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Space Ship Ion is a space shoot-em-up from iniGames. I should mention that shmups are some of my favorite games, ever, and that I’ve got a bullet hell group on Touch Arcade, so it might sound like I’m spoiled when I review this game, because, well, I’m use to playing some of the best bullet hell and shmup games out there.

Now, in SSI, the game relies heavily on the story and weapons shop instead of insane bullet patterns and over-loading you with enemies, which, with an AppStore full of great shmups, is a pretty risky move, but it works well here. The story is well written, and it unfolds pretty nicely. Not to say that there’s not enough action in Space Ship Ion to keep even hardened shmup fans happy, because playing on Very Hard difficulty will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole game.

The weapon store also adds quite a bit to the game, as you can buy and equip weapons, holding 6 guns plus a shield on your ship. Items can be bought with points that you collect while going through the game, so there’s no IAPs to worry about. I was, however, hoping for some more interesting weapons. There are a few, but with a game that’s main selling points are the story and shop, I really think the developer could have thrown in quite a bit more weaponry, and definitely more than one shield. There are, however, 2 weapons that unlock when you complete Normal and Hard Modes, and all weapons upgrade while collecting red orbs in the game.

The controls are nice, and the game kind of plays like Super Laser, because you’ve got a missile lock in front of your ship that you’ll constantly be trying to hit enemies with. The controls that are given are relative touch that works along-side tilt controls. If you don’t touch the screen for a couple seconds, the tilt controls take over. There’s also a double tap that you can use to drop a nuke, but this only works if you lift your finger off the screen first. Doubled with the tilt controls, this can cause a lot of un-necessary deaths, having your ship fly up to the top or bottom of the screen while trying to nuke a cluster of enemies.

Online leaderboards are not enabled, so the scoring mechanics are kind of lost within the game, but there are medals to unlock, adding a little bit of extra challenge to the game. The graphics in SSI are good, but not in retina display. That’s generally not a deal-breaker with most shmup fans, as there’s very few retina supported shmups in the AppStore. There’s 22 different enemies, and 8 different bosses, each needing a different strategy to deal with and defeat. The bosses animations and attacks are very well thought out, and should keep you on your toes no matter what difficulty you play on.

In the end, SSI is a decent shmup with a nice story and one of the very few shmups in the AppStore that has a shop. It is a well made shooter that should give any fan of the genre plenty of gameplay, especially for the $1.99 price-tag. Hopefully in the future some online services will be offered, and the shop will be expanded, but as it is now, it is definitely worth checking out. I know I’ll be keeping my eyes open for more games from iniGames in the future as well, because they’ve certainly managed to make their mark in the AppStore.

I’m giving Space Ship Ion a score of 4 out of 5.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/space-ship-ion/id450499854?mt=8

Waves: Survivor is an endless type game with platformer controls from Renown Entertainment. In it, it’s your job to help Johnny Calm make it as far as he can while in his little boat, collecting coins, and avoiding, jumping on, or smacking enemies, all the while being chased by a huge shark. You’ll also battle huge waves and crazy water movement, sometimes taking on enough water to sink, and be thrown deep under water where you tilt to control your direction, and quickly tap the swim button in the bottom corner to make it back to the surface, and into your boat to travel further.

The graphics in Waves: Survivor are pretty nice, but not retina supported. The controls are nice and responsive, and work very well with the game, and the physics and overall feel of the game is great. Aside from the weird high jumping, the water physics are very nice, and do add to the atmosphere of the game. The sun and moon rising and setting helps as well. Along with the music, the game comes in a very nice neat little package.

GameCenter is not added, so going for high scores doesn’t really drive the game much. However, there are collectibles that you can get while going through the game, which does help. A big part of the game is trying to not take on a bunch of water while waves crash against your boat, and you jump in and out of the water. Tilting your iPod controls the balance of the boat while in the air in in the water, and being able to control the angle of your boat does help with the amount of water you might get in the boat when you land, and while going up and down on the waves. Getting too much water in your boat, shown by a glass bottle around your health meter, thrown you into a mini-game that really disrupts game-play more than enhances it. But that can also mean there’s even more drive not to take on too much water throughout the game.

All-n-all, Waves: Survivor is a decent endless score game with great physics and graphics that could use some polish. But the gameplay really pushes you on, and will have you coming back to the game over and over again. Hopefully, GameCenter or Openfeint will be added in the future so that going for that high-score will drive the replay value up, and bring more players to the game.

I’m giving Waves: Survivor a score of 3/5.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/waves-survivor/id393190599?mt=8

Mighty Fin is a new arcade game from Launching Pad Games. In it, you’ll control a fish named Fin by tapping to dive, and letting go to fly up in the air. The further you dive down, the higher up in the air you’ll go, all the while collecting bubbles, and costume pieces, while avoiding obstacles, sharks, lobsters, and more. There’s 16 levels that change up each time you play them, meaning that you’ll never play the exact same level twice.

The gameplay is a lot like Tiny Wings, which means that yes, this game is great for everyone, from hardcore gamers to casual gamers, and everyone in-between. With 16 levels, each randomly generated, you also get Survival and Endless Modes with each one of them, meaning that there’s essentially endless replay value with Mighty Fin, and that’s always a great selling point. Each of the levels has scores for bronze, silver and gold medals, and a bubble path for you to try and follow, along with gold bubbles that help boost your score, and 60 different costumes to find and unlock so you can dress Fin up throughout the game.
The graphics in Mighty Fin are outstanding. Very polished, and very cute. Along with great animations for each object and life-form, the whole world of Fin is one that’s very vibrant and colorful, and pops with retina supported devices. The controls are tight and very responsive, and along with the physics, it makes for a game full of great arcade type action and you’ll never experience accidental deaths at the hands of the game.

The endless and survival modes for the beginning of the game can be quite easy, but don’t let that turn you off from the modes, because once you unlock some of the later levels, you’ll have your hands full trying to climb your way up the 24 GameCenter leaderboards. There are, however, no achievements, which is strange, because this game could have quite a few challenges that would be great if added to an achievement list.
The latest update for Mighty Fin was HUGE, doubling the size of the game. This gives me loads of hope for the future of Fin, especially if the developers keep adding content like this. It has certainly become a game that every gamer should have, joining the ranks of Angry Birds, Tiny Wings, Cut The Rope and Fruit Ninja, which is quite the achievement for any company. Being Universal, priced only at a buck, and full of content and endless replayability, it’s definitely worth more than you’ll pay for it.

I’m giving Mighty Fin a score of 5/5, and it’s really a game that’s recommended to everyone.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mighty-fin/id434539624?mt=8

I’m pretty sure that everyone’s familiar with mosquitoes. They’re those pesky little insects that annoy us while we’re outside in the summer. All we do is swat at them the entire time. Well, now it’s time for revenge. In Dumadu Games latest game Swatter Hit HD Plus [$0.99(iPad Only)] you can finally get your revenge on the mosquitoes. The game has a very simple objective, that is to swat the mosquitoes. The only control you need is your finger. Just tap wherever you see a mosquito to kill it. If you miss killing a mosquito it returns later, but this time it gradually grows bigger which

makes it even more difficult in killing it. You can earn 50 bonus points by killing the mosquito with a coil around it. You’re probably thinking that “this game is too easy” well it’s not. As in every game there’s something that makes the game more challenging. At any moment a spider can drop down. If you hit the spider you automatically get 50 points deducted from your score. If you hit the mosquito on a rocket then it’s instantly game over. There’s also a danger bar that increases if you don’t kill them. If that fills up then it is game over. That’s pretty much all there is to this game. I did find ads on the main menu when I booted it up just like the last Dumadu Game that I reviewed on the site. I haven’t seen it since though. I also noticed there’s a Game Center glitch. I only got a score of about 2,000 but it registered as over a 1,000,000,000 points on Game Center. Overall I found this game extremely fun and it’s a very good cheap time waster for your iPad. My final rating is 4 out of 5 stars. You can go pick up Swatter Hit HD Plus for your iPad for only $0.99 here. I couldn’t find any gameplay footage or any trailer online so I’m just going to attach a photo of the Game Center glitch so you can all bask in the glory of my billion points!

   Tonight, for iOS gaming, is the best day of the week. Wednesdays is the day new games emerge in the AppStore, first in New Zealand, then slowly in the rest of the world as the sun shines above more and more land. And tonight is one of those nights but it feels more special because there are really great games coming out:

Contre Jour (Mokus/Chillingo): The game seems amazing from the multiple videos we have seen, and i hope gameplay is as good as it looks. Three chapters featuring sixty unique levels, as well as one hundred and eighty collectable lights will keep us entertained. Looking foward to play it tonight, I been waiting for this a long time… for only 99 cents. Expect a review soon… iTunes link:

Zen Wars is based off a old arcade classic called Rampart which featured multi-phase tower defense gameplay. There are 3 different phases to every one turn you get in the game regardless of the mode.  The first, the combat stage is where the player has about 15 seconds to fire on the opposing forces defenses and troops. Then you can rebuild your ramparts and walls to beef up your derisory.  The final stage is where you can place down cannons in the available enclosed space.  Now the catch is that you cant just put your defenses down wherever you want you have different shapes that are offered up each rebuilding period that you have to fit together to encircle your fortress. In your territory you can have up to three fortress which one of which you have to have completely encircled.
The game comes packed with 3 different modes including a campaign mode.  In the campaign mode you are put in the middle of  certain scenarios that you have to overcome.  Then in the survival mode 4 of those levels in the main campaign are available for unlimited play.  Then comes the coup de grace the multiplayer mode.  A total of 3 players can battle it up over Gamecenter trying to be the last one standing. A interesting feature is that voice chat is included so you can chat with people and make alliances in order to get farther in the round. For example if you want to win a round you can team up with another guy so your chances of winning are improved.  Then after hes dead and out you can disband from the team and test your might against your former allie.  Its definitely alot more fun against real people but the campaign mode is still good for practicing and developing your strategy’s for online.
Overall this is a great strategy game that is very fun to play and one of the most in depth strategy games for the ipod platform.  I highly recommend this game, 4.5/5 stars!

Zombie Slaughter is a new swiping action game from Tapkee Games. In it, you will fight wave after wave of zombies. You’re given 3 difficulties, Easy, Medium, and Hard. On Medium and Hard Modes, you’ll need to figure out strategies to take out the hordes of zombies in order to beat the game, but in Easy mode, you can pretty much just learn the movements, and how to play the game without too much of a challenge.
There is no story in the game, and very little environmental change. As you progress through the levels of 3 waves each, the platforms you can jump on will grow, but apart from that, you won’t see much different between the levels. There’s 1 health pick-up for each wave you’ll go through, and once you reach level 2, you’ll be able to pick up a sword and slice away at the zombies for a limited amount of swipes. This lack of story, or extra modes can put some people off of the game, especially since there’s no online leaderboards, achievements, and actually, no scoring system at all.

This lack of content could very well be the downfall of the game. Which is sad, because Tapkee Games has built up a very decent base for a game. The rag doll physics work extremely well with the animations, and gravity + swipe physics of the game, and the random zombie spawning leads to different types of gameplay with each and every game. But it’s plat former aspect also makes me wish that the developer would have added some virtual buttons along with the current swipe controls, and Zombie Slaughter could also use some power-ups and maybe even a shop. If all of this was added, Tapkee Games would have one hell of a game on their hands.
The lack of content can be overlooked by the amazing, addictive, action-filled gameplay, but not for too long. The developer has realized this, and has mentioned on the Touch Arcade Forums that he will be adding more content, different environments, achievements, item-drops and more weapons, as well as an endless mode.

The game, right now, is $0.99, the perfect price for a “let’s check it out” kind of attitude, and it is worth checking out. The developer has given me 5 promo codes to share with our readers, so if you’re slightly interested in the game, and are one of the first to be reading this review, you can try and snag one of ‘em;

3XEMKTR477N9

NHN4H3A7LF4W
6EP4LTPN4WJY
HHAWTRXWXATK
NTJ6YT9HR4TX

I am looking forward to future updates, and hope that this game gets more content. As it is now, I’m going to give it a rating of 2.5/5, but it has the potential to be a 4 or even 5 star game if the developer keeps working on it like he’s promised. Here’s hoping this game doesn’t fall into the huge bundle of games that have been forgotten by developers over the years.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zombie-slaughter/id457408130?mt=8

Bonkheads HD is a new platformer action game from Around The Clock Games. It’s a clone of the original Mario Brothers where you would knock the enemies over by hitting the blocks under them, then kick them off the screen. I use to play this version of Mario with my next door neighbor all the time when I was younger, and loved it. It’s great to see a clone of it available in the AppStore now, and Around The Clock Games has done an amazing job re-creating the game, as well as adding some of their own new mechanics and loads of enemies. In it, you’ll play as Grag or Thog, and stop the hordes of pests from invading your town of Trollsville. You can also play with a second player on the same device, which is awesome.

Now, in Bonkheads, there’s 144 levels spread out across 12 different environments, each with different enemies, friction, and gravity. There’s also 6 power-ups hidden in the platforms to help, and sometimes disrupt, your gameplay. As you progress, the game saves after each level, so if you loose a life in a stage, and want to play through that level again, hopefully not loosing a life your second or third time through, you can just go back to the level select screen, and play on from the last level you had all your lives in. This comes in handy especially when dealing with new enemies that have different mechanics to learn. If you get stuck on a certain level, you can always go into the Options Menu, and change the game difficulty from Normal to Easy, or crank it up to Hard if the game isn’t giving you enough challenge.

The controls in Bonkheads are great. You’re given the choice of having virtual controls, which are nice and tight, or invisible controls, swiping left and right on the left side of the screen, and touching the right side to jump. They both play pretty much the same, and are both very responsive and easy to use. The graphics are great, smooth and professional, along with nice animations for each platform you’ll bonk your head on, and each and every enemy, only adding to the professional look and feel of the whole game. Physics-wise, Bonkheads is great. It’s not floaty, and not weighed down, jumping feels nice, and the speed for your character and enemies is great. Turning is done easily, not needing to pick up your thumb, and the speed of your character is constant, never needing to hold in a certain direction and speed up in order to make a jump. The music and effects are also nice, fitting in nicely with the game, but you’re not able to keep the effects sounds while turning down the music.

Bonkheads is OpenFeint enabled, giving us 9 different leaderboards, and 33 achievements, helping to add tremendously to the replay value of the game. Also, the two-player gameplay is great fun, if you can get over the fact that it‘s in portrait mode, and each of you need to hold the device at the same time. This might cause some frustrating gameplay with both of you cramming your fingers onto the screen, and moving the device at the same time, it does work a lot better with an iPad though. If the two player was done over wi-fi, it would greatly enhance the idea, and make 2-player gameplay a lot more fun, especially if GameCenter was added, and you could be auto-matched, or play with GC friends. But this is really the only issue I can find with Bonkheads.

It’s given me back a little piece of my childhood by cloning one of my favorite games, and expanding on it, making one player gaming extremely fun. The professional look and feel of the game is great, and has made me very excited about where this game will go with future updates, as well as where Around The Clock Games is going to go with their next game. I will definitely be keeping my eyes on them for as long as they decide to put out iOS games. If you’re into plat formers – especially older 8 and 16 bit platformers, this is one game you should definitely get. Being Universal, $2.99 is a great price for tons of gameplay, and loads of leaderboards with plenty of replay value.

I’m giving Bonkheads HD 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bonkheads-hd/id446732236?mt=8