Value is the theme of this round of selections. Two game packs, GameBox Classics and GameBox Solitaire, offer great bargains at about $10 each. Monkey Island is also a good deal at $5.99, although it doesn't offer a demo. Stressed is a freeware title, but frankly it's more of a quality effort than many commercial titles.
Links Pocket PC Edition lives up to the reputation of its desktop namesake. The game features well-designed menus and realistic course graphics (you only get one built-in course; additional courses are available for $6.95 each). Icons to the left of and above the player display information about the course, the current hole, the player, the elevation and distance between the golf ball and the pin, the slope of the ground where your ball is resting, the lie of your ball (fairway, rough, etc.), and the wind direction and magnitude.
Links Pocket PC Edition looks gorgeous and plays like the real thing.
Like their other sports games, Links uses Hexacto's trademark control method, which is very well implemented here. To the right and slightly above the golfer is the Swing Gauge, which shows the club you are using, the shot type, and the range of the club. All you do is tap and hold to select the power of your swing, and then tap once more to set the angle. Just like in the real game of golf, you have plenty of control but will still need skill and perception to use it properly. Advanced players can select the club and the type of shot, although the game does a fairly good job of automatically selecting these items on its own. Sometimes it's hard to judge distance on a handheld display, but fortunately the game offers an overhead map, which helps. Players can also modify the rules to make the game a little more strict. Although it's sometimes hard to tell where the ball is and the sound effects are a little weak, Links is easily the definitive golf game for the Pocket PC.
For more information visit the Hexacto Web site (www.hexacto.com). Links Pocket PC Edition supports all Pocket PC 2002 devices, Smartphones, and the free demo worked fine on the Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC device I tested it on. The full version can be purchased for $24.95.
PDAmill has released GameBox Classics, which includes:
- Blocks: a Tetris clone
- Blocks+: a Tetris clone in which the blocks in each piece can have varying colors
- Snake: eat the fruits from the screen and keep the snake from touching his ever-growing tail
- Jewel Master: click the blocks of the same color to remove them from the screen
- Cannons: strategic aiming
- Fireball: a Breakout clone
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