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Mobile Games Roundup

Asphalt! Tiger! Fight! Harbour! NOVA!

Kristan Reed avatar
Review by Kristan Reed Contributor
Published on
15 comments

Harbour Master

  • Windows Phone 7 - £2.49
  • Previously released on iPhone - £1.19, iPad - Free (extra maps in app at £0.59 each).

Sadly, this game proves I am by no means the master of the harbour. Despite my great desire to be the kind of man who can draw wiggly lines to direct stupid colour-coded boats to their respective docks, they always crash in the end. Lives are lost, inquests are held.

In my defence, I'd like to ask who, exactly, is driving these boats anyway? It's all very well asking me to direct them around the harbour. I don't mind giving them a steer on their most suitable destination, but beyond that, they should be able to take evasive action when another vessel is careening straight towards them.

Ha-ha-ha-harbour.

But no. As if marshalling naval traffic to its destination wasn't enough of a hassle, you have to take into account rank stupidity as well - all of which, of course, is a recipe for a low-scoring, high-stress multitasking nightmare of a game that puts me a bad mood during my commute.

Some of you love all this, of course. I'm not knocking you. I admire your squiggly line-drawing skills. I respect your ability to rinse all seven maps and then boast about the fact on Facebook and Twitter. I actually enjoy fighting off pirates as I try to unload my cargo, and trying to avoid those pesky cyclones. I'm just not very good at it. Don't judge. We can't all be heroes of the harbour.

7/10

Fight Night Champion

The noble art of smashing a chap's face to a pulp isn't something I ever imagined would make an engaging mobile game, largely for the same control-related reasons that blight so many console-to-mobile projects.

But these days developers are a smarter bunch, and much more inclined to completely rethink their games to fit the demands of touch-screen controls. A shining example of this attitude can be found in EA's unexpectedly entertaining Fight Night Champion.

Bust a move.

Rather than waste our time with virtual sticks, you move your fighter around the ring by tilting the device and dole out jabs via a variety of intuitive single and double-digit swipes. Similarly, simple blocking and weaving manoeuvres lends the game conviction and depth.

Despite only offering a basic text-based tutorial, it's a system that's remarkably easy to adapt to within a few matches, and once you've got the basics down each bout becomes a proper battle of wills.

Thanks to EA's clout, Fight Night Champion also benefits from top class presentation and 20 famous names (Ali, Tyson, Haye) to slug it out against. On top of that, there's also an engaging Legacy career mode and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth multiplayer.

I would say that EA has landed a knockout blow to the competition, but that would probably result in actual violence against my person, so I won't. Anyway, it's good. You should get it.

8/10

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