N-Gage: Need For Speed Undercover & Worms World Party

Want some gaming on the go? Check out the below N-Gage game reviews!

Want some gaming on the go? Check out these N-Gage game reviews!

In a new regular feature for NZGamer, we're taking on the latest N-Gage games to see how they fair. From the latest blockbusters to the simplest of puzzlers, we'll be providing our take on how they stack up. All our N-Gage reviews have been performed on a Nokia N96.

Need For Speed Undercover

Hot from the console, NFS Underground zooms to the mobile. Underground features seven cars, with the ability to race on 22 courses and compete in 8 different events. The game doesn’t play and feel like the console experience, but with a file of 1 meg, you can’t except too much.

The recipe is a fairly simple one – you race against three other rivals and it’s a case of the first one to pass the chequered flag wins. The game features nice touches like an extra burst of speed while following your opponent in their slipstream. Other tricks of the trade include nitro and drifting around corners to gain a quick burst of speed around the leading car. The only downside with nitro is you’ve only got a limited supply and then you must refill your tank before you can use it again.

Off the track you can tune your ride up in a customising garage. Here you can buy new cars and tune up existing cars you have in your collection. This is where the game really shines: there several areas you can upgrade your car, which in turn helps to improve your vehicle's handling and top speed.

For those boy racers out there you’ll be pleased to note that you can pimp up your car with a range of bodykits. The only criticism with Undercover is it's an under-delivered experience from the console and PC version. It’s a great mobile racer, in fact probably one of the better ones of late, but people may fall into the trap of thinking they’re getting a next gen experience on a mobile.




Worms World Party

The Worms series has had various incarnations on the consoles and handhelds, and now makes its way to the mobile. You’ll take command of eight different worms in what can only be described as Lemmings meets the arsenal of the US armed forces, in a bid to destroy your foe - none other than another army of worms.

World Party features the old favourite weapons that we’ve come to love like Super Sheep and Holy Hand Grenades, where destroying your enemy still feels as fun as it did from World Party’s predecessors. When it comes to game options you can play against the AI or venture out to the N Gage Arena. It’s a fun prospect to play online with other people from around the world. Be warned that the lag can be an issue. Of course, it’s hard to tell whether it’s a lag issue or people just taking their time to make to the turn. The couple of games played online were a bit of chore, and we must admit we left the third game, as the other person or the lag was taking an eternity to complete turns.

Those who’ve played Worms in the past know what to except – a fun, easy going gaming experience that doesn’t require a lot of thought. While some developers have lofty dreams to port a big console title to the mobile phone format, they often deliver a subpar gaming experience.

Worms World Party doesn’t fall over in this regard. It is just a simple 2D title that knows what it does and does it well.