I have NOT been a fan of mobile phone games. There's always the promise of some cool title, followed by the cold hard reality of playing them on a less-than-stellar mobile platform: tiny screen, cruddy processor and horrible controls.

And, even though I love my iPhone, I was expecting about the same disappointment with the recently released 2.0 operating system and app store featuring several hundred games.

Based on user reviews and screen shots, I nervously bought a few titles for my phone this last weekend. I am floored. There's some fantastic stuff available for the iPhone.

Here's a quick list of what I've played:

• 'Motion X Poker' (MotionX.com): It's a poker game using 3-D rendered dice. Quite possibly the most simple and addictive game I've played in the last year. Seriously, this game had the same impact for me as using the Wii-mote for the first time. You roll the dice by shaking the phone and simply tap the ones you want to keep in your poker hand. It's stupid simple and I can't stop playing.

Little additions to the game push it over the edge of coolness. The dice have interactive shadows that move when you tilt the phone. There are Xbox-360-like achievements that reveal themselves as collectible gems. There are also Pokemon-esque collectible dice that unlock as your progress and you can use in the game. There are even achievements based on using the collectible dice... it's nuts... and it's totally addictive. Oh, and it's cheap... at only $4.99.

• 'Critter Crunch' (Web Site): Sort of like a sadistic Tetris in reverse. You control a wonderfully animated frog-like "critter" who's job it is to sort out the feeding process of a hyper-cute food chain. It's simple, fun and award winning. Worth the $9.99 price.

• 'Trism' (Web Site): It's not a B-52's song, it's a cool slidey-color-matchy game that opens up completely new, and dare-I-say, revolutionary gameplay ideas.

'Trism' on the surface looks like the tried-and-true match and move puzzle game, but since it's on the iPhone, there's a twist. The colored tiles fall depending on the way you're holding the phone... along six different axis points. There's also some great surprises along the way. A total bargain for $4.99.

• 'Aurora Feint: The Beginning' (Web Site): A stunning 'Puzzle Quest'-like game that combines puzzle matching, RPG elements, multi-touch control, awesome music and excellent use of the iPhone's accelerometer. Oh yeah, it's FREE. There are a few bugs to be worked out, but did I mention: IT'S FREE!

Posted by: Dwalt Sanders | July 16, 2008 12:00 PM