I could've remembered wrong, but I believe someone did try to create an unauthorized iPhone port of Lemmings before Sony's legal department shut them down, so it'd seem possible to create at least a playable, singleplayer-only version of Clones on a touchscreen phone, despite the smaller screen size and lack of keyboard/buttons/d-pad. Then again, we wouldn't know since they shut iPhone-Lemmings down, so no one has actually experienced what it'd be like playing it on a touchscreen-only device with small screen. I'm saying singleplayer-only because I'm pretty sure the small screen and lack of keyboard will make MP Clones a non-starter.
I do have to say though, not yet owning a touchscreen phone, I do have to wonder how well they really work for gaming in general. Obviously some types of games can work (and in some case even enhanced) with no buttons/d-pad and only the touchscreen, but even simple arcade-type games and platformers would seem to suffer from the input methods available on a phone. Or do such games provide virtual buttons on the touchscreen as substitutes? Perhaps the situation is better on Android phones, not limited to Steve Job's "Model-T" approach to hardware design (in the sense of "
it can be any color as long as it's black").
I'm aware the phones also allow accelerometer-based inputs (eg. tilting the phone), but that also seems a bit awkward compared with a d-pad, except maybe for certain types of games (driving).
If the input method conundrum can be resolved, two possible ideas for non-Clones games featuring Clones graphics:
1) a Pac-Man clone (no pun intended), with a gulping clone substituting for Pac-Man, Q-Dots for the dots, and slugs for the ghosts. Not sure what to use for the fruits yet but I'm sure you can come up with something appropriate. You can find more detailed information on the ghost movement algorithms
here (or just Google).
2) a standard platformer game with a clone as the main character you control, effectively a light clone (but hopefully with more Mario-like jumping abilities, as the jumping abilities of an actual light clone leaves much to be desired for platformer games). Q-Dots are stuff you can pick up, slugs can be one of your enemies, and lops can be your main offensive weapon. (Or maybe just go all Mario and allow stomping to kill most enemies?) Be sure to include some fun contraptions like slingshots, shooters, hoverboards and anti-gravs!
I'll post more when I come up with more ideas, especially ones that are more certain to work on a touchscreen.
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Perhaps a really appropriate app for the phones would be something that can help with coordinating Clones MP matches/tournaments?
On the other hand, it'd only be useful to the rather limited audience of avid MP Clones players who also own an Android phone.
Probably not your target audience. Never mind.