Krypton Egg was a highly regarded Arkanoid clone for the Amiga and Atari ST that was developed by HitSoft and released by Rainbird in 1989. DotEmu has just released an iPhone port of this classic [link] through the App Store (published by Chillingo).
When Krypton Egg first hit the shelves back in 1989, French magazine PC Loisirs described it as the best breakout game in the world. As has been the trend of late, this Amiga classic translates well to the iPhone. We’ve played a lot of Arkanoid clones for the iPhone, and Krypton Egg is certainly one of the best. While the game has a retro feel–even beyond the typical Arkanoid clone–it should appeal to fans of the genre who aren’t particularly looking for a jolt of dreamy-eyed nostalgia, as well.
Features as listed by the developer:
- 60 levels levels for hours of gameplay
- Unlock 12 special levels and defeat boss
- Play with the touch screen or with the accelerometer
- 30 power-ups including bonuses, penalties, special effect
- Continue your game from any level completed
- Addictive retro style music
Have a look at the developer’s demonstration video.
DotEmu is also responsible for the iPhone port of the Amiga classic Nicky Boom. See our interview with DotEmu CEO Xavier Liard to get a better feel for this retro-reviving development house.
App Store Link: Krypton Egg, $0.99
All I have to say is X-plane is great, but i will never buy another one, I was under the unfortunate understanding that by me buying the original x-plane I was going to be getting helo's and better airplanes. At least that is the way the Dev made it sound like... Anyways I won't be getting this or any of the other ones, Enjoy collecting all your X-plane apps. Soon you might just have a full page worth of X-plane goodness and about $100 less in your bank account...
This is absolutely ridiculous. I bought the original X-Plane, now this is what, the fourth add-on to the series? Probably another $10 too.
Don't get me wrong, this guy makes a quality product, but he seriously screwed over the initial purchasers of his app.
same here. Wish I had never bought the original.
Ill wait a few years until there are 10-15 X-planes out and maybe choose one when the prices drop. This is just getting silly.
This looks promising, but we need guns and missiles, please! If I can't blast my friends out of the sky, then what's the point in multiplayer flight sim? I mean, kamikaze ramming attacks might be fun and all, but they're pretty hard to pull of in a pair of F22s...
I bought the first one too last $10 I'll spend. Why he can't add racing to the original or at least some objectives is beyond me. If your really into this stuff better off just buying some other desktop sim and save your cash.
"Why he can’t add racing to the original or at least some objectives is beyond me."
This is exactly what he says he will do in the posted text above.
This looks really cool. However I will never get it.
I already have x-plane and x-plane extreme and x-plane helicopter (Worse game on the iPhone). I wont spend my money on another one. The games are good but its a pity that Laminar Research is so greedy and they are taking the piss out of there customers... Because of this I will not get x-plane 9 (Mac Flight Simulator).
:(
Looks like I'm alone here, but I feel that the ten bucks I spent on X-Plane was very well spent. They've upgraded it a couple of times for free, adding more planes, scenery, etc.
The airline version didn't appeal to me, and the heli wasn't appealing enough to buy. I was toying with the extreme, but this new racing one looks more up my alley especially as it includes my all time favorite plane, the P-51.
So, even if this is $10, if I buy it I'll only have spent 20 bucks which isn't much for the entertainment value. My 2 cents...
"This is exactly what he says he will do in the posted text above."
he has been saying that since the first one, which is kinda misleading
yes he is updating them, but not how we originally percieved the updates to be
granted he is no urban tycoon/touchsoft...but i am with the rest of you - 1, will not buy another x-plane until it all settles and you can get all of them in one app
guys blake did not add; but multiplayer WILL be added to the other apps shortly after it is fined tuned in racing.
Yet another separate x-plane app...
He at least needs to add some better planes... to all of the apps. There are much more popular planes for almost every version of xplane. I guess it's all user preference, but I would much rather have a G5 instead of the Piaggio Avanti or how about a Piper Cub. Even in Xtreme... the SR-71 is my all time favorite plane but it absolutely sucks to fly, and his planned updates for xtreme are horrible... you're not going to be able to fly that x15. Give me more popular planes... F14, F16, F18. More planes that are fun to fly like the F22. And someone please tell me why the Red Bull racers are not included in xplane racing. Or what about Gee Bees; these are the planes that actually race... not F15's. His plane selections are just a little annoying to me.
I have bought all 4 apps... but I'm finally jumping on the band wagon now... he's at least gonna have to start making new apps 5 bucks if he wants to keep my business. I'm not going end up having 150 dollars of xplane apps when I could have bought the desktop version for 50 and download all the planes i want.
I'm an original x-plane buyer too, and I have to say... the problem with all the expensive (relatively) upgrades is that the first one never felt finished... I got the impression that the developer did it as a proof of concept, because X-Plane for the ipod is not a finished experience. It's better with the upgrades, for sure, but it still feels like a prototype. To be honest, I really like armageddon squadron, even though the physics are ridiculous... The point is, you have to DO something. Otherwise, it's all a nice sim, and the limitations of the iphone (and lack of goals) mean you're not really simulating much other than a takeoff, and a landing... In the original anyway. For 10 bucks, I need some playability beyond, "holy crap that's semi-realistic!" What about x-plane:remote, where you tap into one of those army drone planes, and take a million bucks for a spin! Now THAT would be a 10 dollar app!
I'm an X-Plane early adopter, and I understand the complaints but I don't agree. With time comes more choices, and the developer should be free to charge what he likes for them--just as you're free to skip the app if it's not worth it to you. And "worth it" should be judged on the basis of what an app does now, not on what you imagine it could do later. Otherwise, you're better off waiting and not buying yet--which it a mistake some people probably made.
I wish I could have ALL the X-Plane flavors, with all possible expansions, past, present and future. I wish they had all been ready back when I first bought, all combined into a single app, for 99 cents (or better yet, free).
Failing that, I'd like to have at least known back then what all of the future X-Plane apps and expansions would ever be, and had them all ready and complete so I could have picked just the very best one that would ever arrive for my tastes and needs.
But time doesn't flow in that direction, and that's not the developer's fault. So I couldn't pick from all future X-Planes: I could only buy the one that existed, or wait. I bought. My choice.
So what I got, for $10, is the original (amazing) X-Plane app, which does everything that was promised when I decided to buy it. AND now it does a lot more than that, due to major free upgrades I've received. Nothing more was promised to me. The developer has no obligation to give me free sequels, and I'm under no obligation to buy the sequels, either.
If I see another one I just HAVE to have, then I'll have paid $20 total. If I see a bunch I just have to have, I'll have paid even more than that. But all by MY choice. Each app you buy is because you decide it's worth the asking price--and if it does what it claims yet is still NOT worth that price, then buying it is an avoidable mistake. For me, X-Plane was worth it. If I was buying today I'd get Extreme instead, but I wasn't buying today :) That's life.
What a joke. I'm never buying another X-Plane game on the iPhone.
GUYS!! Multiplayer will be added to the other apps after it is well fined tune in Racing. He told me. Blake just forgot to add to the article. Stop complaining.
"Of course, as we always do with these types of features, we will soon apply multiplayer as a FREE upgrade to ALL the X-Plane flavors, but FIRST we are introducing it in X-Plane RACING to let everyone test it out. We will then upgrade ALL the X-Plane versions with this new technology as free upgrades as soon as it is proven for a little while in RACING."
I did not forget to mention the multiplayer situation - it's in the quoted text...
WATB's I say.
So does this make the eighth update? Since the app store opened I might add, with 5 versions. Early adoption blows, but, it makes the complainers look like bedwetters. Sorry, that's what it is. Don't like the sales model? Then don't buy. Don't like to miss out on features? Them wait.
Regarding the comment about the first version being unfinished; if you have any cognizance of Austin and X-plane, the concept of finished doesn't exist. Austin is always adding, chasing demons in the sky. That's the manic way he works.
That's what he does, and the iPhone, simulation, and aviation communities are better for it.
To be clear, the unfinished comment was describing the overall world created. It's not a rich enough environment to be just a sim, and there are no game-like characteristics to keep you playing. It's an incredible proof of concept. The nuances of x-plane are incredibly polished. This is my impressions as a paying customer. My point is, I'm staying away from new version after new version because it feels like now that the developer has the world created, they're trying to figure out what the game/experience is. Someone said it above and i agree, I'll wait till the dust settles otherwise it feels like a 10 charge to beta test.
This is ridiculous. I agree that the updates have all been fun, but certainly not worth the collective $40 I've spend so far. Not when compared to the ejoytainment that I've been getting out of plenty of other apps in the $.99 to $2.99 range.
I think that he X-Plane product is fantastic. It's price point / value proposition is WAY out of whack.
I was excited, then I realized who this was being developed by :/
X-Plane rocks. I will definitely buy this ASAP. I think the developer is very energetic and enthusiastic in embracing the iPhone/Touch market. The level of detail Austin puts into X-Plane is amazing. You want a better flight sim? Go develop one yourself!
IMO X-Plane stinks and the developer is a money-hungry greed-bag.
I bought X-plane original and airliner and I like them both. I am very content with the updates that Austin has provided for both. He gave updates and new models and maps. Just not the mega fast jets or helicopters. And you know what, I can understand where he is comic from! These games do cost time and effort to build, and that should be compensated by purchases. Austin feels that his pricing model is comparable to desktop apps bought modularly and in a way he's spot on. The price of all these sims and sill cheaper than the desktop boxes set. Don't like airliners? Don't buy that module. But you still get to play on the bus or toilet, unlikely locations for desktop or laptop gaming... I haven't bought the heli one as I was unsure about it's handling and waited for reviews. Under no circumstances was anyone forced at gunpoint to buy these impulsively. I get the feeling those complaining have no idea what it's like to be on the other side working hard to rovise updates but yet still get slagged off or not throwing I everything including the kithen sink. Can you imagine working for free?
GreyDawn-
"IMO X-Plane stinks and the developer is a money-hungry greed-bag."
IMO you are an ungrateful spoiled money-hungry greed-bag. If you think this app sucks so much then don't even comment. You bring nothing to this conversation and I don't believe you could do even a hint of what this developer has accomplished. It is up to the developer to create and the consumer to say yea or nay on buying it, he can put any price tag he wants on his work.
Wait a sec... Now that there are a billion versions, how about making x-plane a free lite version, and then charge for the other stuff with the racing and the helicopters and the airbuses?
I agree with the above statment
He has made plenty of kick back on each installment of the apps at ten bucks a pop.
In the interest of good dev/consumer relations he needs to produce a lite version with one aircraft from each x-plane app.
This would tell existing customers that he's a involved dev and give potential customers a good sense of security upon deciding to commit to five installment of a string but otherwise expensive series.
I read through it with a bit of interest til I saw this:
"Some of the other features are a tire-skidding sound that is accurately hooked up the street-racing-accurate tire-physics model"
wait...what? so a tire sound when you're taking off is a feature in a flight racing game?...or are they talking about something else?
Hey, I'm one of the buyer of the 1st x-plane. I read with interest on all the latest updates and new planes coming out etc. But, I didn't really buy all of them. I think, it depends on the customers. Everyone, have their own taste. If you don't like the other version e.g. the heli-plane then don't buy it. The dev didn't force you to get the latest offer anyway. But, someone else might. Anyway, the thought of flying an F15 or any fighter jet in a race is really enticing...
@ReDStaR I see what you're saying, but imho, the fact that X-Plane is probably the *single most upgraded* app in the entire store should say something to his customers!
To all the posters, yes Austin has decided to keep things separate - he's the dev, that's his choice (just like other games that sell "episode 1" separately from "episode 2" - it's their choice to do it, and your choice to buy or not!). But Austin has also added a ton of stuff to the apps - and everything is either what people have been complaining about (more planes, regions, airports, etc.) or his own personal determination to make the game even better (e.g., framerate). Cut the guy some slack! If you don't like it, don't buy it! But accusing him of being cheap just makes people sound silly!
Guys almost everything from the racing game is in the update for the other apps. Please read the thread for info om the updates.
I'm allowed to think whatever I want about the developer's sales practices, only under fascist rule are only positive comments allowed to posted. And I'm not the only person calling into question these sales practices.
"This is ridiculous. I agree that the updates have all been fun, but certainly not worth the collective $40 I’ve spend so far. Not when compared to the ejoytainment that I’ve been getting out of plenty of other apps in the $.99 to $2.99 range."
"I have bought all 4 apps… but I’m finally jumping on the band wagon now… he’s at least gonna have to start making new apps 5 bucks if he wants to keep my business. I’m not going end up having 150 dollars of xplane apps when I could have bought the desktop version for 50 and download all the planes i want."
And you don't know anything about me. And the "stfu unless you can program something better yourself" line is uber lame.
I agree, i have boughten all four apps, but i should not have to dish out another ten dollars just so i can fly a plane through some green hoops. Also, the only multiplayer is for local play, so you need to be with someone to play, and not just with people from all over the world.
"boughten"?
Nice :D
it is x-plan 8 play now free
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