Super Slyder (Windows Mobile) Review

Costas Stephanides’s Review

More slyding action than you could ever hope for.

It's that time of the month again when we review another Windows Mobile game. It's back to the good old casual games that rule the PC and the mobile alike. Here we have Slyder, we did review the J2ME version a while ago and for all of you who have upgraded to a PPC after Christmas, here's what we think of Slyder's big brother, Super Slyder.

For those not in the know, Slyder is a puzzle game where you have to move your blue lump of liquid around various mazes and get him to each exit point. There are no time limits but every move is counted and this is used as your high score.

The controls are simple and you can use either the D-pad or the touch screen (the D-pad probably works best for most of the game). Other than the slightly different control system, the game plays very similar to the PC version and is obviously far better than the standard mobile game. The graphics are large and the bigger screen is naturally an advantage. The size of the game is also pretty impressive. The mobile version did very well to squeeze in 175 levels but the PPC version manages a whopping 250 levels - many many hours of gameplay are guaranteed. The audio experience is also greatly improved with some great sound effects and background tunes.

There are some inconsistencies in the game's difficulty in that some of the later levels seem way too easy. It's only a minor gripe but it's awkward to get into any kind of flow. It seems that they have tried to over simplify the controls and try to accomodate every sort of player. All that is needed is to either push a direction on the D-pad or use the stylus in the game area. However, Astraware have also allowed you to click outside the game area and move Slyder that way. The trouble it doesn't always work how you would expect and Slyder can sometimes move down when you have pressed left. Once again, it's not a major problem but it's not great, especially as every move is counted and stored. Although, there are an extra 75 levels compared to the java version, most of these bonus levels are either tutorials or simple baby step levels to get you into the correct mind set.

Super Slyder is a decent game but the PPC version does lack a bit of bite compared to other devices.