We ran across an cool game over at the Windows Phone Marketplace, Cyclops Ballz. Cyclops Ballz is a battle game of sorts that puts you in an arena, armed only with a soccer ball, to face a wide variety of rivals.
Cyclops Ballz has three game modes, seven arenas and twenty-one opponents. The modes break down as follows:
Arcade Mode has a dodge ball feel to it in that the object of the game is to pummel your opponent with the ball. You need to keep the ball in play and if it bounces past you, you'll loose one of your three lives. Loose all three and the game's over. You can submit your scores to an online leader board afterwards or try again to see if you can do better.
The only nit with Arcade Mode is that it would be nice to change your target and arena. Pummeling the same target can get old after the first fifty points (and yes, I made it to fifty points).
Career Mode is a tournament game that has a soccer game feel (or maybe volleyball without the net) to it in that you try to kick the ball past your opponent while preventing them to do the same. During the match, boost items will appear to help you out. For each passed ball, you earn a point and the first to reach five points wins the match. Should you win the match, you move to the next of seven rounds. There are six tournament levels (progressive) to compete in.
Also, as you win, you earn credits that can be spent in the shop (accessible through your inventory menu before/after each match) for boosts. I liked the Career Mode but the game doesn't save your progress once you exit. If you make it through the first four matches, when you return to the game you should return to the point you left. Right?
Multi-Player Mode is a play-n-pass game where you compete in the tourney games and pass the game to a friend to see who scores the highest.
Game play is simple. Swipe the screen at the ball to strike it. The faster the swipe, the faster the ball flies down the screen. Cyclops Ballz is a graphically well presented game that is challenging (the CPU will kick your butt) and the game is somewhat addictive. While I think Cyclops Ballz has room for improvement, as is, it's a very nice game for your Windows Phone.
There is a free trial version of Cyclops Ballz available to let you try before you buy and the full version runs $2.99. You can find both here (opens Zune) at the Marketplace.
