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Ragnarok Online Violet - iPhone

I'm really enjoying Ragnarok Violet. Not sure if there is a need for a review since it's free. If your a fan of Zenonia or any other classic-typc RPG, then you should fall in love with this one...



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World of Goo - iPhone Review

World of Goo – 2D BOY

$2.99 iPhone /$4.99 Universal

Originally released on the PC then ported to Wii, iOS gamers have waited too long for this magical game to finally arrive on iOS devices. This critically acclaimed game loses none of its charm on the small screen, as it’s perfectly ported. This game has always screamed to be played on a touch screen. I’m happy to report it doesn’t disappoint.

World of Goo is a physics-based puzzle game where you must transport your goo from the environment into a container. A pipe awaits your goo at the opening of every container, ready to vacuum up your goo. Goo is moved by building goo towers or bridges to reach or traverse whatever obstacles cross your path. Each goo ball is used to build a section of your creation, taking away from your pile of goo. With a set requirement of goo to be sucked away, you must be smart in your placement. If you are smart enough to have extra goo sucked away, then the likeliness for more trees to be hugged is high… oh, and you get a higher score as well!

Building structures are simply done by tapping and dragging the goo balls. On the iPhone I found this to be a bit of chore at times, but something I could look past. If you have an iPad, definitely go with the universal version. The game begins as a casual puzzle game, but soon transforms into a complex, mind-bending experience. New elements and goals will be introduced into each level, which is what makes it so addicting.

The presentation is absolute perfection. Every detail of the environment, sound, physics, and gameplay are at the highest I’ve seen on the iOS thus far. The environment is beautiful, mysterious, and eccentric. Everything is brought to life and bursting with personality. Each level brings a new element to the mix. I couldn’t wait to see what 2D BOY had dreamt up next.

Ingenious level design with perfect presentation and gameplay make this game purchase a no-brainer. I’m sure the sign painter would agree.

Rating:

5.0/5.0

Anomaly Warzone Earth - iPhone Review

Anomaly Warzone Earth - Chillingo / 11-Bit Studio

Price: $1.99

An alien dome encompasses downtown Bagdag. You, the commander of a small on-the-ground squad, are sent to investigate and eliminate the alien forces taking over the city.

Without a doubt we all are way too familiar with the Tower Defense genre. As tower defense games once ruled the app store. Chillingo and 11-Bit Studio flip this concept, putting you on offence. While this isn’t completely original concept, no one has executed it to perfection, until now.

Each level has an objective, including: traveling to a safe zone, collecting alien samples, destroying an alien, escorting a VIP, etc. This keeps your progression through the game fresh and interesting. Once the objective is set, you must purchase a squad of vehicles. You are then shown a dynamic map of the town and towers/aliens in which you set your route. Placing a route is simply exectuted by placing arrows at intersections. Your route may be changed at any time, which also pauses the action. When you start the mission, your map will transform a war-torn Bagdad, exploding with eye-candy. I’m blown away every time.

As you advance through the 15 level campaign, additoinal units and special abilities will be unlocked. Units consist of the typical tank and rocket launcher, but also include a shield and special ability tank. The shield unit may be the most important of them all. Special abilities include repair, smoke shield, distracter units, and an air strike. The smoke shield and distracter abilities are so important, so use them wisely and sparingly. Special abilities are earned by destroying towers or generated by the special ability tank.

As for strategy, you’ll find the “fastest route” approach successful in the first couple of missions. You’ll soon find yourself doubling back to destroy a few more towers, collecting those must-have abilities. There isn’t one route for success, and will scrap your well thought-out plan on many occasions. What success boils down to is key timing and placement of your special abilities.

Completion of the campaign unlocks a “Commander Trials” mode, which places an additional constraint on the missions. This adds quite a bit of replay time.

I can’t express enough how much I love this game. RTD is the new TD.

Rating:

5.0/5.0

Zombie Gunship - iPhone Review

Zombie Gunship – Limbic Software, Inc.

Price: $0.99 - Universal

IAP Coins: $0.99 - $49.99

I know what you’re all thinking, “Does the app store really need another zombie and/or AC130 game?” That’s an easy question, of course it does, duh. Thankfully, the game architects at Limbic Software said we need a combination of the two. Their idea to merge two famous Call of Duty game modes was without a doubt to produce some sort of supergame. Well, it almost does…

We all know how this works. You’re an AC130 gunner with an thermal view of the ground below. You have no control over the circling plane, but can look around by a simple swipe. Your objective is to save civilians sprinting to a bunker, all the while keeping zombies from reaching it. Once a zombie reaches the bunker, the bunker will seal itself off, ending the game. Another way the game ends is when you kill three civilians… and darn those civilians! The civilians are just about as dumb as the zombies. They are slightly faster than a zombie and will run right into a flock, usually leading to their death.

From your AC130 viewpoint, civilians and zombies look like black and white. Other than the canyons, crazies, idiot civilians, and your sacred bunker, there isn’t much else to be seen. This isn’t a complaint, as it’s expected from an AC130 type game. Early on in your zombie exploding career, you’re equipped with only a puny 25 mm Gatling Gun to “snipe” zombies. Zombie sniping is no easy task, and is usually done as a last resort to save an unfortunate civilian. At the end of every round you are given coins based on your performance. These coins can be used upgrade your guns, and more importantly, buy the 40 mm Bofors and my precious 105 mm Howitzer. There are several other upgrades to increase cash inflow and to ward off zombies. As you probably guessed, you can purchase more coins via IAP.

The pace of play is great; each round starting with a few weakling zombies then will quickly throw weakling and mammoth zombie ogres from all directions. The sound is fantastic, the voice acting is good, and weapon sounds are great. My biggest complaint is the degree of difficulty to snipe a zombie. I usually kill the civilian while attempting, so I typically let them die instead. I’m hoping for an upgradable zoom or more accurate 25 mm in an update.

Even with only one map, I still find myself coming back to this game again and again. Don’t you worry, updates will come and more maps are to be made. This is Limbic Software we’re talking about. They updated the mess out of Tower Madness.

I just can’t put this game down. Zombies + AC130 = Bliss.

Rating:

4.0/5.0

1-Bit Ninja - iPhone Review

1-Bit Ninja – Kode80

Platformer

Price: $1.99

When I first saw video of this game I couldn’t help but get excited. I thought back to my Gameboy days and Super Mario Land. While this game looks like a classic pixel-perfect 80’s handheld game, it plays quite differently and has a cool feature unlike any platformer I’ve seen.

As a ninja consisting of only 1-bit, you of course have one main objective: To find your missing gametoy. Sadly, the story isn’t built upon throughout the game, but this can be overlooked. The visual comparisons to Super Mario Land are no doubt valid, with it being an obvious inspiration. However, this is no child’s game, it’s as hardcore as it gets.

The premise takes the mold of a typical platformer; run right, collect coins, collect larger coins, hit a flag pole at the end of each level, locate secrets with ninja 3d vision, and of course you can’t run left. Ok, so those last two may be a little strange. Let’s expand. Can’t run left you say? Yes, only running to the right is allowed. Controls are simple; touch the left side of the screen to move RIGHT, touch the right side to jump, and swipe your finger on the top of the screen to transform the 2d view to 3d.

Now, what I said earlier about running only to the right isn’t completely accurate. There are springs placed throughout the levels to allow you to run left to collect more coins and those large coins I mentioned earlier. This adds a puzzle type effect to each level, and also creates some frustrating moments as you find yourself 1-pixel in front of a coin, no way to go back and get it. There are 5 coins in each level that can be collected, in 20 levels. If you collect all 100 coins, you are truly a machine and I want to shake your hand. Many coins are located in seemingly impossible locations, some within those hidden areas. The hidden areas can only be located by switching to ninja 3d view. Doing this will stop the action, as you are swiping the top of the screen to see what’s upcoming. The secret area’s terrain is disguised as a solid area, when in fact it’s in another plane further back.

I like the fact that once you collect a large coin and complete the level, you aren’t required to go back and collect it again to add it to your overall coin pot. This allows you to focus on the ones you missed, so you can become a true ninja coin collector must easier. In case you missed it, that was a joke. This is an EXTREMELY difficult game. Just completing a level, even without snagging a coin, deserves a pat on the back. If you are a true ninja and manage to collect all 100 coins, you get a cool feature added to your experience. You can play the game with 3d mode with stereoscopic glasses. While I can’t comment on how awesome it really is (because I don’t have Ninjavision®), I can say that’s an awesome incentive to keep pushing forward in your quest.

If you’re a hardcore platformer fan or if you just like to listen to great retro video game music, then this is the game for you.

Rating:

4.5/5.0

Gesundheit! - iPhone Review

Gesundheit! – Konami

Puzzle-Platformer

Price: $0.99

I have to admit, I picked this game up solely for its visuals. The hand drawn animations by Matt Hammill are truly a sight to be seen. While the visuals are no doubt stunning, is the game play just as amazing? In short, YES.

Gesundheit! is an action-puzzler that reminds me of the boss sequences of Helsing’s Fire. While the concept is different, I can’t help but to think back to that amazing game, and how this one excels even higher.

The game begins with a story of an allergy stricken pig that is bullied by his classmates, but are then suddenly overrun by monsters. Can the snotty pig save the day and win the heart of his pig-crush? Sadly, this is the only cut-scene until the final battle. Each of the 40 levels drop the pig-hero into a small town or island, where you are faced with the challenge of clearing out all of the monsters by flinging snot and tricking them to run over a fiend-gobbling worm hiding just below the surface. You’re wits will continue to be tested as portals and push buttons are added into the mix. Once a monster takes sight of you, they make a mad dash to gobble you up. If you launch a snotball the simple-minded beasts will be temporally distracted, running or flying after it instead. The monsters will get increasingly more challenging, with different abilities, which will force you to think a little differently as you continue your quest to bring peace back to your once placid pigpen.

As-is app store puzzler tradition, there are three stars to collect in each level. Be careful though, as the beasts will squash them and your snotballs will shatter them. To collect all three you will need careful planning.

The controls are simple: touch your desired destination, but be careful because it won’t always pick the best path. Traveling in short bursts are a must. To launch snot simply touch and drag the pig in a slingshot type fashion. I occasionally had trouble shooting at the edge of the screen, allowing for only a short shot. There are several different snot powerups, all being different allergens. One gives you the ability to sling your snot farther; the other creates a grappling hook type effect to sling you across water or canyons.

With all of this fun to be had, it doesn’t come without flaws. The monsters would freeze occasionally, allowing for free roam to pick up the stars. Also, I was also a little annoyed I couldn’t listen to my own music, as the music gets annoying quick. The game was a little short, finishing it in just a few hours. Collecting all three starts can add quite a bit of playtime, if you’re hardcore enough.

Even with the flaws, I still give a high recommendation for action-puzzler fans.

Rating:

4.0/5.0

Carcassonne - iPhone Review

Carcassonne: The Coding Monkeys - $9.99 – Universal

Carcassonne is a popular tile-based German board game, now residing on iOS devices after making its rounds on Xbox, PC,  and of course cardboard. It takes just a few minutes to learn, but takes many to master.

Carcassonne is a strategy game, where you place terrain tiles consisting of roads, cities, and fields. A tile is drawn at the beginning of each turn, is placed on an adjacent tile, and you’re given the option to place one Meeple (follower) on the tile to make a terrain claim. You are given 7 Meeples to start with, and can reuse them if you complete a city or road claim, which places them back into your stack. The game ends when all tiles are played, the winner having the highest Meeple terrain claim count.

This may sound complicated, but it’s really not. There’s an excellent tutorial, complete with a voice-over complimenting your every move. The AI has several difficulty settings and play types. You will no doubt lose often if you’re new to the game, but don’t give up, you’ll eventually be ready to take on the higher ranks of the Count and Juggler. Curse that Juggler and his weird play!

Carcassonne is a balance of luck and skill, which is why it’s so addicting and unpredictable. Twenty games could be played in a row, each being a completely different experience. Up to 5 players (AI or Human) can play local pass & play, WiFi, or over Gamecenter. Future expansions are expected, but nothing official. I’m sure these will come, as updates are often.

Also included is a solitaire mode, where you must complete roads and cities in order starting from two. It’s a great addition to this already fantastic board game.

If you’re a board game enthusiast or just a gamer looking for a good strategy game, go snag this now!

Rating:

5.0/5.0

Super QuickHook - Review

Super QuickHook – Rocketcat Games

Price: $2.99

IAP Playable Characters: $0.99 - $1.99

Super QuickHook is the follow-up to Rocketcat Games’ hit Hook Champ. It’s an upgrade from its predecessor’s 8-bit look to a fancy 16-bit version, but with so much more. Yes, I’m talking about hats, hats, and more hats! Super QuickHook simply put, is a swinging platformer. You’re equipped with a grappling hook and rocket boots to help you swing through the finish line as quickly as possible. You’ll find yourself swinging across ice, magma, through caves, and over other mystery substances. After many cried about the lack of checkpoints in the original Hook Champ, they were welcomed addition to this sequel. The checkpoints don’t take away from the challenge, because the ending levels are quite the challenge, putting your touch reflexes and level memorization skills to the ultimate test as you face mind-blowing crazy level designs.

Getting the hang of how the controls work and when to hit your rocket boots is key to your success. Your grappling hook is controlled by tapping the upper portion of the screen to launch and then releasing at just the right time to gain maximum speed. With a little of trial and error you’ll find this control scheme well executed. Once you get the swinging momentum thing down, you’ll be collecting coins and cooking your tail off in magma in no time.

Along side your score at the end of each level, you’ll be presented with money to use in the in-game store. Here you can purchase upgrades to your gear including: HATS, hooks, running boots, rocket boots charges, playable characters, hot pants, and much more. While these upgrades aren’t necessary if you’re a grappling hook master, but everyone else will need them to finish the game and to shave time off replays.

In addition to the standard set levels, there are two endless play levels: “Avalanche!” and “Eruption!” where you must keep a good pace to out run your inevitable death. I would have liked to see some sort of storyline attached to the game play, but it’s such a fun ride it wasn’t necessary.

Platformer fanatics rejoice, this is a masterful game.

Rating:

5.0/5.0

Jet Car Stunts - iOS Review

Jet Car Stunts: True Axis - $1.99 - $1.99 IAP 

Jet Car Stunts is indeed an over-the-top racer that features 36 of the craziest tracks you’ll ever see. There are two main modes: Platforming and Time Trial. Platforming is where it’s at.

You’re placed in a red F1 looking car, equipped with a jet engine for clearing those long jumps and other gravity-defining moments. You’ll find yourself on a track elevated thousands of feet above the earth’s surface, with nowhere to go, but through checkpoints in the sky. The object is pretty obvious, to race through the track as quickly as possible, while keeping falls to a minimum. You’re given a set amount of jet pack boost between each checkpoint, with several checkpoints in each level. You are awarded a bronze, silver, or gold metal at the end of the race, which depend on your total falls. The only way to get a gold metal is to run without falling. You aren’t given a metal if you fall more than 10 times, but are still allowed to continue. Sometimes just making it through the track is a prize in itself. Jet Car Stunts is extremely difficult, which is why it’s so rewarding.

The graphical style is quite minimalistic, with most of the obstacles being neon colored geometric shapes, but I think this works perfectly. The premise of the game isn’t new, but is perfectly executed. The controls are simple, with an on-screen buttons and device tilting. I found the default control scheme to be flawless.

True Axis delivers the most fun I’ve had on the iOS device to this point. This is the most perfect iOS game, it’s like the iPhone was built to play Jet Car Stunts. True Axis included OpenFient leaderboards complete with ghost cars. Also available is a $1.99 IAP for 36 additional levels, some crazier than the original.

If you consider yourself an iOS gamer, do yourself a favor and go pick up this great game!

Score
5.0/5.0

First Review

So, my first review is video is publishing to YouTube as I type this. I went all-out, complete with ghetto video editing. I eventually went with a text-to-voice program to add the review. I found my commentating to be bland, but may try it again sometime...

Indie Games

I'm a huge fan of iOS games for the iPhone. Not because I'm an Apple freak or Steve Jobs maniac, but because of what's it's done for the indie game scene. In the not so distant future, I will start posting video reviews of my favorite iOS games. After I get a few under my belt, let me know if there's a game you want reviewed, and I'll do my best to get it to you.