Category Archives: line drawing

Jaws Review

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Jaws Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website


Jaws, a line-drawing, path-management game based on the hit movie, has been released by Bytemark Games and is now available on the app store. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…..

Jaws Pros:

Iconic soundtrack left intact
Simple controls
Fun, pick-up-and-play quality
OpenFeint integration

Jaws Cons:

Ten levels are too short
Needs survival mode

Amity Island plays host [...]


Cat Run Review

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Cat Run Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Demonual Studios
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.63 out of 5 stars

Cat Run is a Flight Control-like line-drawing game, but with a ton of obstacles and a simultaneous simplification of paths. The resultant game looks great on the surface and has a lot going for it. It’s not quite as addictive as some other line-drawing games I’ve played, but it’s still fun.

In Cat Run, you shepherd cats across the road by drawing paths. There are four roads available: Cat District and Gardens are open initially, while Space and Aquarium must be unlocked. Either way, it’s pretty straightforward. Arrows warn you when cars are about to zoom on screen. You draw paths with your finger; tapping a cat pauses it. If you get hit once, it’s game over, unless you’ve collected an extra life.

Skunks appear at irregular intervals, and their stench can send cats flying into the street. The solution? Send the skunks to be run over instead! Obstacles in the street range from benign objects to octopi lurking in the sewers. Interestingly, you can still interact with obstacles: tapping octopi to send them packing and directing skunks. As if those threats weren’t enough, the cats start attacking each other if left alone for too long.

There are four different types of cats, too, so you’ll need to take into account their different speeds, sizes, and temperaments.

However, while it’s fun to watch your cats run, screeching, between flashy sports cars and roaring motorcycles, the gameplay eventually becomes monotonous. Because you’re going from Side A to Side B for each and every cat, versus separate or even small destinations for different cats, very little juggling is involved. As a result, the game is less challenging than I’d like.

There are achievements, but most are monotonous (shepherd X cats across) rather than quirky. High scores are integrated through OpenFeint as well as in-app.

Cat Run looks gorgeous, and the soundtrack isn’t bad, either. The basic mechanics are good; it’s a fairly fun game. Still, the simplicity of the path-drawing prevents it from being challenging enough for my tastes. Instant classic? Not quite. Cat-filled, fun mayhem? Yes.

[ Cat Run Review is a post from 148Apps ]


Train Conductor 2 Review

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Train Conductor 2 Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: The Voxel Agents
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0

Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.95 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.55 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars

Built upon the much of the same gameplay that the original offered, Train Conductor 2 takes the train guiding/line drawing experience to the USA.

The basic premise of Train Conductor 2 is that you must get a bunch of trains safely from one side of the screen to the other. Trains will be coming from the left side of the screen and the right, and it is up to you to draw in the track that will send them to their correct destination. With multiple trains taking off at once though, it becomes very difficult to maneuver them all so they won’t collide.

Unlike other line-drawing games, Train Conductor allows you to stop the train with a simple tap, freeing some track space up for another incoming train. The pace doesn’t stop though when you decide the train should stop, as another train could just come up and hit the back end of the stopped one.

Each level has its own set of rules and guidelines, such as the ghost level in Nashville that allows trains to pass through each other and the Grand Canyon level that cuts your reaction time by eliminating the middle of the track. If you don’t route a train, it won’t just go to the wrong place (which deducts points), it will fall to its doom and you will lose.

The problem with Train Conductor 2 is that even though each level is fun in its own right, none are as epic as the levels in Flight Control, the best known game in the genre. There is nothing wrong with this, but because each level has a smaller scope, the game needs more levels to compensate. With only 5 levels to play, there just isn’t enough variety to keep me playing the game for too long.

If you are looking for a new line-drawing game to conquer, or just like to rack up high scores (although there is no global leader board, just Facebook Connect… sad), Train Conductor 2 will keep you entertained for some time. The existing levels do get old though, so hopefully more levels will be added on in the near future.

[ Train Conductor 2 Review is a post from 148Apps ]


The Battle of Pirate Bay HD

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The Battle of Pirate Bay HD is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: MUTEKI CORPORATION
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: VERSION
Device Reviewed On: iPad

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.84 out of 5 stars

Remember Missile Command? For those out there too young to remember (and there are probably far too many of you than I’d like to admit), Missile Command was a classic arcade game where players attempted to intercept incoming enemy missiles as they threatened cities. The graphics were extremely simple, the controls (consisting of a trackball and one button) were pared down to the bare essentials, and the theme tapped into the prevailing nuclear zeitgeist of the 80s.

After just a few plays it becomes quite clear that The Battle of Pirate Bay HD is the latest in a long string of games inspired by Missile Command. This time, however, the play mechanics of that classic arcade game have been paired with the line drawing strategies of games like Flight Control, and the apocalyptic political theme of the original has been replaced with something everyone can enjoy – pirates! The result is a game that, while not original by a long shot, is still enjoyable as a quick break from the daily grind.

Much of The Battle of Pirate Bay HD is the same as the iPhone version of the game, so I recommend your reading our review of the original for a detailed description of gameplay before making your final purchasing decision. The iPad version doesn’t add a huge amount to the core game, just Plus integration, enhanced graphics (larger and more colorful, but still very simplistic and untextured), another difficulty level and a beginner’s tutorial. Is it worth the extra $2.00? If you already own the game on the iPhone, you’re probably best off just sticking with that. Unless you’re just a hardcore devotee of the game, there’s really not enough to make it worth upgrading to the iPad platform. I find that I’m saying this far too often, but I wish the developers had made this a universal app, raising the price to $1.99 or so rather than charging for two different apps.

However, if you don’t own The Battle of Pirate Bay already, $2.99 is a small price to pay for a fun, nicely designed game with good music/ambient sounds, responsive controls and clever gameplay. I realize this may be heresy among line drawing purists, but I think it’s a far more engaging game than Flight Control, and far less politically frightening than Missile Command.

[ The Battle of Pirate Bay HD is a post from 148Apps ]


Super 7 Review

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Super 7 Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: No Monkeys
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.0

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.85 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.64 out of 5 stars

I took a nap the other day, the kind of nap that is taken out of necessity, not out of boredom. About an hour later, I was woken up by the horrific thought of a 5 and a 3 colliding, a real tragedy given the circumstances. I had previously been playing Super 7 for a few hours and had just gotten into the global top 100 before a stray 5 hit a stray 3… it was time for a nap, my brain was done.

It’s not often that I get so caught up in games that they give me nightmares. I think I had an Orbital nightmare a few months back, but that may be it. Much like Orbital, Super 7 mixes intensely simple gameplay with complete unpredictability to create a “time waster” that will have you blowing hours of your life instead of minutes. Super 7 might be on the same “addict” scale as Minesweeper, and that’s saying something.

The idea behind Super 7 is that you must mix heptagons together to get to the number 7. You are given an open screen and right off the bat, the game starts (albeit slowly) shooting heptagons out. They come at you in a variety of numbers, from the negative numbers all the way to six, along with x2 and x3 multipliers and a +/- multiplier. To bring them together, you use line drawing a la Flight Control, allowing you to move multiple shapes together at any given time. While the game is simple at first, it quickly becomes very difficult once you realize that when you mix numbers together, the heptagon gets bigger. Fortunately, the larger the heptagon is when it gets to 7, the more points you get, but it’s daunting to see a monstrous heptagon that is made up of 9 heptagons blended together floating across the screen like the Hindenburg, just waiting to burst into flames.

Also like Orbital, and this is oddly important to me, is a constant reminder in the top right corner of your highest score. Super 7 takes this one step further though by showing you the next highest score on your local high score list and, once you’ve beaten all of those scores, shows the next highest global score than you can try to beat. Being a super competitive stat junky, it drives me crazy when I don’t get into my top 7 (the game only tracks your top 7, going along with the 7 theme). It’s also nice to have a game with a global high score that seems obtainable. It’s never nice to get into a game only to realize that the high score was obviously hacked. I’m still quite a ways off the top score, but I’m holding out hope that one day the stars will align and I will be sitting on top.

All in all, I would say that Super 7 is a must buy game, particularly at its 99 cent price point. I personally haven’t seen a more addictive experience on the iPhone in 2010, and given the amount of games I play, that’s really saying something. The only thing that I would add on if they decide to do a major update or a sequel would be some sort of battle multiplayer mode. I could just imagine getting a 11 part heptagon completed and seeing my friends screen get swamped with heptagon 6’s. Oh the joys of beating your friends.

Go on and pick this one up today, you won’t regret it.

[ Super 7 Review is a post from 148Apps ]