REVIEW: B3Team releases great retro platform game Atomic Dreams!
There are, unfortunately, very few real platformers on the Pocket PC (SuperTux, Gold Miner Joe, the free OpenJazz, Bayside Studios' Quigley's Quest 1.10, the not-sold-any-more Rayman Ultimate by Gameloft or the non-WM5-compliant, now-free Tommy Kombat come to mind as examples, in addition to N.I’s great Retro Games collection and the to-be-released Titus’ Prehistorik clone Prehistoric). This is why I gave this new platformer a test ride right after the release.
(an in-game video; note the abundance of the different platform types!)
The game is a classic platform game and is pretty similar to, say, Manic Miner and (without that much a puzzle element) the puzzle platformer Toki Tori (also quickly reviewed in the Pocket PC Gaming Bible Part I). Unlike in “hop and bop” platformers like Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Bubsy, and Donkey Kong Country, you can’t eliminate your opponents by jumping on them, though.
The developer, B3Team, has been quite inactive for quite a long time – after their Locomotion clone Pocket Loco released back in 2002, they haven't released anything. This is why I find it really great they have released another Pocket PC title.
Excerpt from the blurb:
“You have been trapped in another dimension. In order to rescue yourself from the nightmare you have to collect multiple items and pass over thirty rooms until the happy ending.
You control your hero using arrows and the stylus for jumping. You must avoid dangerous creatures that live in the rooms. When you collect all the items the door will open. You must exit the room before the time passes. You shall get one point for every item collected. Every 100 points gives you an extra life. Falling from the large height makes you hurt a lot. ”
Availability, compatibility
The game is available on the official homepage of the title. There is a 3-level demo available; the commercial version contains 36 levels and costs $12.50.
It ran on all my WM2003+ (the game isn't compatible with earlier OS'es) test Pocket PC’s I've given it a try (WM2003 QVGA HP iPAQ 2210, WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720, WM5 VGA Dell Axim x51v, WM5 QVGA HTC Wizard and even the WM5-upgraded (version 2.01) HP iPAQ hx4700).
Controls
By default, you can control your hero to the left and right and also make it run (by default, the touchscreen). The controls can be redefined.
Music
Great tracked scene music played back in stereo; different in-game and menu music. (The internal format is S3M and XM; the AtomicDreams.pak, which seems to be a ZIP file, is XOR encrypted and, therefore, it’s pretty hard to access the files inside by default.)
Verdict
Highly recommended if you like (retro) platformers with really nice, tracked, stereo music. Give it a try!
UPDATE (03/23/2007): Allen Gall's review of Atomic Dreams; Eric Pankoke's review
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The only reason I didn't download the demo of this game is because I noticed that there are only 36 rooms. It doesn't look like a room would take that long to finish and so 36 seems like it might be too few levels. Am I wrong about this?
Well if you get killed (and it's very easy to get killed in the game), you need to restart the room. That is, you may end up spending tens of minutes with a room.
(Haven't played it through as yet so I don't know how long it really should take. That is, I may be wrong.)
Is it just me or does the game appear upside down on the Jasjar for a reason? I have the screen in standard landscape mode to have access to the keyboard and the screen appears upside down even after a soft reset. I tried setting the movement and jump controls but they are not registering as they are selected.
The game does seem like it has potentials but could not get beyond the start line. ;-(
The folks at PocketPlayers.de have just published a review (see THIS). They also recommend the title, but also state the 36 rooms can prove to be a bit short.
The Jasjar AKA (HTC Universal)
I am using the Jasjar AKA (HTC Universa)
Jasjar AKA HTC Universal