iPhone gaming News, Reviews and more
I am a huge Run! fan, and even now have yet to find another title in the genre that comes close. The action in Run! is very well done and the controls are spot on. For those not familiar, Run! has you trying to get a neck deprived runner as far as possible. To do this you must jump, slide, kick, and shoot your way through all kinds of crazy obstacles. You can check out an interview with Arthur in the interviews tab. – Robert
Here are the details on the new massive update:
- Custom Mode: Customize the game the way you want it, including the ability to add/remove obstacles, adjust the speed of the game, and tweak many other settings
- OpenFeint challenges: Challenge your friends to beat your score or combo after any game to battle it out for the best win-loss record!
- Send your customized games: Name your customized games and send them to your friends as OpenFeint challenges to see who can beat you at your own game!
- Leaderboard enhancements: Leaderboards have been redesigned, and daily leaderboard scores have returned
- Slower saw: Due to popular demand, the saw is now slower. You can optionally switch back to the old saw in the Options menu
- Multiple accounts: Easily switch between multiple accounts with OpenFeint 2.3 so that you and your friends can play on the same device
- Fixed issue with the medallion count accidentally resetting
- Added ability to slide and shoot at the same time
- Added option to turn off vibration (for devices with vibration capability only)
- Expanded hit area of the bomb
- 8 new achievements
- 1 new obstacle
We can’t help but love Hook Champ at The Current Gamer. Hook Champ has everything we love; fast action, beautiful pixel art, and hat shopping.
Rocketcat Games has released a massive update that among other things includes a unique new ghost challenge feature allowing you to challenge friends online.
Here is a detailed description of the update:
WHAT’S NEW:
- New unlockable character with bigger guns (and almost as many hats)!
- New Challenge Levels, with the fastest Chaser ever!
- OpenFeint Leaderboards and Achievements!
**** The FIRST GAME EVER to feature OpenFeint Ghost Race Challenges! ****
- New hats! More hats than previously thought possible!
- New item for Jake to help out in lava-heavy levels.
- Restart Level option in Pause Menu!
- Numerous bug fixes (including that mute switch!), tweaks,
improvements, and much much more!
Games Faction, the developers that brought us Inkvaders have struck again with their new release Trigger Happy Christmas.
Trigger Happy Christmas pits Santa against a horde of rebellious elves that seem to be set on destroying Christmas. So naturally, Santa opens up the gun cabinet and starts kicking ass!
Trigger Happy Christmas is available on the iTunes store for just $0.99 iTunes Link
I Dig It from InMotion Software was one of my most played games several months back, and is a game I continue to go back to. I Dig It is an extremely well polished title with an addicting premise: mine the depths of the earth, collecting all sorts of treasure along the way. The game was extremely nuanced and had plenty of depth to keep you busy for many hours. You can read our review here.
Back in September we previewed the sequel, I Dig It Expeditions, and have not heard much from InMotion since. Suddenly, today Expeditions became available in the app store for $2.99. Here is the iTunes link.
Expeditions appears to have all the great features in the first title, and more. The developers say to expect roughly 3 times the content of the first title. Here are some details from the developers:
Featuring 4 unique locations around the world:
•Mid-West United States
•Antarctic Tundra
•South American Amazon
•South Asian Ocean
Features:
•6-10 hours of gameplay in the campaign
•Plus hours of additional challenges
•Freeplay mode
•Save checkpoints along the way
•New full screen map to chart your underground tunnels
•Many new supplies available to help along the way
•New inventory screen to manage your diggins and supplies
The developers of Flickitty have been generous enough to give everyone a chance to grab Flickitty for FREE for the holidays!
Dev3 tells us they have changed the price to FREE and that the app store should reflect the discount any time now. We recently reviewed Flickitty, and it remains one of the most popular games among our readers. Make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to pick this great title up today.
Enjoy!!
Mini Squadron was recently released on the app store and has been one of my most played games since then. We have a full review planned once I get through most of the content, but until then I thought it appropriate to post some initial impressions. – Robert
Mini Squadron has you in control of a mini plane in an epic dog fight to the death. Severely outnumbered, you must out-maneuver, and out-shoot your enemies for ultimate victory. You will find several excellent power-ups to help you along the way. Don’t grab the power-ups fast enough however, and you will find your enemies will use them against you. My personal favorite among the power-ups is an enormous laser that completely obliterates anything and everything in its path.
As you progress through the game you will unlock over 50 types of planes, some practical, and some downright bizarre. I am still early on, however it appears that for the most part planes have their own unique weaponry or flight capabilities.
It is also worth mentioning that the physics behind the planes you control are excellent. As you dive, climb, and loop your way through the enemies firepower you must use care to prevent a stall. The controls are nuanced and you should be able to become quite skilled overtime. The controls are simple with a virtual d-pad on the left, and a fire button on the right. The virtual control pad works surprisingly well for such a fast paced action title and never felt to be a hindrance at all.
While I have not played enough for a full review just yet, I can easily recommend this game, espescially to fans of action games and shooters. Mini Squadron is a unique take on the genre and I don’t know of any other title on the app store that is quite like it.
Mini Squadron is available for $2.99 iTunes Link
Every day it seems more games are released then we could possibly keep up with. More than ever, the iTunes top 100 lists are an extremely inefficient way to find the best new titles that are truly worth your money. For that reason, we are going to be featuring more regular “New Release” articles that will spot light newly released games that are worth checking out.
Bombardiers Guild from Quantum Toast is a beautiful strategy shooter with a hip steam-punk art style, and an interesting gravity based physics engine. The game is currently being offered at an introductory rate of $1.99 and boasts 500 levels, a two player mode, increasingly difficult enemy AI, and detailed statistics allowing you to track your progress.
Here is a detailed list of features from the developer:
“Charging rockets and replenishing shields take a genre classic to new heights”
Review Samegame Gravitized
Review By Edward Abarilla
Rating:
(3/5)
ooPixel is know for creating simple games with great appeal. They have recently released their first ever title for the iPhone, Samegame Gravitized. Their new release is a simple match 3 puzzle game consisting of colorful candy-like circles, and you have to simply tap a group of three or more of the same color to clear them from the screen. If you are not careful you will often find there are no more moves left as this game requires skill, pattern recognition, and concentration.
Samegame gravitized includes three game modes, all of which are un-timed. Classic mode has you tap 3 or more pieces of the same color causing them to explode and removing them from the game. Those pieces are replaced with new ones which fall from the top of the board. Gravitized mode is basically the same mode with one twist. Instead of falling from the top of the screen alone, new pieces can come from the left or the right at your direction. This mode works well. Before you tap a group, tilt your device left or right and an arrow will appear indicating the direction of your tilt, and as soon as the pieces are removed, the new pieces will come from wherever you the direction you tilted. If you want pieces to drop from the top, simply don’t tilt the device. The difference in the the last 2 modes is subtle but brings variety to the game. Puzzle mode has pre-located groups placed strategically on the screen, and you must remove all of the pieces in order to finish a level. This mode is harder than it sounds, as it forces you to think several steps ahead to beat . The difficulty on all modes ramps up quite fairly especially on Puzzle mode.
Visually, the game is very colorful, the pieces just looks like candies.The explosion effect is well done and ads to the game visually. Unfortunetely I can not say the same for the games sound. Yes, it has a nice explosion sound effect but I would love to hear some music for more variation, which is always a good thing. Having no music just makes the game a bit dull considering the game is visually impressive.
High-scores and awards are provided using Agon as the social platform for Gravitized. So, if you like having those features, you’re in for a treat. Award are a bit challenging to earn, but not terribly difficult.
The good things about this game is you can play it on short bursts or even more. This game is good, a fun time-waster and will surely be a sweet experience.
Rating: (3/5)
Review – Ravensword: The Fallen King
Review by M.J.
Rating:
(4.5/5)
I am a huge sucker for RPG games, when Ravensword: The Fallen King was released on the AppStore I couldn’t resist. I was going to get this game. Reminding me heavily of other games of its type (such as Morrowind, Oblivion and even Fable), this game is essentially a 3D adventure game with RPG elements blended together.
You begin the game waking up next to a healer in the peaceful -or is it? – Town of Aven; not remembering who you are or what happened. Not long after waking, you will embark on an epic journey discovering your inner self, and helping others along the way. While the land first seems unusually peaceful, you soon find strange and evil creatures roaming about causing all kinds of trouble, and it’s up to you to figure out what is going on. Completing the main quest took me around six hours to complete, not including all of the tasty little side quests that will keep you busy. Aven branches off into several different areas in the game world, sending you first off to the forest, where you must collect some rats for the local fast food vendor’s super value meal. Ravensword certainly is not lacking in humor.
While Ravensword is referenced as an Action/Adventure/RPG hybrid, the actual RPG elements are very light. There is no magic to speak of, though some rune stones have magical effects. There is very little armor to speak of (only two sets in the game), no stats on your weapons (so there’s no real way to compare which weapon or armor is better other than by comparing prices), and there are no customizable character stats or different character classes. The fighting did get a bit monotonous as well; perhaps having the ability to block would alleviate this. So while this Ravensword does claim some RPG elements, it feels more like an action/adventure slasher; with quests.
On a lighter note, the graphics in this game are amazing. While different options allow you to turn off the foliage and shadows for better frame rate, I found even with these options on running, my First Generation iPod Touch ran the game fairly smooth. The impressive 3D visuals combined with huge landscapes bring out the best aspect in the game: exploration.
The controls in Ravensword are very effective. The virtual stick is used for movement, swiping your finger moves the camera and the attack and jump buttons are well placed on the right. More as a gimmick than a feature, you can switch to first-person view; though it constantly switches back to third person whenever you enter and exit your backpack. Sometimes the controls felt unresponsive and moving the view around was slow even with sensitivity turned on high, though I quickly got used to it.
Despite these problems, this game is very addicting and fun to play. I felt compelled to finish every quest and explore under every rock, taking the main character on a journey in a truly immersive world. I think that a compelling and immersive experience is what Crescent Moon Games wanted to accomplish, and in that they certainly were successful. Definitely check it out.
Overview:
- Lacking huge RPG elements.
- Confusing map; needs to be more detailed.
+ Immersive world with beautifully detailed graphics.
+ Addicting and fun gameplay.
+ Story with 6-8 hours of gameplay as well as a large host of sidequests.
Rating: (4.5/5)
UPDATE: Congratulations to Harpgliss, Jacob, Rachel, Rich, and Linzy!
We are pleased to start off Free Friday with 5 promo codes for Flickitty! Now is your chance to start Free Friday off right by winning your own copy. Just comment below to enter, winners chosen at 12:00 AM PST.
Codes only valid is US app store. Sorry to our international friends 
Good Luck!!
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