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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

Running. When your pudgy like most adolescent kids these days the sound of that very word strikes fear into your little cheeseburger-loving heart.  Fortunately for you this game encaptures the fun that isn’t running and wont make you sweat at all.
The gameplay is quite simple, your goal is to run to the goal in the fastest time possible while trying to be speedy around obstacles and enemies.  Quick reflexes are the name of the game here but with time even the most pitifully uncoordinated player will be able to play like a pro.  The first level is the of course the adjustment level where you get used to the controls and the nuances of the game. After that you are basically on your own to explore and finish all of the levels.  Each level is unlocked once you complete the prior level regardless of whatever you scored on it.  In each of the levels there are a variety of different paths that you can take some of which net you more or less coins that influence your endgame score.  Through a process of trial and error you begin to figure out what works and what doesn’t and how you can begin to improve your time and score.  The reason I am really enjoying this game is due to that factor of replayability.  No matter how well I finish a level I am always intrigued enough to try it again and try to shave a few seconds off for bragging rights on the leaderboards.  At the end of each level you score badges on the various things you did. For example if you found the hidden skull in each level you get a badge, you finish inside the time limit you get a badge as well.  I usually don’t enjoy games that have a in-game timer but I’m okay with it in this orientation because speed is this games middle name and being able to see the amount of time your wasting trying to find the skull and increase your panic level.  After you die in a level (which will happen often believe me) you are sent back to the start where you can watch as a ghost of your previous attempt runs alongside or ahead of your current effort to not die. You have the option to turn off the ghost respawning and the type of control you use in the blatantly obvious option menu.  Another nifty feature in the option menu is the fact you can change your characters look from there.  The costumes include a ninja, the atypical purple jogging suit, and a bee.  There are 5 worlds in all and to unlock the next one you need to earn a certain number of badges in the previous level.
Overall this a extremely addicting game that has you shaving off the seconds in the pursuit of a better score to boast about.  With tons of replayablility and hidden objects you will always find new content in Mos Speedrun.  I give it a 5/5.
Note: Video Recording has been added in an update.

Link:http://itunes.apple.com/app/mos-speedrun/id419215811?mt=8

Bloo Kid is the first game for the iOS by Eiswuxe. It’s a platformer, soit’s a risky first game, but Eiswuxe has pulled it off almost flawlessly. You play as Bloo Kid, who is trying to rescue his girlfriend from the evil Wizard. You’re given 60 levels through 5 different worlds. Each level is the size of the screen, so don’t expect any side-scrolling goodness. But to avoid clutter, the developer has made it so that enemies spawn in different places of the levels, giving you waves of enemies to defeat before you complete the level.
With each level, you can get 3 stars. One star for beating the level, another for collecting the star that shows up at the end of the level, and lastly, for making it through the level without taking any damage.
With platformers, controls and physics are huge. If you can’t nail those, then your game will pretty much tank. Eiswuxe has done an amazing job here making the physics and controls work great. The controls are nice and tight, you don’t need to lift your thumb up to change directions, and the jump button is very responsive, and how high you jump is directly related to how long you hold on the jump button. The buttons are also placed very well, and are just the right size. The physics are great. The game doesn’t feel floaty or weighed down at all, which is always very nice to see. It makes the game feel like a game that’s meant to be played instead of a game that’s meant to be fiddled with, struggling with the controls the whole way through.

World 1 stars out pretty bland, but it’s designed for you to get a real grasp on the levels and how the game works. Eiswuxe decided to make the first world available in the lite version, which might have been a mistake, because most of the interesting gameplay comes after the first world. World 2 gets more difficult, and way more interesting, as you’re faced with enemies that throw objects at you, more platforms that move and take you to other parts of the level, bouncing spikes that you need to avoid, dashing enemies, enemies that you need to jump on in order to make it to other parts of the level, and enemies that need to be jumped on more than once in order to kill them. From here on, there’s not too many new enemies, but you will facemore and different ones as you progress. The level design as you go along gets better and better as well, and level design in a one-screen platformer is very important. But just like the controls and physics, Eiswuxe has pulled it off almost flawlessly. There are a couple of areas that it’s impossible to jump over spikes without an enemy being there, and a couple levels where the star is placed in an area where you’d need to jump on the last enemy in order to get there before the star shows up. You are given 5 hearts in each level, but having the stages set up this way just adds to the difficulty, and if you’re really worried about getting 3 stars on each of the 60 levels, this adds to the re-playability of the game.

At the end of each world, you’re faced by a boss, who takes 6 hits to kill. Each of the bosses has a special attack that you’ll need to figure out in order to survive the battle. Also, at the beginning of each world, you’re given a little clip of your girlfriend being taken to the next area where you’ll be playing. The animations in Bloo Kid are done very well, even when you stop running your character starts to take deep breaths. It’s got a cute factor to it, but it’s a game with difficulty for sure. Especially if you’re trying to get all the stars. Making it through some of the levels without taking damage might take you multiple tries, but each time you screw up, you’re going to end up cussing yourself, and not the controls or game. The retro graphics are fitting, as it’s a game that reminds me of older NES games with it’s frustration level, and difficulty, and that just draws me to it even more.
For their first game in the AppStore, Eiswuxe has shown that even though they’re new, they can make a professional game with top notch controls and physics, along with wonderful level design. You can check out the lite version in the AppStore, but it only contains the first world, which isn’t a very good representation of the entire game. I almost skipped out on this one because of the lite version, and it would have been a mistake on my end. But the lite version will give you a feel for the game, and let you check out the controls, physics, and first world level design for yourself. I’m giving Bloo Kid 4.5 out of 5 stars, and recommend it to all platformer fans. It could be a 5/5 game if it had online leaderboards, achievements, and some power-ups thrown in, but it’s definitely a game that you will play all the way through, and then most likely end up going back to just to try and get most or all of the stars. For $0.99, it’s a wonderful game.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bloo-kid/id452677855?mt=8

DEO, by Strapped To A Meteor, is a new platformer available in the AppStore. Strapped To A Meteor’s last game, Go Go Giraffe, was an interesting addition to the iOS platformer genre as well, but this time it seems that they’ve taken Deo a couple steps further in terms of gameplay, graphics, and presentation. And we as gamers could not be more happy about it.

As soon as you start Deo up on your device, you’ll notice the awesome graphics. You’re thengreeted with a short tutorial, explaining how to navigate the level select menu, and how to play the game. Controls are simple, touch the screen to start charging your jump, let go to execute the jump. The goal of the game is to make it around the rotating level to the red piece of real-estate without touching any black part of the levels. While you’re making your way around the levels, charging your jumps and landing on the grassy parts, you need to kind of be quick and time your jumps just right because the gravity stays the same while the level is rotating, so you could potentially end up sliding off of the level, or jumping right into a part of the level that ends up blocking your path if you’re not quick enough. The level design here is a huge part of the game, and thankfully, STAM has definitely spent an extreme amount of time working on the levels, and getting the physics and rotation just right.

Between levels, or after you die, there’s a nifty little screen jump that sounds and looks kind of like static. This little addition helps set the mood of the game, along with the dark graphics and rain, really create a gloomy atmosphere. Coupled with some light music, it conveys sad and bittersweet feelings while playing the game. Playing Deo for long periods of time just gives you the same feeling you’d usually get staring out the window while it’s dark, cloudy, and muggy. I personally love this sort of atmosphere within games.

But even with all of these very nice graphics, and good tutorial, there are some issues that might hurt the gameplay. The amount of charge that you give your character isn’t always clear, making it pretty hard to know how far or high he’s going to jump. Also, closing the app, then re-opening it, it can be pretty confusing to find out where you left off, and you might just end up re-playing previously beaten levels. This complex level select screen might turn people off of playing as much as they normally would, along with the unknown charge amount, you’ll probably end up playing levels over and over again, even after you beat them. This is a pretty major downfall for the game, as everything else is just top notch, and looks awesome.

There’s also no online leader boards for fast times, and in fact, no scores for the game at all. You pretty much just play the game to experience it. I don’t really mind this, as Dirt is one of my favorite iOS games, and is also just a game that you play to experience. But for a lot of people, no scores, no times for the levels, no leader boards, and no achievements can be a very big turn off. It’s very hard for me to rate Deo 3.5 stars out of 5 because they got so much right, but neglected quite a bit as well. I do have very high hopes for this game’s future updates, and even higher hopes for Strapped To A Meteor’s next game, because the jump from Go Go Giraffe to Deo was a HUGE one.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/deo/id452167352?mt=8

Robot Bros. is the new puzzle platformer from 108km Studio, a small indie studio founded in 2010. The goal of the game is to get all 3 stars in each of the levels, and then make it to the exit. 4 of the 5 robots all have a different ability, while one has no abilities. One can drop a certain number of ice blocks in a stage, another can throw fireballs to get rid of ice blocks, there’s a robot with a rocket pack, and finally, a robot that can make portals. Throughout the levels, youaregiven chances to change which robot you’re controlling, by hitting the robot icons at the top of the screen, kind of playing like Babylon Twins.
One pretty major gripe I have with Robot Bros is the controls. You can’t drag your finger from the left button to the right button and have your robot change directions, it will just keep moving in the direction you were first going. To change directions, you need to pick up your thumb, and press the arrow. Also, if you try and use a power in the air, which you can’t, but pressing the button will bring your robot to a halt, and make him drop straight down. The jump button is sometimes unresponsive as well. There’s some minor animation gripes too, like the rocket pack robot can change directions in the air, but he’ll fly backwards instead of turning around, and it seems like the fireball robot is the only robot that has a decent ability animation, bringing his arms back, and flinging the ball forward does look pretty cool though.

It would have been nice if all of the robots had as much detail as the fireball robot does. The rocket robot seems to fly up backwards when you first take off if you‘re pressing a directional button, and it takes a second for him to start going in the direction you want him to go after that. There were also a couple of levels in the game where some ice blocks would disappear and end up half way across the level, this also happened with my characters twice while playing. It would also be nice if once you got one of your characters to the end of the level, if the game automatically switched to one of the other characters in the level, instead of making you hit one of the robot icons. These are some issues that should be taken care of pretty quickly if you ask me.
The game is not very challenging. You’re able to zoom out in each of the levels, seeing almost the entire level. The objective pretty much stairs you right in the face after you see the whole level, meaning the only challenge is really just making it through the level while struggling with the controls. It took me about an hour and half to make it through all 36 levels. I really think the developers could have done a lot more with the game, especially considering they have a robot that can make portals! Right there should scream extra challenging. But I couldn’t help but feel let down. The graphics aren’t too bad, but could use some polishing up, and I didn’t experience any lag or crashing. There’s no in-game music, except for little clips after you beat a level, orwhen you die, which kind of bothered me, but I’m a sucker for game music.

In Robot Bros, the idea is nice, but it seems like there could have been some more attention to details. Mainly with the controls. But for the companies first platformer game, it does show promise. I’m giving Robot Bros 3 out of 5 stars, with the hopes that some updates can make this a game that controls well, gives it more levels, with more of a challenge, some in-game music, and squashes the bugs. GameCenter or OpenFeint support and some achievements would be a welcome addition as well. If you are a puzzle platformer fan, it’s not too bad of a game to pick up. It did keep my attention throughout most of the game, and it’s only $1.99, and is Universal. There really is a lot of potential here, but it seems that that’s all it has right now.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/robot-bros/id455055887?mt=8

The AppStore is a hub for retro gaming goodness. Gamers in their 20’s and 30’s have been buying their childhood back a couple bucks at a time, and we couldn’t be happier about it. Eggcode’s latest game, Pixel Ghost, is their first addition to the retro platforming genre, and it brings with it some interesting mechanics. Pixel Ghost is not your traditional left and rightplusjump button platformer, instead, you drag the screen, moving the level left and right, while your character bounces off of the floors and ceilings of the stage. This may sound like heresy to NES era gamers, but Eggcode has taken some pretty big risks while putting Pixel Ghost together, and it works out surprisingly well.
The graphics are great, and very well done. Eggcode has decided to put the game inside of a TV screen, inside of your iPod screen, and since the iPod screen isn’t as big as the game’s TV screen, the game pans up and down depending on where your ghost is, to show more of the level. This risk with the graphics has paid off. It really adds to the retro feel of the game, and doesn’t hurt the gameplay at all. There’s also blocks that trail your ghost as it moves through the levels. They don’t do anything, but they look very cool, and I think were a nice addition to the graphics. The controls, swiping left and right to move the level, work surprisingly well, and are actually veryaccurate. They didn’t feel quite right at first, and I’m still hoping that they add some buttons to move the level in a future update, but after playing the game for a while, it does grow on you.

There’s plenty of hazards to keep you on your toes as you move throughout the worlds, trying to make it to the blue X at the end of each level. Spikes, guns, birds, blocks that disappear after you bounce on them once, and holes in the floor and ceiling. But there’s also some power-ups that will help you manage the tougher parts, like invincibility, and additions to your clock to help you grab a higher score. Coins litter the levels, and are also a major part of getting that huge score. Getting them all in each level will drain your clock, and prove to be quite a challenge, but it’s worth it if you’re trying to max out your score on a level. This would be more of a driving force ifGameCenter or OpenFeint were added to the game, but as it stands now, you’ll just be trying to beat your own scores on each of the levels. Hopefully an online leaderboard will be added in the future, but some might see this omission a pretty big oversight on the part of the developers.

Even with what some people might consider bad decisions on the developers side, this game is really surprisingly good. The graphics are, and work out, great, and the controls work out very well. It’s a pretty solid entry to the retro platforming genre, and a game that you won’t want to miss out on if you’re a fan. The soundtrack is also very nice, and adds to the retro feel of the whole game. For $0.99 it’s another buck you’ll be happy you spent trying to buy back your childhood memories. 25 challenging levels spread across 5 worlds will keep you busy for a while, especially if you’re interested in getting every coin in every level. I’m giving it 4 out of 5 stars, and recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a good challenging game.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixel-ghost/id453031769?mt=8

It’s not too often we see a game come around and show us something new, but with Colorbox’s latest release, Candy Boy, they’ve shown that they have got some very creative minds in the studio. It seems that with each release, this small developing company gets more and more popular. After the releases of Arena Arcade, Dalton-The Awesome, Rooftop Escape, Rip Off, the ever so popular Wave-Against Every Beat, and Twins Candy, I wasn’t surewhat to expect. But this time they’re giving us a mixture of platformer and match-3 gameplay. Candy Boy hits that oh so sweet spot of genre mixing that makes us gamers wonder why something like it has not been made before.
You’ll play as Casper, a boy obsessed with candy who has woken up one day to find out there’s a group of candy hungry worms eating all your precious, mouth watering sweets, and it’s your job to stop them. You start off every screen sized stage with a certain number of candies, and end up using these candies to make groups of 3 or more, create candy towers to climb up on, and take out each of the worms hiding amongst the candies. You’ll also be dodging enemies and trying to get off of some platforms before they break.

There’s quite a bit of old-school platforming to do in Candy Boy, which means there’s virtual controls and the games physics to try and get use to as well. Colorbox has done a pretty decent job giving us responsive and tight controls, though not as tight as League of Evil, or Mos Speedrun, but more like the controls in Elemental Rage or Castle of Magic. The physics are really nice as well, and don’t make the game feel weighed down or floaty at all. Moving platforms are decently sized, and collision detection is great, so you won’t be standing on air or falling through platforms. You might have slight problems using the candies as a climbing tool, and some of the thinner platforms in the mid and later levels, but it’s nothing you won’t get use to after doing it a couple of times. There’s also 3 coins in each stage you can try and grab if you’reup for more of a challenge, and grabbing every one in each stage will unlock worlds faster, as they’re opened up when you collect a certain number of them. All of this makes for some pretty neat level design, and challenging moments in the game.

The graphics are very polished, very cute, and the animations are great. The music and fx also fit this cute world very well, and can be turned off in the main menu if you don’t care for game music. With over 100 levels spread across 4 different worlds, Candy Boy should offer plenty of gameplay to keep even hardcore gamers busy for a while, especially with the GameCenter leaderboards, one for each world, and the 13 achievements they’ve given us to try and unlock. And as with every other release from Colorbox that I own, I know Candy Boy will end up staying on my iPod for a very long time. It’s getting 5 out of 5 stars from me, and you can nab it in the AppStore for the very low price of $0.99.