VS. Racing 2 Review
While other top-down racers are content to keep pushing the visual boundaries of the iOS platform, VS. Racing 2 sticks with the tried-and-true 2D sprite system (albeit with some 3D elements adding depth), and even more surprisingly, controls that require - at most - two fingers. The overall effect is that of the game feeling very tightly designed - it efficiently throws you amongst a variety of AI opponents on winding and twisting tracks where you vie for pole-position to earn as much...
Nihilumbra Review
Much speculation has been made over just why 'Indie' games manage to remain compelling despite their often formulaic design, but it's their simplicity of concept and focus on execution that keep me coming back for more. Nihilumbra by BEAUTIFUN GAMES is the sort of title you'd foist on to your friends under the guise of wanting to share the emotional roller-coaster ride, but the real thrill doesn't begin until you've completed the game. You play as Born, a creature spawned of the Void,...
Extreme Skater Review
I guess there comes a point in any skateboarder's life when all the skate parks, half pipes, ramps, and grind rails just don't shine with the challenge of excitement that once was. One lucky skater was in the forest when a crystallized meteor crashed, not only giving him super powers, but converting the landscape into the extreme skate park of his dreams. Welcome to Extreme Skater. Each level is an obstacle course that ends with your skater reaching a chunk of crystal. The game starts...
Bee Leader Review
Being a bee is not as glamorous as one might imagine. Sure there's the honey and flying around everywhere, but surprisingly a small insect has a lot of enemies that try to impede its progress in the hunt for nectar. Luckily bees can work as a team. You just have to find your little buddies first. Bee Leader is a day in the life of a bee. From sunrise to sunset, you buzz around a spherical world trying to collect all the nectar you can to fill up your hive's quota and get the highest s...
Shaun the Sheep - Fleece L... Review
[This title was the Mini-review for the Friday News Wrap-Up for the 20th of April, 2012] Shaun is back once again, but this time he doesn't have is fellow wooly-friends in-tow. In fact he's going solo, sprinting at top speed to out-run the pigs to win the 'Fleece Lightning' competition. Each of the game's 80 levels will only take a few seconds to complete, but getting to the end isn't easy thanks to a host of hazards, not to mention the pigs themselves. Thankfully the controls are mor...
Harry the Fairy Review
Nature vs industry has been a very common theme in many stories across many mediums, but somehow it gains even more emphasis when there's no setup, and only through playing the game and witnessing what is going on, does a theme begin to form. Harry the Fairy spends each level flying around a cavern trying to free one of his fairy friends who has been captured. Along the way there are stars to collect, hazards to avoid, and small puzzles to overcome. Harry is controlled completely by t...
Final Freeway 2R Review
Weren't racing games at the arcades awesome back in the day? They usually had this giant car cabinet that you sat in. There was a steering wheel, and pedals. Sometimes even a gearbox! Sure the physics and the graphics have gotten a lot better over the years, and you can buy these elaborate peripherals for home use, but the experience is more than a little diluted. Still, we appreciate a throwback to simpler times and that's exactly what Final Freeway 2R offers. Let's get the compariso...
AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!... Review
Elegance is a word you have to use when you describe a game like 'Aaaa!!! F=ma' by Dejobaan Games and Owlchemy Labs, if only because it takes such a compact and simple concept (falling) and turns it in to something so utterly addictive that you will wonder how you managed to do without playing the game any sooner. Those who have played the original PC and Mac version 'A Reckless Disregard for Gravity' may wonder if the word 'elegant' is entirely appropriate given the game's somewhat raw appro...
Midway Arcade Review
Editor's Note: The following is a mini-review from the Friday News Wrap-Up for the 24th of February, 2012. The video above contains footage for the game. I feel a bit bad about cramming such a great title in to the Mini-Review section of this week's Wrap-Up, but aside from going in to nauseating detail about the controls for all the games available in the title, there's not much more to say than: If you're an Arcade junkie, get this collection. For your initial investment you're provi...
Friday News Wrap-Up 24 February 2012
It's Friday again and so it's up to me to once again fill your subscription box with a tidy summary of interesting iOS news from the week that was. So lets hop right to it and lay out the News Wrap-Up for the 24th of February, 2012.
The Hunger Games - Developers On Fire
More and more I feel as though I have no idea what's happening in the greater pop-culture circles and the upcoming release of The Hunger Games in the cinemas is further proof of this as I had no idea what it was, let alone the buzz surrounding it. However, what I do know is that the video game tie-in is being headed up by some of the Indie scene's greatest, including Adam Saltsman (Canabalt); Mark Johns ... Read More
Sploosh Review
Sometimes it's nice to leave the adrenaline pumping, high speed, obstacle avoiding, death defying games for a while and play something with a slower pace. What's more relaxing than the ambient sounds of running water? And what if you had control over that water, tilting your iPhone around to pour it into the seeds of flowers and roots of trees to rehydrate the land? Well that's where Sploosh comes in. It seems sometimes cacti get a little too greedy and suck up all the water, sending flower s...
Reckless Racing 2 Review
Strangely it doesn’t feel as though much time has passed since Pixelbite first introduced iOS gamers to their Reckless Racing franchise, though this may be in-part thanks to a mid-year release of Reckless Getaway reminding players of what the developer can pull off. Reckless Racing 2 doesn’t disappoint as it blasts on to the App Store, showing just how top-down racing should look, feel and play on hand-held touchscreen devices. From the outset the game feels rough and toug...
SupaSupa Games Brings Arcade Motocross Racing...
SupaSupa Games's debut iPhone release has just ridden onto the App Store. Yes, it really is called SupaSupaCross. Aforementioned game is a top-down arcade motocross racer with the emphasis firmly on fun rather than realism. In SupaSupaCross, you steer your bobble-headed racer across a series of off-road tracks, hitting the odd boost pad along the way to gain the edge over your competitors. You can choose between touch or tilt controls for steering, by the way. SupaSupa Games is an indie studio made up of former members of now-defunct THQ Digital Studio Phoenix - the team behind the MX vs. ATV series on home consoles. You can grab SupaSupaCross from the App Store right now for 99c. Read More
Urban Crime Review
Man what happened to you Gameloft? Over a year ago you were known for making polished quality titles. Sure the inspirations for these titles were lifted from other games, but they were developed with a high level of quality and were always enjoyable to play. Ever since you've switched to this freemium model, your releases have taken a drastic hit when it comes to all around polish, and Urban Crime is the latest offender. You start the game as a street thug with aspirations to climb to...
Gangstar Rio: City of Sain... Review
It hardly bears pointing out that the Gangstar series from Gameloft has taken its inspiration from Rockstar's GTA series, but where previous incarnations of Gangstar were happy to simply ape older generations of GTA, the latest version takes a swing at something entirely new. Unfortunately it's a swing and a miss as no matter how you look at it, Gangstar Rio: City of Saints fails to excite and inspire the same sort of sandbox fun it attempts to emulate. The problems are evident early ...