If you needed one more reason to be jealous of folks who live in Austin, TX, aside from having nearly unlimited access to the best barbecue on the planet, try this on for size: This weekend, Tiger Style's new game will be playable at Juegos Rancheros at The Highball. If that sentence doesn't hold much weight for you, allow me to explain.
Details on what Lost Mars is all about will likely be incredibly limited until the event this weekend, but the Juegos Rancheros site offers this tidbit:
What do you get when you mix one part METROID, one part 1970′s-era sci-fi film, and one part… gardening?!
I don't know what you get when you mix those three things, but I do know I couldn't possibly be more excited about it. The second we get more details we'll post 'em.
Looks like we were right. Kairosoft’s next English iOS release will indeed be Grand Prix Story, the racing simulation game that hit Android devices earlier this year. According to a small blurb on the studio’s page, it’s heavily suggested that it’ll see a September 8 launch, which gives it exactly four weeks worth of breathing room from Mega Mall Story[$3.99 / Lite].
Previously, we reported on the game’s launch on the Japanese App Store and speculated that, since the English translation work is already done, it would be the next release. Word on the street was that this specific version also included an English language toggle, so no wonder we’re receiving it so soon.
Grand Prix Story thrusts you in the role of a manager of an auto racing team. As such, you’ll be expected to gather sponsors, drivers, and develop new cars and their respective parts. The app description on the Android market says that no formal racing knowledge is needed, just like how you don’t need to be a hot spring owner to really come to grips with Hot Springs Story[$4.99 / Lite].
Obviously, we’ll be all over this when it hits. As a personal aside here, I’m ready to explode from anticipation. Kairosoft makes my gym time that much better.
[Thanks for everyone who sent this in - via App Advice]
Just over a month ago, we checked out some screenshots for the upcoming fixed-turret battling game Siegecraft from Crescent Moon Games and Blowfish Studios. The goal here is to control the siege team for one of several different races and wreak havoc on your opponents using all manner of catapults, crossbows, battering rams, and more. As you do well in the game, you’ll earn cash that will let you purchase upgrades for your various weaponry.
Siegecraft was looking pretty darn good in still shots, and today Crescent Moon has offered up the first trailer for the game, showcasing what it looks like in motion. Spoiler alert – it’s looking pretty awesome so far:
Siegecraft is boasting some impressive bullet points for “the back of its box”, including 6 different campaigns over 27 unique levels, universal iPad support and specific enhancements for the iPad 2, and a same-device multiplayer mode exclusive to the iPad. Things seem to be shaping up well for Siegecraft, and if all goes according to plan the game should drop sometime in early October as a Universal app, so keep your eyes peeled for new information both here and in our forums leading up to release.
Last month, developers Polarbit and Pixelbite Games delivered Reckless Getaway [$2.99] into the App Store, a game we liked a lot in our review. In Reckless Getaway, you play as a bank robber who is desperately trying to evade a police pursuit immediately following a bank heist. The goal is to make it past the police barricade that marks the end of each level while racking up as many points as possible along the way, and avoiding taking too much damage in the process.
If you’re an avid sports gamer and an NFL football fan, then chances are pretty good that you know that today, August 30th, is the release of Madden NFL 12 on consoles. Also coinciding with those console releases are the iOS versions of Madden NFL 12 [$6.99/HD], which are now available in the App Store.
Following the formula of most sports titles, Madden NFL 12 appears to be just an incremental upgrade to the Madden released last year. The game description boast new features like expanded rosters (though, some players have noted in the iPad version thread in our forums that they’re not totally up to date, showing Donovan McNabb still on the Redskins rather than his new team the Vikings). Also, collisions are said to have been improved along with the graphics and an expanded playbook.
Just when you thought you were safe from homicidal children’s program puppets, developer Twindigo has released a massive Episode 2 update for their twisted arena shooter Puppet War: FPS [99¢]. Just for a bit of backstory, Pupper War: FPS was released in June of last year, and we really liked it in our review. You played a janitor trapped inside the studio of a popular children’s show trying to fend off endless waves of puppets, who are normally the friendly stars of the show but have decided to turn against humanity.
What really made Puppet War: FPS so much fun was the juxtaposition of the sugary sweet characters and scenery set against such violent gameplay. The variety of weapons was also quite fantastic, featuring things like a mop and wrench that you’d expect a janitor to have handy, right on up to wackier items like a plunger crossbow and razor sharp katana sword. The gameplay itself was good too, featuring solid FPS controls and nearly endless replay value.
In June of last year, Revolutionary Concepts and Tangible Games brought us Banzai Rabbit [99¢/HD], a modern take on the Frogger formula with slick 3D graphics and a bunch of new gameplay elements. We thought they did great justice to the classic arcade game in our Banzai Rabbit review (and even more so after they nerfed the difficulty a bit), and put a fresh new perspective on the gameplay while keeping the core Frogger mechanics intact.
Fast forward to just this last month, and Revolutionary Concepts struck a partnership with Konami to bring Gesundheit! [99¢/HD] to the App Store, with the help of artist Matt Hammill offering his whimsical style to the graphics in the game. Now, Revolutionary Concepts has announced that they’re once again partnering up with Konami, Tangible Games, Matt Hammill, and even esteemed composer Alex Khaskin to honor this year’s 30th anniversary of Frogger with the upcoming Frogger Decades.
It’s somewhat ironic that Revolutionary Concepts is being handed the keys to the Frogger IP from Konami. In fact, Banzai Rabbit was originally known as Frogman, but due to concern about the possibility of infringing on the Frogger IP the main character in the game traded in his warts for floppy ears and a cotton tail. But, Konami was impressed with the studio’s ability to pay homage to classic franchises as they had with Karate Champ [99¢/HD], Road Blaster [$1.99/HD], and Cobra Command [99¢]. Now, more than a year later and Revolutionary Concepts is bringing yet another modern take on Frogger, this time with Konami’s full blessing.
Frogger Decades begins when Frogger heads out to catch a few flies for lunch, and while out and about his friends leave a note on his door with directions to a party they’re throwing for him in celebration of his big 30th birthday. But, the evil Doc Croc gets his hands on the map first and changes up the route to the party, forcing Frogger to traverse through 5 dangerous locations and 10 huge levels in order to finally end up at the party. The story is told in-between levels using fantastic cutscenes drawn by Matt Hammill which are just oozing with personality.
Like Banzai Rabbit, the core Frogger mechanics are kept intact in Frogger Decades, but expanded upon and taken in new directions. You’ll still be hopping around on a grid-like play field, but rather than the single screen of the original that had you continuously moving your frogs back and forth, the levels in Frogger Decades are lengthy vertical affairs, filled with all sorts of interesting terrain and plenty of enemies out to get you. Poor Frogger, if only he’d known about the safe and direct path his friends had originally laid out for him!
Controls are either swipe gestures or a virtual d-pad and buttons, and both work pretty well, though so far I’m preferring the swipe-based controls. In addition to just hopping around, Frogger has several special moves, like flicking out his tongue to collect flies or move objects and various kinds of jumps which help him make it through the challenging terrain in the game. If you’ve played Banzai Rabbit, many of Frogger’s moves will feel pretty familiar.
You’re also under time constraints in each level, so you’ll need to keep moving rather than just admiring the gorgeous 3D scenery. Thankfully there are plenty of checkpoints along the way, so dying at the hand of an enemy or hazard, or not moving quick enough before the level scrolls past your position isn’t too much of a hindrance as you’ll just get sent back to your checkpoint. Frogger Decades has been a difficult ride during my time with the game thus far, but it’s a nice kind of challenge that pushes you to keep at it and rewards you for thinking on your feet and acting quickly.
Update: Revolutionary Concepts has sent over the official trailer for Frogger Decades, posted below, and a discussion about the game has sparked up in our forums so be sure to stop by.
I’m really enjoying what I’ve played so far of Frogger Decades, and look forward to continuing on through the rest of the game. If you’re liking what you’re seeing and reading here as well, then you’ll be able to get your own hands on Frogger Decades when it launches as a Universal app this coming Thursday at an introductory price of $1.99.
Firemint’s Spy Mouse [$.99] probably won’t spawn a billion copycats like Flight Control [$.99 / HD] and it lacks the jaw-dropping 3D prowess of Real Racing 2 [$4.99 / HD], but it’s a mechanically solid and visually pleasing game that, in addition to being flat-out entertaining, breaks down a lot of stealth game barriers of entry. Basically, I'm just saying it's really good.
Stealth games are notoriously fickle things; genetically linked to arcade stock that treats players like quarter-pumping cattle, stealth’s central conceits have revolved around failure, punishment, and the gaming of its systems instead of things like fun and rewards. Spy Mouse mitigates a lot of the not-so-fabulous parts of its mechanics by being pretty up-front about its moment-to-moment stealth: it clearly shows you enemy pathways, its top-down perspective quickly gives you a handle on what you can do and when, and it’s mechanically simple, which eliminates the need to execute grand schemes or interact with complicated systems in second-long bursts. (more...)
Mobigame'sEdge [$2.99] is a game with a ridiculous amount of history behind it. There are several incredibly detailed accounts of everything went down, but in a nutshell, Edge was the first high profile game on the App Store to face serious legal troubles via trademark disputes. It flashed on and off the App Store at seemingly random intervals, often times with a sale, until EA won a court case against the previous-trademark holder Tim Langdell which resulted in a judge specifically referring to him as a trademark troll. Following that, Edge was back for good, and this new-found era free of frivolous legal threats has ushered in a fantastic pseudo-sequel: Edge Extended [99c].
If you're unfamiliar with the original Edge, here's a quick run-down. You navigate a rolling cube around maze-like levels built from blocks, collecting prisms and trying to reach the ending destination in the fastest time possible. The platform levels are dynamic, with moving floors and walls which sometimes transform into objects unexpectedly. It's a unique experience, which we described in 2009 as being "inventive and an overall joy to play".
Word games are some of the earliest and most venerated titles on the App Store, and still developers continue to find ways to refine and revitalize the genre. The popularity of Words With Friends and the resurgence of updated standards like Wurdle demonstrate clearly that there’s life in the old girl yet. Genre mash-ups are another energizer; from PopCap’s Bookworm Adventures on PC to the upcoming Word Fighter on iOS, sprinkling in just a few new letters can make the difference between snore and adore.
In the case of Quarrel Deluxe [$4.99/Lite], the twist comes in the form of strategic gameplay. A fresh and fun take on the Scrabble formula, the game sports bright visuals, intuitive mechanics, and a crunchy outer layer of macro objectives that gives the sweet casual core longevity and depth. Think of it as an adorable war of the words.
Last week Crescent Moon Games announced on their Twitter that they would be publishing an upcoming game called Last Knight, developed by Toco Games. Attached to that announcement tweet was a promo image that didn’t show actual in-game graphics, but did hint at the cartoony art style in the game and provided several interesting tidbits of information.
We last covered Forze Field’s take on Geometry Warsearlier this year when it was released as an iPad-only title. While we certainly enjoyed the fresh perspective that Infinity Field [$0.99/HD] brought in terms of gameplay and enemies, we felt that the art style just didn’t offer any variety or spark on the iPad. Now that the game has arrived on both the iPhone and iPod Touch, does it fare any better? If you happen to have a retina-display device, then yes. Otherwise, expect a mostly intact version of the original iPad title.
Forze Field has done a good job preserving all the various gameplay modes that are available in the HD version of Infinity Field. All six survival modes (‘Zombie’ and ‘Insane’ being my favorites) return in this version, along with the full campaign mode complete with star rankings and power-up shop. Unlike the iPad version, multiplayer is not offered in this non-HD version of Infinity Field, although that seems obvious considering the lack of screen space needed to have two players use the same device. Make no mistake – this is essentially the same game as the HD version, and the majority of the gameplay comments we made in our previous review still stand.
The most significant improvement in this version of Infinity Field is the inclusion of Retina-display graphics. The higher resolution assets just seem to pop out more at you, especially when you’re playing the game in one of the ‘3D’ views offered in the options. Also, the particle effects look just as good if not better than the iPad version. There’s very little slow-down as well, even when your ship is completely powered up and spewing out so many shots you can barely make out the enemies. Still, the game’s visuals derive greatly from Geometry Wars, so if you’re hoping for some creativity, you won’t find it here.
One of Infinity Field’s downfalls in making the transition to the small screen is its dual stick controls. Personally, I think the controls handle better simply because the position of your hands on an iPhone allow for greater precision than when using the iPad. However, because the screen is so small, your hands do cover up a decent portion of the action. Depending on the view you’re playing in, this could lead to a definite disadvantage, especially when the action starts getting hectic. Unfortunately, this is simply one of the tradeoffs to using on-screen dual-stick controls on a small device. Still, I didn’t find the controls too frustrating as long as you stay on your toes.
If you don’t have an iPad and are looking for a good dual-stick shooter in the same vein as Geometry Wars, look no further than Infinity Field. If you have both an iPad and an iPhone/iPod touch, then your choice becomes a bit more difficult. Unless you plan on utilizing multiplayer, I’d probably stick with this version of Infinity Field as its retina graphics offer a marked improvement. Regardless of which you pick, I doubt you’ll be disappointed if the reception in our forums is any indication.
4Towers: Onslaught [$1.99] is the latest tower defense game from LambdaMu, the makers of Infinight [$1.99/Lite] and Dice Soccer [Free]. If the name of this game sounds familiar, that's probably because it was originally released mid-2010 as 4Towers Combo TD: Classic Edition [99c] .
Onslaught is a reboot of their Classic game, as it delivers additional levels, bosses, an features, plus improved vector-style graphics and sounds. The first 22 of the 28 levels are taken directly from the Classic game, but look better and include the addition of equipment which grant special abilities.
Here's one I'm so anxious to share that I'm fumbling over my fingers here at the keyboard. Brandon Williamson over at Nyarlu Labs just sent me the heads-up on some major updates to one of the very best games I have ever played in my entire life, on any platform. The game in question is the modern retro title Forget-Me-Not [App Store] that easily got a five-star rating in my March review (which I urge the unacquainted to read, to get an idea of what the game is all about).
Brandon, yesterday, made a post to his blog announcing the release of a Mac OS X and Windows version of Forget-Me-Not that can be downloaded from his website. And it's freeware! It's not just some dumbed-down, redheaded stepchild build of the game, either -- no, no. The free Mac and PC versions of the game are, in fact, the latest, most full-featured versions of the game, bringing many enhancements over the current iOS version.
We've recently been given an exclusive heads-up on two interesting looking upcoming titles from Digital Concepts, who brought us the early iOS pick-up RPG Loot Master [iPhone] as well as the space age tower defense title Starfall [iPhone, iPad].
The first bit of news Digital Concepts' Douglass Beck shared with us should be of interest to all the Minecraft junkies out there. Doug is working on a game that started out as something of a "pet project," but is now evolving nicely and should make it to both App Stores (Mac first, then iOS) sometime down the road. The as-yet-unnamed title is a single- and multi-player Minecraft-like game that is already quite functional in its early state of development.
That's about all we can share right now in the way of media and details on the studio's Minecraft-alike, but we'll bring more before the game goes live. (more...)
If you needed one more reason to be jealous of folks who live in Austin, TX, aside from having nearly unlimited access to the best barbecue on the planet, try this on for size: This weekend, Tiger Style's new game will be playable at Juegos Rancheros at The Highball. If that sentence doesn't hold much weight for you, allow me to explain.
Firemint’s Spy Mouse [$
