next. How good are your stickball skills? prelim rating 6.5/10

Mobile Game Review of "Emoticons"

Emoticons is yet ANOTHER variation on connect-3, which powers Bejeweled, PuzzleQuest, and more. Unfortunately, this one ain't as cute as PuzzleQuest, and thus, only rates a 6: competent, and nothing much else.

Frankly, I'm tried of connect-3 variations that has little else to offer. PuzzleQuest has a lot of stuff, and this does, enough said. The fun part here is the pieces are all emoticons, you know, :-) (smiley), :-D (LOL, or Lollie), and so on. Except they are drawn into cute Pac-man like icons that resembles something you'd download. And you connect and move THEM around to make 3 or more chains and score points for doing so. You can even link up "similar colors" (what are similar wasn't explained though).

There was supposed to be four modes: normal (untimed), timed, challenge (timer can be recharged by removing chains), and puzzle (no new pieces, but you must remove all pieces). However, they all look alike, sound alike, and play alike, so that you don't really feel any differently.

Sound is repetative, though lively, and music is forgettable.

All in all, Emoticons is an also-run that seems to appeal to kids rather than older gamers. You'll get MUCH more gameplay out of PuzzleQuest than this game.

Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: it is easy to pick up and get into
Cons: been there, done that, got the scars

Mobile Game Review of "Uno (mobile)"

Image via WikipediaTo be completely honest, I've never played Uno when I was a kid. However, I can see the attraction of this fast-paced game with simple but varies strategies, and a LOT of chance involved. The mobile version gives you all that, plus 3 AI opponents (sorry, not tunable), and a bunch of optional rules.

So what is Uno? It's a game that involves getting RID of your hand by following the card that's on the "ground". There are four colors, and the card you put down must match the card already on the ground in value or color, unless you choose to play a wild card. If you can't play any card, you must draw from the stack. There are special cards that can skip turn, reverse the normal flow, or even cause the next person to take 2 to 4 cards, with no chance to put some down. Once someone has only ONE card left, that person must declare "Uno". Once someone has gotten rid of all cards, a score is calculated based on what the other three players have left. You can choose to play a game up to 100, 200, or higher points.

There are no special variations other than the slightly different house rules. You can edit the various player's avatar and the card / card table backgrounds, but that's about it as far as customization goes. Sound effects are minimal, and music is forgettable.

Adaptations with minimal additional features, such as the Uno here, are competent, but nothing special, which means it rates a 7.0... solid, but unremarkable.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10
Pros: solid Uno port, special house rules, some customization, 3 pretty good AI
Cons: no special variants, AI strength not adjustable, too much chance

Mobile Game Review of "Wordox"

Wordox was one of Sierra's "Hoyle Games", that Vivendi Universal (parent of Sierra) decided to tap it as one of their mobile games. Unfortunate, it has more knowledge of words than you do, so unless you happen to know a lot of words that are 6-letters or shorter, expect to get beaten by the AI all the time, unless you play the dumbest level. Thus this game really isn't that fun.

WARNING: Word Snatcher is the same game, despite somewhat different description. Got tricked and downloaded it AGAIN! :P

The game is similar to Scrabble (tm), but with a much smaller board. You get to start first against AI, and your first word must pass through center of the board. The longer your word, the more you score. However, if you can use the other player's letters to form your word, you can "steal" those letters from his side to your side, and thus, he will lose those points while you gain them. However, you only have six letters available (plus whatever's on the board). So don't expect to form long words. If you can't form a word within the time limit, the letters are passed to the AI. If neither side can form words with the 6 letters available, they are discarded and 6 new random letters are chosen. If you used up some letters, they are replaced, so there are always six letters available (can be repeated) basically both player take turns placing letters on the board to form words. There are pink and orange squares on the board. If you manage to place words on orange squares, you gain orange points. If you then place words on pink squares, you redeem your orange points into real scoring points. The object is to get to 25 points before the other player.

As mentioned before, the AI has access to a good dictionary, and you need a dictionary to play against it at the higher levels. AI knows tricks that you don't, like forming two words at once. Keep in mind that if you make a mistake and put in a word that's not recognized by the program, you'll lose the turn to the AI (at two of the three difficulty levels). This, when combined with the AI's dictionary knowledge, gives it a enormous advantage over you, the human player.

I personally don't like word puzzles, but I can see there's a market for this. Unfortunately, this game isn't as cute as Bookworm or other word puzzle games, and there really isn't too much to recommend this game over others, esp. with the AI that holds all the cards (letters?).

Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: you'll learn some words you didn't know are words
Cons: you'll be exclaiming "that's not a word!" over and over

More Mobile Game Previews!

Wordox (Vivendi Mobile) -- a game similar to Scrabble (tm) but with a few twists... See rules here. Play against 3 levels of AI for some fast-paced word fun. Beware that the AI does have an advantage on you as it knows far more short words than you do.

UNO (Oasys Mobile) -- the classic fast-paced card game goes mobile! Play against 3 AI players and setup your own variation of house rules if need be (or leave it all alone for the classic game) and see who really goes UNO! Good adaptation, but nothing really special here, except ability to slightly customize your avatar.

Emoticons (Konami Mobile) -- it's another connect-3 game, this time with the various emotions as the pieces, like LOLlie :-D, Smiley :-), and so on. There are four modes: classic (untimed), timed, challenge (timer can be recharged by completing sets), and puzzle (no new pieces will fall, but you must remove as many pieces as possible). There are also trophies and "MSG Log" which act as "achievements" for the game.

Mobile Game Review of "The Oregon Trail"

My review of "The Oregon Trail" is up on IGN. Worth your money, as I give it an 8, same as IGN.

Mobile Game Review of "Afterworld: Global Contact"

Afterworld: Global Contact is supposed to be a new chapter in the Afterworld universe. While the Afterworld Universe is very interesting, the game itself, unfortunately, is anything but.

Afterworld is one of those indie production telling a compelling story of an everyman in extraordinary circumstances. After "The Fall", 99.9% of the Earth's population are simply... gone. There were no bodies. The survivors found themselves in a world of virtually NO technology... No electricity except batteries, no cars... And a lot of questions. What had happened? Why? What do we do now? The protagonist, Michael Shoemaker, was in New York on a business trip when the Fall hit. After finding a few survivors in New York, and learning how to survive, he set out to find out the cause... and to make it home to find his wife and daughter.

The game, however, deals with a separate protagonist altogether. You're supposedly some minor diplomat in New York. After "the fall", you need to survive the city, then make your way to other cities around the world, and perhaps, solve a few problems along the way. The short description make the game sounds like a RPG. However, the actual game play is like an action puzzle. Basically, you move around, pushing crates to block enemies, don't let enemy touch you or block you in, or shoot you. You need to pick up the various pieces of items before you can pick up the journal entry, and after you got that, you can go for the exit. However, there's almost always complications. Often, getting all the pieces except the journal will trigger the EMP, which makes enemies that are formerly comatose come awake and ready to bash your head in. And you need to block them in before they come awake.

While the story and objectives sounds interesting, the actual gameplay is anything but. Most puzzles can be solved in maybe 2 attempts, as the AI is anything but intelligent. It's basically a matter of figuring out who to block first.

As the name suggests, Global Contact have you, the protagonist, help various factions around the world trying to put back together a global communications network using simple Morse code and transmitters, while defeating the various militia, historians, and so on.

Frankly, I find the game to be a MAJOR disappointment, as it promises so much, that when I actually got into the game, it simply cannot deliver. I'd suggest you watch the video series instead. It's free, and saves you a couple bucks.

Overall: 5.5 out of 10
Pros: interesting puzzles at times, good story and universe
Cons: suggests RPG, delivers puzzle instead

Mobile Game Review of "NASCAR '09" (EA Sports)

EA's NASCAR license is almost a license to publish money... Just update the game every year and add some new features. I reviewed the NASCAR '07 3D not too long ago, and gave it a 7.5. I'd expect this game to do at least just as well. Sadly, it ain't so. EA have introduced so many bugs and glitches, this game is a lot worse than the NASCAR '07 3D mobile. I would suggest you buy the old one, and ignore this new one, and I usually don't do stuff like this.

To describe the game is a little difficult... Let's just say that NASCAR '09, like NASCAR '07, is a "tactical car race sim". The objective, of course, is to reach the finish line first.

What's different from other racing sims is the AI will keep the car in the "lane". You decide which lane to be in (i.e. left or right) and what mode to go at: reckless (red), fast (yellow), or normal (green). Some corners can be taken faster at a certain lane than others. You can switch lanes to block other drivers from passing you, or you may want to line up behind someone to get "drafting". If you are drafting someone (shown by the draft-o-meter), you can go in a slower mode and still enjoy faster speed. You also consume fuel and tire at a lesser rate than when you're NOT drafting someone.

The fuel that you have is never enough, so you will have to pit. In fact, you have the option of playing 8 lap, 16 lap, 32 lap, or full 300 lap (!) races. You will pit a LOT. Pitting, in fact, is a major part of the strategy, You want to pit during yellow flag, and you want to make a FAST pitstop by doing as little as possible (change 2 tires instead of 4, just a splash of fuel instead of fill the tank, minimal instead of full repairs...). However, you need enough fuel to finish the race, you need enough tires so you can do the corners fast, and you need minimal / no body damage so you can go fast (aerodynamics). It's all decisions you have to make on the track as you race. That's why I call it "tactical racing sim".

Drafting, in fact, is so important, that it's the only way you'll really pass. When you fill the draft-o-meter, you gain a bit of a reserve speed. As you slide out from behind the other car, you have like a 3-5 second "turbo" period where you are suddenly doing 20+ MPH faster than your normal top speed. Use this sudden short burst of speed to pass other cars, but don't pass so many that you can't get back into drafting!

So what changed from '07 to '09? I am afraid it's a change for the worse. The game's framerate seems to have suffered. The sound effects are MUCH WORSE. The AI seems to cause a lot more collisions and you hear "crunch" sounds all the time. There's NO engine roar at all, not even when you pass someone or someone passes you. And what's worse, collision detection is horrendous. Twice I've seen this: slide the car behind someone going slow, and that car will back up ALL THE WAY THROUGH YOUR CAR, then work its way THROUGH YOUR CAR AGAIN, this time forward, thus doing major damage to both your front and rear. Also, the car's handling seems much twitchier. What used to be a safe corner to take at "fast" (yellow) with good tires must now be done in "normal" (green). There are also some severe graphical glitches. In some of the 3D rotations as you pan onto the car you control, the polygons don't clip correctly, and for a moment you thought you're looking at a Craftsman truck instead of NASCAR stock car.

The roster has been updated, but you get LESS info now. You no longer see which brand of car or sponsor the driver has, just his portrait, his number, and a TINY pic of his car / paint scheme.

You do get to play through a whole season instead of just "The Chase" for the driver's championship points, but that's not much of a compensation. Esp. with all the glitches and problem reported earlier.

All in all, I can only give this title a 6.5, which is a whole point LOWER than 7.5 I gave to NASCAR'07. It's bigger, later, but not better at all.

Overall: 6.5
Pros: updated roster, ability to play full season
Cons: much twitchier car, horrendous collision detection, major graphical glitches