Mobile Games Roundup (original) (raw)

ChuChu! Runner! Speed! Trains! Zombies!

Image credit: Eurogamer

A couple of weeks on from launch, you're probably wondering why we haven't got around to including Windows Phone 7 games yet. We wondered that too, but it seems the powers that be aren't exactly falling over themselves to provide us with review samples.

But like The Terminator, we absolutely will not be stopped, so decided to go down the old school route and, you know, actually buy a handset anyway. More than 20 apps have been released so far, but most are games that you'll be very familiar with, so we'll focus on the more exciting ones like The Harvest.

With Microsoft promising the likes of Halo Waypoint and Crackdown 2 in the near future, and a whole stack of other titles on the way, the Android and iPhone looks like it will have plenty of competition in the near future...

ChuChu Rocket!

iPhone - £2.99/ iPad £3.99

Chuing on a rocket.

One day, the world will wake up to the genius of the Dreamcast. SEGA will start making consoles again, Shenmue III will be released, world poverty will end, and we'll all live happily ever after. Until such an eventuality, this completely unexpected port of Sonic Team's 10 year-old puzzle classic will do just fine.

For those of you who missed out the first time around, the idea was to guide a procession of fragile little mice to a rocket by placing the designated arrows on a grid. If you got it right, you'd avoid the evil patrolling cats, and bask in the curiously warm glow of successful traffic direction. Must be the Ready Brek.

Brilliantly suited to touch-screen play, ChuChu Rocket's arrival on iOS devices makes perfect sense, with arrow placement simply a case of swiping in the required direction. Armed with such an intuitive system, it makes the frantic challenge levels and the multiplayer mode an even more desirable prospect.

Problematically, Binary Hammer seems determined to make four-player iPad play as confusing to set-up as possible, but once you figure out which icon you need to press to get going, it's an excellent addition. Bluetooth and Wi-fi multiplayer also makes the cut, but there's no online play yet - bizarre, considering this was the first-ever online console game.

Sadly, that's not the end of the sadness, with poorly upscaled visuals and a price wholly out-of-step with what you'd expect. With a few tweaks and revisions, and a price cut, ChuChu Rocket! would be essential, but right now this is one for fanboys desperate to relive the good old days.

7/10

Kristan Reed avatar

Kristan Reed: Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

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