For many years, mobile gamers dreamed the impossible dream of having Nintendo games on their platform of choice. When that dream finally, improbably, came true, it didn't come in the form that many of those players had hoped for. There are a lot of factors to consider when thinking about why Nintendo's mobile efforts are what they are, but regardless of the why, the fact remains that they're not quite the same as what the company puts out on its own hardware. Well, HAL Laboratory isn't Nintendo, but they're quite close in a lot of ways. If you were one of those people looking for a Nintendo-like experience on your mobile device, you may find that HAL's latest release, Part Time UFO [$3.99], scratches the itch nicely.
HAL Laboratory did have a life before Nintendo, primarily making games for computers such as the Commodore VIC-20 and the MSX. But it's best known for its work that came out of its partnership with the console giant. Games like Kirby's Dream Land, EarthBound, Super Smash Bros., and Pokemon Snap were all developed hand-in-hand with Nintendo, and wunderkind programmer and once-head of HAL Laboratory, Satoru Iwata, eventually became Nintendo's president. It's a little strange to see HAL doing work on non-Nintendo platforms again, but I suppose if even Nintendo itself is doing it, it's not that strange. Most of HAL's games since Kirby have involved the little pink puffball, but the developer has made the occasional original title here and there. On the Nintendo 3DS...