Dragon Bird is another vertical scroller shoot 'em up game, this time from U Mobile. This one's military themed and offers military jets with (albeit non-realistic) interchangeable weapons you can purchase between levels after you've earned some money.

Firetop Adventure is yet another platform scroller (seems like there's been a lot of those lately). This time the story is a little spooky: your job is to root out an evil entity that's turning harmless creatures into hideous monsters. Although FA is still a little cartoonish, it does have an advantage over its purely run-and-jump competition in that it gives you weapons against enemies, lets you blast through walls with bombs (my favorite), and has some interesting puzzles.

Nicky Boom is a port of a famous Amiga platform game. It's one of those games that makes me wish I had an Amiga back in the day. (I still remember that trip I made to Warren Radio in Peoria, IL back in the 80s and they just happened to have an Amiga on display. It almost seemed like a magical experience. Where have all the good times gone?) 

Through Enemy Eyes has a strange setup for a game. On the one hand, it's a treasure-hunting arcade based on exploring ancient ruins. You know the routine: wandering through ancient crypts, finding treasure, taking out bad guys (mummies and such), and the usual mischief. But don't expect a fast-paced arcade shooter (Lode Runner) or a tricky puzzle game (Pitfall). Through Enemy Eyes (TEE) is entirely turn-based.  

This one may be a freebie, but it has a good foundation to become a decent game. The good: It's a space shooter with very decent graphics, large, fairly complex levels, a multitude of enemies, power-ups to make your ship stronger, decent animation and video effects, and a decent flow. It also has mappable controls to ensure playability across a wide range of devices. 

Since it came out a few years ago, Pocket Commodore 64 has pretty much come to be the definitive emulator for the old C64 platform. Clickgamer is working on a new version of the program and would like your input on new features. Since I'm not really an emulator guy myself, I don't really have any suggestions for the program, but I'm sure some of you do. If so, be sure to send them an e-mail at support@pocketgamer.org.

Marc Fortin, the developer behind Fast Future Race (FFrace), a futuristic Wipeout-styled racing game, dropped me a line to let me know the game has been updated.

In what will apparently be one of the very few Christmas-related freebie games available this year (the other is a Christmas-themed version of Quartz), Clickgamer has released Snowed In 4, their holiday-themed Bejeweled clone.

New features include:

"New music, effects and graphics
Frosty puzzle graphics
Fluid game engine
EASY and TIMED game modes
Swap vertically, horizontally, and diagonally
Continuous play!

Plinydogg over at Pocket PC Gems has posted a rant that has provoked quite a bit of discussion. It's about the seemingless endless profileration of games based on diamond/gem matching and Sudoku. I feel his pain, and I've pointed out this trend many times in my newsletter and the print column. There are just way too many of these Bejeweled/Tetris/Dr. Mario, etc. games out there, and having endless duplication of these titles detracts from those making quality versions of these games.

EA, the game publishing giant on a number of platforms, has purchased JAMDAT Mobile, Inc., for a surprisingly large $680 million. From the press release:

'EA and JAMDAT together plan to publish over 50 games for mobile phones in the first twelve months following the completion of the acquisition, including popular titles like Tetris, Bejeweled, JAMDAT Bowling, Need For SpeedTM, EA SPORTS Madden NFLTM Football and EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer.

“This is an important strategic acquisition for Electronic Arts,” said EA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Probst.