Best Iphone Apps Review

Parking Mania HD Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Parking Mania HD attempts to take a mundane activity and turn it into something fun. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never associated parking my car with a rollicking good time, but then again, I never thought matching three like-colored jewels could hold me enraptured either, and it did.

At its core, Chillingo’s Parking Mania HD has several key elements in common with maze-style games such as Ozone and Labyrinth 2. Using a top-down view, the goal in all of these games is to move an object from point a to point b. Outside of this basic mechanic, the theme and the controls available to players are what really make a maze game shine. In both cases, Parking Mania HD is only about average.

There are several control schemes available to players, but most will probably steer (pun intended) toward using the accelerometer for parking cars, as it feels most like actual driving. Each car you park only has two directions, forward and reverse, and these are controlled with a pedal on the bottom right-hand side of the screen. You can adjust sensitivity in the controls menu, but it’s a reasonable guess that you’ll be spending a fair amount of time getting the hang of driving your car. I’d like the control to feel a bit more intuitive, even though I realize that the navigation has to be somewhat challenging in any maze game. Still, it would be better if players didn’t feel as though they were fighting against the controls.

The theme is about average. There is just nothing very thrilling about parking cars, though the developers do try to vary things by making some of the assignments take place at night with very limited light and by including moving traffic. But for anyone who spends a large portion of his/her day in traffic, this isn’t exactly a go-to game for relaxation. I’m also not sure what purpose the clearly sexist imagery on the main screen serves. I suppose it’s an attempt to make parking cars seem “sexy,” but that just doesn’t work. At best, it comes across crass and insensitive.

For $2.99 you could probably do worse, but there are many, many maze-style games on the app store that are far superior to Parking Mania HD. Give them a shot first.

[ Parking Mania HD Review is a post from 148Apps ]

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Pro Zombie Soccer Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

I have to say, I for one am grateful that there is FINALLY a Zombie game on the app store. There are way too few titles available that star the world’s favorite undead flesh eaters. In case you missed the satire, I’ll point out that Zombies are an extremely overdone topic on the app store. That said, Pro Zombie Soccer has a pretty impressive enjoyment level, even if the storyline is a bit… off.

The storyline features a washed out soccer player who gets bitten by an all star soccer player recently turned into a zombie. Miraculously the skills of the zombie soccer player get transferred through the bite, and it’s up to the soon to be washed out zombie to take out as many flesh eaters as possible. Convenient, right?

While the storyline lacks a certain level of… finesse, the game play is a great time. The soon to be zombie soccer player stands stationary in the center-left of the screen, or is running while staying in the center of the road. From this location, soccer balls are aimed and shot at the oncoming hoards of zombies using a touch a flick movement. Pushing the soccer ball for a few seconds powers it up for extra damage, and there are three separate super powers that can be used once a power meter is filled up.

The game play is a rather simple design, and sometimes gets a bit repetitive. The challenge and unique approach that certain levels require help to tone down the repetition though. Overall I found myself enjoying the unique fun that this game provides, regardless of the far fetched storyline and re-use of the app store cliché, Zombies. I guess that’s a bit hypocritical, seeing as Zombies in general are far fetched. Pro Zombie Soccer is a good time and you can check it out on the app store today for $0.99.

[ Pro Zombie Soccer Review is a post from 148Apps ]

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Review: Pro Zombie Soccer is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

• Price: $0.99 (Download here)
• Version: 1.0
• Official Site: Chillingo

It’s hard to blame George Romero for the current glut of zombie games, even if they’ve all been influenced by him. Computers were steel hulks that resembled washing machines when he shot the first modern zombie movie. It’s likely he had never even heard of video games back then.

How could he have known his apocalyptic vision aligned so perfectly with video game conventions-to-be that his zombies would eventually become the poster children for legions of uninspired gamers?

Then again, that’s always been the in-joke with zombie flicks, hasn’t it? Pop culture would eat itself, and this act of cannibalism would give rise to an epidemic. It was only a matter of time before the infection spread into video games.

Pro Zombie Soccer is among the latest of the Zombie-come-latelys, joining the ever-growing horde of the zombie apocalypse. The thing is, Pro Zombie Soccer didn’t have to be about zombies. It didn’t have to be about soccer, either. It could be about throwing hypercubes at American folk artists and no one would be the wiser.

It’s obvious why they went with zombies and soccer though.

Further broadening its popular appeal, a vaguely emo art style envelops the game. There’s even touches of juvenile humor such as getting credit for nailing zombies in the crotch with your soccer ball. It’s not just the zombies who groaned.

Fortunately, angsty teens in big-zippered jackets are merely cardboard cut-outs atop a fairly unique set of pulleys and levers. The off-putting demographic-targeting is offset by the game’s interesting departures from other Defend Your (insert your word of choice here) style games.

Zombie Pro Soccer is a peculiar mash-up of Missile Command, Arkanoid, and billiards games. At its core, it’s a battle reenactment  in which you defend a castle under siege.

It’s a game where you line up shots to ricochet bullets into the enemy’s soft spot. It’s a game about using an underpowered soccer ball to trigger overpowering power-ups, letting you mow through the throngs like wind cutting through your stylish yet not-so-well insulated hoodie.

The game does a good job of keeping things fresh all the while. Stage-specific set pieces constantly surprise and, together with the power-ups, add a great deal of variety to the drone of a zombie work week. These wrinkles range from slightly annoying to simply awesome — and some are so unexpected that I’d feel bad for spoiling them here.

It’s the occasional touch of absurdity that, in the end, swings my opinion of Pro Zombie Soccer from meh to Yeah. It evokes just enough curiosity in the workmanlike mechanics to keep them from becoming day-by-day. Likewise, it adds a splash of strangeness to the otherwise trite tropes of the game world.

As for zombie games, I doubt they’ll be going away any time soon. But hey, look on the bright side. It’s better than seeing Planet of the Apes games everywhere you look.

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Zombie Wonderland Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Another day, another zombie game in the App Store! This time it’s from Chillingo, and the title is Zombie Wonderland. With this game, Chillingo has attempted to blend some of the humor, action, and aesthetic of their popular Minigore with elements of task management and tower defense games. The result is as mixed a bag as the genres it borrows from, although it ultimately succeeds more than it fails.

In Zombie Wonderland, you play Chuck, a handyman for hire in a town suffering from a chronic zombie pandemic. Your job is twofold: stop the zombies from invading the premesis, and keep the place clean. If you do bit these things by sunup, you survive to work another nigh in one of four locales: a home, a bar, a garage, and a cemetery’s office.

The basic gameplay works fine. Each location has a number windows which you must defend. You can shore up windows with wooden boards (the zombies never go for the door) and defend the building with both your trusty shotgun and a single automatic machine gun. There are also chores to do, the main one being to clean up the zombie guts before the night ends. It’s a real mélange of ideas, and it much of it can be fun in little bursts. You’ll spend most of you time tap-mashing around the house, running from window to window and shooting what you see. Each night goes by so quickly that you won’t tire out before the cock crows and day comes.

Unfortunately, Zombie Wonderland suffers from that game-killing combo of brevity and repetitiveness. It is a short game; there are twenty levels across four locations, and although you’ll be playing some of those levels repeatedly (the last half of the game really spikes in difficulty), that doesn’t make up for the fact that there’s just not a whole lot of variety here. Each board is basically the same, and each level on each board is basically the same. You’re just doing the same thing, over and over, level after level: shoot zombies, board up windows, clean up guts, rinse and repeat. And you’ll be shooting the same limited zombie types over and over, too, with the same limited selection of weapons.

As I played, I could see where Zombie Wonderland drew inspiration from other, better zombie games, like Plants vs. Zombies and Zombie Smash, but both of those titles benefited from a huge variety of weapons, enemies, and challenges.

I want to give Zombie Wonderland a better recommendation. It’s got a fun idea at it’s heart, and I like the graphical look of it. But in the end, it lacks imagination in variety and level design. As such, my recommendation is tepid, although zombie fans and Minigore fans will undoubtedly get some enjoyment out of it.

[ Zombie Wonderland Review is a post from 148Apps ]

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Chillingo Launches Bullet-Hell Shoot-’Em-Up Assault Squadron is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Chillingo and developer The Binary Mill have released Assault Squadron ($2.99), an arcade-style shoot-’em-up that boasts difficult bullet patterns and varied gameplay.

In the vein of genre classics like Life Force and Thunder Force II, Assault Squadron alternates between horizontal and vertically-scrolling stages. Players are able to outfit four selectable ships with a variety of upgradable weapons throughout the single-player campaign mode.

The Binary Mill has built Assault Squadron with speed in mind — the developer promises a consistent 60 frames-per-second performance, even on the first-generation iPod Touch. Multiple control schemes are included, to suit player preference. A gameplay trailer is below.

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Monster Mayhem Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

It only took me one Castle Defense game to achieve burnout and never desire to play one again. Frantically tossing wave-after-wave of enemies into the air was fun at first, but in the end, I came to the realization that these types of games generally lack depth and only reward you with a lifetime of flicking-induced arthritic pain. Such is not the case with Monster Mayhem.

Monster Mayhem approaches the Castle Defense genre differently and is best described as a Tower Offense game. Instead of focusing their development on increasing enemies wave after wave, Taplay focused on gameplay mechanics, a diverse stable of unique monsters and a well-equipped arsenal of upgradeable weaponry which gives your fingers/hands some much-needed R and R. Not only does this strategy work very well, it innovates the entire genre and alters the course of future evolution so our children’s children aren’t born with Popeye forearms.

The story behind Monster Mayhem is simple: You, the Mystery Graveyard keeper, must stop the ensuing waves of Monster Mayhem from breaking down the grave-yard’s great iron gate. To accomplish your mission, you’re provided with a couple of weapons initially, but as you progress and earn points/coins, additional weapons appear, all of which are upgradeable.

The only weapon requiring players to use extended touch gestures is the knife which, again, is upgradeable. Players simply swipe over enemies to damage/kill them using the knife. The other weapons only require touching the screen and obliterating monster after monster. Players simply choose a weapon from their arsenal, located at the top of the screen, and go to town grave-yard. This is where Monster Mayhem really shines: In addition to offering depth, beautiful graphics and sounds, it enhances/innovates and provides a very enjoyable game play experience by keeping all the mindless flicking nonsense to a bare minimum, offering instead to allow players to blow their enemies to smithereens using cool weaponry.

As new enemies appear, players are provided with their personal attribute information. Enemies can move quickly and possess little strength (to damage the gate) or move slowly and wreak holy havoc on that iron once they finally make it there and range from werewolves that change to puppies after you kill them, to giant FrankenKens, to spiders that dangle from above and slowly rob you of your hard-earned coinage. And, speaking of coinage, players can replay any previously-beaten level over and again, if desired, to build up enough money to buy/upgrade weapons.

Monster Mayhem contains a built-in enemy reference, which shows each enemy’s attribute card and the number of each enemy you’ve killed, once they’re unlocked, an on-screen help tutorial and Crystal social network features including online leaderboards, achievements and the option to challenge your friends to some Monster Mayhem.

All said, Monster Mayhem is beautiful, fun and innovative. Defending your gate simply using one finger and a variety of weapons, against an even larger variety of monsters/enemies is a rewarding, satisfying experience. At only $1.99, this game is definitely worth its purchase price.

[ Monster Mayhem Review is a post from 148Apps ]

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Beware Of App Store Spammers, Says Developer is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

The next time you hear of a cool app and jump straight on to the App Store to get it, make sure you know exactly what you’re looking for and check where it’s coming from.

That’s the advice of Marco Arment, developer of Instapaper for iPhone and iPad.

Writing on his personal blog, Marco notes the staggering number of applications playing on the name of successful apps or using similar keywords in order to con unwitting App Store customers into buying them.

Popular bird-launching game, Angry Birds, is one such successful application plagued by a host of pretenders that are found when searching the App Store for its title. Of the top ten search results, only four apps appear legitimate with the actual Angry Birds game and its Lite version making up two of these. Six of the top ten search results are made up of cheat apps and walkthroughs.

ESCAPP’s Angry Birds Cheats, for example, appears in the top five searches and uses a lookalike icon. At $0.99 (the same price as the full Angry Birds app) the application’s description reads “Wonderful and addictive cheats. Accept No Imitations”.

That should be no imitations other than the imitation of affiliation with an actual application and/or developer.

We’ve not downloaded Angry Birds Cheats, but with 432 one star reviews out of 487 and reviews entitled “Absolute Rubbish!!” and “Waste of time money and effort” we’re willing to gamble our reputation on this being a pretty poor app. Add to this that the developer, ESCAPP, doesn’t have a working website but a GoDaddy holding page instead, and the fraud is complete.

InTekOne, LLC is another app publisher working in a similar way but this time using a modified version of the Angry Birds icon for its Angry Birds Walkthrough app. Once again, its site does not appear when clicked in iTunes and it’s left up to the poor developer, who was presumably commissioned to create the app, to shoulder the blame.

Chillingo, the publisher of Angry Birds, is equally unhappy with these apps: “We are going to send a formal copyright infringement request to Apple about these apps soon,” said Joe Wee, Director of Chillingo.

Chillingo prefers to reward loyal gamers with hints and tips at no cost by providing walkthrough trailers on its Developers’ YouTube channels. That way, they get free, valid information directly from the source. Angry Birds’ developer Rovio provides official suggestions for Angry Birds here

So what can you do to avoid inadvertently downloading fake apps or “squatters” who use successful apps as a marketing tool? Unfortunately, not a lot. Of course, you’re free to contact Apple and let them know your thoughts and Marco Arment also lists ways developers can protect their intellectual property from such apps on his site here.

For the average consumer, however, it appears that vigilance is your only weapon. Find out the name of the developer, check their website and, most importantly, read the app’s reviews for consumer feedback before buying.

Neither ESCAPP nor InTekOne, LLC have responded to our contact regarding their applications at time of writing.

[ via Marco.org ]

[ Beware Of App Store Spammers, Says Developer is a post from 148Apps ]

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Guerrilla Bob Blows Stuff Up is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Guerrilla Bob is a dual stick shooter with throwaway lines that aren’t that funny — “Say hello to my bullets!” — a 3D landscape that looks like Legoland gone bad, and a story line that won’t replace the Odyssey as the standard of heroic epics any time soon. It’s still a fun jaunt with tons of rewards, weapons, and bad guys.

Guerrilla Bob has three modes, Arcade, Mercenary, and Survival, and all are fun to play. Mercenary, predictably, is where the money is, and money is how you get new toys, so it’s a good place to start. (…)
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Guerrilla Bob Blows Stuff Up | Best iPad Apps | Best Free Apps

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