Flight Control Rocket and Blobster now available to all Windows Phone users

Windows Phone 7 users must be feeling a bit left out of the Xbox gaming fun lately. We spent the majority of last week celebrating the release of Halo: Spartan Assault and publishing detailed strategy guides for Order & Chaos Online, both excellent Windows Phone 8 games. But what are the Microsoft mobile users who haven’t upgraded to Windows Phone 8 yet going to play?

Former Nokia exclusives, of course! Less than two weeks ago, Chillingo’s pretty decent Picnic Wars became available to all brands of Windows Phone. And just a few days ago, two more games dropped their exclusivity: Flight Control Rocket and Blobster. If you liked the first Flight Control, you’re going to love FC Rocket! Oh, and Blobster. Yayyyy.

Read on for details on both games and an updated list of current and former Nokia Collection exclusives!

Flight Control Rocket

The original Flight Control just went on sale a week ago, and now all of a sudden everybody has access to its far superior sequel. This one switches things to a retro sci-fi setting in which players must help incoming rockets land on a space-faring mothership safely. You do this by drawing paths from each ship to the appropriate runway, all while trying to avoid collisions.

Not only is FC Rocket way prettier than its forbear, it also offers a lot more gameplay. The three modes each mix the gameplay up in interesting ways, changing up the combo scoring system, bonus rounds, and even mixing in stranded astronauts to rescue. Players can also purchase and equip a variety of robot helpers to customize the gameplay a bit.

The only catch is that FC Rocket’s Achievements are horrendously grindy. Arsenic 17’s guide estimates it will take 60 hours to unlock them all! But as I say in our review, if you ignore Achievements this is the best line-drawing game in town. Say, you probably need to read that review!

Flight Control Rocket – Windows Phone 7 and 8 – 41 MB - $2.99 – Store Link

Blobster

Blobster is an innocent little platform that clocks in at a light 13 megabytes to download. The titular character is a living blob who must stop the Big and Powerful Corporation from polluting the land of Blobtopia.

The gameplay is simple enough to learn. Pressing the left or right side of the screen moves the Rock Blobster in that direction. A tilt option is also available, though I’d have preferred a virtual stick, myself. To make Blobster jump, tug at him with a finger and then release; he’ll go flying in the desired direction.

Let’s be honest, Blobster is not the most impressive game in the Windows Phone lineup. The backgrounds are completely flat and the rest of the visuals lack flair as well. But the Achievements are pretty quick and easy, as Arsenic 17’s Achievement Guide reveals. Maybe you’ll soldier through it for the GamerScore.

Blobster – Windows Phone 7 and 8 – 13 MB - $2.99 – Store Link

Nokia exclusives update: Current exclusives

Bejeweled Live+

Here’s the full list of Nokia exclusives:

1. Bejeweled Live + - Released: February 18, 2013
2. DaVinci Pinball - Released: April 23, 2013
3. Dream Track Nation - Released: March 22, 2013
4. FIFA 13 - Released: July 8, 2013
5. iBomber Defense - Released: December 22, 2012
6. Mass Effect: Infiltrator - Released: May 22, 2013
7. Monopoly Millionaire - Released: April 23, 2013
8. NBA Jam - Released: May 22, 2013
9. Real Racing 2 - Released: May 22, 2013
10. Storm in a Teacup - Released: April 3, 2013
11. The Sims: Medieval - Released: March 26, 2013
12. Tiger Woods 12 - Released: May 22, 2013
13. Tiny Plane - Released: March 22, 2013
14. Vampire Rush - Released: April 3, 2013
15. Yahtzee - Released: February 19, 2013
16. Zuma's Revenge! - Released: February 19, 2013

Former exclusives

Spy Mouse

1. Blobster
2. Connect 4
3. Flight Control Rocket
4. The Game of Life
5. Jet Set Go
6. Mirror’s Edge
7. Parking Mania
8. Picnic Wars
9. Risk
10. Spy Mouse
11. Trivial Pursuit

Thanks to EasyPeasyJD for the tip! Sorry it took me so long to publish.