Kraut is a beautifully made matching game that was released back in December. The game debuted for $1.99, but has just dropped to Free. Our earlier description of the game:
While this is yet-another-matching game, at least it has some style. The graphics and animiation are very well done. The goal is to match in 4 or more of the same flowers by placing groups of three onto a grid. Flowers can be rotated and special "power up" insects can help you along the way.
There is a timed arcade mode as well as a campaign mode with 90 challenges.
Kraut is a solid well produced game but perhaps got lost in the mass of matching games in the App Store. Well, now's your chance to get it for free, and it's certainly worth downloading. Click on the embedded video to the right to see it in motion, or just go download it.
With Pac-Man Remix [link] fresh in the App Store, iPhone gamers in a love affair with that little yellow dot-chomper are busy getting their retro maze munch on. But don't fill up too much, because a dose of Pac-Man goodness that should far exceed Remix will soon be making its way to the App Store. G4tv has gotten word that Namco Bandai will be releasing the highly acclaimed Xbox Live Arcade title Pac-Man Championship Edition for the iPhone and iPod touch later this year.
What many have called the first "real" update to Pac-Man in 29 years, Pac-Man Championship Edition contains major differences from the 1980 original. The Xbox Live version, aside from supporting on-line leaderboards and high-definition graphics, is a race against the clock in every game mode. There are several different play lengths to choose from for each electric-looking maze, and the goal is simply to score as many points as possible in the relatively short time limit. The more points you score, the faster the pace of the game. Each maze is divided into two halves. Eating all the dots in one half causes a bonus fruit to appear in the other. Eating that fruit causes a new maze (that may differ in layout from the previous) to appear in the other half. It's back and forth, back and forth. And enormously fun.
We've got no information at present as to how the iPhone version will differ from the Xbox Live original, but will keep you updated as details come our way. But, if it's anything like the Xbox Live version, Pac-Man Championship Edition for the iPhone is going to bring some serious addiction to the platform.
See a video of the Xbox Live version to get a feel for the game.
Two long awaited games for retro fans appeared in the App Store tonight. Both Pac-Man Remix [$5.99] and Q-Bert Deluxe [$1.99] are now available for purchase.
Q*Bert Deluxe offers both classic Q*Bert as well as one with modernized graphics. This release also contains a new Jungle theme with brand new boards. There is an ongoing discussion in our forums.
While Namco had already released the classic version of Pac-Man [$5.99 / Lite] in the early days of the App Store, this newest release is a modernized version of the original. Pac-Man Remix offers enhanced graphics, boss battles, extra gadgets and power-ups across its stages. There is also a discussion in our forums by early adopters of the game.
One of my favorite things about the App Store is the sheer amount of games that are based on a concept that is so far out there that you would sound like some kind of maniac pitching the idea to someone else. Dungeon Scroll [App Store] joins the ranks of really weird game ideas that just work, and work well, on the iPhone.
Created by Seth A. Robinson, an award winning game designer also responsible for the classic BBS game Legend of the Red Dragon, Dungeon Scroll is a role playing word game that resembles what I imagine the bastard video game son of Underworlds [App Store] and Textropolis [App Store] to be like.
In Dungeon Scroll, you fight the various monsters you come across in your dungeon crawl by forming words, or "casting spells", as the game puts it. Each dungeon has a set of foes you must vanquish to move on to the next, and each monster has their own set of hit points. Larger words do more damage, but you can only use each word once per dungeon. Because of this, there's a significant amount of strategy in the words you play in each fight. If the monster you're fighting only has a few hit points left, you want to use three letter words to finish them off, saving your bigger words for more powerful creatures.
When you slay a monster, they drop treasure in the form of various bonus tiles. The most common type of treasure tile is an additional single-use letter, but there are also tiles which add damage to words, multiplies the damage of words, or in the case of the oracle tile, show you the best word you can form with your current tile set. According to the game's help screen, these special tiles are twice as likely to appear when you aren't holding on to any, so it's in your best interest to use them to get more.
Each monster you fight comes with its own time limit, cleverly disguised as your hit points bar which gets refilled after every fight. Find enough words to kill a monster before it kills you or it's game over. There's even more to the game though, certain enemy types like turtles are heavily armored and only four (or more) letter words will hurt them and there apparently are some super difficult dragons that appear later in the game with tons of hit points. Also, as you make your way through dungeons you will find books which will give you a choice of a statistic to increase, such as +5 to your health bar or +1 damage to each word.
Wrap all this up with a global leaderboard (that I'm currently #9 on, although not for long I'm sure), and you've got a game which is way more fun than I was expecting it to be when I first downloaded it. If you like word games, Dungeon Scroll is one that you really need to add to your collection. The RPG elements create a really unique experience, and the individual monster battles will have you finding words and strategizing when to play them instead of just playing absolutely everything you find like most word games.
There isn't a lite version available, but there is a free demo of the Windows version of the game available on the Robinson Technologies web site. It's also worth mentioning the PC version of this game sells for $6.95, so the iPhone port at 99¢ is being sold at a substantial discount from the original.
So we jumped the gun a little on our last story, but to be fair we weren't the only ones who thought the teaser images that showed up on the Taito Facebook page were for Bubble Bobble. Turns out, it's actually Bust-a-Move (aka Puzzle Bobble), the few people in the comments who noticed the launcher in the screenshot of sprites were right.
So here are the two images again, the first one shows Bub and an Apple "together at last":
The second image posted to the Facebook page was a much more revealing screenshot of several of the Bust-a-Move sprites:
Bust-a-Move, also known as Puzzle Bobble outside of North America and some European countries, is an arcade puzzle game originally released in 1994. Like Bubble Bobble, Bust-a-Move has had its fair share of ports and sequels, with over 23 different titles in the series ranging from the original arcade release, to the XBOX Live Arcade and now the iPhone. The game is a match-3 variant:
At the start of each round, the rectangular playing arena contains a prearranged pattern of coloured "bubbles". At the bottom of the screen, the player controls a device called a "pointer", which aims and fires bubbles up the screen. The fired bubbles travel in straight lines (possibly bouncing off the side walls of the arena), stopping when they touch other bubbles or reach the top of the arena. The objective of the game is to clear all the bubbles from the arena without dying.
Here is a gameplay video from the 1994 version of the game:
It's unclear right now whether Taito is going to give the same treatment to Bust-a-Move as they did to Space Invaders with Space Invaders Infinity Gene [App Store] or if it is going to be a faithful remake of the original. Regardless, if the quality of the game is in line with Infinity Gene, it's going to be very hard to pass up.
Japanese developer Taito, recently known for the amazing Space Invaders Infinity Gene, posted two images on their Facebook page earlier today revealing Bubble Bobble as their next title for the iPhone.
Update: It's actually Bust-a-Move, see the previous post for more information.
Gameloft is really taking the iPhone market seriously with a number of major new titles in the works. Just yesterday, they announced the upcoming NFL 2010 football game, and today they've announced a first person shooter called Modern Combat: Sandstorm.
First person shooters (or FPSs) have gotten a lot of attention for the iPhone since it's a very popular genre that has had trouble translating over to a touch screen device. Ngmoco has received a lot of their press for their deathmatch style FPS (originally codenamed LiveFire). Gameloft appears to have created one with a bit more of a storyline as shown in this video:
The only info we have so far is the video description:
The first images of Gameloft's highly anticipated FPS. Plunge into the heart of a modern war. Coming soon on the iPhone and iPod touch.
I got a surprise yesterday in my email from Critical Thought Games, makers of geoDefense [App Store] (geoDefense Lite also available), a release candidate of their latest tower defense game, geoDefense Swarm. Taking everything that was great about the original and providing open-field gameplay, Swarm is an excellent evolution of the geoDefense formula.
If you've never played the original geoDefense before, it's really a 'must buy' if you like tower defense games. It takes an interesting design approach where there never really is a tipping point where you have more money than you need and are just sitting back and waiting for the next waves to simply get slaughted. Even with intensive resource management between intelligent tower purchasing, upgrading, and positioning, you may just barely make it through many of the levels.
This game design decision really adds to the challenge and intensity of the game, especially at higher difficulty levels. Hard mode makes every other tower defense game I've played seem like a complete cake walk in comparison. Fans of the original will be happy to know this challenging play seems to have remained intact in geoDefense Swarm. I would almost argue that Swarm can be even more difficult because of the open field aspect of the game. While some of the tower placements were obvious in the original, the sequel leaves you with wide open maps and many decisions to be made.
Towers can be built on a hex grid which is constructed of several types of terrain. For instance, some hex tiles you can't build on but creeps can move through, and some tiles speed creeps or even heal them. The amount of variety in each level really tests your tower defending skill and how well you can utilize the included towers to survive. A strategy you discovered in a previous level can be rendered completely ineffective thanks to the next level's hex grid layout.
Tower placement controls are as intuitive as you would expect, dragging a tower from the bottom brings up a circular crosshair indicating that tower's range and highlighting the hex it will be placed in. Naturally, towers can be upgraded many times, and the real king of the tower defense town this time around seems to be the laser tower. Previously you needed to just set them up on a long straight path in geoDefense to get the most out of them, but in Swarm, you must build your own straight paths for the creeps to follow.
Here are two videos of the game, the left is me playing the second easy level of the game, and the right is the game's trailer, and a more accurate representation of what you will be facing once you make it through the easy levels:
Fans of the original will no doubt love geoDefense Swarm. It has the same excellent Geometry Wars-inspired graphics, massive particle effect explosions, and (at higher difficulty levels) will test the skill of even veterans of the tower defense genre. In my time with the game there has been many times where I've lost levels (or been close to losing) and just turned my phone off, decided I was finished with the game... and then five minutes later would be playing again. How much geoDefense Swarm has me coming back to it, even after punching me in the face with creeps, really is an excellent benchmark for how good the game is.
geoDefense Swarm should be arriving in the App Store soon.
Gameprom's The Deep Pinball [App Store] just appeared for download on the App Store. With a dynamic camera system similar to Wild West Pinball [App Store], The Deep is based on the same great pinball engine with an entirely new table.
Complete with a sunken ship to bounce around on, a treasure chest to open, and sharks to hunt, the pinball table in The Deep is a significant evolution from the comparatively barren table in Wild West Pinball. Both games have online global scoring, but The Deep is anything like Wild West, the top score boards will be flooded with super-human pinball scoring monsters before too long.
Here's a gameplay video I took of me completing a few objectives and exploring the various areas of the pinball table:
Wild West Pinball was my favorite pinball game for the iPhone until The Deep came along. As someone who often emptied entire pockets full of quarters in to pinball machines in my life, it's great to be able to get a game like this for what would amount to four plays of any real machine. If you have any interest in pinball, The Deep is a steal at $0.99.
Gameloft released screenshots for what they say is the first full football simulation game in the App Store. NFL 2010 will feature full team rosters so players can pick their favorite NFL team to play with.
Few other details so far, but enclosed are the screenshots of the upcoming game. They hope that the game will be released into the App Store by the end of the month. Pricing not yet announced.
In scouring the App Store, it's not out of the ordinary to come across games that have vague descriptions and a few screenshots that don't give you much of an idea of what is actually going on in the game. I usually grab games like this because every once in a while you come across an otherwise undiscovered treasure. The Curse of Skabooki [App Store] just so happens to be one of those hidden gems.
Skabooki is absolutely dripping with atmosphere between the art and sound design, which is kind of odd for a puzzle game. Wrapped in a story that is slowly unlocked as you play through the game, it tells the tale of the lost voodoo doll, Skabooki. To save Skabooki, you need to clear blocks from the screen to make him fall down to the next level. Your little voodoo doll can only fall straight down, unless it lands on a block which has an arrow, in which case Skabooki walks in that direction. Also, blocks can only be cleared in sets of three or more.
The game starts out fairly easy, but once you get in to the higher levels, you need to do a lot of planning to get Skabooki where he needs to go. Currently, 100 levels are included, but the game appears to have a built in level pack downloader, and the developer's web site says updates will be free. Speaking of the developer's web site, you really should check it out as it features both a gameplay video and an animated Skabooki dancing on the App Store logo while you wait for the movie to load.
While there isn't much innovation in simple block breaking puzzle games, the amount of effort that went in to both the original music and great art style really make Skabooki fun to play. With online leaderboard tracking scores (As of this writing only one person has made it to level 100?) and a variety of in-game achievements, Skabooki should have a decent amount of replay value between downloadable level packs.
Last night, iPhone developer Dirk Zimmermann released iNetHack [App Store] for the iPhone, a port of NetHack 3.4.3, released in 2003.
For those unaware, the open source NetHack is one of the better known "roguelike" dungeon crawlers, which places the player, who assumes one of many available fantasy roles such as knight, barbarian, wizard, rogue, valkyrie, monk, and samurai, and his/her companion (usually a kitten, a puppy, or a pony) at the top level of a deep dungeon populated with all manner of creatures that go bump in the night. The mission? Retrieve the Amulet of Yendor which resides at the lowest level of the dungeon and bestows upon the successful adventurer the gift of immortality. Along the way a number of sub-quests must be completed. Few are up to the challenge....
Being a roguelike, iNetHack has much in common with the similarly-inspired Rogue Touch [App Store], one of my favorite iPhone games. But, while Rogue Touch is well-evolved, and feature-rich, iNetHack is rather rough around the edges right now. Some gamers, myself included, have noted a bug that freezes the game when certain menus are accessed. The developer indicates that he has addressed this bug in the development build, which will soon make its way to the App Store. As well, there is presently no zoom feature to bring the action more clearly into view, which makes the game a little hard on the eyes at times. Hopefully, a future update will enable this rather needed feature.
These various issues can perhaps be partially forgiven, given the fact that iNetHack is a free download. NetHack is a notable release for the platform with a great many fans. Salon called it "one of the finest gaming experiences the computing world has to offer." Let's hope the author gives iNetHack the attention it deserves and raises it to "must have" App Store status.
The number of games being released on a daily basis for the iPhone remains overwhelming. Here are a few games that have generated positive reviews in our forums. Though we're not sure they all have universal appeal, they each offer a Lite version to try for yourself.
Mahjong Artifacts 2
Now here's Mahjong with style and a story mode. There's a lot to like about this game, though it's biggest flaw is the tiny size of the tiles themselves.
This Zombieville-like side scrolling shooter offers an Egyptian theme as well as an active development cycle. The latest version adds a number of weapons and upgrades as well as boss battles. Is it better than Zombieville? We're not so sure, but you can try it yourself.
Does playing Match 3 on a 3D Cube make it fresh and interesting again? You can decide for yourself. Tap on adjacent tiles to swap them while swipe to rotate the playfield around.
Two time management games have recently appeared in the App Store that have been receiving very positive reviews in our forums. These include Farm Frenzy [$4.99 / Lite ] and Ranch Rush [$1.99]. Each game seems to cater to a slightly different audience and each game seems to have its fans.
Forum user Big Albie reviewed both games (Farm Frenzy and Ranch Rush) and found both games to be solid time management games. He explains the differences between the titles:
...there are nuances to both, and you have to select the one that makes sense. Ranch Rush is more of a campaign with a long-term building focus where you have to succeed through each day to get to the next, and once they are met, the money and everything else carries over. Farm Frenzy on the hand is really more mission based so even if you don’t complete the game within the medal times, you can continue to earn money to buy things in the next round making it less time sensitive and stressful. In addition, you can keep making things for as long as you want and make money off of that until you meet the objectives regardless of time. In Ranch Rush, once you’ve met an objective in a day, anything extra beyond that doesn’t count for much.
Both are solid games, but the only way to judge this is based on each individual’s preferences. If you are looking for more causal gaming without having to worry too much about time constraints, then Farm Frenzy makes sense. If you like the competitiveness and more long-term building, then Ranch Rush would be the better choice.
Ranch Rush
This video is from the PC version, but a trial of the game can be played in your browser. The iPhone versions of the game costs $1.99 and offers 80 levels.
Fuel Games finally released their casual tilt-based game Lifeboat [$0.99]. The game received a very warm reception from our readers when we previewed it in July.
The objective of the game is to save as many people as possible from a sinking boat. You accomplish this by tilting the boat (your iPhone or iPod Touch) and sliding as many people as you can into the lifeboats. Of course, your precision can only be so good, and many of the people tend to fall right off the boat. To recover them, you simply tap on them to bring them back into the boat before they drown or the sharks get them.
As you earn money during career mode, you can buy upgrades to improve the ship's handling, time and ability of your passengers to swim. The game comes with both career and quickplay modes.
Early forum reactions are positive and are being collected in the discussion thread. The game is certainly very well produced, but the actual gameplay is very simple and may not appeal to everyone. The video above should give you a good idea of how the game plays.
Being a roguelike, iNetHack has much in common with the similarly-inspired 
