The beautifully designed, awesomely soundtracked game from the Sega Dreamcast is now only 99 cents on Google Play.  Originally released by Sega in 2000 the game features a gang of rebellious teens who skated around a beautifully cartoonish cell shaded town collecting spray cans to paint designated targets all while jamming to impressive beats.

All this holds up in the Android port however, what does not is the controls. Back on the Dreamcast it still took many a while to get used to the controls especially when preforming tricks to get to those hard to reach places. On the screen pad it is nearly impossible. Perhaps mobile gaming pros will have no issues, but if any game was made to go with a Bluetooth controller it is this one.

Another complaint is its size. At 1.3GB’s it can be a lot for people with smaller storage spaces and if your phone is kind of old there have been reports of crashes. If you have a newer phone then it isn’t an issue and with an external controller the game is just as fun as I remember.

So check it out for only 99 cents on Google play and rejoice in retro and classic gaming having a home on mobile devices.

We are always on the hunt for great retro inspired games and Syder Arcade HD fits the bill perfectly. We even love the tagline, no coins, no zombies, just old school shoot em up. This game rocks not only because of the great graphics and gameplay, but it is not trying to get you to buy more stuff in game and no stupid gimmicks or grind fests.

Now as you can see the game looks incredible so that means older phones might have issues so check the specifications before you download. The game itself is a top down free-scroller which means you have much more control over your movements then you would in most space shooters. Your ship comes with shields and a number of weapons to take out the multiple enemies that are gunning for you. Did we mention you don’t need to buy addition weapons or features?

Yup, you can pick this little gem up on the Google Play store for only 99 cents. So what are you waiting for, go get it!

Digital content can now be seamlessly streamed to your television set through your XBox 360 console using the Twonky Beam app for iOS and Android devices.

While the XBox 360 already has a variety of video and entertainment applications available, the Twonky Beam app provides the user a greater variety of options as easily as pressing the touch screen on their smartphone or tablet.

For this review the Twonky app was tested on an XBox 360 using a Samsung Galaxy tablet 10.1.

Using the Twonky app proved quick and easy, with nothing to press on the XBox 360 itself other than the power button. Upon opening the app, a menu with a variety of available content choices including YouTube, ESPN, Funny or Die, NASA, the White House and Vimeo came right up. No clutter or ads got in the way of simply clicking one of the many choices and getting straight to the content. Simply click the Beam button on your choice and it will begin play on the XBox 360 within one second.

In addition, users can surf other websites while using the app and also gain the option to beam video content embedded within those sites. This is an awesome concept for those times where you choose to surf the net from your smartphone or tablet and find an interesting piece of video content. A simple press of the beam button can send the video to that big television screen in your living room to enjoy in style.

The video quality of the beamed content was just as good as the content appears within the websites themselves. While using the app only a little buffering was apparent early on in some higher quality videos, but at a level far less than often encountered when playing content straight from the built-in XBox 360 applications. Each HD video used to test the application, once streaming on the television, was indistinguishable from broadcast quality programming.

The Twonky Beam app is free for download and when tested for this review did as advertised, managing to seamlessly stream quality video content from the tablet device to the television screen by way of the XBox 360 console. A highly recommended download to your smartphone or tablet, especially if you use them to surf the web and view video content.

We are always on the lookout for retro style mobile games and we found a winner with Kung Fu Fight. Created by Nostatic Software this mobile game combines the classic style of gameplay in controls, action and difficulty.

You are a farm boy who has to rescue the kidnapped girl and you do this by running, sliding, jumping and fighting your way through increasingly difficult levels. I am not kidding here, even on the normal setting it gets hard, Ninja Gadien hard.

The controls are simple enough. Your character is constantly running and along the way there are various obstacles you have to deal with. For some like bad guys and breakable items you hit the attack button, for tables and other items hanging from above you slide underneath and for the rest you jump over it.

Sounds easy enough, but so did Kung-Fu Master and just like that game it’s much harder to do than it seems. You begin with simple obstacles to overcome and the game will tell you what to do, but timing is everything so just because it says “jump” that does not mean you might not jump to early or too late. As the game progress the stages get harder and harder.

Overall, this is a great retro inspired game that will keep you entertained if not frustrated while you try to beat all the levels. The storyline, music, sound effects and graphics are all retro themed and executed well. It can sometimes be hard to hit the right buttons especially when you are further in the game, but with practice you will get it.

For 99 cents on Google Play it’s worth the buy for any retro gaming fan.

Sometimes when it comes to mobile games you have to ask yourself is it the game, is it you, is it your phone or a combination of both. For me, while Draft Mania Championship looks great on my phone, but I found it hard to play and the longer I kept at it the longer I realized the fault did not lie with me.

I ran this game on my Motorola Photon and the HD rendered tracks look crisp and clean, however the cars themselves did not seem as polished with some looking a bit boxy. In DMC2 you have access to 13 different cars that you can customize and upgrade as well as 13 drift circuits to race upon.

If you ever complained about not having enough knowledge on a game before playing it you won’t be disappointed with the lengthy tutorial that comes with this game. However, even with all the practice and upgrades you can take advantage of when to comes to gameplay it seem incredibly hard to make the turns be it using the phone to tilt or the on screen steering wheel.

Overall this can still be a fun game to play. The graphics are nice and the gameplay is good if you really practice and configure not only your car, but the game settings correctly. Perhaps with a Bluetooth controller the game would rate higher for me, but then again we should not have to add remote controllers to fully enjoy a game.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can pick up Drift Mania Championship 2 on Google Play for $1.99

Retro gamers that like your classic gaming using your smart phone now have more choices for your gaming pleasure thanks to Activision Anthology. Check out the official press release:

Experience the best retro classic games from the 2600 era with the all-new Activision Anthology App for tablets and smartphones! Available for the first time on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android devices, gamers can play the original games that started it all. Activision Anthology gives gamers KABOOM!™  for FREE and access to 45 Activision and Imagic games including: PITFALL!™, RIVER RAID™, THE ACTIVISION® DECATHLON, BARNSTORMING™, STAMPEDE™, PITFALL II, ENDURO™, DEMON ATTACK, and many more!

Activision Anthology features multiple control schemes so gamers can choose a play style that suits them. Activision Anthology has Game Center and Facebook integration including leaderboards and achievements to share and compete with friends!  Players can also earn digital versions of the renowned Activision game patches offered in the 1980′s. Original cartridge and box art, game manuals, tips and strategies from the original game designers are also included.

Download some Activision nostalgia now!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Activision Anthology is available for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android devices for free (includes Kaboom!). Players can purchase four additional bundle packs with 11 games each at $2.99 or collect all 45 games for a special limited-time introductory price of only $6.99.

App Store Link: goo.gl/JFnNB

Google Play Link: goo.gl/pTRL4

One of the most awesome series on the NeoGeo, Metal Slug now has one if it’s best sequels on the Android platform. A lot of us are excited to try out the classic shooter where you go up again evil armies of man and alien.

Here is the scoop on the release:

- 2 game modes to choose from: Mission and Arcade

- A whole lot more Slug vehicles to command. More than the original game had.

- Multiple paths and routes to the end of the game with the branching map system.

- Co-op gameplay available via Bluetooth

- Comes with OpenFeint Achievements and Player ranking

There is much more coming from SNK regarding the Metal Slug series so stay tuned. For now, you can pick this up for 6.99 on the Google Play Store.

If you were an arcade gamer in the 90’s there is no doubt you played the awesome X-Men game by Konami. Released in 1992 there were two main versions of the arcade cabinet, the small two-player version and the massive six-player version. Obviously, the six-player version was the best allowing the full team to battle against Magneto and his evil mutants.

Now you can play this classic on your android. Here is the official description from Google Play:

Experience the classic 1992 X-Men arcade game on the go! Choose from some of your favorite classic X-Men characters including Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, or Dazzler. Fight your way through hundreds of Sentinels and battle classic super villains such as Pyro, The Blob, Wendigo, Nimrod, The White Queen, Juggernaut, Mystique and the Master of Magnetism himself, Magneto!

-Battle evil with up to 4 of your friends using the multi-player feature over WiFi!!

-Open Feint integrated with both leaderboards and achievements! Challenge your friends!

Right off the bat I loved that the game was polished a little extra for the HD screens found on many android phones. The game looks clean and clear while staying true to its classic roots. You can select from the same six members of the X-Men and their controls, moves and powers are all the same.

The joystick is not as good as I would like, but those used to playing with touch pad controls will not have too much of an issue. The video and sound is the same as the arcade cabinet and there is Wi-Fi multiplayer as well as leaderboards, however, you have to use Open Feint, which I do not care for. In addition, there is no cross-platform multiplayer so no playing with your Apple friends.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Overall, for only 99 cents on Google Play, X-Men is worth a pick up for any retro gaming fan.

Thanks to Pixel Freak for the video review.

Mobile gaming has not only added new gamers to our world, but also allowed classic games to have yet another platform to be played one. When I first began playing mobile games, I always thought it would be the perfect place for retro games to be played since it would not require much in the way of system resources. Battle Squadron ONE is one of those games that translates well onto the mobile platform giving gamers a great classic game to enjoy on their Apple or Android device.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Battle Squadron was a top down shooter developed by Cope-Com and published by Innerprise and EA for the Amiga computer and later for the Sega Genesis. This version stays true to the retro feel of the game with its classic sound and graphics, but it looks very good and clean on a mobile phone, which is important since you have so much going on and various attacks being flung at you.

The plot and gameplay is classic greatness, your commanders were kidnapped and you have to rescue them by going into the enemy’s base and destroying everything. Oh, did I mention the base is the size of a planet?  The game starts off by tossing you right into the fray and you soon realize you need more than your standard gun to take out the hordes of enemies on the screen. You can upgrade your weapon by collecting the cubes dropped by defeated enemies which makes the game much easier especially with the spread shot and if all else fails you have your bombs which creates an area effect pulse of destruction that takes all enemies near you out.

Level design stays true to its retro roots where instead of having a stage and a boss and then a new level you instead have a “master stage” where you take out the enemy and then come upon a large crater in the planet. It is at this point you can enter the next stage, or you can continue on. Now if you did not purchase all the levels you will not be able to continue, but you can play the master level over and over. There are also bosses in the game and some levels have two bosses.

The graphics as said feel like the classic version of the game and the sound is direct from the Amiga version. The controls are easy to use and can be switched between the standard touch and drag controls with onscreen buttons or an analog slider, you can even use motion controls, but I liked those the least. In multiplayer mode, you play using a split screen, which on smaller phones can be a bit difficult, but on a larger device, like the iPad, it works very well.

Overall, Battle Squadron One brings true classic gaming to smart phones and should be in any retro gamers collection. We give this game a 9 out of 10. You can find the App Store and Android version of the game here.

A friend of mine showed me this cool mobile game that is in development right now. In fact if you head on over to Rocket Hub you can help support the project. So, Make it Rain is not a mini game for Everquest Druids (if you get the joke give yourself 500 points). In this game, you play the role of strip club patron with too much disposable income and a need to attention. Your goal is to rain money onto the dancing girl making sure most of it falls directly on the stage.

Check out J.A. Laraque’s video review:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can check out the game and play a preview at Main it Rain Game dot com.