Inconveniently, I'm extremely busy at the moment so while Shadow of the Colossus sits unmolested beneath my TV set, I've been using my daily commute to play mobile phone and handheld titles - namely Sega's Rub Rabbits and I-Play's Java translation of hit TV series, 24. Both are structured around a sequence of contrasting mini-games, which has brought a little excitement and uncertainty into my bus ride (even more than when my local bus company began employing Eastern European drivers who weren't taught the route and had to keep asking us in broken English where they were supposed to be going).
With 24, you play as Agent Bruno a CTU operative embroiled in a shadowy plot to manufacture war between the US and North Korea. In quite a clever post-modern touch, which concedes to the crap graphical performance of Java devices, players must employ Bruno's 'spy phone' (i.e. your own handset) to carry out missions remotely. This way, you're always viewing the action through an in-game cellphone display - thereby explaining the limited visuals and retaining the atmosphere and style of the show. A very good idea.
The missions take the form of simple mini-challenges - many of which resemble classic arcade titles and puzzle game archetypes. For example, in the Phone Trace sections you need to pinpoint a mobile phone location by isolating areas of a city map until the signal - represented as little moving blobs - is herded into a small area - an idea originated in the classic coin-op, Qix, and now a shareware puzzle game staple. There's also a Spy Hunter-style overhead driving bit and a decrypting sequence where you reveal a phrase by figuring out the missing letters from a simple code.
It's all very casual gamer-friendly, and the snappy presentation between missions, with taut text interchanges involving key characters and lots of cuts to a digital clock, also help with building the atmosphere within limited means. Oh and you're timed though each mini-game - apparently the total time will dictate which game ending you see.
There are also several action-orientated challenges where you guide an agent through a series of claustrophobic locations, either stealthily avoiding enemies, or taking them out in little tactical skirmishes. Again, the developer has got round those pesky graphical limitations by presenting each scene in minimal infrared vision. You're informed that, even though you have direct joypad control over the on-screen character, you're actually sort of remotely guiding another operative via satellite. Remember the scene in Patriot Games where an SAS attack on a terrorist base is viewed entirely via satellite cam from a CIA control room? It's like that.
So yes, quite diverting, and plenty of interesting solutions to the fundamental question - how do you reproduce the world of 24 on a tiny screen? One complaint, though: the miniscule text was difficult to read on the bus. I was overcome with nausea when I got off and had to stagger home like a drunk.
As for Rub Rabbits - it's another kitsch slice of dating fun from Sonic Team in which you must capture the heart of a sexy girl by performing a series of over 30 mini-challenges. These range from chucking love hearts at her while love rivals dance around trying to block them; blowing on the mic to dispatch parachuting men who're trying to deliver roses to the aforementioned lady; and using the stylus to knock over little blokes who are running at you wearing bull masks. Each game is intercut with stylish comic book story sequences while sixties lounge music plays in the background.
Yep, it's all very familiar to veterans of Project Rub, but here there are loads more options accessible from the main menu. As well as the central Story mode, there's an area where you can dress up the female lead (using clothes you unlock as you go through the game). I also love the Make A Baby mode where you try out a collaborative cake cutting mini-game with your partner, one of you using the d-pad, the other the fire buttons. Hullabaloo Mode will surely also become a favourite - here, you pass the DS around a group of friends each putting their fingers on specific buttons in a sort of combination of Twister and pass-the-parcel.
Highly stylised, self-consciously wacky, predictably compelling, Rub Rabbits is nevertheless more an update on Project Rub than a full sequel. I think even more could be done with the multiplayer element. If Nintendogs can be set up to alert you when another user passes by, surely Rub Rabbits could have something similar in the form of a Wi-Fi speed dating feature?
Anyway, the proliferation of mini-game titles is usually blamed on Wario Ware, but, of course, the roots of the genre go back way further. I'm reminded of a few 8bit titles that emerged before games were segregated into genres. Beach Head, for example, where each level introduced a new style of play.
Wherever they came from, mini-game titles make perfect sense on portable formats - as we all know, they're instantly accessible and easily abandoned at any point. What I like about these two examples, though, is the way they intrinsically build the mini-games into an over-riding story. It feels like you're getting a full gaming experience but in handy bite-sized chunks. The digital equivalent of cereal bars. But nice.
