Mobile games with familiar names might surprise you.

By Stephen Munn | September 26, 2007

Last week, I was on the spartan “T-Zones” site that lets me access the downloadable content that’s compatible with my Samsung SHG t619 cell phone. While my phone isn’t capable of doing 3D gaming as far as I know, eliminating such recent titles as Tomb Raider Legend, I was surprised at how many games were available to me in franchises I was familiar with. Here are some of the ones to look at.

Castlevania

It’s a port of the original NES Castlevania, and a damn good one. Rather than shrinking the game down to the provided screen, the world was rebuilt to the engine’s spec, keeping the same layout as the original without strictly adhering to pixel placement. The result is a mini version of Castlevania with sprites that are relatively larger than the original, making for a much more pleasing game than could have been. It’s a shame they didn’t follow this model for Order of Shadows. Levi Buchanan at IGN Wireless gives Castlevania for cell phones a 9/10.


Tomb Raider Legend

This is an original three-level Tomb Raider title for phones that can do 3D. It’s apparently a reasonably good game considering the platform, though it’s worth noting that the game is on rails. IGN Wireless rated Tomb Raider Legend for cell phones a 7/10.


God of War: Betrayal

This is one of the most surprising titles on wireless for me. When I saw it in the list, I wondered, how? Sidescroller? Well, it turns out, yes. Betrayal is a side-scrolling brawler using the God of War license. It takes place between GoW and GoW2, features a combo system, a number of other features that made it over from its console forebears, and what the review I read calls “exceptional” level design. The review for this one is so strong, at 9/10, that I might pick this one as my next download rather than Castlevania.


Mega Man 2

What is widely considered to be the greatest episode the Mega Man series ever saw has been ported to the mobile phone. The controls are apparently a challenge, as I’ve found with mobile gaming in general in my limited experience. As an owner of Mega Man Anniversary Collection on Gamecube, this title doesn’t hold as much appeal for me, particularly since a number of elements of the game, mostly sound-related, had to be removed to shoehorn the game into the phone. That’s disappointing, because the sound effects in the Mega Man games are really a key aspect. IGN Wireless gave Mega Man 2 a 7.8/10.

1 Comment »

1. Comment by Bill — September 26, 2007 @ 5:33 pm

   There’s a lot more than that. Rainbow 6, Splinter Cell, etc. There’s a ton of ports that a lot of time don’t bear much resemblence except title.

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