WHAT’S HOT

    Eight games for $25.94 is awesome (putting
each title at about $3.25). And they are full blown versions, not shareware
or trial versions.

PROGRAM FEATURES

    First, let’s review the Centipede & More Classic Games features (copied verbatim from mdm):

Installation
is extremely simple. Choose the device you will be installing to
and enter the key.

You
then have the option to install either individual games or the complete
set. There are a few trial products included on the CD, but you
can uncheck those before installing. Only 16.2Mb is needed to install
the entire suite to your PDA.

Since
this is a mini-review, we won’t be doing in-depth reviews of the
individual games, but rather presenting the games and a quick blurb
about each of them.

The
title game, Centipede is from Atari and is the only real disappointment
of the bunch. This is the Atari 2600 version of the game.

While
the menus look great, the game itself just doesn’t really fit with
the rest of the great titles in this set. Controls are so-so and
the sounds, well, what do you expect from a Atari 2600 title?

Kasparov
Chessmate, while not the most visually exciting game of the suite,
is certainly a great title.

With the option to play against the computer or other human opponents,
and even practice the Kasparov style of chess play Kasparov Chessmate
is perfect for any chess lover. Or even someone who would like to
learn the game of chess.

And
who wouldn’t want Snails on their PDA. Okay, not live ones, but
the great title from PDAmill.

Snails
certainly ranks as one of my favorite PDA games with missions, deathmatch,
and snail explosions galore.

Next
up is Tennis Addict. A visually stunning, yet slightly odd gameplay
title originally from Hexacto.

At
first glace it reminded me of an updated and upgraded Atari 2600
Tennis. But after playing a few times, I quickly discovered how
much more fun this title is than I originally guessed.

The
concept behind Slurp is similar to Jawbreaker. A fun little puzzle
game to say the least.

The
objective is to "slurp" the liquid in as large of chunks
as possible (and any leftover bits become solid mass the next round
as you can see in the example above). Definitely an addictive element
here.

Gamebox
Solitaire is another title from PDAmill.
Hard to believe that you might get so many great games in one package.

Visually
stunning and a joy to play, Gamebox Solitaire not only fills any
desire to play card games on your Pocket PC.

Spellbound
is another puzzle game, but this time the focus is word creation.

While
the graphics aren’t very impressive, the game plays quite well and
is a worthwhile addition to the set.

Last,
but certainly not least is The Emperor’s Mahjong. I had always wondered
about this title since its release, but never took the time to install
it. Boy did I miss out.

Fantastic
looking tiles and visuals combined with three types of gameplay
(Emporer’s Challenge, Shanghai One Player, and Shanghai Two Players)
really rounds out this game package extraordinaire.

HELP SUPPORT

    Along with the in-game help, there are
also .pdf manuals on the installation CD not to mention mdm’s
website (which contains additional help and support options).

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

    According
to mdm,
the suite requires 16.2MB of storage memory (for all the games
to be installed).

BUGS AND WISHES

    I
found no fatal errors, and my wish list is short:

• Create
  a downloadable package (for those who don’t want to wait for
  the CD)
• Include
  a more in-depth printed user manual
• Add
  a MMC card purchase option (should be relatively easy considering
  most of of mdm’s
  titles are packaged this way)

PURCHASING

    You
can buy
this package directly from mdm. The price shown is $25.49. Note
that the Palm and PocketPC versions are actually on the same CD.

PROS

• 
  

  PRICE

• 
  

  7 fantastic titles

• 
  

  Wide range of game types

• Small installation footprint

CONS

• One title is just average
  (but at least you don’t have to install it)
• No printed user manual
• CD only

OVERALL IMPRESSION

    mdm is practically giving these great titles away for this price.
The value of this package is amazing. Not to mention that the
titles included are by no means sub-par (save one – Centipede,
and even it’s okay in the nostalgic sense). If you are a gamer,
or even just looking for some great entertainment on your PDA,
Centipede & More Classic Games is, as mdm
says, a ‘must-have’ collection.