Windows Phone 7 Games: The great, the Bad and the unusual [Windows Phone 7]

Windows Phone 7 devices – aka the Xbox phones – begin arriving in stores today and Microsoft is hoping that gamers shall be among the many first to snatch up these new smartphones.

Microsoft’s newest mobile operating system and the phones that use it certainly have much to provide gamers. Of course, Windows Phone 7 comes with Xbox Live inbuilt – that’s Microsoft’s popular online community gaming service.

Xbox Live integration not only enables WP7 owners to create gamer profiles in an effort to share and compare their game experiences with other players, but gamers who own an Xbox 360 can access and contribute to their gamer profile from both their home console and their Windows Phone.

Meanwhile, as of right away, the Windows Phone 7 app Marketplace features more than 400 games – a range of that may, doubtless, quickly grow … though it certainly lags behind Apple’s App Store, which has a major head start within the app department. (By the best way, Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal, but this post doesn’t reflect anyone’s opinion but my own.)

I’ve spent the previous few days exploring the Game Marketplace, Xbox Live and the Games Hub on a Windows Phone 7 device – the HTC Surround to be specific. And listed below are a number of stuff you must know …

For starters, on the market, you’ll find apps you might want to pay for and apps which might be free. But among the games that cost money come with a free demo so you are able to try before you buy. Thumbs up to that. Additionally, the WP7 free demo system is more streamlined than the Apple system by which you’ll need download a separate app if you need a free sample.

Meanwhile, it’s important to note that although Xbox Live integration is a huge selling point, not the entire WP7 games include special Xbox Live features. Up to now only 26 games are Xbox Live enabled. You’ll find these games in their own section on the market. With these games, possible rack up achievements to your Xbox Live profile and add on your gamer score (all of that’s great for bragging rights). You can too check how you rank on Xbox Live leaderboards and compare your progress in your friends’ progress.

I do like the combination with Xbox Live thus far but I look ahead to a few of the additional game functionality that’s purported to be coming down the road – the facility play games to your phone against friends who are playing on the internet as an instance. That you may’t do this yet, but in keeping with Microsoft it won’t be long .

Meanwhile, I’ve hit a couple of hitches here at launch. I will be able to’t seem to get the ” Guitar Hero 5″ demo to install, as an instance, and I’ve had trouble getting an Xbox Live friend invitation to move through to the intended party – msnbc.com phone guru Wilson Rothman.

But that is only Day One and I expect kinks like these will likely be ironed out briefly order.

With some 400-plus games to greet you on the market, what you ought to know directly is: Which games must you own and which games must you leave out? With that in mind, what follows is a guide to a couple of the right, worst and strangest games you’ll find within the WP7 Marketplace.

(For a investigate the ideal non-game WP7 apps investigate cross-check Wilson’s list here .)

THE GOOD

Xbox Live Extras – Free
This isn’t a game, but in case you’re a gamer who owns an Xbox 360 and has an Xbox Live account, you’ll need to download this application which brings extra Xbox Live functionality for your phone. Stir up this app and you’ll be ready to see your entire achievements earned not only from playing games on the phone but from playing games to your Xbox 360 in addition. You’ll also be capable of see your Xbox Live friends, be capable of send them messages and you’ll be capable to compare your game achievements to theirs. Perhaps most importantly of all, you’ll be capable to customize your avatar right there in your phone. And who doesn’t love being silly with avatars ?

” Max and the Magic Marker” –  $6.99
This award-winning indie game (previously available on PC and as a downloadable title for the Wii) is my favorite app available inside the WP7 Marketplace to this point. ” Max and the Magic Marker” combines whimsical platforming gameplay with the drawing mechanic that delighted so many people in ” Crayon Physics Deluxe.”  Max, the boy with the magic marker, should stop the monster that he accidentally created. It’s your job to assist him. When he comes up against obstacles and enemies, you’ll must draw for your phone’s touch-screen to create solutions to his problems. If he should cross a ravine, for instance, draw a line to create a bridge for him. At $6.99, this game is costly but worth every penny.  

” The Harvest” –  $6.99
While some of the games you’ll be able to play on Windows Phone 7 devices have previously appeared on other platforms (usually the iPhone), ” The Harvest” was made solely for Windows Phone 7 and might’t be found anywhere else. In this top-down action/role-playing game, you fight off hordes evil Harvesters on a future Earth. The battle action is definitely paced, the graphics look great and the game offers lots of a RPG depth. Clearly a number of care and effort went into the making of this game. It’s certainly the type of high-quality exclusive app Windows Phones could use more of.

” CarneyVale: Showtime” – $2.99
Of course you wish to spend $2.99 on this circus-themed physics game. I mean, you’re firing a clown out of cannon and then – using these bizarre robot-like arms – you’re grabbing and flinging him through an airborne maze of electricity- and fire-laden hazards. What may be more fun than that? This game got its start as component of Microsoft’s Community/Indie Games initiative . The ragdoll physics at work listed here are a sight to behold and the absurd, madcap gaming is difficult to peel yourself far from. 

” Flowerz” – Free
I wouldn’t have thought i’ll tolerate another match-three puzzle game. And yet, I made up my mind to take a look at out ” Flowerz” for several minutes … and before I knew it an hour had gone by. Yes, you’ll be tasked with matching flowers of an analogous color in rows and columns of three. But this game puts its own twist or two on the match-three thing – twists which will force you to think strategically and plan for the longer term.

” Flight Control” – $2.99
This sleek and gorgeously designed game of airplane guidance has been a success on the iPhone and the iPad and is equally enjoyable on Windows Phone 7 devices. Touch the screen and draw a path to bring airplanes safely to their appropriate runway. It’s harder than it sounds and utterly absorbing. While you don’t already own this unique game, now could be the time.

” Star Wars: Battle For Hoth” – $2.99
I enjoyed this ” Empire Strikes Back” -themed tower-defense game when it arrived in Apple’s App Store and it has translated nicely to the brand new Windows phones. Here’s another chance to take down Snowtroopers, Viper Probe Droids, TIE Fighters and even AT-ATs as you defend Echo Base from the Dark Side. The graphics might not be one of the most inspired you’ll find, but the game’s ability to scratch that ” Empire Strikes Back” itch will make up for it.

” The Sims 3″ – $6.99
The epic life-simulation gaming found for your typical ” Sims” game has been smartly streamlined for the cellular phone with this application (a version of which has also appeared in Apple’s App Store). ” The Sims 3″ for WP7 is simple to jump into and yet retains quite a lot of depth. Create your individual little digital human complete with some seriously quirky personality traits. Are likely to their needs and help them achieve their wishes both big and small. The game is, as always, delightfully engaging.

” The Revenants” – $2.99
This good-looking little action-puzzle game finds you playing a newly formed spirit struggling to survive and struggling to grow into a more powerful spirit. To survive you’ll must absorb the enemy ghosts which are once you. To do that, you’ll use the touch screen to draw loops around your enemies. These loops create vortexes that suck them right up. The gameplay is unique and really worth sorting out.

” de Blob: Revolution”  – $2.99
de Blob – a contented character who brings color to a color-less world – first appeared on the Wii as the hero in a clever platforming puzzle game. But don’t expect any platforming this time around. ” de Blob: Revolution” has you helping de Blob  trace trails of color through a gray world, saving its inhabitants as he goes. Trouble is, the trails he paints can’t cross each other or plow through obstacles. This can be a maze puzzler with great graphics and a fab concept so that it will keep you coming back for more.

” Text Text Revolution” – Free
It truly is an absurdly simple and an absurdly addictive little game and one absolute to suck in anyone who prides themselves on their tiny keyboard typing skills. Here you’re given a chain of words you might want to type into your phone’s keyboard as quickly and as accurately as possible. You’ll receive a score based in your speed and accuracy and you’ll then compare that score to other players’ scores. Yep, that’s all there is to it. But don’t be surprised once you finally end up spending a number of time seeking to get your flying fingers to land a top score.

” AlphaJax” – $3.99
The WP7 Marketplace would not yet offer the favored iPhone game ” Words with Friends” – a wonderfully put together Scrabble game which you could play together with your pals or with random strangers from the relief of your individual phone. Until it does, there is ” AlphaJax.” It could not bowl you over, however it’s a solid enough replacement and person who will satisfy your ought to put your wordsmithing skills to the test.

THE BAD

” My Make Up” – $1.99
It is the sort of insipid game that’s marketed to little girls because, apparently, little girls like nothing more than to slather makeup on other girls’ faces. This game is shallow in more ways than one. The goal this is to tart up four faces using various makeup options – lipstick, blush, eyeshadow, etc. I’m sure that the various smart little girls obtainable who do love makeup will agree that the game’s interface stinks – not only do the touch controls work only intermittently but the options are limited and the challenge is nonexistent.

” Shoot Shag Marry” – $1.29
I’m torn to whether I should put this game in ” The Bad” category or ” The unusual” category because it fits so well in both categories. This title presents you with the names of three famous people (Russell Crowe, Sylvester Stallone and Tiger Woods for instance) and you should decide which one you’d desire to shoot, which one you’d desire to have sex with and which one you’d prefer to marry. But while you’ve made an expansion absolutely nothing happens. I’m not opposed to goofy games that supply a chuckle or two for a buck or two … but this one is absolutely chuckle free. Let me say this again: Absolutely nothing happens. I’m not even sure why it’s considered a game. So, I assume if pressed, I’d shoot this game.

” Frogger” – $2.99
I hate to claim it but … meh. I mean, I loved ” Frogger” once I was a kid a twin of everyone else. But the swipe controls here feel somewhat slow to respond and the game, in most cases, feels outdated. You may do better than this with that $2.99 of yours.

THE WEIRD

” The Hand of Bob” – 99 cents
I don’t quite know what to make of this game, which has you marching your fingers around a city destroying everything on your path. On the only hand, I need to recommend it purely for its name – ” The Hand of Bob” – which I find deeply amusing in itself. And I love the quirky concept – you’re Bob’s giant hand walking during the city on the information of your fingers. You’re an angry hand and you may destroy whatever that you can by crushing it beneath your mighty digits (tap on things to cause them to go boom). But the game, ultimately, is very shallow and the laughs only last so long. However … what do you are expecting for 99 cents?

” DroppyPop” – 99 cents
This game is weird in a very eerie and not particularly enjoyable form of way. A ragdoll figure drops throughout the sky, bouncing and ricocheting off balloons, arms and legs flailing limply about. You’re imagined to tap on the screen to make the figure grab a balloon string so it’ll swing across the screen and score points by popping more balloons. Hit the ground and the figure screams. These figures so that you can drop throughout the sky – a jester, a bikini-clad woman, a Mrs. Santa Claus – are truly bizarre looking. Genuinely, they seem like corpses.  In a technique, I assume ” DroppyPop” is not very so different from ” CarneyVale: Showtime” – ragdoll physics are the marketing point. It’s just that ” DroppyPop” forgot the thrill.

Winda Benedetti writes the Citizen Gamer column for msnbc.com . That you would be able to follow her tweets about games and other things the following on Twitter.

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This post is tagged: course windows, game experiences, gamer profiles, gaming service, new smartphones