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If You've Got The Communicator, Then Lets Play.

14 replies · 3,591 views · Started 06 June 2005

Raven 06 Jun 2005, 13:45

What about emulators like; Frodo (C-64) and Picodrive (Sega Megadrive/genesis)? The games you can play with these two emulators are a lot better than any of the games mentioned on the list, IMO. Some other good games that were left out are: SFCave, Doom, Capsule SE and Astronix.

slitchfield 06 Jun 2005, 15:13

Raven wrote:What about emulators like; Frodo (C-64) and Picodrive (Sega Megadrive/genesis)? The games you can play with these two emulators are a lot better than any of the games mentioned on the list, IMO. Some other good games that were left out are: SFCave, Doom, Capsule SE and Astronix.

Well, it had to be a personal choice. Sorry. Can't stand RPGs, SFCave is just tooo simple, Doom needs a little wizardry to get to work, haven't heard of Capsule and Astronix is both simple and wierd.

And I've left out the emulators, because they only use part of the screen and because getting the ROMs is probably a little dodgy, legally? Sorry, I don't know much about the emulator scene.

Anyway, feel free to chip in with other ideas here so that other interested readers can follow your suggestions.

Steve Litchfield

SwitchBlade 06 Jun 2005, 15:23

TBH as a whistle stop tour I expected somewhat more than just a run-down of 10 freeware apps. It doesn't really give any idea of the depth or scope of the gaming abilities of the 9x00.

slitchfield 06 Jun 2005, 15:28

SwitchBlade wrote:TBH as a whistle stop tour I expected somewhat more than just a run-down of 10 freeware apps. It doesn't really give any idea of the depth or scope of the gaming abilities of the 9x00.

I found it quite hard finding games that *worked* on the 9500. Most of the good 9210 ones (e.g. Magic Game Station) simply crash.

And yes, there are several emulators, but I simply can't believe people play these old blocky titles on the 9500. What I wanted to see really were good games that were native Symbian apps and used (more or less) the whole screen.

Oh yes, and to stimulate a little good-humoured debate 8-))

Steve Litchfield

slitchfield 06 Jun 2005, 16:12

slitchfield wrote:Oh yes, and to stimulate a little good-humoured debate 8-))

Steve Litchfield

What about you guys suggest apps for an 'alternative' top 10 games for the 9500? Post a paragraph or two on why each is worth it, together with a hyperlink to download it (preferably from the AAS store) and we'll extend the original article to include your suggestions.

Over to you!

Cheers
Steve Litchfield

Ewan 06 Jun 2005, 16:15

Yep, I'll go with steve - if a couple of you can throw together another ten "we forgot" then I'll article it up and give it equal prominence.

Raven 06 Jun 2005, 17:16

slitchfield wrote:And I've left out the emulators, because they only use part of the screen and because getting the ROMs is probably a little dodgy, legally? Sorry, I don't know much about the emulator scene.

The emulators themselves aren't 'dodgy' legally. And the ROMs are legal enough if you own the games (I happen to own quite a few Megadrive games actually 😮 ). And I believe there are also some public domain ROMs available.

As for the games only occupying a small part of the screen area - that is true for most of the emus except the best one - Picodrive. In 'stretch' mode the games actually occupy about 400x200 pixels, which makes them very much playable. The games even run smoothly in this mode. If you haven't tried Picodrive yet - I'd suggest you give it a shot. In my opinion the Megadrive has some of the best games ever made. I certainly wouldn't call them 'old blocky titles'. They are even superior graphically to anything made to run natively on the 9500/9300. Frodo is mostly for nostalgic reasons. Those 'old blocky titles' can bring back some fond memories for those of us who grew up using a Commodore 64. The C-64 is also mostly about the game music and sounds. Frodo can also be stretched to work in full screen, but that just looks weird.

I agree that there aren't many decent games for the commies (yet), but that is only when you disregard the emulators. From your list, I find Bounce and Vexed to be the only ones worth mentioning. RMRGolf especially is really crappy, IMO.

SwitchBlade 06 Jun 2005, 18:22

SF Cave (left off because it's too simple indeed)

The most addictive and as far as I know, the only game on the 9x00 devices you can play with only ONE hand! Simple premise: yes, simple gameplay: yes, simple controls: yes, simple graphics: yes, bloody addictive: hell yes! This game sucks time and breaks friendships, despite how long I had it on my 9210 I still play it and find half hour disappears trying to get deeper in that hole and beat my mates best scores.

SpruceGO
Yeah it's a midlet and all that entails but it's a good one. Simple-ish Japanese board game conversion. The idea to claim territory on the board and take the opponents pieces. 3 board sizes and a moderate computer AI makes this a rather addictive game, making it another I keep coming back to again and again.

Dunno links off the top of my head but there's a start.

Raven 06 Jun 2005, 19:25

I completely agree about SFCave. It's probably my most played mobile game ever (except for old school Snake). It's the one game I always start when I have a few minutes to kill. That, and Vexed. But unfortunately I am completely stuck at level 9 (Grizzly) in the Panic pack... 😞

A big thanks to Ewan for both of these!

Arjen 07 Jun 2005, 04:32

I couldn't agree more. SFCave should be on the list (on the 9500 its a heck of a lot faster and tougher than on the 9210 - @Ewan could you build in a delay 😊.

Also, Legacy should be included. Even if you don't like RPG but like solving puzzles, this is the game to play.

There's also a new game called JewelRumble. Haven't tried this myself but I hear positive comments.

I'm still a bit disappointed that Civilization doesn't work on the 9500. And since Redshift cannot sell it anymore due to legal problems, we'll probably never see a 9500 version. Sigh...

andygrunt 07 Jun 2005, 09:02

What I'm waiting for is a conversion of Quake for the 9?00. I came across a few forum messages suggesting someone was working on it a month or two back.

Doom runs ok but the controls make it unplayable as far as i'm concerned. As it stands it's just a good tech demo of what's possible.

Generally, I think the best games are yet to come. Something that takes advantage of the unique format of the 9?00's i.e. takes advantage of the widescreen and keeps the controls simple. A widescreen version of SFCave would be a good start.