Space Taxi Pinball
Mr Goodliving,
***
www.mrgoodliving.com

The rather curiously monikered Finnish developer Mr Goodliving is a master of simple, yet slickly produced, diversions - the sort of Java games that expertly plug those five-minute gaps in your schedule. Space Taxi Pinball is the perfect example, a stylish little pinball sim in which you direct the ball through special channels to pick up passengers and score points. All the usual ramps, pins and multipliers figure. There's even a tilt function so you can give the table a sneaky nudge when the ball is heading out of play. The sharp 50s design is spot-on but, sadly, you only get one table to play on and the limitations of Java mean there are no in-game sound effects - you really miss the pings and ricochets of the real thing.

Fatal Force
Macrospace,
*****
www.macrospace.com

On the face of it, Fatal Force is merely another sideways scrolling shooter harking back to mid-80s arcade classics such as Green Beret - a commonly revisited genre in the burgeoning Java gaming scene. But Macrospace's wonderfully smooth and speedy effort - which pitches you against an alien force crash-landed in Siberia - is much more advanced than that. For Nokia 6600 and 6230 owners, this revolutionary title offers Bluetooth Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Domination modes for two players. Each competitor can also be accom-panied by an AI bot for a four- player version. It's a hugely enjoyable experience and one that has fascinating ramifications for the mobile gaming market. But even if your phone does not support Bluetooth, this is still a marvellous shoot-'em-up with neat back-grounds, fast scrolling graphics and compellingly persistent foe.