[This is the first in a regular series of game columns by Allen Gall, Games Editor for Pocket PC magazine. Allen's column will focus on short reviews of interesting new games or noteworthy upgrades of existing games. Allen will continue to contribute special reports and expanded reviews. Rich Hall]

This issue's picks are the usual assortment of shooters and action games. While none are groundbreaking, they are examples of interesting new products. Three--Snails, Blaster, and Groove Snatchers--are based on successful concepts from desktop and arcade machines, but have improved game play and graphics.

Dark Paladin: The dark side of pinball

Dark Paladin is the newest installment of Cecraft's Young Paladin pinball game. The first version of the story-based pinball game allowed you to play as Kariel Lightbringer, a noble warrior charged with waging a war against evil demons.

In this next installment, the tables have turned and you're now a dark paladin who needs to destroy the world in order to recreate it. Dark Paladin features an all-new table while offering the same lush graphics and realistic ball movement as the original. Probably the most interesting addition to the game is the iScore score tracking program. Available as a separate (and free) download from the Cecraft Web site, iScore allows you to rank your score online with players all over the world. If you enjoyed the original Young Paladin, the new look and features of Dark Paladin will make you happy.

In Dark Paladin, you'll need to destroy the world in order to recreate it.

Dark Paladin Pinball occupies 1.5 Mb of storage space and is available for Pocket PCs running StrongARM and MIPS processors. Current owners of Young Paladin can download the Dark Paladin module for free, while new customers will need to purchase Young Paladin ($19.95) in order to install the new module. The full version of Young Paladin, the Dark Paladin module, and a free demo of both are available on the Cecraft Web site (www.cecraft.com).

Snails: Battle for the planet Schnoogie

Peter Balogh has made a name for himself in the Pocket PC gaming scene with his Gamebox (http://ce.syntact.fi/pages/products.shtml), a variety pack featuring Pocket PC versions of many popular classic games (Snake, Tetris, and several others). Now Peter, along with a group of developers calling themselves the "Snails Team," have taken things to a higher level with Snails, an action-strategy game inspired by PC classics such as Scorched Earth and Worms. Your mission is to help an army of snails (the Moogums, the Lupeez, and the Nooginz) defeat each other and conquer the planet Schnoogie by launching strategic attacks with a variety of weapons.

Snails is a very polished game with colorful, cartoon-like backgrounds and clever animation. The game has a cute storyline, whimsical background music, and a plethora of jokes and one-liners. The interface is easy to navigate, with good game play and lots of challenging and entertaining scenarios. Snails is continually being improved, and version 1.6 was already available at the time of this review. The Snails Team is actively soliciting feedback on the game via their Web site, so fans of the genre will likely enjoy this game for some time to come.

In Snails, you'll have to select your race of snails and choose your weapons carefully if you want to win the war.

Snails occupies 4 Mb of storage space and takes 8 Mb of system RAM when running. It is priced at $11.95 and is available for all Pocket PCs. The commercial version and a free demo are available on the Snails Web site (http://ce.syntact.fi/snails/).

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