FingerGaming

Way back when, I spent an entire summer playing through Phantasy Star II on the Sega Genesis. It was a grueling, but ultimately rewarding experience — behind the constant grinding and frequent random battles was a unique, spacefaring storyline that outclassed everything that I had played before on the NES.

This week, Sega has released Phantasy Star II ($2.99) as part of its emulated Sega Genesis lineup for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Phantasy Star II casts players as Rolf, a government agent sent out to investigate sudden climate changes and monster attacks on his home planet Mota. With a party of up to four characters, players will explore dungeons, fight dangerous creatures, and travel to distant planets in the Algol star system.

In spite of its great storyline, Phantasy Star II has aged fairly poorly — modern players will likely lack the patience for its many random battles and severe difficulty level. I can see the iPhone platform making the experience more palatable, though — grinding and exploration should be much easier to digest in short bursts.

Along with Shining Force, this is one of the best offerings Sega has brought to the App Store to date. Here’s hoping that more Genesis-era RPGs are slated for release in the future.

Tags: emulation, genesis, retro, rpg, sega

South Korean publisher Nexon has adapted its popular MMORPG MapleStory to the iPhone and iPod Touch with this week’s release of MapleStory Thief Edition ($4.99), a side-scrolling action-RPG featuring many familiar elements from the MapleStory franchise.

In MapleStory Thief Edition, players control either a thief or an assassin on a quest spanning dozens of hours and multiple endings. Nexon notes that the game features over 70 pieces of equipment and hundreds of hidden treasures to collect. MapleStory Thief Edition also includes a selection of minigames unlocked as players progress through the story.

The core MapleStory game boasts more than 95 million registered users worldwide, and has exceeded 14 million downloads in Korea.

Tags: Action, maplestory thief edition, nexon, rpg

Tokyo-based Hi Corporation says Square Enix is using its real-time 3D rendering engine, called “MascotCapsule Eruption”, in the new iPad version of its mobile RPG Chaos Rings, which launched globally on August 12.

Hi Corporation explains it developed MascotCapsule Eruption using the Open GL international standard, featuring high-speed rendering processing it says is designed to “maximize the capabilities of 3D hardware accelerators.”

Its scalable functionalities helped Square Enix upscale a game originally developed for iPod Touch and iPhone to the iPad’s higher-resolution screen, says Hi. The company also says it hopes to expand use of its rendering engine worldwide and broaden its adoption beyond mobile phones.

MascotCapsule is the company’s flagship product line, and it says five Japanese mobile network operators and manufacturers have been using it. According to the company, MascotCapsule was shipped with more than 600 million mobile phones globally.

In Chaos Rings, players face off against enemies in dungeon and tournament scenarios in a quest for immortality; it features multiple characters and an expansive world.

Tags: chaos rings, Industry News, rpg, square enix

Square Enix has released an iPad version of its iOS-exclusive role-playing game Chaos Rings, and has dropped the price of every other game in its App Store catalog to mark the occasion.

Chaos Rings for iPad ($15.99) supports the device’s 1024×768 HD resolution, and features richer graphics and more detailed textures than the previous release for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

FingerGaming’s Tucker Dean gave the iPhone version of Chaos Rings 4.5 out of 5 stars in his review, describing it as an experience that “delivers the classic gameplay of your favorite JRPGs in pocket form, and makes very few sacrifices in the process.”

To promote Chaos Rings’ iPad debut, Square Enix is holding a catalog-wide sale, making many of its most popular apps — including Song Summoner and Final Fantasy — a few dollars cheaper. During the two-week sale, the publisher’s accelerometer-controlled action title Sliding Heroes will be available as a free download.

A full list of sale prices follows:

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Tags: chaos rings, final fantasy, Free Games, Price Change, rpg, square enix

App Store publisher Nate Games has launched an iPhone and iPod Touch version of Crimson Gem Saga ($9.99), a traditional, Japanese-style role-playing game previously released for the PlayStation Portable.

Crimson Gem Saga features all the familiar trappings of the genre — the plot involves a fresh-faced kid out to put an end to the plans of an evil empire, just to give you some idea of what you’re in for.

If reviews for the PSP version are to be believed, however, Crimson Gem Saga’s presentation quality makes the experience truly shine. Character animations are fluid, more than half of the game’s dialog is voiced, and all backgrounds are hand-painted, rather than tile-based.

The game also purports to be the largest RPG in the App Store, weighing in at a sizable 463 MB. Crimson Gem Saga boasts over 30 hours of gameplay, and by all appearances seems to be a worthy competitor for Square Enix’s iPhone Final Fantasy titles.

Tags: crimson gem saga, nate games, port, rpg

Ah, now this is more like it. Following up on last week’s questionable lineup of Space Harrier II and Ecco the Dolphin, Sega has released an App Store adaptation of its 1992 Sega Genesis strategy-RPG Shining Force ($2.99).

Shining Force stars Max, a knight-in-training who must defend his kingdom after a surprise attack from an evil army. Amassing his own legion of warriors, mages, and priests (and a gopher, and a weird flying egg thing), Max travels the world seeking to put an end to the Dark Dragon’s reign.

Battles play out similarly to modern-day strategy-RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics. Each character gets a turn in which he or she is allowed to move a limited number of spaces and then use an item, cast a spell, or attack a nearby monster. Defeat all monsters in a battle, and you win. If Max dies, you lose.

In between battles, players explore towns, talk to villagers, and buy items for their ever-increasing army. Eventually, your recruits will outnumber the maximum number of troops you’re allowed to bring into battle; a big part of Shining Force’s gameplay involves switching team members frequently to level them up in battle, and figuring out which recruits are best suited for your permanent army.

Shining Force is one of my all-time favorite Sega Genesis games, and unlike previous App Store Genesis releases, I can see its gameplay working particularly well with a virtual d-pad. If the emulation quality is up to standard, this could be Sega’s best App Store release to date.

Tags: genesis, retro, rpg, sega, shining force, strategy

Billed as “the longest continuously running MMO on the Internet,” the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Furcadia has attracted millions of users over its 13 years of operation, and maintains a large clientele of dedicated players.

Today brings the release of an official Furcadia client application ($4.99) for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Honored as a finalist in the 2003 Independent Games Festival, Furcadia is a creativity-driven MMORPG with an emphasis on player-generated content. In addition to several included chat spaces and minigames, Furcadia includes thousands of “Dream” areas — interactive virtual worlds created by players.

The Windows, Mac, and iPhone versions of Furcadia connect to the same world, and all in-game content is available for all clients. The iPhone version of Furcadia currently lacks the tools necessary for content creation, but otherwise features all the functionality of the PC client.

Tags: furcadia, mmorpg, Multiplayer, rpg

[While Korea-based mobile publisher Gamevil is a major player overseas, the company only recently made an impression stateside, thanks to its success in the iTunes App Store. Within the last two years, Gamevil has released several hit titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch, including the popular Baseball Superstars and the action-RPGs Zenonia and Hybrid: Eternal Whisper.

At E3 last week, Game Developer Magazine editor in chief Brandon Sheffield caught up with Gamevil USA president Kyu Lee, discussing the recent Zenonia 2 and other Gamevil projects, including the upcoming Hybrid 2.]

How do you think that the mobile market has changed in the last two years?

Kyu Lee: Two years ago, our focus was on traditional mobile phones, or “feature phones.” With over 100 million iOS devices out since the introduction of the iPhone almost three years ago — and with over 65,000 Android devices being shipped every day — most of our high-data consumers have been switching over to smartphones.

For that reason, we thought it was a logical move for game developers to move into that space. Before, we had to work with a lot of different carriers. Even in the U.S., we had to work with 15 to 20 different carriers to get our titles out. But now, with one submission to the App Store, you can get distribution to 84 countries around the world.

The tough part for a game developer like us was that we didn’t want to spend so much time getting deals done for distribution. We wanted to concentrate on creating better games. So it’s been great. The changes have been great for us.

Percentage-wise, how much are you doing for smartphones versus feature phones?

KL: In the overseas market, it’s getting close to 100 percent.

How about in Korea?

KL: In Korea, smartphone penetration is less than 20 percent. It’s still early, but the pace is really fast. Within the last six months, KTF — which is the iPhone’s exclusive distributor in Korea — sold 700,000 devices. That’s almost the fastest rate ever for a single device.

And if you combine all the iPod Touch devices with that, we’re also getting into the MP3 player market. It’s not just the phone market alone. And SK Telecom announced that they’re going to launch 13 Android devices by the end of the year. That’s going to be really interesting, to see how the market will be changing. Our development will adapt to the market changes.

You guys have been taking the tactic of making larger games that offer a much longer play experience. How has that been working out?

KL: I think it’s been working out pretty well for us. Putting in larger production costs makes it easier to compete in the App Store, and the RPG genre itself is very underserved. I think it has to do with the budget RPGs need.

I think in the RPG category right now, five games in the top ten are from Gamevil. Our only other competitor right now is Square Enix. As for other traditional large console players, I don’t think they’ve explored the RPG sector much. It’s an open opportunity for us, so why not take advantage of it?

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Tags: baseball superstars, gamevil, hybrid: eternal whisper, soccer superstars, zenonia

Square Enix announced at E3 that it will bring its 16-bit action-RPG Secret of Mana and genre-defining strategy-RPG Final Fantasy Tactics to the App Store later this year.

Secret of Mana, originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993, put players in control of a ragtag group of heroes out to save the world-balancing Mana Tree from destruction.

Secret of Mana was unique among action-RPGs in that it allowed up to three players to play simultaneously. Square Enix has issued no word as to whether multiplayer will feature in the upcoming iPhone version, or if the game is indeed a straight port, remake, or all-new entry in the Mana series.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions features complex strategic gameplay and a character class system that allows players to build and customize troops to take on enemy armies.

The iPhone version of Final Fantasy Tactics carries the “War of the Lions” subtitle introduced in the 2007 PSP remake of the game, and is likely to include the PSP edition’s added features and reworked localization.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions will premiere in the App Store on September 15th, 2010. Secret of Mana is expected to arrive in “2010.”

Tags: Action, final fantasy, final fantasy tactics, rpg, secret of mana, square enix, strategy

Rating:

• Price: $2.99 (Download here)
• Version: 1.3
• Official Site: Fried Green Apps, Inc.

Steam Pirates has the trappings of an exemplary mobile RPG. The graphics are crisp and colorful, and though the backgrounds in adventuring areas are repetitive, they’re pretty enough to avoid getting stale.

The music is nothing short of brilliant; every tune is either fantastically moody and atmospheric, or completely over-the-top epic and filled to the brim with grandeur. It’s full-on Pirates of the Caribbean with none of the restraint, and I love it. It is easily the best part of the game, and the artist, Sean Beeson, has made much of it available at his blog. I heartily recommend any game music enthusiast check it out.

Once you start actually playing the game, however, the experience degrades rather quickly. The developers appear to have tried to simplify the average RPG battle system to disastrous result.

There is very little the player can do to take control of the course of a battle; there is no equipment or any other method for the player to customize his party. Enemies and allies seem to take their turns in a completely unpredictable order.

Damage dealt and received is largely static based on damage type and comparative level, but since the underlying stats are not exposed to the player, there is no way to predict a tough enemy or effective attack until you’ve seen all the permutations yourself.

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Tags: Action, fried green apps, reviews, rpg, steam pirates