The iPhone helps mobile gaming live up to the hype

Every time I read one of Keith's roundups I think ok, maybe mobile gaming *has* improved. Then I remember the fiddly controls, limp gameplay and the huge hassle in actually getting a game on your phone and go running back to the DS and PSP. But, and you may have seen this coming, the iPhone has changed my mind. Not because of any great leap in the quality of mobile games – the lineup for Nokia's Ngage is actually stronger - but simply because iTunes makes it easy to actually get the things onto your phone in the first place. Oh, and the fact that there some decent free games doesn't help either. But by buying 4 or 5 titles for the iPhone in the last month I've spent more on mobile games since, well ever.

My latest purchase was the Star Wars Force Unleashed iPhone game. Squint and you could be playing the PSP version – hardly mind-blowing then but the graphics are perfectly acceptable. But the main draw is using the touchscreen to "cast" your Force powers. Amazingly this works well and actually makes you feel vaguely powerful. The main problem here is the brevity of the game. Yes, I know mobile games, short bursts, yadda yadda – but I'd seen pretty much all of Force Unleashed within 90 mins or so. And that's while squeezed in on a bumpy train.

Of course, brevity won't be an issue with the first must-have iPhone game – Puzzle Quest – which is due out this Autumn. I've been playing the Xbox 360 version of the puzzle roleplayer for months and am still dipping in and out. Yup, mobile gaming has finally started to get interesting.