GLOBAL – If this week’s round-up of some of the apps featured over on the Ovi Daily App blog has a familiar feel, then that’s because there’s been a heavy influx of retro-gaming classics recently. In some ways, games that are remakes of yesterday’s classics make even more sense for mobile devices than the 3D, tilt’n’touch wonders of today, glorious as they are. Classic games need no introduction or instructions, for one thing. You already know how to play Pac-Man, don’t you? Second, they’re well suited for just playing for a few minutes during your down-time – you aren’t entering into an epic campaign that you won’t ever finish.
First up is the latest incarnation of the aforementioned classic, Pac-Man. The original game is now 30 years old – but this new rendering retains all the instant appeal and frantic gameplay that were trademarks of the original. The C21st version offers some extra bells and whistles on the original, of course, which this video illustrates:
PAC-MAN Championship Edition is available for a variety of Symbian OS S40 and S60 devices for just £1.00.
Second, we noted the emergence of Trivial Pursuit for Nokia S60 devices. You might find it hard to believe that ‘Triv’ could work well on a mobile phone, but like the original, this mobile version adds some extra drama to what is, ultimately, a general knowledge quiz.
The game allows you to play against a computer AI, but arguably a much better option is the Pass’n’Play mode, which sounds ideal for the back seat during a long car journey, and without the peril of losing all the cheeses under the passenger seat.
Trivial pursuit will also set you back just £1.
Lastly this week, we have Tetris Revolution, available on S60 touch-screen devices for £1 again (this seems to be yet another advantage of opting for retro-titles). As befits a modern-day remake, though, the interface for playing the game is touch-sensitive and it offers many variants on the classic gameplay to suit more casual or intense block-shifting workouts. I would say more, but having lost most of 1990 to the gameboy original, I’m hesitant to even install it.
Rhi’s been rounding up poll results on your current favourite games – more on that later in the week (and vote now, if you want your voice heard) – but what about the coin-up classics of yesteryear? Is the time right for a remake of Gorf, synthesized voices and all?
image credit: Patrick Hoesly