Angry Birds [App Store]
Current Version: 1.2.0
Our Review
Forum Thread
The newest update for Angry Birds is nearly worthy of being a standalone sequel, with 42 new levels across two new graphically unique worlds to play through. Crystal has been been added for leaderboard and achievement support for high score/points junkies, and changes have even been made to older levels, mostly in the form of bug fixes, but with some small graphical enhancements thrown in there as well. I fell in love with Angry Birds when I first reviewed it, so you can bet that I’ll be cranking up the game as soon as I get the chance.
Bird Strike [App Store]
Current Version: 1.2
Our Review
Forum Thread
Bird Strike was only released about a month ago, so it’s a nice surprise to see an entirely new game mode (in the form of “Endless Climb mode") make its way into the game. The new mode really raises the value of the game, but the price hasn’t been raised to correspond with the update, so if you haven’t bought the game yet, now is a great time to do so. Those who’ve owned the game for a while and expressed complaints about 3GS performance and a nasty leaderboard duplication bug can breathe a sigh of relief as well, as Prodigy Design has addressed these issues with this update as well.
Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies [App Store]
Current Version: 1.2.0
Our Coverage
Forum Thread
It’s been a long wait since Call of Duty: Zombies‘ initial mid-November launch, but a second map, Verrück, has finally been added for purchase in a massive update. Along with this update and new map comes nine new weapons (including FG-42, Gewehr-43, PPsh-41, M1 Garand, and the Springfield), 13 new achievements for Nacht der Untoten, 10 new achievements for Verrück, engine optimizations to make the game run more smoothly, leaderboard enhancements to track a wider variety of in-game stats, more customizable controls, a tutorial adjustment, network reliability enhancements, a “multiplayer point display" to track other players’ in-game progression, and even French-localized text. The new map and all the goodies that comes along with it will set you back $5.
Doodle Bomb [App Store]
Current Version: 1.2
Our Review
Forum Thread
Doodle Bomb‘s newest update brings 10 new master missions and five new standard missions for players to play through, along with a new anti-gravity control that lets players reach new places and even roll bombs along ceilings. The master missions have been unlocked for everyone, so you won’t have to meet a certain Bomb Badge requirement to play them now, and a new “variable bomb tilt" feature should provide something fresh for those who’ve conquered the game.
Ghosts’n Zombies [App Store]
Current Version: 1.1
Our Review
Forum Thread
This update isn’t a large as many of the others on this list, but it’s notable for removing the AdMob banner ad that we complained about in our review. A couple of bug fixes have also been instituted in the 1.1 update, as has the newest version of OpenFeint. We commend the developers for listening to feedback and taking action on the problems that players were having with the game, and now that this update is out, I don’t feel like there’s much getting in the way of a hearty recommendation from us for this game.
Hook Champ [App Store]
Current Version: 1.40
Our Review
Forum Thread
Mingore‘s John Gore has finally been added as a playable character in this newest update to the legendary swinging game, and he even comes with a usable machine gun (with unlimited ammo!). New levels have been created for playthrough with John, and a brand new control method has also been added and set as the default control scheme, but veterans of the game still have the option to switch back to the “classic" control scheme if they so wish. Naturally, a variety of bug fixes have been tossed in as well, so this might be an update that brings a lot of people back to the game for more.
Parachute Ninja [App Store]
Current Version: 1.1
Our Review
Forum Thread
Parachute Ninja‘s 1.1 update is a small one, but it fixes what might’ve been a make-or-break issue that I had with the game when I reviewed it: the tilt auto-calibration that activates with the parachute. This issue really frustrated me during my playthrough of the game, but now that I know I can turn it off, Im extremely likely to return to this beautiful platformer for more.
Sunday Lawn [App Store]
Current Version: 1.10
Forum Thread
Sunday Lawn has never been a big seller for Donut Games, but I’ve always liked it quite a bit. This new update should’ve been called 3.0 instead of 1.10, because it literally triples the value of this game. A challenge mode (much like the main game in Comet Racer) has been added, as has a fun little minigame called “Sweet Dreams" in which you must keep Charlie asleep by bouncing sheep over fences. Global leaderboards have been added, and the game finally allows you to start the app with your own music playing to replace the in-game music- a feature that all App Store developers should implement. If you’ve never tried out Sunday Lawn, go purchase it now, because it’s finally on par with all their other awesome games.
Trenches [App Store]
Current Version: 1.2.6
Our Coverage
Forum Thread
I’ll admit it: when Trenches was first released, I hated it. I beat the entire game on its normal difficulty setting in less than 20 minutes, a task I completed by simply tapping the “spawn infantry" button over and over until the game abruptly ended. We didn’t give much coverage to the game due to its broken nature upon launch, but now that several updates have been implemented, I returned to Trenches to discover a truly fun, well-balanced game. The newest 1.2.6 update is nothing more than a bunch of bug fixes and further (necessary) unit balancing, but it also addresses the crashing that annoyed tons of people before now. Other past updates, however, have added new modes, length and variety to the campaign, and even improved control methods, morphing what was at first a broken novelty into a legitimately great game. If you’re like me and took a pass on Trenches before, it’s definitely worth revisiting now.
