"Another World", also known as "Out of this World" in North America, was

first released in 1991 on the now legendary Commodore Amiga and rapidly

gained cult status amongst the game players of the day and eventually went

on to many of the other popular home console formats of the 90's. When you

first see Another World running, on any format, it's easy to see why with

it's unique cinematic visual style, which still looks fresh and original to

this day, and an engrossing storyline which draws you into the game to

boot,was mind blowing stuff 14 years ago and still impresses even after all

these years!

The game opens with a fantastic opening animation sequence, regarded by many

as a true classic in video gaming history, in which your character Lester

Chaykin is flung into the titles "Another World" by a physics experiment

gone horribly wrong. You must try and find a way home, unfortunately the

occupants of this strange new world seem to have different ideas on that

matter and death lurks around every corner.

You can't fail to be impressed by the attention to detail that Magic

Productions has put into the mobile version of the game, all the cinematic

cut scenes, in-game backgrounds, characters and sounds are indistinguishable

from their 16-Bit home computer/console counterparts. This has to be one of

the best, if not the best, mobile phone port I have ever laid my eyes on! As

you are probably all too aware, mobile phone screens tend to be tall and

thin and so to maintain the look of the original Magic Productions have

chosen to display the graphics in landscape mode so you must flip your phone

on it's side to play, with the keypad on the left and the screen on the

right, which feels a little cumbersome at first but quickly becomes second

nature. Everything is controlled with the 5-way navi-key and this works

quite well, only rarely will you feel frustrated when you can't make that

pixel perfect running jump that's needed to progress further. The option to

change the way the screen is flipped would also have been a welcome addition

for all the "south-paws" out there, but that shouldn't be a problem for

most.

One of the criticisms often laid at Another Worlds feet is its incredibly

steep learning curve, this is one unforgiving game with each, and indeed

every, mistake leading to various gruesome deaths for Lester. The mobile

version is no exception here either and it's just as difficult as it's ever

been, perhaps more so due to the small screen and the occasionally fiddly

controls (which are more a fault of the handset than anything Magic

Productions have done). There is one saving grace though as your progress is

saved periodically, and you are also given passwords at various points in

the game so you can continue from the same place at a later date, not all of

the passwords are automatically saved though so you might want to keep a pen

and paper handy!

Another World is currently available for Symbian based handsets in a

"standard version", which is indistinguishable from the original 16-Bit

versions, and an "enhanced version" featuring revamped 256 colour graphics

which make it even more breathtaking than it was the first time around.

Versions for Java and Brew based handsets are also planned.

Although this is a near perfect port of one of my all time favourite games

, it just narrowly misses out on a Mobile Games Award for a couple of

reasons. Firstly, the controls, which work just fine 99% of the time, will

occasionally leave you cursing although as I pointed out earlier I don't

believe this is Magic Production's fault but rather a limitation of todays

handsets, just remember to take a deep breath and resist the urge to throw

that expensive mobile phone across the room! Secondly, modern gamers may

find the near vertical difficulty level rather off putting, a problem that

Another World has always suffered from, but once you get past that this game

really does deserve the often over used accolade of Retro Gaming Classic. If

you're not sure if this game is for you then a demo of the enhanced Series 60

version is available for download so you can try before you buy.