Hands on with California Games X for mobile
Arnold would approve
It's got the world's fifth largest economy, serves as the entertainment capital of the planet, and is governed by a former action star. Now, California is getting another set of its own games. Eidos Mobile has christened a handful of competitive sports and hobbies as uniquely Californian and we tested them out during a hands-on look.
About half a dozen extreme sports make up the list of events in California Games X, an update of the classic Epyx 1980s title. These range from BMX to surfing to rock climbing but break dancing easily won us over as our favourite. Even though it's an extreme stretch to name it as a uniquely Californian activity – there must be break dancers even in Alaska, surely? Nevertheless, the assembled activities are meant to conjure the Californian spirit; that chill west coast mentality.
Playing the sports on offer is done through either Tournament or Single Event modes. It won't shock you to learn the former groups a handful of activities together and has you compete in each sequentially for points. Winning the tournament comes from placing high enough in each event so as to lead overall once all the exercise is over.
If social sport isn't for you, stick to playing an individual activity via the Single Event option. High scores for the events are kept across both modes so you don't lose out if you suddenly fluke – sorry – skill your way to a new record.
We competed in three events, the first of which had us stripping down to board shorts and hitting the beach. Surfing, that classic California Games staple, has you paddling out from the shallows with presses of the number keys as the corresponding icons appear onscreen.
Once you're out far enough to catch a wave, your dude climbs up onto his board and gets primed for tricks. This follows a similar pattern to paddling: key/directional pad icons move across the screen and landing the moves means rapidly pressing the correct keys. Points are awarded for successful tricks, although you're under a time limit so missing a trick can drop you out of contention.
Moving from the ocean to the mountains, rock climbing was next on our list. Here, timed button presses dictate how well you scale the sheer side of the mountain. The climber automatically moves up the rock face, but keeping him nestled against it requires quickly tapping out the correct keys as they appear on the display.
Finally, BMX, which involves pulling off different tricks on a child-sized bike. Like rock climbing, your biker automatically moves forward so all you need to concentrate on is nailing tricks. Stop us if you've heard this one before, but when button icons roll across the screen, matching them with the right timing performs the moves accurately. Complete a series of consecutive tricks and, predictably, you get more points. As with surfing, BMX is timed so maximizing your score by stringing tricks together is the only way to win.
There's not whole a lot to California Games X aside from its timed button-pressing gameplay, then. From our experience the variety appears to be only superficial because each of the games has you performing the same timed button pressing mini-games.
That doesn't mean it isn't fun, but it does limit its potential lasting power. Still, if anything it'll be worth a spin and a two-step just to check out break dancing when it launches in the spring.
