Sokoban clone Resco Sokoban released – with native VGA and square screen support!

http://resco.net/pocketpc/sokoban/default.asp

Resco has always been probably the best utility developer for the Pocket PC. Their Picture Viewer (see my all-in-one roundup for more information), File Explorer, along with Registry Editor (see my all-in-one roundup for more information) etc. are all top-notch. Does being able to produce quality utilities mean also being able to produce high-quality games? Read on! Unfortunately, some of Resco’s current games, in my humble opinion, aren’t as good as one would expect based on the quality of their utility applications. For example, their Resco Guardians (quickly reviewed & compared here) is definitely worse than the best titles (SkyForce or Darklaga) in the category (see for example this article for more information). Consequently, I had doubts when I started testing the new version. Fortunately, except for some, not very major problems, I was pretty happy with the title. What’s Sokoban, anyway? Read this Wiki entry. Downloading, technical data Get the game here. It can be installed on anywhere (on storage cards too) and takes up approximately 2.5 Mbytes of storage. The price is $14.95. Compatibility Compatible with all Pocket PC's starting with PPC2k2; even with square-screen devices. It has a separate VGA-optimized version. It runs flawlessly on all my PPC2k2+ test Pocket PC's: iPAQ 3660, 2210, hx4700; PL720; Dell Axim x51v and HTC Wizard. In-game and menu music Pretty repetitive, mono. Far-far away from the soundtrack of, say, the games by Isotope 244 Graphics (for example, Acky's XP Breakout). Even the (shorter) tracked music of, say, TapZMania (review here), Arcade Park (review here) or Ballshooter Games titles (review here) is much better. Controls D-pad only. The stylus can only be used to drag the map (and to click the icons in the upper right corner). This also means the game is almost unplayable on the touchpad-based HP iPAQ hx4700. Configuration options As can be seen in this screenshot, you can switch to (if you want, left-handed) landscape mode (which works on WM2003 devices too) and also configure the game to use single-step (to avoid overrunning – even if you can always use the Undo feature in the game) and rotational movements. Also, it’s here that you can assign the Rotate, Undo, Restart and Exit functions (Undo and Restart are also available as icons) to buttons for faster access – or, with WM2003 devices, to be usable at all. Bugs, problems Problems on VGA devices On VGA devices, the playfield will be very small and hard-to-make-out, as opposed to QVGA devices. There’s no zooming in the game to help the situation. Bad English The game would indeed need a native English speaker to clean up the mistakes. Much as I’m not a native English speaker either, I wouldn’t make mistakes like putting the word “information” in plural as in “informations” (see the main screen) – my English teacher some 20 years ago has made it clear that doing this is one of the biggest mistakes in English. Also, there’re numerous other mistakes in the English of the game (for example, the lack of articles, which is a very common mistake with Slavonic languages, Finns and Estonians, as in, for example, “you have finished level”). Verdict The VGA version would benefit from some kind of zoom-in. Also, better, much longer, less repetitive, preferably stereo in-game music would be welcome. Stylus-based control is a must and should be implemented to help users with substabdard D-pads. Otherwise, this game isn't bad at all. If you happen to have a QVGA device with a decent, reliable D-pad, you definitely want to give it a try. Recommended link The Games category in my blog. Note that this article has been heavily rewritten on 06/18/2006 because of a small mistake I've made during the testing back in May.