Figure, that is. It's Street Fighter 4's Ryu. It sucks. And not in the useful way, either. Here's why:



So if you see a 7" Ryu action figure from toy maker Neca, don't waste money. It's a piece of crap.

EDIT: Oh God, I just noticed an epic typo in the back of the box. Apparently, Japan is Ryu's CUNTRY of origin. xD

Fans of science fiction will undoubtedly have heard of the cyberpunk genre. This genre bloomed and thrived through the 80s and 90s and had in it's core a dark vision of a futuristic age where man and machine are closer than ever to becoming one. Here, megacorporations run entire territories and have their own private armies. The individual is neglected to a survival role in this society, often being forced to kill or be killed. Generally, the heroes in these tales are of the anti kind, performing questionable deeds, often hackers with the ability to download their conscious minds into cyberspace.

Medicine is also in a very advanced state, and it's not uncommon that humans beings replace limbs and various other organs for cybernetic implants, not only if they need to, but also if they want to. These are seen as enhancements to expand on the natural abilities of the human body, and there's usually a black market on the streets for such items.

Cyberpunk is nowhere near as prevalent today as it was in the previous decades. But why?

One could argue that as technology advances, what seemed futuristic, now has a much more retro futuristic feel. For example, would you use a cable to connect your brain to the matrix if you could just use wi-fi? Science fiction transforms into reality everyday in little things like this. Granted, we still don't have the flying cars, but cyberpunk becomes much less believable when it's characters use cold steel robotic implants and you know for a fact that science in the real world is trying to grow limbs using stem cells instead. It seems that the underlying dystopian themes of cyberpunk still remain today, but without the focus on technology and Man uniting as one. Such is the case on Mirror's Edge, Bioshock, Crackdown, Riddick, or Infamous to name a few.

If you're interested in cyberpunk, there's some cool stuff you can watch and play. The cyberpunk genre is well represented in anime movies for example, and I can remember some off the top of my head. I'd recommend Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed 2004, Appleseed Ex Machina, A.D. Police, Cyber City OEDO 808, The Animatrix and Akira.

There are also a few games that fully explore cyberpunk themes, but most are a bit old now. You have Deus Ex, Syndicate, System Shock 2, Snatcher, Rise of the Dragon, Beneath a Steel Sky, Bloodnet and Shadowrun. Still if you're just craving retro-futurism, it doesn't get any better than Mass Effect.

In conclusion, it's a shame that a kid nowadays will read William Gibson's Neuromancer and probably find it ridiculous. Personally, it made my imagination run wild and I must say that I still love it to this day. Also, take Blade Runner. It completely blew me away when I was a kid. But I'm sure that the younger crowd will be incapable of perceiving it as I did at the time. They don't do movies like that anymore, instead relying on the special effects to replace imagination. Feels tragic, but would we go back? What do you think? Comment below guys. :)

So yeah, you're probably not reading this anymore, but for the ones that made it past the title, here it is. An N-gage review. And a review of a great game, nonetheless. For the two of you remaining after that last sentence, enjoy.

To think how far we've come in terms of mobile phone gaming in the last six or seven years is truly mind blowing. Like me, you were probably playing snake back then. While somewhat fun, there was no way a mobile phone could ever replace a gameboy. Games were novelty on phones, and while entertaining in very short bursts, they lacked any sort of lasting appeal. Graphics were comparable to early 80's game consoles, and even by those standards they were really weak. Sprites were tiny, movement was jerky and sound was almost non existent.



The first N-gage is everyone's favorite joke in the industry, but for it's time, it was truly revolutionary in terms of what it could show on screen. Nokia saw potential in the mobile gaming market and tried to snatch a piece for itself. For several reasons the endeavor failed, but it wasn't over for Nokia. It's new N-gage gaming service comes in. Instead of having a machine dedicated to games, you have a service in the form of an app that can be installed on several compatible phones. I've tried some of it's games and the general impression was one of indifference. Nothing really stood out.

Then "ONE" comes along and totally blows anything you've ever seen running on a mobile phone out of the water. Really, the graphics on this thing truly shine and everything was clearly modeled with great care to turn it into the showcase title it admittedly deserves to be. Perhaps the only fault that could be pointed out is the lack of some anti-aliasing, but everything else is there. You've got superb lighting effects on characters, fully 3D rendered backgrounds, and amazingly choreographed motion captured movements. And with all of that, it still runs smoothly. This could be on the PSP. It's that good.



But of course, games aren't all about graphics. And fortunately, the gameplay also stands out. Not for being overly complex, mind. But for being absolutely in tune with the medium. Mobile games are played in short bursts while on the bus. "ONE" is a fighting game with a very simple combat system. It relies solely on 2 attack buttons, one for punching, one for kicking and the D-pad for movement. It works. Very, very well. Of course, you can string combos, and there's dodging and counter moves. Everything you need for a simple, yet tight experience is present. Also, instead of relying on a preset cast of characters, One lets you create your own. While the amount of stuff to customize your characters with is not huge, it's certainly enough to let you play with the editor a bit and make a lot of different item and clothing combinations.

There's a story mode that will keep you busy for an hour or so, but don't expect anything fancy story wise. It also features a great multiplayer mode, allowing vs play between phones through bluetooth functionality and there's even an online ranking system. There's also survival mode and vs cpu mode. I think those are pretty much self explanatory.



The sound is merely adequate. Voices aren't all that elaborate, except for the announcer and the usual "round one, FIGHT" kind of phrases. Music is kind of nice but it loops after a while. Probably to make the game download smaller. Still, even though I haven't tried it, you can probably use the music you have on your mobile while playing.

In the end, I must say this game is amazing and for the retail price of 10 euros, you should be ashamed if you have a compatible handset and don't buy it. The effort put into making it the best game it could be clearly shows and it's the definitive showcase title on the platform. I hope Nokia can give the new N-gage platform the push it deserves, because this game proves it can be so much more than it is today. A must have.

10/10