mocoblog

Namco Mobile at DigitalLife (or I want Time Crisis Mobile)

Other than appearances by some cellcos (T-Mobile, Verizon were the ones I noticed), handset providers such as Nokia, there was no greater mobile presence made available at this “gaming conference” than Namco Mobile. Namco, who recently annouced the formation of a mobile unit, was showcasing BREW games on Verizon phones at the show.

I quickly noticed a Namco favorite of mine made mobile, Time Crisis. I thought to myself, “No way.” How could they have possibly made a light gun game mobile? A light gun game with a pedal to duck and reload? I was happy to say they did it quite elegantly. Obviously there is no pedal or light gun, but this game is destined to be a mobile shoot’em up classic. Here’s how it plays. The zero button ducks and reloads like the pedal does in the arcade version. So how do you shoot? I thought I would have to manipulate a tiny crosshair with my number-pad or “arrows”. I was wrong. The screen (as you can see above) is divided in 9 sections. Each section cooresponds to your keypad (1-9), a la, whack-a-boss or this. The game requires 3D handsets. Ducking changes the perspective of the grid to the enemies creating additional difficulty. Very addictive. Great stress relief with the gunshot sounds and animated violence as well. Most importantly it provided me bite-size entertainment which I could put away easily but won’t get bored of. A great adaptation of the original concept.

Unlike Ms.PacMan, Galaga, and Xevious, Time Crisis was not trying to mimic the arcade play. Much like DOOM RPG doesn’t try to emulate the PC DOOM experience on mobile, Namco has essentially created something new, which effectively leverages their existing brand name, without cheapening the experience. I remember my first color phone. I downloaded Tiger Woods golf; boy, was I disappointed. Although I have to say, Xevious looked and played very much like the original. I felt that Ms. Pac Man and Galaga make for better arcade classics on my GameBoy SP.

The game is not yet available on Verizon (possibly early-November) nor is it even mentioned on their website. Other than Sudoku, I will probably pony up some cash for Time Crisis.