Big Games from Small Developers

For this issue, I decided to take a look at some of the games published by little-known developers here in the United States and abroad. They include a new take on a proven puzzle concept and an innovative new game in the platform genre. I sampled five very different titles, some of which brought much needed freshness to their respective genres.

Revival (A-)

$24.95 (touch screen); $15.95 (non-touch screen); free demos available

Developer and purchase smart.herocraft.com

From a gaming perspective, an obvious weakness with the Windows Mobile touch screen platform is the lack of good turn-based strategy games. Thankfully, HeroCraft has helped fill that void quite nicely with their first strategy offering, Revival. The beauty of Revival is that the interface, while clearly designed for a portable device, does not sacrifice any depth of game play. It's a bit difficult to master the controls—the tutorial wasn't much help in this department—but once you do, they actually seem quite natural.

Revival gives you plenty to do. Over time you'll build up to twenty-four different types of units, ranging from your basic barbarian to a sophisticated Mech robot, and several buildings (many of which can be upgraded). You'll establish cities, strengthen your armies, and ultimately conquer your enemies.

There were a few minor technical snafus that hampered my enjoyment a bit. One of my saved games would always lock up within three to four turns after reloading it. Certain interface elements didn't always refresh correctly when cycling between units or cities, and there were occasions where it seemed like units were moving on their own. HeroCraft was quick to turn around a new build for me to try, which seems to have cleared up some of the problems. This kind of commitment to software is very important to me.

The graphics in Revival are probably the best HeroCraft has rendered to date. Smooth animations compliment the units, and little touches like birds flying through the air and dolphins playing in the waves grace the landscape. The only complaint I have here is that a couple of the interface icons look a bit cheesy. The music is pretty good, and so are the ambient sound effects as of the latest version (they adjusted the volume level so I can actually hear them). While my personal preference for turn-based strategy games is the fantasy genre, HeroCraft has done a commendable job of providing Pocket PC users with a TBS game actually worth playing.

Treasure Island (B)

$8.99; Touch and non-touch screen versions and free demos available

Developer huike.cn/enindex.asp

Purchase smartphonemag.com/swstore

Since Legend Of Zelda graced my TV screen some 20 years ago, I have always been a fan of the action-RPG genre. Beijing Huike Technology has done an admirable job of bringing this genre to Windows Mobile in the form of Treasure Island.

The plot is basic: Hero crashes on island and must defeat vengeful gods in order to rescue himself and the trapped princess. The action mainly revolves around you demolishing monsters with your sword and the four spells you learn along your journey. Defeated monsters leave behind gems that help you build up your character's strength, and food that helps replenish health and magic points.