Monthly Archive: August 2011

   The Blocks Cometh is a endless jumping game, but with a twist, as you climb trough falling crates, so you have to avoid them as well as use them to reach higher. When i first found out about this game, I thought it was going to be uncontrolled chaos, with crates continually falling and you jumping between them while falling at a fast pace, but instead we got a slower game… I’m not saying its bad, actually this game stands above the genre because its original, fun, has a lovely pixel-art artwork and the controls are spot-on. 

• Classic: The normal mode, you unlock most of the stuff playing here.
• Casual: Perfect for casual gamers, you have 3 lives, making it easier. Offers players a less aggressive experience
• Arcade: where hardcore gamers will get challenged to new heights. Also with 3 lives.
• Gamebot: And IAP ($0.99) that lets you play is if you were playing in a GameBoy. Visuals and sound have been tweaked to meet the older feel. Its the screenshot on the right. 

   As I said earlier, gameplay consists of climbing while avoiding falling crates, and you have a gun to eliminate crates that left you stuck in the middle (just remember to don’t get crushed). I like to get stuck on purpose and then try to get a solution, all this while the screen get filled and the game gains momentum as we get higher and higher. Another good thing about it is that every 100 meters climbed, the game get faster and faster and faster each time you reach new heights. Perfect for both quick and a long sessions to entertain you on the go.

   Replayabitity is big, apart from the 3 modes available from the beginning, you have a total of 9 unlockable characters – plus the Gamebot character if you bought the IAP. And they unlock by doing specific things that the games wants you to, like climbing 10,000 meters in total to unlock the League of Evil character (a crossover they did with League of Evil devs, something i would like to see more). All character have different jump, speed and attack stats, so they are different and you can find one that fits you abilities better. Theres one of every jumping taste. Theres also leaderboards, one for each mode displaying your total height, and 32 achievements to collect. As you can see, its very complete and offer plenty for you to play with. I like to compare myself with my friends, this gives the game a healthy competition, as long term appeal. This app has survived every app mas deletion Ive done so far, and it doesn’t seem that it will go away any time soon.

You may recognize the name Rocketcat from seeing some of their previous games like Hook Champ and Super Quick Hook.  Currently they are working on a RPG that goes back to the roots of classic RPG’s with no fetch quests and no grinding. Intrigued by their progress I asked them for a interview.  If you have any questions you want answered by RocketCat then shoot me a tweet or leave a comment on this article. Enjoy!
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Q: What role do you play in Rocketcat Games? (programmer, publisist etc)

A: Level and gameplay design mostly, and I run the company.
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Q:What do you feel you gain from each succesful game publish? Do you utilize the best elements from previous games or do you just start from scratch?


A: Each game teaches important lessons that we use in the next game. Even though Mage Gauntlet is a completely new genre, you’ll still be able to see the influences from previous games.
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Q: Regarding your recent game Mage Gauntlet, how do you feel this will alter the course of your studio. For example will you start branching out into other genres like Tactical RPG’s like Final Fantasy or revert back to the hook and jump that was loved by many?


A: You’ll see us move into the action-RPG genre for awhile. We also have been thinking about doing turn-based RPG’s, because we could easily make those using the same RPG engine. I don’t see us going back to the hook racing games anytime soon, at least for iOS.
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Q: Any plans for a sequel to Mage Gauntlet?


A: Yes, probably two direct sequels to continue the story, and also one limited story, all action spin-off.
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Q: What do you feel about making a platformer with rpg elements that also incorporates the hook and jump mechanism?


A: We were going to make a grappling-hook metroidvania sort of game. We stopped working on it because it just didn’t seem to fit the iOS platform too well, for a variety of reasons. We might revive that project later on, maybe as a PC game instead.
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Q: What kind of sales do you expect for the new game?


A: No idea! If people find it and like it, it could sell a lot more than the hook games did, just because action-RPG’s are a really popular genre. Grappling-hook-racing is a much, much more niche genre in comparison.
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Q: How do you think people will react to the game and its spin of the RPG genre?


A: I think people that like classic-styled action RPG’s, but don’t like 40 hours of KRPG style grinding, will like this game. All the top-down action RPG’s I can think of right now for iOS are Korean RPG’s, which seem to universally have a really big focus on pointless grinding. We might even be the first classic RPG to hit the App Store that doesn’t have a “collect 10 firewood” quest.
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Q: Can you give us details on an example of a typical quest in the game?


A: There are no quests in the game, in the modern-day sense. That is, no collect 10 quests, no kill 20 quests. Instead, you’re exploring and fighting your way through the game’s story.
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Q: What is the main story of the game? What is your goal?


A: In the game story, your quest is to find three missing wizards that are important in preventing the Archdemon from escaping his banishment. You’re given a powerful magical gauntlet to assist you. About midway through the game, it becomes clear that you have to stop the Archdemon yourself.
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Q: How replayable would you say the game is? Are there many collectibles and other things you can find after the story?


A: There are a lot of secrets, collectibles, new swords and other equipment you can find, and achievements. There’s also a nightmare difficulty mode, with remixed levels and enemies, that you unlock by beating the game. For completionists, there’s a star-grade system for each level which unlocks pets that follow you around, and an optional kill-enemies-for-rare-hats bit.
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Q: How does it feel to be manager of a game company? Are you stressed out all the time trying to get your games to the next level or is it fairly laid back?


A: The last month of development for each game is pretty stressful. Otherwise it’s not, really.
When do you estimate the games release date?
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Q: When do you expect the game to release?


A:The game should be out either early Septermber or really late August. Not sure until we submit it
—————————-If you have any other questions you would like me to ask RocketCat Games you can comment on this post or  send us a tweet at our twitter page! Twitter:http://twitter.com/#!/TheAppShack
Check out their site here:http://www.magegauntlet.com/

Fatcat Rush is a new side-scrolling runner game from Tomodomo Oy. It’s his first game in the AppStore, and like many of the previous first publishers I’ve reviewed lately, he shows hardly any signs of being a newcomer to the scene. In the game, you play as Tombo, a cat who lives on the peak of a huge tower. Every week his favorite food is shipped to him by a hot-air balloon. But this week, the balloon carrying his delivery was struck by lightning, flinging his food all throughout the pathways of the tower. With his stomach grumbling, he decides to go after it all, making sure to hurry before the food spoils.

There’s 15 levels in Fatcat Rush, each with different environmental hazards. The level scrolls, and spins around, while you climb up the pathways further up the tower. There’s food littering the paths, and some shortcuts full of extra food hidden along the way, so keeping an eye open for kind of harder to reach paths usually pays off. You’re given 3 hearts for each stage, and crashing into a part of the terrain, or an obsticle will bring you down a peg. There’s different kinds of food all over the place, some giving more points than others, for instance; Whipped Cream Taco’s give you 1 point, while PizzaBurgers give you 10, and Ketchup Lollipops give you 3.

There’s also Health Shakes which give you a heart, but you can never have more than 3 hit points at any given time. Fish are all over the place, in a bright blue circle, and impossible to miss. Each one adds to your speed/score multiplier and boost meter, which gradually decreases over time. Running into objects drops your multiplier as well. This means that the more fish you collect in a level, the higher your multiplier will be, and the bigger your final score will end up being.

The controls in Fatcat Rush are simple, and work very well within the game. You have a button for jumping, and a button for dashing while you’re on the ground, and kicking while you’re in the air. Dashing on the ground helps you break open crates that are hiding food, fish, and shakes, but you need to be careful with your timing, because running into one of these crates causes you to loose a heart. While you’re in the air, pressing the dash button makes you dash kick, this is very useful for long jumping, reaching harder to reach places, shortcuts, and long strands of food only accessible by jump kicking.

The graphics are great. Smooth and professional, and the environments are very colorful and vibrant. The user interface is great, very clear, and easy to navigate, as well as the HUD during gameplay. You have your 3 hearts in the top left corner, your level progress in the middle, and then your score. Underneath your score is your speed multiplier, and boost meter, going down the right side of the screen, then your jump button on the bottom left, and dash/kick button on the bottom right, with the pause button in-between the two. The physics are great, not too floaty, and never feeling weighed down, coupled with the speed and flow of the game, it plays wonderfully. The music and effects also fit in the game nicely, and add to the atmosphere and overall feel of the game.

There are no leaderboards for Fatcat Rush, which is a shame, because there’s great scoring mechanics, and it would add a whole lot to the replayability of the game. There are however, in-game achievements, 15 to be exact, along with 4 different outfits you can unlock, including one that makes you look like Mario. This does help add to drive the game, and help with the replayability, but once you get them all unlocked, you might loose a lot of the drive you once had to play. The game is very well done, very cute, and really is a blast to play. Great level design, and wonderful controls and physics, along with great scoring does make it a game that you will want to play through completely. But it does need a little more to make you want to keep it on your device for any extended period of time, an endless or survival mode would go a very long way. It is a very well made game, and the way it’s going now, will end up being one of my favorite runners, especially if the developers end up adding another mode, and online leaderboards. For $1.99, it’s a great deal, and definitely a game you should pick up if you’re a fan of the genre, or cats.

Fatcat Rush gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fatcat-rush/id457251993?mt=8

Destroy Gunners SP is a new mech game by Shade Inc. First off, yes, it is kind of pricy for an AppStore game, but hopefully this review will help you decide if it’s up your ally or not. Shade Inc. is no stranger to the video game scene, having made The Granstream Saga, Orphen: Scion of Sorcery, Onslaught, and more, they know what it takes to make a great action game. But having worked primarily on console games, the question still remains, do they have what it takes to make a great mobile game? After playing the lite version of Destroy Gunners, I was convinced that they could make a game that controls well, but it seemed a little mindless and there wasn’t much customization available. With the full version though, you get enhanced graphics, missions, more environments, and tons more customization, along with a couple more mechs to unlock and obtain in the store. But I will be comparing between the lite and full version quite a bit throughout this review, because let’s face it, for $9, most of you are going to be checking out the lite version before you buy the full.

The goal of the game is to go through the levels collecting upgrades and weapons, blowing up enemies, and killing bosses. You control your character by using a joystick in the left corner, and using left and right buttons in the right corner to turn your point of view, and flip your mech around. To fire, you place your finger directly on the middle of the screen, dragging around with the crosshairs slightly above your thumb. You’re also given a jetpack button which lets you reach higher areas of the levels, and touching on the gun select button brings up your equipped weapons. You can change between pausing the game when you press on the weapon select button, or keep the action going in the options menu. Between the lite and full versions, control isn’t really different, so you can get a pretty good idea of how it works by checking out the lite. It actually works extremely well on a touch screen, which surprised me quite a bit.

The missions in the full version range from collecting upgrades, to killing bosses and killing a certain amount of enemies in a given amount of time, and more, but it does stay fresh through each of the levels, and upgrading your mech with new abilities, defenses, and weapons will definitely keep you going through each mission. Enemies drop ammo, health upgrades, and components, which are turned in at the end of the stage, or at death, and can be equipped in the customize section. The components consist of new weapons, defense upgrades, attack upgrades, and special abilities like power recovery and increase component drop rate upgrades. You’re able to equip 6 of these components at a time, and goes up with each unlocked mech, so switching out and checking out what you’ve recently picked up between stages is a pretty big part of making it through the game. In the lite version, your upgrades are picked up on the battlefield, and automatically equipped, but you only get certain weapon and HP upgrades, so the customization between the lite and full versions is extremely different, and a lot more customizable in the full version. Also, in the lite version, you are not given missions, you just end up going through the levels, blowing up enemies, and taking out the same boss at the end of the two environments they give you.

The graphics in the full version are better than in the lite version, unless you’re running the game on an older device, in which case, you’ll probably have to select lower graphics in the options menu in order to get the game to play smoothly. But the graphics on full graphics mode are great. The environments really stick out, textures look great, and the explosion animations are better, along with better smoke trails on your missiles, and the like. They are impressive graphics to have on a mobile device, and the atmospheres really give you something to sink your teeth, or eyes, into. All of the animations and movement are very smooth as well, giving you awesome eye candy.

There’s loads of challenge, especially since you can select the difficulty in the options menu, so the game will keep you busy and your heart pounding most of the time. OpenFeint leaderboards and achivements are also included and do help add to the replayability quite a bit. Music and effects are top notch as well, adding to the feel and general aesthetic of the entire game. To make a long story short, you will be getting your moneys worth if you decide to buy Destroy Gunners SP, and Shade Inc. has definitely thrown down the gauntlet in terms of mech gameplay on mobile devices, though some might find it repetitive and mundane after a while, since the only real drive is grinding to collect more gear to equip on your mech, and rising up the leader boards. There‘s no story, or any sort of plot to follow, and that would have really been a very welcome addition to the game. But if you are a fan of mech attack action games, this is the best you’ll get on a mobile device, and $8.99 will be money well spent considering how much gameplay and content is included, and how good it looks and plays. I’m giving Destroy Gunners SP 4.5 out of 5 stars, with an exception; if you don’t care about story, or plot, this is a 5 out of 5 star game, controlling extremely well, looking beautiful, and packing loads of challenge. If a story or plot is essential for you to enjoy a game, you might not care for Destroy Gunners SP. But I’m certainly glad I picked it up, and it will never be deleted from my device.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/destroy-gunners-sp/id453434062?mt=8

Cubes Vs. Spheres is a new 3D physics attack game by ShockPanda Games, creators of Space Bunnies, a personal favorite of mine. In it, you’re job is to fling spheres into cubes, protecting the circled area around your sphere chute. You’re given 30 levels, 10 in each difficulty of Easy, Medium, and Hard. The goal is to blow up cubes as they make their way towards you using different spheres that you can buy in the between levels shop; trying to produce huge combos by hitting cubes with bits and pieces of cubes that your spheres smack into and getting 3 stars, and a P, for “Perfect”, by not letting the cubes hit your area that‘s marked off within a circle.

The game’s graphics are very minimal, but this makes it so that the engine can handle huge waves of cubes coming at you. The minimal graphics work so well, and look so polished, that it’s hard not to see how impressive they are while you’re playing. The level designs are great, and the structures in which the cubes come off of, and out of once they come towards you get more and more impressive as the move on. I found myself just scrolling around the levels sometimes checking out the structures, not paying attention to the cubes, and ended up with huge waves of them coming at me. It’s really a great looking game.

You’re given 6 different spheres, that come out of a chute inside of your area. They are selectable at the bottom of the screen, and do not appear until you decide which sphere you want to fling at the cubes. There’s your regular sphere, which you can upgrade to split into 3 and 5 other spheres by tapping on the screen after you fling it at cubes, a fire sphere that explodes on impact into about 8 smaller spheres, a big black sphere that squashes cubes, and can smash through them, hitting cubes behind it, a sphere that locks on to the closest cube to your area, a freeze sphere that slows down cubes, and a decoy that draws cubes to it, exploding after a certain amount of time. You end up unlocking these with credits earned throughout the game, and need to keep buying them in order to use them. This isn’t a real problem though, because you’ll earn enough credits in each level for about 15 different spheres or more, and helps add to the strategic side of the game.

There are only 3 different cube enemies in the game. Red cubes, which you will see a lot of, black cubes, which are mixed in with the red cubes, and are more powerful, and harder to destroy, and sometimes cubes that are almost invisible. There are not very many of the invisible cubes throughout the game, but you will be checking the sides of each level just to make sure you know when they’re there or not. It would have been nice having more types of enemies, maybe enemies that are immune to some of your power-up spheres. Seeing a flaming cube that could melt your freeze spheres ice, or an assassin cube that could take out your decoy would have been awesome. But with the three enemies in the game, you get enough variety to keep you busy, and with the cubes moving differently each time you play the levels, you’ll never have the exact same experience twice. This randomized intelligent movement is great, and coupled with the GameCenter leaderboards, 3 star and P rankings, and achivements, add immensely to the replayability of the game.

The physics in a game like this are very important, and ShockPanda Games has done an amazing job getting it just right. Seeing each cube explode when it’s hit with a sphere or bits of an exploding cube is awesome, and really nice eye candy and the spheres feel like they actually have some weight to them. The music in Cubes Vs. Spheres is fitting, minimal but kind of catchy, and fits with the atmosphere, but the effects for throwing spheres and hearing them bounce kind of made them sound like hippity hops that were filled to the extreme, and about to blow up. You are given two control schemes, one is tilt to turn, and the other is swipe to turn. Both work very well for this type of game, but there were a couple of times the screen would end up shooting upwards when I tried to fling my ball forward using the swipe controls. Not often, but it did happen. I’m giving Cubes Vs. Spheres 4.5 out of 5 stars, because even with it only having 3 different enemies, and experiencing a cube getting stuck way in the back of a level, unreachable, and having to replay that level, it’s an awesome game. Very well made, very polished, challenging, and a blast to play. The replayabilty is off the charts, and it’s one game that will never leave my device. For $0.99, including retina display, and being Universal, it’s a great deal. ShockPanda has definitely put a lot of time and effort into this game, and with them taking part in the Touch Arcade thread, I have no doubt that this game will get even better with only a few updates.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cubes-vs.-spheres/id434117289?mt=8

Carrot War is a new, and pretty original, line-drawing action game for the iOS by Sphinx Entertainment. As this is their first game in the AppStore, they’re up against some pretty high-profile companies in the genre, but this isn’t your typical line-drawing game. In Carrot War, you play as a rabbit who’s home-planet was invaded by aliens who came to take all your precious carrots. You’re the last hope of a dwindling civilization, armed only with a magic pen. The Rabbit Planet is counting on you to get the carrots back, and withstand the alien invasion.

The graphics in Carrot War are great. Showing the true professionalism of Sphinx Entertainment. Very smooth and flowing animations, along with nice explosion effects and great scrolling backgrounds are retina display supported, so you can experience all the beauty the way it’s meant to be seen. The controls are very tight and responsive, which is very important in a line drawing game, but I haven’t once died because I was busy fighting with the controls, or trying to get something just right. There’s enough give in the game that if you die, it’ll be because you weren’t quick enough. Which brings me to the gameplay.

In Carrot War, your goal is to make it to the end of the level without loosing your 3 lives. If you’re going for a 3 star performance, you won’t want to loose one. You’re also graded on how many carrots you collect and how many enemies you kill. To kill enemies, you’re required to do different things for each of them. Most can be eliminated by connecting a line between the two or more stars that are floating around them. For instance, if there’s just two stars around an enemy, you draw a line from one star to the other, going through the enemy, then it blows up. If there’s three, you can draw a triangle, or a circle, so long as it goes through each of the three stars. If there’s 4 stars, you’d draw a square. Killing more than one enemy at a time is pretty easy, because most enemies will stop moving if you place your finger on one of their stars, causing them to overlap each other, and making killing huge numbers of enemies a little easier. There’s also enemies that can shoot at you, and in order to kill them, you draw a line from the projectile they shoot, back to their ship, there’s bullets you can bounce off of lines, and much more. How long your line can be depends on how much ink you have in your pen, but this refills very quickly after using it, so you’ll never be stuck waiting for the pen to reload. To avoid being hit, you can place your finger on your character and move him around the screen freely as well.

There’s a total of 52 levels spread across 5 different worlds, each unlocking when you beat the boss at the end. There is quite a bit of difficulty within the game, as keeping up with the different enemies on the screen can get pretty hectic, but it’s never frustratingly difficult. In a game with only one difficulty, finding the right mesh between easy and hard is never easy, but Sphinx Entertainment has done a great job here, making a game that gamers from casual to hardcore can play and enjoy. There’s also an IAP purchase which gives you 3 extra lives per level, and 2 extra pens full of ink, so if you do find the game too hard, you can make it easier for $0.99.

GameCenter and OpenFeint leaderboards, and 12 achievements are included, and added with the 3 star rankings on levels, do help add to the replayability and challenge of the game. It’s got smooth graphics, great gameplay, and music and effects that fit right in with the experience, but I would love to see some power-ups, or maybe upgrades in the future. It seems to be all that this game is missing. I’m giving Carrot War 4.5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended to action and line drawing fans. It is $2.99, but right now it’s on sale for $0.99, so pick it up before the price goes back up! If you do miss the sale, you can rest assured that this game is worth at least $2.99, and it will be spending quite a bit of time on my iPod.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/carrot-war/id453936519?mt=8

Vertex Blaster is a new dual-stick space shooter from Warner Skoch. In it, you travel around a sphere, blasting away enemies, upgrading weapons, dropping bombs and going for a high-score. There’s 3 different game modes, each with different play styles. Arcade Mode, Meteor Shower Mode, and Survival Mode. Giving us loads of gameplay packed into this great game.

Arcade Mode, which drives you to get as many points as fast as you can, giving you more powerful weapons the more points you earn. The quicker you gain points, the better the weapon you’re given. Usually going after asteroids here helps boost your weapon quicker, giving you a bunch to shoot at in a very compact area. Two types of bombs are key here, one is a decoy bomb, and the other is a regular, drop and explode bomb. Decoy bombs leave a decoy of your ship behind, and are very useful for distracting the multitude of enemies that will be swarming you on the sphere. You’re awarded more bombs as your score progresses, regular bombs every 100,000 points, and decoy bombs every 150,000 points.

Meteor Shower Mode is a mode without enemies. You’ll just spend your time blowing up waves of asteroids, and protecting buildings on the surface of the sphere. There’s no bombs in this mode, but you do get a repair beam which helps you keep the buildings up and standing. In this mode it’s very important that you don’t hit the buildings with your weapon, or it’ll damage them, and also make sure not to hit asteroids with your repair beam, or else they will get bigger, giving you more of a problem while trying to keep your buildings safe. The last mode is Survival Mode. In this mode, you gain points by staying alive. You can’t earn extra bombs, and you don’t gain points by killing enemies. This is more of a dodging mode, waving through the swarms ofenemies coming at you, trying to stay alive. You’ve only got one life in Survival Mode, so it tends to be the hardest mode out of the three, but is also just as fun. This mode is better for little spurts of gameplay.

The graphics in Vertex Blaster are great. The game looks and plays like a retro version of Super Stardust HD. The simple graphics are presented in retina display, and the game is universal, so you’ll be able to enjoy the nice crisp graphics on your iPad as well. You can also pinch to zoom in and out of the sphere, taking you closer in, or further away from the action, which is a very nice addition to the game. The controls are spot on, and very responsive, even though the sticks don’t move, you won’t really notice while playing, because you’ll be pretty focused on the super smooth action going on in the center of the screen. The bomb buttons are placed on the right side of the screen, one above and one below your firing stick. GameCenter leaderboards are included, along with loads of achievements, making the replayability factor pretty high.

All-n-all, Vertex Blaster is a nice solid dual-stick space shooter. One that I’m very happy to have in my collection. The only complaint I have is that a couple of times, in the pause menu, I’ve accidentally hit ‘Return To Menu’ instead of ‘Resume’ causing me to loose my game. If the developer made it so that you were asked if you were sure you wanted to quit, it would fix accidents like this from happening, but I can’t really hold it against the developer because it was my own fault. It would also be nice if there were more weapons added. It is very nice not having to pick up weapon upgrades, and that they happen automatically, but it seems like a variety of weapons would be a very welcome addition to this game. Auto Pause for when you take both thumbs off of the screen would be a very nice addition as well. Lots of dual-stick shooters have this mechanic in their game, and it seems to work really well. The last thing I would like to see changed is that you’re thrown right into the action after you hit the button for whichever mode you decide to play. Having a countdown once your ship hits the sphere would be a great way to avoid some unfortunate off-the-bat deaths. Vertex Blaster is getting 4.5 out of 5 stars, and is recommended to any fan of the dual stick genre. At $0.99, it’s an awesome deal, and will definitely give gamers hours upon hours of entertainment.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vertex-blaster/id453873865?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

GooMonsters is a new top-down hack-n-slash game from DigitallyBold, the makers of Fly Away Rabbit, which was on the CNET 100 in 2010. With their success of Fly Away Rabbit,DigitallyBold has set their standards pretty high. GooMonsters is a great example of that. In GooMonsters, you play as a girl who ends up stranded on a remote island in the middle of the ocean. When you come to, you realize that your dog has gone missing, and that there’s tracks leading off to the distance. Following them, you find your dog, only to see him right before he’s taken away by a Goo Monster. Now, you need to battle the Goos in order to save your dog,Fluffy.

Starting off in the Campaign Mode, you’ll go through 26 stages, each having one of 4 different missions to accomplish, Vanquish, Survival, Collector, and Trainer. Vanquish missions give you a certain number of Goo’s to kill while in Survival missions, you just need to stay alive for a certain amount of time. Collector missions give you a certain number of items to pick up, and Trainer missions require you to stand next to a Goo for a certain amount of time without killing it while other Goos come at you. You only have one life, but unlimited retries, if you die you start the mission over from the beginning.

There’s 11 mini-games that are unlocked while you progress through the Campaign Mode. These are pretty much mini-missions, not unlike the missions in the Campaign. For instance, the first mini-game you’ll unlock is called “Green Overdose”, in it you’ll try and kill as many Green Goos as you can in one minute. The second mini-game puts you up against Goos that explode and Black Goos that stick to you and slow you down, seeing how long you can survive. It’s a nice addition to the game, but some more differences here, really separating it from the Campaign Mode would have been nice.

There’s also a practice mode, where you can select which Goos you want to practice against in a sort of training level. If you get hit, you just re-spawn at the center of the screen with the stage cleared of enemies. It’s nice for getting use to the different goos you’re having problems with if you get stuck in Campaign Mode. You can also find a weaponry area where you can unlock different bombs and weapons setting their buttons next to your attack button. Once you unlock a bomb or weapon, you don’t need to buy more, they slowly recharge after each use. There’s lots of different items here, bombs that attract goos, drones that help you take out goos, weapons that emit high-frequency sound waves that have vibrations that blow goos up. Unlocking these weapons and bombs is a big part of the gameplay, using them to your advantage will be critical in moving on in the game, and DigitallyBold has done a great job giving us loads of different items to buy. There are no IAPs in the game, everything is unlocked with in-game points, and everything recharges, you don’t need to keep purchasing weapons after you’ve unlocked them, which is very nice.

There’s numerous colors of Goos, each with different abilities. Green Goos don’t really do anything, and you can just hack-n-slash at em all you want, they also are the only Goos that don‘t hurt you if you run into them. Blue Goos leave a puddle of blue goo on the ground, if you walk into it, the goo splatters onto the screen, blocking your view of a small area for a short time. Yellow Goos leave an acidic puddle on the ground that can damage both you and other Goos. There’s loads more, each with different attributes.

The controls in GooMonsters aren‘t what I was expecting from the screen shots. You tilt your device to move the character, holding on the button in the left corner to stop and stand still, rotating your device to turn around, and tapping the button in the right corner to attack. You are given calibration options before you start levels, but no sensitivity options, and I found myself wishing I wasn‘t needing to tilt my device as much as I was quite a bit while playing. During the first couple missions, I also couldn’t help but think that the game would play a lot better with a joystick and attack button. I did get use to the tilting controls, but I still really think that some control options should have been added into the game, and hope that they are thrown in in the future. The controls as they are now are very responsive though, and do end up working pretty well. The graphics are nice and polished, and the animations for the goo moving around and splattering on the ground are nice, and there‘s different animations for each different goo. You can tell that a lot of work went into making each goo look and move differently, and this does add quite a bit to the gameplay. The music and FX are fitting for the graphics and gameplay as well. The game does run very smoothly, no lag or jitters, and the game hasn’t crashed once on me.

There are GameCenter leader boards for the campaign, along with separate boards for each of the mini-games. There’s also 58 achievements, all of which adds a ton to the replay value. I’m going to give GooMonsters a 3.5 stars out of 5, and if you’re into hack-n-slash games, this is one worth checking out. At $0.99, it’s a great deal, and includes lots of content to keep you playing and re-playing for quite some time.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goomonsters/id432923253?mt=8