Category Archives: Platform

‘Buck and the Coin of Destiny’ Review – GameStop Bunny Gets His Own Game

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‘Buck and the Coin of Destiny’ Review – GameStop Bunny Gets His Own Game is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Some of you gamers out there may remember a GameStop ad campaign from a couple of years ago featuring a foul-mouthed little bunny named Buck who would find himself in funny situations as he made his way through fake versions of Mario-like 2D platforming games. For reference, there is a nice montage video on YouTube showing some of Buck's commercials. The ads were a hit, and there was even a short-lived game available on GameStop's website that let you play through a level featured in one of the commercials. Now, GameStop has given Buck another chance at video game stardom in a new iPhone game just released on the App Store called Buck and the Coin of Destiny [99¢].

Buck and the Coin of Destiny is an auto-running platforming game that have become quite popular with the success of games like Canabalt [$2.99] and Monster Dash [99¢]. There's a Story mode that has Buck running through five different video game-themed levels in an effort to get from the start to the finish of each level as the story of the Coin of Destiny unfolds. For example, one level is reminiscent of the Legend of Zelda games, one is very Castlevania-esque, and before and after each level are some funny animated Buck the Bunny cutscenes. Buck automatically runs to the right and tapping the screen allows you to jump or double-jump as you collect coins and powerups while avoiding spikes, pits, and enemies.

The five levels of the Story mode are fairly short, and it won't take too long to complete the whole campaign. However, there is an Arcade mode that lets you play through any of the five level themes in randomly generated endless fashion. This mode has the potential for unlimited replayability, but I do have one small gripe about it. You start the endless portion with only one heart, meaning if you hit any hazard it's instantly game over. Like the Story mode, you can pick up additional hearts along the way, up to a total of eight. That's fine for the Story levels that have a definitive ending, but in endless mode the ability to pick up additional hearts can cause a game to drag on for a pretty long time. I'd much prefer to see how far I can make it with the threat of instant death looming, or even just a cap of 3 or 4 hearts instead.

The gameplay in Buck and the Coin of Destiny isn't the best available in the running platform genre, but it's really not bad at all. The jumping controls are responsive, the level designs are interesting, and it's simple and fun to play. I'm really surprised by how much I continue to come back to Coin of Destiny. The Story portion is pretty short, but a fun ride while it lasts. The end of the game offers a “to be continued…” so the brevity may be rectified in the future with updates. The endless Arcade mode is a great addition to lengthen out the game, even if it does tend to drag on a bit. There's also a number of achievements to earn in the game, and local scores are kept for the Story mode and each individual Arcade level. Sadly there's no Game Center integration or online functionality other than the ability to share your scores over Facebook.

If you were familiar with the GameStop Buck commercials, like many of the players in our forums, then you'll likely get your dollar's worth of enjoyment on the cutscenes alone. If you don't really care about the Buck character but are looking for a new running platform game, then Buck and the Coin of Destiny really isn't a bad choice at all. I'd really like to see the game evolve with updates to add more content to the Story mode, some tweaks to the endless Arcade mode, and some sort of online functionality for achievements and high scores. There's a really nice foundation in place here, and even in its current state Buck and the Coin of Destiny is a solid running platformer for the price.


Exclusive Hands-On with Upcoming ‘GravBot’ from Team Phobic

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Exclusive Hands-On with Upcoming ‘GravBot’ from Team Phobic is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

A few weeks ago we showed a new trailer for an upcoming gravity-based puzzle platforming game called GravBot from Team Phobic. They have since sent us a near-final build of the game, and after completing nearly all of it, I'm thoroughly impressed with just about everything that GravBot has to offer. Team Phobic has already proven that they know how to bring cute, colorful graphics and excellent level designs with Bounce On [$1.99/Lite] and Bounce On 2 [$3.99/Lite], and those skills have translated well into the creation of GravBot. The levels start out simple enough and ease you into the different elements in the game, but as you progress GravBot will really test your puzzle solving skills and force you to look at each level from every angle.

In GravBot, you'll play as a tiny robot who must collect all of the batteries on each perilous level. In order to accomplish this, you can spin the entire level either 90 degrees left or right or entirely upside down to change the direction of gravity. Your robot can travel left and right on its single tire, and will fall towards whichever way happens to be down at the time. Levels are filled with hazards like spikes, enemies, and lasers which will kill instantly if not avoided. The batteries can be tricky to get to, and a color-coded system of trapdoors, elevators, and various other obstacles will need to be triggered by switching a lever or pushing blocks onto buttons – all in the name of snagging every last battery on a given level.

While just completing each level is sufficiently challenging and fun, the real hook to GravBot is trying to obtain gold medals for each one. The game keeps track of how many times you switched gravity to complete a level, with bronze/silver/gold medals awarded for using it efficiently. What is really satisfying is when you figure out a way to win gold using fewer gravity switches than is required. Due to the physics engine in the game, you can sometimes make it to a hard to reach area without changing the gravity and instead gliding through the air or just barely catching the edge of a platform and hanging on. These types of moves can be risky however, and if you don't pull one off just right you can easily fall to your death. If you do happen to beat a level using a ridiculously low number of gravity switches, you will be immortalized in leaderboard form thanks to the Plus+ network, and there are a number of achievements to obtain as well.

GravBot looks and sounds absolutely great, with Retina Display enhanced graphics and catchy music and sound effects. I especially love the little blips and bloops that your robot will spout out during the game, and he has a ton of personality for essentially being a TV set with a wheel. GravBot has already been submitted and Team Phobic is shooting for a September 30th release. The game will be free to download and comes with 12 levels, with two additional 20 level packs available as in-app purchase for 99¢ apiece. The 12 free levels aren't terribly difficult and serve mostly to get you familiar with the game, but the additional level packs contain some seriously challenging stuff that should keep you busy for quite a while. Make sure to head over to the upcoming thread in our forums to check out more about GravBot, and we'll take another look at the game when it hits the App Store later this month.


Hands-On with Upcoming ‘Sonic 4: Episode 1′ – This is What We’ve All Been Waiting For

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Hands-On with Upcoming ‘Sonic 4: Episode 1′ – This is What We’ve All Been Waiting For is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Yesterday during Sega's iPhone Games Day, easily the most impressive and fun game that I had a chance to play was Sonic 4. It finally feels like the Sonic game that we've all been wanting for the past 15 years, with no gimmicks, unnecessary characters or outlandish stories. Just pure 2D side-scrolling Sonic goodness, with heaps of Blast Processing. We previewed Sonic 4 during E3 in June, where we had a chance to play an early version of the game. Yesterday at Sega I was shown a nearly complete build of the game that included the previously unannounced Labyrinth Zone, two exclusive iPhone levels, and the special Chaos Emerald bonus stages.

The best thing about Sonic 4 is that it's incredibly simple to play, to the point of almost rendering the virtual controls a non-issue. I say almost because it still can be tricky playing a platformer without tactile feedback, but with only an analog stick and one button to worry about it certainly simplifies matters. Sonic 4 plays similarly to the original trilogy where you can run down hills and roll through loops or perform a spin dash by crouching and mashing the button to build up speed, but one significant new maneuver has been added to Sonic's repertoire. After performing a jump, you can hit jump in mid-air and execute a homing attack that will send Sonic spinning into nearby enemies or interactive objects which get target locked automatically. This adds an interesting dynamic to the game and makes it far more playable on the touch screen, as you don't have to be quite as precise when trying to defeat enemies.

Previously, Sega has shown off the first area of Sonic 4 called Splash Hill Zone. This zone is reminiscent of the beginning stage in earlier Sonic the Hedgehog games, with bright blue skies, green grass, and plenty of loops and hills. Yesterday they revealed Labyrinth Zone, which is also akin to levels from the old Sonic games. It's an underground cavern area with moving platforms, boulders falling from the roof, and underwater portions. This is also where one of the iPhone exclusive levels is based, called Lost Labyrinth Zone. This level has Sonic riding in a mine cart that is controlled by tilting the device while negotiating maze-like caverns. Sonic 4 deviates from the linear level progression of the originals, and once you've completed the initial Splash Hill Zone all three areas in each of the four zones are made available to play in any order. The catch is that you will not be able to play the fourth boss area for each zone until you've completed the previous three.

Another returning feature from the classic Sonic games is the addition of bonus levels. If you complete an area with at least 50 rings in your possession, you'll have a chance to jump into a gigantic spinning ring at the end which will take you to a special stage and give you an opportunity to earn a Chaos Emerald. These stages are re-imagined versions of the ones from Sonic 1, and if you remember those stages you'll understand just how well suited they are for tilt control. Whereas you controlled Sonic himself as the stage spun around you in the originals, in this iPhone version you'll actually be controlling the stage by tilting and twisting the device while trying to get a stationary Sonic to the Chaos Emerald in the middle. Collecting a total of 7 Chaos Emeralds and completing the game will yield an alternate cliffhanger ending that will hint at things to come in Sonic 4: Episode 2.

Yes, Sonic 4 will be an episodic release. Sega couldn't comment on how many episodes will make up the entire experience, but have assured me that there is a definitive end to Sonic 4 and they won't just be releasing a new episode whenever they feel like adding a new set of levels. Sonic 4 is also looking quite stunning visually, and will be nearly identical to the console versions save for the 2 exclusive iPhone levels and tilt controls. Remarkably, the game runs at an incredibly smooth rate, and I didn't experience even one hiccup during my time with the game. Also of interesting note is that Sonic 4, the long awaited spiritual sequel to the classic original trilogy that fans have been clamoring for for years, will not be appearing on either the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. While this may have Marcus in a huff, it shows just how committed Sega is to this platform and its fans.

This hands-on video from our E3 preview in June demonstrates Sonic 4 in action:

I can hardly describe just how much I enjoyed Sonic 4, and I cannot wait for the final version to be released. Sega won't pin down anything more exact than “sometime this Fall” but the game was looking mostly complete and hopefully it won't be too much longer before we can all finally play Sonic 4: Episode 1.


‘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


Video Released for Upcoming ‘GravBot’ by Team Phobic

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Video Released for Upcoming ‘GravBot’ by Team Phobic is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Tonight, the folks at Team Phobic released a video of their next App Store installment, the forthcoming game GravBot. If you aren't familiar with Team Phobic, they are most well known for the excellent platforming games Bounce On [$1.99/Lite] and Bounce On 2: Drallo's Demise [$3.99/Lite], as well as the collaborative effort with Backflip Studios on the colorful tunnel shooter aptly named Tunnel Shoot [99¢]. This new game will be a physics-based puzzle-platformer with an emphasis on manipulating gravity to navigate levels filled with switches, buttons, elevators, and traps.

Here is the gameplay trailer for GravBot that shows some of these mechanics in action:

Team Phobic has proven they have a knack for first-rate level design with the Bounce On series, and they are known for the charming visuals in their games as well. The main character in GravBot already seems to show quite a bit of personality for what is essentially a TV with a unicycle wheel (which immediately gave me that GizmoDuck vibe). The game is slated for a September release, and we'll have more on GravBot as it becomes available. In the meantime you can check out the thread in our upcoming games forum or the GravBot Facebook page for additional screenshots of the game.


‘Monster Dash’ Review – The Real Life Story of Barry Steakfries

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‘Monster Dash’ Review – The Real Life Story of Barry Steakfries is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

The wild popularity of Fruit Ninja [99¢ / HD] is a hard act to follow, but I think Halfbrick's next game is more than up to snuff. In Monster Dash {99¢], you play as Barry Steakfries, a man who loves two things in life: Running and killing monsters. Of course I don't know him personally, but I've been able to discern as much from spending the past week playing Monster Dash in almost every second of spare time I can find.

Monster Dash is a randomly generated survival platformer where you run to the right as long as you can, much like Canabalt [$2.99]. This is where the Canabalt similarities end, as between Barry Steakfries and wherever he's running to is an array of monsters which all must be either avoided or slain. Barry's default weapon is a shotgun, which has limited range, but along the way you will find weapon crates packed with sub machine guns, a powerful six shooter, and even a machine gun jetpack.

Barry's life is represented in heart on the top right corner of the screen, and you can regain health by picking up heart power-ups on your run. Colliding with an enemy or hitting spikes causes you to lose health, and when you run out of hearts or miss a jump and fall to your death your run is over. From there, your score is submitted to OpenFeint online leaderboards, and you start again. On your run you will randomly warp through four different settings, from an egyptian world filled with mummies to the rooftop ruins following a zombie apocalypse.

Monster Dash is host to oodles of OpenFeint achievements and also a ridiculous amount of stat tracking, keeping count of things like your total distance travelled, how many monsters you've stomped, most consecutive stomps, and a bunch of other things. Also, not only is there a leaderboard for single run distance, but you can also compete for total distance ran, total monsters killed in one run, as well as total monsters killed overall.

The graphics in Monster Dash consist of fantastically drawn sprites, and the fast paced music fits perfectly with the pace of the game. Overall, Monster Dash is just a ton of fun, the controls are simple and just consist of tapping either side of the iPhone screen to jump or fire, and I'm really having a hard time finding anything to complain about. Best of all, Halfbrick has had an amazing track record with updating Fruit Ninja with all kinds of additional game modes and content and all day people have been contributing their own ideas as to what would make Monster Dash even more awesome in the thread on our forums.

Halfbrick obviously hasn't committed to implementing any of these things, but it's not hard to imagine how well various power-ups and additional weaponry could fit in to the game. Regardless of whether or not these things ever happen, I'm happy as a clam with Monster Dash. If you like Canabalt-style gameplay and hate monsters, you basically need to download Monster Dash as soon as possible.

App Store Link: Monster Dash, $0.99


IceCube Adventures

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IceCube Adventures is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Play the new 2D Platform game IceCube Adventures for your iPhone/iPod Touch with unique one-touch control mechanics. No tilting/swiping or controls on your screen! Go on an adventure with IceCube to fight all evil in the world!

IceCube Adventure features:
- A challenging 2D Platform game like you never played before!
- Beautiful graphics combined with impressive game music and great sound effects delivers an immersive game experience.
- Play the game in easy or hard mode, to test if you are really able to master the game.
- Multitasking support

Explore many various places, visit the Dark Forest, find secret Caves, climb the Mountain and enter the Old Mine. IceCube Adventures will keep even the enthusiast gamers attracted for several hours. Solve puzzles, fight ShadowCubes, collect keys and acquire skills to save the world!


‘Ghosts ‘n Goblins Gold Knights II’ Review – Same Look but Improved Feel

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‘Ghosts ‘n Goblins Gold Knights II’ Review – Same Look but Improved Feel is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Last year, Capcom released an entry from its classic franchise Ghosts 'n Goblins to the iPhone, titled Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights, which we reviewed on release. If you were a fan of the original series a couple of things really stuck out about the game. First and foremost was the change from 2D sprites and pixel art to 3D character models and backgrounds. It looked blocky and lacked detail, and just didn't have that charming, colorful look of the originals. Still, I could look past the graphical change as long as the game still played the same. The problem was… it didn't. Gameplay was sluggish, and the poor virtual controls made playing through the game an exercise in frustration. To top it all off, for one of the most notoriously difficult game series of all time, Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights was a total cakewalk.

Now, nine months after the first release, Arthur is back in Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights II. Did Capcom learn from their mistakes and improve upon the fairly disappointing first game? Well, sort of. Visually, everything is practically identical to the first game, and running side by side they are almost indistinguishable. Game mechanics are also similar in regards to health, powerups, level progression, and so forth. In addition to Arthur, you do get a new character to play as in place of Lancelot from the first game. Perceval is also a sword wielding hero but plays much differently than Lancelot in that he cannot shoot at characters and has a much bigger focus on magical attacks. Also, he can dash attack through certain walls, which can affect what route you take through the game and is a cool addition.

Where Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights II really improves over its predecessor is in performance and controls. The game now runs a great deal faster, and feels much closer to the originals when jumping from platforms and fighting with enemies. Best of all is the addition of an analog stick for movement rather than a finicky d-pad. Moving your character is much, much easier now, and you can even place the virtual controls wherever you want on the screen in the options. These changes improve the game drastically over the first, and I'm actually having a lot of fun playing through it this time around.

Game length appears to be about the same as the first, based on the scrolling map view you get before starting a level. The difficulty is still on the easy side, and hopefully this gets improved with an update like the first game received that added a Hard mode. There's also the same type of cheats that can be purchased for 99¢ each as IAP that the first game had, if you find the game isn't easy enough for you to begin with. It's still not the prettiest game around, but it's not the ugliest either, and overall Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights II is a huge improvement over the first thanks to the overhauled performance and controls.