In this weekly feature, FingerGaming rounds up the top-grossing iPhone and iPod Touch applications, as current that day on the iTunes App Store. This week’s top titles are:
EA’s Monopoly finishes as this week’s highest-grossing game in the App Store, boosted by a recent television advertisement highlighting popular iPhone titles. Square Enix’s former chart leader Final Fantasy drops to second place, while Backflip Studios’ physics puzzler Ragdoll Blaster 2 takes third in its debut week.
Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War Zombies holds steady at fourth place, though Gameloft’s competing title Brothers in Arms 2 has fallen out of the top ten after a strong performance last week. Plants vs. Zombies also sees a drop in popularity after placing third last week, and finishes behind Triniti’s app compilation All-in-1 Gamebox and PopCap’s Bejeweled 2 in today’s chart results.
EA’s Rock Band moves up to eighth place this week, as Gameloft’s recently released iPhone version of the classic 3D platformer Rayman 2 closes out today’s chart.
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 4.38 out of 5 stars
Ragdoll Blaster 2 hit the app store a few days ago, and wow, is it one heck of an upgrade. Backflip Studios really stepped up to the plate in bringing new life into their Ragdoll series. The visual upgrades of this physics based sequel are evident as soon as you turn the game on. The polish of this title is evident, from start to finish.
Ragdoll Blaster 2 is a refreshing upgrade over the games largely popular predecessor. Gone are the doodle style graphics, instead there is a clean machinist style environment complete with various traps, doors, buttons, and puzzles. This does take the graphical appeal in another direction, but I don’t imagine anyone is feeling a shortage of doodle games in the app store.
With the inclusion of Plus+, you’ll be looking for the quickest way to shoot the poor defenseless cute little ragdoll into the target, ensuring a lower score then your friends. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be enjoying every minute of it as well.
The outstanding tutorial brings you right back into the simplistic and overly addicting game style. If this is your first time playing the ragdoll series, the learning curve is easy to master. The game mechanics are simple… aim your cannon; shoot a ragdoll, hit the target, move on to the next level, rinse, repeat. You’ll be greeted throughout the game with increasingly challenging obstacles in your path, making it necessary to use multiple ragdolls to achieve victory.
The game is broken down into specific rooms. Each room has a certain number of levels, and achievements are gained each time an entire room is completed. Each level provides a unique set of challenges to overcome. The game is certainly not easy, but there is a real since of accomplishment as you make your way through one of the over 150 levels available in Ragdoll Blaster 2. Trust me, there is plenty of game to play for your small investment.
There is an element of repetitiveness that comes from a puzzle game such as this though. There are plenty of bells and whistles to keep even the casual puzzle enthusiast interested, but if you are lukewarm in your interest of puzzle games, there is a slight chance you won’t find hours of continued entertainment from Ragdoll Blaster 2. Fortunately, Ragdoll’s game mechanics lends itself nicely to quick spurts of gaming, so the repetition and longevity won’t wear you out all in one sitting.
While the game play is similar to its predecessor, the overall feel of Ragdoll Blaster 2 provides a somewhat different experience. If you failed to check out the first title, you can see our review of that game here. You won’t need it to fully enjoy Ragdoll Blaster 2, but you’ll be missing out on another great title from Backflip studios. If you have the slightest interest in physics based puzzle games, Ragdoll Blaster 2 is an extremely high quality option, and one that you’ll be coming back to time and again.
