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Mobile Gaming Review Roundup - October 31st

There have been a number of new titles released over the past few weeks that we have been playing through on our iPhones and Windows Phone 7 devices so we have decided to a quick review run down of Galaxy on Fire 2 on the iPhone, The Harvest and Max and the Magic Marker on Windows Phone 7:

iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad

Galaxy on Fire 2

Galaxy on Fire 2 is the sequel to the 2009 title released by Fish Labs. It was a space trading style game similar in vain to Elite. It has sold well enough for the company to release this follow up for the iPhone, with an enhanced iPad version on the way very soon.

The game has you taking control of space pilot Keith Maxwell who early on in the game gets sucked in some kind of vortex that sends him off into the future. His ship is damaged and he gets picked up by a miner who helps you out enough to get back up and running missions for him. The overall task in the game is to try and back to your home system somehow, but the only way to do that will be to build up money and better ships to do so.

As is the norm in most space trading/fighting games, the ship you start off in is pretty poor. Once you make more money from doing missions such as mining asteroids and ferrying goods around you can get it improved and then take on harder missions such as hunting down pirates and more. The trading system works well and there is money to be made quite easily by selling goods between space stations around the map.

The game is big too, with over 20 solar systems to visit alongside 100 space stations. There are also over 170 different items, which you can trade around the map. Galaxy on Fire 2 also offers you varying control methods from tilt-based to a virtual stick on the screen. I found the tilting method the best one myself. 

As is becoming the norm at the moment, the game has achievements both for Open Feint and Apple's own Game Center. There is great news too if you an are iPhone 4 owner as the game looks fantastic on the retina display with some great views and colors on show, the textures also stand out well in the game and I can't wait to see it running on an iPad when the free universal update comes out in a few weeks time.

Overall you can't really go wrong with Galaxy on Fire 2 if you enjoy space combat and space trading games. The depth is there for those who want it, while beginners can easily get to grips early on thanks to a good tutorial mode. Graphically it looks great too and it will take you a while to complete and for $6.99 you can't complain.

Download from the iTunes App Store

Windows Phone 7

The Harvest

The Harvest was one of the first games that Microsoft showed off when they officially announced Xbox Live! support for Windows Phone 7 and not too much has changed since then in fairness.

The Harvest is a science fiction style RPG that takes place on a future version of the Earth. Aliens called Harvesters have invaded and are using humans as cyborgs. The GDF army has been deployed to try and fight back against the aliens and you are part of that group. 

The game is a basic RPG shooter, you tap the screen to direct your character to where you want him to go, or hold your fingers on the screen to move him around. Tapping on an enemy will make you shoot at them, while double tapping on your character will enable him to use a special ability. These abilities vary from a stomp that knocks down enemies to a speed boost that allows you to fly through areas quickly.

There are a lot of items to collect during the game these can be special upgrades that improve some of your abilties or temporary boosts that improve strength and such like for a small amount of time to get you out of those hard situations quickly. 

Killing enemies and completing quests give you experience points, once you have enough of these you will level up like you do in all other role playing titles. When you level up you are able to improve your stats in a number of areas such as Health, Strength, Endurance, Energy and Agility. You can upgrade these yourself or allow the game to do it for you if you don't want to be bothered with that part.

Much has been made of the games graphics and while it is certainly good to look at, it does tend to look the same most of the time with little variety. The frame rate is good, as is the texture detail. But the games load times are long and some users won't be pleased to wait around so long for a mobile game to load up. There are also some sound issues with crackling and popping audio that stutters in the background while you play. This can be ignored most of the time, but hopefully Microsoft will fix it soon enough.

Overall the game is a very good start for the Windows Phone 7 platform, it plays well and has some depth, albeit quite basic for a role playing game, but it is fun and has a decent enough story. Graphically it shows off what the platform can do and the achievements on Xbox live are a welcome addition, it is a shame that they didn't have a little more time to fix the audio bugs before launch, but I'm sure a fix is on the way.

Max and the Magic Marker

Max and the Magic Marker has been released on a few platforms so far from Windows and the Mac to the Wii. Well the good news is that the game has now been designed specifically for Windows Phone 7 devices and it is just as good as it ever was.

Max plays like a classic platformer but with a twist. You have a magic marker that enables you to draw freehand in the game – everything you draw becomes real and can be interacted with in the game world. Help Max overcome enemies, obstacles, and puzzles on his journey. This game is for all audiences yet still challenging for the hardcore gamer.

Features:

  • Lots of puzzles with multiple solutions!
  • Earn loads of Xbox Live achievements!
  • Compete against your friends on the leaderboards!
  • 15 awesome levels in 3 unique worlds!

Max may look like it'll be quite an easy game, but don't let it fool you as it gets harder and harder the further into the game you get. Drawing with your marker on the screen can be done as you play or you can pause the game as you go, when you pause the game the screens graphics change to a pastel style, which looks great. Drawing is simple, you put your finger on the screen and draw out whatever you want, maybe you want to create a platform up to a bonus item or a squiggle that can drop from the sky to catapult you over to another section. It all works perfectly.

One of the most impressive parts of Max and the Magic Marker are the controls. Controlling platforms games on a lot of mobile devices has become a chore and never as easy as it should be, well these guys seem to have got it spot on from the sensitivity to the ease of jumping and drawing on the screen, it all just works perfectly and is never frustrating.

Graphically the game looks charming on the screen, it is full of color and has a great art design about it and I'm sure it looks even better running on larger screen devices than my HTC Trophy. It all runs smoothly and the load times are short enough for you to be able to pick up and play whenever you want to. The sound is good even if the music can become a little repetitive at times.

My honest opinion is that this is the best game you can pick up for Windows Phone 7 right now and in saying that, I think it will be for some time. If you get hold of a device at launch then make sure you do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

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