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[Iduno]

Megaman Battle Network emulated is certainly an experience. It's card-based combat (they're called chips) in real time. You know what touchscreens are good for? Keeping the screen clean, being able to see the screen without your hand being in the way, and accurate button-clicking.

Still a good stupid game. Plus, I can't look up how to do things correctly. Because mobile.

[sambojin]

Disregard the rest of this post, there's this:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.alesapps.arkanoidfree
It's called the Arkanoid Collection, and seems pretty faithful to the original, and it's free with ads. Might be what you're looking for? I don't know how obtrusive the ads are, but meh.
(Only up to lvl2, but it seems to just be banner ads, not in-between level ads. But considering how long the average arkanoid level takes me, I wouldn't even care if it was every few levels or so. But for now, it's just been banner ads, so totally unobtrusive, considering how much you have to focus on this style of gameplay)

((Brickscapes: Brick Breaker didn't seem horrible. It's got a stamina system, which is bad. But it's got fairly regular multiballs and other effects, which is good. Sorta just runs off a "how many hits" counter as well as 1-free life per level, for working out when you die.
I am, admittedly, only up to level 8, and it's very mobile'y. That stamina system could get annoying, and lives don't carry over (each level is its own instance, so no highscores runs) so it doesn't really "feel" like Arkanoid. It feels heaps "faster", but that's because it's heaps "easier". I'm assuming it's lulling me into a false sense of confidence, waiting to get my moneys.

I might just make up a touchscreen interface for the DOS version of arkanoid through magic dosbox instead. Or just do this as my first Godot app, because there's certainly space in the market for a free clone, considering all the Unity controversy. Be a good way of learning how to code, without massive overscoping. Hell, I've even got Godot editor on my phone, so no more excuses I guess...))

[Iduno]

Disregard the rest of this post, there's this:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.alesapps.arkanoidfree
It's called the Arkanoid Collection, and seems pretty faithful to the original, and it's free with ads. Might be what you're looking for? I don't know how obtrusive the ads are, but meh.

((Brickscapes: Brick Breaker didn't seem horrible. It's got a stamina system, which is bad. But it's got fairly regular multiballs and other effects, which is good. Sorta just runs off a "how many hits" counter as well as 1-free life per level, for working out when you die.
I am, admittedly, only up to level 8, and it's very mobile'y. That stamina system could get annoying, and lives don't carry over (each level is its own instance, so no highscores runs) so it doesn't really "feel" like Arkanoid.

I might just make up a touchscreen interface for the DOS version of arkanoid through magic dosbox instead. Or just do this as my first Godot app, because there's certainly space in the market for a free clone, considering all the Unity controversy. Be a good way of learning how to code, without massive overscoping. Hell, I've even got Godot editor on my phone, so no more excuses I guess...))

Hell yes.

[None]

Ancient Bricks ended up scratching the itch admirably, it's about as benign as it gets for mobile games and it's programmed with some love and forethought.

My phone ends up being too new for Soul Armor or Chimera Recollect if I wanted to get them out of the play store, annoyingly enough.

[Iduno]

I took this thread's advice to install a gba emulator. It requires watching an ad (which requires having wireless) to load a save state, but isn't too bad otherwise. Edit: I figured out how to get Visual Boy Advance loaded. It's more effort, but a much nicer emulator.

I just have to be careful which games I choose. Anything requiring careful timing/inputs is out, because touchscreens aren't good for accuracy or seeing what button you're pushing. I made it surprisingly far in the first 2 Megaman Battle Network games (Protoman and Thunderman, in that order, were where I got stuck) and certainly far enough to wonder what game series they were based on. Megaman characters in a game where you don't even usually get the boss' power when you beat them unless you're hunting down advanced versions of them, but you can get powers from trash enemies. Fire Emblem is fine, despite me no longer having the right kind of mind for it (thanks, repeated COVID bouts!). I'll need to find more games.

Also, VLC player is great for when you don't have wireless. Just load up with movies, audiobooks, music, or whatever and play it back.

[n9103]

Can recommend Golden Sun 1 & 2. No real reflexes needed.

[Iduno]

Oh, and I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned that this old text game is browser-based and requires no typing. Halfway between a text game and choose-your-own-adventure?

http://abigailcorfman.com/Home/Vampire

It's good for an hour or so of entertainment, and some slight frustration as you try to figure out the right order to do a few things.

[delphonso]

I save state a lot in FE, but yeah they're good. Advance Wars too and Final Fantasy Tactics are all the same, basically.

Riviera is an odd game that I think is worth playing. Mother 1-3 are all available for GBA (1 and 2 were packaged together in Japan. Fan translation is easy to find.) Honestly Zelda Minish Cap might be doable. It's an.easy game.

[Frumple]

If you got VBA and are willing to finagle, you'd probably have trouble going terribly wrong with pokemon romhacks, heh. Haven't messed around with them much, personally, but there's apparently some pretty solid ones out there. There's at least one Super Robot Wars game on GBA that got fully fantranz'd, too (Taisen J), that's pretty great. Dragon Quest Monsters Caravan's on there, it's pretty nice.

Official localization wise, I'm not sure how playable they are on a mobile device, but I got a fair amount of love for the Summon Nights games, and Tales of Phantasia ended up on the system in english at some point. Play issues a thing, but the castlevania games on the GBA are mostly pretty solid and not that demanding on the reflexes.

Riviera was mentioned, but there's another game in the series (Yggdra Union) on the system that's possibly more interesting (though some of the design is kinda'... wild, ha).

[sambojin]

Eye of the Beholder? It has a GBA release.

No, it's nothing like the PC release. But having a bit of DnD goodness might just scratch an itch.

[sambojin]

Had a quick go of Burst Space. It's an auto-aim twin stick shooter, in anime/ waifu style, with all the things you'd expect of a mobile release. It's not too bad, but this is just a first-look.

It seems to have a fair few weapon types, a reasonable in-level upgrade system, pretty good controls, a possibly OP dodge-roll, and enough bullets flying around during boss battles to make it fun.

Pretty much level/ instance based, with each level having 3 to lots of rooms (only two for boss levels, so you can do quick runs), with some branching paths giving different in-level upgrades/ resources or heal-room timings, so there's a bit of decision making involved. And there are tonnes of out-of-level upgrades, with cooldown skills, support call-ins, element types, shield breakers, weapon-type masteries, and gear slots to change up how you're playing a bit. Another nice thing is, when you level up your slot I or slot II weapon, it levels up *all of them*. So no more juggling unequips, resets, level up the next, currency minmax'ing, etc. Just all your stuff for that slot gets better, which is very good design. You can try out what you want, knowing nothing is a waste.

In level graphics are nice, with good bullet clarity for dodging, and overall pleasing aesthetics. Sound is pretty good, with only the occasional anime "wah", and there is no voiced story lines (which to me is a positive, they're always horrible). Controls feel pretty tight, if a touch floaty or slow (might just be that I need +movement speed gear), but buttons have good response and layout. You can turn off auto-aim if you want to play it as a true twin-stick shooter, so that's nice. Out-of-level graphics do have the "normal" amount of slightly provatively posed waifu cast, but it's not completely gratuitous (nor animated, which takes the edge off boob bounce, because it's not there), and the between level interface is pretty easy to understand. There's a bit of engrish, but not too much.

Sure, it's got all the mobile-bad things (a stamina system, gacha galore, multiple currency systems, watch an ad level raids, a slightly ridiculous amount of potential upgrades, etc), and it'll probably end up being grindy as hell, but the core gameplay is pretty good. I've become pretty desensitized to the standard mobile fare these days, if the basic gameplay loop and all the other stuff is reasonably good/ forgiving, and this one seems like it is. It also has the advantage that excepting timed "event" battles, you could probably chunk your way through with no upgrades at all, just with good dodging and slowly chipping away at enemies, which is why I don't mind this sort of game. It's not really a stats-check, or a have-I-gacha'd-enough? thing, just bigger numbers make things die quicker, and you have more cool stuff happening as you do it. So it seems like it's free to play, for a certain amount of effort involved (but seriously, there is a lot of stuff you could buy). I've already got a fine Minigun from a daily chest (which I don't actually like that much, windup mechanics don't work that well with multiple cooldown buttons and dodging), and a few rare melee swords and a coil gun thing from initial act 1 starter currency, and the normal starter weapons and skills are pretty nice, so it's pretty ok in that way. I'd actually probably purchase a super-low priced intro thingy, but I haven't really worked out what half the things are good for yet. I don't mind supporting developers that seem to be putting a fair bit of effort into their product, and this one seems ok'ish in that regard.

I'm not sure if it's a "good" game yet, but I don't think it's a particularly bad one. It feels pretty good, but I don't have enough playtime to really make a proper call on it. Sort of a mixture between Soul Knight and Gungeon, but even more anime'y. Worth a look if you like that sort of stuff. It gets a fair bit better after the initial tutorial, so try and get past that, and you'll probably have a bit of fun with it.

****
burstno1
spaceno1
bsno1
Are all codes for some freebies (in the top left character screen, redeem code). Just found out today. In theory, with initial act 1 starter currency and these, you'll definitely get a couple of legendary weapons/ supports. They also do have a $1 entry level purchase, which gives you a legendary support and other stuff, so stuff can start looking cool early on.
******

[Iduno]

Can recommend Golden Sun 1 & 2. No real reflexes needed.

The carry spell requires pixel-perfect usage, but it's needed for like 2 puzzles in the first game. Not sure if it improved in the second game or not.

Edit: I think I got confused and thought carry and lift were the same spell. Although I'm still mad about that plot point (?) where you need to stand in exactly the correct spot to lift a boulder off someone.

[sambojin]

Played a bit more of Burst Space. I've decided that it actually is a good game. There's a fair variety of enemies and bosses, there's heaps of challenge modes, the basic campaign scales appropriately (so far), and you get quite a lot for your $$$ if you know what you're buying (spent $11 all up on the $5 monthly dribble of currency, the $5 chunk of currency, and the $1 starter intro thingy, and feel pretty good about what I got from it). It's totally unnecessary, because you get heaps of stuff for just completing missions, I just wanted to try out stuff more quickly so I could give a better review of it.

Currently using a diamond sword that works more like an ice flamethrower, and a sniper rifle that works more like a rocket launcher in most levels after an in-level upgrade or two. Plenty of random stuff starts happening by the end of each level when I throw a firebomb or hit my transformation button. It's still very worthwhile using different weapons and supports for a variety of playstyles, or against certain enemies or challenges though, so it's not just "biggest gun wins". They've all got cool alpha strike abilities and bonuses, so you can fiddle around trying stuff out, without wasting too many resources if it doesn't work how you want it to.

Only finished planet set 2 so far, but it all seems ok. I've got rare and legendary weapons and supports (even an epic one) that do all kinds of stuff, gear sets are simple to acquire and easy to level up (have a bit of a +crit%/ generalist thing going at the moment), the stamina system hasn't impeded progress in the slightest so far, the room and enemy layouts have been challenging but fair, and I'm having quite a bit of fun.

If you can get through the first tutorial bit, and get over the ridiculous amount of things to potentially do (they're all optional though. You could just do main missions and still have a good time) then I think most people that like 2d top down shooters will enjoy it. It's got its downsides, but it's also quite fun to play. So yeah. Give it a go if you want a slow burner/ progression'y, but fast paced /sparkly when playing, twin stick shooter on your phone. It's pretty well made, not a total cash grab, is remarkably easy to play considering how much stuff is going on with synergies and gearing, and it feels pretty good when you play it/ win. Levels are quick to play but give enough time to get some upgrades going, and your kabooms, alpha strikes (that background charge with weapon swaps), and lazors-everywhere-cooldown stuff are pretty satisfying. It's fun.

[Uristides]

Gladiator Manager is pretty okay. The premise is pretty much the title, you run a gladiator school, train your boys, gear them up, and send them to the slaughter. There's quite a bit to do, but overall the systems feel pretty shallow and barebones. Like, there's an event system where you can pick different decisions on issues, like choosing to blackmail someone you've got kompromat on, passing the info onto your connections in the senate, or just letting it go, but it's a fire-and-forget thing with no further consequences other than the immediate result. You also have rival school owners, but they are oddly absent from events, the only thing they do is participate in/organize tournaments and sometimes trying to sabotage you.

But by far the most annoying thing for me is that the game seems to have a natural, time-based progression. As the turns go on, enemies seem to get ever stronger, and gladiator revolts get ever more powerful. So you really have to get your first batch of gladiators as strong as possible to keep momentum up, and quash revolts before they get out of hand. Failing to do so means you're stuck with under-leveled fighters unable to win tournaments, and the revolts will keep rolling over, killing all your slaves(yeah, for better or worse, the game doesn't shy from this staple of roman work culture), most of your fighters, and sacking all of your gold. You can sell some of your stuff to try and get everything up and running again, but the time progression I mentioned makes it very unlikely for you to actually manage to accrue enough resources to stave off mr. Spartacus fun caravan when they next come knocking on your door

So, why am I recommending a game I've spent the past two paragraphs just complaining about? Because it's neat, with some nice bits of flavor, and fairly easy to just pick up and play on your spare time. The main progression is based in turns, and the battles take place without any intervention on your part. So, while I do have some beefs with it, I can't seem to put it down just yet, and keep coming back to it whenever I have a free couple of minutes.

[notquitethere]

Gladiator Manager is pretty okay.

If you enjoy weird management games, I really recommend the orphanage manager, Olivia's Orphanorium which can be played on any text adventure emulator on phones. Raise orphans into productive members of society. Lots of fun dynamic events.