Megastunt Mayhem [$2.99 / Free] is an interesting beast to play. Sure, the game is chock full of monster trucks, school busses waiting to be smashed, and a hard rock soundtrack to groove to. But, beneath its tough clichéd exterior is a deep gameplay system with a fun stunt system reminiscent of the classic Tony Hawk series. Whether you’re looking for a game that requires timing and precision or just looking to smash stuff, Megastunt Mayhem definitely has something for everybody.
If it’s one thing Megastunt Mayhem does well, it’s style. From the moment you launch the game, its Monster Truck motif is in your face. There are big cars, big vrooms and quite a bit of destruction. The entire game is also visually appealing on both the iPhone 4 as well as the iPad 2 (although it has a MUCH smoother framerate on the iPad 2). I also enjoy the fact that the paid version of Megastunt is a universal app (although it’s important to note that the free version is designed only for the iPhone).
Square Enix has a billion Final Fantasy XIII spin-offs and a handful of new IPs in the oven set to hit a variety of handheld devices. One of these fresh and clean IPs, a card-based battle game that apparently goes by the name Demon’s Score, is coming to iOS and Android in 2012, the mobile arm of the publisher announced at its Tokyo Game Show presentation.
The Machine gods behind Google Translate aren't helping us at the moment, but it appears as though the nitty-gritty given at the event begin and end at the genre and the fact that it’ll boast over 50 cards -- a feature that means nothing to us at the moment because the game mechanic hasn’t been shown. Interestingly, Dengeki mentions that Demon’s Score will utilize Unreal Engine 3, so there’s that.
On the off-chance that Square shows off Demon’s Score at the show, we’ll be sure to update this and throw in some footage. As for now, we only have a singular image for you to gawk at. Eyes up, sirs.
Have you scoped the latest version notes on Street Fighter 4: Volt [$2.99]? We did this morning and were stoked to see what they had to share. On top of 60 new icons, a “Friend Request” button, and a few tweaks, Capcom has added two new (old) pugilists to the action: fan favorite Fei Long and the uber-powerful brat Yun. With these guys included, the roster has expanded to 22 fighters, but let’s be serious, Guile is still the only character that matters.
Oh! And Volt is much cheaper than what it was -- until the end of this month, it’s $2.99 instead of $6.99. You could buy a, uh, liter of frozen yogurt or a really classy hotdog with those savings!
Anyway, it appears as though Capcom Mobile is committed to updating Volt as much as it did the its first proper mobile Street Fighter game, Street Fighter 4 [$4.99]. If this is indeed the case, you’d probably be better off with Volt in the long-term. Here’s our review if you’re interested in learning more about the game.
Sometimes I seriously question what it going through the minds of game developers when they name a game. Bulkypix's Fruity Jelly [99¢], for instance, has a name that makes it sound like a hyper-casual, made-for-kids, physics game. It doesn't really describe the game, nor does it make me want to play it. Or even look at it. Amazingly, it overcomes that problem by provided a surprisingly solid puzzle-platformer.
Despite it's horribly adorable appearance and its almost offensively terrible name -- Fruity Jelly is an incredibly smart puzzle game with a crafty mechanic that will break your brain on more than a few occasions. At a glance, I was turned off by nearly everything about Fruity Jelly, but even though it looks like another generic, cute iOS game with a dumb title, it manages to impress almost immediately with its mechanics and its puzzles.
Hey it's Wednesday again which means we're one week closer to seeing just how bad this season of The Office is going to be without Steve Carell. I remain hopefully optimistic, but we'll have to wait and see. Need something to keep you occupied until then? Well, thankfully, a whole heap of game developers decided to release games tonight. This works like every other week, and all of these games will appear for download in the US App Store at 11:00 PM Eastern, and potentially much earlier than that if you're a region to the east of North America.
Here's what you've got to look forward to:
Cowboy Guns, 99¢ / Lite / Universal HD - Forum Thread - This dual stick shooter differentiates itself from the past by being set in the wild west with an in-depth story-driven single player campaign. Buyer beware though, as if you've got a modern device you're going to need to pick up the HD version as the "standard" 99¢ version of the game doesn't include Retina Display graphics.
Destina, 99¢ - Forum Thread - The latest action RPG out of Gamevil which comes with all their usual trimmings: 30 hours of gameplay, multiple classes, and more. There's even a item construction mechanic.
Globulos Mania, Free - Forum Thread - This free title is absolutely packed with different mini games, 20 in all. 4 Globulos-centric games come initially unlocked, with more available.
Flick Champions, 99¢ / Universal HD - Forum Thread - This seems like an interesting idea- Apply a flick-based control mechanic to every sport you can think of. In this case there are 8 different sports to play, with tournaments, cups, and tons of unlockables.
Hunger Calls, 99¢ / HD - Forum Thread - It might be easy to categorize this as a time management game, but it might be more accurate to call it a conveyor belt management game. Either way, it looks like it could be cool and I'm anxious to see how the boss mechanics work out.
Hypership Out of Control, 99¢ - Forum Thread - As the title may hint, in this game, your space ship is out of control with the throttle stuck. It seems like a combination of an avoidance game with a vertical shooter, which sounds really cool.
Monsters Ate My Condo, 99¢ - Forum Thread - Adult Swim Games and PikPok have teamed up to release this crazy color-matching puzzle game. I've liked everything that Adult Swim has done so far, so I'm thinking this won't be any different.
Serious Sam Kamikaze Attack!, 99¢ - Forum Thread - As much as I'd love to see a real Serious Sam game on the iPhone, I suppose I'll settle for this weird running game! Still, I've got my fingers crossed for some more from the Serious Sam series.
Tiny Farm, Free - Even though there have been a million farming games since the original success of Farmville, the breeding mechanic in Tiny Farm reminds me of Pocket Frogs, a game I spent a flat out silly amount of time on. It'll be interesting to see if Tiny Farm has the same magic.
Fresh off another heavily physics-based sports title, Natural Motion Games is going to hit us with a My Little Pony-like game. No, seriously -- Venture Beat has the exclusive on the studio’s My Horse, a horse simulation game that’ll feature radical horse physics, radical horse visuals, and radical horse grooming, feeding, petting, and training.
In addition to this, it’ll feature an RPG-like progression system and IAP functionality. And while the visuals on display are pretty hip, it seems pretty obvious that this is a game for the casual crowd and not us hardcore, push-it-to-the-limit types.
Venture Beat reports that each horse in the game will move and act in different ways, and all the horses will be differentiated in terms of look. It’s probably important to note that this is an outsourced project -- Natural Motion is using MunkyFun for the actual development of My Horse.
As silly as it sounds, I’m all about this. I plan to maintain the nastiest horse this side of Shadowmere in My Horse, provided it allows me to create an undying, fast-traveling horse with red eyes and an ugly demeanor. I guess I’ll know for sure when the game launches in the next day or so on the App Store for the radical price of $0.
A couple of weeks ago, Bloomberg reported that Nintendo investors wanted the company to embrace mobile development on the heels of a huge Nintendo 3DS price cut spurred by sagging sales and shares. Since then, the publisher has had to quadruple-down on the “we won’t develop phone games; we like boxed goods and hardware” talk, but that hasn’t stopped people from asking “what if” anyway.
In the most recent answer to this exceedingly boring question, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said straight-up that Nintendo would lose its identity if it went mobile. Also, developing phone games is not a thing that it’s willing to do. Interestingly, he did admit that packaged goods might not hold the same sway forever -- but that doesn't mean the company is going to change what it does.
"This is absolutely not under consideration," Iwata told Nikkei, according to a translation by Andria Sang. "If we did this, Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo. Having a hardware development team in-house is a major strength. It's the duty of management to make use of those strengths.”
“It's probably the correct decision in the sense that the moment we started to release games on smartphones we'd make profits. However, I believe my responsibility is not to short term profits, but to Nintendo's mid and long term competitive strength,” he said.
It appears obvious from our perch that digital will eventually replace traditional game goods, but like Iwata, I’m not sold that the end of what we know now is so nigh. I guess the big takeaway here with Iwata's latest comments is, yeah, Nintendo will continue to do what it does best, but it's also aware that, at some point way down the line, packaged goods might dip. The thing is, the company likely won't budge anytime soon.
We’ve been keeping a close watch on the PS Vita since its announcement and as we’ve followedupwithit, we’ve become more and more convinced that it’ll be the one near-future portable device that’ll compete with Apple in a meaningful way in the games space. Yesterday’s press conference in Japan went a long way in solidifying this thought, as the handheld is poised to launch with a lot of big-name IPs and tech that should draw popular attention.
To be clear, Sony had nothing of substance to say about PS Vita’s launch outside of Japan at the event. It also didn’t get into game release dates. But it did share some news on games: Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, Final Fantasy X HD, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Zone of the Enders HD Collection, Lumines, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and several other releases are all slated to hit the PS Vita at some point down the line. In Japan, the device will launch on December 17 with a total of 26 games, most of which will presumably be big-ticket titles that won't ever be available on the App Store.
LUMINES!
I think it’s fair to speculate that when the device hits elsewhere in 2012, the rest of the world will experience a similar launch line-up and the promise of ridiculous launch window support. Over 100 games are being developed for the device in Japan, Sony said at the event. And let's not forget about the "apps" -- Sony showed off the browser, multi-tasking, a photo viewer, and several less notables at the event. We've already said in the past that its non-game support is looking strong and, wouldn't-you-know-it, pretty phone-like.
A listing of what’s inside the PS Vita is now available at Destructoid. It’ll boast a ton of RAM and a 4-core A9 CPU, which is pretty hot. On the minus side, it’s only going to be able to sustain a maximum battery life of five hours of play before you need to plug it into a wall and re-charge for around three hours.
I guess it’s no surprise to see publishers like Capcom, Square Enix, Konami, and Tecmo Koei latch onto new technology, but it’ll be interesting to see if the big name properties each of these players -- and several other notable western developers -- are bringing to the Vita will be enough to push the platform into a legitimate position of strong competition with iOS. Apple is killing it in this space, so it’ll take a big push in both digital and retail for Sony to get people to jump over and carry around this bulky-butt thing. From this TGS event, it seems like Sony is willing to at least try for a mad dash at your wallet.
Hipsta Chez [$0.99] isn't chess. The game goes out of its way in its name, art and description to make that extremely clear. But for those of us whose chess expertise begins and ends at "look ma, I know how the knight moves," it's just right. Another color-matching game in a crowded marketplace, it sets itself apart with smart mechanics, a slick interface and achievements that are downright motivational.
I could do without the hipster, err, hipsta stylings, though. Thankfully, they're minimal at worst.
The reason Hipsta Chez has to try so hard to prove that it isn't chess is because it really, really looks like it is. You show me a chess board, pieces and two opposing colors, and I'm probably going to call it like I see it. But this is chess played to a whole new set of rules. One player handles both sides of the board, and matching lines is the goal. It's still a thoughtful game, but it's something quite different.
Here's the set-up: You've got pieces of an ordinary chess match arrayed on a board. The pieces move by the rules of chess, and they can capture pieces of the opposing color. But you start with just a few -- four for each side. Your goal is to create a line of four or more of the same colored pieces, moving those on either side.
For each move you make that doesn't complete a line, a penalty is imposed on you and more pieces appear randomly on the board. When all the game's pieces are arrayed on the board and none remain in reserve, you are given one last chance to make a line or lose. You earn points for each line you create, and the game keeps close track of the pieces you capture. The penalty, however, increases if you capture without completing a line.
This is the majority of the game, though you can play in a few different ways. There are three modes: Normal, Blitz and Super-blitz. Each has endless, 5 minute and 15 minute varieties, with Game Center leaderboards for all. Blitz and Super-blitz are similar to Normal mode, except that each move is subject to a 15 second or 5 second timer respectively. Super-blitz is punishing, and offers a serious challenge.
Hipsta Chez's achievement system is quite cool, reminiscent of one of my favorite features of Tiny Wings [$0.99]. As you complete groups of achievements, your score multiplier increases. If the leaderboard competition picks up, it will eventually be dominated by those who have put serious time into the game. Some of the top-tier achievements require significant skill and time commitment.
I'm not sure I'll ever cap off some of those achievements, but I'm having a fantastic time on my way. I enjoy match-3s and their ilk, but Hipsta Chez goes further than most in creating a smart and thoughtful experience. A few early bugs have been squashed in the game's first update (which also changed the name from Hipster Chess, in case you're wondering), and thing have been running smoothly for me since. Whether you're a chess newbie or a veteran looking for a light alternative, this game is worth a look.
When Plushed [$0.99 / Lite] was first released, nearly two years ago now, it seemed like the start of something great. When we played the platformer we found it flawed but ambitious, a funny, lovely-looking game that was a few tweaks short of complete success. For the first App Store release from Blacksmith Games, though, it was an impressive start.
Now, following quite a gap, we have the next game under the Plushed banner: Plushed Gold Fever [Free]. And while it's good to see Blacksmith Games back at it, those of us hoping for an equally ambitious follow-up will need to keep waiting. Plushed Gold Fever is an enjoyable game, but it isn't quite a worthy successor.
Three minigames make up the meat of Plushed Gold Fever, and they're all designed around a gold rush theme. Gold-Grabber is a fast-paced claw machine, Gold-Cart is an endless runner, and Gold-Smasher is a color-matching brick breaker. They're all fun, and they're all centered around collecting gold that you can use to buy power-ups and new characters. It should come as no shock, but you can also purchase gold and skip the messy business of actually playing the game.
Between the three games, I'm partial to Gold-Smasher. It's not outstandingly original, but it's fun. Mineral bricks fill the play area and you can smash any group of two or more, causing more to fall into place and filling a progress bar. As you level up more block types are introduced, making it ever-harder to proceed. The game only grants you a minute per level, so a screen filled with mismatched blocks is a quick trip to failure.
Gold-Grabber is all about timing and aim. A claw rotates on a static mine cart, and tapping launches it straight outwards. You earn points by grabbing gold and other valuables, but stones, bats and other obstacles slow you down. This mode is on the same timer system as Gold-Smasher, so a lack of precision can hurt.
In Gold-Cart, your character of choice climbs into a runaway mine cart and travels as far as possible. Your input is limited to swipes -- up to jump and down to duck. There are occasional tricky bits, but you're most likely to be killed by something that appeared on screen too late for you to react to than any particular challenge. Or, if you're stuck on an older device, you may fall prey to slow performance.
In all of these games you earn coins that can be put toward power-ups. These are consumable, but they're relatively inexpensive and can save you from certain death. You can also unlock two alternate characters. You also collect plush toys while you play, and these tell a bit of a story in the game's Library.
I've had a good time with Plushed Gold Fever, but on the whole it falls flat. There's nothing here to push it beyond mindless entertainment. A hefty selection of Game Center achievements and leaderboards may motivate the meta-gamers, and attractive art and good music keep things from becoming too dull. It's just that it's no Plushed, and it's not interesting enough on its own merits to make up for that failing. But for the price, it's a reasonably fun package, one that our forum users have enjoyed as well.
We’ve been keeping tabs on Madfinger’s Shadowgun since its first batch of ridiculously impressive images hit our message board. At times, we've speculated that it might not be as beautiful in motion as it is in images, but soon we’ll all get a chance to go hands-on with the supposed technical marvel and judge for ourselves when it hits the App Store on September 28. And to be clear: it’s hitting both the iPhone and the iPad at that time.
Shadowgun is a sci-fi shooter, inarguably inspired by slam-and-shoot third-person games like Epic's Gears of War. You'll play as a muscly bounty hunter tasked with taking out Dr. Edgar Simon, a geneticist who is creating his own personal army of mutants, cyborgs, and other genetically modified monstrosities. You'd figure by the year 2350 society would be able to identify the crazies before they construct fortresses and mutants, but here we are.
Hopefully, we’ll be getting our grubby hands on a build before release. Naturally, we’ll bring details as soon as possible if we do. As for now, marvel at those images and, hey, if you’d like to see the game in motion, check out this post or look above!
Crescent Moon Games’ Pocket RPG [$.99 / UHD] for the iPad, a device that could only fit in the pocket of a JNCO brand pant, has gone Universal. Naturally, if you’ve spent the cheese on this specific version, the Universal-ness will come to you free of charge. The same goes for new purchasers, too, and now don’t you feel better about waiting it out now, mister smarty-pants? In related news, a similar update is live for Ambrosia Software’s puzzler, Hypnoblocks [$1.99], but a one-dollar price hike accompanies it.
This update for Pocket RPG also rolls in a pretty important fix and a tweak. According to Crescent Moon, the game now loads faster in its post-update state. Also, the studio has fixed an endless dungeon -- a fix that I imagine several of you are pretty happy about.
In Hypnoblocks’ patch notes, Ambrosia notes that numerous tweaks and fixes have been added in its Universal update. This update also rolls in multiple language support and some new Game Center achievements to nab.
Pocket RPG got off to a pretty rough start, but we were able to enjoy the game after all the rubble was cleared. Hypnoblocks was awesome from day one.
Nimblebit’s Tiny Tower [Free] [Universal] has been update, roughly, a billion times since our original review and we haven’t covered them all, but the latest strikes us as special. Starting now, you can share those hours you’ve spent meticulously upgrading your tower on the world wide web via an option from the game’s main menu. This seems like a sure-fire way to make mom and dad, sister or brother, or even loved one proud, if you ask us. Neat!
Additionally, this latest update adds new floors, new costumes, new settings for audio, and rolls in a staggering amount of crucial bugs, including ghost-painting and a crash bug that triggered when you viewed certain neighbors. The entire list of fixes, if you’re really into this sort of thing, is available right here.
Despite its free-to-play model, Tiny Tower has managed to wiggle its way into our hearts. I think a big part of that reason is the fact that its balanced non-aggressively and isn’t what I would dub “pushy” about taking your hard-earned coin. Give our review a read if you’ve not bothered with the tower simulation game quite yet.
The first major content update to Halfbrick’s relentlessly awesome Jetpack Joyride [$.99] [Universal] is exactly what we wanted from an inaugural attempt to make the game better. Version 1.1 packs in a new fire-breathing robot dragon vehicle dubbed Mr. Cuddles, a fruit-spewing jetpack that makes a jolly mess all over the lab, and addresses several issues relating to achievements, missions, and other things like coin bankrolls.
Most importantly, it adds the studio’s own person wizard Phil Larsen, the most amazing Australian I’ve ever shared a crab cake with, to the core game. Tragically, he’s only making this single cameo appearance as of this moment, but I suppose it’s only a matter of time until he succeeds Barry Steakfries in future games, right Halfbrick?
All of these improvements have been rolled in as a free update to the game, and it’s totally up for grabs right now. If you’re unfamiliar with Jetpack Joyride, go read our review and do the right thing: buy it.
Excuse our tardiness on this one. Boulder Dash XL, the recent Xbox Live Arcade re-make of the classic coin-op game, is coming to mobile, the parties involved in the port announced earlier last month. Specifically, the title will see re-releases across Windows Phone 7, Android, and more relevant to our interests, iOS at some unspecified date later this year.
From what we gather, Boulder Dash XL on mobile isn’t slated to be an overhaul, which come to think about it, doesn’t seem like a bad thing at all. Provided touch control is implemented in a smart way, the rest of the game should translate pretty well. Developer Herocraft has been pegged as the studio behind this port.
"We're huge fans of the original Boulder Dash and are thrilled that we have the opportunity to bring this game up to date with stunning new graphics for the latest cutting edge smartphones and tablets," Herocraft’s marketing dude Alexey Sazonov said in a statement.
The media generally liked Boulder Dash XLwhen confronted with it on the fringe of the Summer of Arcade despite some audio and technical problems, so we’re pretty excited to see it on our platform of choice. Also, it should scratch that horribly distracting retro itch that we have if the port comes through unscathed.
Megastunt Mayhem [$2.99 / Free] is an interesting beast to play. Sure, the game is chock full of monster trucks, school busses waiting to be smashed, and a hard rock soundtrack to groove to. But, beneath its tough clichéd exterior is a deep gameplay system with a fun stunt system reminiscent of the classic Tony Hawk series. Whether you’re looking for a game that requires timing and precision or just looking to smash stuff, Megastunt Mayhem definitely has something for everybody.
Have you scoped the latest version notes on Street Fighter 4: Volt [$
Sometimes I seriously question what it going through the minds of game developers when they name a game. Bulkypix's Fruity Jelly [
We’ve been keeping a close watch on the PS Vita since its announcement and as we’ve 
Hipsta Chez [$
When Plushed [$
Nimblebit
