Nokia N96 N-gage Review – Dance Fabulous

Name: Dance Fabulous

Genre: Arcade

Summary: In recent times a lot more  hype is around N-gage games, Dance Fabulous has been hyped about for a good while now and it has now been released ahead of schedule. The very first thing you will notice is the size and this blows away most N-gage games because its 30MB where as most N-gage game don’t go over 5mb. The point of Dance Fabulous is as any Dancing game, basically make you dancer move in the best way. A few things it prides itself on is customization which is almost unlimited, the key that I see to this game is its ability to let you dance along with your own music so your not listening to some crap that’s 10 years old. Dance Fabulous only costs £4/€5 which is very cheap for a game of this size. The graphics and sound effects are perfect giving the game a really quality feel and has been give the highest rating so far in the N-gage arena.

Overview: Lets be honest, not that many people are going to be interested in this game. In a whole the game is very flashy which is nice to see come from nokia but I think unless you ware a skirt then you should pass on this game, if however you like the idea of the game then you really should check it out because it is a good game. To play this game you need the latest version of N-gage(1.20-1459) which you can download from below. If you where thinking of trying out the trial, Don’t because its a waste of time all in all you get about 1 minute of play time and about 30 seconds of that is dancing. I will post a link to a video of the full version in action.

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Nokia N96 N-gage Review – Asphalt 4: Elite Racing

Name: Asphalt 4: Elite Racing

Genre: Driving/Racing

Summary: Asphalt is a long running mobile phone racer and Elite Racing is the second game for N-gage. Asphalt 3 was one of the first racing games out for n-gage then need for speed came along and showed us what was possible on our nokia N96 and Asphalt 4: Elite Racing is now here to show what it can do. If you played Asphalt 3 you will thing this is the same thing in terms of graphics and UI but with new cars and new tracks it seems as if Asphalt 3 got a face lift but really its all the same as the older one. I will say that the roads have more turns and a more open feeling environment. All the same Asphalt 4: Elite Racing has some nice cars an will give you a few hours of game play but not sure its an improvement on the 3rd one.

Overview: This seems like such a waste of time it appears to be Asphalt 3 with new backgrounds so I don’t understand why released anything that’s had this little attention. I’m not saying its a bad game well Asphalt 3 wasn’t a bad game but after playing for a year or two now its a bit boring and its good that they are keeping the game alive but I think they could have improved the game. In the end of the day I still think need for speed is better and in fairness they don’t even give you a proper amount of time to try it out. Read more

Nokia N96 N-gage Review – Spore

Name: Spore

Genre: Strategy/Adventure

Summary: Spore has been out for the PC for about a year and it has been doing well mainly because of massive amount of game-play and innovative story. Spore has now been released for the Nokia N96 but with the lack of graphics and processing power, is it able to be a good game? The game itself is quite addictive and with ability to change every part of your creature. The point of the game is to eat little creatures so that yours can develop and the more you develop the more you can eat and defend yourself. The graphics works nicely and the game in whole runs smoothly the only thing that needs fixing is the navigation because it only uses up, down, left and right and a lot of the time you want to go in a diagonal direction.

Overview: I was a bit surprised with this game because I played the version for the Iphone which was about 20 bigger in size and that got very boring. However Spore for n-gage is better because its more fast paced and seems harder but I’m sure there’s more levels in the Iphone version. The other thing this game has is a multi-player so you can show off your creature to other n-gage players. In the end of the day I don’t think ill be buying this game just because I’ve played Iphone version. Read more

Nokia N96 N-gage review-Pandemonium

Name: Pandemonium

Genre: Action/Adventure

Summary: Pandemonium has been around for a good few years originally coming out for the PlayStation, back then it was know for having good graphics but not great game play. Now It has been revived for the nokia n96 and with a new developer, will it surpass other games or will it fail? What the game does have is nice colourful environments, two playable characters each with different abilities and lots of levels. The multiplayer isn’t bad but you could get bored of racing each level again and again. The game feels like an old run and shoot arcade game with the only difference being that this uses a new style of graphics which make it look 3D. The detail should also be noted because someone spent a lot of time and it shows.

Overall: To answer the my earlier question, this game fails because its almost unplayable because it cant keep up with the frame rate so it stutters all the time. Also one of the characters use the normal n-gage controls which is fine but the other character needs both the normal N-gage controls and also the keypad so with that character you need to constantly open and close the slider. I tried this game on the n95 which it was much better but still slowed every now and again making it impossible to play the game fast which was meant to be the action in Action/Adventure. In the end of the day its a good game but you need a fast phone to play it. Read more

Nokia N96 N-Gage Review – Age of Empires 3

Name: Age of Empires III (AoE)

Genre:  Strategy

Summary: The AoE series has been going on for ages and it has finally been released for the Nokia N96 and is a welcome addition to the N-gage platform. Many of the other AoE games where notorious for being the greatest strategy games on low powered computers so if any game was to make a good  strategy game for the N96 and N-gage its AoE. First thing you notice about the game is the graphics which look exactly like AoE II, second you’ll notice how smoothly it runs which didn’t dip even with a lot going on. The Demo is quite limited so I’m not sure how many buildings there are but I’m sure there is more than the 4 you get to play with. The button controls are well placed but the directional pad takes a bit of getting used to.

Overview: In fairness I think this is the best they are going to be able to do as far as a strategy game for N-gage, even thought there are a few little things that a just taken away that makes the game too easy I found. I think that its an interesting game and will be quite popular all over the market. One thing that works nicely for this game is that it has a high tempo so your never waiting. I don’t know how good the really game is but the demo just isn’t convincing enough which is really annoying because this game has potential. Read more

Nokia N96 N-Gage Review – Worms World Party

Name: Worms World Party

Genre: Strategy/war

Summary: We all know and love Worms and now they have been released on N-Gage so we can all play it on our lovely N96. I remember play worms on a friends old phone which was basically a perfect adaptation of the original game so I was wondering what they are going to change and is this updated version any better that the older ones. Unfortunately for your wallets this game is a must of anybody that spends more than two minutes travelling, it works perfectly, everything, I mean everything from the graphics to the sounds and all that’s in between. It’s not only as good as the original it could well be better with more than 30 usable weapons and items that all feel like they where part of the game from the start. All and all with its 1-4 multi-player and online modes the game is for everybody (that’s allowed to kill worms) so check it out.

Overview: What can I say you can probably guess I liked the game and it would be fair to say that all the older versions of the game had just as much excitement but this version is just super very smooth and simple move left, move right, aim up, aim down, jump and fire controls that will annoy you for the first 10 minutes but become very trust able. If I had to give you one reason to try this game it would be that no other N-gage game works this smoothly and has this good of graphics. Read more

Nokia N96 N-Gage review – Bounce

Name: Bounce – Bounce Boing Voyage

Genre: Adventure/Action

Summary: For anyone who have been using nokia phones for a while will have played a version or two of Bounce. I always liked it and in the days after “snake” this was my number one game, it was hard and competitive and that why it was so additive. With this latest version for the n-gage I was hoping that this version will be better or at least as addictive as the previous Bounce. Happily the game doesn’t disappoint with very easy controls and an interesting story line and it works well on the Nokia N96, the thing is that they have put a lot of depth in the game and while its all impressive I can see it getting to complicated. The story is about you as a ball who in the later levels can change into different forms and there is a big floating cube who is messing up your world so its your job to stop him.

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Nokia N96 n-gage review – Metal Gear Solid

Name: Metal Gear Solid (MGS)

Genre: Action/Adventure

Summary: There are a lot of Nokia N96 Games and many of them are way too good. I have reviewed a game before called FB Twisted, so, If you don’t like action games, check that other game which is more arcade game for Nokia N96 and not adventure. I have always respected the MGS series but since I never owned a PlayStation I never got to own it and I was delighted when I found out that they where releasing a n-gage version. After hearing about Metal Gear Solid (MGS) I went straight to google and I found out that it had 1/3 of the original game developers which is a lot for a n-gage game and that it was going to be ground breaking. So I was looking forward to playing it allot but when I got it I was so disappointed, I guess I was expecting it too much. If you have ever played any of the MGS series then you will also be disappointed because of the lack of interaction and it seems like a level is just getting passed two or more guards. However and this is a big however anyone who hasn’t played any of the MGS series will find it a great little game, it is quick enough to load and despite all the missing interactions what they left in was pure gold. Things like hide in boxes and in lockers and peeking out is good fun and can be quite challenging.

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Nokia n96 N-gage review- Need for Speed Undercover

Name: Need for Speed Undercover

Genre: racing

Summary: NFS undercover has been out on the top consoles for a while now there is even the a new one coming out in September but for now lets stick with this. NFS undercover is all about racing against ruthless gangs running an international crime ring, buying cars and upgrading them. There are many races and ore events including sprints, cop take-out, speed camera, highway battles, bounty, lap k.o and boss races. With about 7 cars to choose from golfs to Porsche and can all be upgraded with all different parts.

Graphics: Well what exactly are you expecting, some games arnt that demanding like poker or monopoly but since this game is all about going fast around streets and avoiding cars you cant expect it to be perfect but in fairness the graphics are playable but still has a lot to be desired.

Overall: Well its actually really addictive and will entertain you for a while but the game doesnt have anything to make you really want play this game again. In the end of the day its up to you whether its worth you spending £6 for it.

Check out the offical website here

But if you want to try it out you can go to the n-gage website and download the trial.

If you have any questions about NFS undercover then feel free to comment in the forum.

Nokia can’t spell

I was just looking at the back cover of the N96 review unit, and I noticed something strange: there seems to be a new language, it’s one that is very similar to my mother tongue, it’s called “Portugese”. If anyone knows where the language is from, please let me know!

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