Christmas may be almost upon us, but the N-Gage fun doesn’t stop then. The start of 2005 has a number of strong game titles being released. If you wanted to know what happens next, then read on. Here at All About N-Gage we’ve happily thrashing the final beta builds on the new games. Here’s what you’ve got to look forward to…
SSX: Out of Bounds
This I think is going to be the biggest title for the next few months. Sure the RPG folk are going to be knee deep in their Pocket Kingdom competition, and the war-mongerers are out in force over Normandy in Pathway to Glory, but SSX has mass market appeal, compelling gameplay and looks gorgeous.
SSX has many similarities to Tony Hawk Pro Skater, but enough of a difference to make it a worthwhile game. The main difference is that you’re racing against other snowboarders, not for some arbitrary ‘goals’ around the locations in Tony Hawk (like a shopping centre). We’re on the side of a mountain here, although some clever architect has decided that a city with a Snowboard run running through the middle was needed in the French Alps.
Racing gives SSX an extra edge (as does the ability to push your opponents off balance and watch them tumble into a snowdrift), but don’t forget all the tricks, spins, jumps and board grabs the franchise is famous for. All of these can be pulled off (and the extra keys on the N-Gage make them even easier to pull off than any other platform) and each trick increases your boost meter. So more tricks means more speed. More speed means you can jump higher, which means more tricks, and so on and so on.
The SSX franchise is a pretty strong one, and the N-Gage version is light years ahead of the Gameboy Advance version, and again it’s pushing close to (if not beyond) the PS1 console. It looks like SSX is going to one of those games that just sits in your N-Gage for ever. We’ll have a full review of the final version in late January.
King of Fighters Extreme
SNK are big in gaming circles, and are especially big in Japan. They’ve powered numerous arcade games, the Neo-Geo console system, and the delectable Neo-Geo Pocket Colour – a potential Gameboy killer machine from the nineties that didn’t quite catch on. But the games on the Neo-Geo Pocket were perfect mobile games, and none more so than their fighting games, King of Fighters. Now they’re bringing King of Fighters to the N-Gage, and I personally am getting all giddy about this one.
First surprise is that they're going for a 'real arcade' look with smart and clear 2-d drawn graphics. It's a very classical look, and having the characters drawn in this tall and thin way means the vertical screen doesn’t compromise the gameplay. I was half expecting the deformed cartoon characters from the Pocket version (see left) but no, we’ve got the full on arcade style graphics here. They’re not ultra modern graphics for a fighting game (for that we’ll need to wait for Nokia’s "One") but the old-school style we have here is perfect for the N-Gage.
Of course any fighting game isn’t about simple punches and kicks, it’s about the special moves. And here, just like in SSX, the N-Gage’s number pad wins out. In stead of just a punch and a kick button, the N-Gage gives us weak and strong punches, taunts, kicks, strike assists, body tossing… and all from single key presses. Start combining them, and then throwing in the special moves (sequences of keys) and you’ve got the beginnings of a classic.
Put on top of that 21 characters, sparring practice, direct battle, a story mode, and bluetooth multiplayer, and you can see why King of Fighters is going to be a hit. It’s due out at the same time as SSX, so it’s going to be hard to choose between them.
X-Men: Legends
Spiderman may have been a bit disappointing in the N-Gage game stakes, but now it’s time for a bit more action than the effeminate reporter bitten by an arachnid. It’s time to bring the X-Men into your MMC Slot.
The X-Men franchise has been a strong one for Activision. X-Men Legends is already out on the Big Three home consoles (Playstation 2, Gamecube and X-Box), so the N-Gage version is up against some strong competition. And you know what? It holds up pretty well.
The floating camera 3D viewpoint of the consoles is replaced here with an isometric layout, but pretty much everything else is there. The surprising thing for me was the cut-scenes that you get throughout the game to help tell the story. X-Men Legends centres on Alison, a girl who’s mutant powers have recently revealed themselves. The first level is Wolverine and his chums meeting Alison and taking her to their headquarters… beyond that I’ll let you discover the story yourself.
Controls are the D-pad for direction, with 5 and 7 for punch and ‘mutant attack’ respectively, while the other keys allow you to pick up and use items, switch to controlling another team member (you start with 4 X-Men in a team). The graphics are crisp and clear, and you can tell your characters apart – although the outfits are from the movies, not the classic comics, so no yellow spandex for our heroes. Shame.
X-Men Legends is due out Feb 2005.
Snakes
It goes without saying that everyone is looking forward to Snakes (after all, he’s going to be free) and from what we’ve heard, a mid-January release is (final testing willing) very likely. It’s going to be available from the N-Gage Arena, and from anyone else who has the game – they’ll be able to beam the entire game via Bluetooth onto your MMC card or internal memory. Our interview with Dan Scott, the Producer, has more information.