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Smart Tennis :: Frosty Factory :: Thought of the Week |
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The game I played most this week: Smart Tennis
Racquet & Ball: Smart Tennis
That being said, Smart Tennis is probably the most realistic sports game Simbsoft has put out to date. Its goal is to replicate the game of table tennis. Firing the game up is straightforward: pick your player (they have a mix based on attributes including speed and endurance), pick your game mode (quick game or tournament with one of three difficulty levels: amateur, pro cup, and master), and start the game. Game play is a little different from Simbsoft’s other titles, but is still very simple: just tap and drag a line in the direction you’d like the player to hit the ball. The starting point of the line determines where the player will make a swing. If the starting point is far from the player, making the swing will use up a certain amount of stamina (indicated at the bottom right of the swing). Timing does matter, and returning volleys is easy without feeling too automatic. That’s pretty much all there is to the game play: serving, returning volleys, and hoping you’ll outmaneuver your opponent while he does the same to you. After all, the game is really just ping pong, one of the simplest of the indoor sports games. While the game is very simple, it has believable physics, and the smoothness of the animation does a good job of mimicking the flow of human physical activity. As in Simbsoft’s other titles, the better than average graphics help round out the package and make the game that much more enjoyable. Smart Tennis isn’t innovative and doesn’t introduce anything new to the sports category. However, its simple nature and ease of play make it an excellent example of a good casual game. It’s probably the best “table tennis” game I’ve seen so far.
Thought of the Week: I Like my Smartphone You know, I’m starting to like my Smartphone. My situation is a little odd since my Smartphone doesn’t have any actual phone functionality (it was a gift from the magazine and the carrier doesn’t support my area as of yet), but I’m starting to think the form factor isn’t so bad after all. They’re still pretty bad as game devices, especially since there’s just not much interest in them development-wise, but I’ve found two good uses for my Smartphone: eBooks and audio. While the screen is smaller, the form factor is so nice that it’s just very easy to stick the device in your pocket and carry it along with you no matter where you go. I’ve also been listening to a lot of audio files on my device. Since all I listen to are podcasts, it doesn’t bother me that the audio is monaural: the phone itself is unobtrusive while I’m at my desk at work or walking around outside, and the battery life is quite good. I think the future of the Smartphone will be more along the lines of an all-purpose media device rather than as a straight-out replacement for the Pocket PC. It’ll eventually be a full-featured audio player, book reader, e-mail device, GPS, phone, and perhaps even a satellite radio device all rolled into one once the platform has had a chance to evolve a bit further. News: Click-Pay-Go Those of you who’ve signed up for Clickgamer’s Click-Pay-Go account (a payment service designed to facilitate software purchases through Clickgamer’s online store), should be pleased to find that you can now download the game Tommy Kombat for free. If you haven’t played it already, TK is a better-than-average platform scroller featuring smart levels which integrate well together. |
| Allen Gall's The Week in Games is a free service of Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine and Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine ONLINE: in-depth articles, tips, an Encyclopedia of Software and Accessories, and links to the best Windows Mobile PDA and Smartphone Web sites. It is edited by Duncan H. Brown. This Newsletter is published by Thaddeus Computing, Inc., 110 North Court Street, Fairfield, IA 52556. Allen Gall's The Week in Games Copyright ) 2006 by Thaddeus Computing Inc. |
