Some Solid Game Titles Hit Windows Phones Recently

There have been a bunch of legit games that hit the Windows Phone Marketplace in the last few days so let’s give you a Friday special and do it up in one post. Let’s start this off with a follow up game to Shiruken Ninja (the #5 app in Marketplace and #2 game overall) called Pistol Pirate. Similar to Shiruken Ninja, the game is based on shooting and bouncing bullets off of angled walls to hit all of the various targets, and like it’s cousin it’s a free/ad based game that’s absolutely addicting. Here’s the official description:

Shoot all the targets with your trusty Pirate-Pistol!
• Addicting!
• In-Game level creator
If you like Shuriken Ninja you’ll love this spin-off.
The ammo physics do not act the same way as a ninja star!
Use the level creator to create fun levels for yourself and potentially others when you upload. We’ll review uploads and they may be used in future updates.
We’ll also create a way for people to rate and download popular user sets in a future update so you’ll always have new levels to challenge yourself with!
The pistol ammo is physics based and will ricochet but slowdown from the different surfaces. Get the right angle to break the targets.

Let’s shift gears and move to a word game called Brain Buster but this is like a word game meets Mike Tyson’s Punchout. You have to use the letters on the board to make as many words (and as large as possible) before your cpu opponent nocks you out first. And you can even do things like get power upgrades and stun your opponent. It’s a neat game that’s really well put together and a lot of fun because of the opponent aspect to it. It’s also free. Here’s the description (I am omitting the Slovenian translation):

BrainBattle is an addictive game, where you have to combine a word with as much letters as you can.
You play as a hero, who has to defeat opponents standing in his path. You can pick all your letters from the board of 16 letters.
Longer words deal more damage to your enemies.
As a hero you may select from four different skills to fight enemies efficiently.
For every opponent you beat, you get a set of skill points that you can use to upgrade your skills.

I played it for a few minutes and aside from a hiccup on the first boot it was phenomenal and addicting instantly.

Let’s get back to fast paces action games and move to Cyclops BallZ. You’re playing a game of handball against a CPU opponent in this XNA (3D) game where you hit the ball by swiping across the screen in a Fruit Ninja like style while you try to get the ball past your opponent. There are various game modes and the use of 3D graphics is noticeable in terms of smooth performance and great graphics rendering. Here’s the official description:

Move to one of the battle arenas and stand eye-to-eye with your rival, who will not give up a single point. Swipe your finger across the screen to hit the ball in desired direction. Precise aiming helps you to make use of various bonuses, avoid troubles and – what’s most important – helps you win.
Features:
– 3 amazing game modes
– 7 arenas
– 21 rivals
– Online leaderboard
– Shop with power-ups

It’s $3 to buy but the trial mode lets you play a lot so definitely give it a go because it isn’t one of those trials that goes for 30 seconds. You can play the game until you’re good and addicted.

Now to a casual game called ParaJumping where you jump against competitors to try to be the first to safely touch down. To do this you need to be the first to jump and the last to pull your chute. if you jump too early you’re out and if you jump too late…yup dead. And you get gold for good scores which you can use to increase your life which lets you survives falls. It has smooth cartoony graphics that work well and it’s also free. Here’s the official description:

You are an inveterate parachutist, who is simply sick of jumping without any interesting action. You are constantly inventing new scenarios of jumping and look for adventures . Your friends have decided to support your crazy life style and agreed to participate in the ParaJumping competition.

Let’s keep it classic and go with Bunker Busters a game that is entirely reminiscent of a Nintendo game in the best of ways. It’s real simple in theory. Your plane flies side to side and keeps going lower unless you press the gas button. Of course, some boards have ceilings so you can’t go too high and you want to stay low. Why? To drop bombs on the enemy of course. The plane you fly in varies (so the effect of gas and the speed it falls vary) as do the bombs it drops. And in between boards you get a text based story line that’s entertaining in it’s throwback nature. Here’s the official description:

From the makers of Platformance: Castle Pain comes a game about:
Bombs and bombers, skills and rankings, babes and bunkers: BUNKER BUSTER!
Blast your way through 32 levels of destruction madness.
Put your piloting skills to the test with planes, helicopters… and missile launcher mounted jetpacks that cut through rocks like butter.
Features:
– Destructible landscape
– Simple controls
– 6 different aircrafts with their own physics
– Local scoreboard
– Comic book style graphics
– A story with twists and turns
– Unlock missions as you go
– Destroy targets but avoid hostages
– Save your mission at any time
– Collect Rewards but avoid Flopwards!

It’s actually damn entertaining. It’s $2 but the trial is also very extensive so you can get a great feel for it before you make the decision to buy it. It’s very well done and reminds you of the greatness of the classics.

And now to a card game. This is actually the only game I ahven’t palyed yet (come on there’s only so many games I can play per night). It’s called Pokwer Blitz and the graphics look solid but check out the description:

Video Poker at it’s finest. Features jacks or Better rules as well as Deuces Wild rules. Live Scoring allows you to compare your scores against all other players in real time.

Call me a sucker, but make a good game and add some live scoring and I have a reason to keep playing until I lose sleep. And yes, it’s also free.

Lets keep a good thing going with Spinballs Special Edition. You probably already know Spinballs – it’s a puzzler that’s on all platforms and was even on Windows Mobile. So what’s special about it?

The new Zen-Mode in Spinballs Special Edition offers a relaxing endless mode enabling players to explore all the features of Spinballs without being stressed by time pressure. And the new special recharger comes handy on charging special powers faster than before.

The regular version has been in Marketplace for a while and holds a solid 4.5 stars. Here’s the official description:

Are you ready for a new challenge? Spinballs is an exciting puzzle game with brilliant graphics, rocking music and great sound effects that introduces an unique gameplay. Seven discs with six coloured balls on each of them make up the playground. Each disc can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. Try to connect balls of the same colors by rotating those discs but never forget that time is running! The higher the levels the less time you have. Four helping elements can be charged and triggered to clear the field, slow down time, sort all balls or multiply the points owned. Use them wisely and develop your own strategy to reach the higher levels!
Features:
– Unique and highly addictive gameplay
– Brilliant graphics and visual effects
– Great music and sound effects
– Relaxing Zen-Mode
– Endless hours of fun

This one is $3 but also has a great trial mode.

Before we end I want to give a shout out to Hop’n Hood. It’s got phenomenal graphics and it’s a unique game but I can’t get used to the controls. Now it may very well be me and not the game but this is a platformer that has two 5-star ratings so far and also has a trial mode to test before you buy it at $2.

In High Hoppers: Hop’n Hood, you’re in on the physics action.
Be Ye He? or Be Ye She?
For the Adventure levels, your main goal as either the hero or the shero is to collect the baby animals and take them to ‘The End’ of each level… blowing up things with flaming arrows and powder kegs along the way… and listening to high powered music.
Aim and shoot arrows with the left thumb, and flick to hop with the right thumb. Once you master these skills, you’ll be a deadly force against the bad guys.
Also included are Knockdown levels you can use for target practice and to waste time.

Someone tell me what I’m doing wrong because I’m into the graphics and the game concept and I want more. And don’t confuse this for an Angry Birds clone because it’s not. You need to collect the bunnies and make it through the board safely so aside from having physics it’s not that style game. Give the trial a go and give me some help fellas.

OK that’s more than enough for today I think. Did I miss any?

Glad we’re done with the Marketplace spamming so we can get back to the good stuff because these are some absolutely solid games. Good week devs!