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Best iPhone and iPad Games of the Week: 9/12/14 – ‘Goblin Sword’, ‘The Journey Down’, ‘Battle Riders’, and ‘Gemini Strike’

TouchArcade Rating:

If all that happened this week was the release of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, that’d be pretty rad in itself. If all that happened was the unveiling of the Apple Watch, same story, would still have been a great week. The fact that we’ve got all that and great iPhone games? Well, that’s just awesome.

Next week is going to be hard to follow, but here’s the best games we reviewed this week:

5 Stars

Goblin Sword, $1.99 [Review] – There certainly isn’t any kind of scarcity of pixel art 2D action platformers on the App Store, but there’s still room for amazing ones to be released. The controls in Goblin Sword are great, the music rocks, and the pixel art is masterful. The difficulty curve is great, with end levels that get really challenging. Combine all that with its (current) 99 cent price point and you’ve got a package you can’t pass up.

The Journey Down: Chapter Two, $6.99 [Review] – As long as you’re okay with the adventure game genre, there isn’t much to complain about in The Journey Down: Chapter Two. The pace slows down a little bit too much in certain sections, and there are a couple of puzzles where you basically have to brute force them, but when I find an adventure game that doesn’t suffer similarly, I’ll come back and admonish this game more for it. The length is great, both the amount and variety of puzzles are superb, the presentation is stunning, the characters are charming, and the story is compelling.

4.5 Stars

Battle Riders, $1.99 [Review] – In terms of pure technical racing, Battle Riders probably isn’t the best game available on iOS, but it luckily doesn’t have to get by on its racing alone. The combat adds a welcome layer of complexity that helps cover for any shortcomings in the racing department. The sheer amount of content you get here for a very low price with no additional costs is very impressive, and most importantly, the game is just plain fun to play.

Gemini Strike: Space Shooter, Free [Review] – It’s pretty rare to see a game with as much of a fascinating genre mix as Gemini Strike, much less one that has decided to take the freemium route. Yet, Armor Games manages to hit that freemium/enjoyment balance nearly perfectly with an excellent shoot ‘em up that deserves merit on its own. Considering the cost of admission, it’s a no brainer to check out Gemini Strike, and I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed.

Additionally, we reviewed a bunch of other games this week. As always, you can dig into all of our reviews by clicking here. Alternatively, you can hit up specific scores by using these links:

  • Gemini Strike: Space Shooter

    Blast your way through enemy ships, evade fiery asteroids, sneak through blockades and face-off against epic bosses in t…
    TA Rating:
    Free
    Buy Now
  • Battle Riders

    Battle your way to first place in this amazing combat racing game! It offers adrenaline pumping, high-octane action and …
    TA Rating:
    $1.99
    Buy Now
  • Goblin Sword

    Goblin Sword is a retro-inspired action platformer with light rpg elements. An army of monsters led by an evil wizard h…
    TA Rating:
    $1.99
    Buy Now
  • The Journey Down: Chapter Two

    Far below the noisy metropolis of St. Armando, Bwana follows in the footsteps of his lost father together with Kito and …
    TA Rating:
    $6.99
    Buy Now