There’s been many gaming platforms that have come and gone throughout the years, some better than others. For every Nintendo Switch, you have Nintendo Wii U. For every Game Boy, you have Virtual Boy. For every Sega Dreamcast, there’s a Phillips CDi. But even the most forgotten platforms have their merits and share of great games.

Case in point, the Nokia N-Gage. Even though it’s often maligned (this writer will argue to the death that said disdain is unwarranted), there were several great games published on the platform, some of which still remain unavailable to play anywhere else. So without further aideu, we present to you the X N-Gage games you should check out if you truly want to consider yourself a gaming expert.

6

Pathway to Glory

The game that should have launched a long-lasting franchise.

After a slew of ports and remakes, Pathway to Glory stuck out as an exemplary example of what the N-Gage could do. It was an original title developed by RedLynx, who are most known as the creators of the Trials series, that had players taking control of a special forces unit in 1943. The title utilized much of N-Gage’s best features, such as N-Gage Arena and Bluetooth, and was a fully-realized strategy game that was a ton of fun to play. It even spawned a sequel, Ikusa Islands, that sadly came at the end of the platform’s life cycle and is mostly forgotten.

5

Pocket Kingdom: Own the World

A portable MMO in 2004.

The developers and publishers Nokia managed to attract to the N-Gage is impressive no matter your thoughts on the console itself, and one of the best examples of that is SEGA’s Pocket Kingdom: Own the World. Possibly the first ever mobile MMO, Pocket Kingdom let players talk to and challenge others online through N-Gage Arena and featured a robust crafting system. The complexity of the game was impressive and it took dozens of hours to wrap your head around it. A spiritual successor to Dragon Force, the plot and characters were interesting, self-aware that they were part of a game. With how much thought and world building was put into the game, it’s surprising the franchise never showed up anywhere else.

4

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater

Who would have thought a PS1 game could be ported in full 3D to a portable device?

While the isometric Game Boy Advance Tony Hawk games are actually surprisingly fun, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (alongside Tomb Raider) basically served as the tech demo for what the N-Gage could do. Releasing only 4 years after the original PS1 version, the N-Gage version looked and played surprisingly close to its console predecessors, featuring multiple modes, skaters and full 3D visuals. While many criticized the N-Gage’s controls, complex combos could indeed be pulled off with its buttons, proving it could handle console games just fine. The N-Gage Arena features of the game were some of the most entertaining, allowing you to ghost-race players online for the best time (there was even a competition with physical prizes around launch). Playing a full 3D version of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater on the go in 2003 was a big accomplishment that should get more praise.

3

Ashen

If you thought FPS controls wouldn’t work on a phone, you were somehow wrong.

Ashen, which has no relation to the Annapurna Interactive game that came fourteen years later, was one of many first-person shooters on N-Gage, a platform that worked surprisingly well for the genre considering the lack of shoulder buttons and an analogue stick. Developed by the recently-defunct Torus Games, who independently created over a hundred games (mainly tie-ins to existing properties), Ashen was an original FPS that featured a unique blend of gothic and alien styling. The game featured nine enemies and nine weapon types spread our over eight levels, which made for an impressive variety for a handheld shooter. With a basic, but interesting, plot and a unique style, Ashen was yet another unique IP in the N-Gage catalog that never appeared again.

2

High Seize

Can you believe N-Gage games still released in 2005?

Coming incredibly late into the N-Gage’s lifespan (even some of its owners weren’t aware games were still being made in late 2005 for the platform, months after the debut of the PSP), High Seize was developed by the same developer as Pathway to Glory and took place in the 17th century Caribbean. Featuring 37 maps and 25 missions, the game was an RTS similar to Advance Wars, but its visuals and fun pirate theme made it a blast to dig into and had some of the most playability of any of the games on the platform.

1

Glimmerati

The more people that hear about this long-lost N-Gage game, the better.

One of the first games ever developed by Bugbear Entertainment, who are best known for the FlatOut and WreckFest series, Glimmerati is one of the most striking oddities on the platform. Another title released late in the N-Gage’s lifecycle, Glimmerati featured a unique tone combining imagery and vibes that were sleek and sexy with a satire of celebrity and paparazzi. The plot of the game (and there was a good amount of dialogue) featured a group of the rich and famous who would get into supercars and race around city streets in an underground club. The racing gameplay was from a top-down nearly isometric viewpoint and was a lot of fun. It did suffer from N-Gage’s small screen, as it was hard to see the corners coming ahead, but once you got the hang of it, it was an entertaining, if not a somewhat bizarre experience. As a bonus, the intro song was the fantastic (and at the time brand new) “My Superstar” by Kemopetrol, which perfectly set the mood.