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This thread has been linked to the game 'Catchphrase'.
*Game included under N-GAGE as it wouldn't let me file it under Mobile content..help?
Catchphrase
Mobile Phone Game – Review based on playthrough on the Samsung Genio Touch
Can anybody remember the game show called Catchphrase? It was a big hit in the late 80’s and early 90’s hosted by that cheesy host Roy Walker (I loved his hosting!). It was a game where contestants were told to “say what you see”, where some sort of animation was played depicting a well known phrase or saying for them to guess. An example would be the word “notch” written down three times (one on top of the other) with an arrow pointing to the uppermost one. The answer would be “top-notch”. The show was filled with them – and it made great Saturday night viewing.
The show soon died down, but was reinvented with a series of different hosts and it is occasionally on TV now. As it is still quite a popular show, obviously game developers would want a piece of its success. The successful developer was Gameloft and the style, format and host all come from the original series of the game. It almost presents like the original series – the computer-generated puzzles, the sounds and music are directly lifted from the show.
You get the same kind of content as you would expect from a direct lift from the show. The rounds are identical (such as the Ready Money Round and the Final) and you even compete in them with an AI opponent (who unfortunately is slower than a 1 legged tortoise). As it is a mobile game, a multiplayer feature would have been difficult to implement, but as Bluetooth is becoming more and more popular, a Bluetooth multiplayer option wouldn’t have gone a miss.
Guessing a catchphrase (the actual aim of the game) isn’t too hard and once you’ve guessed one you’ll have fun trying to guess them all. The actual entering your answer is very tricky. I’ve read that on some phones you need to text your answer into the game (just without the predictive text), making the longer catchphrases a tedious task of answering. On my phone, the letters are displayed on a miniscule alphabet of keys where touching the right letter is more luck than judgement (I press the letter E and end up selecting D and F as well…). This is a bit tedious and tricky – especially as the game runs on a time limit. There is nothing more annoying than spending 30 seconds trying to touch the right letters to form the catchphrase, only for the timer to run out as you are just about to submit the answer.
Even though the answering method is tricky, that aside the game is good fun. Being against the clock and an AI player is enough motivation to think quickly and buzz in. It’s also worth playing to see if you can beat your highscore.
A final gripe is the obscurity of one or two of the catchphrases. Many can interpreted in many ways – which is infuriating when trying to submit and answer. However, I guess it keeps the game fresh. You are also helped by the fact that the catchphrase answer is indicated in the bottom corners of the screen in a Hangman style. This is a useful tool when trying to work out exactly the right answer.
So as I end this, I’m going say I’ve said what I’ve seen and in all fairness, it is quite a decent title with lots of content. Why not try it and see what you think - £3.00 isn’t much in terms of a game…is it?
EDIT: Also, just remembered - it does require an online connection to play. So unless you have unlimited internet/iPhone 3G then it may charge you to play. Not 100% sure as I'm a lucky guy with my contract, but thought I must warn you that this may occur.
Catchphrase
Mobile Phone Game – Review based on playthrough on the Samsung Genio Touch
Can anybody remember the game show called Catchphrase? It was a big hit in the late 80’s and early 90’s hosted by that cheesy host Roy Walker (I loved his hosting!). It was a game where contestants were told to “say what you see”, where some sort of animation was played depicting a well known phrase or saying for them to guess. An example would be the word “notch” written down three times (one on top of the other) with an arrow pointing to the uppermost one. The answer would be “top-notch”. The show was filled with them – and it made great Saturday night viewing.
The show soon died down, but was reinvented with a series of different hosts and it is occasionally on TV now. As it is still quite a popular show, obviously game developers would want a piece of its success. The successful developer was Gameloft and the style, format and host all come from the original series of the game. It almost presents like the original series – the computer-generated puzzles, the sounds and music are directly lifted from the show.
You get the same kind of content as you would expect from a direct lift from the show. The rounds are identical (such as the Ready Money Round and the Final) and you even compete in them with an AI opponent (who unfortunately is slower than a 1 legged tortoise). As it is a mobile game, a multiplayer feature would have been difficult to implement, but as Bluetooth is becoming more and more popular, a Bluetooth multiplayer option wouldn’t have gone a miss.
Guessing a catchphrase (the actual aim of the game) isn’t too hard and once you’ve guessed one you’ll have fun trying to guess them all. The actual entering your answer is very tricky. I’ve read that on some phones you need to text your answer into the game (just without the predictive text), making the longer catchphrases a tedious task of answering. On my phone, the letters are displayed on a miniscule alphabet of keys where touching the right letter is more luck than judgement (I press the letter E and end up selecting D and F as well…). This is a bit tedious and tricky – especially as the game runs on a time limit. There is nothing more annoying than spending 30 seconds trying to touch the right letters to form the catchphrase, only for the timer to run out as you are just about to submit the answer.
Even though the answering method is tricky, that aside the game is good fun. Being against the clock and an AI player is enough motivation to think quickly and buzz in. It’s also worth playing to see if you can beat your highscore.
A final gripe is the obscurity of one or two of the catchphrases. Many can interpreted in many ways – which is infuriating when trying to submit and answer. However, I guess it keeps the game fresh. You are also helped by the fact that the catchphrase answer is indicated in the bottom corners of the screen in a Hangman style. This is a useful tool when trying to work out exactly the right answer.
So as I end this, I’m going say I’ve said what I’ve seen and in all fairness, it is quite a decent title with lots of content. Why not try it and see what you think - £3.00 isn’t much in terms of a game…is it?
EDIT: Also, just remembered - it does require an online connection to play. So unless you have unlimited internet/iPhone 3G then it may charge you to play. Not 100% sure as I'm a lucky guy with my contract, but thought I must warn you that this may occur.
I loved the show - but I love all these kind of puzzle questions. We bought Wingdings as they had the cards with the same kind of idea.
I remember being in Kiln Park, Tenby, playing a quiz and these questions came up where a TV show was being portrayed by a catchphrase style clue. Absolutely made a killing in it, especially as I was about 6 at the time and I had adults fighting to have me on their teams :p
The major drawback is the tiny text thing. Also, just remembered - it does require an online connection to play. So unless you have unlimited internet/iPhone 3G then it may charge you to play. Not 100% sure as I'm a lucky guy with my contract, but thought I must warn you that this may occur.
I remember being in Kiln Park, Tenby, playing a quiz and these questions came up where a TV show was being portrayed by a catchphrase style clue. Absolutely made a killing in it, especially as I was about 6 at the time and I had adults fighting to have me on their teams :p
The major drawback is the tiny text thing. Also, just remembered - it does require an online connection to play. So unless you have unlimited internet/iPhone 3G then it may charge you to play. Not 100% sure as I'm a lucky guy with my contract, but thought I must warn you that this may occur.
HM wrote:
> *Game included under N-GAGE as it wouldn't let me file it
> under Mobile content..help?
>
Can't help here for the minute. Will get things changed on Monday.
And Catchphrase.............good times.
Used to see my dad on the weekends when I was younger and we would stay at my nans. Used to have a spag bol (as it was my favourite) and then settle down to watch this on the sofa with my pa. He was always brilliant at it, but I tried.
Then of course "Crumpet Beach" was on.......
Would love to have a crack at this for nostalgic reasons.
> *Game included under N-GAGE as it wouldn't let me file it
> under Mobile content..help?
>
Can't help here for the minute. Will get things changed on Monday.
And Catchphrase.............good times.
Used to see my dad on the weekends when I was younger and we would stay at my nans. Used to have a spag bol (as it was my favourite) and then settle down to watch this on the sofa with my pa. He was always brilliant at it, but I tried.
Then of course "Crumpet Beach" was on.......
Would love to have a crack at this for nostalgic reasons.
Good review, nice to see mobile game reviews on here. Surprised no-one has done any iPhone/iPod Touch ones yet (surely someone must own one?)
I did see this in the games list on my Nokia 5800 but I wasn't sure. After your review and the bit about text entry I'm still not sure, but it's good to read someone's opinion of it.
I did see this in the games list on my Nokia 5800 but I wasn't sure. After your review and the bit about text entry I'm still not sure, but it's good to read someone's opinion of it.
*Game included under N-GAGE as it wouldn't let me file it under Mobile content..help?
Catchphrase
Mobile Phone Game – Review based on playthrough on the Samsung Genio Touch
Can anybody remember the game show called Catchphrase? It was a big hit in the late 80’s and early 90’s hosted by that cheesy host Roy Walker (I loved his hosting!). It was a game where contestants were told to “say what you see”, where some sort of animation was played depicting a well known phrase or saying for them to guess. An example would be the word “notch” written down three times (one on top of the other) with an arrow pointing to the uppermost one. The answer would be “top-notch”. The show was filled with them – and it made great Saturday night viewing.
The show soon died down, but was reinvented with a series of different hosts and it is occasionally on TV now. As it is still quite a popular show, obviously game developers would want a piece of its success. The successful developer was Gameloft and the style, format and host all come from the original series of the game. It almost presents like the original series – the computer-generated puzzles, the sounds and music are directly lifted from the show.
You get the same kind of content as you would expect from a direct lift from the show. The rounds are identical (such as the Ready Money Round and the Final) and you even compete in them with an AI opponent (who unfortunately is slower than a 1 legged tortoise). As it is a mobile game, a multiplayer feature would have been difficult to implement, but as Bluetooth is becoming more and more popular, a Bluetooth multiplayer option wouldn’t have gone a miss.
Guessing a catchphrase (the actual aim of the game) isn’t too hard and once you’ve guessed one you’ll have fun trying to guess them all. The actual entering your answer is very tricky. I’ve read that on some phones you need to text your answer into the game (just without the predictive text), making the longer catchphrases a tedious task of answering. On my phone, the letters are displayed on a miniscule alphabet of keys where touching the right letter is more luck than judgement (I press the letter E and end up selecting D and F as well…). This is a bit tedious and tricky – especially as the game runs on a time limit. There is nothing more annoying than spending 30 seconds trying to touch the right letters to form the catchphrase, only for the timer to run out as you are just about to submit the answer.
Even though the answering method is tricky, that aside the game is good fun. Being against the clock and an AI player is enough motivation to think quickly and buzz in. It’s also worth playing to see if you can beat your highscore.
A final gripe is the obscurity of one or two of the catchphrases. Many can interpreted in many ways – which is infuriating when trying to submit and answer. However, I guess it keeps the game fresh. You are also helped by the fact that the catchphrase answer is indicated in the bottom corners of the screen in a Hangman style. This is a useful tool when trying to work out exactly the right answer.
So as I end this, I’m going say I’ve said what I’ve seen and in all fairness, it is quite a decent title with lots of content. Why not try it and see what you think - £3.00 isn’t much in terms of a game…is it?
EDIT: Also, just remembered - it does require an online connection to play. So unless you have unlimited internet/iPhone 3G then it may charge you to play. Not 100% sure as I'm a lucky guy with my contract, but thought I must warn you that this may occur.
Catchphrase
Mobile Phone Game – Review based on playthrough on the Samsung Genio Touch
Can anybody remember the game show called Catchphrase? It was a big hit in the late 80’s and early 90’s hosted by that cheesy host Roy Walker (I loved his hosting!). It was a game where contestants were told to “say what you see”, where some sort of animation was played depicting a well known phrase or saying for them to guess. An example would be the word “notch” written down three times (one on top of the other) with an arrow pointing to the uppermost one. The answer would be “top-notch”. The show was filled with them – and it made great Saturday night viewing.
The show soon died down, but was reinvented with a series of different hosts and it is occasionally on TV now. As it is still quite a popular show, obviously game developers would want a piece of its success. The successful developer was Gameloft and the style, format and host all come from the original series of the game. It almost presents like the original series – the computer-generated puzzles, the sounds and music are directly lifted from the show.
You get the same kind of content as you would expect from a direct lift from the show. The rounds are identical (such as the Ready Money Round and the Final) and you even compete in them with an AI opponent (who unfortunately is slower than a 1 legged tortoise). As it is a mobile game, a multiplayer feature would have been difficult to implement, but as Bluetooth is becoming more and more popular, a Bluetooth multiplayer option wouldn’t have gone a miss.
Guessing a catchphrase (the actual aim of the game) isn’t too hard and once you’ve guessed one you’ll have fun trying to guess them all. The actual entering your answer is very tricky. I’ve read that on some phones you need to text your answer into the game (just without the predictive text), making the longer catchphrases a tedious task of answering. On my phone, the letters are displayed on a miniscule alphabet of keys where touching the right letter is more luck than judgement (I press the letter E and end up selecting D and F as well…). This is a bit tedious and tricky – especially as the game runs on a time limit. There is nothing more annoying than spending 30 seconds trying to touch the right letters to form the catchphrase, only for the timer to run out as you are just about to submit the answer.
Even though the answering method is tricky, that aside the game is good fun. Being against the clock and an AI player is enough motivation to think quickly and buzz in. It’s also worth playing to see if you can beat your highscore.
A final gripe is the obscurity of one or two of the catchphrases. Many can interpreted in many ways – which is infuriating when trying to submit and answer. However, I guess it keeps the game fresh. You are also helped by the fact that the catchphrase answer is indicated in the bottom corners of the screen in a Hangman style. This is a useful tool when trying to work out exactly the right answer.
So as I end this, I’m going say I’ve said what I’ve seen and in all fairness, it is quite a decent title with lots of content. Why not try it and see what you think - £3.00 isn’t much in terms of a game…is it?
EDIT: Also, just remembered - it does require an online connection to play. So unless you have unlimited internet/iPhone 3G then it may charge you to play. Not 100% sure as I'm a lucky guy with my contract, but thought I must warn you that this may occur.