ROUNDUP: 3D Arkanoid (Breakout) clones on the Pocket PC

One of my favorite games way back in the Disconnected (albeit, at that time, I was already an avoid Internet (mainly Usenet and IRC) user with one of the very few Internet University dial-ins - which, fortunately, were used by very few people - with my super-expensive 2400 bps modem) Desktop Age (1991 :) ) was Light Corridor by Infogrames , a highly addicitive three-dimensional Arkanoid (Breakout) / wall tennis clone. (Additional info on the game: MobyGames page, LemonAmiga page, AmigaReviews page). Unfortunately, I can’t (as opposed to, say, Shufflepuck Cafe – see my roundup of Air Hockey clones on the Pocket PC) provide you with the downloadable MS-DOS version. I will try to find the game on my old floppies / CD’s though. I’ve searched hard but none of the abandonware pages (for example, The-Underdogs) host it. Bummer, I did hope it would work under Windows XP – as is the case with the original MS-DOS version of Shufflepuck Cafe.

In a quest for finding a similar game for the Pocket PC, I’ve scrutinized what’s available. (Note that I’ve published several reviews on “traditional” 2D Breakout/ Arkanoid clones. See for example this review or the Roundup of All Pocket PC Games Part I. In this article, I only concentrate on 3D titles.)

Pocket 3DNoid 1.0 by ValDeSoft

This very cheap ($2) game is very good on all ARM-based, pre-WM5 Pocket PC's and definitely worth checking out. Probably it’s the closest Pocket PC game to the Light Corridor. It’s a real Arkanoid implementation in 3D, with power-ups and everything a decent Arkanoid should have (except for, unfortunately, in-game music). Note that while it also has a MIPS version, it’s far slower on my 150 MHz E-125 than even on my 206 MHz StrongARM iPAQ 3660 running PPC2k2. That is, don’t try to play it on anything less than an E-750, as far as MIPS Pocket PC’s are concerned. (I still haven’t had the time to transplant one of my working E-125 screens to my newly-acquired Casio E-750, the best of all MIPS-based Pocket PC’s. Hope it’ll work far better on it.)

Note that the demo version exits after approximately two minutes. On WM2003(SE) devices, it goes back straight to the operating system; it’s only on PPC2k/PPC2k2 devices that the intended “purchase this game” screen is displayed. That is, it’s not a bug also affecting the commercial version but a trial limitation-related minor WM2003(SE) incompatibility glitch.

Crazy Ball 3D by Max Image World

This is more of a “3D wall tennis” title with walls – not as elaborate as the above-reviewed Pocket 3DNoid. Nevertheless, it’s worth giving a try if you have an “older” (read: non-WM5) device.

Also see the announcement of the game here (the links don’t live any more there and the screenshot link has also been changed in the meantime!)

Compatibility

The two games are pretty similar, compatibility-wise. They have a MIPS version (for old Pocket PC 2000 devices), neither of the two runs on WM5 and they both run great on all the other platforms, including WM2003SE VGA devices. That is, don't give them a try if you have a WM5 Pocket PC.

Comparison chart

Title:3dNoidCrazy Ball 3D
Price$1.95$6.95
Op. system compatibility, speed: PPC2kMIPS: works, but slow on E-125MIPS: works great
PPC2k (tested on iPAQ 3660)++
WM2003 (tested on iPAQ 2210)++
WM2003SE (tested on VGA PL720)++
WM5 (tested on QVGA HTC Wizard and VGA x51v, hx4700)- (doesn’t even start)- (the ball explosion results in a complete system crash)
ControllabilityOK (stylus)OK (stylus)
In-game music--
In-game sound++
Speed+ + (can be made even faster in the non-demo version)
OverallHighly recommended for all pre-WM5 users!Not bad either – recommended if you have a pre-WM5 device!

Verdict

If you have a pre-WM5 device and want to have some cool game to kill your time with, I really recommend these titles. I'm pretty sure you'll like them, especially the super-cheap 3dNoid.

UPDATE (03/23/2007): Allen Gall's review of Crazy Ball 3D