N-Gage Gaming: Pinball, Racing and Strategy

Poor little N-Gage. Left to fend all by yourself against the onslaught of the PSP and DS. We'd actually forgotten that the console existed, to be honest -- we'd have thought even the hardcore gamers would have been embarrassed about having such a stupid-looking phone. Nokia is still backing the console -- and as if to prove the point the company flew us out to Barcelona to show off its latest releases. There wasn't a new N-Gage console unfortunately, but a few new titles will appease owners of the handheld who've been enviously eyeing up the new competition in the market.

Easily the highlight of the new releases is Mile High Pinball. If the rule of movies is that it's impossible to make a bad boxing film, then the same must be true for pinball games in videogames. They're just perfect handheld fodder, and Mile High's take on the game of balls and flippers is to remove the table and make an outlandish 'extreme' version. The aim is still to get the ball bouncing around off the flippers, but you can flip it higher and higher (miles into the air), with obstacles such as birds and flying men in silver suits to fire your balls at. This will sit on its own as the only pinball game of the moment -- at least until Metroid Pinball arrives on the Nintendo DS.

If you're a mobile strategist, then you're probably eagerly awaiting Advance Wars on the Nintendo DS. On the N-Gage though, the big hope for gamers who prefer thinking over action is Catan. Developed by Capcom, it's a mobile version of  Settlers of Catan -- aboard game which is a bit more famous in the US than over here in the UK. It's a turn-based strategy game, with characters that resemble manga-esque combatants. While it's not particularly exciting to look at, it offers more depth than most of the other N-Gage releases so far, thanks to 4-player multiplayer modes over Bluetooth.

Less exciting is the N-Gage's latest racing game, called Asphalt: 2. It plays and looks like Burnout Revenge, if you can look past the shoddy driving model and sub-PSOne graphics. Sure, you can race around a blocky, pixellated version of San Francisco and bash cars out of the way, but whereas Burnout on the PSP is speedy and nimble, this is jerky and slow. The N-Gage can't do anything that demands sharp graphics or a sense of speed, so to be fair, it shouldn't even try.

If we sound overly critical of the N-Gage, it's because the console has absolutely no redeeming features. As a phone, it's too big and clunky, making you look like a laggard. With the PSP our favourite gadget of the year, going back to the N-Gage feels like moving back to a tape Walkman after using the iPod Video. We just hope that Nokia does the right thing and puts it out of its misery instead of letting it die a slow, painful death. -GC