Feature

2008's most innovative mobile games: 1-10

Games that show where this industry can go in 2009

2008's most innovative mobile games: 1-10
Innovation is a strange word when it comes to mobile gaming.

Partly because the most innovative mobile games are rarely the best-selling and partly because technical innovation too often comes at the expense of great gameplay, rather than hand-in-hand with it.

Even so, innovation is what drives gaming forward, whether it's the Saturn and PlayStation introducing 3D, Dreamcast pioneering online gaming (and then Xbox running with the idea), or Wii opening up a whole new audience through its motion-sensing controllers.

So, with that in mind, we've compiled a list of 30 of the most innovative mobile games that were released in 2008, including Java, iPhone, N-Gage and even iPod titles.

The first batch of ten is below, with numbers 11-20 and 21-30 to follow in the coming days.



1. Reset Generation (Nokia)

Platform: N-Gage
Reset Generation scored a perfect 10 when reviewed on Pocket Gamer - a score that's since provoked some debate among developers thanks to the game's hardcore nature. However, nobody would deny that the N-Gage game was truly innovative.

The spin-off Facebook version was one aspect, but it was the wider Web 2.0 aspects around that which truly impressed, with players able to embed their profile in blogs and social networking profiles, and view replays of any game played online via a widget.



Did it sell well? The jury's out - it quickly fell out of the Top 5 N-Gage chart. But as a signpost for how a mobile game can extend outside mobile, it was hugely significant. Read review

2. Spore Origins (EA Mobile)

Platform: Java / iPhone

The big mobile publishers are often accused of pushing brands without trying to innovate, but Spore Origins was one of the titles proving that thesis wrong. Sensibly opting against trying to cram the entire Spore PC game into mobile form, EA Mobile focused on the relatively simple cell stage of the game.



But the innovation came with the connectivity in the Java version, allowing players to customise their spore throughout the game, then upload it to EA's server and fight asynchronous battles against those of other players - complete with a website tracking their stats.

Meanwhile, the iPhone edition of the game innovated in a different way, allowing players to take photos with the camera, and use those as the texture for their spore. We spent probably as much time warping strange snaps as we did playing the game. It was a simple feature, but hugely addictive. Read review

3. Super Boom Boom 2: Space Adventure (Gamevil)

Platform: Java



Micro-transactions - the ability to pay for stuff within a game through small payments - aren't big news in mobile yet. But they will be in 2009 and 2010, as the technology to use them opens up for developers.

Gamevil got in early this year with Super Boom Boom 2: Space Adventure, which launched in the US following a debut in the company's native South Korea. It let players purchase virtual 'G-Points' which could then be spent on extra levels, items and mini-games.

It's not the only Gamevil game to use this feature in Korea, but in the west it's a marker of what may be to come in 2009. Micro-transactions are big news in the virtual worlds and MMORPG industries, but they could be just as big in mobile next year. Read more

4. Rally Master Pro (Fishlabs)



Platform: Java

Another recipient of a 10/10 review from Pocket Gamer, Rally Master Pro is probably the best looking mobile racing game yet. But its innovation was as much about connectivity and some of the distribution models behind it.

For example, publisher Fishlabs seeded the game on various pirate websites, allowing people to download and install it for free, in an effort to rapidly build a community of players. At a time when many in the industry are still burying their heads in the sand over mobile game piracy, this approach was refreshing.

But it went hand-in-hand with the way players paid to download extra tracks for the game, through a system of credits on the myFishlabs community. In eight weeks after launch, 40,000 players had downloaded 2.2 million tracks. A success, you could say. Read review

5. Chess with Friends (Newtoy)



Platform: iPhone

A multiplayer mobile chess game? Well, congrats on grappling with connectivity issues, but it's hardly rocket science. Is it?

No, but Chess with Friends is nevertheless an important game in showing what's possible with iPhone (and, indeed, connected mobile games on any platform).

See, the game owes more to Facebook games like Scrabulous in the way its connectivity works. Gameplay is entirely asynchronous, so you make your move and then wait for your opponent to make theirs at their leisure – which could take seconds, hours or days.



But you can have several games going at once, ensuring there's likely a move to play whenever you fire up the game. We'll see more of this in 2009, possibly even tying into the Facebook games that pioneered the idea. Read more

6. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (THQ Wireless)

Platform: Java / N-Gage

You'd be forgiven for snorting at the idea of an innovative Star Wars mobile game (or, indeed, a good one). But The Force Unleashed makes it into this list for Universomo's imaginative approach to the controls, based on tracing symbols on the keypad to perform attacks.



Not all gamers warmed to the idea, but it's praiseworthy for seeking a control mechanic that's not a poor relation to console controls AND which fits well with the game's subject material.

And in case you're wondering, yes, the game itself was really good too. Read review

7. TV Show King Online (Gameloft)

Platform: iPhone



The concept behind TV Show King Online isn't innovative - it's essentially PlayStation quiz franchise Buzz!. But it's the connected features that make this so interesting, with the ability to play real-time quizzes over the network, as well as uploading scores.

It's clearly an early attempt at this kind of thing for Gameloft - some users have reported problems getting the online mode to work with their wi-fi routers.

However, the fact that online multiplayer is planned for games like Ferrari GT Evolution shows that this game (along with fellow multiplayer iPhone title UNO) is a hint at what's to come from Gameloft in 2009. Read review

8. Scene It? (Namco Bandai)



Platform: Java

In fact, quiz games were at the forefront of connected developments this year, what with Namco Bandai's Scene It? titles going great guns in the US. The two games in the series focused on film and TV trivia.

However, the innovation came in the weekly question packs that players could download to keep their interest up. By September, more than 26 million questions had been downloaded in this way - and since this is the US, the publisher is reaping the rewards of that in longer subscriptions.
Scene It? is also an example of a mobile game evolving after its original release. Namco Bandai launched four new puzzle categories for the game in September, to further freshen up the experience for players. Read more

9. Tap Tap Revenge (Tapulous)

Platform: iPhone

What started as a free music game for jailbroken iPhones has now become the premier iPhone music game brand. No, the core gameplay of Tap Tap Revenge doesn't stray too far from the Guitar Hero formula of notes falling down a screen, but its innovation has been around that.

So, the ability to 'download' songs from within the game - a clever technical workaround, since Apple doesn't officially allow it - was one feature. Persuading major labels like EMI to make songs available for the game was another: one song by Katy Perry was downloaded more than 200,000 times in a week.

Plus there's multiplayer and community features being built around the core game, not to mention spin-off premium versions with Weezer and a host of dance artists. More than three million people have downloaded the basic Tap Tap Revenge game so far - all eyes will be on its sequel when it's released in January. Read more

10. UEFA Euro 2008 (EA Mobile)

Platform: Java

You could see EA's licence to make a football game based on the Euro 2008 tournament as an obvious cash-in, involving reskinning the last FIFA game with a new focus on the tournament. But thankfully, EA Mobile didn't take that approach.

Instead, they took the opportunity to monkey about with the gameplay, introducing skill bars used when players want to shoot, cross, tackle or perform skill moves. The idea was to test a control mechanic that would be more accessible than traditional fiddly button-pressing.

It worked well, with some elements making it into the next FIFA game. It's this willingness to tamper with the football formula that made UEFA Euro 2008 an innovative game - and one that showed EA Mobile's desire to reach out to new audiences on phones, rather than rest on its laurels. Read review
Read the second part of this feature.
Contributing Editor

Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)