Bounce

"Exellent Port of a Great Game"

Bounce came on a few of Nokias phones before the N-Gage. But all of those phones had a really bad control scheme with a horrible blurry movement (due to the screen limitations). I really couldn't play Bounce on those other phones (since they used the numbers to move AND jump). But when I downloaded the game for my N-Gage, I really enjoyed it!

Graphics: 8

Compared to Bounce on the 6230 and the other phones that I've seen it on, the graphics have been improved a great deal. The movement isn't so sluggish and blurred, the colour palette has been improved, traps and utilities have changed appearance to look better and also have different animations, and some levels are changed slightly to make use of the larger screen.

Control: 9

I have absolutely no problems in controlling the ball in Bounce, since all you have to do is move left and right and jump. The only reason why this didn't get a 10 is because you cannot change the controls. The jump button is 1, which is quite odd, seeing as how on the original N-Gage the buttons 5 and 7 are raised, and therefor would of made more sense to use one of those. It doesn't make it more awkward to control though, it just would of been nicer to choose the jump button.

Game Play: 10

The aim of the game is to basically get through all the golden hoops within each level then to go to exit once you got them all. You use a variety of different methods of getting them such as inflating/deflating your ball, or reversing the gravity for a few seconds. The game starts of very easy with a few small traps here and there on the first set of levels with a couple of items and utilities thrown in to get you to learn the game quickly and easily. It also gradually introduces new traps and utilities as you progress through the game such as water and vacuums. This does start of as an easy game, but then gets VERY hard when you get around level 8. This game also doesn't suffer the problem that many other games seem to, and that is having an unbalanced difficulty - where a really hard level gets thrown in in between some easy levels, which is something worth mentioning.

Music: 2

There's only 1 song in this game, and that is at the title screen which lasts for a few seconds. Yes I know that Bounce on previous phones didn't have music either but it would of been nice to have a few more songs in it.

Sound: 2

Whilst the sound effects on the previous phones weren't interesting but acceptable, the sounds in this version are just annoying and loud. Whenever you go through the hoop or you get an item, you get this annoying LOUD ringing noise (which cannot be turned down) every time. They should of at least made the sound quieter, or included some kind of volume control, or even of chosen a better range of sound effects all together. However you can only choose whether to have the sound/music on or off (not separately either). Seriously the only 'decent' sound in this game is when you die, which makes a 'pop' noise (which is understandable since you're a ball of air), but those ringing noises just get annoying, fast, and are just screaming for replacement.

Re-playability: 10

This game is very challenging, and also comes with a score board so you can beat your own score and how long you lasted in the game. It is gets VERY hard though after level 8, and you will probably never touch those levels again, but it's a nice game that you could play when waiting for someone or something.

Overall: 8

If it wasn't for those god awful sound effects and the lack of music, this game would of scored a 10 (the control scheme isn't really a problem to me just a suggestion.) It's a great little platformer, honestly. It's just that its a good idea that you turn the sound effects off when you play it, especially when you're in public (unless you want to attract some sort of attention).

Another plus point I must add is that this game is free. I am very glad that Nokia have promised us that they will provide free games for download on our N-Gage (such as the upcoming Snakes), which means that they have a choice of improving or patching the game without having to spend money on a GPRS upgrade. What's also surprising is that Nokia also seem to put the same amount of effort into developing the free games as they do with the games that come on MMC's. I mean what other games company spends money on making games and provides them to their users for free on their own website??

If you have an N-Gage, try this game out - I mean its free so why shouldn't you? Just be prepared for the horrible sounds...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/23/05