If you grew up sneaking a Sony Ericsson W810i or Nokia N73 under your desk in class, you remember the thrill of seeing that Gameloft logo animate on a 240x320 screen. It wasn’t a real console. But for thirty minutes on the bus, it felt like one.

The gameplay mechanics of these 240x320 Java games were a masterclass in adaptation. Without analog sticks or touch controls, Gameloft engineers had to map complex 3D movement to a numeric keypad. The standard control scheme—numbers 2, 4, 6, and 8 for movement, with 5 as the action button—became a universal language for a generation of gamers. Gameloft refined this input method to near perfection. In Asphalt: Urban GT , they managed to convey a sense of high-speed racing despite the low frame rates. In Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (mobile version), they translated acrobatic platforming into a 2D side-scroller that retained the soul of its console counterpart.