Erik Svedang, who developed the award winning PC game Blueberry Garden that is available on the Steam network, has announced his first iPhone and iPod Touch game. Erik teamed up with his friend and artist, Niklas Akerblad, to create a visually stunning game with watercolor graphics.
In their new game, Kometen, you control a cyclops looking comet to fly around space exploring art and eating shapes. The object is to find artwork, while flying around gracefully, or by using a SuperBoost to travel through the map. The artwork is all watercolor drawn and animated by hand, then scanned in with minimal post-processing to create an amazing art style. With no scoring system or way to lose, the game is all about enjoying the experience and judging your own performance and self-improvement.
Erik says, "Exactly when the game will be out is hard to say since Apple has to approve it for the App Store but it shouldn’t take too long". So hopefully we will see this game soon. For now, here is a trailer for Kometen with some gameplay footage towards the end.
We first saw the beginnings of Freeverse's Flick Baseball at WWDC last year, and I can only imagine how long it had been in development before then. Much like the recently released Warpgate [iPhone: $4.99 / iPad: $7.99], it's immediately evident that a lot of time and effort went in to this game.
Flick Baseball is a full 3D baseball game that looks and plays a lot like a fleshed out version of Com2Us's Homerun Battle 3D [$4.99 / Free] with 3D players, tilt to aim batting, and some extra features such as being able to control your runners and where your outfielders throw the ball. Since Homerun Battle 3D is still one of my favorite iPhone games, I'm really happy with how Freeverse seems to have captured a very similar batting mechanic that works extremely well.
I've barely begun to scratch the surface of Flick Baseball, as we'll be saving that for our in-depth look in our full review, but this is a very complete baseball game. You can play both 3 and 9 inning baseball games in two different difficulty modes, and the entire game is driven by this crazy subsystem of player statistics. Some players bat better than others and as such have a much larger hit zone when they swing, and others require your aim to be practically perfect when batting to hit. There are tons of other stats that control every attribute of each player of your team.
34 teams are included, and you can build your own team with a custom name, lineup, uniform color, roster, stats, and everything else. You could likely spend hours doing nothing other than building custom teams in this game if you wanted to. There are full 11, 33, 66, and 165 game season modes with all kinds of stat tracking, a playoff mode, and the games even change from night to day depending on the actual time of day it is in the city you're playing at.
Here is a video of me playing a couple innings, which features a lot of strike outs and a beginner's luck home run:
Flick Baseball should be available May 3rd, so keep an eye out for a full review and another video of me (hopefully) hitting nothing but home runs with my tricked out custom baseball team. So far I'm really enjoying the game a lot, and look forward to getting deeper in to it.
If you've been looking for an online pool game, here's your chance. Namco's Pool Pro Online 3 for iPhone and iPad are now free for a day.
This represents the 3rd in the franchise which originally began on mobile phones but is now extending to smartphones and even the desktop. The game allows both single player and online play in 8-ball, 9-ball and Snooker. Players can also make in-game wagers against their opponents and use winnings to upgrade table felts, cue sticks and new pool halls. The 3d game allows you to rotate your view and pinch/zoom to line up your shot.
The games are free for Wednesday only (normally $4.99). Pool Pro Online 3 represents the launch title for Namco's UniteSDK which provides achievements, leaderboards and cross-platform online play.
I know it shouldn't be that much different than the first video, but somehow it feels quite different. While Apple should allow this functionality to be built into future iPad apps, Majic Jungle hasn't committed to delivering it in their release:
This video shows the iPad version plugged into a 42 inch LCD TV via the standard Apple component cable. It is also being controlled with an iPhone over bluetooth.
This setup uses only available public/documented APIs so could technically be made available. However this is only a proof of concept, the initial release of Chopper 2 may not feature this functionality.
Chopper 2 remains in development and will be coming for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch platforms.
The sequel to the well received Alive 4-ever dual stick shooter has finally arrived. Alive 4-ever Returns expands on the same zombie-invested formula but seems to add many new features to the mix.
The sequel offers a new graphics engine with weather effects, RPG elements as well as 18 types of zombies and 37 types of weapons. Feature list from the developer includes:
4 Player Co-Op (local Wi-Fi)
Fabulous Visual Effects
RPG Elements Such As Power-Ups & Picking-Up New Skills
13 Amazing Skills
18 Disgusting Types Of Zombies
37 Different Kinds Of Destructive Weapons
36 Bonus Equipment
40 Stages Of Challenges
Supersize BOSSES!
3 Unique Game Modes
More Than 40 Achievements Through OpenFeint
Here's a recent gameplay video which shows off the new features.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, one of my favorite things about the accessibility and low barrier to entry of iPhone development is some of the shockingly off the wall game concepts that people manage to come up with. Extreme Sheepdog Trials [App Store] is yet another example of a strange game that actually is a surprising amount of fun.
As the title would hint, in the game you control a sheepdog and you make your way through a variety of different levels by either tapping where you want your dog to go or drawing a line for it to follow to herd sheep. The thing with this game is, it has so many neat features that any one of them packed in to the game by themselves would have been cool enough, but the complete package is something you've really got to try.
For instance, while there is a standard level pack where you're herding sheep about the countryside, there's also other level packs included that have you doing crazy things like herding sheep in some kind of futuristic space station. These levels are much more puzzle oriented, with switches you will need to hit with your dog to do things like disable lasers so you don't fry your sheep. These levels also have sheep teleporters, and a bunch of other awesome obstacles to work through.
But if you're thinking to yourself, "I am a professional sheep herder, I don't want to touch the screen when I know how to command my sheepdog by whistles," oddly enough, you're in luck. The absolute coolest thing about this game is that if you're playing on a device with a microphone, you can control your dog by whistling. The game will even teach you how to handle a sheepdog using whistles, and as far as I can tell, all of the whistles are what you'd really use if you were really out herding sheep with a real trained sheepdog.
There's even online leaderboards for you to compare your sheep herding skills with the rest of the world.
The only real down side to Extreme Sheepdog Trials is the amount of levels. Currently there are three different packs with five levels each. Some of them are very difficult and will take a while to complete, but it still would be nice to see more. Even though the game is a little light on content, I still recommend giving it a spin if this review has at all piqued your interest-- Just make sure you give the whistle controls a try.
This morning Crescent Moon Games, creators of Ravensword: The Fallen King [$4.99] just pulled the curtain from their upcoming space-themed 3D / 2.5D platform game, Ultra Kid: Mystery of the Mutants.
Inspired by fantastic games like MegaMan, Kid Icarus, and Super Mario Galaxy and others, Ultra Kid will have players flying their rockets through space to land on different moons and planets, where they will find crazy creatures to fight and dark tunnels to explore.
With a mixture of both 2.5D and 3D platforming, you'll collect weapons and suit upgrades as you progress through the game to help you complete your main mission of saving the galaxy from Dr. Ridalin, who we've been assured is quite evil. Ultra Kid is still in development, and while details are vague right now, we expect to learn quite a bit more about the game in the upcoming weeks.
The dual stick control method works great on the iPhone, and as such, it seems like there is no shortage of dual stick shooters. Much like sifting through recently released match 3 games, a lot of them feel very similar, but every once in a while you stumble across a game like Pastel Games'Shadow Edge [App Store].
Set in the 1940's, Shadow Edge has this whole Indiana Jones-like thing going for it where you're an allied soldier searching this tomb for some kind of artifact to help turn the tide of World War II. This can all be seen in the opening cinematic of the game.
You then fight wave after wave of undead enemies, using a variety of different weapons and always making sure to keep the torches of the level you're on lit so you can see. The graphics of Shadow Edge are great, and this lighting gameplay element not only adds a cool sense of urgency as you patrol around making sure torches are blazing.
The controls work just as well as the other dual stick shooters on the App Store, and they never seem to get in the way of fending off wave after wave of undead baddies as you play through either the included adventure mode or arena mode which allows you to select any of the included maps to play.
The developers posted the following gameplay video where you can see how the game all goes together, notice how they're constantly refreshing nearby torches to be able to see:
At this stage in the life of the App Store, there's no doubt a lot of these dual stick shooters all sort of start to feel the same. Shadow Edge has a cool atmosphere I really like, with a great graphics engine that does a good job of making you feel on edge as monsters creep out from the darkness-- Especially when you play with headphones on. I'm not sure if that's enough to truly set it apart from the sea of similar games, but if dual stick shooters are your thing, Shadow Edge is definitely worth a look.
We announced last month that Tilt to Live [$1.99] would be getting an update in April with two new game modes, and today that update has been released. Included are the new Gauntlet and Code Red game modes, leader boards for each mode, and six new awards provided by the AGON social platform.
Tilt to Live is an accelerometer-based blow-em-up for the iPhone and iPod Touch that we reviewed last month and gave 5 stars.
Here are descriptions of the two new game modes:
Gauntlet Mode:
Run the Gauntlet to put your precision tilting skills to the test! In Gauntlet mode, players compete for the longest survival time rather than highscores or combos. Enemies waves will no longer relentlessly chase you. Instead, the dots work together to form an increasingly difficult treadmill course of smashers, battle axes, windmills, and more. It’s an entirely new gameplay experience! The difficulty curve will be comparable to our original gametype, a crescendo from manageable to kick-your-butt. Early dot obstacles and gameplay will be showcased in our teaser video, and even more sinister twists are in development as we speak.
Code Red:
Rather than guiding players along a polite difficulty curve, we’re chucking them off a difficulty cliff with Code Red mode. This gametype is best described as “Classic mode on crack”. Everything from Classic is there, but the red dots will spawn at their highest intensity right from the start. It’s tailor-made for experienced players that “just wanna get to the good part”, without enduring the buildup.
The developers, One Man Left Studios, also say that future updates will bring new game modes, weapons, awards and even iPad support that we are really looking forward to.
Namco's Ridge Racer Accelerated [App Store] was released late last year, and we weren't very crazy about the game in our review. Basically, poor performance combined with poor tilt controls and a wacky DLC system made for a racing game that was hard to recommend even when you take its arcade racing roots in to account.
In the recent update, Namco thankfully implemented two new control options: A virtual analog joystick and a virtual D-pad that actually makes the game feel a lot like the original on the Playstation. No matter how hard I tried I could never wrap my head around maintaining a proper drift around corners with the tilt controls, but using the new D-pad setup I'm burning around tracks with ease. I'm not really a fan of the analog joystick setup, but for me, Ridge Racer has always been about tapping D-pads.
Performance also seems to be improved substantially, as the game actually runs how I would expect it to on my iPhone. Namco also added a time attack mode and the ability to listen to your own music in game along with a host of other tweaks and bug fixes.
Unfortunately, even though Namco has added some extra content it's still hard to get behind the DLC model they're using in their games. Currently, if you want everything Ridge Racer has to offer, you'll need to fork out $2.99 for the game, $1.99 for a pack of fast cars, and an additional $2.99 for more tracks. I really wish Namco would just start offering their games for a flat price, as it's surprisingly annoying paging through the game's various selection menus and seeing all of this content you still need to pay for.
If you purchased Ridge Racer in the past and have since removed it from your device or forgot about it, you really should give the new update a spin. The new control options really made the difference to me in that I'm actually able to play the game now. If you haven't pulled the trigger on downloading Ridge Racer yet, I'd consider some of the other better racing games available on the App Store such as Real Racing [$4.99 / Free] or Need For Speed: Shift [$6.99].
There's been a number of games released on the App Store featuring mainstream music acts such as Lady Gaga, Metallica and Coldplay. So it didn't really come as much of a surprise to see Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion arrive over the weekend. What does come as a surprise however is that this isn't rhythm-based like most other music games, but rather a side-scrolling beat-em-up of sorts with a heavy focus on social networking. It sounds strange, and it kind of is, but it's also quite refreshing to see something other than the expected. The result ends up being more of an interesting experience, rather than a solid game.
The story has you helping each of the six members of Linkin Park to find their stolen music track. Once all tracks have been found, they complete an exclusive new Linkin Park song which will save the world… or something like that. You'll travel through the seven different locations in the game talking to different characters for clues and performing menial tasks that eventually lead you to each track. The gameplay is a bit shallow and repetitious, and incredibly easy. Battling enemies is done by merely mashing an action button, but there are some pretty cool weapon upgrades to help spice it up a little.
During play you'll collect coins from defeated enemies which can be spent in the shops spread throughout the seven game settings. You can buy gear for your avatar or furniture and decorations for your apartment. There's a heavy focus on this collection and customization aspect, and there's lots of different items for you to buy in the game. 8 Bit Rebellion does a great job of providing fan service with this, and the real life artwork and posters of Linkin Park albums can be adorned on your apartment walls. Even better are the music tracks in the game, which are familiar Linkin Park songs that have been given the 8-bit treatment. I'm not the biggest fan of Linkin Park, but I couldn't help but enjoy the retro versions of their songs. There's eight songs in total, and during the game you'll unlock all the original versions of them as well so you can compare them to the 8-bit remakes.
What really shines about this game is the online component. You're constantly connected while playing, and you'll see the avatars of players from around the world walking around inside of your game. At any time you can tap on one which brings up a menu to check out their profile, “poke” them á la Facebook, or even engage in real time chat with them. It's fun to see these people roaming around, and I've already run across some familiar usernames from people in our forums. Each level even has a bulletin board where anyone can post a message for all to see. Full Facebook and Twitter integration are included so you can post various game accomplishments and search out friends. If none of this sounds appealing to you, the entire game can be played just fine offline.
If you're a fan of Linkin Park, you'll likely get a lot of enjoyment from playing through 8-Bit Rebellion. The gameplay is a little too simplistic for serious gamers, but it can still be fairly entertaining at times. It's almost as if River City Ransom, Zombieville and Facebook decided to make a game based on their love for Linkin Park. In reality it feels like the type of game that actually would be played on a social network like Facebook. If this sounds interesting to you, you're definitely getting a high quality experience that's been designed beautifully to suit the iPhone interface. If you're not a huge fan of the band, however, 8-Bit Rebellion may just be a little too flimsy to hold your attention.
When we first reviewed Mecho Wars back in mid-2009, we were extremely impressed by the stylish, artwork and rich palette that creator Luc Bernard brought to the game. It's no wonder that his upcoming title, SteamPirates has received so much attention from our forum readers, as screenshots released to date have hinted at a gorgeous steam-punk based RPG with a certain feline influence.
SteamPirates is essentially a linear, turn based strategy game, with light platforming helping to tie the combat sequences together. You start off playing as Kat, a cat-raised, furless human working for the canines; and soon add to your team when you meet Ziggy, a sex-crazed star of an obnoxious rock band. The storyline of cat vs dog is outlined at the beginning and via character dialogue throughout. It's certainly different and sometimes entertaining, but tries a little too hard to be crude at times.
The combat is menu driven, where you use standard attacks, items or skills awarded to your characters upon reaching certain levels. There doesn't seem to be any character customization (in terms of gear or skills) in the build we have-- a feature still to come-- as a badge system was described in some detail in our forums.
The game features a number of mini-games in the latter part of the game. We came across helm-to-helm ship combat in our play through, which involves tapping on screen to direct your cannon fire. It's a simple implementation, but helps to break up the turn-based combat. There are purportedly castle-defence and match-3 mini-games spattered throughout the game too, which we'll have more details on in our review.
The artwork in SteamPirates is definitely its draw-card, and we hope the gameplay will follow suit. We'll be back for a full review when it launches, but in the mean time check out our video above of the opening minutes of the game and post your feedback and comments to our forum thread.
Fancy Factory recently revealed in our forums that the next game that they are working on is one inspired by the 80's computer game Spy vs. Spy. Spy vs. Spy was first published in 1984. Agents! takes the same idea and applies it to the iPhone.
The basic concept behind Agents! is to search the rooms of a building for some secret documents. Of course you are not alone. Another Agent (from the other...the bad side ) is looking for the documents as well. In Agents! the opponent will be a NPC (single player mode) or another player (multipayer). When encountering the other guy its up to you: run or fight. Several weapons (with limited ammo you have to find first) will make this task good fun.
Here's an early video with non-final graphics/UI:
The real fun of the original version was the split-screen mode where you played against another person. One of your main weapons against the other player was setting booby traps that would be triggered against opening doors or drawers. But you weren't without your own defenses -- most traps could be disarmed with a simple tool. For example, guns triggered by strings could be disabled with a pair of scissors, while Acid buckets could be avoided with an umbrella.
We didn't see much in the way of traps in the early video, but Fancy Factory reassured us that this key feature will be in the game.
Still trying to justify the purchase of Plants vs. Zombies HD? Well, here's a nice video showing the one advantage of having a large multi-touch device - 11 points of contact.
It seems clear -- Popcap suggests that if you want to be a better parent, buy Plants vs. Zombies HD. Of course, you can stick with the iPhone version, but then you and your child are limited to only 5 points of contact - so you'll have to take turns.
Work originally began on Motocross Challenge way back in 2004 as the part-time project of three individuals with a desire to create an homage to the classic Excitebike and Motocross Maniacs titles. Unfortunately, various publishing pitfalls and shifting markets prevented it from ever arriving on its intended platforms, the GameBoy Advance and subsequently the DS. By early 2007, with no hope of a retail release in sight, developer DHG Games decided to put the project to rest and give away the completed game for free via their website. While not standing to profit from all their hard work, at the very least a small amount of players among the homebrew community would have the opportunity to enjoy their creation using a GBA emulator or flash cart.
Fast-forward to 2010, where it's relatively easy publishing a game to Apple's App Store, and Motocross Challenge is being given a second chance at life. It's a touching story of perseverance, but ultimately what matters is if the game itself is any good. Thankfully, it most definitely is, and five or six years ago it likely would have been a top selling GBA game. It still holds up really well today, and a lot of effort has gone into enhancing the game for the iPhone. But like many ports it does suffer from some of the common drawbacks that can befall a game when transitioning to a non-native platform.
The most glaring of these drawbacks is the immediately noticeable screen overlay. Since the game was originally designed for the GBA, it retains the aspect ratio and resolution of that system's screen. What this means is that the entire game is presented in a smaller window within the touch screen, with a virtual button overlay made up to look like a nondescript portable gaming system surrounding its border. It doesn't necessarily look bad, and it functions properly, but you'll have to be accepting of the fact that there's not an option for a full screen mode. If you can get over this aesthetic hurdle, an highly entertaining gaming experience is waiting for you.
Much like the recently released Giant Moto, Motocross Challenge really nails the look and feel of its inspiration but offers a much more complete package overall. Graphically it looks like the high quality GBA game that it is, with impressive pixel art and colorful scrolling backgrounds. There's only one option for controls, but it works really well. Separate A and B buttons grace the right side of the screen for gas and nitro, and up and down arrows are set on the left side of the screen for controlling lane changes and performing tricks. Tilting the device affects the angle of the bike and allows for full frontflips and backflips if you can catch enough air. Once comfortable with the controls, it's simply a delight to play and actually feels like a natural evolution of the Excitebike formula.
There are 10 distinct track locations spread across 30 different events which include standard races against three AI opponents, time trials, and trick attacks. The trick attacks are especially enjoyable, and have you completing as many in-air stunts as you can during one lap. I've replayed these multiple times trying to improve my score just because it was such a blast. The campaign is broken up in a way that there's almost always a few choices of which events to partake in. In general the game is a bit on the easy side, but difficulty does ramp up nicely towards the latter half. The entire game can be completed in only a couple of hours, but that doesn't diminish how absolutely fun it is to play through. In addition, OpenFeint integration provides leaderboards, challenges, and achievements that extend the replay value a great deal.
The road Motocross Challenge traveled before finally arriving on the App Store was a tumultuous one. What was originally planned to have sold for $20 or $30 on Nintendo's handheld a few years ago can now be had for an introductory price of just 99¢. Despite a couple of funky aspects due to the translation to this platform, the core experience remains incredibly fun. It's obvious DHG Games is a talented developer, and it would be interesting to see what they could do in creating a game built specifically for Apple's device. Until then, Motocross Challenge is by far the best option available for scratching that Excitebike itch.
Erik Svedang, who developed the award winning PC game Blueberry Garden that is available on the Steam network, has announced his first iPhone and iPod Touch game. Erik teamed up with his friend and artist, Niklas Akerblad, to create a visually stunning game with watercolor graphics.
