Reviews

The Top 5 Best Free iPhone Games

When most people got their shiny new iPhone the first thing they did was download as many free apps as possible, and luckily many of these free apps are games. The problem is that the vast majority of these free games are really really bad! So to help save some people time I decided to list the 5 best free games you can download for your iPhone or iPod touch. I have not included and of the “lite” games as they are meant lure you into buying a full release, and as such they are only a small portion of the game. We are gonna stick to full games.

5. Peg Jump - If you have ever eaten at a Cracker Barrel restaurant then you know everything there is to know about the game Peg Jump. The game is simple, fun, and highly addictive. The only bad part to the game is that it has a way of making you feel like a complete idiot. That aside, now you can enjoy this classic game without having to endure an hour at the Cracker Barrel.

4. Cube Runner - This game drove me insane, in a good way. The gameplay is very simple, all you do is pilot your ship/cheaply drawn arrow through a maze of boxes using the accelerometers in the iPhone to steer. This works incredibly well but it will take a little bit of getting used to. The graphics are pretty bad, but the game is free so I can’t complain to much as it is very fun and challenging.

3. Tap Tap Revenge - TTR is a very simple rhythm game that steals a bit from Guitar Hero and DDR. Like those games you hit or in this case tap whenever a note passes over a certain point. What makes the game a bit different is that on harder levels you start seeing arrows which can only be played by shaking the phone in the direction of that arrow. The game only comes with one song per difficulty level, but you can download more songs as they become available.

2. Fire Drop - If you are a fan of the classic puzzle game formula then Fire Drop should definitely be on your phone. With simple controls and fast paced action it really makes time fly by. This game is by all means a copy of many other games, but it has its own style and feel which make up for it. Plus it’s free so how can you complain about that!

1. Match3Puzzle Aurora Feint - There are many many free and paid puzzle games on the app store, and by far Aurora Feint is one of the best, free or not. The game was originally riddled with bugs and at times became unplayable, but just a few days ago the developer released an update that fixed every single one of those problems. So now you need not be afraid of downloading the game knowing that you will get a cool puzzle game for free that is challenging and different.

There are many new free games hitting the app store every week so make sure and give them a try, and make sure to check back in the coming weeks when I go over the best games that you won’t mind spending a bit of coin on.

Review: Scrabble (iPhone)

Scrabble has long been a staple board game in American homes. Unfortunately I think that most families only play it once or twice before retiring it to the closet. The game has a way of turning a fun night with friends or family into a UFC championship fight. This is really a shame because Scrabble is a fun game that can keep your brain finely tuned, and now you can download an iPhone version you can play anywhere.

The game itself feels and works just like the board game. Their are no difference to rules, and the game is checked by a built in copy of the Scrabble Players Dictionary 4th Edition. So try as you might you won’t be able to cheat the system. The game comes with two play options, quick and custom play. Quick play should be obvious, while custom play allows you to fine tune the settings, and even set up a pass and play game so you can play with up to 3 other people in the same room. The games graphics are clear, clean, and full of color.

When the game was first made availible it was quite buggy and would crash often. It also took around 30 seconds or more for the game to boot up and be ready to play. EA just released an update a few days ago and they have made the game very reliable and now boot up only takes about 10 seconds. I have played around 10-15 games since the patch and so far it has not crashed once. I am glad to see that these games do get updated on a regular basis.

So now that the game is patched what is still wrong with the game you ask? Well there is the $10 price tag, which is kind of hard to swallow for a cell phone game. Besides that there is little to complain about. I would like to see the ability to play people over 3G or Wi-Fi, but I cannot fault them for that too much. Overall, Scrabble for the iPhone is a quality conversion of the popular board game that is fun and easy to play…just make sure that your vocabulary is in check.

The Good

+Good Graphics
+Intuitive Controls
+Very Reliable (since last update)

The Bad

- No Wi-Fi or 3G Multiplayer
- 10$ a bit too much

Review: Super Monkey Ball (iPhone)

Super Monkey Ball was one of the many cool games that Apple chose to show off many months ago when they announced the new iPhone firmware. The developers talked about how they were able to upgrade the graphics even more from what they were showing, which was already impressive for a cell phone game. The problem is that they should have spent that time working on the controls. There are a bunch of other games on the App store that use the motions sensors in a similar fashion and they feel tight and responsive. Unfortunetly SMB’s one major flaw is that the oversensitive controls ruin most of the fun you can have with this game.  I have played plenty of SMB in my day and they get everything else right, but the controls just aren’t good enough to handle some of the more difficult levels. Heck even easy levels can be frustrating!

I gave this game plenty of opportunity to grow on me and I tried over and over to get used to the controls, but it just didn’t work. If you want to play a similar game with simple and responsive controls then download Labyrinth, which has a free trial version so your not stuck with buying a game you will never play.

If this games controls were retooled then Super Monkey Ball would be one of the best games on the App store. As it stands now it’s a pretty game that can show people what the iPhone is capable of, but just don’t let them play it.

The Good

+Great Graphics
+Cute Music
+Well Polished

The Bad

- Oversensitive Controls
- It Costs $10!

Review: Tetris for the iPhone

If anyone is going to review Tetris it should be me. Ever since I laid my first block back many years ago I have been hooked on the game. The only game that I bought for my DS is Tetris, and when I got my new iPhone it was the first game that I downloaded. So as you can see my Tetris cred is high. That being said I still had worries when downloading a touch version of the game that I love. Anyone who is quite good at Tetris knows that at the high levels you barely have time to think and without the feedback of a controller things could get hairy. Surprisingly though the touch and drag controls for this game does a damn good job and is sensitive enough to get you through some high levels, They allow you to rotate the pieces different directions based in what side of the screen you tap, and you can drag anywhere on the screen to move the piece. When you are ready to do a hard drop just swipe downwards with a quick flip and the piece slams into position. It does take one or two games to get used to the controls, but once you do you will find them to work quite well, but once you get up to level 12 or 13 things move so fast that the touch interface cannot hold up. Luckily most people can’t get past those levels even with a controller.

The game comes with two game styles, Marathon and Magic, both of which should be familiar to any Tetris fan. I was a bit disappointed that some other game types were not included, especially since this game will set you back $10. For that kind of money I would expect more then two gametypes. Luckily they can upgrade the game in the future via the app store, which I hope that they do. I would spend a whole paragraph about graphics, but this is Tetris and that’s not what the game is about. That being said the game does have very nice visuals and looks ten times better then any other mobile phone version of Tetris.

The Good

+Solid Controls
+Simple Clean Graphics
+It’s Tetris

The Bad

- Costs $10 (Would have happier with $5)
- Occasionally Crashes
- Music is a bit limited

Overall Tetris for the iPhone is a well executed game that uses the iPhone’s touchscreen quite well. If they can bring the price down to around $5 it would be a must buy for any fan of the game, but since the price is a bit high only the hardcore Tetris fans will most likely get this one.

Bomberman Touch: The Legend of Mystic Bomb, New Screens

We have some new screens of Hudson Soft’s Bomberman Touch: The Legend of Mystic Bomb which is now out on the Apple Store for $7.99. This classic 1983 arcade title is utilized by flicking, tilting and tapping the iPhone or iPod Touch to control Bomberman. Each stage stays true to the original game like powering up and special items. Check out the video after the jump.

Super Monkey Ball: iPhone

The new Super Monkey Ball port from the Gamecube to the iPhone didn’t receive good reviews around the web. It isn’t fair to Atlantic Canada’s Other Ocean Interactive, the Developers on this title, who had only a few months to rewrite the code before the 3G iPhone launched recently. Super Monkey Ball has awesome visuals, 110 jam packed stages, decent Soundtrack and vibrant colors despite the clumsy motion sensor controls which really hurt reviews. Check out a clip: