There is absolutely no reason not to have your obsession with you everywhere you go, and that’s why India Games has created the Serenity Renegades game for your cell phone.
You’re “Captain Malcolm,” apparently, and you’re fighting to get to the planet Miranda to unlock the secrets hidden within River Tam’s mind. You’re also fighting (or sneaking) past Alliance ships, Reaver ships, and ground attacks, and trying to pick up friendly ships for points you can use to upgrade your ship with more weapons and shields.
You’re also in a slightly different ‘Verse than I’m used to since this Serenity has, you know, weapons and shields. You start off with a basic laser but you can pick up powerups that get you more stuff. Primary powerups include a laser gun and a plasma cannon. Secondary powerups include a “star burst,” a “gravity bomb”, and “quantum torpedoes.” In between levels you can use the points you made rescuing friendly ships to upgrade Serenity.
There are 12 levels to get through, shooting and dodging Alliance ships and navigating through tight corridors avoiding obstacles. The levels are spaced nicely so you don’t get bored doing too many shoot-em-ups in a row. Between each one is a docking procedure to keep your thumbs limber.
It’s a fairly typical top-view space shooter game in the old arcade style but the graphics are excellent, playability is good, and the familiar Serenity swooping and banking throughout is so cool (here’s a video of the game action). The background music gets in your head, though. The game doesn’t really fit the tone of the show or movie (which, admittedly, would be pretty tough to handle in a cellphone game) but there’s also the option at times to try and sneak past foes under stealth mode, which is much more like our heroes. I don’t worry that “the ‘real’ Serenity wouldn’t do that.” Personally, I think this is just a graphic version of what Wash would play on the bridge while the autopilot was on. Kapow! Take that! Argh!
To get it, just go to your phone’s Games section or website and buy it. Not available for all phones/makes — see below for list. There are also independent sites where you can purchase games and download them to your phone such as RingtoneJukebox and GameMobile.co.uk, if your phone supports it.
I’d offer more in-depth details, but I’m still trying to get past the second level.
Serenity Renegades is compatable with the following phone models:
Motorola C650, Motorola C975, Motorola E550, Motorola V220, Motorola V300, Motorola V400, Motorola V500, Motorola V525, Motorola V550, Motorola V600, Motorola V80, Motorola V975, Nokia 2650, Nokia 3100, Nokia 3120, Nokia 3200, Nokia 3220, Nokia 3230, Nokia 3300, Nokia 3510i, Nokia 3560, Nokia 3585, Nokia 3590, Nokia 3595, Nokia 3600, Nokia 3620, Nokia 3650, Nokia 3660, Nokia 5100, Nokia 5140, Nokia 6020, Nokia 6030, Nokia 6100, Nokia 6108, Nokia 6200, Nokia 6220, Nokia 6225, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6230i, Nokia 6235i, Nokia 6260, Nokia 6585, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6610, Nokia 6610i, Nokia 6620, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6800, Nokia 6810, Nokia 6820, Nokia 6822, Nokia 7200, Nokia 7210, Nokia 7250, Nokia 7250i, Nokia 7260, Nokia 7610, Nokia 7650, Nokia 8910i, Nokia N-Gage, Nokia N-Gage-QD, Sagem My-V55, Sagem My-V65, Sagem My-V75, Samsung D500, Samsung D508, Samsung E108, Samsung E330, Samsung E338, Samsung E638, Samsung E640, Samsung E700, Samsung E800, Samsung E808, Samsung X468, Sharp GX20, Sharp GX22, Sharp GX30, Sharp GX32, SonyEricsson K600, SonyEricsson K700i, SonyEricsson V800, SonyEricsson Z1010, SonyEricsson Z800.
It may not be listed as working for the Motorola V3 Razr, but it works… as long as you just use the selection pad. Using the number pad in the game crashes it. It’s not a terribly good game, and definitely not canon (Serenity doesn’t have guns, except for that one part!), but it’s a reasonably fun time-killer while you’re waiting at the bus stop. Definitely mute the music, though.