Monthly Archive: October 2011

Casual arcade games have become a staple of the AppStore over the last couple years, so it’s no surprised that this is the genre a lot of developers start off with. OrionArts has chosen this path, and done so wisely. Their first release, AirHead Adam, is a well thought out, easily accessible, perfect for all ages yet still challenging addition to the casual arcade genre.

In the game, you’ll control Adam as he searches the galaxy for his beautiful lost girlfriend, traveling through space in a bubble filled with air. You’ll need to guide Adam by tapping next to his bubble to push him in the opposite direction and gather air bubbles to keep him breathing, and stars to get upgrades. There’s also various hazards and obstacles in each level that you will need to destroy or avoid in order to progress through the game. Rocks, aliens, and space ships that shoot at you are around corners, and sometimes you’ll get boxed in by one, two, or all three of these. To get out of it, you’ll need to tap on Adam, and drag in the direction of the object you want to destroy, and he will shoot out some of his air in a bubble that will explode when it hits whatever object you’ve aimed at, and if you hit a space ship, collectable stars come flying out of it. You’ve got to be careful though, because this takes away from your air supply, and running out of air is a game over.

This brings us to the IAPs. Now, at first, these might turn you off. Chances are, you’ll earn about 120 or so stars in the first 4 levels, and in the shop, upgrades to power-ups are all 1000 stars for the first upgrade, and more after that, and new characters are 4500 stars. With that, you might start thinking that it will take until level 30 or something to unlock one upgrade. However, at the end of your game, when you die, you are given the option to redeem stars that you have earned throughout your game while achieving various achievements. Things like getting 20 bubbles in a row, or 15 stars in one level, and these add up VERY quickly. At the end of my first game, I made it to level 9 on the easy levels, and ended up with 1500+ stars after everything was said and done. So gamers are not pushed as hard towards the IAP as you might think at first.

AirHead Adam is supported by OpenFeint and GameCenter, as well as having FaceBook and Twitter options to upload and share your high-scores. Within OF and GC, there’s a whole slew of leader boards to try and top, including ones for Best Overall Score, Best Overall Time, Total Easy Mode Score, Total Normal Mode Score, Total Hard Mode Score, your Best Time In Easy, Normal, and Hard, your Best Overall Fast Time, Top Bubble Combo, how many total Stars Collected, and more, along with 47 achievements. You can play the game slow and steady, collecting all the bubbles you can, or fast and dangerous, collecting only the minimum amount of bubbles, and getting to the end of each level as quick as you can. Both ways of playing have leader boards, and with that, it adds quite a bit of replay value on top of the leader boards, because you’ll want to go back and see how quick you can get through the levels if at first you went slow, getting the highest bubble combo you could, or go through slow, getting as many bubbles as you can if you flew through the levels the first time. There’s loads of planned updates, and right now the game is priced as free, so it’s definitely worth checking out, as even if you don’t buy any IAP stars, there’s plenty of gameplay to keep you entertained, as well as challenged. OrionArts has definitely proven that they know exactly what it takes to make a cute, fun, challenging casual arcade game that’s good for all ages, as well as keeping it full of gameplay even though it’s free, while giving gamers the option to support them through IAPs that are not necessary to complete the game. If they keep up this basic model with future games, they could very well be sitting pretty on top of a fairly large list of titles.

AirHead Adam gets a score of 8 out of 10.

Multiplayer games on mobile devices have become a pretty big deal, especially within the first and third person shooter genres. I remember starting off with Eliminate, then moving onto Archetype, Exo-Planet, NOVA and Modern Combat. Now multiplayer fanatics have a new title to obsess over; Warm Gun by Emotional Robots, the first to use the Unreal Engine and it’s amazing graphics capabilities.

You are able to play on or off line. In offline mode, you are able to choose between 5 different environments, each with different places to hide, open areas to battle it out, and different stories to climb up to and jump down from. You are also able to choose between 4 different characters; The 49’er, who has a pistol, shotgun, and Molotov cocktail. The Blacksmith, who has a HUGE hammer, massive machine gun, and exploding cans. The Shaman, who is equipped with an electrocution stick, SMG, and exploding bottles, and last, but not at all least, The Preacher, who wields dual pistols, a riffle, and also has exploding bottles. Each of the characters has their own strengths and weaknesses, and which one you pick and get comfortable with will depend on your style of play, but rest assured, there is a character for you. Offline Mode runs very smooth, and is a great place to learn the maps, and each of the different characters, and until the multiplayer mode picks up, and more players get online, as well as the framerate issues get fixed, you can expect to play in Offline Mode quite a bit.

For controls right now, there are 3 options. One joystick, dual sticks, or 3 joysticks, and all are able to use swiping on the screen to move, as well as tapping on the screen to fire. You can hold down the second or third joystick on the last two control options and keep firing while moving your crosshairs with pretty good precision. However, when moving around, and swiping on the screen, once you let go, you will keep spinning a little bit, making the precision for finding a character, stop movement and start firing pretty frustrating. The developers are looking into this though, and are working on implementing more of a Modern Combat type control scheme.

The big question, is Warm Gun worth the price? $5.00 for a Universal version, using the Unreal Engine, and, after the issues are taken care of, and people start actually getting online, what could possibly be the best multiplayer experience, surpassing even Modern Combat 2. It’s probably better to look at is as an investment. The developers are extremely active on the Touch Arcade forums, and are listening to feedback from every member who is posting there. They are hard at work on fixing the performance issues, as well as making the controls nice and tight, and giving players as many control options as they can, giving players the option to start up and host their own games, and adding more content to the game. When it is completed, what you will have is one of the most amazing online multiplayer FPS titles to ever come along on any mobile gaming device. Right now, it’s nice to have it to learn the maps, and characters, in preparation for when the game is stable enough for smooth and solid online play. If you’re a huge fan of multiplayer gameplay, Warm Gun is a must buy. If you’re still teetering on the idea of buying it, you should check out the companion title, Warm Gun: Carnival of Bullets; which is a sort of training course for Warm Gun. In it, you can get use to the controls, check out the brilliant graphics, and get to know the characters. You will not have access to the original title’s maps, but you will be able to get a really good feel for the game. But if you want instant gratification, you might be better off waiting for an update or two.

Warm Gun gets a score of 7 out of 10.

Version Reviewed; Version 1.04

Reviewed On; 4th Generation iPod Touch – iOS 4.3.3

It really seems like iOS RPG games have all pretty much been re-skins of previous releases, all following in the same suit, and getting spoon fed to gamers through the AppStore. There’s hardly any originality anymore, and even if there is, it’s generally only one little aspect. Thankfully, The Game Bakers have come to the rescue with their new release, Squids. It’s a stretch back and flick controlled exploratory strategy action game with a well crafted story, turn based combat, items to equip, and characters to level up. In other words, a new breed within the RPG genre.

In Squids, you’ll control 4 characters as you try and save the depths of the ocean from being overrun by an evil force called The Ooze that takes control of it’s host, and turns it evil. There are 21 beautifully hand drawn and painted levels to try and make it through by choosing which 4 out of 7 characters you would like to use. There are 4 different classes that each of the seven characters will fall under; Shooter: these characters can shoot projectiles at enemies that are within range. Trooper: these characters pack quite a punch. Scout: scouts have a boost ability, which means they can make it into some sections that other characters can not, and will almost always be able to get to the end of the level before everyone else. They can also use their boost ability (which is done by tapping on the screen after you’ve flicked them) to increase damage done to enemies, or hit them a couple of consecutive times. Lastly, Healer: healer characters are generally pretty weak, but if you bump into another character with a healer character, they will heal that character.

Now, to get to one of my favorite mechanics of the whole game. The hats that you are able to equip from the shop. Hats are hidden throughout levels in clams and treasure chests, and you can also unlock some hats after beating certain levels. The hats that you find in-game will be free once you get to the shop, and the hats that you unlock by completing levels will cost pearls. But, once you get a hat, you’ll notice they have stats, like heightened strength, defense, HP, but here’s the cool part, you can transfer those stats permanently over to the class of characters that the hat is made for. So if you get a hat that your scouts can equip, and it adds 2 hit points, 3 defense points, and 1 attack point, those points can be transferred over to all of your scouts, then your scouts will keep those points even if the hat is not equipped. It’s a very nice addition to the game mechanics, and really surprised me when I first noticed you could transfer stats over. Right away, it was one of the things I was telling people about, because I’ve never seen this done in a game before.

The game includes GameCenter support with a leader board and 22 achievements, so along with the star rankings, hidden stars, and training level, there’s more replay value than you’d first think with this being an RPG game. Squid’s story is well written and engaging, and the gameplay is packed full of action mixed with loads of strategy. It’s hard to believe the game is only $0.99, with the game lasting about 5 or 6 hours for your first play through, not including the amount of time it‘ll take to go back and get all the stars you missed the first time around or the amount of time you‘ll sink into training or getting the achievements/working up the leader boards. The Game Bakers have announced that they’re going to be releasing an iPad version in about a month, but if you really can’t wait, you can think of the iPod version as a 99 cent pre-release preview. It will be a little blurry on the big screen, but manageable. If you’re a fan of adventure, action, RPG or strategy games, this one is definitely a must buy. The developers are hard at work making the iPad version, as well as making the original even better by taking suggestions.

Squids gets a perfect score of 10 out of 10, along with a strong recommendation.

Shoot-em-up games have been making a huge comeback over the last couple years. Mainly because you can now play old favorites like R-Type, Earth Defense Force, Galaga and Battle Squadron as well as newer games, like Fast Striker, Deathsmiles, ESPGaluda and DoDonPachi all on a mobile device with touch screen controls that make previously hard to pull off with a joystick moves as easy as swiping your finger across a screen. Mixed in with these classics and new favorites, we’ve been given quite a few new and amazing bullet hell and shmup titles. Enborn-X, by Lantansia, is yet another example of this.

This endless boss battle structured game is a blast to play. There’s two different control methods, both being tight and easy to use. One option is a joystick, while the other is relative touch control, and both have 3 different buttons for attack options. Each attack has it’s own percs as well as weaknesses. Your spread shot can cancel out certain types of shots from the bosses, while some projectile shots go right through your bullets, a laser that you need to charge while avoiding the onslaught of bullets coming your way, and an incredibly strong up close and personal punch attack that, well, you need to be up close and personal to use.

The graphics and animations in Enborn-X are very exuberant, and it can sometimes be hard to focus when each new boss is spawned from the orb that you’ll be fighting. The animations for this are great, each bit being flung out of the last in true overdone anime style. In short, it looks awesome. The animations for your character are pretty typical of shooters, but match the style of the game very well. It would be nice to see one or two more moves incorporated to the melee attacking, as right now you punch twice over and over again, adding in a kick or super twirl punch or something would have been a great addition, but as it is, you’ll be focusing more on how much damage you’re doing with those punches than what your character looks like while pulling them off. The sounds and music go together with the anime style too, being full of energy, and adding to the overall feel of the game.

Now, with the game being done in true anime style, it’s amazing that it’s only $1.99, as most anime entertainment is usually premium priced, and with the amount of replay value, and the sheer exaggerated amount of action that’s in the game, $1.99 is a great price. EnbornX is also Universal, and compatible with iCade, giving gamers even more reason to lay down a couple bucks for it. Of course, a high-scoring game like this wouldn’t be complete without OpenFeint and GameCenter leader boards, now would it? Highest score and highest stage boards are included, as well as having 15 different hard to snag achievements. Lantansia has proven that they can make an over the top game that fits within the growing genre as well as expands it. Hopefully we can see another mode or maybe more weapons and characters in future updates, but right now, if you’re a fan of the genre, Enborn-X is a great buy.

Enborn-X gets a score of 8 out of 10.

RunDaLine is a new casual runner game by Randerline GMBH in which you guide Pancho the skunk through 50 levels by controlling the terrain that he runs on. In order to progress through the game, you’ll need to collect a certain amount of coins, keeping them until you reach the finish line, while avoiding hazards that can cause you to loose your collected coins, or end your run all-together.

The controls in RunDaLine are done pretty well, and are responsive and tight. You’ll control the terrain that Pancho is running on by dragging your finger up and down on the screen, moving the terrain up and down, creating hills and dips while Pancho runs along. You can also make him jump by tapping in the upper corner of the screen. You are able to use your right or left thumbs, and whichever you prefer, the set-up makes it so that what obsticles are coming at you are displayed on the opposite side of the screen than where you’re touching, so that your fingers don’t get in the way. However, this setting is not saved after you exit the game, so if you would like to use your left hand, and be able to see everything coming at you better than if you’re using your right hand, you’ll need to go into the pause menu and change the control settings every time you play the game.

Graphics-wise, RunDaLine is pretty simple looking. Nothing too impressive, but it is smooth and the animations for Pancho running and jumping are done decently well, and so are the animations for the objects when you run into them. The environments are pretty bland, there’s clouds in the sky and hills in the background, neither of which have any detail, and the terrain that you run on is shaded nicely, but also lacks any real detail, no grass spots, no shrubs. Each of the 5 different worlds environments are only different in color. It would be nice to see some additions to the environments, and maybe some animation additions to the objects/hazards you’re trying to avoid, instead of only having an animation for when you hit them, maybe seeing the bomb’s wick be on fire, and moving while the fire gets closer to the bomb, or seeing the cloud with a lightning bolt in it have a little rain coming out of it that doesn’t reach the ground, just falls about half a centimeter from the cloud then disappears with a little bit of electricity going around the lightning bolt, little things like this would give the game some personality and add to the polished look of it, because right now, it looks like an un-finished demo version.

RunDaLine is supported by GameCenter, and has 6 different leader boards, one for the amount of coins you’ve collected in each world, and one for your total amount of coins collected, there’s also 12 achievements, and with the 3 coin (like star) ratings for each level, does, like usual, add quite a bit to the replay value, which is good, because completing the whole game took about an hour. The game is also not randomized, so you can go through a level multiple times, and memorize it, eventually being able to get a perfect run through maximizing your total score. The blandness of the environments, lack of animations, lack of new content as you progress through the game, and the game not saving your control settings are all things that could easily be fixed in an update or two. But right now, with the game being $0.99, it is a nice casual, level-based runner that’s accessible to gamers of all ages. My 4 year old nephew had no problems getting the controls and gameplay mechanics down, and it’s still challenging enough to keep me entertained, but I do hope to see more added to it in the future.

RunDaLine gets a score of 6 out of 10.

Links;

Full Version – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rundaline/id466913132?mt=8

Website – http://www.randerline.com/

Version Reviewed; 1.0.0

Reviewed On; 4th Generation iPod Touch – iOS 4.3.3

Casual games with a story don’t really come around too often, and casual games with a long, deep, and well thought out story are pretty much non-existent. This is where Parogames Limited breaks the mold with their recently released title, Parodise. In this action/defense swiping game, you’ll learn about Parodise, your main character, Dumy-667, his supposed partner, Dumy-666, as well as his… boss, Yody, GOD, and Doomy.

To get through each day in Parodise, you’ll need to defend yourself against Doomy, a Dumy who has changed due to an insane amount of bottled up negative emotions, who will constantly be throwing objects at you. To do this, you’ll need to swipe on either the left, right, or both sides of Dumy-667, slicing each of these objects in two with your swords, but waiting until they get as close to your body as you can. Each object you successfully slice will add to your Soul Absorber, which, when full, will let you perform a super slash move that slices all the objects on the screen. Each time you get hit, you’ll loose one of two flames burning on the Holy Fire Defense System. Loose both flames and get hit again, and you’ll have to replay the level, but if you loose a flame, then slice an object, adding to your Soul Absorber, it will re-light the flame. Starting to sound confusing? Just wait until you really get into the story. Along with the Story Mode, there’s also a DOJO Mode, Hardcore Mode, Master Mode, and Panties Mode, each of which is unlocked by completing certain objectives in the previous Mode, thought these can be pretty challenging, and time consuming to unlock, once you do, it adds endless replayabilty to the game.

The graphics in Parodise are done in a nice and polished cartoony theme, with pretty interesting environments. The animations for all of the objects are done very well, adding loads of personality to the game, and everything in it. The music and effects give the game that real casual type feeling, and placed on top of the action filled gameplay actually fits perfectly with the game. This casual game with a deep, humorous, and profound story.

GameCenter is supported, with 63 achievements, and 4 leader boards, one for each of the unlockable Modes. There’s not a whole lot of replay value in the Story Mode, but with 4 endless Modes, there’s plenty to replay. Parodise is $1.99, and Universal, and right now is on sale for $0.99. This has quickly become one of my personal favorite casual games, and is so easy to recommend to everyone, hardcore gamers to casual gamers, this game will satisfy you in ways you never thought a casual game could. It’s addictive, funny, serious, challenging, and after the first couple days and little bit of story, you’ll start feeling for Dumy-667, feeling bad for him, rooting for him, and wondering what the hell is going on, all at the same time. This is one game no one should miss out on. Parogames has shown us with their first iOS release, that they are in this for the long haul, and are willing to put more work into their game than almost every other casual game developer.

Parodise gets a score of 9 out of 10.

Also be sure to check out the Parogames Website for more information and background story on Parodise!

Version Reviewed; V 1.0

Reviewed On; 4th Generation iPod Touch – iOS 4.3.3

FlyMe2TheMoon is a new action-adventure game with an anime theme developed and released by miHoYo Studio. In the game, you will guide your character, Kiana, with a “one button/slide to play” control scheme, through 60 different levels. There are 4 different styles, or modes, that each of the levels fall into; Adventure, Puzzle, Racing, and Survival. Each is as it sounds, in the Adventure levels, you’ll explore the levels looking for the 3 stars, and collecting all of the diamonds that you can before reaching the moon at the end of the level. Puzzle levels have different paths you’ll need to take to get through the levels, sometimes backtracking and going back through different paths in order to collect all of the 3 stars. Racing levels are set up so that you get more points the quicker you make it through the level, and Survival levels have quite a few hazards that you will need to out maneuver for a certain amount of time while waiting to move onto the next section in order to survive and make it to the end of the level.

To move Kiana through the levels, you’ll need to hold underneath her to start up her jetpack, and then keep your finger underneath her, and slide it to the right to move her left, and to the left to move her right. It might sound like it’s a weird control setup, but it’s not really, and feels very fluid and becomes comfortable fairly quickly. Throughout the game, you’ll come across lasers, spikes, wind tunnels, timed bricks that close behind you, as well as many more little obstacles and hazards that will effect how quickly, how carefully, and which paths you decide to take while going from level to level. At the beginning or end of some of the levels, you’ll get bits and pieces of Kiana’s story, learning why she’s in this place, and some background of her past. The story is well written, and does add quite a bit to the game, knowing why a character is stuck in a particular place always kind of makes these types of games feel more polished and thought out than others without any sort of story at all.

The graphics are done extremely well, and look beautiful on retina display. Each of the four different types of levels has a different environmental feel to it, and the music fits this beautiful graphical display to a t. The animations for all of the environmental hazards and obstacles are done extremely well, and give everything within the level a degree of personality. However, the animations for Kiana are kind of weird looking. Whenever she is moved left or right, or falling downward, she waves her arms around and has a facial expression that makes you think she is freaking out like a little school girl seeing a rat at her feet. It kind of takes away from the confidence that’s portrayed by Kiana throughout the story.

There are GameCenter leader boards for each of the 4 worlds, as well as a total score, and 17 achievements, all of which combined with the 3 stars you’ll have to collect, 180 in total, add quite a bit to the replay value. $0.99 is a great price for the amount of polish, content, and replay ability that’s all thrown into FlyMe2TheMoon, and if you’re a fan of anime themed games, $0.99 should be considered a great price. Aside from the character animations, I should also mention that FlyMe2TheMoon does not run on 2nd GEN devices or older at the moment, but the developers have said that they are working on a fix, so look for that in an update. But with 60 levels, all of which are very well thought out, with most of them taking more than one or two tries to collect the 3 stars within them, and how great the environments, hazards, and obstacles all look combined with how well they all interact with each other comes together to create an amazing action-adventure-puzzle gaming experience. MiHoYo has easily gotten on my list of developers to keep an eye on with this release, and I can not wait to see what they come up with next.

FlyMe2TheMoon gets a score of 9 out of 10.

Links;

Full Version – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flyme2themoon/id467894515?mt=8

Website – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flyme2themoon/id467894515?mt=8

Version Reviewed; V 1.0

Reviewed On; 4th Generation iPod Touch – iOS 4.3.3

Finger Gravity is a new physics based action puzzler developed by Wode Mobile. In the game, you’ll guide a hi-tech triangle through 39 intense levels, and two mini-games, each a way to perfect and test your skills. To navigate through the levels, you’ll need to tap on the screen in the direction you want your triangle to move, a line will then be drawn from your finger to the triangle, pulling it towards you.

Once you let go, the triangle will keep it’s momentum until either hitting a wall, or being pulled in another direction by another finger tap. Various hazards, obstacles, and enemies add quite a bit of challenge to the game while you try and snag each of the 3 well placed blue stars within each of the levels. With some skill, and maybe a little luck, you’ll be able to earn a 3 star ranking. To achieve a 3 star ranking, you’ll need to score over 8,000 points which are added up based on how many of the blue stars you grab, how quickly you do it, and how much total life, which is measured by a circle inside of your triangle, and slowly recharges, you’ve lost while bouncing off of walls and running into enemies. Scoring between 7,000 and 7,999 gives you 2 stars, and 6,999 to 5,000 will give you 1 star. Anything 4,999 and lower, and you will not be given a star.

To unlock the mini-games, you’ll need to get 30 stars for Finger Dodge, in which you guide your triangle around an open screen dodging mines and enemies that come flying towards you, and collecting stars that spawn in various places around the screen. Collecting a certain amount of stars will give you a shield which you can use to crash into the mines and enemies, adding to your points. 72 collected stars gives you access to the Finger Maze, where, you guessed it, you navigate through a maze as quick as you can.

The hazards, obstacles and enemies all fit together very nicely. There’s timed lasers, 8-sided cannons, pulsating mines, gravity orbs, rubber walls, portals, spider type enemies that move along a straight path, space ship type enemies that move in circles, and various types of walls/square objects to navigate around and through. All of these are used to put together some very interesting level designs, most of which have a quick and challenging solution to them, while others require a very slow, methodic, and well thought out course in order to get to the glowing green exit.

The graphics are done in a very polished and colorful vector style, while the animations add quite a bit of personality to almost everything within the levels. The music adds a sci-fi, outer space sort of feel to the whole game, while combined with the graphics create a great atmosphere.

Finger Gravity is supported by GameCenter, with a leader board for your total combined score of all 39 levels, along with 13 achievements. The replay value is pretty high, and it should take gamers a while to complete the game, especially if they want to snag all 117 stars. The difficulty level is pretty high on this one, and you should expect many, many deaths while making your way to the end of the game. You are aloud 5 level skips, in case you’re finding a level or two too hard, and just want to come back to them later, but being able to take your time in each level, almost all gamers, casual, and hardcore, will be able to see the end. The only bad thing I can say about Finger Gravity is that the framerate can get a little low, causing your triangle to skip a bit, and then disappear and end up somewhere else on the screen. With the game needing precision movements in order to get 3 star rankings, or even beat a level, experiencing these drops in framerate and skips can get pretty frustrating. It doesn’t happen every now and again, it’s very noticeable, in almost every level. Once this is fixed, Finger Gravity could definitely turn out to be one of the best games of the genre. At the moment, for $0.99, it’s worth picking up, because if you’re careful, and go through the levels slowly, the framerate issues won’t cause you too many “crashing into walls, enemies, or hazards” problems, but it will effect your score since your score is 1/3 based on speed, but this is a game that will keep your interest so long as a performance enhancement update is pushed out fairly quickly.

Finger Gravity gets a score of 7 out of 10.

Version Reviewed: V 1.0

Reviewed On; 4th Generation iPod Touch – iOS 4.3.3