|
|
 What’s fascinating about the App Store is that I can enjoy plenty of RPGs for the cost of a single console version. Whether that game is Dragon Age: Origins or Eternal Sonata for the Xbox 360, I can buy between 6 to 8 RPGs for the iPhone, which would probably more than double my play-through time in the process. But are there enough RPGs worth purchasing for the iPhone? In my opinion, there are and what’s even more impressive is that they get better and better. An example of this is VeryPixel Inc.’s Mage Story, which pays homage to Blizzard’s Diablo franchise (as well as Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings and to a lesser extent, Dumbledore from Harry Potter series), while carving out it’s own niche on the platform with unique features, such as network play via WiFi and level design. While I may not agree with its own description of being the first Diablo-style action RPG on the iPhone (I thought Pixel Mine’s Underworlds had that distinction), Mage Story still has solid graphics, improved controls, and the right gameplay balance to level your character at a fair and steady pace. Although experienced RPGers may find the story a bit light and the game length somewhat capped, improvements and additions to the game by the developer have begun, which is always an awesome experience knowing the makers care about their audience by reading the feedback from the community. It’s definitely something you’ll never get from a developer on another platform. Highly recommended. Price: 99¢.
 Would you believe that I play games based on current weather conditions? Seriously, it’s no joke. During the late Spring and Summer months, I’m primarily playing Adventure and RPG games, such as Lost Odyssey and LEGO Batman: The Videogame. In those types of games, I’m going at my own pace rather than just plain reacting like when I play first-person shooters (FPS) or other types of ‘twitch’ games. Sometimes it’s just too darn hot to play a game that will just add to your discomfort. This usually includes games like Street Fighter IV on the Xbox 360 and most games for the Nintendo Wii. Honestly, if I wanted a workout, I’d go play basketball. However, as we’re now in the middle of the Fall months and the temperature is steadily decreasing with each passing day, I’m back on both FPS and Nintendo Wii games. Working up a sweat playing such games definitely helps combat the chilly conditions and saves on using the heater. But now I’m taking it on the road with games like adot’s GeoGeo Wars, an impressive homage to Geometry Wars with unique additions to make an already outstanding game just a tad better, especially on the iPhone. With a variety of enemies attacking you eventually from all sides, you frantically control the ship using a finger to swipe all over the level while auto-fire is active. Furthermore, if you’re in a jam, be aware of power-ups as they become available. Its excellent polish shows as soon as you pick up the game and quickly understand what to do: kill lots of enemies, while trying to survive. Currently employing Open Feint for leaderboards and bragging rights, and soon to have more levels, this game already has more bang for the buck. Recommended. Price: 99¢.
 Nowadays, time is of the essence: there’s just not enough time to do everything we want to do, especially after we do the things we need to do so that we do the things we love to do… Confused? Tell me about it! With work and family, I hardly have time for myself like I did when I was younger. Why is it that the older we get, the less time we have for leisurely pastimes? For me, other than video games and basketball, it was playing paper-and-pencil role playing games. Obviously, just like most people, Dungeons & Dragons was my entry into the world of gaming followed by Twilight 2000 and then Steve Jackson’s Car Wars. However, as evidenced by picking up Iron Crown Enterprises’ Middle Earth Role Playing on an impulse buy at the local comic store, I always kept coming back to fantasy. While this has held true over the years as I played Talisman in college, Magic: The Gathering post-college, and most recently, Dominion, I’ve noticed that the games have gotten shorter and shorter in duration to accommodate busier and busier schedules. Intending to not give up the dream by extending my gaming experience on other platforms, I picked up Rake In The Grass’ Undercroft on the iPhone, which has been a perfect fit. Boasting 20 hours of gameplay with the promise of ‘great replay value,’ encounter over 60 enemies and attempt to collect the over 750 items divided into quests and side-quests as you build a band of heroes from among the five hero classes, which include the usual suspects: warriors, sorcerers, thieves, clerics, etc. Completely turn-based, the overall polish of the game in terms of functionality, graphics and sound is pretty impressive. Plus, Undercroft does all the little things that makes you feel it’s worth every penny. Highly recommended. Price: $4.99.
 Do you know what’s scarier than a thin, scrawny disheveled, pasty little girl whose face is hidden by her hair and comes at you like Boris Karloff in the original 1932 Universal release of The Mummy? It has to be the panic caused by the emergency closing of the Bay Bridge. There I was Wednesday night making pretty good time from the East Bay to San Francisco until I hit the MacArthur Maze. Suddenly, everything was black at the entrance of the span with cones and cops strewn all over the place. The only things illuminating the bridge itself were the lights outlining its frame and the brake lights of the last hundred cars trying to get over to The City. 2 hours later, as I finally reached the driveway to my house, all I could think about is the horrific experience of stop-and-go traffic with impatient, overaggressive drivers edging through lane after lane, who thought they were making progress. Surprisingly enough, from this experience, it seems the baton for jackass drivers, outside of delivery truck and taxi cab drivers, has passed from BMW to Toyota Prius owners. I guess it’s not too much of a stretch after all: the majority of both groups are self-righteous, condescending buttheads anyway. Yet, I survived it all and was able to tell my tale here because honestly, I was able to play Bendroid’s Mystique. Chapter 1: Foetus for a good portion of my commute. A 1st person horror-survival game reminiscent of Silent Hill, this nightmarishly atmospheric and moody game focuses on you waking up in a bathroom (sound familiar?) and not knowing why or how you got there. Blood stained walls lead you to escaping out into other areas to put the pieces of the puzzle together. But you have to be careful as a sinister environment can only lead to potentially disasterous conclusions. Plus, there is a thin, scrawny disheveled, pasty little girl whose face is hidden by her hair and comes at you like The Mummy. But unlike me, you won’t have the side effects of a massive traffic jam to hide behind. Highly recommended. Play the sequel for more. Price: Free.
 Growing up in the U.S., you hear about mahjong one of three ways: your Jewish friends, your Chinese friends, or, barring that you are from either of those two groups yourself, your “other” Asian family. While I do fit this last category, I must tell you that everytime I have seen other people play mahjong, the rules are different or has some mind-numbing variations. Yet, all in all, the game is usually played like gin rummy where you hope to get sets of three of a kind or three consecutive numbers in the same suit by drawing, discarding, and/or saving your opponents’ discards. It’s definitely a fun and exciting game requiring both a hint of luck and some skills, which you can improve over time. However, looking for a similar translation in videos games has been difficult as most mahjong games are puzzle/solitaire games, which are not at all the familiar game I know and love since I was a kid. Enter the iPhone: Taiwan-based Joymaster Corp.’s Mahjong Fairyland was released earlier this year, but with marked improvements in their updates as a result of listening to their userbase, the game is now to a point where anyone can learn how to play it in mere minutes. With a fairy tale theme with cute characters, play the classic 16-tile game, which is popular in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, and parts of Southeast Asia. Excellent graphics, smooth touch and swipe controls, and some light customization will keep any level of player engaged. Price: $1.99.
 Are you looking to spice up your library of word games? Yes, I said ‘WORD GAMES!’ Millions of people cannot be wrong, right? If I hazard to guess, there are probably more people playing crossword puzzles, word search, Jumble-type, and Scrabble-like games around the world than World of Warcraft and any combination of the current Top 10 video games regardless of platform… Is that sweat on my brow? I must be feeling the heat of Tetris, but I still stand my ground. Do I have evidence? C’mon, I run a self-funded indie website with friends. Yet, deep down inside, you know I speak the truth. So let me throw some more knowledge at you: Yes, you can spice up your word game library with this little gem from Phonagle, outWord. In this game, your location determines how close or far you are from letters that you can use to create words. Play against other users in your vicinity who can also pick up desired tiles. So you must be quick when obtaining desirable letters as you never know who lurks. On top of that, using red letters and creating long words helps you score big to outdistance your previous high scores or those of others. Overall, a fun original game born out of an excellent concept and well executed. Highly recommended. Price: Free.
 It’s funny to see old 80’s arcade games show up on the iPhone. Regardless if they are the originals, copycats, or updated versions, I like them for the most part, even if only for the effort alone. It shows me that people still remember the classics, even those which were a bit obscure, and can rethink its implementation with a new platform, especially in terms of controls. Well, while not obscure from my point of view, since I sunk so many quarters into it as a kid, Lunar Lander by Atari was an excellent game, which I always thought would translate well for any platform. However, in these modern times of 3D engines, frame rate, and guns, as evidenced by the comments from bonehead gamers in the App Store, not everyone pays respect to the classics. Nor the idea of paying for iPhone games for that matter. Yet, if you’re like me, I highly recommend paying for J-Squared Software’s Lunar Module 3D, which does pay homage and more to it’s inspiration. In this updated version, the objective remains the same: you control a lunar module as it free falls to the moon’s surface, but you need to control the direction and speed of its descent by strategically using thrusters and angles. Completely in 3D using actual photos of the moon, play 9 missions in 5 authentic lunar environments. The coolest part: the lunar lander seemingly is inspired by the Apollo series of lunar modules and contains real mission audio. Very entertaining, a must-have for the retro gamer in all of us. Price: 99¢.
 When I saw Meridian’s Against The Fire!, I was reminded of the first video game that I ever saw, which featured fire fighting as a theme. Granted, it was set in the future and the cast of characters were wearing body armor (a la Evangelion), but there is no denying that SEGA’s Burning Rangers, which was one of the last games released for the SEGA Saturn, made fire fighting more interesting than just a retelling of the movie, Backdraft. In comparison, this visually sharp top-down iPhone action game also accomplishes this feat by personifying the fires as little monsters creating havoc in your hometown of Waterfront. You play as a novice fightfighter, Andrew, who has zero experience, and therefore, is left behind by his team as these fire monsters run amok throughout the city. Suddenly, the alarm rings and there is a dispatch to rescue people at a nearby hotel. With only your wits in hand besides a hose, try to rescue as many people as possible, while extinguishing each and every enemy in sight. Overall, with approximately 50 levels to play, a variety of enemies, upgrade items, great controls, and awesome visuals, Against The Fire! is alot of gameplay for every level of gamer for the price. Recommended. Price: 99¢.
 I’d apologize if it wasn’t for the fact that I couldn’t really be sincere about it. Yes, I’ve been away from the site working hard at my day job, but that wasn’t the reason. The absolute truth? Okay, well, honestly, it’s football season. There, I said it. I’ve been watching college and pro football every opportunity I get and if you add the end of the regular baseball season, preseason NBA hoops, and the start of the NHL season, you’ll understand why I’ve been away for quite awhile. Yet, I’ve re-committed myself, especially after seeing a slew of great games being released, such as blastination by bithoard games. Start off with a simple premise: collect all objects in each level using a ball, which you must direct by creating temporary barriers with swipes of your finger. Basically, the barriers act a bit like stationary paddles and platforms which you use to bounce the ball off of at angles to get all objects. The faster you are, the more points you get as well as the treat of a frenetic pace, which gets your heart pumping. Great graphics, especially the visual effects, just adds to a player’s drive to play even more. An exceptional game through and through for such a low price. Price: 99¢.
 It was just a couple of years back that pirates were all the rage, right? There was The Pirates of the Carribean trilogy, which consequently got worse with each installment in my opinion outside of the sexy Naomie Harris, who played the character of Tia Dalma as well as the strong willed Selena in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later… What else was there? Oh yeah, Russell Crowe in Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the updated Sid Meier’s Pirates, and then came casual games, such as Sandlot Games’ Tradewinds franchise, and mobile games from Nokia in High Seize and High Seize: Sea of Fortune. But this was about 5-6 years ago. Now, all we have left is Disney’s Pirates of the Carribean Online and ultra-Christian Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. What’s a fan of pirates to do? First, check out Famous Pirates and the History of Pirates and Piracy at www.piratesinfo.com. Next, after getting into a daring mood, check out Goorusoft’s WarShip for the iPhone and prepare to lose hours out of the day. Quite possibly, you may even lose sleep since the game is really well-made with crisp epic-themed graphics, easy tilt and tap controls, ship upgrades, power-ups, and a simple overall objective: survive and conquer. For gamers of all levels, this is one to keep archived for any occasion. Price: $1.99.
|
Recent Comments