Reviews
R
emember how in their heyday
shareware games were so clever and
addictive that they should have been
classified as narcotics? Well that magic is
back—only now you’ll find the same scrappy
thrills on a Pocket PC PDA. Not every game
is a winner—admittedly, the signal-to-noise
ratio on this platform is pretty low—but if
you step away from Doom 3 long enough
to check out some of these titles, you’ll
remember the good times a little game can
deliver. Also, there are free demos for all
these games, so you can try before you buy.
—LOGAN DECKERK&G Arcade
In this plucky action game, a cape-wearing
17th century farmer is abducted by the
extraterrestrial equivalents of Beavis and
Butthead who, just for laughs, force their
bewildered hostage to endure a series of
challenges based on 20th century arcade
game classics. Man, we couldn’t make this
stuff up. You are, naturally, the cape-guy,
and to win you’ll have to complete some
surprisingly tough, shrunken versions of
Frogger , Space Invaders , Defender , Dance Dance
Revolution , and even Whack-a-Mole. With 25
mini-games in all (that are unlocked upon
completion for replay), this is as close as
you’ll get to Nintendo’s classic Wario Ware
on the Pocket PC. And it’s a bargain to boot.MA XIMUMPC VERDICT: 7
MINIS: Tons of variety; just plain weird.
MUMUS: Mini-games are simple. Main character wears
a cape.
$7.50, http://www.clickgamer.comAnthelion
Doom 3 is probably not coming to the
Pocket PC anytime soon, but you can get
your 3D gaming kicks from Anthelion. You’re
a Bedouin pirate—or perhaps, a Bedouin
cargo-sharer —and your missions inevitably
result in firefights with your intergalactic
neighbors. When you find yourself in a
swarm of 10 missile-launching bogies and
the debris of your unlucky foes, expect the
lady next to you on the bus to say, “I didn’t
know the Pocket PC could do that! ”MA XIMUMPC VERDICT: 8
LOW CUT: Inexpensive, spectacular, and fun 3D shooter.
ACID WASH: No landscape mode? Sniff.
$10, http://www.pdamill.comPocket Commodore 64
Developer Clickgamer has taken the shame
out of emulation games with an officially
licensed Commodore 64 emulator for the
Pocket PC. If you were ever a child—indeed,
if you have any human feelings at all —you
know how great this news is. What you
may not know is how great this emulator
is. It’s endlessly configurable, allowing
you to assign touchscreen hotspots as
buttons, and save games that retain your
user settings. Of the 15 ROMs we tried
with Pocket Commodore , only one refused
to work correctly, although a number of
games required tweaking of the settings and
controls in order to play well. Of course,
you must own the original game cartridge
in order to legally download and use a game
ROM from the Internet.MAXIMUMPC VERDICT: 6
BUNNY SLIPPERS: Yesterday’s fun lives on.
PENNY LOAFERS: There’s no way to know if a specific ROM
will work until you try it.
$25, http://www.astraware.comMoon Child
If you really dig elves, this game is for you.
And you’ll get exactly what you deserve.
We’ll concede that Moon Child is gorgeous,
with dazzling backgrounds and swirling,
ethereal animations. And the control scheme
is brilliant—you use the stylus to pull the
Moon Child around on a virtual bungie
cord. Draw it gently to the left and the elf
will casually trot along after it. Draw it
sharply up and the elf will jump higher than
a cheerleader on Dexadrine. The problem is
that no matter how you cut it, Moon Child is
as dull as a TV test pattern, comprised of
traveling through mazes and obstacles while
avoiding the occasional moving object. Kids
might find it charming, but the rest of us
will simply long for Commander Keen.MA XIMUMPC VERDICT: 5
ZIPPER: Beautiful graphics and a great control scheme.
BUTTON FLY: The gameplay is dull.
$15, http://www.clickgamer.com^Hellfire: Apache vs. Hind
America’s Army emphasizes attributes
essential to the armed forces: teamwork,
strategy, and discipline. Hellfire emphasizes
hauling ass in a helicopter gunship and
firing at will. Within seconds of starting
the game, you’re in the pilot’s seat of a
chopper and charged with missions that
usually have you converting your enemies’
summer homes into small stacks of rubble
and rescuing friendlies on the surface.
Whether or not you enjoy the experience
will depend entirely on your hardware. On
most PDAs, controlling the chopper feels like
bridling a giant housefly and riding it into
the kitchen— Hellfire cries out for an external
joypad with analog controls.MA XIMUMPC VERDICT: 6
UNDEROOS: A fun simulation of a nice day in the country
crushing your enemies.
ELDEROOS: PDA buttons just don’t cut it for sharp
maneuvering.
$20, http://www.astraware.com96 MA XIMUMPC NOVEMBER 2004
Games in the Pocket? Don’t Knock It!
We review five of the latest Pocket PC games
ANTHELION
MOON CHILD
HELLFIRE