iPhone Game Review: Babel Rising

It seems like iPhone game maker BulkyPix has released somewhere between two and three hundred titles in just the last few months (actually it’s more like six, but man can they send out some emails!). Only one of which though puts you in the sandals of a wrathful deity trying to stop peasants from building a tower to your Heavenly home.

The game is called Babel Rising, and tasks the player with stopping the completion of a tower by doing things like zapping the workers with lightning, washing them away with a tsunami, sending a rain of fireballs upon them, or a few other natural disasters. Think of it as a “tower offense” game. The ultimate goal is to delay the completion of the tower of Babel as long as possible, and gain points by killing the workers; complete with score multipliers gained by killing a bunch of them at once. The game also sports achievements, and Open Feint connectivity so you can see your friends’ scores.

All-in-all, it’s a good $.99 game. There isn’t much depth to it, seeing how there is only one level and all the powers are available to you from the very beginning. I would have really loved to see something to add to the replayability, such as early levels that start off easy with only a few powers, and becomes more challenging with greater unlockable powers. Handing the player everything right off that bat takes much of the incentive out of returning to it over and over again, and makes it feel more like a “Lite” version of a larger game.

It is fun while it lasts, though, it’s priced fairly, and even passes the girlfriend test. BulkyPix has nice line of solid games, such as the hit Hysteria Project, and this is another fun one to check out.

review: geospark

Some partnerships were meant to be (Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy) while others turn out to be trainwrecks (Paula Abdul and MC Skat Kat). Thankfully the collaboration between Imangi Studios and Critical Thought Games falls into the faller category. Together they’ve created geoSpark, combining the simple gameplay Imangi is known for with the visual style of Critical Thought Games. The game may follow the same archetype of other path-finding games on the iPhone but it manages to advance upon them by stripping the core elements down while injecting exciting gameplay mechanics that shake things up.

The premise is simple. Your goal is to eliminate floating shapes, known as “sparks”, on screen by either tapping them or dragging identical ones into each other to form a chain. There’s a risk-reward system in either style. Tapping is easy but inefficient and chaining while more rewarding, creates a gravity well where sparks are more likely to be pulled into each other. You die when two different sparks collide, either by you dragging an incompatible spark into another or by two wayward sparks eventually crashing into each other if you’re too slow to stop them. It gets pretty intense knowing that only one mistake can cost you the whole game but that’s all part of the arcade experience. There’s always a “one-more-time” hook to beat that high score that’s always in the top right hand corner.

While each game is unique, the pattern of which type of spark comes is the same for every play through. It would’ve been nice to see a random generation of sparks rather than knowing what to visually expect next. OpenFeint integration, while always appreciated, comes in only a global leaderboard. Achievements would’ve been nice to add variety and encourage different styles of gameplay. My caveats with the game aren’t dealbreakers by any means, especially considering its $0.99 price.

Thanks but no thanks: Mirror’s Edge on the iPhone

via Touch Arcade

A few days ago, EA announced that they’re bringing Mirror’s Edge to the iPhone. At first, I was hoping they were bringing the flash game over, which would have been pretty awesome. Turns out we get the snore-fest pictured above. I could have sworn that the iPhone already had enough dumbed-down versions of decent games. Oh well, what’s one more, right?

Cheapskate: Konami Offers iPhone Game Discounts, Soul Saving

By now you may have already heard about Konami’s iPhone game blow-out, where they have dropped the prices of all of their games in the App Store to just $.99. I just picked up Krazy Kart Racing; the “Mario Kart on the iPhone” comparison made it instantly desirable, unlike some of their other games like Metal Gear Solid Touch, and Field Prowlers Police Touch! (Their exclamation, not mine).

I almost bought Power Pros Touch, but then I realized that I don’t feel like playing a Christian baseball game. Just not my thing.

Cheapskate: I’m Boycotting Tweetie 2 (And So Should You)

Let’s get one thing straight – I use the original Tweetie every day. It lets me easily manage multiple accounts, and gives me more features than the Twitter site. I was excited to hear about its recently-released “sequel”, Tweetie 2, until I started reading up on it.

Tweetie 2 is a re-written, upgraded version of the Tweetie app that I already paid $3 for eight months ago. And they’re charging $3 for it again. I feel that Tweetie 2 should be free for current Tweetie owners, or at the very least heavily discounted. I understand that the programmers spent some time on re-writing the code, but doesn’t that just mean they spent their time working on a new product instead of improving upon the one we all paid for already? Not only that, but they’ve pulled the original Tweetie app from the App Store, thereby guaranteeing that those of us that were hoping for improvements on our original app will be instead met with a smug little $3 twitter troll.

The worst part is that many in the industry are watching Tweetie 2 to see how well it will sell (currently the #2 paid app in the store) so that they can charge for their upgrades “sequels”, too.

Review: Wolfnstien RPG

Full disclosure – I have a lot of free time at work. Sooo, I like to play big, well developed, time-sink games like Secret of Monkey Island, Peggle, Drop 7 etc… Shockingly, there is no good FPS for the iPhone (nor will there be until a peripheral with a more accurate input method is released) so I glossed over the release of Wolfenstein RPG because it had, what I thought, were FPS leanings.

Well I was wrong. WRPG is a turn-based, Nazi-slaying game through and through, albeit a sort of shallow one. Don’t let the above picture fool you, accuracy and precision have no real place in the game. You’ll be better to spend time deciding what status upgrades to administer yourself than to try and find a good sniper position.

I’ll See Your Trials HD, and I’ll Raise You A Moto X Mayhem

Moto X Mayem is my new iDdiction. It’s a side scrolling, 2D dirtbike riding title that is so simple that I don’t think I can get a full sentence out of describing the controls; pushing forward makes you go forward, pushing back makes you brake, and tilting the iPhone on its vertical axis makes your rider lean forward for back. Was that a full sentence? Anyways, that’s it.

There are seven levels to traverse, each a little craggier than the last. The graphics are simple, but look great, and thanks to the ragdoll physics, it’s often more fun to watch your rider slam into a cliff head first than it is to make the jump. If there was a timeline that had Excite Bike at one end, and Trials HD at the other, this would be right in the damned middle. It’s $.99, and I highly recommend picking it up. You could also buy it for thirteen of your friends, and still not have paid as much as you would have for Trials.

Resident Wee-vil

I’m not sold on the idea of one of my favorite games of all time (Resident Evil 4) making its way onto the iPhone.

I mean, I love iPhone games just as much as, if not more than, the next guy, but I find that the best games lie in the mini-game/casual genre, such as Peggle, Mafia Wars, the upcoming Mathogen, and a variety of word and puzzle games. I am yet to play a mobile version of a big-time console title, or a game that is trying to achieve those levels of epic-ness, that I actually enjoy. Playing the iPhone Assassin’s Creed demo, Hero of Sparta, and The Quest RPG all left me with a huge feeling of “meh.” I am afraid that a mobile RE4 might fall into the same category, if the iPhone is unable to recreate the same feeling and atmosphere that made its console counterpart so great.

Unlocked iPhone: Cleaning Up My Dock

My good friend and alter-ego Pus Handle (you know, the one that will admit to unlocking his iPhone) is all about aesthetics. Although the iPhone’s default layout is pretty nice looking on its own, there are thousands of themes and icons to download for free on unlocked iPhones, and after a bit of work, here’s what we’re looking at.

Screen #1: Homescreen
First of all, the phone currently sports a WinterBoard icon theme called “Mac OS X Snow Leopard” and a wallpaper theme called “Wood Shelves”. The Snow Leopard icons mimic the icons I use every day on my Mac, so it’s nice to see them repeated. Although I don’t care for the iChat icon being used for SMS/MMS messages; the iChat instantly makes me think of video chatting, not texting people.

Screen #2: Apps
This screen showcases the apps that are still necessary, but not multiple times a day like on screen #1. The three-hit combo of App Store, Cydia and Icy are all means of getting apps onto the phone. The two folders marked “games” and “misc” are actually part of an app called Categories which allows you to store multiple apps inside one folder, which really cleans up the interface. I love having lots of games to choose from, but having to scroll through them all the time gets a little annoying. Now they’re conveniently packaged together for waiting-room perusals. Also, pay no attention to the Jelly Car app that is floating around there – I just forgot to put it in the “games” folder.

Screen #3: Essential Games
These are the games that I tend to want at my fingertips at all times, and I’m afraid that if I put them into the “games” folder they’ll get lost in the mix of other, more mediocre games that I paid for and can’t bear to delete.

Totally Worth Ten Bucks

You know what they best feature of the new iPhone software 3.0 is? It’s how you can change the speeds of what you are listening to by speeding them up to run twice as fast, or slowing them down to half-time. A very minor, but very cool little Easter egg.

Finally, when you listen to our podcast, you speed up Russ and Tyler’s sections without missing anything that I might say, and then you can enjoy my section slowly, like a nice bottle of wine. Plus, it makes my voice even deeper and sexier than it already is, which I didn’t think was possible.

Review: International Athletics for the iPhone

The fine people at Majesty House Ltd hooked us up with some copies of the game International Athletics for the iPhone. We took it around the track a few times, and here’s what we thought.

Mark
I can’t help but wonder what kinds of things were lost when International Athletics made the long jump from the PSP the the iPhone. I wish I could play the PSP version so I could compare the two, specifically the controls. The controls on the iPhone version are really clunky, and for many of the events seems almost broken. Most of the jumping events are almost impossible to really get a grasp on, simply because it requires you to look in at least three different places on the screen back to back to back, and judge three different types of meters, none of which are especially clear or intuitive. Combine these controls flaws with things like a shallow character creator that is impossible to create something that looks like you, a platter of non-distinct international stadiums, and repetitive, annoying sounds, this game is is a little underdeveloped. Especially for one that is on sale currently for $5.99, down from its usual ten dollar price.

I’m not giving up on this game though, as I think it could be improved. Starting with the controls: they need to be really tightened up, if not completely revamped. I appreciate the fact that the devs spent a lot of time and energy on making this, but it would work much better with something different; maybe something like a rhythm-based control scheme. Also, instead of a bunch of the stadiums that all look the same, how about one that just looks really good. Finally, get rid of that sound of the girl screaming in the stands, it’s the most annoying thing I’ve heard since Fran Drescher.

Tyler
International Athletics is a new game available for the iPhone and iPod Touch that lets you play in a variety of Olympic events such as the Hammer Throw, Pole Vaulting, Hurdles etc etc… The game uses all touch-based controls such as swiping your finger in a circle on the screen to simulate building up momentum in a spin before releasing a discus. The graphics are very nice for a phone game and there are times (especially in some of the longer running competitions) where the camera swings around to give you a full 360 view of the stadium. That was impressive.

Unfortunately International Athletics suffers from having  too little in the gameplay department. The three basic types of events boil down to two types of play styles:

1. Swipe finger back and forth quickly to run. Let go to jump.
2. Swipe finger in a circle to spin. Let go to throw.

It’s very hard to pinpoint what exactly is missing from this game. Maybe it’s the fact that that Olympic Games are more of a multi-person type of game, suited better for many people to play at once. International Athletics is essentially a collection of mini-games but the games themselves have been shoehorned on to a very small platform with minimal control variations.

If you are new to playing games on your iPhone/iPod Touch, you may have a good time with this title. Overall I feel like it’s a game that can’t quite compete with some of the other, more inventive and original games that are available on the platform.

Puzzle Quest on the iPhone? Where The Hell Have I Been?!

I have no idea how I didn’t know this existed until the other day, but one of my top three favorite DS games of all time, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, is available for the iPhone.

This is a game that I couldn’t put down for a long time after I started playing it, and I know Russ got hooked on the XBLA version awhile back, and putting it on the iPhone seems like a perfect fit. The only bad thing is that the full game is broken up into three parts, and only the first two are available now in a $7.99 pack. I don’t like the idea of having to buy segments of a whole game.

There is a free trial version which I recommend you check out. I played it, and the controls feel a little clunky, but it still felt like the old Challenge of the Warlords that I know and love. I am going to wait until the third part comes out and buy them all in a (hopefully) discounted pack.

My Birds Are Bugging Out

My beautiful, soaring seagulls in Distant Shore have turned in to these unsightly parallelograms fluttering across my iPhone screen.

It was just temporary as a second check confirms that they are now back to normal. Too bad the game is still lame, though.

Hello, Microsoft? You’re Blowing It With This New Zune.

Yes, friends, what you see before you is indeed just a shitty version of the iPhone/iPod Touch. The Zune HD was announced today, boasting a touch screen and the promise of specialized apps and games. Sound familiar? It’s not good when a product’s announcement is met with more skepticism/cynicism than enthusiasm.

If I was running things over at Microsoft, I would do a simple Q&A session with myself, and it would go a little something like this:

Q: What handheld platform is sweeping the market, has been beating out any mp3 competition since day one, is backed by a ton of money and some of the slickest hardware/software programmers on the planet, and has a revolutionary means of getting content to their owners for cheap that we’ll not even make a dent in?
A: The iPhone/iPod Touch

Q: What handheld platform has been around for 4 years now, has failed to provide much compelling material save a few rare gems, has only one crappy analog nub, a futile online component and outdated/unnecessary media storage?
A: The Sony PSP

If I was Microsoft, I would not be even trying to compete with Apple and would set my sights squarely at the PSP. You’ve already converted millions of gamers to the Xbox 360, and we’d love to jump on a true HD, gamer-centric handheld platform. With two analog sticks that pop up/down as needed. Am I right or am I right?

Seriously! Look at that thing. Is anyone going to see that and say, “Wow, that’s way slicker than an iPhone. I love all those hard corners and edges!” And look; the word “marketplace” doesn’t even fit on its own damn screen!

Review: GeoDefense

It’s not too often that I find a tower defense game that rivals the grand master of strategic turret placement. I find no shame in telling you that I still have Desktop Tower Defense (I hate you if you never played it) bookmarked on my computer and play it every other week when I’m waiting in between classes, it’s Tetris-level fun. When I heard about geoDefense I dismissed it as another piece of iPhone gaming shovel-ware. Foolish me.

The best thing that geoDefense has going for it is the visual style. I love love love the Geometry Wars look of the game. It’s crisp and clear and colorful and that makes me want to play it. The enemies are easy to spot and each turret type is simple to identify (as far as type and level go).

Other TowDef games give you more space to play with since they have more real estate on a computer monitor, but geoDefense packs a lot of strategy in to the tiny screen of the iPhone. Immediately leveling up your turrets is a must later on in the levels and careful placement of the laser guns along the straightaways is fundamental to stem the tide of deadly, glowing Pac-Man clones.

The one gripe I have about the game is that placement of turrets can be a little clunky. It feels like sometimes there is only a specific grid you can install on and sometimes you can deploy anywhere you want. You can waste precious seconds trying to get a gun in the perfect spot and end up letting a flood of crawlies slip through your defenses.

Overall I really like the game and plan on keeping it in my Games folder for a long time to come.