The Pocket Players

Guest post by Portable Platypus

Smartphones are rife with many a simple game, but simplicity should not be mistaken for a lack of depth. Often developers make the mistake of trying to incorporate too many complex ideas into their games which can end up doing more harm than good. On the flipside, there are plenty of games that do too little and wouldn’t hold the attention of a toddler.

Games are fun when they focus on a few core elements and perfect them. Pixel Kingdom (for iOS and Android) isn’t muddled down with unnecessary, incongruent mechanics and features fun and simple – but not shallow – gameplay. [...]

I would call Rymdkapsel minimalist, but that would belay the level of depth it actually offers. This is just one of those titles I was drawn to at first glance. The minimalistic but colorful graphics, the Tetris-style room placement, the strategy; it all came together to make for a uniquely addictive experience for PlayStation Mobile and PS Vita (and coming to iOS and Android in July).

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1) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies (3DS)
2) Pokemon X and Pokemon Y (3DS)
3)Shin Megami Tensei IV: The Ritual (3DS)
4) Scribblenauts Unmasked (3DS)
5) Sound Shapes ’80s & DubStep DLC (Vita)
6) Layton Brothers: Mystery Room (Japan iOS)
7) Yokai Watch (Japan 3DS)
8) Soul Sacrifice Basilisk DLC (Japan Vita)
9) Soul Sacrifice Troll DLC (Japan Vita)
10) Dragon’s Crown Sorceress (Vita)
11) Dragon’s Crown Fighter (Vita)

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner – Soul Hackers is a JRPG with a supersized J. That means you can expect this 3DS title to have winding dungeons, lots of grinding, and weird anime-style plot devices and characters. If any of that’s your bag, you’ll probably enjoy this title a lot more than I did.

This is actually a port of a Sega Saturn title from 1997 that was never before released in the U.S. My guess is they thought the game was too Japanese for the rest of the world. At that particular time they were probably right, but today there are far more fans of this genre who will see this as a long-buried gem. It’s a point in the game’s favor that even 16 years, it’s able to hold its own on a modern system. [...]

New Pokémon revealed for Pokémon X/Y, a new game announced for 3DS in Japan, and an awesome unofficial Pokémon noir comic finally goes live. Warning: You may never look at your favorite pocket monsters the same way! [...]

I’m going to get a lot of flack for saying this, but with the release of Sonic Dash for iOS, I feel Sonic the Hedgehog is officially washed up. Not to say that it’s is a bad game – on the contrary, it’s actually quite decent, but that’s about it: decent.

Sonic Dash is another endless runner with a few fun twists on the genre and pretty backgrounds. But it’s also a cheap cash-in on the popular character, like when an ‘80s movie star makes a cameo in an Old Navy commercial. Admittedly, endless running is a perfect a fit for Sonic’s style, but I can’t help but feel that this is one game that would have been better off as a higher quality pay title, rather than a micro-transaction one. [...]

Star Command takes iPhone and iPad players on a Star Trek style cruise across a universe full of aliens, androids, and avian pranksters. It is entertaining, intense, and at first glance, deep as the abyss of space itself. But after playing through the story I realized its polished hull hides a few clunky mechanics that keep it from making the jump to light speed.

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