Category Archives: Reviews

iPhone Review: RollOut

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iPhone Review: RollOut is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Bullypix
Price: $0.99
Version: 1.1
App Reviewed on: iPad

Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.88 out of 5 stars

Simplicity with a side of mind-bending difficulty is often the heart of any puzzle game on the App Store. Some games soar to greatness with this philosophy at their heart. RollOut is looking to top the charts of puzzle solving greatness with a new take on challenging your noggin. Does RollOut succeed in this task, or is it sucking the scum off the bottom of the barrel?

RollOut is a puzzle game about making for the exit. Players are tasked with getting Wabba to the exit of each level. Wabba is not just going to sit around and wait, though. Wabba forms into a saw blade ball and proceeds to start rolling through the level. To bad Wabba can’t just cut his way to the exit.

The puzzle part comes in with getting Wabba’s pointy posterior to the exit. Jump arrows scroll across the stage. Players control these arrows to get this Sonic wannabe to the exit door. The complexity starts to rack up when the player realizes these jump arrows can only be moved to the left. Wabba starts on the ground floor and it is up to players to jump him to an exit door strategically placed somewhere way above his starting position.

While this all sounds rough enough, there is yet even more complexity to throw into the mix. Sometimes an elevator is necessary to get to higher ground. Landing on it will stop Wabba just long enough to get to the next level. Wabba can also fall all the way back down to the starting position. Adding into these levels of heck are areas where the jumping signs won’t work.

Oh yeah, there is one last touch to round out those 50 levels of insanity-inducing game play. Jump signs, elevators, and control voids may all sound feeble and weak in comparison. One last thing to consider: not all jump signs are the same. Some will make Wabba race faster, others will pause, and some will even slow down the action. Whew.

RollOut may notch up the puzzle complexity, but it sure skips the visual eye candy. About the only colors that ever come into play here are fundamental primary colors in the control signs. Some different backgrounds would have really upped the ante on the presentation side.

Overall, RollOut is a sadistic take on puzzle platforming. Fifty levels, trophy support, and simple game play make this worthy of being on that iPhone. Just don’t be surprised when your broken blood vessels kick in at the higher levels.

[ iPhone Review: RollOut is a post from 148Apps ]


‘Gangstar: Miami Vindication’ Review – Better Than the First, But Still Room for Improvement

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‘Gangstar: Miami Vindication’ Review – Better Than the First, But Still Room for Improvement is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

A little more than a month ago, iPhone giant Gameloft first announced a sequel to Gangstar: West Coast Hustle [$4.99 / Free / HD], an open-world crime game which we liked quite a bit in our review despite a few disappointments. Gangstar: Miami Vindication [$6.99] was released this evening, and while several of our annoyances from the first have been tweaked or massaged to be less problematic, there's still a few things keeping Miami Vindication from being our favorite thug simulator.

Much like the original, Gangstar: Miami Vindication features a full city to explore, a wide variety of vehicles to steal, weapons ranging from baseball bats to flame throwers, and a heap of missions to complete. (75 to be exact.) The game plays exactly how you'd expect it to play if you've ever played a Grand Theft Auto or similar type of open world crime game. You can play through the series of missions which vary wildly from something as simple to going to a particular point in the city to stealing a specific car or even racing. Alternatively, you can just disregard the missions entirely and instead just drive around the city, stealing cars, running from the police, or really doing whatever you feel like doing.

While there isn't a whole lot of innovation to be found in Miami Vindication, it has been improved in some ways over the original. For instance, the game is fully voiced over and the voice acting actually seems to be a little better than your typical Gameloft game– at least for major characters. Gameloft also has been boasting the fact that the game was written in part by one of the writers from the TV show The Wire. This story consists of dabbling in the various sectors of the Miami criminal underground on the hunt for your missing brother. I don't see it winning any awards, but by and large the dialog in Miami Hustle is substantially less cringeworthy than West Coast Hustle.

Controls seem to be a lot tighter than the original, offering three different options: Tilt, a virtual steering wheel, and a slider which I've found myself preferring. When on a motorcycle, tilting your device back and forth executes wheelies and stoppies although riding a wheelie for any length of time usually seems to result in a spectacular crash. Lighting is improved as well, resulting in some fairly spectacular views during sunset and sunrise as the entire city is bathed in warm sunlight.

Unfortunately, even though the lighting is better, Miami Vindication is home to some heinously low polygon models. Cars look decent, but character models look absolutely dreadful. Animations are extremely limited, faces lack depth, there are no fingers to be found anywhere, and no lips move when anyone speaks. Instead, they just flail their arms about and bop their heads back and forth. With how much of the game is spent watching two characters talk to each other, this soon becomes incredibly distracting.

The draw distance is decent, but pop-in is considerable. You can see buildings and terrain from far away, but trees and other small details all appear incredibly close to your character. Much like the original Gangstar, the city of Miami in Miami Vindication is terribly barren. Only a few cars will ever appear on screen at once, and pedestrians are rare as can be. Everything feels entirely too clean and empty. Gameloft did implement some varied areas to the city instead of being totally metropolitan, but all the subareas all feel equally lonely and empty.

If you can get past the relatively sparse graphical environment, there really isn't anything else like Miami Vindication on the App Store. Riding around on motorcycles and boats is a lot of fun, and if you can find a helicopter, flying around the city is really pretty cool. I still prefer Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [$9.99 / Free / HD], but if you don't like the top-down view and want a full 3D experience, Gangstar: Miami Vindication is worth exploring.


WMDs Review

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

Developer: DARKMOJO
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.5
Device Reviewed On: iPhone

iPhone Integration Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 2.83 out of 5 stars

Comic books and the iPad seem like a match made in heaven, but there are still some kinks to work out before they can truly come into their own. Take, for instance, WMDs, a new iPhone-only comic book. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was when I first downloaded it. I couldn’t tell if it was a motion comic, a fully animated short, a traditional comic, or some sort of hybrid of the three. As it turns out, it’s mostly like a traditional comic book, and, unfortunately, not a particularly good one.

Both issues 1.0 and 1.5 are currently available through the app store for free, so there’s no harm in trying them out. What you will find is a series with some promise – the initial trailer for the series uses live action and animation to showcase the series’ premise that superhumans are responsible for many of the world’s great disasters and large-scale military triumphs. But once you get past the initial pomp during the opening sequences, what you’re left with is a pretty standard comic book.

To be fair, the comic book reader software included with each issue/episode of WMDs is clean and simple. You are generally treated to one panel at a time, and you can pinch and zoom to get a closer look at any time. It’s standard stuff for a reader these days, but it’s well implemented here.

I think my expectations would have been lower, and my evaluation of this series higher, had WMDs been released as a standard comic book through an app like Comixology’s Comics. Instead, the hint of animation and live action footage makes the actual comic pale in comparison. It also doesn’t help that the art for WMDs, while serviceable, is sometimes scratchy and seems unfinished in places.

No doubt there will be additional episodes/issues in the WMDs series, but if the developers intend to continue presenting their story using a traditional comic book format, they might have better luck selling individual issues through another venue rather than their one-issue-per-app approach.


[ WMDs Review is a post from 148Apps ]


RingToneMaker Pro review

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RingToneMaker Pro review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Zentertain
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4

iPhone Integration Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The clue is in the name when it comes to RingToneMaker Pro, it’s an app that creates ringtones for your iPhone. Load the app, choose a song and a 10-30 second segment of it, then at the touch of one button, it’s created. Then it’s a simple matter of connecting your iPhone to iTunes and a couple of clicks of cut and paste. Voila, one new ringtone. No more suffering that damn Marimba or Piano tune.

As you can see from the screenshots, there really isn’t much to look at with RingToneMaker Pro, it’s all very functional. Its unique selling point is in its ability to adjust the pitch and playback speed. This can make for some entertaining ringtones. You can make any song you like sound like Barry White is singing it, or you can make it sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks’ are strutting their stuff. Admittedly after fiddling around with the settings, I still ended up sticking with the original version of the song. But it’s nice to have the option and I’m sure others would be keen to have a silly sounding ringtone.

It’s all quite simple but works for the most part. There’s even a link to a handy video tutorial so that it’s obvious what you need to do via iTunes. The only real irritant is that you can’t easily preview the song. You can once it’s completed and saved of course but there’s no way of doing it on the fly. It would have been very useful if you could tell where you were in the song rather than simply having to guess the correct timings.

Other than that, RingToneMaker Pro does exactly what the name suggests. Sure you could do it yourself for free via the PC/Mac but using this method is much quicker and simpler. If you’re someone who likes switching ringtones regularly and fancy hearing your songs in an entirely different light then this is well worth a look.

[ RingToneMaker Pro review is a post from 148Apps ]


Home Gene-Splicing Kit Review

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Home Gene-Splicing Kit Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: You-Betcha Interactive
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0

iPhone Integration Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.53 out of 5 stars

Scarred for life is an understatement here.

Remember the old Conan skit where he would take two people that were dating at the time and then mix their photos together to create their new children? Well this is what the Home Gene-Splicing Kit can do for you. It lets you isolate the head from the eyes, mouth, and nose to create a horrible, horrible creature.

The process is fairly simple and works well, although the menus are a bit slow and cumbersome. You simply take a picture of someone or something, resize the image to conform to where the app things all the parts of the head should be, and violá! From there, you go to the gene splicing lab where you can mix and match to your heart’s content with the photos that you take, along with the collection of people and animals that are already included in the app.

Want to see what you would look like if you were crossed with your dog? Or you, your significant other, and a sheep? By all means, give it a whirl.

To test the power (the awesome power) that the app holds, I decided to create a man-dog. Taking the picture of my head worked great, but the dog was a bit trickier. After taking the picture of the dog, the app wanted me to resize the dogs head to fit in an outline of a human head. Given the my dogs head, along with most dogs, is more of a box than an oval, I had to take a few pictures to be able to isolate the mouth from the rest of the head.

In the end, I was left with what looks like a superhero with a mask that looks like a dog. It’s frightening. Pick this one up at your own risk.

[ Home Gene-Splicing Kit Review is a post from 148Apps ]


Review: Monster Dash

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

Has the market become saturated with Canabalt clones? If so, it’s too bad, because despite coming out in the wake of several other successful takes on the Canabalt format, Monster Dash still manages to be great fun, and one of the most polished iPhone games around.

If you aren’t familiar with the run-right-forever format, we’re basically talking about a game with minimalist controls that involves running to the right, dodging obstacles, and jumping over gaps in the path. The game slowly speeds up, increasing the difficulty until the inevitable happens. Afterward, you’ll feel compelled to try again for a high score.

Monster Dash adds enemies to the formula, as well as a variety of weapons, a vehicle, and multiple settings. Yet the controls boil down to “jump” and “shoot” — two fat and hard-to-miss virtual buttons that keep things simple. If you’ve played Canabalt or Robot Unicorn Attack (and I’m sure there are others), Monster Dash will seem very familiar, but its additional features keep it fresh.

Unlike others before it, Monster Dash features four different environments, each with a fresh look and a unique baddie suited to the locale. There are mummies in Egypt, vampires in Transylvania…you get the idea.

Every 1,000 meters, Barry Steakfries (yes, that is the name of your hero) is transported to a new location. Each one plays slightly differently, based on the enemies and the shape of the terrain pieces. The random order of the environments, coupled with the random spawns of weapons and restorative hearts, makes every game feel fresh and unpredictable.

Developed by Halfbrick Studios, it should come as no surprise that what really sets Monster Dash apart is polish. With a nine-year track record of developing for portable platforms from the Game Boy Advance to the iPhone, Halfbrick has mastered the art of presentation, and it really shows here in the little touches.

For example, Barry Steakfries whips past a little sign marking the spot when you pass your previous record for distance. Every time you die, Barry offers a short, consoling quip.

Best of all, the game is jammed with stats and both in-game and OpenFeint achievements. The game tracks how many monsters you’ve killed and how you’ve killed them, and even counts the number of consecutive kills by hopping on monsters’ heads. Almost every score bracket possible includes a label, as well as labels for killing a certain number of baddies. The list goes on.

If there was any criticism to level at Monster Dash, it would be that the formula has been done well already — how much is there really left to add? But while Monster Dash changes very little about how the run-right-forever genre plays, the variety, personality, and stats here make it a worthy buy, even for someone who worries that they might have seen it all before.


Manga Rock MF Review

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Manga Rock MF Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Not A Basement Studio
Price: FREE (Unlocks for $2.99)
Version Reviewed: 1.0

iPhone Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.33 out of 5 stars

For manga lovers, this has been a turbulent summer. A number of publishers banded together and managed to force onemanga.com—the scanlation site beloved by so many—to stop offering free manga. Oh, noes!

Personally, I’d been using Manga Rock—a onemanga-based viewer app that also let you download an unlimited amount of manga to your iPhone (for a one-time unlock fee). However, Manga Rock has a few problems. For one, it now must use mangable.com, rather than onemanga; additionally, the app hasn’t scaled perfectly, and is sometimes slow or unresponsive.

In response to these problems, Not a Basement Studios has released Manga Rock MF, a brand-new, reworked version of Manga Rock that grabs its manga from Manga Fox rather than Mangable. While having two separate apps is a slightly strange decision, Manga Rock MF makes up for it with improved speed and an utterly massive library.



Manga Rock MF works much like Manga Rock. A catalog tab lets you browse manga; viewing manga is as simple as choosing a series and a chapter. (Landscape and portrait, along with orientation lock, are supported.) A one-time fee of $2.99 unlocks the ability to download an unlimited amount of manga, as well as keep tabs on your favorites to see when they’ve been updated. Just as with Manga Rock, reading manga with Manga Rock MF is more pleasant than using the web interface: your manga is portable, instantly available, and looks gorgeous.

The major differences, however, are significant. Manga Rock MF is now blazing fast and more stable. It also has an enormous library; 6,000 titles compared to Manga Rock’s 1,100. Eek! Because the two apps draw from different sources, Manga Rock sometimes has manga that Manga Rock MF lacks, and vice versa.

You won’t find everything in Manga Rock MF. Viz Media and Yen Press titles (Bleach, One Piece, etc) aren’t available due to ongoing legal concerns. But other hits, like Fairy Tale and Kaichou wa maid-sama!, are still present.

Reading manga with Manga Rock MF is a fantastic experience, as expected. Though the library isn’t perfect and I wish that two separate apps weren’t necessary, 6,000 titles is nothing to sneeze at. My advice is to download both Manga Rock and Manga Rock MF (they’re free) and then decide which version you’d like to “unlock” (or both). No matter which way you go, you’ll have awesome, instant access to manga, all comfortably located in your pocket. What more could you want?

(For reasoning behind the two-app approach, check out notabasement’s blog.)

[ Manga Rock MF Review is a post from 148Apps ]


Blind World Review

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Blind World Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Dmitriy Kuzmenko
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.0

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.05 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.89 out of 5 stars

Blind World is one of those games that takes a while to sink in. The directions are all in a one page “Help” screen that makes no sense at all. In fact, it took a a couple of minutes to figure out what was going on. Once I got it down though, Blind World proved to be a fun, if slightly flawed, experience.

In the game, you are a ball that has to uncover an invisible shape. Either by moving the screen with your hand or by tilting the phone itself, you must roll the ball around the edges of the object to uncover it. The longer you go without a hard crash or a fall, the higher your score gets. The key is to go really slow, and to be good at guessing where the turns of the shape will be.

With 40 levels, there is a good amount of gameplay to be had, but it isn’t without its flaws.

Like Zen Bound, each level can be finished once you get to a certain score. After you hit the score, you can leave the level or choose to keep going in a quest for a high score, but the way the game lets you continue is poorly done. Instead of a passive system that lets you leave the level, the game throws out huge words during gameplay that are easily touched on accident, potentially ruining the level that you are in.

The other major issue for me was the placement of the static “Finish” button that is in the top right corner. Most of the turning that I do to control the game is done with my right hand, and it is constantly hitting the “Finish” button which instantly shoots you to the menu screen. I can’t even tell you how many levels I lost because of this button. In a predominantly right handed world, there has to be a better spot for this button.

Aside from those issues with the games aesthetics (which are definitely frustrating), I found that it was an otherwise solid game. If you are a fan of gravity based puzzle titles, you’ll certainly get a kick out of Blind World. And watch out, I have the #1 score for level 2. If you beat it I’ll personally send you a congratulations letter. (That’s a challenge, internets. Leave your score – and a screenshot – below in the comments — Ed.)

[ Blind World Review is a post from 148Apps ]