Simplify!

Most of the games I picked for this edition of Games Roundup are well suited to the strengths and limitations of the Pocket PC. Warfare Incorporated has good graphics and level design but doesn’t include unnecessary animations and graphic effects. Games like Bomb Duck are easy to play because of their minimalist interface and focus on game play over fancy graphics. Rapid Racer works better than remakes of sophisticated racing games such as Wipeout because it doesn’t overburden the Pocket PC’s processor. Game developers should take note that Pocket PCs are not quite powerful enough yet to run software meant for larger and more powerful machines like desktops and videogame consoles. They should design their games accordingly!

Big Money (A-)

Big Money is one of Astraware’s line of simple but robust games. As in other Jawbreaker-type puzzle games, the goal is to tap on a line of same-colored tokens to remove them. But Big Money has a couple of new gimmicks that make the game more interesting. The first is that lines of blocks are added from the bottom as you’re playing. The second is that removing blocks earns coins. Coins are counted in a little coin holder on the left side of the screen and placed in bags when the holder is full. You go to the next level after filling a certain number of bags. If you fall behind, you’ll actually lose coins. As a special bonus, the soundtrack was written by a coder named Skaven. He was well known in the early 90s as part of a group called “Future Crew,” which created sound and graphics demos on desktop PCs.

Big Money is a Jawbreaker-type puzzle game with a few new twists to make it worthwhile.

For more information on Big Money, please visit the Astraware Web site: (http://www.astraware.com/games/popcap/bigmoney/). Big Money supports all Pocket PCs. A free demo is available, and the full version costs $14.95.

Blade of Betrayal (A-)

Blade of Betrayal is a cartoony platform scroller of the same genre as Duke Nuke ‘Em, Commander Keen, etc. Games like this are about jumping from platform to platform and going from level to level, taking out bad guys while you’re at it. Blade of Betrayal has an interesting plot: two weapons companies are duking it out for a government contract. Your father, who owns one of the companies, is murdered; you suspect the other company, and so you go on a quest for revenge. There’s plenty of action in a variety of locales. You run into some interesting enemies, from humanoid mutants to ninjas. Extra weapons and power-ups, along with automatic saving of games, make this a well-rounded effort that should keep fans busy for several weeks.

Blade of Betrayal doesn’t have much depth, but it moves quickly and offers plenty of action.

For more information on Blade of Betrayal, please visit the HPT Interactive Web site: (http://www.hpt-interactive.com/pocketpc.html). Blade of Betrayal supports all Pocket PCs. A free demo is available, and the full version can be purchased for $14.95

Bounce Symphony (A-)

Bounce Symphony is a classy little puzzle game in which, instead of rotating or shifting blocks or balls, you tap and drag them. But these aren’t regular balls—they have the physical properties of balloons. Although you can’t pop them, you can bounce them off of each other, squeeze them, and do lots of other little tricks. Bounce Symphony offers three game modes: Relax (make horizontal pairs of five or more balls), Think (arrange the balls in certain shapes), and Sprint (like Relax but with a time limit). All are well designed, and the background music is nice, if a bit repetitive. The balloon-like physics makes Bounce Symphony a little more interesting than a simple ball matching game. I’ll probably spend some time with this one.