Signs of the Zodiac

2005-02-28T20:51:00.000Z

Sometimes it isn't about getting more pieces. This level, for example, is easier to complete by blocking the computer from making any moves.

2005-02-28T20:49:00.000Z

This level looks difficult and it is, your pieces can come under attack from different directions or from jumping over the gaps. Just one example of the level design of Colony

2005-02-28T20:48:00.000Z

Level 11, I'm stuck and the path isn't clear...

2005-02-28T20:47:00.000Z

Colony looks pretty enough for the kind of game it is, sometimes too much in a puzzle game can cloud the elegence of the gameplay or make things confusing. I like it.

Review - Colony

2005-02-28T20:43:00.000Z

Aha, I recognised this game from http://www.mking.com (makers of the very, very fine Demonstar 2D shooter for PC). Colony doesn’t seem to be on their catalogue anymore, but these guys wrote the PC version. I couldn’t find out if Colony is an original concept by the Mountain King guys or if it was a port of something older or a web style game like Bejewelled. Wherever it came from, Colony is a welcome addition to my Zodiac’s library of games.

Colony is a strategy game which I could compare to the likes of Othello but I’m going to avoid that sort of thing. Mostly because Colony has a much more puzzle element than a straightforward player vs player game. The object of each of the 50 levels in Colony is to finish with more of your pieces than the opponent. Rather obviously, it is not as easy as it sounds.

Colony is played on a board that is split into squares, each square can hold one playing piece. Each turn a player can move one piece, if you move a piece to an adjacent square your piece duplicates. If you choose a square one from your current position (which could involve leaping an opposing piece), you will move your piece and lost out on increasing your total number of playing pieces. If an opposing piece is next to your piece on any side, it will turn into your colour. This presents you with a tactical problem as if you leap a piece to take advantage of a situation two squares away, you could leave your other pieces vulnerable.

Now this is all very well if you were playing on a traditional chessboard, but Colony’s levels are all different, presenting you with various layouts, some layouts include gaps or walls designed to hamper your progress. This enhances Colony’s appeal no end. While AI on a traditional gameboard could eventually become repetitive or easy to exploit, the additional element of the levels ensure that is not the case.

From a presentation point of view Colony pushes all the right buttons, the main screen and menus are presented with a minimalist white font on a black background which is livened up by a Matrix™ style sequence of changing zeros. There aren’t any options to configure, but you can save games as your progress and load these from the main menu. A nice instructions page and high score is also accessible from the main menu.

As I just mentioned you can save games as you progress. Games are not automatically saved, so be sure to save at the beginning of a new level, defeat will mean you have to start from Level 1, not a nice thought to plough through up to 50 levels. Personally it would’ve been good to see an auto-save. If you exit the game, you can resume it though. You can also undo your last move, should you make a monumental tactical mistake.

In game graphics are, despite attempts by the Tapwave store to make it sound more exciting, fairly minimal. The view is isometric and your playing pieces are represented as rendered globes, there is animation as your pieces jump and move across the boards, which themselves are colourful, if fairly uninteresting. Sound is also kept to a minimal with some birds squawking occasionally (I have no idea why) and some sci-fi sound effects as your pieces clone, jump and takeover the enemy.

To be honest, Colony hits the mark, graphically it is functional for the game it is, you could have the pieces represented by animals or other objects, but it wouldn’t change the gameplay which is engaging and challenging. At $14.99 in the US and £10.99 in the UK you get your money’s worth (arguably better value in the US, c’mon Tapwave, stop overcharging us Brits please).

While I have completed the PC version many years ago, I have not yet progressed beyond Level 11 on the Tapwave, I am tearing my hair out…

A good puzzle/strategy game.

Colony is available from the Tapwave store in both US and UK regions.

Review - Spyhunter

2005-02-24T16:31:00.000Z

With the exception of Tony Hawkes Pro Skater 4 the most famous launch title for the Zodiac was Spyhunter. An undisputed classic 1980's arcade game that has already been updated for Xbox and Playstation2. Having played the Playstation 2 version of Spyhunter and been suitable unimpressed there was a certain sense of apprehension when I click on the Proceed to Checkout button on Tapwave's software store.

Alas, my apprehension was well founded.

Spyhunter is a 3D shoot-em up featuring a hi-tech car which has an arsenal of weapons available to it, rockets, oil slicks and smoke are but some of the weapons available to the player. The aim of Spyhunter is to hunt spies as an agent roaming the highways dealing out justice. Enemy cars appear as black cars while civilian cars are coloured white. Shooting civilian cars isn't a good idea.

I wish I could say that this was the tip of a massively deep and fulfilling gaming experience, but alas I cannot. That is, quite literally, all there is to it. You drive forward, speed up and slow down while enemy vehicles appear at regular intervals and fail to engage you in any kind of excitement as you hold down the fire button and dispense with them, if you want you can use a missile or something else. Oh, sometimes you turn into a boat, but the game is identical in everyway except you're on a blue road.

At no point on the road are you offered a choice of routes or any sub-games or any kind of diversion from just going forward and shooting bad guys. It is, quite literally, Spyhunter in 3D.

There are attempts to string out the game with two game modes, 'mission' and 'arcade' but they are the basically the same thing. The mission mode is broken up under the guise of your car hunting around the world to thwart the diabolical plans of the bad guys. Arcade mode is a continuous mode to try and get the highest score.

Now some of you might think, hang on a minute, that's what Spyhunter's supposed to be, but the way I look at it is that, 20 years after Spyhunter raced into our seaside arcades, games have moved on a fair bit and Spyhunter, just doesn't cut it. I can hear some of you saying now 'but it's on a mobile game, what do you expect? Grand Theft Auto?'. True, it is fair to say that there are going to be limits to the type of games that you can put out on a Zodiac. But Spyhunter on the grown up consoles is no better, it is just as shallow and just as unfulfilling, the flaws have been carried over. A small first person shooter or 2D platformer sub-game to break up the racing would be great to alleviate the monotonous tedium.

Spyhunter is not a cheap game (£29.99 for us Brits, $29.99 for the Americans) and I honestly feel like my money is wasted, I have played Spyhunter for around 5 hours in total since I bought it, at no point did I enjoy this title, it is simply dull as dishwater. The game itself is well programmed, the controls aren't too bad, it looks nice, sound is thin on the ground, but essentially it's a nice implementation of programming, it's just the end result isn't captivating.

But playing Spyhunter does show one thing, that the Zodiac is capable of fast framerates and OK 3D graphics, they're not particularly memorable, but they serve the purpose and if the same level of programming is applied to a game with depth and variety, then the sky is the limit.

Alas for Spyhunter it's down to Kwik Fit to try and sort out the MOT.

Animated Dudes - First Impressions

2005-02-23T21:59:00.000Z

I'm a dude, and I'm animated...

Okay, not a great impression....just got Animated Dudes from the Tapwave Store and played the first few levels. It's pretty good so far, not exactly varied on the gameplay, but I'm hoping these early levels are to ease the player into the game.

It does look AMAZING though, parralax scrolling, awesome cartoony graphics and it sounds really cool too.

It breaks my heart that the Zodiac doesn't have that many games truely optimsed for it's capabilities.

I Love My Zodiac…Top Notch Apps

2005-02-23T20:48:00.000Z

It’s without a doubt that I can honestly say that I love my Zodiac. It’s ironic that, at the time of purchase, a device marketed as a gaming machine could also fulfil the role of a primary PDA as well.

True I’ve been a rabid Palm supporter since the original PalmPilot Professional (and yes, I got the RAM pack), but still, something that looks so unconventional as a Zodiac won me over very quickly. The salesman in Dixon’s was remarkable patient as I performed the ‘shirt pocket’ test that all my PDAs go through, he was a little annoyed when I started to beam over applications and games from my Sony Clie UX50 to test compatibility (to my knowledge SFCave is still on that demo Zodiac), eventually I handed over my flexible friend and now, three months down the road, my Zodiac hasn’t left my side.

There are a number of applications that I’ve come to know and trust for my Palm (whichever device it is) and I’m going to run through the killers for me in on particular order:

1) Outliner

Without a doubt an outliner is essential for me, I’m a writer of fiction and non-fiction when not working and I’m always coming up with plot or article outlines which are scribbled furiously into my PDA. At work I use them as preliminary project planners, great for organising notes when out and about in the buildings prior to assembling them in a desktop program. For years I used ThoughtManager from http://www.handshigh.com but recently I made a switch to Bonsai from http://www.natara.com both are exceptional programs with desktop clients. Bonsai wins out due to it being updated more frequently giving it an edge on features. Still, if you have any kind of planning aspect in your life, an outliner is essential.

2) Mo:Blog

Blogging is a curiousity to be sure, I’ve have several blogs, under various names for different reasons. I’ve never really got the hang of them, but they’re a useful, quick and dirty way to get things up into the digital multiverse of the Internet. Mo:Blog turned out to be my preferred choice for Blogging, available from http://www.tektonica.com

3) SFCave

Yes it’s a game, but it’s also one of the best ever. One button, pure skill. Download it from http://www.palmgear.com

4) DayNotez

http://www.natara.com comes up again with DayNotez a journaling program that I am not sure if I am using right or not. DayNotez let’s you add notes in a calendar style organiser allowing you to browse notes of past days. Notes can be added via templates and colour coded. So business, personal, story ideas, interesting observations can all have different, easily identifiable ways of being displayed. Add a top quality desktop application with HotSync conduit and you have a great little tool.

There are others of course, but I’ll leave them for another day.

Until later friends

Jody Armstrong

2005-02-23T20:13:00.001Z

It's not always easy to get the hole in one in Pocket Mini Golf

2005-02-23T20:13:00.000Z

This is Level 14....I don't even wanna know the insanity that's on Level 25!!!!

2005-02-23T20:12:00.002Z

Bike or Die Screenshot

2005-02-23T20:12:00.001Z

Bike or Die Screenshot

2005-02-23T20:12:00.000Z

Pocket Mini-Golf Screenshot

Bike or Die Review

2005-02-23T14:23:00.000Z

Long ago in the mists of time and space there were 8-bit computers, Spectrums, Commodores and Amstrads. They looked awful, used a bizarre contraption called 'tape' (a curious analogue storage medium, known for it's unreliability and now used to backup hundreds of thousands of business critical computer systems worldwide, go figure) in order to load programs into memory. These computers, the first breed of affordable home computing, played games. They looked awful, they sounded awful, but boy did some of these games rock. There is a selection of these games I still play today, Chaos, Laser Squad, Starquake and last but not least, Wheelie. Bike or Die reminds me of Wheelie, it's not the same, I suspect the author of Bike or Die has never even seen Wheelie, but the neurons of nostalgia flair up when I play Bike or Die.

Thing is, Bike or Die reminds me of 8-bit gaming, visually it looks like an 8-bit game, that's not a bad thing, there are plenty of neat effects like particles and the animation is superb, it's simple, and first time players or those browsing for a screenshot, might be put off.

You're a bloke (or lady) sitting on a wire frame bike (you're a stickperson yourself) and you bike around in a landscape of solid shapes, trying to find flags. I know many of you are starting to veer away, it doesn't sound very exciting, it doesn't look very exciting, but when you play it, the hours slip away and you find yourself doing two things:

1) You scream, rant and rave because you can SEE what you're supposed to do to clear the level, you just CAN'T do it.
2) You whoop, scream and yell with delight when you get past the part in 1 you were just screaming about.

Yes Bike or Die is addictive, frustrating and utterly compelling. The previously mentioned stick bike bounces, spins, leaps and flies apart with a level of authenticity that puts Half Life's 2 engine to shame (if in Half Life 2 you could ride a bike 90 degrees up a wall, flip off it doing a 180 rotation and land on your back wheel to flip again to slow yourself down, all just to hit a flag). From a programming point of view, Bike or Die is a marvel on the Palm, it's fast, smooth and the controls feel simply outstanding. You know when you fail, it isn't because of dodgy controls or bad collision detection, you've failed because you suck and you did something wrong, deal with it, learn and try again.

Bike or Die is deceptively simple. Your goal on each level is to collect all the flags and head for the chequered flag. The reality is totally different. In the way are chasms to jump, walls to traverse, platforms to bounce to and from and weird little humps and holes to make your day that more difficult. The controls for your bike are simple too; you can accelerate, break, change direction, tip forward and tip back. It's all about controlling your momentum and direction, a little flick to bring the front wheel up, a hard break to launch yourself into the air. It's probably the hardest thing to describe because, the nearest way I can articulate it, is that Bike or Die just feels 'right'.

The game represents supreme value for money, twenty-five built in levels are included, but completing those is just the first step. Beating previous level times is a big incentive to try them again, plus you can upload your times and replay data to the Bike or Die website. Additional level packs are out in the wild too and available from the author for very reasonable amounts of money. You can create your own directly on the palm using the editor. There's a lot of life in this game and designing evil levels to fox other players is mightily tantalising.

Bike Or Die is the best game I've played on Palm for a long time, possible ever, I was playing it on my Tapwave and since installing it the fancy 3d graphics of Stunt Car Extreme, Tony Hawks and Spyhunter have taken a distinctive backseat to this very unusual and ultimately superb game.

Bike or Die...Like Games Used To Be

Review - Pocket Mini-Golf

2005-02-23T13:43:00.000Z

Many years ago, while computers were a distant memory, a Japanese businessman sat down and hypothesised about a future where games could be played on big projected screens or on small devices held in the hands. Scribbling furiously the same Japanese businessman also thought up a real life sport that could be easily translated to these future gaming machines. Thus Nintendo was born and the game of golf came into being.

I, of course, am joking. The true birth of Golf will forever be shrouded in mystery, just like the rise of popularity of Vin Disel or why people continue to buy TV Listing magazines when the Sunday paper gives you one for nothing or teletext and the web have them listed for free, nobody really knows for sure.

However, Golf, unlike many sports has always translated well to the computer screen. Some sports fail miserably to translate. Golf has several things that make it easy to translate. Firstly its turn based amongst players and can be a solo game; therefore you don't need to worry too much about things like Artificial Intelligence or interaction a dozen players all adhering to rules and regulations. Secondly, there's no real time limits involved, the game can be stopped and started very easily and if you want to you can stop in the middle, have a coffee in the clubhouse and then get back to the game when you feel like it. While computers can't serve coffee yet, generally speaking, every golf game is usually OK. The game of miniature golf (or crazy golf as we eccentric brits call it) has always had a niche amongst computer golf games and, despite being somewhat crazier, they are no less enjoyable.

So when I discovered that Momentum Games had create Pocket Mini Golf and Pocket Mini Golf eXtra for the Palm (also available for...shudder Windows Mobile and Windows Smartphone) I jumped at the opportunity of the trial version.

Installation is the usual PRC via HotSync, license code is provided via a 5 digit device ID which you register on the Momentum Games website, an unlock code arrives shortly afterwards which allows you access to the game.

The game promotes a very Gameboy flavour to its presentation; it feels very polished with bright bouncing text, animesque graphics. Everything is visible and easy to see. Options include all the usual surprises including volume controls, alternative control methods and options for what information is displayed on-screen during the game.

Pocket Mini Golf features a 3 18 hole courses which include conveyors, bunkers and water hazards. There are two different difficulty settings (more on that later) there are 4 playable characters, each with their own attributes and 3 game modes, normal, arcade and practise. Each additional course is unlocked as you complete the previous course.

In-game controls consist of tapping on the screen to aim your golfer, dragging the stylus will cause the golfer to follow your directions allowing fine tuning of the aiming process. Additional controls on-screen include a panning tool that allows the camera to show you the hole in total. Another button fades your golfer out of the way for tricky shot alignment. An icon to bring up the in-game menu is also available as well as a button that rotates the course through 90 degrees at each press so you can get the best view possible. In game graphics features an isometric style 3d view of the current hole.

Playability is top notch with a gentle learning curve on the courses and a good variety of holes. As I said at the beginning of the article, golf works on a computer and this implementation is no exception. The game plays smoothly and quickly and has that addiction factor to keep you coming back for more to beat your previous score. For example on one hole I worked out how to get a hole in one, on my third shot...returning to that hole next time will be a more rewarding experience when I get the all important 'in one' shot. Each course takes about 30 minutes to play through and progress can be saved for resuming at a later stage so the game is very good for long or short periods.

I can't really fault Pocket Mini Golf's implementation, it's professional, and it plays lovely and represents good value for money. It's not the most exciting game, nor is it going to win awards for being overally originality, but it's a great little golf game and something you'll come back to for another go. In short, good solid fun.

Momentum Games also provides Pocket Mini-Golf eXtra which features three more courses and some additional surprises.