Tokyo Game Show 07 report

As with any other game convention, at the Tokyo Game Show the publishers shout the loudest about bloated blockbusters for the big consoles. Let's face it, that's where they're risking the most money. And so it was we braved the awful din to find a selection of the most outstanding mobile phone, DS and PSP games spread across two halls of the Makuhari Messe venue.

On the keitai (or mobile) front, Konami's Metal Gear Solid Mobile (screens pictured) played and looked surprisingly like the first PlayStation version. You could get your hands on the game in a darkened capsule at the booth of Japanese phone provider au KDDI.

Snake's movements are controlled by the thumbpad of a new KDDI handset. The game contains the full repertoire of Snake's moves from the original MGS, all of which are mapped to number keys. We were concerned that the complexity of the action might result in this mobile version being too finicky, but after a few minutes' play it became apparent the pacing had been slowed down to ensure that it remains easily playable with one hand.

Thankfully, MGS Mobile also does a cracking job of replicating the game's visual style and the level of detail is outstanding. We couldn't hear the music very clearly (even though headphones were supplied), which should give you some idea of the decibel range at which TGS operates, so we'll have to guess and say it 'conveys the spirit of the original'. It probably does.

Another mobile highlight was found at the Square Enix booth. Surprisingly it was a phone version of obscure 3D PlayStation beat-'em-up Tobal. Called Tobal M, it's another example of mobile technology catching up with the 32-bit generation of home consoles, even if a decade on.

In fact, there was really nothing much to differentiate the mobile version from the PlayStation iteration, other than the fact Tobal M runs at a higher frame-rate. It's one reason we think Tobal M could rank as the most impressive 3D mobile brawler when it's released. Because, let's face it, up to this point there's mainly been overly clunky mobile examples of the genre.

Switching to PSP – and also found at the Square Enix corner of the Messe – Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII attracted a large number of players in spite of its already-available-in-Japan status. But whether played at TGS or outside of the exhibition, it's of such a fine calibre that it's had a significant effect on the nation's perception of the PSP. After all, this is a game that sold 487,000 units in its first week of release.

Maybe that's why, as well as the PSP's main demographic of geeky teenage boys, we've seen plenty of teenage girls playing Crisis Core on trains around Tokyo – do they fancy Cloud Strife or Sephiroth, though? Still, it hasn't reached the stage where, as with the DS, people of all ages and both genders are enamoured of the hardware, but, hey, it's a start.

Moving over to the DS, Taito put in a good showing with a new version of Arkanoid. The Breakout clone was playable with a paddle controller peripheral which slots into the DS's GBA port and replicates the controls of the original arcade machine.

Another interesting DS game from the publisher was Exit, the distinctive 'escape from dangerous buildings' game that made its quiet reputation when it was released in 2006 on the PSP.

The hidden gem of this year's TGS, however, was Bangai-O Spirits. There was just a single DS demo unit at the booth of D3 Publisher, but the sequel to Treasure and ESP's much-loved 2D shoot-'em-up (a classic in both its N64 and Dreamcast guises) has great potential.

Spirits doesn't rely on the touchscreen function, but it does make great use of the DS's dual-screen set-up to simultaneously display close-up and zoomed-out takes. The action is as explosive as it was eight years ago, too: hundreds of bullets sprays out across the screen, swarms of enemy jetpack robots, and many pounds of power-up fruit salad bonuses!

Bangai-O Spirits will be out in Japan this December, but a UK publisher really should pick it up with some haste.

Which, having seen all there was to see on the TGS showfloor, is how we headed for the exit in search of a quiet corner to give our bleeding ears a rest. Naturally, we look forward to doing it all again next year.