Over 90 experts judged over 850 nominations for the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine Best Software Awards 2007. Our judges had plenty to say about their favorite products. In this issue we are publishing their comments about the programs nominated for the Games and Entertainment software categories. We will publish their comments on other software categories in future issues.
The purpose of publishing the comments is to give insights into a variety of products—not to show how the judges voted. For the sake of brevity, we’ve included only 1-3 comments per product and edited them for clarity and conciseness. A listing of the 2007 winners and finalists can be found on our Web site (smartphonemag.com/awards).
Games for Touch Screen Devices
The comments in this section were for the touch screen version of the game. We indicate if a non-touch screen version of the game is also available.
Action Games
Anthelion 2: Celestial Vigilance
pdamill.com
Touch screen only
Great spacecraft shooting game with progressive missions to unlock better space ships! It’s easy to navigate using your stylus. (Dan Goh) They need to add more missions and the ability to earn medals, higher ranks, etc. (Ben Stanley)
Atomic Battle Dragons
isotope244.com
Touch screen only
It takes the traditional game of Joust to new levels by adding a ton of new game elements (power-ups, RPG-like character stats, etc.). The product registration process is unfriendly to the consumer. (Ben Stanley)
Enslave
pocketmoregames.com
Touch screen only
Awesome gameplay, graphics, sound effects and music, options, power-ups, and everything else! I especially like the attention to details like the inclusion of the quotations and the fascinating storyline and intro screens. However, the controls took a lot of getting used to. Also, it would be great if there was more to spice up the later game stages. (Ben Stanley)
The Corsair
pdamill.com
Touch screen only
Great pirate shooting game: kill all the pirates, don’t shoot the lovely maidens, and reload your gun frequently! It could be improved by allowing the screen to be flipped and making it possible to assign a button to reload the gun. (Dan Goh)
Adventure Games
Atlantis Redux
tetraedge.com
Touch and non-touch screen
Excellent graphics and fast transitions match Atlantis Redux’s compelling and engrossing story and gameplay. (Mike Riley)
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars
astraware.com
Touch screen only
Cool graphics with a cinematic feel, very addictive puzzles, and a cool storyline make Broken Sword my No. 1 adventure game of the year! (Alex Januschewsky) They need to improve the audio quality. (Mike Riley)
The Secrets of Da Vinci
tetraedge.com
Touch screen only
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