Monthly Archive: December 2011

With Action RPG’s pretty much dominating the Role Playing charts in iTunes for the last couple years, it’s pretty sad seeing most of them going down the drain. There’s just not much more you can do to make an original Action RPG these days. Thankfully, Turn-Based RPGs are making a huge comeback, with help from two big companies, Square Enix, and Kemco, and the latest addition to the old-school influenced turn-based RPG genre, is Kemco’s Eve of the Genesis.

Now, if you’re familiar with Kemco’s previous iOS releases, Eve of the Genesis is sort of a mixture of Alphadia and Symphony of Eternity. Fantastic story-telling, as well as top-notch translation, completely draws you into the plot, and makes you actually feel, and care for, the characters. The story takes place in the Empire of Gadalia. It’s kind of a matrix type story, with humans battling machines that ruled the empire, but were defeated 2,000 years ago. Now they’re back, and somehow able to travel through space, seemingly appearing anywhere they want to attack. Your characters are on a quest to try and find out how the machines are able to just appear anywhere they want, and eventually find a way to stop them from taking over the empire yet again.

As you explore the empire of Gadalia, you’ll encounter loads of different enemies, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Encounters are mostly random, meaning unlike Symphony of Eternity, you can not tell where enemies are on the map, you will just run into them randomly while walking around. There are a few enemies that you will be able to see before hand, but you will not run into these enemies too often. Completing the game does not require too much grinding, in fact, if you plan on exploring every area of the map, dungeons, forests, deserts, mountains, castles, and buildings, no extra grinding should be required. But if you plan on avoiding a lot areas, you can pretty much expect to need to grind, around towns is the best place, as you can head back to town, and stay in an Inn for 20-50 gold, which completely restores all of your characters.

Right now, Eve of the Genesis is having a launching sale of 67% off, reducing the price from $8.99 to $2.99, but with how amazingly well done Kemco’s turn-based RPGs are, $8.99 is a great deal for this game. Yet again, it brings back memories of playing old-school Final Fantasy titles on the Nintendo, and SNES. The very well written story, as well as the fantastic graphics, great animations, and deep gem/orb system, makes for an adventure game that will totally immerse you, making it hard for you to focus on anything else until you complete it. Kemco has done it again, with another flawless release, and after visiting their website, you’ll hope that their other titles, like End of Aspiration, Machine Knight, Kamen Rider Fourze, and more will all be ported to the iOS.

Super Meat Boy has been a pretty big influence on iOS games over the last year or so. Sadly, very few of the titles influenced by SMB really capture the true gameplay and challenge of the original. ChocoRun is actually the only title I can think of that really hit’s the nail on the head. However, the lack of virtual controls puts a lot of people off. Don’t Die and it’s invisible controls didn’t really sit right with gamers, and since virtual buttons were added in the last update, it really shows how funky the physics in the game are. Tobor had the potential to be a decent SMB clone, but sadly, the developers refusing to have any sort of control scheme but tilt put the game straight to the bottom of the SMB clone list. Well now there’s a title that, at first, seems like it might just have the perfect set-up to be the best Super Meat Boy influenced game in the AppStore. Alphanoize Games’ CheeseMan. With its virtual controls, great physics, and some very nice level design, at face value, it stands out quite a bit.

So, first off, the major selling point for Alphanoize is the virtual controls. Left and Right buttons, along with a jump button, and the ability to double and wall jump. This is a highlight, as the controls are fairly tight and precise, except for when you’re in the air, and are trying to slow down or change direction, in which case, you’ll probably end up hitting whatever it is you’re trying to avoid. On the ground however, a slight skid is all you’ll need to get use to when changing directions at your characters top speed. For the level design, the controls work well enough to get through the game without any annoying issues, which is a big plus. The controls in other SMB clones are the cause of many un-necessary deaths, which is a huge issue for them. The physics are, surprisingly fairly good. Your cheese character isn’t floaty, or too heavy, which is very important for platformer games, as you might very well know.

This wouldn’t be such a bad thing if the levels were challenging. For those of you who are familiar with Super Meat Boy, or probably the best Super Meat Boy clone in the AppStore, ChocoRun, CheeseMan’s levels will provide only a mild challenge when trying to race through them. In other words, if you’ve beaten SMB, or ChocoRun, CheeseMan will be a piece of cake. That’s not to say that the level design is bad. It’s not, not by any stretch of the imagination. However, more hazards and obstacles would have been great to see added to the game.

For $0.99, it is one of the better Super Meat Boy clones in the AppStore. I’d place it right under ChocoRun actually. Though with Don’t Die and Tobor as it’s competitors, that’s not really saying much. I will add that it’s closer to ChocoRun’s quality than to Don’t Die’s, which does count for something. CheeseMan is supported by GameCenter, but does not have any achievements, which is kind of upsetting, as it’s a game that pretty much writes the achievements itself; Complete World 1, Get 3 Cheese Rankings in Every Level, ect. There is a fogged out ‘World 4’ that is supposed to be coming soon in a future update, hopefully the levels will be more challenging. Actually, it would be great to see a difficulty separation for the game, having all of the levels re-worked, adding more hazards and obstacles to each of them, and keeping the original levels as the ‘Normal’ difficulty, and the re-worked levels as a ‘Hard’ difficulty. As it is right now, it doesn’t really feel like a true Super Meat Boy clone in terms of difficulty. But at its current price-point, and with the lack of SMB type games in the AppStore, if you’re a fan of Super Meat Boy, CheeseMan is a game that’s worth picking up. If you’re worried about the difficulty after trying out ChocoRun, and not being able to get through even half the levels, you can quit worrying. CheeseMan is actually one of the easier platformers available for the iOS, but it does show that Alphanoize knows what it takes to make a polished platformer with nice controls, and physics that work. I’m really looking forward to see where they’ll take CheeseMan in the future, and will be keeping my eyes open for potential future releases.

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Cats are the holy grail of Internet memes. But what if you combined those adorable creatures with a box? That is clearly a question the developers of Boxcat thought about when they created this amazing game.
Your goal in Boxcat is to create as much havoc as you possibly can. You run back and forth across a busy suburban street running into cars and creating mayhem. The only controls you need to worry about are two arrow buttons on the left and right side of your screen. Birds carrying coins come flying from the side of the screen as well and if you catch them you get the coin they were carrying. These coins can have varying effects like giving you more time in the game or making you bigger. If you collect three coins you turn into a HUGE cat that takes up nearly all of the screen.
Included are three game modes called Adventure, Rush Hour and Survival. In Adventure you are given a certain time limit and are asked to see how many stages you can beat. In each stage you are given a certain time limit to hit a certain amount of cars. If you finish before the time limit you receive a little more time on your clock and hit the next stage. The timer carries over from stage to stage so be careful. There are also bosses like a super fast ice cream truck and a ordinary car with guns on the side.  You kill these by charging your quick attack and striking them just as they reach your line of fire.
In Rush Hour mode you are once again given a certain time limit but there are no stages and the cars come at you faster than ever. So basically its your goal to score the most amount of points in the least amount of time. Its fun to rack up a high score in this mode and show off to your friends.
In Survival mode you obviously try to survive as long as you can. There is a leaderboard for this mode as well.
Also implemented into this lovely game is a goal system through which you can earn new skins for your cat. From Godzilla to a Squirrel costume its always fun to see what costume you are going to unlock next. This system serves as a great motivating factor to keep you playing which it certainly made me do!

Overall this is a great cat-themed game that not only has charm but has the addictiveness of catnip. I give this game a 5/5 stars.  Also on a unrelated note iCade support is coming to BoxCat fairly soon.

Polarbit is no stranger to the AppStore, and their games are not lost on iOS gamers either. Fuzzies, Raging Thunder, Armageddon Squadron, and more, have all invaded iDevices, and marked their territory. The next obsession for Polarbit fans is now here; Tank Riders. This 3D tank battle game with both single and multiplayer modes offer up some pretty exciting gameplay.

You’ll guide a tank through 25 campaign levels using one of two control schemes; a virtual joystick for movement, and tapping where you want to shoot, and two virtual joysticks, one for movement, and one for firing projectiles. However, the second control scheme requires that you tap on the joystick every time you want to shoot, which can kind of get frustrating in the heat of battle. There are 3 star rankings for each level, based on score, which does help add to the replay value a bit.

Now, I’d love to get into where most people would like to be spending their time in the game; multiplayer. But after spending roughly a total of an hour and a half in the game room waiting for other players, I was saddened when NOT ONE other person showed up. So I can’t speak for what multiplayer is like, if it has lag, or if players have found cheats yet. I can say that there are 5 different maps to choose from, and they all look great from the small icon pictures of them that are shown, and there are no level systems, so everyone will start out with the same amount of health, defense, and weapons. Aside from that, I hope that sales pick up so that we can actually play multiplayer games.

Priced at $1.99, and being Universal, it’s a great buy. However, with multiplayer suffering, the lack of GameCenter, and only 25 single player levels, there’s not a whole lot of gameplay available at the moment. If sales pick up, I can see multiplayer becoming a big deal, especially if it’s got smooth gameplay. There are a couple of issues, like occasional short time freezing of the game, not triggered by anything specific as far as I can tell, and the sound cutting out for a short time if you get a call and come back to the game in-progress, all of which can be fixed with updates. Tank Riders is still a top notch tank battling game. One that looks and plays great, and is from a very responsive and supportive development group, so you know it’s only going to get better and better with future updates, which does make it fairly easy to recommend. If you’re a fan of the genre, or just action/arcade games in general, you should definitely pick it up, and help spread the word so we can get some multiplayer gaming on.

There are quite a few games revolving around aliens in the AppStore, but only a few of them offer up some really exciting gameplay that will keep you coming back again and again. Future Games Of London (Hungry Shark Series) has delivered just that. A mission based alien title that puts you in the drivers seat of a UFO, and keeps you coming back over and over, trying to better your previous score, and it has a pretty cool name to go with it; Grabatron.

You’ll be able to control a UFO by tilting your device, and tapping to unleash your claw, which can pick up anything from humans and pigs to tanks and huge boulders. I’m not generally someone who likes tilt controls, but there are a couple of games that just feel completely right with them, and Grabatron happens to be one of them. The world is spread into sections, with big mountains separating them. The thing is, if you fly too high, you’ll have to deal with swarming jets and other aircraft all trying to shoot you down, and they will, without a hitch. To get through the mountains, you’ll need to explore, and find the upgrades that are hidden in the first section. Armor upgrades, and a big claw upgrade, which lets you move the huge boulders blocking the entrance to the middle of the mountain.

The graphics are fantastic, with even the small humans having quite a bit of detail, as well as the signs, and you could even sit there and count the leaves on a tree if you were so inclined. It’s actually very impressive that the load times are not long at all, and the game runs super smooth with no lag or framerate drops at all. The animations are also great. If you fly close to the ground, dirt will be thrown up in the air, the humans and animals all walking around look great and the explosions are incredibly impressive. There’s also a cut scene at the beginning of the game which shows your UFO flying towards earth, and it looks fantastic.

Priced at $0.99, including GameCenter with a leaderboard and 41 achievements, with tons of missions, and crazy high replay value, Future Games Of London has delivered one of the best action games in the AppStore. Seeing a challenge mode, or maybe even multiplayer, trying to grab objects and toss them at the other player, taking down their UFO, or maybe even co-op play would make Grabatron amazing. Though, I might just be asking for too much there. If you’re looking for a great action/arcade title, and love the idea of exploration mixed with mission based game play, and don’t mind tilt controls, Grabatron is a game you should definitely pick up.

10tons Ltd. is definitely not new to the AppStore. Their first iOS release, Rope Raider, showing up in the AppStore on November 4, 2009, was, even then, a prime example of what 10tons could do with the platform. Since then, 15 more releases have followed, each time, gaining more of a following, though it’s fairly safe to say that Sparkle the Game has been their most successful endeavor, it’s very clear that they know exactly what it takes to create a top notch game, appealing to both casual and hardcore gamers. Their latest release, Swingworm, is yet again, another prime example of that.

In the game, you’ll guide a worm named Swingy through an amazing 95 levels by grabbing either the front or back end of the worm, and swinging it from platform to platform, collecting the Rubbaberries that are scattered throughout the stages. Once you’ve collected all of the berries in a level, an elevator will activate, and take you to the next level. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. In order to reach most areas, you’ll need to figure out how to use the momentum of the worm while swinging so that either his head or end will attach to the leaves, which are pretty spread out, and it can sometimes pose a small challenge getting from one to the next. Each of the levels has a possible 3 star ranking, adding quite a bit of replay value to the game. To get a perfect 3 stars, you will need to complete the levels as fast as you can. There is a time limit bar shown in the top left corner, each time it fills up, a star is removed from your ranking. Once you complete the level, you’re shown the total time it took you to complete the level, and what time you’ll need to get the next best star ranking, which is very nice. I really wish all star ranking based on time games did this.

The graphics and animations done for Swingworm are top notch. The game is split in to Episodes, with the first having 10 levels, then Episodes 2-4 having 15, and 5-6 having 20, each Episode has a different environment, which also introduces new obsticles, objects, and hazards you can use, manipulate, or need to avoid. For instance, some levels have ice blocks you’ll need to swing into to break, others will have logs that rotate, which you’ll need to swing around on, gaining momentum to reach other platforms. All of the graphics are done in a cute cartoony way, reminiscent of Joining Hands, with the backgrounds filling in the holes of the levels perfectly, and the story breaks between the episodes, with Swingy talking to Big Bug helping round everything out. The animations for Swingy’s, enemies, and other character’s movement, objects breaking, Swingy attaching to objects, and collecting Rubbaberries is all very well done, allowing for the gameplay to flow very well, and come together in a near perfect harmony. To top it off, the cute and bouncy soundtrack, fitting the game to a ’T’ completes the atmosphere.

With GameCenter leaderboards for total Episode times on each of the 6 Episodes, and 14 achievements, the replayabilty is extremely high, and the drive to better your time is constantly looking you in the face. It’s arguable that Swingworm is 10tons best release since Sparkle the Game, bringing all of their knowledge of what it takes to make a top notch mix of casual and hardcore gameplay fit perfectly into an action puzzler. $2.99 is a great price for this Universal build, especially with the insane replay value, and incredible amount of content. Swingworm ends up being a game that’s extremely easy to recommend for gamers of all ages.

Puzzle platformers for the iOS are getting more and more interesting as time goes on. Cordy, Max and the Magic Marker, Cavorite, The Last Rocket, and more are very fine examples of puzzle platformers that offer pretty original gameplay. Sim Chia Tek’s new release, Silvester Adventure is the newest addition to this list of great games, giving you control over your character and his shadow, while trying to figure out how to make it through the game’s 31 levels.

As with other platformers, the controls are a big part of the game, but also, with other puzzle platformers, the controls do not need to be as precise or tight as action platformers controls need to be. But here, even though you’ll only start out with your left and right buttons, along with an action button, they work very well within the game. You’re also able to move the shadow world around by swiping anywhere on the screen. Once you get further into the game, you’ll be able to shrink and grow your shadow with buttons along the bottom of the screen. Another big part of platformers is the physics, and again, with puzzle platformers, the requirements are not as strict, but in Silvester Adventure, the physics are great, and make the gameplay feel comfortable and fluid.

In Silvester Adventure, you’ll need to guide your character while keeping an eye on your characters shadow. There are two parts to each level; the characters section, and the shadow section, which is almost always different from the main level, having different platforms, different switches, and different pathways. Your shadow will also need to stay within a certain distance from your character, or else you’ll need to start the level over. So keeping your shadow close to your character also becomes a mechanic of the game, and something that you’ll need to focus on consistently while trying to solve these puzzles. This is also where being able to swipe on the screen to move the shadow world around really comes in handy. You’ll be able to see the shadow world better, and maybe even see something you weren’t able to see before. The ability to shrink and grow your shadow comes along a little later, but once it does, it really opens up the gameplay, really showing off some fantastic level design and great puzzles that will keep you thinking about how to keep your shadow in the distance circle while making it through each of the levels obstacle areas.

The level design is extremely well done, which is always a great thing for a puzzle platformer. A lot of the levels are fairly short, but the puzzle elements, and the addition of the shadow world really expand the levels quite a bit. The level design and placement of the puzzles is something I was impressed with time and time again while playing through Silvester Adventure.

Being $0.99, even without GameCenter, virtually no replayabilty, and not having an HD version, it’s hard not to recommend Silvester Adventure to fans of the genre. It’ll provide quite a bit of gameplay that’s both challenging and entertaining. Sim Chia Tek has definitely created a puzzler that’ll keep you hooked until you complete it, and most likely will keep you on the look out for future releases from this developer.