Snails review

Snails was originally a PocketPC game developed by Futech Kft (PDAMill). It was released back in early 2002. I remembered playing this game 1 ½ years ago on my Toshiba e310. When I moved back to PalmOS, this was the game which I missed most. I wanted to ditch my Tungsten T3 just to be able to play this game.

However PDAMill took notice of the PalmOS gaming community who are generally swamped with low quality games. They released Snails for PalmOS a few months ago after a long beta testing period. They have also released the game on Windows for Smartphone and SymbianOS Series 60 platform. The game would also be released on PC.

For those who grew up with the Worms series, this game would be very familiar as it is a turn-based action game. The rules and game style are also similar to Worms. There are missions to be followed through three different Snail races – the Moogums, Lupeez and Nooginz, with each level completion bringing a new weapon to your arsenal.

Every game of Snails involves two groups Snails army battling against each other with a bunch of weapons. The results are brutal and funny. However this is not just another mindless game.



The game itself is pretty straight forward to play. You won’t be needing any guidance or manuals, but just in case – there is one in the main menu. There is a great selections of weapons that can be used. Some are locked until you advance through the game and most have limited quantities. The most powerful weapon that can be used is the ‘Nuke’ which is pretty powerful. But my favourite is Napalm Gel. If you aim properly – you will surely finish of your target.





As you can see from the two screenshots above, physics play a large part in the game and how well you manage to kill of your target. Winds can be a disadvantage but use it properly and you can reach your enemy’s hiding place. In places such as the moon mission – the physics are a little different. Snails can jump higher due to the lack of strong gravity.

Graphics are well done with nice special effects for when the Snails bounce, explode and more importantly visual effects spectacle caused when a rocket slams into your enemy (or yourself). Particle effects such as rocket trail are also included.



Humour features highly around the game from expressions to the one-liners. The music and ambient sound is very well done and takes full advantage of the amazing speaker found on the Tungsten T3.

Sadly, unlike the PocketPC version – Snails for PalmOS does not feature multiplayer gaming – yet. So you can’t pick it up and go head to head with other PalmOS or PocketPC users. PDAMill has stated that the feature would be implemented in the future.

Some older Sony Clie PDAs would have problems playing audio (I am sure most of you know why). But most of the newer ones do work nicely.

You can check out Snails forum for information on how to obtain the tool editor. You would need it if you want to create custom missions, weapons and maps for the game.

The price is a mind-boggling cheap US$9.95 [BUY] and gives you access right to all the Snails game released on other platforms. The game is around 3Mb in size but if you use the editor to add additional weapons et al., you would need to make sure your device can handle it. It should be noted that Snails for PalmOS requires a OS5 device.

8/10

Original article: Palm Info Center