Mobility Site - View Single Post - ROUNDUP: Shufflepuck Cafe (Air Hockey) clones on the Pocket PC

Menneisyys · 07-18-06, 12:59 PM

Now that a new version of the free 3D Air Hockey has been released, I’ve decided to review all the current Air Hockey games on the platform.

Brøderbund's/Ubi Soft's Shufflepuck Cafe (also see this Wiki entry) was a big hit on major computing / home computer platforms (Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Macintosh, Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS) back in 1989. I’ve spent quite some time playing it on my PC back in 1991 – it was a real gem and really entertaining.

To get a feeling of the game, I recommend the freeware Windows build of TuxPuck. (Note that the original author’s website seems to have problems; therefore, download the game here, from the above-linked Caiman website. You’ll most probably need to put the DLL file (SDL.dll) in this archive into the same directory where you decompress tuxpuck.exe to). (The Amiga version is here; the Apple IIgs version here.

Note that the Windows build is pretty unreliable and the mouse-based control is pretty bad (the commercial MS-DOS PC version 15-16 years ago was FAR better in this respect); I haven’t tested it under Linux, where it’s hopefully more stable.) If you too find it useless and don’t mind playing the original MS-DOS game (now: abandonware and, therefore, freely accessible / distributable), you can download it from here (if you can’t find it/download it - the-underdogs.info is often unaccessible -, it’s also available here). It works flawlessly under Windows XP (SP2) without any additional setting and is much better, controllability-wise, on my PC than the above-linked TuxPuck.

There are three Air Hockey games for the Pocket PC. None of them support high-resolution VGA screens (I’ve made all the screenshots on VGA devices so you can see this for yourself) or have in-game/menu music. They are, however, all compatible with VGA devices and WM5.

The most important of them is

Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D

(current, tested version: 1.0)
Price: $8

Supports all Pocket PC’s (even SH3/MIPS ones) and is by far the best Air Hockey implementation. Even has a level editor (see this screenshot).

(Also see this thread; it has also been quickly reviewed in the Roundup of All Pocket PC Games Part I)

Then follows

Sister Software’s Revolution Air Hockey

(current, tested version: 1.2)
Price: $4.99

The EXE file must be transferred to the PPC and executed there.

It’s much simpler than the above-reviewed Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D.

The bat (mallet) must be constantly dragged – you just can’t tap the field somewhere to instantly position the bat to. This wasn’t of a problem if dragging always worked. Unfortunately, that’s not the case: sometimes, it just stops moving and you’ll notice this too late. This makes this title really annoying to play.

Finally,

Raysoft’s 3D Air Hockey

(direct download here; current, tested version: 0.5 Pre-release)
Price: $FREE

This WM2003+ only, free, just-released title is next to useless – everything (including the mallow) moves at a snail’s speed even on faster devices. There is just no comparison to Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D – or, for that matter, not even to Sister Software’s Revolution Air Hockey. The two other titles are much-much faster and easier to control.

Unfortunately, “there is no free lunch” is really true when speaking of this title. You really don’t want to give it a try. (It also complains about missing textures when started.)

The mallow can’t be dragged – you’ll need to tap the screen to position it (not the best way to control it, I say...)

Verdict

If you want to have the best Air Hockey game on the Pocket PC, go for Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D.

Also, if you’re a programmer, you may want to consider porting TuxPuck to the Pocket PC ;)

Remark/compatibility comparison chart

Sorry, the forum engine doesn’t support in-line tables. You can find it at the bottom of the original blog version of this article.

07-18-06, 12:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
Menneisyys Contributing Reviewer Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 4,575 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	ROUNDUP: Shufflepuck Cafe (Air Hockey) clones on the Pocket PC Now that a new version of the free 3D Air Hockey has been released, I’ve decided to review all the current Air Hockey games on the platform. Brøderbund's/Ubi Soft's Shufflepuck Cafe (also see this Wiki entry) was a big hit on major computing / home computer platforms (Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Macintosh, Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS) back in 1989. I’ve spent quite some time playing it on my PC back in 1991 – it was a real gem and really entertaining. To get a feeling of the game, I recommend the freeware Windows build of TuxPuck. (Note that the original author’s website seems to have problems; therefore, download the game here, from the above-linked Caiman website. You’ll most probably need to put the DLL file (SDL.dll) in this archive into the same directory where you decompress tuxpuck.exe to). (The Amiga version is here; the Apple IIgs version here. Note that the Windows build is pretty unreliable and the mouse-based control is pretty bad (the commercial MS-DOS PC version 15-16 years ago was FAR better in this respect); I haven’t tested it under Linux, where it’s hopefully more stable.) If you too find it useless and don’t mind playing the original MS-DOS game (now: abandonware and, therefore, freely accessible / distributable), you can download it from here (if you can’t find it/download it - the-underdogs.info is often unaccessible -, it’s also available here). It works flawlessly under Windows XP (SP2) without any additional setting and is much better, controllability-wise, on my PC than the above-linked TuxPuck. There are three Air Hockey games for the Pocket PC. None of them support high-resolution VGA screens (I’ve made all the screenshots on VGA devices so you can see this for yourself) or have in-game/menu music. They are, however, all compatible with VGA devices and WM5. The most important of them is Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D (current, tested version: 1.0) Price: $8 Supports all Pocket PC’s (even SH3/MIPS ones) and is by far the best Air Hockey implementation. Even has a level editor (see this screenshot). (Also see this thread; it has also been quickly reviewed in the Roundup of All Pocket PC Games Part I) Then follows Sister Software’s Revolution Air Hockey (current, tested version: 1.2) Price: $4.99 The EXE file must be transferred to the PPC and executed there. It’s much simpler than the above-reviewed Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D. The bat (mallet) must be constantly dragged – you just can’t tap the field somewhere to instantly position the bat to. This wasn’t of a problem if dragging always worked. Unfortunately, that’s not the case: sometimes, it just stops moving and you’ll notice this too late. This makes this title really annoying to play. Finally, Raysoft’s 3D Air Hockey (direct download here; current, tested version: 0.5 Pre-release) Price: $FREE This WM2003+ only, free, just-released title is next to useless – everything (including the mallow) moves at a snail’s speed even on faster devices. There is just no comparison to Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D – or, for that matter, not even to Sister Software’s Revolution Air Hockey. The two other titles are much-much faster and easier to control. Unfortunately, “there is no free lunch” is really true when speaking of this title. You really don’t want to give it a try. (It also complains about missing textures when started.) The mallow can’t be dragged – you’ll need to tap the screen to position it (not the best way to control it, I say...) Verdict If you want to have the best Air Hockey game on the Pocket PC, go for Paul Ellams’ Air Hockey 3D. Also, if you’re a programmer, you may want to consider porting TuxPuck to the Pocket PC ;) Remark/compatibility comparison chart Sorry, the forum engine doesn’t support in-line tables. You can find it at the bottom of the original blog version of this article. __________________ MS MVP- Mobile Devices.