Category Archives: $1.99

‘Pizza Boy’ Review – A Bite-Sized Pizza-Packed Platformer

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‘Pizza Boy’ Review – A Bite-Sized Pizza-Packed Platformer is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Swedish iPhone developer Acne Play released their second game on the App Store today. With fantastic art similar to their other title, Comet [99¢], Pizza Boy [$1.99] is a platformer with some of the best controls I've seen in the genre. The story is ridiculous as expected, told through fantastic comic book style sequences that explain that an evil bird has stolen your pizza– of course you need to get it back. Unfortunately, between you and your beloved pizza pie are all kinds of obstacles, enemies, pits, trampolines, and everything else a good platformer needs.

Pizza Boy's graphics are highly reminiscent of excellent platformers of the 16 bit era with some perfectly paired chiptune music to go along with them. (They even put the whole soundtrack up online to listen to.) The game is host to all the gameplay mechanics required for a good platformer, with an odd culinary twist. Instead of collecting coins you pick up strawberries, and 100 strawberries award an extra life. Instead of tossing fireballs you throw soda bottles which are available in a limited quantity from soda machines that you stomp on. In addition, you can collect letters to form the word "pizza," and you can even rescue cats on each level for bonus points.

Where Pizza Boy really shines is in the control department. Pizza Boy's iTunes description mentions something Acne Play is calling the "Smart Touch System," which I'd normally write off as just a gimmick, but the controls are just fantastic. I'm not sure how much magic is in the Smart Touch System but while playing Pizza Boy I never ran in to issues I usually have with platformers on the iPhone such as missing buttons, sliding my finger off the D-Pad, and other fat fingerings that often result in death.

What kills me about Pizza Boy is how little content there is in the game. The developers even went as far as to say in the iTunes description that it would only take a half hour to play through. They later clarified this via email by saying that it was a guesstimate for how long it would take an experienced player, and it took me close to 45 minutes. The worst part about all this is that Pizza Boy is great, and the entire game really leaves you wanting more. The only online scoring there is in the game is the ability to brag via Facebook or Twitter, which pains me even further because a short score-centric game like this could have a decent amount of replay value injected in to it with some form of online leaderboard.

Pizza Boy really reminds me a lot of the recently released physics puzzler No, Human which also was over before you knew it, leaving you wanting much more. Just like No, Human, if you decide to give Pizza Boy a try you'll be rewarded with an awesome platformer, but the credits roll just as you really start to get in to it.

App Store Link: Pizza Boy, $1.99


Terminology for iPad Review

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Terminology for iPad Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Agile Tortoise
Price: $1.99
Version: 1.2

Design Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Features Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Integration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.67 out of 5 stars

Based on the Princeton University WordNet project, Terminology is an all-in-one dictionary and thesaurus application for the iPad. The application isn’t universal, meaning if you bought the iPhone version you won’t be able to use the native iPad edition.

Using Terminology is simple, so much so that you don’t even need to finish typing a word. For example, when typing “derivative” all I had to do was type “deri” and it brought up a short enough list that allowed me to select the word that I was looking for. However, in contrast, the application fails to pick up on typing mistakes, offering no “Did you mean?” feature. For frequent mis-spellers this could pose a problem that the likes of Dictionary.com automatically recognize.

The application’s design suits the iPad, providing a thin vertical column for all settings, similar to Reeder for iPad. Such settings include show/hide the search bar, star items and view recent history. A settings button reveals the ability to filter profane words. The light theme has been smartly designed to appear both professional and welcoming, without fear of experiencing any blandness.

The main area of the screen is taken up by the word definitions themselves. If a word has multiple definitions, each are provided, along with synonyms and antonyms of the word itself. There’s also a handy thesaurus filtration feature, telling you what words are more and less relevant to the word in question. Terminology provides a rolling history, meaning there’s no dead space on screen.

Lastly, there are options to view the word that you’ve entered in Wikipedia, Wictionary, Google and Wolfram|Alpha. All of this is done through a built-in browser, particularly handy for iPad users given the fact that multitasking isn’t due until November. The browser itself is cleanly designed.

Overall, Terminology is a succinct application, providing an easy way to view a complex dictionary. But for those who don’t need features like rolling history and more/less relevant words, Dictionary.com will probably do. But for those who are interested in more features, $1.99 isn’t breaking the bank.

[ Terminology for iPad Review is a post from 148Apps ]


Choose Your Own Adventure with Choice of Games’ Library of Interactive Fiction

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Choose Your Own Adventure with Choice of Games’ Library of Interactive Fiction is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

We've posted a few times about the Fighting Fantasy, Gamebook Adventures, and Sorcery! series of interactive fiction and have gotten a surprisingly positive response every time. Those books are like the Choose Your Own Adventure novels you may remember reading as a child, with an element of randomization thrown in by needing to complete various dice challenges throughout the books to determine which way the story forks. Choice of Games abandons this dice-based gameplay model for a much more traditional (and in depth) multiple choice system for each decision that I actually enjoyed quite a bit.

Under the hood of all these games is something Choice of Games calls "ChoiceScript". ChoiceScript allows for works that are much more complicated than your typical two decision fork that leads off to two different pages as it supports things like variables in the story. These variables not only allow you to sometimes name characters yourself, but are often used as character statistics, with some decisions leading to gaining a particular stat which could potentially open up areas later in the book.


Choice of the Dragon in Mobile Safari on the left, Choice of Broadsides app on the right.

The coolest part about all this is that Choice of Games has a guide on how to use ChoiceScript, and it's actually quite simple. If you've got the time to invest in to building a piece of interactive fiction in ChoiceScript, they'll even host it for you on their online game portal and App Store listing, sharing 75% of the profits.

The presentation of these games is very bare bones, and are little more than black text on a white background with UI elements that just consist of basic form components. They play the same both in the browser on ChoiceOfGames.com as they do in app form, so if you've got constant internet connectivity you can just make a home screen bookmark for the game you're playing. If you've got an iPod touch or a non-3G iPad, the apps are totally worth downloading if you find yourself getting in to them.

Just like the other interactive fiction we've posted about, these works are completely independent of each other and reading one isn't required to enjoy the rest:


Choice of the Vampire


Choice of the Vampire, $1.99 Begin your two-hundred year journey as a vampire in New Orleans, 1814; choose whether you will seek love, power or redemption as you negotiate the growing-pains of the young Republic.


Choice of Romance


Choice of Romance, $1.99 Play as a young courtier who catches the monarch’s eye. Will you find true love? Gain a crown? Lose your head? A text-based multiple-choice game of romance, deception and court intrigue.


Choice of Broadsides


Choice of Broadsides, Free Multiple-choice swashbuckling naval adventure, in the spirit of C. S. Forester’s Hornblower or Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin books, with a dash of Jane Austen.


Choice of the Dragon


Choice of the Dragon, Free Play as a fire-breathing dragon who sleeps on gold and kidnaps princesses for fun. Dominate the local kingdom, loot and pillage, and inspire terror in the hearts of your enemies!


Paranoia


Paranoia, Free By Kie Brooks. When you think your doctor may be trying to kill you, life gets complicated. Survive this multiple-choice game if you can.


What Happened Last Night?


What Happened Last Night?, Free By Kie Brooks. “What Happened Last Night?” is a dark but occasionally humorous action murder mystery multiple-choice text-based game.


The Nightmare Maze


The Nightmare Maze, Free By Alex Livingston. “The Nightmare Maze” is the story of a 19th-century Bostonian plagued by strange nightmares. Lose yourself in the depths of a tormented psyche and try to find the logic to the night terrors in this haunting text-based multiple-choice game.


Popcorn, Soda ... Murder?


Popcorn, Soda … Murder?, Free By Pauzle. “Popcorn, Soda … Murder?” is a thrilling text-based multiple-choice murder mystery. Can you find all the clues at the murder scene and piece together who must have done it and how?


Choice of the Vampire Review

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Choice of the Vampire Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Choice of Games
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0

Graphics / Sound Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.13 out of 5 stars

Text-based, multiple-choice RPGs might seem like relics of the past—but that hasn’t stopped Choice of Games from trying to single-handedly revive the genre. (See: Choice of the Dragon and Choice of Broadsides.) While it might look simple on the surface, a deeper look reveals Choice of the Vampire to be a historically grounded, complex “game” that blends RPG elements with excellent storytelling. You won’t find Twilight-esque vampires here: this is New Orleans, circa 1814, and you character is exactly what you make of him…or her.

Like all Choice of Games titles, Choice of the Vampire (hereafter referred to as “CoV”) features a plain white background, black text, and a plethora of choices on each screen. The story starts with you, a newly made vampire, just as the Battle of New Orleans is about to commence. The story revolves around your choices, and introduces you to colorful characters, from Clotho the voodoo priestess to Jackson himself. Murder, romance, political intrigue…it’s all here in spades, as you interact with vampiric Society and ignorant humans alike. Do you chose to cultivate followers? Support the Southern cause in the Civil War? Influence your fellow vampires? It’s up to you.

How you experience CoV’s world is entirely dependent upon your character. First and foremost, who you are—former slave or rich woman of society—determines how other characters react. (This is, after all, 1814.) Secondly, your own character traits, which range from religiosity and compassion to knowledge of other languages, determine what actions you can take. When an option that disagrees with your character appears, it’s grayed out. Different choices can lead to completely different plot lines, and much of the fun comes from exploring the possibilities.

There are some drawbacks apparent in CoV. While the history provides a rich background, sometimes it grows tedious. There’s only one “save file.” There are still some bugs scattered around—perhaps attributable to the sprawling plot options. And, perhaps most annoyingly of all, this is just the first piece in an installment; the ending feels abrupt and unsatisfying.

For the most part, however, CoV takes the reader/player on a sweeping journey in a slightly-fictionalized South, and the blend of narrative and RPG is as great as always. Choice of Games has really outdone themselves with this one…now I’m going to start yet another playthrough to see what changes again!

[ Choice of the Vampire Review is a post from 148Apps ]


R-Type Review

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R-Type Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: DotEmu
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 3G, iPad

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

When R-Type was first announced for the iPhone, I initially felt some skepticism as to how good the port could be: R-Type is notorious for its difficulty, and shmups (shoot ‘em ups) need the kind of precision control that the iPhone sometimes struggles to provide. EA partnered with DotEmu for this port of Irem’s classic, and I am proud to say that my skepticism has been invalidated by the work done here to make this game play as well as it possibly could on iOS.

R-Type is a known for two things: being heavily reliant on set enemy patterns and for being insanely difficult. Your only tools to fight the Giger-esque alien hordes are your ship and detachable shield satellite powerups given to you, so it’s all about your reflexes and memorization of enemy patterns to try and get you through the game’s 8 levels. Good luck with that.

Luck is on your side, though, as the controls of R-Type are great. The best option is the offset touchscreen controls, which give you buttons for firing and deploying your satellite, and let you move your ship by dragging around anywhere on the left side of the screen with a 1:1 movement offset. There are also surprisingly accurate tilt controls and a Coin-Op control scheme featuring an on-screen d-pad and a screen with an angled effect, like playing an arcade machine. All the controls work remarkably well to the point where I felt more like dying was the fault of the game being impossibly hard, rather than any control issues. And while the game is hard, there is an Unlimited mode that gives you infinite lives to play with, so completing the game is merely a matter of will. The game also saves your exact position upon exit, making it incredibly convenient to play on the go.

Of course, R-Type is still a paragon of Japanese shmup design – it’s full of enemy patterns that you have to learn and it will frustrate you until it turns you into a screaming and crying wreck. And I’m just talking about Unlimited mode – the limited lives given to you in Normal mode will likely prevent anything but the most skilled of players from getting past the first couple of levels, and there’s somehow an Insane difficulty available, which is difficult to even comprehend. The biggest complaint about R-Type is that it runs sluggishly on the iPhone 3G, for it is an emulation of an old game; on more powerful devices it runs without complaint.

The best compliment you can give a game like R-Type is that it is accurate to its roots – DotEmu’s port is nothing if not wonderfully done, as it lets the original game shine through without any question about the quality of the port. R-Type is still an insanely difficult shmup that is best consumed by those well-versed in the genre or looking to experience a classic entry in it, but those looking to experience this monument to old-school gaming will find a fantastic port awaits them.

[ R-Type Review is a post from 148Apps ]


‘Cave Run’ and ‘Dead Runner’ – Two New Running Games Worth a Look

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‘Cave Run’ and ‘Dead Runner’ – Two New Running Games Worth a Look is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

While neither Run! [99¢] nor Canabalt [$2.99] truly invented the "run right forever" genre, they did quite a bit to popularize it on the App Store. In the last year tons of these types of games have been released, with recent entries including A Skeleton Story [99¢] and Monster Dash [99¢] among others. Two more came out this week which are worth considering if you can't get enough of running for your life on your iPhone.

Cave Run, $1.99 – As the title would hint, in Cave Run you run, in a cave. Along the way you tap the screen to jump over pits and avoid a few different obstacles such as little patches of lava that send you flying up in the air, puddles of water that speed you up, and rocks to trip on to slow you down.

As you notice from the gameplay video, there are coins littered all over this cave. Unfortunately, right now the coins don't serve any purpose other than being computed in to your final score to bump up your ranking in the OpenFeint online leaderboards. I'd love to see some kind of in-game store where you can use these coins to buy things, even if those things are only cosmetic upgrades as right now the coin system seems like an odd afterthought. Also, Cave Run is a universal app, and it's always nice to be able to play games on any device.

App Store Link: Cave Run, $1.99 (Universal)

Dead Runner, 99¢ – An interesting take on run forever games which changes things from running right to running straight ahead in a first person perspective. Set in a spooky forest, you tilt your device right or left to avoid trees, running faster and faster, hitting bushes when you need to in order to slow down. The game is simple, but works really well. It also doesn't take long before you're going ridiculously fast, a huge plus in any game like this.

Dead Runner also has a second game mode aside from just running for distance where you go for points. By collecting various colored orbs while running through the game world, you can work up huge multipliers which both increase your speed and award extra points. With OpenFeint leaderboards for both game modes and achievements, Dead Runner is really worth checking out.

App Store Link: Dead Runner, $0.99


‘geoDefense’ DLC Level Pack Released and Developer David Whatley on geoDefense for the iPad and geoDefense 2

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‘geoDefense’ DLC Level Pack Released and Developer David Whatley on geoDefense for the iPad and geoDefense 2 is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Not long ago classic iPhone tower defense game geoDefense [$1.99 / Free] version 1.5 hit the App Store, adding support for the Retina Display of the iPhone 4 as well as the framework for DLC level packs. The first of those level packs was just released this afternoon, and a 99¢ in-app purchase unlocks brand new set of 3 medium levels and 3 hard levels. Also, these levels are immediately playable once downloaded so you can dive right in without needing to play any previous levels. While a game as good as geoDefense getting more levels is totally newsworthy by itself, it also gave us an excellent opportunity to pester developer David Whatley who is quite literally floating around the Caribbean as we speak.

Last time we spoke with Whatley he was extremely excited about the potential of the iPad, and told us that a sequel to geoDefense was coming which would be exclusive to the device. Since then, several things have gotten in the way such as the release of the iPhone 4, a Facebook game called Fantasy University, launch day ports of geoDefense and geoDefense Swarm for Windows Phone 7, and the never-ending question of what will make a worthy sequel to a game with the notoriety of geoDefense.

According to David, the recent update to geoDefense had a lot of work done behind the scenes to eventually ramp up in to an iPad version of geoDefense which is going to be the next title to be released by Critical Thought Games. From there, they're going to be testing the waters of the iPad App Store to see whether or not sticking to their guns regarding the iPad exclusivity of geoDefense 2 makes sense or not. Whatley admits that not doing an iPhone version of the sequel would likely be a big mistake, especially given the size of the market.

When talking to David about geoDefense 2, he mentioned the amount of pressure he's under to deliver something that will impress gamers, but not stray too far from what everyone has since come to expect out of the geoDefense series. He wants to take geoDefense to the next level, but he's still not entirely sure what that next level is. The situation seems eerily similar to Galcon [$2.99 / Free] and its successor Galcon Labs [$2.99] which despite the popularity of the original saw a lackluster response from gamers as it felt too much like an expansion pack, and not enough like its own game.

If you've beaten every level in geoDefense over the last year and a half since its initial release, now is a great time to re-download the game and try out the new levels. Admittedly, I'm fairly rusty but so far the six new levels completely live up to the difficulty level we've come to expect of geoDefense and are highly recommended for any fan of the game.

App Store Links:
    geoDefense, $1.99
    geoDefense Lite, Free


‘R-Type’ Review – The Classic Shooter Arrives on the App Store

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‘R-Type’ Review – The Classic Shooter Arrives on the App Store is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Originally released in 1987, R-Type [$1.99] is almost as classic as it gets when it comes to arcade shooters. Since its initial release, the game has seen many sequels, as well as ports to nearly ever platform ranging from the Amiga all the way up to the XBOX 360. Like most arcade games of the era, the game is framed in a vague story with the player piloting the space fighter Arrowhead to defend humanity from aliens. The original R-Type (and competent ports) have been well received by almost everyone, as the gameplay and level design are still considered by many to be among the best the genre has to offer.

If you've never played R-Type before, you might be in for a surprise as the game's notorious level of difficulty has landed it in lists such as IGN's Top 10 Toughest Games to Beat. The levels are crafted in such a way that you likely won't have much luck playing the game in a reactionary manner, and instead, will need to beat them through trial and error, learning the levels as you go. R-Type plays like what we now know as a typical shooter. You need to kill everything that moves, avoid bullets and enemies, fight massive bosses, all while collecting a wide array of power-ups on the way.

As far as the port is concerned, from a technical standpoint it's great. To make things easier on new players there's an unlimited mode with never-ending lives, as well as the standard normal difficulty and an unlockable insane difficulty. Three control options are included, touch controls which work like most other shooters where you drag your finger around the screen to move the ship along with tilt controls and even a virtual D-Pad. The virtual D-Pad is actually surprisingly cool too, as it changes the perspective of the game to look more like an arcade cabinet so your fingers don't cover any of the action. Auto-fire can be enabled or disabled, and you can move the on-screen buttons to the right or left side in the options.

The developers really did everything they could do to bring a faithful port of R-Type to the App Store, but I'm really torn on how I feel with it. R-Type reminds me of last year's Earthworm Jim port in that it's hard to imagine a better port of the game, but the control constraints of the platform almost feel like it's holding it back. Using your finger often obstructs the screen. Tilting feels off because your ship just moves at one speed regardless of how much you tilt. The virtual D-pad is good, but only as good as a virtual D-pad can be.

If you have fond memories of the original (or any of the ports), you'll likely love having the game on your phone and will be able to make whichever control option you prefer work well enough to get through the game. Also, at $1.99 it likely is the cheapest way to play the game, since it would cost at least that in quarters at the arcade to make it through the first levels. If this review is the first time you've heard of R-Type, you might find yourself frustrated with the way things used to be with brutally difficult arcade shooters designed to extract every quarter from your pocket. In that case, you might be better off checking out some of the other more forgiving shooters that feature modern day conveniences such as checkpoints.

App Store Link: Link


NHL 2K11 Review

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NHL 2K11 Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: 2K Sports
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.2

Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.05 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.15 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars

Oh NHL Hockey, the sport that seems to be played 11 months out of the year on the Versus network. Not many say it out loud for fear that they will get beaten up by a burly hockey fanatic, but it is definitely the fourth, and maybe soon to be the fifth, most popular sport in the United States. While I only watch a handful of games a year, I love me some fantastic video game hockey.

I’ve loved video game hockey ever since Blades of Steel, with the great fights and the fantastic space shooter intermission game. The rules were admittedly flawed, but I finally got the real game down after playing NHL 2000 a bazillion times (to this day I still think the Paul Kariya – Teemu Selanne combo was the best ever).

Handheld hockey is another beast altogether though. While big screen hockey sims value the one-timer and intricate passes, handheld hockey has players simply avoid running into the other players before trying to shoot. With a touch screen, the controls can’t be nearly as precise as they need to be to pull off tricky passes and wrecking ball checks, so developers like 2K Sports have to find a way to make the game work.

Fortunately for hockey fans, NHL 2K11 is a pretty good hockey sim. As expected, the touch controls leave a bit to be desired, but things generally work the way that they should. The game controls are simple, with only a check, shot, turbo, and pass button, so you don’t have to worry about learning a complicated control scheme on a little screen. The gameplay also seems fair, with shots going in somewhat random seeming directions, rather than having video-gamey tricks so that you can score on every possession. Basically, if you like hockey, you will probably like NHL 2K11.

Don’t let that endorsement make you think that the game is flawless though, because it’s not. The very first thing I noticed was that the presentation wasn’t as slick as the hockey games that I am used to playing. There is no announcer, very little crowd noise, and no spine tingling horn when you score a goal. It makes a little goal noise, but the sound leaves a ton to be desired.

Also missing is the inclusion of retina display graphics, which is really a bummer to my spoiled eyes. It’s like playing NHL 2000 on the PC with a Rage 128 card instead of a GeForce 256. The players are noticeably pixelated, something that the post-iPhone 4 version of me just can’t accept.

What I can accept though is the price. At $1.99, I think I can handle the graphics and the lack of sound. I can even live with the lack of updated rosters, something that will drive purists nuts. NHL 2K11 is a good hockey game, and for the price, it’s about as close to a must have as it gets.

[ NHL 2K11 Review is a post from 148Apps ]