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Top 5 Android games that would work well on Amazon Fire TV

Games that deserve to be on TV

Top 5 Android games that would work well on Amazon Fire TV
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Amazon recently made its long-anticipated play for your living room entertainment space with the Amazon Fire TV. And part of the online retail giant's plan involves games.

While playing games on your TV using a dedicated control pad (which is optional) makes the Fire TV sound like a home console, Amazon has actually built this new piece of kit on the foundations of mobile gaming.

Amazon has constructed the Amazon Fire TV using smartphone components, for one. Oh, and it runs on the Android operating system - albeit a heavily modified version. While you can't get access to Google Play for its games, though, it's a small matter to convert such apps for this new platform.

With that in mind, we thought we'd consider some of the games that would be best suited - and indeed greatly enhanced - by the Amazon Fire TV treatment.

Such thoughts should keep us entertained while we wait for a UK launch of Amazon's set-top box. Or until we hear that it's a colossal flop as a gaming device. Whichever comes first.

Rochard
By Recoil Games - buy on Android

This one's been on the Google Play Store for a little over a month, yet I guarantee that the vast majority of you won't have played it. We haven't even played it.

As we explained in last week's Android March round-up, Rochard is a smart physics-based platformer that was initially released for PC and PS3. It's now on Android, but only for devices powered by a Tegra 4 chip (which is not that many at all).

Of course, the Amazon Fire TV doesn't have a Tegra 4 chip under its hood. In fact, it has a Snapdragon 600 CPU under its bonnet. And the Snapdragon 600 CPU is the kind of thing you find in last year's Android flagships.

But Rochard hasn't been built for Tegra 4 from the ground up, so there's nothing to say it can't be converted (and probably scaled back). This one also requires a controller, so it sounds like a better match for the Fire TV than a mobile device anyway.

Sonic 4
By Sega - buy on Android

Sonic 4 is a game (or rather, games, if you count each chapter) that was meant to be played on a home console. It's got gorgeous, busy graphics that, when combined with its sheer speed, demand a large screen to see clearly.

Meanwhile, its old-school, fast-paced 2D platformer action means that you really need a physical set of controls to play this game properly. Virtual touch controls simply aren't sufficient here.

Having underwhelmed the critics on account of these issues, Sonic 4 really would benefit from an outing on the Amazon Kindle Fire TV. It's already on the similar-but-less-powerful Ouya, after all.

Deus Ex: The Fall
By N-Fusion Interactive - buy on Android

I initially thought about putting Neon Shadow on this list. After all, it is an ace Android first-person shooter. But then I realised I was being stupid.

Given it's an ace Android shooter for mobile, why on earth would you want to play it on a TV with a controller? It's not particularly good looking or fiddly to control, after all.

Better to choose a flawed FPS mobile game that looks the business; has a lot of gameplay depth; but would be a whole lot more fun to play on a bigger screen and with a proper control pad.

Better to choose Deus Ex: The Fall, in other words.

Sonic Racing Transformed
By Sumo Digital - buy on Android

Sonic's second game on this list is very different from the first. It's a kart racer. Actually, I'm underselling it. It's the finest mobile kart racer ever made.

In fact, it's only when you hook up a MOGA control pad (other controllers are available) that you realise quite how stonkingly good this game can be.

Sonic Racing Transformed could only benefit from being on the Amazon Fire TV, with gorgeous console-like graphics and a well-mapped physical control scheme already part of the package. The leap would be both small and natural.

Take out the irritating IAPs and you'd be giving the Amazon Fire TV what every new console has needed since the 16-bit era. Yes, a top-notch Mario Kart clone.

Terraria
By 505 Games - buy on Android

We gave Terraria for the PS Vita 8/10. We gave Terraria for mobile 7/10. What does this tell you?

Yes, this is a game that pretty much demands to be paired up with physical controls. 505 Games's ambitiously free-form crafting-platform-adventure was designed to be played with buttons... and lots of them.

Beyond that, we'd say that Terraria's wide-open approach benefits from the larger canvas a TV provides.

Sure enough, the initial home console conversions of Terraria proved to be a big hit with the critics, so it's clear that a simple switch to the Amazon Fire TV would do wonders for a game that simply can't fulfil its potential on mobile.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.