Naval Battle: Mission Commander

Yeah, really cool indeed. Nice screenshots too.

The screenshots on the site are taken from external sources. I hope in the future we’ll be able to display our own screenshots, but unfortunately until then we’ll just have to borrow some others

A pretty nice game it is, indeed

[...] Naval Battle - An immortal classic as well, but in a new, hip and extremely exciting life thanks to Gameloft’s implementation. Read more about it here. [...]

[...] The Device characteristics. Here is some boring extra info that might help you chose your phone wisely: * The available global memory matters, as it gives a limitation on the number of games you may install on your phone. * The Java implementation matters - on some phones it asks java applications to have at most 64 KB, 128 KB or 150 KB. Give that most cool games nowadays have around 300 KB, this is a serious limitation. Not to mention “monsters” like V-rally or Superman, with over 500k(a huge number, if you remember the old times when your PC’s RAM was of 640K… )? Other features you should be aware of when buying your mobile phone? * Does it have Bluetooth? If it does, does it allow Java applications to access it? Not a vital feature, but still important, as more and more games start to add multiplayer capabilities via Bluetooth (take a peek at Naval Commander, for instance). * Does it allow easy installation? You don’t want to buy a mobile phone that knows Java games but won’t let you to install any, do you? (I know at least a couple of Samsung phones out there that will drive you mad) * What about the controls? Just like the console joystick, the game controls can change the whole gaming experience. In the case of mobile phones, they may completely destroy a game: if your keyboard has buttons too small, too close or too hard, your fingers will get numb before you end the first level of your favorite game. If the phone has a sort-of-joystick(for instance the navigation buttons in SE v630i), check it out closely: is it easy to handle? Are the direction keys nice to touch?(in this case, they aren’t - I’d recommend buying a SE K750 instead - same games, better controls). You;d be surprised of the number of great games that can’t be played on some phones, because of the crappy keyboard. [...]

[...] Naval Battle - as a kid I’d play the pen-on-paper version. Others have certainly played the table game. Gameloft’s take on the concept is innovative and the implementation is great. The graphics are cool, the special moves make the players delight. A beautiful and easy to play game. [...]

[...] There are three major phone gaming platforms around there The first would be the Java one - a great family of phones, with the largest marketshare. There are two main JAVA standards, MIDP 1 and 2. The first and oldest one not only doesn’t use the entire available screen of the phone (the status bar of the phone will always show on top of the game), but the JAVA application (your game, basically) will be very limited. That’s why no modern games will be found for the MIDP 1.0 platform, only for the MIDP 2.0 on. Basically, if your mobile phone has color games and some kind of Java logo, there are big chances it’s MIDP 2.0 compatible. The second family would be the Symbian one; Symbian is an operating system that has been adopted by the high-end line of mobile devices of most producers(for a full list of the devices see here). It’s a lot more powerful as a gaming environment than the Java MIDP 2.0 one, so you’re likely to see a lot of great games here. The problem? The devices are quite expensive and therefore not very popular. It’s also the reason why you haven’t yet read any Symbian game review on our site. But it’s going to change in the near future. Promise. The third major mobile phone platform is the Smartphone one; namely mobile phones that are also PDA and run the Windows Mobile OS. Being a Windows platform makes the games easier to develop and not meeting the same limitations as the Java ones. In other words… interesting games, more similar to the PC ones than the Java ones… same as for Symbian, we’re preparing to launch a review section dedicated to it. These being said, in the following paragraphs we’ll be talking about the JAVA games, since they are the most popular ones and the ones we’ve been talking on Mobicritic so far. Plus, these are the ones with most issues: The Phone Model matters. I want to clear things up a bit; although Java was supposed to be a Write Once, Run Anywhere platform, it isn’t! It’s just another programming language, and its implementation on various handsets varies from one to another. Never believe that a game running on one mobile phone will run on another, unless it’s EXACTLY THE SAME MODEL. For instance: Basil owns a SE(Sony-Ericsson) K700, Alex a SE v630i, Tara might have a Nokia . If you own a SE T610 or maybe a Nokia 2650, most games will not be compatible and you’ll have to download the version for your phone model. The game CHANGES with the model Let’s say you read a mobile game review written by Basil that makes you want to buy and download the game. The review said that the graphics were really cool, with exciting music and some amazing explosion effects, 20 stages, three characters to chose from, etc… Pretty cool, and it really is; but remember: that’s true for the K700 owner; it might not be true for your phone model. Your game version might be a stripped-down one, with crappy music, no explosion effects and only 10 levels. Why? Because of the phone limitations; just as a PC version for Need for Speed isn’t the same as an XBOX one, a SE K750 version will certainly be different than a Nokia N80 version. So never blame the reviewer if the game doesn’t look like in the screenshots. Get a better gaming-ready mobile phone instead The RESOLUTION matters Most last-generation handsets have a resolution of 176×220; it’s the most common, and the minimum recommended one to enjoy a mobile game. If you bought a mobile phone just for the GSM/CDMA capabilities, then it probably won’t bother you. Still, if you discovered that you enjoy spending quite a bit of time playing games with it, here’s the tip: for resolutions below 176×220 you’ll only find crappy games. The good ones start at at least this one. The Device characteristics. Here is some boring extra info that might help you chose your phone wisely: * The available global memory matters, as it gives a limitation on the number of games you may install on your phone. * The Java implementation matters - on some phones it asks java applications to have at most 64 KB, 128 KB or 150 KB. Give that most cool games nowadays have around 300 KB, this is a serious limitation. Not to mention “monsters” like V-rally or Superman, with over 500k(a huge number, if you remember the old times when your PC’s RAM was of 640K… )? Other features you should be aware of when buying your mobile phone? * Does it have Bluetooth? If it does, does it allow Java applications to access it? Not a vital feature, but still important, as more and more games start to add multiplayer capabilities via Bluetooth (take a peek at Naval Commander, for instance). * Does it allow easy installation? You don’t want to buy a mobile phone that knows Java games but won’t let you to install any, do you? (I know at least a couple of Samsung phones out there that will drive you mad) * What about the controls? Just like the console joystick, the game controls can change the whole gaming experience. In the case of mobile phones, they may completely destroy a game: if your keyboard has buttons too small, too close or too hard, your fingers will get numb before you end the first level of your favorite game. If the phone has a sort-of-joystick(for instance the navigation buttons in SE v630i), check it out closely: is it easy to handle? Are the direction keys nice to touch?(in this case, they aren’t - I’d recommend buying a SE K750 instead - same games, better controls). You;d be surprised of the number of great games that can’t be played on some phones, because of the crappy keyboard. [...]

[...] Alchemy: another huge success among mobile gamers everywhere. I’ve played it on the PocketPC, my girlfriend plays it as a mobile game, while my friend’s girlfriend plays it on the PC. So I take that girls digg alchemy, or at least the idea of fast-paced colored action. Bejeweled / Paris Hilton’s Diamond Quest - ok, I admit I have a weakness for this kind of game: pretty, sparkling graphics, various interesting puzzles, a very catchy concept and, in the case of Diamond Quest, Paris Hilton pictures… Tetris - the immortal. Nothing much to explain here, basically everyone already knows it. The difference between the dozens of clones is made by the cute(r) graphics and more appealing sounds. If you want a free version there’s always the open-source Jamtris(not a great one, though). Otherwise, Gameloft and some others(Global fun?) offer some neat implementations Zuma - a pretty good implementation of the so-famous PC game. Since I know girls who LOVE the PC version, I take it that they might enjoy the mobile one as well. Still, they need a decent phone, with a good joystick. My personal choice would be the Sony-Ericsson K715 Diamond Rush - adventure puzzle, where you collect colorful diamonds and solve block-pushing puzzles. A great concept, with re-playable levels of increasing difficulty. Colorful, exciting, full of secrets and with a VERY short learning curve: there’s basically nothing to learn beforehand, new concepts are explained to you as you go. Since some players tend to be perfectionists, the game lets you replay previous levels in order to achieve higher scores(collect all the hidden diamonds, for instance). Lumines - colorful, great soundtrack, exciting and quick-to-learn. Might be a bit frustrating from time to time, because of the TOO FAST pace. Still, your girlfriend ought to like it Naval Battle - as a kid I’d play the pen-on-paper version. Others have certainly played the table game. Gameloft’s take on the concept is innovative and the implementation is great. The graphics are cool, the special moves make the players delight. A beautiful and easy to play game. Yeti Sports series - You can’t get simpler than this: a Yeti that either hits penguins with a baseball, a golf bat or throws them like darts. The repetitive game-play might appeal to perfectionists but be boring to others. The Sims/Miami Nights/New York Nights: we are grouping these together since they share the same idea: you manage a virtual avatar, and control the daily tasks he/she does; cute graphics, simple control, some general plot to follow: basically you have to earn money, make friends, comb your hair, shower and many others, in order to become rich and famous. Well.. fame takes some effort, but the road to it is fun nonetheless. Absolute Puzzle: featured here, on Mobicritic, this game has what it takes to be appreciated by your feminine counterpart: simple and intuitive gameplay, difficult and exciting puzzles. You can see from the number of comments received on our site, that girls are an important demographic of the Absolute Puzzle gamers [...]