Mobile games: MapleStory M and Subway Train Simulator 2D

MapleStory M

I was at the Jurong East interchange station recently and saw, on the way to Westgate mall, a huge advertisement plastered across an entire wall announcing the global release of MapleStory M.

MapleStory is a classic multiplayer online role-playing game from the 2000s. Asian kids who were born in the 1990s, like me, would probably remember its heyday when every primary school student seemed to play it. It was the RuneScape of the Orient because it was developed by a Korean company and made it biggest in this part of the world.

Now, MapleStory is going mobile. As developers discover that their fans are ageing and need to be out and about more often due to work or college, they have to adapt by allowing the players to play anywhere. This means porting these venerable games to the ultimate modern platform: smartphones.

On 17 July 2017, RuneScape promised a mobile version of the game. This has yet to materialise, sadly.

But MapleStory M is set for launch on 25 July 2018. Preregistration is now open through Google Play.

I never played MapleStory as a kid. RuneScape was my first love and I could never find space in my life for another game that is so similar in concept.

But I will be trying out MapleStory M when it comes out. I have already preregistered. The advertisements bombarding me at the subway stations, on television, and all over my social media feeds are hard to ignore. My peers are excited that one of our fondest childhood memories is getting a reboot, and their enthusiasm is infectious, making me want to find out what the hype surrounding MapleStory is all about.

And what of RuneScape? I might go AFK ("away from keyboard", implying a temporary suspension of a certain activity) for a while. They asked for it, with all the broken promises about their mobile version and increasingly predatory business practices.

MapleStory M on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nexon.maplem.global&hl=en_SG

Subway Train Simulator 2D

Speaking of subways, my rediscovery of the fun of taking the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) to get around Singapore has rekindled another little-boy obsession within me: driving trains.

As a child, I could only rely on my imagination to make believe that I was a train driver. But now, there are apps for it!

My favourite one right now is Subway Train Simulator 2D. To call this game simplistic would be like calling the sun warm. Speeding up, slowing down, and opening and closing the doors are literally all that this game offers in terms of mechanics. The graphics look like something produced by a polytechnic student, and the scenery is flat and only scrolls sideways like the Mario-esque platform games of yesteryear.

But this is also its strength. It uses very little of your phone's resources so it runs smoothly no matter how overworked your phone may be by other background processes. And it is easy to learn due to its rudimentary controls, but you will find it difficult to master as you go too fast and overshoot the stations time and time again, eliciting groans from your disappointed passengers.

In addition to groans, this game also has some fantastic sound effects such as the hiss of the engine, the clicking of the doors, and the squealing of the brakes. The tones that play when you are pulling into a station, and closing the doors, will remind you so much of MRT rides.

It does get repetitive and monotonous after a while, but then again this is not a game that lends itself to hours of uninterrupted play. I use it as a relaxation agent, to prepare myself to go to sleep... a useful and important job.

Subway Train Simulator 2D on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ecocitygames.subwayz