Gamesblog has teamed up with iFone, the UK publisher behind the surprisingly excellent Java translation of Sonic the Hedgehog, to offer readers the chance to win a PS2 and a copy of the latest Sonic title, Sonic Riders. There are also ten copies of Sonic Heroes on PC for runners-up. You just have to go to Guardian Unlimited's competition area (here) and answer a very easy question. Be quick though as the deadline is March 26.
So, yes, back to the Java version of Sonic - I played it on a Sharp 903 last week and was genuinely impressed. It's fast, the graphics are incredibly faithful and the multi-level layout of the game worlds works pleasingly well on a limited, portrait-format screen. I found the keys a little taxing at first: using up on the 'joypad' to jump is not exactly user-friendly when you have thumbs like jumbo sausages, but I got there in the end. The faithfulness of the conversion suggests that, in 2006, mobile games publishers can afford to be a little more ambitious with their retro conversions, aiming for 16bit era goodies rather than early-eighties staples.
