Nokia N-Gage

Glimmerati is a racing game that provides an over-the-top look into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Its top-down racing sequences are perfectly adequate, but the campy story mode is the real draw. Players assume the role of a wealthy man trying to impress members of the prestigious Club Glimmerati. Racing cars, boats, and rocket-propelled vehicles would provide enough excitement for most, but 1980s millionaire playboys are not so easily entertained. As you travel to cities like Milan, Paris, and Monaco, you’ll be encouraged to attract as much media attention as possible. You’ll outrun police, perform stunts at photo shoots, and rub shoulders with celebrities. Fast cars and fast women often go hand-in-hand, so you’ll meet a few babes along the way. The checkpoint-based races aren’t exactly revolutionary, but it’s rare for a racing game to put so much emphasis on world-building and characters. Glimmerati is a game like no other, and it’s a concept that’s worth revisiting.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was an excellent demonstration of the N-Gage’s potential. There was a brief period where the N-Gage was the most powerful handheld on the market, and Tony Hawk was a graphical tour-de-force that eclipsed what other portable systems were capable of in 2003. Game Boy Advance versions of Tony Hawk used overhead isometric perspectives, but the N-Gage version was a full 3D experience like the original PlayStation games. (It even emulates the PS1’s distinct texture-warping!) For nearly two decades, it was the most authentic way to play the game on a handheld device. Grinding on rails, jumping off ramps, and linking various tricks together feels completely natural, and the stages are filled with objects and set pieces to interact with. The narrow screen of the N-Gage isn’t too much of an issue since the game is focused more on verticality rather than horizontal movement. Although the play mechanics lack some of the refinements introduced in the sequels, stages from the first three Tony Hawk games are featured and the game is loaded with robust multiplayer options. Through the use of Bluetooth, the five multiplayer modes (Tag, Graffiti, Trick Attack, Horse Play, and Skate Race) allow players to test their skills in fun and competitive challenges. My biggest complaint is that Goldfinger’s Superman isn’t featured on the soundtrack for some reason. That’s almost as egregious as when they removed the Offspring’s music from the digital version of Crazy Taxi!

The folks at Gameloft actually developed two Splinter Cell games for the N-Gage. Chaos Theory was a 3D effort that was cut from the same cloth as its console counterparts, while Team Stealth Action was a 2D side-scroller more akin to what you’d expect to see during the 16-bit era. Even though Chaos Theory is more advanced on a technical level, it only succeeds in highlighting the N-Gage’s weaknesses. Father Time has been much kinder to Team Stealth Action, and the visuals don’t seem nearly as outdated. The stealth-based mechanics are reminiscent to cinematic platformers like Flashback and Blackthorne, and a lot of the game revolves around straightforward objectives like ducking into shadows or sneaking past security cameras. There’s plenty of action mixed in with the stealth, however, so you’ll also have the opportunity to take out enemy guards with sniper rifles or work your way through burning buildings. There’s a lot of variety in the missions, and the multiplayer component adds even more depth. The puzzle-driven stage layouts are a great fit for co-op play, and there are a number of objectives that would be impossible to tackle on your own!

The N-Gage’s portrait-style screen doesn’t jive well with certain genres, but it’s a perfect fit for pinball games since actual pinball tables are long and narrow by design. At a glance, Mile High Pinball doesn’t look especially unusual, but it does a lot of things to set it apart from its contemporaries. While most pinball games simply require players to rack up as many points as they can, the object of Mile High Pinball is to open up exits and continuously bounce the ball up the screen in an attempt to reach higher tables. (If you end up losing the ball, it simply falls back down to the previous screen and you’ll get to continue playing!) I like how each table has its own requirements for opening up the exits. Some screens require you to defeat enemies by hitting them with the pinball, while others have light puzzle-solving elements. You’ll also be able to obtain power-ups as you progress through the game, which makes the entire experience feel even more diverse. I really appreciate the change of scenery as you move from one table to the next, as this makes your progress feel meaningful. (There are even hidden tables based around other popular N-Gage games like Pathways of Glory!) All told, Mile High Pinball features over 80 tables! It should be noted that the N-Gage screen was only 1.6″ tall, however, which means that the game isn’t nearly a mile high! I guess Eleven-foot High Pinball just wouldn’t have had the same ring to it.

A tactical turn-based game developed by RedLynx, Pathway to Glory was the first game published by Nokia and the closest thing to a killer app on the N-Gage. In what could be described as a marriage of Cannon Fodder and Call of Duty, Pathway to Glory focuses on Europe’s struggles during the second World War. Among other objectives, players are tasked with defending their allies, ambushing enemies, and capturing vehicles and turrets. A remarkable attention to detail was given to the game’s historical missions. The weapons, locations, and even the uniforms have an authenticity to them that contributes to the game’s overall immersion. A lot of thought was clearly given to the map layouts, enemy placement, and general pacing of the game. The game uses all of the N-Gage’s buttons, but the controls are intuitive despite their complexity. In addition to the single player campaign, Pathway to Glory featured a number of multiplayer options. Playing online via N-Gage Arena hasn’t been an option since 2005, but players can still compete against each other through a local Bluetooth connection or simply take the “hotseat” route and pass the N-Gage back and forth between turns.

High Seize is another turn-based tactics game developed by RedLynx and published by Nokia. The subject matter isn’t nearly as heavy as Pathway to Glory, however. Rather than focusing on a historical event, the game follows a retired navy captain who is forced to return to his swashbuckling days after his father is kidnapped by pirates. Piracy is nothing to take lightly, but searching for legendary treasures is a lot more lighthearted than fighting Nazis. The game is often compared to Nintendo’s Advance Wars franchise, but its 17th century Caribbean setting makes High Seize stand out. The game features 25 varied missions – which range from quick battles to epic campaigns – and a lot of variety can be seen in the objectives. When your not busy looking for your father, fighting pirates, or hunting treasure, there’s even an opportunity for romance. In addition to the robust single player experience, the game also gives players a chance to battle it out on the high seas against each other.

The goal in Snakes is to maneuver a snake around the playing field and avoid running into anything. The walls are clearly defined, but running into your own tail poses a much bigger risk since the snake increases in size as it consumes power gems. The game’s design is based on a 1976 game called Blockade, which was later cloned by Atari and released as Bigfoot. A variant of the game was also included as a sample program in QBasic, and the concept was simple enough to run on graphic calculators. In 1998, Nokia began preloading their cell phones with a variant of the game, so it’s fitting that N-Gage owners were given Snakes for free. Snakes is a simplistic game, but it doesn’t feel lazy or incomplete. Developer IOMO actually made an effort to improve the formula in many ways. In addition to the obvious visual refinements, new gameplay elements are also introduced. In most variants of Snakes, players are only able to make 90° turns. The N-Gage mixes things up by introducing hexagonal playing fields in the later stages. The multiplayer component is the true star of the game, and the action generally seems more intense when your competing against a friend. No game on the N-Gage is easier to pick up and play than Snakes.

For the uninitiated, Worms World Party is essentially a turn-based strategy game disguised as a platformer. The object is for opposing teams of worms to eliminate each other by any means necessary. You’ll have a wide assortment of creative weapons at your disposal, ranging from shotguns to exploding sheep, and the stages are rife with environmental hazards. Whether you’re calling in an airstrike or unleashing your kung-fu powers, the game is bound to devolve into chaos due to the random level layouts and unpredictable item placement. (I can’t count the number of times I accidentally wiped out my entire team with stray landmines!) Worms World Party allows for tremendous levels of customization, and this contributes to its immense replay value. I can’t believe how much content was packed into the game. There are over 40 weapons, a robust training mode, and dozens of single-player missions. The game was really meant to be played with others, however, so I was happy to see that various multiplayer options were implemented. Although Nokia discontinued their online servers many years ago, you can still play one-on-one through a Bluetooth connection or by simply passing an N-Gage back and forth. I’ll concede that it’s more fun to watch the mayhem unfold on a large television screen, but Worms World Party is as good of a port as you could ask for on Nokia’s handheld.

System Rush is a futuristic racing game that could be likened to F-ZERO or WipEout. The colorful cyberpunk aesthetic borrows heavily from Tron, and the neon-lined set pieces make everything easy to see even on a small screen. I was taken aback by the silky-smooth framerate, and the sense of speed is nothing short of incredible. (The narrow N-Gage screen isn’t too much of a detriment in this case, since you’ll always be focused on what’s ahead of you.) All things considered, System Rush is the most visually stunning game on the platform. It’s not just a shallow tech demo, either. The play mechanics are surprisingly refined, and the tracks are loaded with speed boosts and power-ups. You can even deploy wings and glide over your rivals! You’ll also be able to permanently upgrade your vehicle between races, which can potentially make the game even faster. Although racing games are usually self-explanatory, the developers went the extra mile by including a proper story mode that makes you feel like you’re reading a graphic novel. It’s clear that a tremendous amount of effort went into the game, so it’s a shame that it’s destined to live in obscurity with every other N-Gage exclusive.

Dragon Force was a tactical RPG released for the Sega Saturn in 1996 and one of the greatest games of its generation. Pocket Kingdom: Own the World uses many of the same core design elements. Rather than controlling a single character, players are tasked with managing entire armies. Characters can be upgraded, objects can be combined, and a near-limitless number of strategies can be used depending on how units and items are grouped together. The game’s crafting system allows for over 50,000 possible object combinations! The battles themselves are autonomous and players don’t have direct control over their units, but there’s a lot of depth to the behind-the-scenes number crunching that determines the victor of each encounter. Pocket Kingdom was one of the earliest examples of a mobile MMORPG, but the game is still a blast to play offline. One of the most interesting aspects about the game is its writing. The characters are self-aware and know that they are in a video game. The game makes fun of standard video game tropes and MMORP conventions, and the characters use leet-speak instead of the Queen’s English. Phrases like “lol” or “pwned” might seem out of place in a medieval-themed game, but Internet slang makes sense in the context of a self-aware MMORPG that was made for a phone.