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View Full Version : ROUNDUP: Shufflepuck Cafe (Air Hockey) clones on the Pocket PC


Menneisyys
07-18-2006, 06:01 PM
Now that a new version of the free 3D Air Hockey has been released, I’ve decided to review all the current Air Hockey games on the platform.

Brøderbund's/Ubi Soft's Shufflepuck Cafe (also see this Wiki entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shufflepuck_Cafe)) was a big hit on major computing / home computer platforms (Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Macintosh, Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS) back in 1989. I’ve spent quite some time playing it on my PC back in 1991 – it was a real gem and really entertaining.

To get a feeling of the game, I recommend the freeware Windows build (http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/f530.html) of TuxPuck (http://packages.debian.org/unstable/games/tuxpuck.html). (Note that the original author’s website (http://home.no.net/munsuun/tuxpuck) seems to have problems; therefore, download the game here (http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/pageN.php?nr=530&f=tuxpuck-win32-0_8_2.zip), from the above-linked Caiman website (http://www.caiman.us/). You’ll most probably need to put the DLL file (SDL.dll) in this archive (http://www.caiman.us/fww/SDL-1.2.6-win32.zip) into the same directory where you decompress tuxpuck.exe to). (The Amiga version is here (http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/amiga/games_sa_si/shufflepuck_cafe.html); the Apple IIgs version here (http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/the_fairway/game_pages/shufflepuck_cafe.html).

Note that the Windows build is pretty unreliable and the mouse-based control is pretty bad (the commercial MS-DOS PC version 15-16 years ago was FAR better in this respect); I haven’t tested it under Linux, where it’s hopefully more stable.) If you too find it useless and don’t mind playing the original MS-DOS game (now: abandonware and, therefore, freely accessible / distributable), you can download it from here (http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=2159) (if you can’t find it/download it - the-underdogs.info is often unaccessible -, it’s also available here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/sekalaiset/shuffle.rar)). It works flawlessly under Windows XP (SP2) without any additional setting and is much better, controllability-wise, on my PC than the above-linked TuxPuck.

There are three Air Hockey games for the Pocket PC. None of them support high-resolution VGA screens (I’ve made all the screenshots on VGA devices so you can see this for yourself) or have in-game/menu music. They are, however, all compatible with VGA devices and WM5.

The most important of them is

Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D (http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=1&platformId=2&N=96806&productId=31819&R=31819)

(current, tested version: 1.0)
Price: $8

http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/PaulEllamsAirHockey3DInGame.bmp.png

Supports all Pocket PC’s (even SH3/MIPS ones) and is by far the best Air Hockey implementation. Even has a level editor (see this screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/PaulEllamsAirHockey3DInGameLevEd.bmp.png)).

(Also see this thread (http://www.pocketgamer.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=447); it has also been quickly reviewed in the Roundup of All Pocket PC Games Part I (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyys/052006MIPSGames.asp))

Then follows

Sister Software’s Revolution Air Hockey (http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=1&platformId=2&N=96806&productId=128689&R=128689)

(current, tested version: 1.2)
Price: $4.99

http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/RevolutionAirHockeyInGame.bmp.png

The EXE file must be transferred to the PPC and executed there.

It’s much simpler than the above-reviewed Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D.

The bat (mallet) must be constantly dragged – you just can’t tap the field somewhere to instantly position the bat to. This wasn’t of a problem if dragging always worked. Unfortunately, that’s not the case: sometimes, it just stops moving and you’ll notice this too late. This makes this title really annoying to play.

Finally,

Raysoft’s 3D Air Hockey (http://www.raybase.com/airhockey/index.html)

(direct download here (http://www.raybase.com/airhockey/AirHockeyinstall.Arm.CAB); current, tested version: 0.5 Pre-release)
Price: $FREE

http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/Raysoft3DAirHockey.bmp.png

This WM2003+ only, free, just-released title is next to useless – everything (including the mallow) moves at a snail’s speed even on faster devices. There is just no comparison to Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D – or, for that matter, not even to Sister Software’s Revolution Air Hockey. The two other titles are much-much faster and easier to control.

Unfortunately, “there is no free lunch” is really true when speaking of this title. You really don’t want to give it a try. (It also complains about missing textures when started (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/Raysoft3DAirHockey-Error.bmp.png).)

The mallow can’t be dragged – you’ll need to tap the screen to position it (not the best way to control it, I say...)

Verdict

If you want to have the best Air Hockey game on the Pocket PC, go for Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D.

Also, if you’re a programmer, you may want to consider porting TuxPuck to the Pocket PC ;)

Remark/compatibility comparison chart

Sorry, the forum engine doesn’t support in-line tables. You can find it at the bottom of the original blog version of this article. (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1013&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)