Worms 2007

Worms 2007 brought the tried-and-true Worms formula to Java and Symbian - turn-based squad warfare between worms attacking each other with bazookas, grenades, sheep and other inventive arsenal on destructible terrain. Naming a release after the upcoming year was a common practice for Team17 in the middle of the decade, a way to keep pace with the current console and PC entries and offer mobile players an up-to-date version of the series.

The turn-based system suited mobile better than many action genres, since the player doesn't need to react in real time - just aim, choose the shot power and confirm the turn, which could even be handled with a slower numeric keypad without any frustration from time pressure, leaving plenty of room to think it through. The weapons stayed recognizable and still carried the series' typical black humor, even though the terrain and character graphics were necessarily simplified to a handful of colors and cruder pixel art compared to the console and computer versions. The destructible terrain, the core of Worms' identity, survived on the small display only to a limited extent, but the principle of ground caving in and tunnels being revealed after an explosion still worked here too.

The game was sold through carrier portals as a paid download, like most of the era's mobile catalog derived from big console and PC brands. Today it is effectively unavailable, since the stores for feature phones are long gone and it can only be found through archives or Java emulators.

Why play it: A good pick for Worms fans who want to see how the series' turn-based tactics with black humor adapted to a simple keypad with no graphical ambitions.