Arctic Challenge

A snowboarding game for your mobile, and better yet, a snowboarding game that has girls in it... yay! As if that wasn’t enough, this is a bloody brilliant game. I am completely hooked on it and I know you will be too. You can play in career mode here from the offset and you have the choice of a few characters and a few boards. As soon as the action starts you’ll be wowed by the funky graphics and great control system. You can grind on pipes, off car roofs, flip and trick over ramps and get your photos and video footage in the newspapers. All this helps you to get money and then of course you can buy cooler things. As you progress you can unlock tons of new things and even if you play in wild card mode, you get to choose which countries you’re racing in and then unlock new ones the better you get. The ultimate aim is to get a sponsorship deal and just like in most snowboarding games, the better tricks you can pull off and the more items you can collect, the better your chance at getting one.
This is a brilliant game and the sound, graphics and gameplay are outstanding. You will be kept entertained for hours as you try to outdo the last trick you managed to pull off. The controls are so good that it doesn’t become frustrating. The addition of the trick book and the play guide ensure that anyone can pick this game up and play. Well done Digital Bridges, this title rocks and for a mobile game, I can’t fault it.
10/10

Set in the future where there are no wars, there is only ‘the game’ RollerBall stays true to it’s movie outing and sets you in a corporate world happy to exploit you for money, no matter how high the stakes.
One of the first things you’ll notice about this game is that in the training level it has briliant graphics that reminded me of Speedball on the Amiga. The training outlines the rather detailed play of this game and for a mobile game there is indeed plenty of depth. It explains it all beautifully though and it takes no time to simply jump into the game and have fun. You can play a quick game or a league so again there’s plenty to keep you going here. You also get to choose your opponent from a variety of internationl cities including New York, London, Tokyo.. and... umm.. Norwich?.. well yes thats one of the choices. Anyway, aside from that, when you start playing you may find it difficult to control your little guy but keep it going because when you do start to get to grips with things you’ll have tons of fun. The sound on this title is a little annoying with the occasional grunts and ughs from fellow team members as well as your opposition but if you turn the volume down or switch off the sound effects you’ll be fine. The better you get, the more goals you’ll score and at the end of the day thats what all this is about, try and get around the track without being killed and score some goals. If you decide to play in the league you’ll love that you can tweak your formation, lineup and even work out at the gym. This game really does have everything and considering its on a mobile platform, it makes it a must have as far as games on your phone go. 9/10

So you love cars, you love talking about cars, you love movies about cars, especially if they’re modded to the hilt and go faster than is sensible, well ok then, you already know what 2 Fast 2 Furious is all about. You guide a funky looking car to victory and in doing so win cash. With this cash you can add to your car, vamp it up so it’s a little bit better than your enemies and then hopefully kick their butts with it at the next race. The graphics are sharp and the car detailing is very well done, the backgrounds look a little like a mobile version of Outrun and the most irritating part of the game is the screeching that the cars make as they go flying around corners. A nice little addition to this game is that you can post your scores to the network and therefore share your moments of glory or shame with others who have the game. It’s a good touch for a mobile game and truly makes it feel interactive. The controls are fairly easy to use and provided you don’t go crashing into anything you can make good progress in this game. If you like racing and want to have it on the go this is certainly worth a look.
8/10

Ok I ask you to name one person who doesn’t love the Pink Panther. From his funky theme song to his cool sneaky moves, most people adore the Pink one so how cool that Digital Bridges have released a Pink Panther game. The basics of this game are easy to get to grips with. You play the Pink Panther and you are trying to catch a butterfly before your enemy Clouseau beats you to it. You are chasing the butterfly across the screen from left to right in a scrolling action. As you chase, you’ll have to overcome many obstacles in your path and these obstacles are all releveant to the level you’re playing on. Getting Pinky to jump across the obstacles at the right time can be pretty taxing but its so much fun that you really don’t care and want to keep trying again again. This game is one of those brilliant pick up and play titles that you’ll find yourself going back to for just another go. As you progress through the graphically pretty levels, you’ll find the difficulty curve progressing each time and it’s brilliant fun to see the Pink Panther on one of many vehicles such as scooters, skateboards and rockets. The theme tune plays from the offset and if it becomes too annoying or slightly embarrassing, simply turn it off and play without it. This is a great fun title that looks brilliant and is easy for anyone to enjoy. Definitely worth a look.
7/10

I-Play have been bringing some fantastic games lately to mobile phones. A lot of my favourite games on the go have come from them and I was interested to see what they could offer in the way of extreme sports favourite Motocross. Nate Adams is a name you want to have tied into a motocross game, it promises quality and reliability. From the offset however I couldn’t quite get to grips with this title. Don’t get me wrong, it has great little graphics that are clear and crisp and the variety of courses is plentiful so you don’t get bored too easily. Basically throughout the game you need to finish each course with the requirements met such as double backflips and various other tricks. It’s a little hit and miss with the tricks, when you first start off you may find yourself crashing to the ground one time too many but the more you play, the easier the controls become. I have to say though, they’re never what I would term easy and the help section doesn’t really explain them well. The sound can become fairly irritating, even just on the main menu so it’s probably best to turn it down. Unfortunately for me this game just didn’t really work which is a shame and is very unusual for I-Play. It’s not one that I would pick up to play on and off however if you like motocross already you may well enjoy this title and it’d be worth a look in that situation.
5/10

Digital Bridges: Fifa Football 2005
EA Sports and Digital Bridges have teamed up to bring FIFA 2005 to mobile gamers everywhere and as if there's not enough football around us all the time now we can play it on the move. I'm a huge footie fan and I've often bought FIFA games for consoles so I was intrigued to see what they could do with it on a small screen with far less buttons to use comfortably.
There are plenty of options on this game. you get to choose whether you want to play in a Friendly, a tournament, Training or a Shoot Out. I opted for training at first to get to grips with the keys and I found
them ok but not great. At times it can be rather cumbersome trying to reach the right button however there's very little they could do to overcome this as there are so many variants in the main FIFA game that narrowing it down at all must have been difficult enough. Basically you can control your player with the usual directional buttons (2 for up, 8 for down etc etc) or dependent on mobile phone you will be able to use
your directional pad. The problem really comes in with having to shoot and pass which obviously is an essential aspect of any football game!
It takes a little while to get used to the keys and also to how much you should hold down the power bar etc when shooting but with time and practice this does get easier.Within the other options there is plenty to keep the gamer interested. In Tournament mode you can choose your starting line up (with all real players names included), state your formation and strategy and basically do most of the things you can in the bigger version of this game. There are a wealth of teams to choose from for both yourself and your opposition and in Friendlies you can enjoy getting to grips with how to best kick your opponents ass in the tournament. In the shooting section you can play penalties against the AI and this again is good practice although to be fair at times its a little hit and miss whether the keeper will save them.
Overall this is a brilliant title for any football fan but it does take a little bit of time to master. It is a pretty good attempt at bringing FIFA 2005 to mobile gaming and most football fans are going to enjoy it. Don't go expecting it to be a replacement for FIFA on other platforms, it isn't but it definitely is a fine game to play on the move.
8 out of 10

Digital Bridges: Robocop
Everyone loves Robocop so now you can have him in your pocket and whip him out at the bus queue or the chip shop queue or wherever you are. The graphics on this little title are fantastic. They are retro 2D
platform graphics but look brilliant on a little mobile screen. They are very sharp and clear and even the backgrounds merge seamlessly with the characters and interactive items.
The aim of the game in Robocop is to rescue hostages on each level. At the beginning of the level the TV news give you a rundown on what your objective is and off you go stomping down the street looking for bad guys. You have the option at time of arresting the bad guys or outright killing them. Dependent on where they are on the screen should dictate which choice you make. You also have to rescue hostages by finding you way through oncoming attacks and dodging any nasty problems the baddies cause for you. Like most platformers it is filled with lifts to go up and down on, boxes to shoot and jump over and more. You are often attacked by many bad guys at once but dont worry about this too much.
Robocop can handle it and even if your life is almost up, rescue a hostage and you'll get some 'baby food' which will restore you to full health. The sounds that accompany this game are fine and don't distract from it at all.
Overall I really liked this title. it was fun and it kept me interested for quite some time. Its definitely a game that would suit anyone and female gamers are likely to enjoy it as much as anyone else. It's absorbing because you really feel that you want to master the next level and get those hostages home safe. The difficulty level is perfect and it has a good gradual learning curve where it becomes more difficult as the levels progress and you can work out the best ways to kill the bad guys and go on to be the hero you are.
8 out of 10

Mobobo: Big Boss Bash
Big Boss Bash is a new mobile game developed by Mobobo which targets the usually invisible female mobile gamers market. It stars a strong female lead character named Bunny Black, a busty, thong wearing hip chick with an eyebrow piercing. The task you have to help her with is bashing some world leaders by throwing water bombs, leaders such as Tony Blair, George Bush JR, Saddam Hussain and more. It all sounds very important but its wrapped up in an easy to handle, attractive little game with cute graphics and acceptable sounds. Your basic task consists of obtaining the right angle at which to throw your water bomb and using these angels to knock out target befores bashing the big boss at the end of each level. Overall this is a game which can be picked up and played without the need for instructions or an overwhelming reliance on memory, puzzle solving etc.
Overall if you recall the angles and learn to memorise them then you're pretty much guaranteed to get through a fair few levels. The time is counting down as you proceed however and I found that I only managed to get to around level 10. Have a go and see how you do with it. I'd recommend it for those who like games such as pong, tetris and similar games.

Mobobo: Shootin' Hoops
Shootin' Hoops is another release by mobile phone game developers Mobobo. It features the indomitable Honey Fox, a Cleopatra Jones meets Jackie Brown type ass kicking babe who aims to show off her skills with a basketball. In a similar vein to Big Boss Bash, this game is all about angles. Get the angles right and you can shoot hoops, racking up points as you go. You have to try to not let the ball bounce more than three times or it pops and there goes a valuable life. The graphics are cute andc colourful and the sound suits the game just fine. An easy game to pick up and play, Shootin' Hoops will suit people who don't want to get involved in long laborious tasks and aims. It's a fun game which has a good strong female character.
Overall not as addictive as Big Boss Bash in my opinion however worth a look for those of you who like cute games that have a good difficulty curve.