Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Honest mobile games for Android and iOS

In mobile racing so far, the Asphalt series, designed specifically for these devices, rules supreme. The latest installment, Asphalt 9: Legends, is a veritable flood of colors, flares, cars, stunts, and menus with lootboxes and micropayment options. Many other mobile racers are similar. Notable among them is Need for Speed: Most Wanted, a 2012 adaptation of the game by Criterion (not to be confused with the classic Most Wanted released in 2005).

Forget advertising and a million useless buttons. Everything here is simple, neat and aesthetic. Adapted for convenient use on smartphones. There are no intrusive ads, you don't have to pay real money for any car (you can, of course, as this is a game from EA, but you can just as well earn that by racing).

And the races? Brilliant! Most Wanted sticks to the arcade driving model, but maintains desirable realism. The cars have proper weight, varying power, and can be damaged and destroyed if we are not careful. Again, getting used to the controls takes a while, and the rivals as well as the police can give you a real hard time, driving is very satisfying, especially when we really earn the victory or the car of our dreams. You can feel the speed and power.

In addition, the game comes with a simple but gracious and cleverly designed tuning system – before each race, we select temporary improvements that have to match the type of challenge we're presented with. And there's plenty of cars and races to explore... earning enough money for the best cars will also take some time.

To make it more fun – in terms of design, this edition of Need for Speed resembles Criterion's best work, NFS: Hot Pursuit (2010). Sure, Most Wanted lags behind cutting-edge mobile racing games, but it's an excellent game in any other respect.

1. Need for Speed: Most Wanted on Google Play

Chrono Trigger

Wondering "what if" is probably one of humanity's oldest fantasies. This have us another dream – time travel. And while such stories usually end up in a tiresome loop of consequences and paradoxes, some capable creators can take full advantage of the idea. In the movies, a joyful adventure was given to us by Robert Zemeckis in Back to the Future, but games also have a champion of their own. The great adventure of perpendicular timelines – Chrono Trigger.

You might think that after Final Fantasy VI, the two-dimensional jRPG genre would have nothing to offer, but that's not true. Square Enix assembled a dream cast. The designer of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, was supported by giants such as Yuji Horii (father of Dragon Quest), Masato Kato (Ninja Gaiden), composers Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu and then-titan of pop culture, Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball). Such a culmination of legends might seem like a bad idea, but they definitely delivered, giving us one of the most wonderful adventures not only in jRPG, but adventure games in general.

It all begins with an unfortunate accident involving a time machine, a mysterious and lovable girl, and a grand celebration of the end of the Millennium. Our hero, a boy named Crono, goes to the rescue and sets off a cascade of events that leads to one of the greatest adventures you've ever seen on the screen. Any screen. Chrono Trigger will guide you through the worlds of fantasy, science fiction, even post apo. Everything is coherent here, however, and accompanied by a gallery of colorful characters, though not as twisted and archetypical as in Final Fantasy.

In terms of mechanics, it's one of the more elaborate jRPGs of the time. The designers equipped the game with a turn-based, yet dynamic combat system, where, unusually, we saw all the enemies on the map. Beautiful pixel graphics, wonderful music and an intriguing storyline ensure an amazing experience. If any jRPG in 2D can be said to be an absolute sensation – it's this (and Final Fantasy VI).

1. Chrono Trigger on Google Play

GRID Autosport

It turns out that mobile devices are able to launch a powerful, quite realistic and modern racing game. It may not be a simulator per se, but it's certainly more down-to-earth than Asphalt or Need for Speed. Before Codemasters came to the rescue, we mostly had Real Racing to cater to our taste, but the game was riddled with micropayments and time limits. I bounced away after the first few races.

Geeks who don't want to deal with all the baggage of free-to-play games, should look no further than GRID Autosport. That's right, the same one you remember from the previous generation of consoles. And not just a miniature, simplified version – a full-fledged port of the game with customized controls, and all the options we used in the original.

GRID Autosport is the most advanced racing game to arrive on Android and iOS. Codemasters used the same, demanding driving model, although some aids can be activated. There's a fleet of cars to drive, plenty of racetracks and gameplay modes. Unlike Asphalt and Need for Speed – the fun in GRID takes place mostly on racetracks and involves legal events. There are no police and no weird boosters. That doesn't mean the game isn't exciting.

We build our career through victories in various competitions, we also acquire new cars. In general, this is the closest you can get to proper sims like Forza on mobile devices. Hop in! Be warned, not every phone will handle this game, so make double sure. As concerns Forza...

1. GRID Autosport on Google Play

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Amazed? I know I was. Konami made its first good publishing decision in years – and didn't even brag about it. Maybe they were ashamed of finally doing the right thing? You probably didn't know, but a few weeks ago, one of the best installments of Castlevania – Symphony of the Night – arrived on mobile devices. Better late than never, especially since games like these are great for smartphones. A pixel classic with simple controls is begging for a port.

Symphony of the Night is one of those groundbreaking titles that you simply ought to know. At the time of release, the combination of dynamic combat, arcade stages, the loot, character development, and some story choices were a sensation. It's nothing extraordinary today, but it used to be fresh. However, the ultimate reason for playing Castelvania is that it's just a damn good game that keeps you engaged for long hours, even if we're fresh off the most advanced titles on PC and consoles.

Again, learning the controls of Castelvania on touch-screens can be tricky. It can be an irksome process, but it's going to be worth it. Alucard will go to meet destiny and uncover the secrets of the castle. Every clash and every promotion bring huge satisfaction – the game is not easy, but it can be rewarding as hell.

Learning to move around the castle, discovering its passages and secrets make for the same joy as on the PSX. And while pixels can be scary – animations, location designs and opponents are top-notch. I probably should play Disco Elysium (it's still waiting) or another hit of the past few months. Meanwhile, I'm caught up in a tale of pretentious vampires and monster slayers. And the catchy melody from the first location will be with me forever.

1. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on Google Play