I am a mediocre kind of guy. Always have been. In certain contexts I am outstanding, and in others I am irretrievably lame. But overall, I think, I’m middle-of-the-pack and holding steady. No complaints.
I try to keep up with things, but I don’t try very hard, and sometimes keeping up with things just means paying attention. My point is, this might be old news for you, but for me it’s all very exciting. I’m talking about Pit Droids and Grand Theft Auto 3 and Microsoft Flight.
I had a copy of Pit Droids for my PC a few years after it came out in 2000, and when I saw
it was available in the iPad, I jumped on it with alacrity. I had played all the way through it before, but you know how it is with a good game—reply value is a key element.
But honestly, the reason I snatched it up was for the soundtrack. Back when I first had the game, I used some other program to capture the soundtrack off of my sound card just so I could listen to the songs on my MP3 player. It’s a kind of fun bouncy jazz, with some electronic elements, nods to the Star Wars motion picture soundtracks, all very modern and a bit nostalgic at the same time.
And I am happy report that all of the songs are on the iPad version as well. I am unhappy to report, however, that despite some intensive Googling, I still don’t know for sure who composed the music for the game, or if he/she has done any solo work.
Also new to me, but old in general, is Grand Theft Auto 3 on the iPad. I admit I was reluctant at first to pick this one up, as I didn’t expect to have much agility with the touch controls in place of a joystick. But once again it was the soundtrack I was mostly interested in. Back in 1992 when I played the game on my Playstation 2, I would sometimes turn it on just to listen to the radios in the cars.
Now, I know one can buy these soundtracks outside of the game. But the game itself is still fun to play—and turns out the controls are not so bad. Every once in a while my steering thumb floats and I turn left instead of right. And the shooting can be a bit frustrating. But despite these challenges, I’m finding the game as immersive as I did ten years ago.
Finally, very new is Microsoft Flight, an update to their age-old Flight Simulator game for the PC. And by “update,” I mean they’re offering this new version for free, with the option to purchase extra downloadable content. Six months ago when I got wind of this one I knew I had to have it—I was so eager, I went to the download page the night before it was supposed to be due, and was rewarded with the opportunity to grab it. Lost some sleep that night.
Who knows? Maybe in 10 years, MS Flight will be in available for the KindlePlayPad or whatever and I’ll write you another middle-of-the-road rave about it.