I'm strictly talking smartphone games here. Both Android and iOS' app stores launched in 2008. That's 7 years of mobile gaming (and I know that phones have had games long before then, but I think we can safely say that this is when mobile gaming really became a thing).
I believe I first got an iPod Touch in 2010 (and my first Android smartphone a year later). That's 5 years ago, and certainly enough time has passed for me to feel nostalgic for some of the games I played on that thing. A lot of free demos and fart apps, but also some fun games. Luckily iTunes and Google Play let you go back and see every app you ever downloaded. At least, they say they do but I swear iTunes is leaving some apps out of the list. It's not even listing them in the order I downloaded them in even though I have it set to order them by most recent. What's up with that?
Anyway, there's this one physics puzzle game I remember called Cover Orange that I was really into. Basically you have to drag whatever objects you have available around so that when the raincloud of death comes around it won't hit any of the oranges (that makes sense, right?). There was like a million levels too so it lasted me a long time. I just found out that there's a sequel and its available on Android so I'm gonna give that a try.
I'm also kinda nostalgic for the early Zenonia games, that generic Korean RPG series that apparently is still alive. I never got very far into those games. I always played them for just a couple hours before getting bored and quitting, and then coming back a few months later to see if my mind had changed (it never did). I'm not nostalgic enough to actually go back to them again, but I thought that out of all the cruddy mobile RPGs I played that this series deserved a mention.
Remember the Tap Tap Revenge games? They were basically Guitar Hero without the plastic guitars. Those games were super popular back when I was in high school, but now they've completely disappeared from all app stores. I can't say I'm surprised. Guitar Hero is getting a revival, so maybe Tap Tap Resurgence will be coming soon? Yeah, I doubt it. But seriously, being able to use your iTunes purchases in a Guitar Hero-like rhythm game is a great idea. Activision should hook up a deal with Apple and get on that.
Another game I was really addicted to was called Dungeon Raid. You had to trace a path through the puzzle board to match up tiles to defeat the enemies that appeared on the board. For every turn that an enemy was still on the board they would attack you, and if your health hit zero then it was game over. It was a really fun and unique puzzle game, but sadly it hasn't been updated in years and the Android version doesn't work on newer versions of Android. Why hasn't someone stolen this amazing idea yet? Put microtransactions in it, I don't care!
It's kinda sad because mobile games aren't preserved anywhere near as well as console or PC games are. There's no physical copies of any of them in existence and many games never get updated with support for the latest devices. If a game is removed from the app store and you didn't previously buy it you'd have no way of playing it without buying a device on ebay that has it (iPhone with Flappy Bird for $1000, anyone?) or resorting to piracy, but even then most mobile games don't ever get ripped or cracked. If someone wants to go back and play a mobile game from their childhood (and yes, eventually that will become a thing), they're gonna have a real hard time doing so. It's really too bad.
So, is anyone else nostalgic for any old smartphone games? I can't be the only one!
I believe I first got an iPod Touch in 2010 (and my first Android smartphone a year later). That's 5 years ago, and certainly enough time has passed for me to feel nostalgic for some of the games I played on that thing. A lot of free demos and fart apps, but also some fun games. Luckily iTunes and Google Play let you go back and see every app you ever downloaded. At least, they say they do but I swear iTunes is leaving some apps out of the list. It's not even listing them in the order I downloaded them in even though I have it set to order them by most recent. What's up with that?
Anyway, there's this one physics puzzle game I remember called Cover Orange that I was really into. Basically you have to drag whatever objects you have available around so that when the raincloud of death comes around it won't hit any of the oranges (that makes sense, right?). There was like a million levels too so it lasted me a long time. I just found out that there's a sequel and its available on Android so I'm gonna give that a try.
I'm also kinda nostalgic for the early Zenonia games, that generic Korean RPG series that apparently is still alive. I never got very far into those games. I always played them for just a couple hours before getting bored and quitting, and then coming back a few months later to see if my mind had changed (it never did). I'm not nostalgic enough to actually go back to them again, but I thought that out of all the cruddy mobile RPGs I played that this series deserved a mention.
Remember the Tap Tap Revenge games? They were basically Guitar Hero without the plastic guitars. Those games were super popular back when I was in high school, but now they've completely disappeared from all app stores. I can't say I'm surprised. Guitar Hero is getting a revival, so maybe Tap Tap Resurgence will be coming soon? Yeah, I doubt it. But seriously, being able to use your iTunes purchases in a Guitar Hero-like rhythm game is a great idea. Activision should hook up a deal with Apple and get on that.
Another game I was really addicted to was called Dungeon Raid. You had to trace a path through the puzzle board to match up tiles to defeat the enemies that appeared on the board. For every turn that an enemy was still on the board they would attack you, and if your health hit zero then it was game over. It was a really fun and unique puzzle game, but sadly it hasn't been updated in years and the Android version doesn't work on newer versions of Android. Why hasn't someone stolen this amazing idea yet? Put microtransactions in it, I don't care!
It's kinda sad because mobile games aren't preserved anywhere near as well as console or PC games are. There's no physical copies of any of them in existence and many games never get updated with support for the latest devices. If a game is removed from the app store and you didn't previously buy it you'd have no way of playing it without buying a device on ebay that has it (iPhone with Flappy Bird for $1000, anyone?) or resorting to piracy, but even then most mobile games don't ever get ripped or cracked. If someone wants to go back and play a mobile game from their childhood (and yes, eventually that will become a thing), they're gonna have a real hard time doing so. It's really too bad.
So, is anyone else nostalgic for any old smartphone games? I can't be the only one!
ungeons.
