Kung Fu 72  ::  Gaxian Tri Ball  ::  Question of the Week  ::  Letters  

Kung Fu in '72

A few weeks ago I mentioned the preview of AIM Productions' Kung–Fu Fighting, which was a mixed bag. Concrete Udder now has their own retro fighting game named Kung Fu 72. Really, it's the same type of game as Kung–Fu Fighting (a side scrolling 2–dimensional where enemies line up and attack you in droves). This one thankfully avoids realism and goes for a cartoony retro feel, which it tries a bit too hard to achieve, what with the mismatched soundtrack (which doesn't sound 1972 at all to me) and the backdrop of afros and go–go dancers (wasn't that a '60s thing?)

Anyway, Kung Fu 72 plays very fast and flows nicely, thanks to simple animated sprites (which apparently were helicoptered in from an old coin–op game called Vigilante). Lifting graphics from other games actually doesn't bother me that much, as long as the integration is seamless, which it appears to be here. The scrolling backgrounds are also excellent, giving the game an organic feel and sense of movement. Unlike KFF, your fighter can punch and kick, which allows your attacks to have a bit more variety (there aren't any combination moves, though). One nice feature is the ability to affect objects: it's downright satisfying to be able to wipe out a line of enemies by executing a well–timed high–kick to a barrel.

Kung Fu 72 may be a bit of a hatchet job, and doesn't quite capture the retro feel of 1970s martial–arts movies, but it does replicate late 1980s coin–op fighting games pretty well.

Three Balls

Gaxian Tri Ball is a strange new puzzle game from Gaxo. It's one of those highly–visual games that's really hard to explain in words, but here goes: it consists of three magnetic balls connected with elastic. Playing on a round table, you manipulate the "triball" by moving magnets around the outer edge of the table (they are color–coded to indicate which ball they move) with the goal of "drawing" the balls into the target area. The magnets are controlled by timers, and you can control when they activate, and for how long, by using circular sliders at the bottom of the screen.

This is the type of puzzle game that's really more about physics than logic or strategy, and the three game modes, "Challenge" (nine levels of nine rounds, with increasing difficulty), "Tournament" (play against nine alien opponents), and a two–player game mode offer lots of possibilities. The game is very well presented, with good color and light–source shading. If you're looking for a game that's easy to learn, difficult to master, and isn't at all like all the other puzzle games out there, Tri Ball may offer what you're looking for.

Question of the Week

Thanks to everyone who answered last week's question about the quality of current game demos. From the comments I received, it seems that most people want demos to:

1. Be the full version but with a time limit to allow the player to become involved in the game.
2. Have an easy way of loading and exiting the program.
3. Have adequate documentation.
4. Accurately reflect the actual experience of playing the game.

Something to ponder if you're a developer. I basically agree with everything that people said, although I’m not sure how long the time limit should be. I would guess 2–4 minutes would be about right for most games. The worst "demo" I ever downloaded was from a major player in the Pocket PC scene who released a slide show of an upcoming product. The worst thing about it was that you couldn't even exit the "demo" without resetting the device.

Letters

From our Editor Duncan Brown:

Dear Allen,

Here's a personal (games) question. I'd like to purchase a game or two for my Pocket PC.

Games I've enjoyed in the past on Apple/Atari/PC computers:

Apple Panic (one of my favorites)
Choplifter
Mule (Amazing)
Tetris
Dig Dug
SimCity
Risk2
Counterstrike

Games I'm currently playing on my Pocket PC:

Kevtris
Solitaire
Go
What games/game packs would you recommend for me and my Pocket PC?

Thanks.

Apple Panic: I haven't played this, but it’s apparently a precursor to Lode Runner.

Choplifter: The closest thing we have to that is by AIM Productions called "Chopper Rescue." It looks really good, but the game is overly difficult and doesn't play very well, unfortunately.

Mule: I have yet to see Mule on the Pocket PC.

Tetris: Tons and tons of these. We even have an "official" version from Handmark. Apart from that, my favorite is the one in PDAMill's Gamebox Classics.

Dig Dug: An official version of this was put out by Larry Bank via Microsoft. It's available in the Microsoft Arcade PocketPak.

SimCity: SimCity 2000 came out a few years ago by ZioInteractive. I reviewed it for Pocket PC magazine, so you should be able to dig up the article.

Risk: No official version yet, but there are plenty of similar games available. The most recent that comes to mind is Warring Nations by Inscenic , which I reviewed a few weeks ago. There's also King’s Crown.

Counterstrike: Not yet, but Warfare, Inc. by Handmark is in a similar vein.

Now that I think about it, for the older games you mentioned, you might want to check out some of the emulators. I haven't been following the Pocket PC emulation scene for the past couple of years, but I know there's at least one decent Apple II emulator out there.

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