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Top Five Palm Games
The latest Palm is out and it's got color! As Gareth put it in his Street Tech review: "A color Palm doesn't make much sense if all you're going to be doing is managing nag lists, an address book, a calendar, etc." The *real* advantage of color is in the realm of games. While games like Backgammon (included on the IIIc) offer an example of color's potential, the real revolution will come in palmtop action games. Stuff you never thought possible on an organizer is already happening on the Palm platform (and luckily some are available for the WinCErs, too.) Here are some games that push the limits, though none are in color ... yet.
[pictured: Sim City
Color upgrade, available in March]
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Topping the list is Sim City. Developed for the handheld market (Palm or EPOC) by Atelier, this is an authorized version of the popular PC and Mac game that lets you build and manage a city by developing industry, parks, police stations, etc. Copied in every detail, this game is brilliant, using the full capability of the Palm but avoiding the deficits of the system like the slow LCD refresh rate. Easily the best non-original game for the Palm out there. The price is a whopping US$30, and no demo version means you'll just have to trust me that it's worth it.
 Also pushing the limits of Palm gaming is the spectacular Ancient Red, a game very similar to Diablo for the PC. With a 3/4 view, you move your adventurer around a world full of monsters and treasures. Hacking away at bats, wolves and spiders at first, as your skill progresses, the monsters get tougher (and the rewards more handsome). The game is amazing, though the small screen of the Palm makes some gameplay difficult. It is also a little slow on older Palms, but fine on any of the newer systems. CE and EPOC versions are expected. Price is also $30, but at least you can try it out before you lay down that kind of scratch.
 If shoot-em-ups are what you want, AstraWare has a great new release called Zap2000. Much improved from the original, this scrolling space shooter is reminiscent of Galaga or Zaxxon, but original enough to make it lots of fun. While only 5 levels exist now, rumor of new levels released on a regular basis makes the $7.95 registration fee a bargain.
 Grand space strategy games are a fetish for some, and the best Palm version so far is Galactic Realms (shareware, $15). Developed by the same guy who gave us Kyle's Quest (see honorable mentions below), Galactic Realms requires you to assmeble your fleet of fighters and cruisers after mining asteroids, and then embark on a campaign against the enemy. This game has gone through several revisions, and the latest is a big improvement - I can't wait for the color implementation.
 For totally original gaming, the best out there that I've found is Mulg IIe. A quirky game that reminds me of that meatspace marble box we all played with when we were kids, the purpose of Mulg is to navigate a marble around a maze with traps and puzzles. While typical navigation is with the stylus, if you're a real hacker, you can wire up a tilt-indicator to your Palm (as described on the website) and play that way. A level editor and additional third-party levels make the game endlessly playable - and it's freeware!
 Much anticipated (and perhaps relegated to the catagory of vaporware) is a port of Castle Wolfenstein 3D (the original game from Id Software that started the first-person shooter mania) called Doomling. No news from that developer on a release date, but last I checked, the project looked like it'd be worth the wait.
That's five (plus vaporware), but there are some honorable mentions. Kyles Quest has to be one of the most popular Palm games out there because of its rich gameplay and third-party adventures. While it lacks the cutting-edge graphics of the top picks, it is still an excellent game. Also Reptoids (like Asteroids only better) and Tank Pilot (similar to that arcade classic Battle Zone) offer great action at a very cheap price. Also earning honorable mention is Dragon Bane, a wizardry-like adventure that is very well done, though lacking in animated action.
With the advent of color Palms, we can expect to see some really excellent games coming from these and other developers. Luckily for us, the new Palm IIIc comes with rechargable batteries so we can wear our little buttons to nubs without spending a fortune.
- Nate Heaseley [2/24/00]
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