Jeff Minter is sort of a God in the gaming industry. Founder of Llamasoft, he’s been in the business for over 30 years, and has developed numerous games for the Sinclair XZ81, Commodore VIC-20, Atari 2600, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Atari 400/800, Pocket PC, XBLA, PC, and iDevice. Some classic games you might have heard of; Tempest 2000 – 3000 – X3, Traxx, Sheep in Space, Hover Bovver, Abductor, Trip-a-Tron, Virtual Light Machine and loads more. On the iOS, he’s ported over the classics, Minotron: 2112, Minotaur Rescue, Deflex, Caverns of Minos and Gridrunner. He’s best known for his inclusion of llamas, sheep, camels, oxen, and his psychedelic graphics. But his most recent release, Super Ox Wars, an Ikaruga influenced polarity shoot-em-up, could be considered one of his best iOS releases to date. On the distant planet, Parint, two oxen are revered by the people. With each ox representing a valuable characteristic of the society, each person chooses one ox to guide their spirit. Parint was invaded by the Marcab Empire, who enslaved the people. It’s up to you to save the people, and your planet by using the power of the oxen. 

As you play through each of the 7 levels, you’ll be able to collect either blue/star or red/heart colors and items. In order to go for a high score, you’ll need to decide which color you want to stick with while going through the stages. As you collect more items from one of the two colors, your firepower will increase, as well as defensive powers; Hearts push back enemy projectiles around your ship, while Stars cause your own shots to push back enemy projectiles. As you collect more items of one color, more power-ups and extra lives will drop more often, but once you collect an item of the opposite color, the polarity is automatically shifted. 

 You’re given 3 different scores at the top of the screen, one for blue, one for red, and one for a combined score. Each of the scores increase depending on your current polarity, so if you’re using blue, your blue score will rise, and if you’re using red, your red score will rise. Both of these are combined together for your total score. Shooting down entire groups of enemies gives you bonuses, and destroying all of the flying enemies in each stage will give you an end of level bonus. 

The graphics and animations are typical of Minter’s past releases, but are not as incredibly crazy. You’re able to very clearly make out enemy ships, and background objects, but there is a psychedelic level to the images, with loads of stars or hearts flying out of your ship when your ship is fully powered up, or explodes, and the animations are reminiscent of Gridrunner. The controls, however, are a very tight and smooth relative touch control scheme at a 1:1 ratio. GameCenter is supported, and with 4 separate leader boards, one for each color, one for a pure run (starting on stage 1), and one for your combined score, as well as 10 achievements, it definitely adds to the already high replay value of the game. Priced at $1.99, and being a Universal build, Super Ox Wars is a fantastic, as well as cheap, polarity based shmup. Fans of the genre, and especially fans of Minter titles, should pick this one up. Though not as psychedelic graphically, and only containing one gameplay mode, it’s one of the most challenging Llamasoft games I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing, will definitely get loads of gameplay out of me and will wind up staying on my device for a long time.

Shucks; another skier got through my gauntlet of baseball players, bowlers, cheerleaders, and x-ray wielding boxers. Sounds crazy fun, and it is!
Goal Defense by Dyanmic Pixels is a new sports-themed Tower Defense title, that has loads of charm and all the challenge you could ever thirst. The environment has a light-hearted and fun-loving cartoon atmosphere that provides you with a feeling that ‘this shouldn’t be as hard as this’; but it is.

Goal Defense is not unlike other TD’s as the primary goal is to safeguard your ‘bowl’, but Dynamic Pixels is certainly the first to come up with the idea that centers around your fortifications on the sports field. The contest starts out dispensing you with a baseball player and ‘Hummer Thrower’ that you strategically, and I mean precision-ally strategically, place on the field to battle the onslaught of jump-roping jocks, football players, and other silly oppositions. The key flavor of this adventure is that the ‘tower/player’ locations are not pre-determined, and one placement can highly alter the rival’s intended route.The animations are downright hilarious; the Hummer thrower for one likes to eat a lot, and the cheerleader seems to drop her pom-poms all the time. Problem is, I often got sidetracked in such amusements and before I knew it, I had the foolhardy enemy’s players breathing down on the coveted bowl. The sound effects are fun as well with the cheerleaders chanting you along, and the sound of baseballs beaming your competitors.

You are allotted on average ten(10) players to reach your grail, at which point the level is over. The first few levels are great warm-ups for what is to come, but after that, this game means business. There are obstacles strewn across the field, some that look like equestrian hurdles, that you must use to your advantage to slow down the skiers, yes skiers, as well as foxy cheerleaders that will make any opponent slow down and gawk, allowing your baseball players and bowlers to pummel them when they are at their weakest. My favorite eccentric has to be the x-ray boxer who starts out with a simple one-two KO punch, but upon a few upgrades, draws his power from the almighty lightning gods and shocks the heck out of your rivals. You’ll just have to play it to understand, but it’s awesomely witty and hysterical.

The customary upgrade system exists, and is imperative to stand a chance at keeping your bowl intact, let alone passing the level. Currently, there are four worlds, 40 levels, including each world ending with a jocular, albeit difficult boss battle. Considering the bullet hard difficulty (in a good way!) you may find yourself replaying levels to figure out your best placements, such as how to reroute the skiers to slow them down, and where its best to place your batters in line with your pitchers to maximize effectiveness. The whole game seeps with allure, and you’ll be captivated from the get-go.

The in-game currency is in the form of ‘crystals’ which are rewarded based on effectiveness, wins, and other enticing factors. There is an IAP system as well, and unless you are incredibly adapt at TD’s, and if you want to keep your bowl un-violated, this is a viable option. Also of note, is that you start out with only a few different players, but the others are unlocked as you progress; this is all detailed in the shop via a simple click on the respective sportsman to see when they will automatically appear for usage.
The sportsman and power-ups are available to be unlocked earlier so you desire as well, but I found it quite fun learning each athlete over a few levels and figuring out their ranges etc. The power-ups are also unique; rain down a barrage of tennis balls on your foes, throw up a ‘false bowl’ temporarily drawing the enemies to itself, and a bowl ‘mine’ where you can set up explosives to guard it from a limited number of adversaries.

I have been having a ton of fun with Goal Defense, and considering the freedom of placements, it really gives you a great feeling of accomplishment when you finish those super tough levels. Being Universal, and only a measly .99, it is hard to not recommend this all-around lively Tower Defense title. You will instantly tell the developers had a blast creating this, and right thereafter, you’ll have even more fun playing it. Just keep your eyes on the enemies, not those foxy cheerleaders, and try not to laugh at the animations as you’ll get carried away and have to start over! Well, that’s not a bad thing.