Glimmerati (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: Bugbear Entertainment
Publisher: Nokia
Released: 2005

Glimmerati is a racing game that's exclusive to the Nokia N-Gage.

+ Solid racing, good frame-rate, and the amazing track design tests your skills in nighttime Paris streets and narrow lanes in The Alps.

+ Usually has multiple missions open at once, and the branching paths provide impetus to replay the Story mode to see everything.

+ Challenges are a neat incentive to take on bite-sized races, as you can unlock faster cars that will benefit you in the championship.

+ Has a few non-racing objectives, such as timed quests and a fun mission involving launching over a draw bridge to start a TV show!

+ Includes an enormous amount of voice clips, and the gorgeous graphics have impressive lighting effects and detailed scenery.

- Doesn't always give enough notice of upcoming turns, the voice acting is atrocious, and the in-game characters lack personality.

- Brutally hard finale strips away your unlockable cars in favour of a rickety speedboat that's infuriatingly tough to control.

N-Gage Freestyle (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: StormBASIC Games
Publisher: Nokia, Technobubble Entertainment
Released: 2005

N-Gage Freestyle is an extreme sports game that's exclusive to the handheld.

+ Method of unlocking jumps is clever, as some require you to reach certain criteria (e.g. beat three stages in order without failing).

+ Tricks are well animated, load times are fast, and there is mild enjoyment from finally nailing a problematic jump.

- Your sole interactivity takes place on static ground (prior to moving), yet mid-air adjustments would have been more engaging.

- Game engine isn't up to the task, as it often skips frames or stutters while you're trying to input precise button commands.

- Diagonals don't always register correctly and it's the main reason you'll fail stages despite seemingly inputting the right prompt.

- Shockingly low on content, as there's only 15 jumps available in the entire game, with each lasting mere seconds.

- Despite being a score-based title, there's no option to play against a friend or versus the CPU in competitions.

Operation Shadow (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: Torus Games
Publisher: Nokia
Released: 2004

Operation Shadow is a third-person action game that's exclusive to the Nokia N-Gage.

+ Objectives are varied and there's a nice range of vehicles (including helicopters and jeeps) to compliment the on-foot action.

+ First two missions are enjoyable, especially for fans of the Contra series, and the game saves your high score after each one.

- However, the difficulty then skyrockets to an absurd degree with swarms of tanks that can instantly kill you from off-screen.

- Vehicles are severely under-powered and ammo is too scarce to make them a valuable tool in your combat arsenal.

- It's impossible to get close enough to most targets without first taking damage, meaning skill-based play is thwarted.

- Mission objectives sound simple, but they typically have a confusing nuance that's only decipherable through trial-and-error.

- Narrow draw distance, low polygon count and extreme pop-in magnify the game's woefully unpolished feel.

Space Impact Evolution X (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: Kuju Entertainment
Publisher: Nokia
Released: 2003

Space Impact Evolution X is a vertically-scrolling shooter that was available as a console pack-in on the included CD-ROM.

+ Action is perfectly suited to the handheld's portrait screen, and the game has a good range of locales and multiple continues on offer.

+ Features detailed sprite work (particularly on the bosses and orb enemies), and some areas have awesome background layering.

- Takes a long time for the action to heat up due to predictable enemy patterns and your ability to safely blast their own shots.

- Difficulty options are entirely absent, so unless you want to try and beat your high score there's little reason for repeated play.

- Manages to suck the fun out of powering-up, as collected items are only available to use for a few precious seconds.

- Collision detection is awfully sketchy and you'll likely lose many lives despite clearly being a few pixels away from a projectile.

- Seriously lacking in atmosphere, as the gameplay doesn't include a note of music and the SFX often randomly stop playing.

Barakel: The Fallen Angel (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: StormBASIC Games
Publisher: Nokia, Technobubble Entertainment
Released: 2004

Barakel: The Fallen Angel is a hack and slash game that was only released in Portugal and Spain.

+ Supports local multiplayer and a nice feature is how friends can share objects, gold and potions to keep inventories stocked.

+ Does a very good job of signposting you to your next objective, both with in-game arrows and via menu reminders.

- Has severe glitches, including a consistent game-breaking crash shortly after the third boss due to a memory overflow issue.

- Saving your game costs too much currency and the risk of losing tons of progress makes farming a boringly stressful necessity.

- Despite enemies typically swarming in groups, your attacks can only hit one at a time, leaving the other foe to freely drain your life bar.

- Limited field-of-view can make it hard to see the exact location of NPCs, as well as the placement of switches in dungeon areas.

- Features an egregious amount of typos from the outset, which does ruin the immersion and gives the game an unpolished feel.

Flo-Boarding (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: Housemarque
Publisher: Nokia
Released: 2003

Flo-Boarding is a sports game and a cut-down port of Supreme Snowboarding (1999, Microsoft Windows).

+ Courses are very well designed and allow you to play to your own style whether it's with air-based tricks, or rail grinds.

+ Fast-paced action that gets more exhilarating as you learn the course layouts and figure out the optimal path to the finish line.

+ Includes many shortcuts if you're brave enough to wander off the beaten path, with the reward being huge time savings.

+ The need to consistently execute tricks to top-up your boost metre means you can never play it safe, which keeps suspense high.

- With only five courses on offer, the game is light on content with no real reason to stick around once you've beaten them.

- Can initially be tough to spot upcoming bends due to limited camera visibility, so course memorisation is an absolute must.

- For such a simplistic game, there's an unnecessary amount of grab tricks that make convoluted use of the numbered keypad.

Snakes (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: IOMO
Publisher: Nokia
Released: 2005

Snakes is an action game and an updated version of Snake (1998) that came preloaded on Nokia mobile phones.

+ Bite-sized levels are perfect for handheld play and your progress is automatically saved so you can continue at a later date.

+ Does a terrific job of gradually introducing new mechanics and items to spice things up and stop repetition from creeping in.

+ Hexagon grids add a new wrinkle, as they require you to retrain your brain and make sure to account for extra d-pad presses to turn.

+ Strikes a perfect balance of being hypnotically relaxing (especially with its ambient music), while also pushing you to beat the clock.

+ Multiple camera angles to choose from (including a cool overhead view) and the Bluetooth multiplayer mode ensures longevity.

- Slight, but noticeable delay between pressing a direction and your snake performing that action, which can cause unwanted collisions.

- Frame-rate occasionally stutters, and the levels can feel very rigid in the way you're expected to beat them.

Asphalt Urban GT (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: Gameloft
Publisher: Nokia
Released: 2004

Asphalt Urban GT is an arcade-style racing game that was also released on the Nintendo DS in 2004.

+ Driving recklessly to top up your nitrous metre is thrilling and the risk-reward gameplay is very similar to Burnout (2001, PlayStation 2).

+ Track design is sensational with a wide variety of locales in which to race, and the satisfying drift mechanic is a breeze to master.

+ The fast-paced action constantly leaves you feeling on the edge of control, which is both nerve-wracking and exhilarating.

+ Huge array of vehicles to unlock and there's a myriad of options in terms of customising them to your liking.

+ The frame-rate is absolutely rock-solid and there's little-to-no slowdown despite the detailed scenery and high-octane racing.

- However, the pixelated graphics do make it challenging to see where corners start and you'll often commence drifting too early/late.

- The Cop Chase mode should have been a fun Chase HQ (1988, Arcade) clone, but it's far too difficult to lock onto vehicles.

Pool Friction (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: StormBASIC Games
Publisher: Nokia, Technobubble Entertainment
Released: 2005

Pool Friction is a sports game that was only released in Spain.

+ Music sounds almost identical to the track used on the PlayStation Vita home screen, which creates a relaxing, ambient mood.

+ While you can battle a CPU opponent, much of the fun comes from taking on another player via Bluetooth.

- However, each mode is extremely bare-bones, and the lack of a Tournament mode means you'll only ever play single matches.

- CPU plays at a good skill level and it's a shame that no difficulty options were included to assist newcomers.

- Managing to pot a ball requires a ridiculous level of accuracy, resulting in plenty of exasperated sighs.

- No option to add spin, and there's a strange occasional bug whereby a ball sitting over the pocket becomes invisible.

- Post-shot, the game usually lines you up facing completely the wrong direction, and turning the laggy cursor is a chore.

MotoGP (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: THQ Wireless
Publisher: Nokia
Released: 2003

MotoGP is a motorcycle racing game and the only Nokia N-Gage title developed by THQ Wireless.

+ You can create and save your own tracks, and the editor is very intuitive / easy-to-use.

- Frame-rate is atrocious, and when it dips to low single digits as soon as each race starts you know you're in for a rough time. 

- The dreadful frames-per-second also affects the controls, as severe under/over-steer plagues the entire game.

- While you can race from several perspectives, the first-person camera is vomit inducing due to the afformentioned performance issues.

- Even at full throttle, there's little sense of speed and it feels like everything is crawling along at all times.

- The graphics are a pixelated mess and many of the drab track-side environments have barely any texture details.

- SFX when cornering is akin to grinding metal and the music does nothing to enhance or compliment the action.

Puzzle Bobble VS (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: Taito
Publisher: Jack Of All Games, Nokia
Released: 2003

Puzzle Bobble VS is an Arcade colour-matching puzzle game that's also known as Bust-a-Move.

There's two modes (Story and VS) and the aim is to fire bubbles upward and group three or more of the same colour together in order to make them pop. Right from the start, it's clear that the transition to handheld has not been a good one, as the gameplay is sluggish and it takes an absolute age to move your cursor from side-to-side. Also, your cursor is so tiny that it's extremely difficult to gauge the exact direction it's facing, meaning you have to place the N-Gage closer to your face at times to get a better look! In my opinion, it would have been better to include a Solo mode where your playfield takes up the entire screen, rather than here where a portrait LCD is split in two for yourself and your opponent. Additionally, it's likely that you will strain your eyes trying to decipher which colour you currently possess, as (for example) greens, blacks and purples can all look alike due to the zoomed-out nature of the action. Story mode sounds like it could offer something fairly in-depth, but in actuality it only consists of six matches that can be beaten in around 20 minutes total. The cut-scenes displaying your opponent are excellent, but with no dialogue they lack personality and do nothing to advance the narrative. There are some voice clips, but the iconic: "Ready, GO!" phrase at the start of each round is only shown as text. VS mode is slightly more interesting, as you can play with a friend over Bluetooth; however, the same problems above persist. Overall, there's a distinct lack of presentational flair and instead you're greeted with several text-only menus when booting up the game and zero sound until the first battle commences.

Puzzle Bobble VS is technically incompetent and unless you're keenly focused on head-to-head battles with a friend there's really nothing here that will hold your interest for more than an hour. Do yourself a huge favour and stick to the far superior Bust-a-Move Pocket (1999, Neo Geo Pocket Color) version instead.

Random trivia: Taito Memories, a compilation of previous Taito games was in development for the N-Gage before ultimately being cancelled.

Mile High Pinball (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: Ideaworks3D
Publisher: Nokia
Released: 2005

Mile High Pinball is a Nokia N-Gage exclusive pinball game.

It consists of 80+ tables and the objective in each one is to clear missions / puzzles and then advance to the top of the screen. There are also over 35 power-ups (that are either bought / sold at a shop, or collected around the playfield) and these can be activated at any time during gameplay. The continuous vertical progression is both addictive and anxiety-inducing in equal measure, as you'll be desperately trying not to fall down to a previous table while incredibly intrigued about what lies ahead; in turn, this creates a 'just one more go' mentality that's hard to shake as you become totally invested in the action. A very welcome addition are the secret tables which can be entered by hitting certain objects to open up a hidden exit; here you can obtain collectable medallions and one of the tables sees you battling tanks in a tribute to Pathway to Glory (2004, Nokia N-Gage). There are a handful of tables where bumper placement impedes your progress to an annoying degree, but on the whole the stage design is top-notch and well thought-out; what makes them so enjoyable is how the mission structure constantly switches things up, and while one minute you'll be attempting to open all the flower buds, the next you'll be destroying a swarm of enemies before taking on a boss. The power-ups come in super handy here (especially the damage multipliers and balloons that force the ball to float upwards) and the fact that you can store several items and use them at will makes for engaging gameplay; plus, the ability to buy / sell them from shops is a fantastic advancement of the genre that allows you to scheme based on the table objective.

Mile High Pinball is an unexpected, yet pleasant surprise and the amount of tables, weapons and secrets is hugely impressive. Once you start advancing upwards from stage-to-stage it's hard to put the game down and the enticing thought of what adventures lie ahead is a tantalising premise that's impossible to resist.

Random trivia: Ideaworks3D developed several other titles for the N-Gage including The Sims Bustin' Out (2004) and Tomb Raider (2003).

Ashen (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: Torus Games

Publisher: Nokia

Released: 2004

 

Ashen is a first-person shooter that's exclusive to the Nokia N-Gage.

 

Your mission is to find your sister and save the Seven River City from supernatural phenomena. Weapons include Dual Pistols and a Pulse Gun, while the Ghost Vision gadget allows you to see in the dark and illuminate invisible enemies. The controls make great use of the system and once you're familiar with the mapping it's easy to strafe and switch weapons on the fly. There's also a generous auto-aim and like Doom (1993, MS-DOS) you don't even have to be lined up on the vertical axis to blast an enemy. The majority of the game is an old-school FPS where you wander through levels and locate the exit. Each location is huge and fun to explore, while providing enough intrigue through the creepy environments. Mixed with the haunting music and SFX, the game has a claustrophobic, survival-horror feel and it's genuinely scary at times, especially if you approach an invisible enemy without wearing your Ghost Vision! This element of danger forces you to take a more strategic approach which really heightens the intensity. There's also a few minor puzzle elements (such as hitting switches) and some weak underwater sections. The final missions push the system to its limits with surprising success and they feel more like a modern FPS. Mission 6 features deadly mechanical boulders that you need to avoid while defeating enemies and using your Ghost Vision to destroy hidden parts of a machine. Mission 7 even introduces some tricky platforming to go along with its sprawling environments. However, while the scenery is detailed and there's some great lighting effects, there are some collision detection and clipping issues.

 

Ashen is an impressive and engrossing FPS and it's definitely one of the main reasons to own a Nokia N-Gage. It has a deep story and a lengthy campaign while achieving the seemingly impossible task of offering a fun 3D shooter on a system that really shouldn't be able to handle the genre.

 

 

 

Random trivia: The game was heavily promoted around the launch of the redesigned Nokia N-Gage QD system.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (Nokia N-Gage review)

Developer: Ideaworks3D

Publisher: Nokia

Released: 2003

 

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is a sports game that originally debuted on the PlayStation in 1999.

 

It consists of nine levels that take place in locations such as a School, a Mall and even Roswell! You have two minutes per attempt and your objective in each is to complete five missions; these include reaching the High / Pro Scores, locating the S-K-A-T-E letters and finding the Secret Tape. The rest of your goals are level specific such as grinding the lunch tables in School or destroying five cop cars in San Francisco. The action zips along at a blistering speed and the gameplay is as enjoyable as ever with a nice range of missions, huge, varied environments and a deep trick system. It's impressive that all nine levels are included and you can even watch a full replay of your last attempt and save / edit it into smaller clips. The button layout has been ported over well and most of the time you'll feel in total control of your skater. However, where things start to fall apart is in the vert game due to the slowdown and inconsistent frame-rate that make it tricky to see the rotation of your skateboard for a clean landing. These technical issues can also affect your input commands as they're sometimes ignored, meaning luck plays as much of a factor as skill. The draw distance isn't great but once you've memorised the level layouts it's not too much of an issue. One major plus is the ability to play four levels from THPS2 (New York, Hangar, Philadelphia and Venice Beach) in the 2 Player, Single Session and Free Skate modes. While many secret areas are absent they're still tons of fun to skate around and the level design truly shines. A few of the music tracks also made it into this port which really helps to compliment the action.

 

When the technical issues don't rear their ugly head, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater features some top-notch extreme sports action. However, while it's impressive that the entire game has been squeezed onto a portable device, the N-Gage isn't quite powerful enough to handle the twitch style gameplay that's required throughout.

 

 

 

Random trivia: If you complete all 30 missions you'll unlock Officer Dick as a playable character!