The age of mobile gaming second-citizenship has ended with the opening of a multicolored, multiplayer, multilayered can of online, cross-platform, old-school-inspired Whoop-Ass. It's called Reset Generation and it has launched worldwide in seven languages for both PC and mobile devices. The mobile-handset version, it should be noted, is every pixel the equal of its java-based, PC-playable counterpart. Resistance is freakin' futile.

Neither the mainstream- nor the enthusiast press have devoted much collective space to "mobile gaming" -- and there's a good reason: Most of it is traditionally pretty... meh.

Not without its gems, but for every innovative or truly engaging mobile game that feels like a viable, on-the-go entertainment experience there are 50 others that play exactly like the uninspired, blood-drained cash grabs that they are meant to be; wimp knock-offs and variants of established titles and designed for terminally underpowered devices.

But now there's this: Nokia's fresh-off-the-server Reset Generation, whose tiny-screened mobile-device incarnation is exactly -- right down to the animations, character voice-work and Easter eggs -- what you'll find PC owners playing. In fact, if you're a mobile gamer, you'll often be playing against said PC players, on equal footing.

Reset Generation is a "game about gaming," old-school video-gaming in particular. You've got your pixilated puzzle pieces, pipes, power-ups and, of course, your princesses in need of rescue, Hedgehogs and Heroic Plumber to do the rescuing. One to four players can play, and the object is to "rescue" (or kidnap or woo, as it were) the other players' princesses and return them to your castle.

You've got minimal controls: Up, down, left, right and Enter. Mechanically simple... strategically: a gold-mine.

Reset Generation's battleground is made of blocky, Tetris-esque puzzle pieces introduced on a per-turn basis, color-coded to each of four possible players in any given battle. Once placed, these pieces form the paths along which the players' Heroes can move and battle.

Every player is trying to storm the others' castles and make off with their princesses, but there are multiple turn-phases and interacting layers of strategy to this deceptively-simple, brightly-colored little game.

Each available character, meanwhile, is a broad, instantly recognizable parody of various game character archetypes (the skimpily-clothed elf, the monster-collecting schoolgirl, the gun-toting babe, etc.), and they all spout lines of dialogue spoofing gamers, games and several cult movies known to geeks the world over.

Weapons and tools available include cannons (to destroy the colored tile/blocks of the enemy's pathways), brushes to paint in new ones (in your own color, expanding your power and movement-range on the battlefield), springs to bounce across gaps (and onto new pick-ups or the heads of unsuspecting foes), monster boxes (to instantly dispatch one of three support-creatures anywhere on the map to hassle your foes), teleport pads, exit pipes (whose function Mario himself would instantly grok), magic wands (to temporarily turn your foes into frogs -- and yes, they'll need to kiss a princess to return to normal form), and even a "BFGP" ("Biggest Frickin' Gun Possible").

The game looks and sounds very cute, cartoonish and humorous; but the chaos of a four-player dustup is as intense and eye-gouging as any big-console, online shooter deathmatch.

Too, there's just enough strategic options, time-pressure, visual distraction and unforeseeable introduction of potentially game-changing power-ups to make sure any given match ain't over 'til it's over.

Reset Generation's core gameplay alone would warrant a top-tier score by any critical standard, but the real wow-factor is found in the combination of presentation, polish, goodies and slick, eternal-communal functionality. There's game-session archiving at the game's official site, for example, where you can watch previously-played matches of the players you're interested in or interested in taking on. There's multiplayer-only special surprises, like the one-time-in-a-hundred-instances appearance of an uber-powered demon.

And finally, all the game's visual/audio assets -- character designs, voice clips, music files, the works -- are available for free to the Reset Generation community from the get-go, for use in creating and sharing player-made Flash games, animations and other goodies.

On the downside, to play Reset Generation on the go, you'll need a handset device capable of running the N-Gage gaming platform/solution -- meaning, for the moment, a Nokia N-series phone (it's ripe for iPhone, alas). But if you don't have one of those bad boys, you can still play exactly the same game on your Windows 2K/XP/Vista PC (and check out all these aforementioned goodies) at www.resetgeneration.com -- where the game is also free (the handset version is about $15 -- but well worth it).