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M.U.S.E. (Ayopa Games/Lab Rats Studio)

M.U.S.E., the long awaited arcade-style, third-person shooter by Lab Rats Studio and Ayopa Games, has finally launched in the App Store. In the wake of several other amazing shooters that have been released this year, like Shadowgun and Modern Combat 3, M.U.S.E. may seem inferior in terms of graphic quality. But in the end, there is so much that sets this game apart from its competitors that you really can’t deny how fun the game is.
You play as Sid Tripp, a freakishly ripped agent for the government agency M.U.S.E. Your goal is to stop Physcosis, a villain who is pushing for world domination. The story of M.U.S.E. is told during the game through comic style cut scenes. These provide a nice break in the action and are very well produced.
The first thing about the game that I need to note is that the visuals in M.U.S.E. are not quite top notch. Although they are highly detailed, some aspect of the graphics is out of place making the game seem a bit flat.  I don’t want to be too critical, and even though some of the textures are a little rough, if you put the flatness aside the visuals actually match well with the arcade nature of the game.  The color scheme creates a mood of destruction and conveys this feeling of a corrupted world. Now, that is just my opinion, but hopefully you will appreciate the artwork that way as well.
In terms of gameplay, M.U.S.E. effectively combines third-person cover-based shooting with intense non-stop arcade blasting.  Kill your enemies with bullets or grenades, and while you are at it unload on a car and watch it burst into flames. One of the coolest features in the game is the arcade-style scoring system. Rack up points and multipliers when you quick kill enemies or when you destroy parts of the environment.  Building on the arcade scoring, a neat feature called “adrenaline mode” boosts the points that you gain through kills and destruction. Basically, when you kill stuff your adrenaline gauge fills up. Fill it up all the way and Sid shoots himself in the leg, unleashing his rage on everything that you point the cross hairs at.  Adrenaline mode puts the game in a sort of slow-mo and enemies are outlined with a thick, flashy red line. This, along with the arcade-style aspect of M.U.S.E., makes the game experience deeper than your average shooter. Also, you can compete with your friends via GameCenter and OpenFeint leaderboards.
The level design is fairly linear, but this meshes perfectly with the non-stop gunning action. This is not a game where you want to lolligag around and sight-see. You want to go into the mission, set your cross hairs, and blast your way through. The linear level design prevents any confusion and makes the game even more of a blast to play.
There is also a deeper side to M.U.S.E. Character upgrades are not often found in iOS shooters, but the Lab Rats went all out.  As you play, you have access to over 80 unique upgrades to Sid and his weapons. Character upgrades range from max health and max speed, to adrenaline time and combo window. Weapon upgrades include damage, fire radius, clip size, and others.  The upgrades are a huge plus for M.U.S.E. and give it an edge over other shooters on the market.
In terms of device compatability, M.U.S.E. runs perfectly well on my iPhone 4, but I have heard that there is some lag on lower devices. For higher end devices like the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, you get to enjoy Air Play mirroring on the big screen. One other neat feature is iCloud integration.
The production of M.U.S.E. has been a crazy adventure for Lab Rats Studio, and they deserve a round of applause for following through with the project and getting it out on the App Store. So you know, just over a year ago, the guys at Lab Rats Studio were students in the game development program at Wake Technical Community College. To Lab Rats, congratulations on the release and I hope you continue to bring innovative titles to iOS. To our readers, definitely give M.U.S.E. a try. This is only episode one, so lets hope future episodes arrive soon. http://itunes.apple.com/app/m.u.s.e./id477764716?mt=8
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December 20, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

New Christmas Freebies!

The sales will continue to roll in for a while, but here are a couple stand-outs hot off the press.

!!!Jetpack Joyride!!!





If you missed this from the Facebook promotion, definitely don’t pass this up a second time. Halfbrick has put nothing but genius into this game.

!!!Velocispider!!!





Buy ME


This is an awesome take on the Space Invaders alien defense shooter genre, and it doesn’t take much effort to go and download this now. Go get it.

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December 19, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Mike V: Skateboard Party (Ratrod Studio)

The skateboarding genre is relatively untapped in the App Store. Games like Skater Nation and Skate It shined in their day, but they have since grown old and stale. A new open-world skateboard game from Ratrod Studio has just landed on iTunes and it plays like a blast from the past.

Controls are the selling point for this game. In most games, controls are what make or break the bank, and in Mike V: Skateboard party they nailed it. A joystick controls movement while 4 buttons are arranged in an orbital fashion to pull of jumps, grinds and almost any trick imaginable. Just about everything about the controls can be adjusted, from the size of the buttons to their placement. While the controls are smooth, the player movement is a bit clunky. When you start moving, there will be a bit of a lurch and then you will zoom off. But this doesn’t detract from the whole experience.

Another area that shines in this game is customization. From, looks, to shoes, to boards wheels and trucks, nearly everything about your player can be customized. Even better, almost everything that you change, from trucks to shoes, will affect how you play the game. This alone earns Ratrod Studio a big round of applause because no other mobile skateboarding game has really gone this deep.

In terms of variety of gameplay, Ratrod Studio has done a marvelous job as well.  Any open-world skateboarding game, no matter how great it looks or plays, will bore gamers to death if all you do is ride around in one area with absolutely no goal.  This game excels here in that you have 5 “massive” locations to choose from  along with three game modes, Career, Versus Multiplayer, and Free Ride. The locations are all fairly expansive and although devoid of life, there are plenty of obstacles and ramps to jump over, ride around, grind on, or ram into.  Different themes like the dark indoor skatepark or junkyard and the more pleasant, open community center shake up the mood of the game and add the overall console-like experience. In Career mode, you will play to gain experience and upgrade your character.  Upgrades range from speed and balance to spin, and leveling up these traits will help you dominate in multiplayer. In the Versus Multiplayer mode, you compete against one other player and see who can rack up the most points. Share your scores and domination via built-in Twitter and Facebook integration.  This is a pretty big addition to the other two game modes, and the social aspect gives the game a competitive edge. Free Ride speaks for itself. Just pick a location, and practice your tricks.

From the standpoint of someone who has played almost every console Tony Hawk game along with all of the iPhone skateboarding games like Skater Nation, Skate It, Mike V: Do or Die, TouchGrind etc., Skateboard Party is a near console-like experience. Although graphic quality needed to be compromised a bit to support lower-end devices, they still look better than the older skateboarding games. Also, with all of the features that are included in the game, it is amazing that this is an iOS game. Definitely join the party and see what all the buzz is about. Mike V: Skateboard Party is selling at a mere $1.99.

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December 19, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Crescent Moon Games Holiday Blowout!



Crescent Moon Games, the publisher/developer behind epic titles such as Aralon: Sword and Shadow and Gears are holding what could be the biggest Holiday sale yet. Nearly all of their titles are on sale for less than a buck. Check out the list:

Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD – $6.99 → $.99
Evertales – $1.99 → $.99
Deadlock: Online – $.99 → Free
Gears – $2.99 → $.99
Pocket RPG for iPhone – $2.99 → $.99
Pocket RPG – $4.99 → $2.99
Rimelands: Hammer of Thor – $4.99 → $.99
Siegecraft – $2.99 → $.99


If I must recommend one, I would say Aralon is the best bang for the buck. For less than a cheeseburger you get an entire world to explore. Not to mention that a recent update just added in new areas and baddies. If you want more of a casual title, definitely give Gears a spin. I don’t think there is a better ball roller out there. I hope you guys enjoy all of the Holiday sales out there. We will be back with more.

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December 19, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Bulkypix and FireFruitForge’s retro platformer, Terra Noctis hits the AppStore tonight!

–=TERRA NOCTIS=–
Last week, we posted an announcement for developer, FireFruitForge’s title, Terra Noctis (being published by Bulkypix). If you didn’t have a chance to read the announcement, you can here. Terra Noctis is a retro-inspired platformer, influenced by the likes of Super Mario Brothers, and Donkey Kong, and has quite a bit of exploration tossed in, which expands the gameplay and level design quite a bit. Well, after obsessing over the game for the last couple of weeks, we’ll finally be able to gush over the game with everyone else.
40 levels spread across 4 worlds, each having 100% completion available. To get it, you’ll need to grab 15 red fairies, which are scattered throughout the levels, the large gold coin, which is almost always hidden in a harder to reach area, and 5 orbs with letters in them, spelling out S-C-A-R-E. You can also track your stats, like how many gold coins you’ve collected, how many enemies you’ve killed, how many fairies you’ve collected, your total distance ran, fallen, and more.
The controls, graphics, physics, animations, level designs, gameplay mechanics, they are all top notch and extremely professional. The story in Terra Noctis is also a high point within the game. The main character, a little nightmare creature named Allen, is attending the local Nightmare School, but with the teachings, he’s still not quite scary enough. Then, after failing a test, he reads a local legend that says “Eat the heart of the scariest nightmare and become a scary nightmare, too.” Here is where his journey begins to become the scariest nightmare in the land.
Terra Noctis will be available tonight at 11PM, EST, and 8PM PST, in the US. It is a Universal app, and is also supported by OpenFeint, as well as having iCade computability. It’s easily one of the best platformers in the AppStore, if not the best, and ranks up there among the best platformers released on all consoles/platforms over the last 25+ years. FireFruitForge has definitely given gamers an exploratory platformer that hits all the right gaming nerves in our little video game obsessed brains. If you’re a fan of the genre, DO NOT let yourself miss out on this amazing game. Even if you’re not a fan of the genre, you should pick this one up, it might just make you a platformer freak.
You can also expect to see The App Shack’s review posted up tomorrow, if you’d like to wait and read some more in-depth information about the game.
You can also get some more info about the game on the FireFruitForge website;
on the Touch Arcade’s Upcoming Games Thread;
TA’s Main Game Thread;
and –
The Bulkypix Webiste;
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December 19, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Countdown to Christmas Promocode Giveaway: Updated with new games


Each day before Christmas we will give away a promo code of an iOS game (apps in giveaway listed below) to two of the contest entrants. We will contact you through the method of contact from which you entered and deliver the promo code into your hands.
If you have won a code you still have a chance to win more throughout the Countdown.

You can enter in three different ways:

  • Tweeting about the site or the contest. Include our account name in your tweet (@TheAppShack) 

Sample Tweet- I just entered the Countdown to Christmas Promocode Giveaway from @TheAppShack!!! Enter here: http://bit.ly/thqZWe

  • Liking us on Facebook. (Email us with the name you liked us under)
          • Emailing us at TheAppShack@gmail.com with suggestions and tips for the giveaway or the site in general.

Be sure to follow our Twitter account to stay up to date on what apps are included in the giveaway and who won the latest contest.

Promo Codes you could win:

EPOCH. (3 codes) Universal
Mage Gauntlet (1 codes) iPhone only
Fargoal (5 codes) iPhone only
Saucelifter (2 codes) Universal
Phoenix(6 codes) iPhone only
Shadowgun(4 codes) Universal *Special Rules to win this code
Blobster Christmas (1 code)
Invader Zurp (1 code)
Sleepy Jack (1 code)
More apps will be added to the contest shortly

We thank our sponsors that have generously donated their codes to this awesome contest.

*In order to win the Shadowgun code you have to compose a tweet that says:
Tweet this message and follow both @MADFINGERGames and @TheAppShack in order to win a code of Shadowgun. Enter here:

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December 18, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Wind Up Robots – 0.99 (Soma Games)

As I said in our review for the Bulkypix title, Funny Hell, base defense games have gained quite a bit of fans in the AppStore. The iDevice is a prefect platform for the genre, and almost all of them do well in the AppStore, because the genre has such a dedicated following. However, it’s hard to find one that brings something new and original to the table. Here’s where Soma Games (developers of Bok Choy Boy and a favorite of mine, G: Into The Rain) picks up at with their release of Wind Up Robots, a base defense game with a fantastic story, loads of polish, an awesome upgrade system, and great gameplay. You’ll control various robots that have been built by Jack, the grandfather of a young boy named Zach. These robots are used to vanquish the darkness that dwells within the world. You’ll use them to guard Zach of the evil that’s trying to get at him while he sleeps.

In order to do this, you’ll need to equip your robot box with the robots that you want to use for the stage. As you progress through the game, more robots are added to your arsenal. Once you have your set-up, and start the level, each of the robots are shown at the bottom of the screen. To select them, all you need to do is tap on them, and then tap on where you want them to go on the bed where Zach’s sleeping. While you do this, evil creatures will start spawning at the end of the bed, and will be making their way towards you. If you end up placing your robots on the edges of the bed, you might just miss the evil creatures walking in the middle, so it’s best to have them placed more towards the head of the bed, at least at first. With this lay-out, you risk not being able to defeat the creatures before they run into Zach’s head, taking away his “Z’s”. So in the beginning of the game, there is quite a bit of risk/reward, and strategy in where you place your robots. After a couple levels, you can start using the shop to upgrade your robots with the coins that are picked up as you defeat enemies in-game. Here, you can increase their attack, defense, speed, and more, making it easier to place them in various places around the bed, not needing to risk them passing you and running directly into Zach. The money you collect, as well as the upgrades you purchase also carry over to a new game, which is awesome. If the game becomes too difficult, starting over can drastically decrease the challenge depending on how upgraded your robots are. This comes in handy, especially when younger kids are playing.
On top of the Story Mode, there is also a Quick Play Mode, in which you’re able to play through each of the levels which you’ve already been to in the Story Mode, as well as a Survival Level for each of the 4 rooms that you’ll be playing in. This helps bring the replay value up significantly.
The graphics and animations in Wind Up Robots are incredibly well done. They create an atmosphere that totally immerses gamers in to the gameplay. Considering the monsters only come out at night, you will be playing in dark rooms throughout the game, but because of this, the robots bight colors, and the light given off by them while taking care of the creatures, really stands out in a fantastic way. It’s not so dark that you are unable to see the objects found throughout the rooms, which is great, because they really give you the feeling that this is a house with a young boy living in it. Really, the game’s graphics and animations remind me of Disney movies, Toy Story in particular. The music is also a great addition to the atmosphere of the game, bringing the entire gameplay experience around, full-circle, making it an incredibly smooth, polished, fun game to get yourself wrapped up in.
For $0.99, and the game being Universal, it’s a fantastic buy. GameCenter is included, with 4 leaderboards for the Quick Play Survival Levels, adding even more replay value to the game. There are also 22 achievements to try and unlock, which also throws quite a bit of replay value at ya. The gameplay is suited for both adults, and kids, though it can get pretty challenging, which is where the carried over upgrades comes into play. If you’re a fan of base-defense games, and are looking for something new and original, Wind Up Robots is a perfect title to pick up. Soma Games has done an incredibly good job, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in the future, both with updates for Wind Up Robots, and for future games they might end up releasing!
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December 17, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Loads of Updates, and Notable Sales and Freebies!

November+December. It’s probably the busiest couple of months for the gaming industry, especially the AppStore. An INSANE amount of sales, freebies, updates, and let’s not forget some of the best releases of the year. Here are a few updates that have been recently released, all of which are for games that are worth checking out if you don’t have them already. So… here we go!




What’s New in Version 1.1.0?

– New exciting survival mode!
– A new batch of achievements!



What’s New in Version 1.0.7?

*** Most Notable Changes and Improvements in v1.0.7 ***

– Ship and weapon balance changes! Many players have noted that building lots of missile frigates provided a much larger benefit than building larger ships. Ships have been adjusted to bring these more in-line, allowing greater variety in strategic thinking. Please see the forums for a full list of changes.

– Lots of user requested new features!
* Colonists in transit between planets of different star systems now appear as “transporting” icons on the destination planet
* Defending spies now have a change of reporting enemy spy activity in your empire.
* When an item built is reported in the sitrep, the next item in queue for that planet is also listed in the sitrep
* Weapon and system listing in the ship designer are now sorted such that newer technologies are at the top of the list
* Combat at a system now prevents the planets at that system from transporting colonists off of those world. If you want to engage in scorched earth tactics, you will need to do that before your opponent reaches your colony.
* Added “clear all” and “upgrade all” buttons to the race and ship designer
* Added a cancel button to the research dialog

– Lots of bug fixes!




What’s New in Version 1.4?

Special Christmas Update:

• 2 Brand New Levels: SantaVille and Beanstalk
• New character: Yeti
• New Game Mode: Emperor

Plus many other tweaks:

• The SantaVille level introduces a new Capture the Flag mode, while the Beanstalk adds a new endless jumper mode
• You can now unlock any level at anytime
• You can switch to any of the game modes at anytime, to fully complete each one of them
• You can compare your scores to your Game Center friends, right on the loading screen
• Chinese localization
• Bull and Panda character fixes
• Achievements fixes
• plus many more




What’s New in Version 1.1?

* Added unlockable score multipliers – the more you play, the higher your possible score!
* Score combos now continue into and out of power ups – earn more points than ever!
* A new powerup – fly a fighter jet!
* New & colorful characters
* Play your own music from your iPhone
* Twitter support
* Bug fixes & art cleanup



What’s New in Version 1.2?

√ Power Boosts are here! Become Invincible and bounce off of hazards, turn on your Magnetic Field and suck in all the nearby scrap, activate your Force Field Breaker and short-circuit barriers with the slightest touch, or turn on Bonus Scrap and gain twice as much scrap every time you collect.

√ Stuck? Want some inspiration? Help is here. We’ve linked every level to a video walk-through recorded by one of our best players. Watch and learn, then play like the best.

√ Other minor game improvements and fixes.




What’s New in Version 1.5?

Universal iPad/iPhone support.



What’s New in Version 2.0?

* ROAD WARS MULTIPLAYER: Experience the complete multiplayer campaign. Unlock cars and weapons by destroying your opponents. Advance your career. Claim the crown.
* FRIENDS PLAY: Round up your friends on your own Friends Game Channel. Use auto match and never get lost.
* BATTLE MODIFIERS: Turn the odds in your favor. Use Shotgun Blues to make your auto machine gun shoot shotgun shells, or start your race using nitros with Quick Start.
* WAR PAINT: Unique paint job for Shrieker and Vagabond that brings these cars’ performance to a whole new level!
* NEW RANK SYSTEM: From Roadkill to Battle-Hardened Captain, track your progress more accurately than ever before on your way to becoming the Adversary. Carry your shield with pride!

And much, much more in this ENORMOUS Death Rally update!




What’s New in Version 1.1.0?

– ‘The Wraithmaster’ mini-campaign. Includes an exciting new game mode, new enemies and additional content.
– An additional weapon for the Captain. The ‘Dual Pistols’.
– A new ‘Star Rating’ system for all missions. Can you achieve the elusive ‘Five Star Rating’ on hard mode?
– 4 new music tracks to listen to while you battle.
– Drastically improved performance on all supported devices.
– Faster games with quick enemy moves and no more battle report between turns.
– Many more features and fixes.



What’s New in Version 1.5?

– Fix of the stars unlock in level 4;
– Fix of the unlock of one Hell mode achievement;
– Fix of the name appearing below the icon;
– Fixed game icon;
– Speed improvements.



What’s New in Version 1.0.4?

* Hold to break option
* New cold dirt block
* New cobblestone texture
* New clay look and sound
* New mob: chicken
* New mob: birds
* New mob: boar
* New mob: medium spider
* New mob: huge spider
* New mob: huge skull
* New mob: mother slime
* New mob: white rabbit
* New mob: snail
* New mob: bear
* New drops for every mob
* New Meat loots, everything can be cooked now
* Healing Potions
* Mithril Sword
* Consumable items cannot be consumed at maximum health anymore
* Mobs can now spawn according to depth
* Mobs now should properly spawn according to their min/max light values allowed
* Christmas balls that can be placed on spruce trees
* Wrapped box with Christmas goodies around the world!
* New rare componible treasure
* Climbable spiderwebs
* Christmas tree statue
* Snow balls that can be crafted into snow blocks or used as half blocks to decorate
* Snow blocks and snow bricks
* Cold biome
* Spruce trees (can be replanted like normal trees)
* Planting and regrowing of trees/cacti
* Restored stars for damage (blood was unnecessary and quite cruel!)
* Back layer correctly checks the tool that is used to break blocks
* Bone ladders and bone bridges
* Bone torch and purple goo torch
* Durability bars on some items that were unnecessary are not present anymore
* Version number in the title screen
* It’s now possible to hold craft button to keep crafting items
* Automatic version check to warn if an update is available
* Trapdoors
* Tapping a reachable addon will open inventory
* Fixed a bug that allowed items to be placed in X of inventory
* Fixed minor glitches with climbable vines
* Fixed crashes around the edges of the map
* Fixed crash while destroying ladders at the top of the world
* Fixed crash while placing items at the top/bottom of the world
* Fixed crash while opening inventory at the top/bottom of the world
* Inverted position of map button and craftbook button
* Restored timer for throwing items to an higher value
* Added reinforced door
* Changed wood chest craft
* Changed wood door craft
* Apple grows also on blue leaves
* Wood doors now have a chance to break when used




What’s New in Version 1.4?

+ New material allows you to turn objects into breakable ice!
+ 5 brand new ice levels!
+ Bug fixes.

+ IAP: Christmas themed Santa characters added!




–=NOTABLE SALES=–


-=Dead Space/EA — $6.99 -> $0.99
-=Galaxy On Fire 2/Fishlabs — $9.99 -> $4.99


–=NOTABLE FREEBIES=–


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December 17, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Funny Hell – 2.99 (Bulkypix + Fazen)

Real time base defense games have generated quite a following in the iOS gaming world. Cartoon Wars was my, and probably a whole lot of other’s, first foray into this genre. Even though there’s not a whole lot of variety throughout the genre, they really seem to sell well, and are almost always fairly addicting. I recently was able to get my hands on Funny Hell, developed by Fazen and published by the ever popular Bulkypix.

Like others in the genre, Funny Hell has you sending out various characters to battle the enemy. However, in Funny Hell, you’re given a mission or two at the beginning of each stage, which does set it slightly apart from other titles. The first 10 of 50 levels, that are split up across 5 different worlds, each leading you closer to the center of ’hell’, and each having an available 3 ‘skull‘ ranking, are set up like tutorial levels, adding another character to the line-up, and getting you acquainted with the enemies, and gameplay in general. Most of these levels are completed when you send out a certain number of characters, or kill a certain amount of enemies. After this, the gameplay picks up fairly quickly, with the first real stage’s mission having you survive for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, which, believe it or not, can prove to be quite the challenge, not often, but sometimes to a frustrating extent. There are more of these mission type levels as you progress throughout the game, having you save up a certain amount of coinage, or kill a certain amount of one type of enemy. It does add some extra strategy behind the already fairly strategic gameplay. Each of your characters has a certain ability, generally either shooting a projectile, or having a strong attack. There are some which both fire projectiles and melee attack, but cost more as well. You will need to go through some trial and error figuring out which enemies require which units to be sent out to ensure the most possible damage is done, but once you figure it out, deciding when on the battle field they should come into contact with each other also becomes part of the strategy. You’re able to build an offensive attacking stone type character on the side of your base, which tosses projectiles out, but only within a certain range. If you’re having trouble with some enemies, sometimes waiting for them to make it down towards your base so that you can also attack with that stone character is the best course of action. It makes for some challenging, and entertaining gameplay.
There is no upgrade store, which is kind of upsetting, but as you progress through the game,
Funny Hell is controlled like most other base defense titles, tapping on the units you want to send out, which are located at the bottom of the screen, and swiping anywhere else on the screen to scroll left and right. There are also coins which pop up randomly as you are battling, and they bounce along the ground, disappearing fairly quickly, and are picked up by tapping on them. This might become a problem for some gamers, because as the coins are bouncing, sometimes in the heat of the moment, you can wind up trying to tap on a coin, and end up tapping on a unit to be sent out since they are directly beneath the bouncing coins, and when it happens, it can be incredibly frustrating.
The graphics and animations are fantastic. Graphics-wise, the game is fairly cartoony, and very vibrant with loads of color. The character and enemy designs are done very well, and fit the extremely vibrant cartoon looking environments to a “T”. The animations for attacking, movement, falling objects, coins bouncing around, death, they’re all fantastic, really adding quite a bit to the entertainment. The BGM that’s included with the game brings it all together to create one hell of a great base defense game.
Funny Hell is definitely a release that deserves it’s $2.99 price tag, and then some. Being universal, and coupled with incredible replay value, emphasized by the addition of GameCenter leaderboards for Coins, Killed Monsters, and Skulls, along with an incredible 60 achievements to try and unlock. There’s quite a bit of challenge here, especially if you go ahead and try and grab 3 skull rankings on each stage. Having missions for each of the stages does bring some originality to the game, which is great to see within the base defense genre. It looks like December is a great month for Bulkypix publications. Fazen has created an extremely polished, and well produced title, and I can’t wait to see what they bring iOS gamers in the future!
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December 17, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >

Crazy Bomber – 0.99 (Joytouch)

Bomberman is one of my all time favorite games. I can remember staying up all night at my best friends house when I was about 8, taking turns playing Bomberman on the NES. Luckily, buying back bits and pieces of your childhood is extremely easy these days, especially within the AppStore. If you can’t find a game you sunk weeks, months, or even years into as a child, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll be able to find a game almost exactly like it. Here is where JayTouch Network’s game, Crazy Bomber, comes in to play. Though there isn’t a shortage of Bomberman and Bomberman influenced games in the AppStore, it’s definitely not a game that has been cloned to death, and finding a game influenced by an old favorite can sometimes prove to be an extremely great thing as it might include loads of new mechanics and gameplay ideas expanded from the original it’s influenced by.

Starting up Crazy Bomber, there are two different gameplay types; Story Mode, and Battle Mode. Story Mode includes 60 levels spread across 3 different environments; Jungle, Graveyard, Glacier, and then each having a more difficult set of levels, so really, there’s 6 different worlds. Each stage has a 3 star ranking available, and is based on score. Getting 3 stars can be pretty challenging as well, most of the time requiring multiple play-thoughs. There are also 4 different characters you can choose to play with; Vampire, Zombie, Wizard, and Knight, none of which have any special abilities, and are only there for purely aesthetic purposes, but I will admit that it’s nice being able to pick between different characters.
Once you start playing, you’ll notice that it’s basically just like Bomberman, though it also expands on the gameplay. You’ll need to place bombs to destroy enemies and level objects, like trees, shrubs, and boxes. Blowing up these objects, trees, boxes, ect, will almost always provide extra bombs, though there are some speed power-ups and coins scattered throughout as well. At the beginning of each level, you are only able to place one bomb at a time, but as you collect bombs throughout the level, you’ll be able to place two, three, or more bombs at a time. As you collect bombs, the strength of each explosion will increase, making it easier to take out enemies across the screen. You are also able to link bombs together, placing one in the path of another’s explosion causes a domino like effect. As you progress through the game, you’ll come across crate moving puzzles, conveyor belts, and even boss fights at the end of each world.
The Battle Mode is unlockable as you progress through the game, but there is no indication as to what unlocks it. Whether it be how many stars you‘ve collected, or after completing world 3, it will unlock about half-way through the game. Battle Mode is a local ‘multiplayer’ type gameplay mode, putting you against upto 3 other AI opponents. It does add to the gameplay, but feels a bit hollow
There is a shop accessible from the level select screen, which lets you purchase health potions as well as remote detonated bombs, which you can buy with the coins earned in-game. There are no IAPs, which is always nice, so no worries about the game difficulty being geared towards getting more money out of you.
Controls in the game are simple, and work very well. A joystick for movement, a button for placement of a bomb, and health and timed bombs are available along the right side of the screen. The movement is tight and responsive, and bombs snap to position, so placing a bomb exactly where you want is very easy, even when moving around quickly.
The graphics in Crazy Bomber are very polished, with each of the levels having wonderful design. The character models and animations are impressive, as are the explosions of each of the different types of bombs. Movement is extremely smooth, with no lag or drops in frame-rate even with multiple explosions going off at once. It would be nice to see some attack animations for when you run into enemies, instead of just seeing your character flash a bit, but not having any attacking animations for the enemies isn‘t necessarily anything that takes away from the gameplay. The HUD is a little messy. The different types of bombs, as well as how many of them you have, how much gold you’ve got, the number of enemies killed out of how many are in the level, as well as how many trees are left to blow up, your score, the pause button, and a picture of your character above the health are all thrown in along the top of your screen. Being able to tell exactly how many bombs you have can sometimes be frustrating. Aside from this, the amount of detail in the levels, objects like trees, bushes, enemies, and everything else is very professionally done.
For $0.99, Crazy Bomber is a fantastic Bomberman influenced game. There’s plenty of content, loads of replayability with the 3 star rankings, which is increased by the inclusion of the GameCenter leaderboard. However, there are no achievements, which is something I’m sure a lot of gamers would love to see added in the future. One thing that the developers have said is coming in a future update is multiplayer. This is where the game will really take off, as to have a real Bomberman type experience, it’s a feature that is desperately needed. Hopefully it’ll be added soon, but until then, there is plenty of gameplay to keep you busy. Crazy Bomber is definitely a game that Bomberman fans as well as arcade junkies should pick up.
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December 17, 2011 Uncategorized 0 Read more >