Menneisyys
05-26-2006, 11:05 AM
If you have read the Definitive Multiplayer PPC Game Roundup (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyys/102005MPPPCGames.asp), the Pocket PC / Microsoft Smartphone game developer company RU0Games is surely known to you. Their multiplayer title TapzMania (http://www.ru-zero.com/tapz/) is one of the best of its genre – they have excellent in-game music and their multiplayer model is based on the serial Bluetooth model, which offers the broadest compliance with existing Bluetooth units.
The game pack isn't available on the homepage of the company (http://www.ru-zero.com/) but on ClickGamer (http://www.clickgamer.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=5040).
This is why I jumped on their latest game pack with very high expectations. Does the game back manage to live up the expectations? Read on!
The game pack, in addition to TapzMania (http://www.ru-zero.com/tapz/) (unfortunately, the game pack still contains version 1.01 of TapzMania, which can be played through pretty fast and has some bugs), contains the following three games:
3D CEdice (http://www.ru-zero.com/dice/)
http://www.ru-zero.com/img/dice.png
The purpose of 3D CEdice is to sweep all dices away of the board. 3D CEdice includes two different games in a single package using 3D graphics. This game also supports pretty spectacular 3D panning. Unfortunately, it only uses QVGA resolution on VGA devices and it doesn’t support the built-in 2700G GPU in the Dell Axim x50v/x51v.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t have in-game music either. Actually, only the Breakout clone WnB has any kind of in-game music, but it’s in no way as good as that of TapzMania. Bummer...
The game can, nevertheless, be really entertaining for puzzle fans. You may want to give it a try.
Walls & Balls (http://www.ru-zero.com/bw/)
http://www.ru-zero.com/img/wnb.png
This game is an Arkanoid/Breakout clone. It has in-game tracked music played in stereo, which, on the other hand, is in no way so good as the music in TapzMania. Some of the alternative Breakout clones (most importantly, Acky’s Breakout (http://www.firstloox.org/index.php?categoryid=8&p2_articleid=82)) have orders of magnitude better in-game music. Even the even cheaper Arcade Park by HeroCraft HiTec (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=773&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) has better music (and a lot of additional mini-games).
It doesn’t have VGA resolution either (as is the case with all the other titles).
A very bad problem? bug? with the game is that it tends to pause for no apparent reason during the game. It does this on all of my test devices independent of the free memory size and other parameters. This can get on nerves really easily. No other (decent) Pocket PC Breakout titles do the same. Therefore, you really want to give the game a try to see whether you can live with this problem at all.
Maniac Spheres (http://www.ru-zero.com/maniac/)
http://www.ru-zero.com/img/puyo.png
It’s a classic puzzle where you must destroy all the balls. Nothing really groundbreaking (and no music) – a pretty boring title, I’d say.
Compatibility & Playability Report
The games all run flawlessly on most of my test Pocket PC’s: the WM5 HTC Wizard (the latest i-mate AKU2 ROM), the WM5 Dell Axim x51v (A06 ROM), the WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720 and the PPC2k2 iPAQ 3660. It’s only with the WM5-upgraded HP iPAQ hx4700 that it has problems with: as with a lot of other games, only one, 3DCEdiCE, of the three games starts. (Don't upgrade the hx4700 to WM5 if you want to play games!)
Note that the Breakout clone WnB runs flawlessly on even the “slowest” Pocket PC’s including the HTC Wizard and the iPAQ 3660.
Verdict
To tell the truth, based on my experiences with the excellent TapzMania, I expected far more. These games aren’t very bad and may be well worth the price if you don’t want to pay much and also love TapzMania. Price-wise, I don’t think it can beat Arcade Park for the casual player, however. Finally, if you have a bit more money, I’d definitely go for alternate titles like Acky (as far as breakout clones are concerned) and Spb AirIslands or some AstraWare titles (as far as Maniac Spheres is concerned).
The game pack isn't available on the homepage of the company (http://www.ru-zero.com/) but on ClickGamer (http://www.clickgamer.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=5040).
This is why I jumped on their latest game pack with very high expectations. Does the game back manage to live up the expectations? Read on!
The game pack, in addition to TapzMania (http://www.ru-zero.com/tapz/) (unfortunately, the game pack still contains version 1.01 of TapzMania, which can be played through pretty fast and has some bugs), contains the following three games:
3D CEdice (http://www.ru-zero.com/dice/)
http://www.ru-zero.com/img/dice.png
The purpose of 3D CEdice is to sweep all dices away of the board. 3D CEdice includes two different games in a single package using 3D graphics. This game also supports pretty spectacular 3D panning. Unfortunately, it only uses QVGA resolution on VGA devices and it doesn’t support the built-in 2700G GPU in the Dell Axim x50v/x51v.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t have in-game music either. Actually, only the Breakout clone WnB has any kind of in-game music, but it’s in no way as good as that of TapzMania. Bummer...
The game can, nevertheless, be really entertaining for puzzle fans. You may want to give it a try.
Walls & Balls (http://www.ru-zero.com/bw/)
http://www.ru-zero.com/img/wnb.png
This game is an Arkanoid/Breakout clone. It has in-game tracked music played in stereo, which, on the other hand, is in no way so good as the music in TapzMania. Some of the alternative Breakout clones (most importantly, Acky’s Breakout (http://www.firstloox.org/index.php?categoryid=8&p2_articleid=82)) have orders of magnitude better in-game music. Even the even cheaper Arcade Park by HeroCraft HiTec (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=773&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) has better music (and a lot of additional mini-games).
It doesn’t have VGA resolution either (as is the case with all the other titles).
A very bad problem? bug? with the game is that it tends to pause for no apparent reason during the game. It does this on all of my test devices independent of the free memory size and other parameters. This can get on nerves really easily. No other (decent) Pocket PC Breakout titles do the same. Therefore, you really want to give the game a try to see whether you can live with this problem at all.
Maniac Spheres (http://www.ru-zero.com/maniac/)
http://www.ru-zero.com/img/puyo.png
It’s a classic puzzle where you must destroy all the balls. Nothing really groundbreaking (and no music) – a pretty boring title, I’d say.
Compatibility & Playability Report
The games all run flawlessly on most of my test Pocket PC’s: the WM5 HTC Wizard (the latest i-mate AKU2 ROM), the WM5 Dell Axim x51v (A06 ROM), the WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720 and the PPC2k2 iPAQ 3660. It’s only with the WM5-upgraded HP iPAQ hx4700 that it has problems with: as with a lot of other games, only one, 3DCEdiCE, of the three games starts. (Don't upgrade the hx4700 to WM5 if you want to play games!)
Note that the Breakout clone WnB runs flawlessly on even the “slowest” Pocket PC’s including the HTC Wizard and the iPAQ 3660.
Verdict
To tell the truth, based on my experiences with the excellent TapzMania, I expected far more. These games aren’t very bad and may be well worth the price if you don’t want to pay much and also love TapzMania. Price-wise, I don’t think it can beat Arcade Park for the casual player, however. Finally, if you have a bit more money, I’d definitely go for alternate titles like Acky (as far as breakout clones are concerned) and Spb AirIslands or some AstraWare titles (as far as Maniac Spheres is concerned).