Best Iphone Apps Review

Friday Five: June 18th, 2010 is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

It’s Friday! Hurray! Of course, for me it’s summer vacation and Fridays aren’t quite as exciting. But, we’ve still got our traditional sampling of delightful new releases from the past week, so that’s something. Big names like ngmoco and Illusion Labs make an appearance this week, as well as a few more mainstream companies like ESPN. Enjoy!

Godfinger
Godfinger from ngmoco allows you to build up a little world of cartoony followers and exert your godly powers on them. In Godfinger, you can be a kind, caring deity—performing Wonders and helping your civilization prosper—or a wicked demagogue, leaving a path of destruction in your wake. You can control sun, rain, lightning, floods, and fire. As you play Godfinger, your actions shape the terrain and your populace’s opinion. It’s almost ngmoco’s answer to Pocket God. Go on, give it a try and test out your godly abilities…Godfinger, like many of ngmoco’s newer games, is free.

Geometry Wars: Touch
Geometry Wars was already a classic Xbox game, but it made its iPad debut back in March. Now, it’s a universal app, meaning that iPhone and iPod owners can get in on the action! Geometry Wars is a simplistic arcade shooter with basic, geometric graphics and a strong retro theme. It also was one of the first major games to make good use of the dual-stick shooter system that’s so popular on the App Store today. The iPhone/iPad version also includes a brand-new mode, Titan, in which you gradually break giant foes apart into swarms of smaller pieces.

ESPN Pinball
In honor of the World Cup, ESPN has a released a pinball app with some football-themed tables (ahem, soccer for us Americans). There’s also a Basketball table. The new pinball app is full of flashy graphics and boasts pass-and-play multiplayer, global and local leaderboards, and voice-overs from ESPN Sports Center host Jay Harris. It’s a marriage of a TV network, sports, and pinball…if that sounds a little strange, well, it is, but the game looks like some solid pinball fun nevertheless.

Onion News Network
Where would we be without the Onion? In case you haven’t heard of this magnificent publication, the Onion is a completely satirical news network with both an online and a print publication. (Yes, that’s right: you can get a real Onion newspaper.) Their stories are funny, witty, snide, and clever; you’d be crazy not to enjoy browsing them. The Onion’s new app gives you mobile access to the entire Onion archives, including both textual stories and videos. There’s not much more to say: it’s a typical newspaper app. The only difference is that the Onion is anything but a serious, esteemed publication. It’s here to make you grin, and, perhaps, think.

Foosball HD
Illusion Labs has long expressed an interest in touchscreen gaming on larger screens (think back to their tabletop demo of Touchgrind) and now they’ve released an impressive iPad-only title: Foosbal HD. Foosball HD takes full advantage of the iPad’s large screen, transforming it into a top-down view of a foosball table designed perfectly for “local multiplayer”: both you and your friend just play foosball! You can also play against the computer, of course, but multiplayer is the real draw. Foosball seems like a natural fit for the iPad, and it’s great to see Illusion Labs putting the iPad to good use. Sorry, iPhone users; this one isn’t for us.

[ Friday Five: June 18th, 2010 is a post from 148Apps ]

Abstract War Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

If challenging, almost frustratingly difficult apps are your thing, Abstract War is definitely the game for you. Much like Geometry wars, Abstract War pits your geometric space ship against a small but plentiful map of geometric shapes of all different colors that are out to kill you and only you over 24 insanely challenging levels split up into 4 difficulties: speed (easy), Resistance (Normal), Attack (Hard), and Abstract (Very Hard). Within each difficulty there are six levels, each with a different kind of enemy attack and control scheme.

Each level is rather straightforward with its objectives, ordering you to simply survive for an allotted time. You start each level with a set number of lives and a set number of bombs that clear the screen of all enemies, but neither the amount of lives or bombs given ever seem like enough to actually make it to the end. Once you get in the game, enemies just start appearing all over the screen on a mission to hunt you down. Some appear at random, some appear in clumps, some appear from little squares that appear all over the screen, and some seem to come from angry red circles that try to slow you down. The enemies don’t have weapons or anything, but with 50 shapes chasing you on a really tiny screen, it quickly becomes apparent that they don’t need any.

The first thing that you will notice in Abstract War is the awful default controls. Don’t fret though, there are many different control options to choose from, with the standard D pad with joystick based secondary controls being by far the best. The majority of the levels are set up to where you are in control of the ship with your gun auto-firing straight ahead. These levels are extremely difficult, so much so that I had to start the game on easy mode just to build up my skill. Starting at medium just isn’t a good idea in Abstract War, trust me. The alternate levels on the other hand are a piece of cake, although I don’t think that they are meant to be. The control scheme on these levels is a dual joystick mode, allowing you to stop your ship and fire in any direction your heart desires. Just position yourself in a corner and unleash hell. Without the difficulty of weaving and dodging, the secondary firing levels are unfortunately more of an oversight than anything.

As expected, the graphics in Abstract War are smooth and full of simple, neon geometric shapes flying around the screen with no lag at all. If you’ve played Orbital or geoDefense, you know exactly what to expect. The sound on the other hand was rather disappointing. Instead of the creepy System Shock type voice that other geometry games use, Abstract War opted out and just went for simple sounds that sound like a slightly upgraded Space Invaders. Fortunately I don’t play with iPhone sound on too often, so it didn’t really bother me, but I expected better.

In a nutshell, as long as you are willing to put up with an amazingly sharp difficulty curve, Abstract War will entertain and delight. Much like the challenging geometric apps Orbital and GeoDefense Swarm before it, once you get past the fact that you won’t be good at the game day one, you’ll love it. I’d definitely recommend skipping big cheeseburger at Jack in the Box for this one, your 99 cents will be much better spent.

[ Abstract War Review is a post from 148Apps ]

Feature: Your Survival Guide to the iPad’s Launch Lineup is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

It’s almost here. You’ve waited patiently. You’ve put down your $500. Tomorrow, you may be holding an iPad in your grubby, unwashed hands.

First of all, wash your hands. The iPad may be magical, but its touch screen isn’t magically protected from filth.

Now, once you’ve wrapped your clean, fragrant hands around an iPad for the first time, you’re probably going to want to put it through the paces with some new games. Loading up iTunes, you may be slightly horrified to find out that more than 700 iPad applications have been released in the days leading up to the device’s U.S. launch.

Given that many iPad-optimized games are significantly more expensive than their predecessors for the iPhone and iPod Touch, you’ll want to do some research before downloading anything that catches your interest. Download a dud app for your iPhone, and you’ll be out 99 cents, or a couple of bucks at the most. Buy a bad iPad game, and you may have wasted fifteen dollars.

Here are 10 iPad games that you’ll want to check out in preparation for tomorrow’s launch.

Geometry Wars: Touch for iPad (Activision, $9.99)

Twin-stick shooters don’t get much better than this. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved was an early standout for Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service, and the iPad version of Geometry Wars promises to be an equally important title for Apple’s new platform.

The premise: Left thumb moves. Right thumb shoots. Kill all of the evil geometric shapes before they kill you.

Why it’s better on the iPad: Geometry Wars is a frantic game in which swarms of enemies threaten to overwhelm the player at any moment. The iPad’s bigger screen gives players greater visibility — and a better chance at survival — than the iPhone or iPod Touch ever could.

Worth it? Twin-stick shooters are surprisingly playable on an iPhone and iPod Touch, and if it’s as enjoyable as its console predecessors, you’ll get plenty of playtime out of Geometry Wars: Touch.

Scrabble for iPad (EA Games, $9.99)

The iPhone and iPod Touch version of Scrabble remains a top seller for EA, and the iPad edition has been getting rave reviews even from non-gamers.

The premise: Get letters. Make words. Feel smart when you outscore other players.

Why it’s better on the iPad: The iPad’s screen allows players to see the entire Scrabble board at once, without scrolling or zooming. Even better, if you also have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can sync up with Scrabble Tile Rack — a free expansion app that gives you private access to your letters during a multiplayer game. Come on, that’s just awesome.

Worth it? If you love Scrabble, it’s hard to go wrong here. The price is a bit of a turnoff, though. As an alternative, you might want to check out Newtoy’s Words with Friends HD ($4.99). Not only is it five dollars cheaper, but it also includes an asynchronous online multiplayer mode that allows you to compete in up to 20 online matches at a time.

Sam & Max Episode 1: The Penal Zone for iPad (Telltale Games, $9.99)

Actually the first episode in Telltale’s third “season” of Sam & Max games previously seen on consoles and PC platforms, this is the first traditional adventure game released for the iPad.

The premise: Trigger-happy dog and psychic/psychotic bunny-thing solve crimes, cause hilarious mischief.

Why it’s better on the iPad: Adventure games like The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and Beneath a Steel Sky have felt a little cramped on the iPhone and iPod Touch; the iPad provides greater input accuracy, and allows players to see background details they may otherwise miss.

Worth it? Telltale totally nailed the humor crucial to the Sam & Max series in previous episodes, and boasts an impressive track record with the Tales of Monkey Island and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People franchises. Ten bucks will get you a lot of laughs here.

Labyrinth 2 HD (Illusion Labs, $7.99)

Labyrinth provided an early demonstration of the iPhone’s potential as a gaming platform, with realistic physics and spot-on accelerometer controls creating a convincing experience. This expanded version of Labyrinth’s sequel promises to be equally impressive.

The premise: Tilt the iPad to guide a ball through a wooden obstacle course.

Why it’s better on the iPad: Illusion Labs has created an all-new series of levels that take full advantage of the iPad’s expanded screen real estate, each offering more obstacles and a grater challenge for Labyrinth fans.

Worth it? In addition to the new iPad-exclusive levels, Labyrinth 2 HD also includes every stage featured in the original iPhone and iPad Touch version. If that’s not enough for you, check out the hundreds of thousands of free user-generated levels created with the game’s robust level editor. A free Lite version is also available.

Mirror’s Edge for iPad (EA Games, $12.99)

Wondering what happened to the iPhone and iPod Touch adaptation of EA DICE’s free-running action game Mirror’s Edge? Wonder no more — the game has resurfaced in the App Store as an iPad exclusive.

The premise: Run, jump, and slide for your life as you escape from your armed pursuers.

Why it’s better on the iPad: EA has taken the extra development time to add a split-screen, head-to-head race mode for two players.

Worth It? Honestly, I’m not sold. Mirror’s Edge was already up and running on iPhone and iPod Touch hardware, and it’s easy to get the impression that releasing it as an iPad exclusive was a last-minute decision to justify a higher price point.

It’s worth noting that the two-year-old console and PC version of Mirror’s Edge is now available for less than ten dollars at many retailers. All evidence indicates that the iPad edition of Mirror’s Edge offers nowhere near the depth of the console and PC version — why pay more for a scaled-down experience?

Zen Bound 2 (Secret Exit, $7.99)

Another long-delayed iPhone game that finally saw release this week as an iPad exclusive, Zen Bound 2 boasts improved graphical fidelity and over 100 challenging levels.

The premise: Wrap rope around stuff. It’s relaxing.

Why it’s better on the iPad: The larger screen allows players to appreciate the graphical detail in Zen Bound 2’s woodgrain sculptures. Given that gameplay revolves around creating a convincing simulation of a tactile act, this could add more to the experience than you might expect.

Worth it? The price is reasonable, and 100 levels will keep you occupied for quite some time. The original Zen Bound ($2.99) is also worth a look, if you haven’t played it yet.

Harbor Master HD (Imangi Studios, Free)

Imangi Studios brings its line-drawing time management hit to the iPad with redrawn graphics and new challenges. Best of all, it’s available as a free download for iPad owners.

The premise: Guide boats to docks with your finger.

Why it’s better on the iPad: The iPhone and iPod Touch version is not free. The iPad version is free. Free is better.

Worth it? The iPad version of Harbor Master features redrawn high-resolution graphics and all-new content. And I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this yet, but it’s free. Why not give it a shot?

We Rule for iPad (ngmoco, Free)

ngmoco takes on Zynga’s Facebook phenomenon FarmVille with this microtransaction-supported social kingdom sim.

The premise: Rule a kingdom. Farm. Pay real money for perks.

Why it’s better on the iPad: ngmoco notes few iPad-specific enhancements, but a wider view of the action is always appreciated in a game like this.

Worth it? It’s free, so what’s the harm? Be warned, though, that your progress will be very slow if you choose not to buy the optional “Mojo” packs that accelerate plant growth and building construction. Mojo packs range in price from 99 cents to $49.99.

Real Racing HD (Firemint, $9.99)

Real Racing set new standards for iPhone racers, and few games have come close to matching its impressive graphics and simulation-focused gameplay.

The premise: Race cars. Go fast.

Why it’s better on the iPad: It was gorgeous on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and on the iPad, it looks even better. The HD edition also features customizable car skins and the ability to race against pre-recorded ghosts saved either locally or downloaded from Firemint’s leaderboards.

Worth it? While it may not be worth a second purchase if you already own the iPhone and iPod Touch version of Real Racing, the new HD edition features plenty of content, and is bound to make your non-iPad-owning friends jealous when they see it in action.

Metal Gear Solid Touch (Konami, $7.99)

Instead of developing a standalone HD version of Metal Gear Solid Touch, Konami has released a free update for the iPhone and iPod Touch edition that adds full iPad support. Awful nice of them!

The premise: Shoot stuff in the war-torn future. Story’s all kinds of crazy.

Why it’s better on the iPad: Konami’s update improves the visual quality and adds an option to scale the gameplay to the full width of the iPad’s screen.

Worth it? It’s one of the App Store’s most prominent releases to date, so you may already own a copy of Metal Gear Solid Touch. In that case, the iPad update is just a free bonus. If you’ve never played it before, though, check out the free Lite version and judge for yourself whether the full version is iPad-worthy.