Soccer Stealers

When the developers behind Watermelon tackle soccer, you can bet you’re not going to get your average soccer game, and Soccer Stealers is anything but.  In fact, it’s really a “dodge ‘em all” style game that uses soccer as a backdrop.  You play as one of three characters – the third must be unlocked – and your goal is to keep the soccer game disrupted by hanging on to the ball as long as you can.

Your main tactic is simply to keep away from the players, but you do have a couple of tricks up your sleeve.  The shoe power up gives you a temporary burst of speed.  The beer makes you a bit tipsy, but your resulting whirlwind pattern knocks over the other players.  The watermelon splits apart when you hit it, and the players can slide on the rinds if they run over them.  Keep in mind that you are not impervious to sliding, however, so this power up is a double edged sword.  The best part, though, is that you can actually score goals, which net you extra points (sorry for the pun).

Fly Boys!

Controlling the game is a simple matter of dragging where you want the character to go.  For the most part it works well, though it’s actually fairly easy to block the action as you’re moving your hand around the screen.  I would love to see an option to use a virtual d-pad, as I think this is a game where that kind of control would work really well.  The other thing I’d like to see are more power ups.  The ones that are available are cool, but a wider variety would be nice.  Oh, and I’d love to be able to play as the alien in the title screen – I’m not sure where it comes into the game yet, or even if it does.

The graphics are nicely done.  The characters look pretty cool, and I love watching your guy twirl around with the beer power up or the other players slipping on the watermelon rinds.  Your guy will even go to the corner of the playing field and wave the fans on when you score a goal.  The sound effects are decent enough.  I like the grunts and groans when players slip on the watermelon, and the immature nature trapped inside of me chuckles every time your character burps when picking up the beer power up.  The music is okay, but only plays until each game actually starts, which is kind of odd.

This is clearly not a traditional soccer game, which might be why I actually like it.  I’ll admit that I’m still a bigger fan of Watermelon, but it’s clear that the developers have a handle on making simple, wacky games that are fun to play and make you smile.  Even if you’re over World Cup mania, I highly suggest giving this game a try.

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link

Pix’N Love Rush

I’m not even really sure how to describe this game.  Some would say it’s inspired by Super Mario Bros, and I don’t doubt that, but to say it’s a clone is very unfair to Love Rush.  You play this character that’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and you’re trying to score big so that you can get cake.  You rush through a bunch of levels collecting plus signs to increase your score and avoiding minus signs, which will obviously decrease your score.  Purple bats are bad as well, but you can shoot them by basically doing what appears to be spitting on them.  There are also yellow flying creatures that you must protect.  Believe me when I say I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.

The levels come in all varieties, and you’re only on a given level for a few seconds.  A level might be one screen or it might be scrolling horizontally or vertically.  Some levels have crumbling platforms that you have to watch for.  One level might be predominantly plus signs, while the next one will have a healthy dose of all things evil.  The truth is that you never know what you’re going to get.

What I do know, however, is that I don’t like the controls.  Jump and shoot actually work okay, though half the time you can’t see them because they blend into the level graphics.  The left and right buttons are actually even pretty responsive. I’m not sure what the problem is – maybe the left and right buttons are too close together.  It just seems like there are too many times where I’m going in the opposite direction of what I thought I hit.  I really think Love Rush would be a great candidate for tilt control where movement is concerned.

It's-A Gameboy Mario!

The highlight of Pix’N Love Rush is definitely the graphics.  Not only is there a lot of 8 bit lovin’ going on in these visuals, but one of the benefits of building up your score is that when you get to certain thresholds the visual style actually changes.  It starts out with a “modern” look, but by the time you get to the last change you feel like you’re playing a black and white Gameboy game.  This is where you’ll notice the Super Mario Bros. influence.  I also find it amusing watching the main character spit for some reason.  Call me weird I guess.

The sound effects are okay.  When the main character spits the sound adds to the overall amusement of the process.  I also think the sound it makes when it gets hit works well.  Everything else is just kind of ordinary.  The music, however, is just as brilliant as the graphics.  Each level has its own theme, and the music is just as retro as the visuals.

There have been some pretty good platform games showing up on the iPhone platform recently, but none has quite the quirky charm of Pix’N Love Rush.  It’s clear the developer has a love of old console games, and I could just as easily seen this game show up on a NES emulator as the iPhone.  It’s amazing how old school feel can still have such modern appeal.

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link

That wraps up another edition of Random Selections.  Don’t hold me to this, but I think the next installment will cover the latest releases from Kuyi Mobile.  Until next time…

Here Comes The Lightning

The object of the game is to make matches of three or more balls of the same color.  Sound familiar?  That’s about where the similarities between Steamballs and regular match 3 games end.  Instead of some sort of playing field filled with objects, the game board is comprised of a series of tubes at the top of the screen that contain the balls, and a series of scales at the bottom of the screen.  Your job is to swipe the balls from the tubes one at a time to rest in the scales below.

Furthermore, you have to balance out the scales such that three or more balls of the same color line up in a row in order to make a match.  Each regular ball has a weight, and as you drop the balls on the scales the total weights for each arm are displayed under the scales.  The cool thing is that as long as three balls of the same color match at a given point it counts, so as the scales are adjusting to balance the weight at any given time you could make a match.  This is the only way to get points for your matches.  If there are balls touching the matching row that are of the same color, they will disappear as well.  There are no diagonal matches in the game, and vertical matches must consist of at least 5 balls of the same color, which will disappear but not award you with any points.

In addition to the normal balls there is a variety of power up balls.  Some balls will get rid of other balls when they are dropped.  One ball changes the color of all balls on an arm to the color of the ball underneath the power up.  Another ball gives you bonus points when you make a match with balls that are touching the power up.  There are a number of different power ups at your disposal, each having great merit when used wisely.  Overall this game is much more strategy based than most match 3 games, and has a slower pace as a result.  I find it to be quite refreshing.

The controls are real simple in premise – drag the active ball back and forth to move between tubes and swipe downwards to launch the ball towards a scale.  Seems simple enough, but I often find that due to the relatively narrow tubes my ball is not in the right spot when I launch, which I don’t realize until it’s too late.  Ideally an undo would be nice, but if nothing else maybe an alternate way to drop the ball so that you can move your hand out of the way and be sure you’re in the right position.  On the other hand, I do like the fact that you can tap on a ball to get the details about what it does.  This feature seems a bit sensitive, though, as it tends to pop up a lot more frequently than I ask for it.

A Steam Bomb!

While not as slick as certain other offerings like Gold Keeper or Jump-O-Mania, the visuals in Steamballs definitely have a charm about them.  The whole steampunk atmosphere is cool, and the effects correlating to some of the power ups are pretty sweet.  One thing I will give them credit for is that so far I have not had any issues mistaking one color for another, which seems to be a common problem with matching games that rely on the same objects with different colors.

The sound effects actually suit the game quite well.  The power ups that emit steam or electricity sound pretty good, and there’s a useful if not potentially annoying alarm when you’ve got at least one column too close to the top.  The noise made when rows or columns are match is rather interesting as well.  The music for both the menu and in-game are nice, but I think I like the menu music a bit better.  The in-game music sounds a bit like the background to a detective mystery, while the menu music is just cool.  I don’t even know how to describe it, but I could listen to it for a long stretch without getting bored.

There’s no question that Steamballs ups the ante as far as what’s possible for a match 3 game without resorting to mixing with other genres.  The game still feels like a match 3 game, yet there’s enough strategy involved that it’s also something completely different.  If you’re a match 3 fan that’s not afraid to try something different, or someone that isn’t necessarily into match 3 games already, you definitely need to give this game a try.  For everyone else, try it anyway.  You might just like it.

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link
App Shopper Link

[All About Quick Looks]

Mice Heist

Mice Heist is a game about protecting your pile of cheese from some mischievous mice… well, it’s more like a horde of rodents.  You start out each level with 20 slices of cheese and a timer.  You have to keep the mice away from the cheese until the counter gets down to zero.  If a mouse happens to get a piece of cheese, into one of the holes, you loose that piece of cheese for the current round.  All you have to do to stop a mouse is tap on it, and if it’s carrying a piece of cheese it will drop that piece.  Unfortunately, you don’t get as many points for slices that have been separated from the pile, and once a piece of cheese is on its own you can’t return it to the pile until the next round.  This also makes the round more challenging, because now you have multiple cheese stores to watch.

What makes this game fun – and sometimes frustrating – are the different types of mice you have to contend with.  Cheerleader mice don’t take cheese, but they encourage all the other mice to run more quickly.  Napoleon mice constantly call out soldier mice until you get rid of the commander.  Speedy Gonzalez mice dash about the room, making it hard for you to hit them.  Robot mice must be hit several times before they are destroyed.  The worst, however, are the ninja mice.  These guys will dodge your attack, and if you don’t hit them right after they dodge they will continue to dodge every time you strike.

Samurai Chop!

They’ve actually added a bit of strategy to this game, because as the room gets more crowded and the critters get quicker you often have to decide which mice are more important to take out first.  There’s also no question that your finger will get quite a workout as you progress through the levels.  And, if all else fails you can fall back on the cat’s paw once you’ve tapped enough mice.  This will unleash a dancing LOL cat to clear the screen.

The graphics suit the light hearted nature of the game.  The mice are cute and well animated, and there are several different backgrounds that get rotated throughout the game.  The sound effects are actually decent, as the mice pretty much all have their own sounds.  The music is also nice and upbeat (though a couple of different song choices would be nice).  The way the music is laid out you can even almost make your own rhythm game, since each mouse makes a sound when you tap it.

There’s nothing revolutionary – or even evolutionary, really – about Mice Heist.  It’s just a simple “tap all the bad guys” game with cute graphics and snappy music.  That’s what makes it endearing, though.  It doesn’t require much thought or time on your part to play a few rounds, and you’ll never forget what you’re doing.  Seems like the ultimate casual gamers’ choice to me.

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link

CataGugl

This was a really pleasant little surprise.  Judging by the screen shots and description I really wasn’t interested in this game, and wasn’t quite sure what it even was.  A marketing friend of mine sent me a code and said “want to give this a try?”  I figured I might as well, since I can’t turn down a free game.  As luck would have it, this game is a blast once you finally figure it out.  The basic gist is that you need to catapult the Gugl as far as you can (hence the name CataGugl – get it?)  You do this by pressing on the Gugl to “grab” it, and then dragging the poor thing back and forth across the screen for three seconds as the timer counts down.  This allows you to build up speed, and when you hear the word “go” you give one final swipe to toss the guy in the air.

As the Gugl soars through the air it might fly through a cloud, at which point it will fill up with air.  Pressing the Gugl will release the air, causing it to get a temporary speed boost.  Additionally, there a giant red bouncing balls that the Gugl can hit to get a sudden jolt of yardage.  On the down side – quite literally – if the Gugl accidentally hits the bottom of a red ball it can actually impede progress.  Ultimately your score will be measured by where the Gugl finally lands.  There are leader boards, which surprisingly are custom instead of one of the main few social networks, but at least you can still have high score competitions.

It's A Boomerang?

The main problem with this game is that the control is kind of awkward.  It’s quite easy to get a bit overambitious as you’re powering up your Gugl, only to find that your finger has slipped and you drop it.  Another problem is getting the timing just right so that you throw the Gugl right when the countdown says “go”.  You can throw it at other times, but your score won’t be nearly as good.  Finally, if your final swipe before letting go isn’t in the right direction, you might be recreating one of those worst case scenarios for new bowlers – can anyone say “look out behind me?”  Despite all this seeming negativity, though, it’s quite satisfying when you get the control right and earn a decent score.

Graphically the game is cute and pleasing.  The Gugl looks like Gumby’s mailbox with eyes, and it is fun to watch it twist and contort as it handles air from the clouds or bounces off a red ball.  The background is like a 3D no textured version of an earlier Super Mario Brothers game, which is all good for me.  The sound effects are amusing, especially on the final score screen when the Gugl is bouncing up and down making noises.  The music is okay, but it’s almost superfluous because by the time it starts playing you’re too wrapped up in watching the Gugl fly to care.

I’m a fan.  Your finger might get worn out as you continually try and top your best score, but you’ll definitely have the urge to keep trying.  Long live the Gugl!

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link

There you have it – another random sampling of what’s graced my device over time.  I hope you give at least one of these games a try, because they can both be great fun when played in moderation.  Until next time…

Skullpogo – For some reason I was expecting a Commander Keen clone (guess I should read descriptions once in a while), but instead this ends up being a really cool game where you just try and earn points by bouncing on the heads of various critters with a pogo stick.  The various creatures include bats, zombies, pigs (both walking and flying) and chickens.  Oh, and did I mention the main character has a skull for a head?  The graphics have a great NES feel to them, while the music is decidedly SNES, complete with a wicked jazz tune that plays during the menu.  The game sports three different visual themes that also seem to have slightly different game play elements, there are three different control schemes for different types of users, and some really nifty power ups that make head bopping even more interesting.  Simple, addictive fun is what Skullpogo is all about.

App Store Link

Action Buggy – Once again we see that Donut Games can take a simple concept and make it addicting.  In this case we’re looking at a modern version of Moon Patrol, but this strikes me as being much more fun than the original.  Controlling the buggy is simple, the secondary small boost you get by pressing jump while you’re still in the air is both nifty and strategic, and for some reason I’m just amused by the fact that you can jump on top of trees and missiles (fire is always bad, though).  The graphics are just what you’d expect from these folks, which means pixel perfect goodness.  I also like the sound effects, especially when you’re jumping on trees.  The music is nice and bouncy, which fits the mood quite well.  Overall another nice action game from Donut Games.

App Store Link

Buggies – This one is more for the kids, but it’s still kind of amusing.  You basically control a bug trying to gather up leaves so that you can escape through the magical door that appears on each level.  Along the way you’ll need to avoid things like holes in the floor, electrified twirling poles, and bugs that don’t share your interest.  You can use a virtual joystick or simply touching the screen to move, though surprisingly there’s no tilt option.  There are three mini-games that can be unlocked which don’t help with the main game, but provide a nice diversion from the main task.  The graphics are cute and the soundtrack is actually one of the better ones that I’ve heard for a casual game.  There are a few little kinks that need to be worked out, but nothing that would impede you from enjoying the game.  There are both paid and lite versions for the iPad as well, though oddly no lite version for the iPhone.

App Store Link

And there you have it – another edition of Games I Like all wrapped up.  I already have two of my picks for the next edition, so look for it sooner rather than later (just don’t look for it too soon!)

The Signpost Up Ahead

The premise behind the game is simple.  Each board is a shape, and you have to cut away at that shape by drawing a line from one edge of the shape to another.  A successfully drawn line will cause part of the shape to fall away, and when enough of the shape is gone you’ve beaten the level.  The trick is that each board has a number of balls bouncing around in it, and you can only get rid of parts of the shape that don’t contain any balls.  If both sections of the divided shape have balls in them then nothing changes.  If a ball hits the line while you’re drawing it, the shape will be completely restored and you’ll have to start over again.  To add to the challenge, some of the shapes have partially white boarders.  You can’t draw a line through the white boarders, so you have to go around them.  In order to complete a level you must remove a certain percentage of the board.  Thankfully there’s no time limit, so try to plan your moves wisely.

Controlling the game is simple.  Touch the screen where you want to start the line, then drag to where you want the line to end and release.  If the line is successful you’ll see one of the two sections fall away.  If both sections have balls in them you’ll hear a distinct noise and nothing happens.  The levels are extremely well designed, though I’m not sure the difficulty is balanced very well.  It seems like I’ll often get a really difficult level followed by a level I can beat on the first try.  It would also be nice if they had a “beginner” level where you didn’t have to remove such a high percentage of the level in order to win.  On the plus side, if you do complete the levels there are three different medals you can earn, so if you have the patience there’s plenty of replayability as you try to get the gold medal on each level.  It appears you can only retry a level until you decide to move on to the next one, however, so to add to the replay factor a level select screen would be awesome.

I love the visual style in iSlice.  The background elements are a mixture of what look like cardboard cutouts and counter cross-stitched objects, and the playing field mimics the cross-stitch style.  The playing field is also a recognizable object that fits with the theme of the background.  There’s even a nifty little life saying written on each of the objects.  The sound effects are simple but fitting.  A snip sound means you’ve successfully sliced the object, a light tapping means it didn’t work, and a thump indicates you’ve hit a wall.  The endearing sound of shattered glass says that your line has been shattered by a ball.  The music has a bit of a bluegrass edge to it, and at first makes you feel like you’re in a Countrytime lemonade commercial.

I’m pretty impressed with iSlice.  Technically the game is simple to play, yet there’s no question that it provides a nice challenge.  The levels are beatable without getting too agitating (most of the time), and you always feel good about completing one.  The visuals are slick and the music is good, though it would be nice to have more than one song.  If you’re looking for the next challenging casual game, this just might be it.

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link
App Shopper Link

[All About Quick Looks]

Basically you play Babeorella, who happens to be on a quest to crush alien robots of all shapes and sizes.  She’ll do this with everything from a whip to a hammer, and a lot of firepower to boot (and her boots, for that matter).  You’ll spend your time running around a fairly contained area, demolishing everything in sight and collecting power ups as they arise.  Every killed robot earns you experience points, and you can also collect XP boosters from one of the various power up spawn points on the board (I think aliens might leave them as well on occasion).  These XP points allow you to upgrade things such as long and short range attacks, as well as maximum health and number of bombs you can have.

Pullin' Out The Big Guns

In addition to earning XP you can earn awards, which are basically the home grown equivalent of OpenFeint achievements.  Earn enough awards and you can unlock new outfits for Babeorella.  Finally there are the challenges, which for a while are the most interesting part of the game.  When you get a challenge you have a certain amount of time in which you must earn enough XP to upgrade a particular stat.  If you are able to beat the challenge you’ll earn a multiplier on your XP, which in turn helps you earn stats more quickly.  It’s pretty gimmicky, and actually quite cool for a while, but I’d imagine if it helped you earn all of your upgrades too quickly you’d be at a loss for more to do.  Fortunately I haven’t hit that dilemma yet.

To move Babeorella you have a virtual joystick in the lower left corner of the screen.  This works pretty well for the first few waves, but when the action gets intense and you need to run a lot the control suffers big time from the “slip factor”, the problem where you slide your finger too far and suddenly the joystick isn’t responding any more.  You have two strengths of attack – light and heavy – and three ranges for each (short, medium and long).  Each attack strength is controlled with one button, and the range is determined by the distance between you and the enemy.  This means you must be facing the enemy, unlike the traditional dual stick shooter where you can rotate your weapon as appropriate.  Otherwise I like the fact that you don’t have to worry about switching weapons.

It's Hammer Time (and that's not punny)

Visually Babeorella looks really nice – and I am talking about the game as a whole.  Babeorella can definitely hold her own against Daisy Mae, and the robots look pretty cool, though not as nifty as the alien entries from the buffet.  Animations are well done, and the background is nifty.  The big problem is lack of variety.  The game needs more robot types, and it would be really nice she moved to a new locale every few waves.  This could also help vary the game play a bit, as different terrains present new challenges.  The sound effects are decent enough.  Some things like the heavy gun powering up sound pretty cool, and other things like the hammer noises are almost comical.  The music is good, but like the background it could use a change every once in a while.

I have somewhat mixed emotions on Babeorella.  On one hand, the virtual joystick really drives me nuts.  The button configuration as opposed to virtual joystick has its issues as well, especially when you’re being swarmed from all sides.  The game can even get kind of stale with only 5 robot types and one backdrop.  On the flip side, I can still find myself coming back to this game until such time as I’ve managed to win all the awards and unlock the three corresponding costumes.  Still, that experience would be much more pleasant if the items in the rest of this paragraph were addressed.

Final Verdict: On The Fence
App Store Link
App Shopper Link

[All About Quick Looks]

• Better, configurable controls.
• Option to resume a saved game.
• Tweaked the difficulty level down a bit (so regular mortals can now enjoy the game).
• Auto-fire option (like having a semi-automatic egg firing gun).

I’ll be providing a full review of the game once the update is available, but given this list of enhancements I suggest you grab it while the game is on sale: App Store Link

This week I thought I’d take a look at the first two releases from Blacksmith games.  They are two very different games, and both take a somewhat original approach to their subject matter.  Plushed is a fairly straightforward platform game, but it takes place in a land where cute bunnies wield swords and fugus like creatures love pizza.  Boostball is a soccer game where you actually control the ball, and you simply have to keep traveling down the field as long as you can.  Two very different games for different gaming needs.

Plushed

If you’ve played any platform game as far back as Super Mario Bros. you already have a feel for how Plushed is going to play out.  It’s old school all the way, and that’s just fine with me.  Where Plushed differs from many of its contemporaries, however, is in atmosphere and pizza.  Intrigued yet?  I know I would be.

The game’s hero is a stuffed rabbit that has come to life and must save its owner, who has been whisked away to some far off castle in the pages of a storybook.  To give you a taste of the fantasy world, in the first few levels you team up with an all knowing and somewhat sarcastic sword, you travel through the guts of more than one snake, and you fight a character named Little Red by… well, I had to figure that one out, so I’ll let you do the same.  For the most part the mechanics are standard – run using arrow keys, jump by tapping the screen.  There are several occasions where you facilitate actions by shaking the screen.  I’m not a fan of having to shake my device, and while sometimes cleverly implemented in Plushed it can also be annoying, but I always applaud the developer for trying to integrate iDevice specific features.

Like An Odd Little Puppy...

Then there’s the pizza.  Apparently this is a delicacy in the lands of Plushed, and you’ll find it all over the place.  It can be used to trick creatures into opening their mouths or coming out of their holes, and more importantly it can be used to convince pizza eaters – odd creatures that are bouncy when filled with pizza – to follow you and provide you with vertical jumping prowess.  In order to use the pizza you must first pick it up, and then drag it around the screen to lure your targets around.  There are times where you can also acquire perfume pizza which has about the same effect but doesn’t require the drag and drop activity.

The graphics are the highlight of the game.  The characters are wonderfully drawn, and the animation is pretty decent.  It’s hard to despise anyone in this game, though, because even the evil critters are for the most part cute.  The backgrounds are nicely detailed as well, though for the most part they are pretty static.  The sound effects are actually fairly interesting, with each creature having its own utterances.  You get the feeling that the developers actually took the time to make this a world that would stand out from the typical fare you find on the iPhone.  The music is well written and there are several different tracks throughout the game, so you shouldn’t get bored listening to the tunes.

There may not be anything overly new here in terms of mechanics – but the again, depending on what you’re used to there may be – but some nice level design combined with a bright, colorful atmosphere and quirky characters make Plushed a journey worth taking.  There aren’t tons of choices when it comes platform games on the iPhone anyway, so when a good one comes along you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link

Boostball

A lot of soccer games have been released in conjunction with the proceedings of the World Cup, and Boostball is no exception.  The funny thing is that this is probably the farthest thing from a true soccer game that you’re going to find in the collection on the App Store.  The game is just a soccer ball (you) against a bunch of opponents, some that are stationary and others moving back and forth.  Periodically you will reach a milestone of going through a “net” which is really just a gate that pops up every so often.

To move the ball you tilt the device left and right.  Your ball will continually lose speed, but you can keep boosting it back up by running over arrows that are littered on the playing field.  Occasionally you can pick up fire, which lets you temporarily run over any opponents.  There are also coins you can pick up along the way to increase your score.  This all takes place in Tournament mode, and there’s also a training mode where you have to pass the soccer ball through sets of cones instead of running it around opponents.  This mode is actually a bit more challenging, especially when the cones start moving.

That’s all there is to the game, which is fine for Training mode.  Tournament mode could use some more power ups, however, both positive and negative.  Some ideas would be freezing the opponents, making them move faster, or causing them to grow or shrink.  You could even use the coins to by power ups when you reach a gate.

The visual style is simple yet quite appealing.  The field is just a green strip with white lines marking the boundaries and arrows and a row of national flags lining each side.  The opponents are rectangular objects with the front side illustrated to look like a person.  The expressions on their faces are great, though sadly not animated.  There really isn’t much in the way of special effects except a few particles when you’re “on fire” or when there’s a coin on the screen.

The sound effects are fine but fairly limited.  It would be nice if the opponents taunted you when you hit them.  Maybe each visual style of opponent could have a different little catch phrase.  The music is pretty decent, and I like how it changes when you’re “on fire”.

This is one of those games that walk a fine line for me.  My initial gut instinct was to give it an “On The Fence” because of it’s limited options and repetitive nature.  At the same time, every time I go to play a game I can’t seem to just play once.  Even the simplest games deserve some credit if they can draw you in for multiple plays at the same time.  So…

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link

Super 7 – I wasn’t really interested in this game, but AppSmile had it in their weekly contest, and it was the only one for that week that I didn’t have that might have appealed to me, so I entered the contest and won a copy.  It turns out the game is actually quite fun and addictive.  It’s line drawing, but instead of vehicles or creatures or people, you’re drawing lines between discs with numbers on them.  The goal is that you end up with discs containing the number 7.  Make a combination that’s higher than 7 or lower than -7 and you lose.  It doesn’t take long before the action gets quick and furious, and things like number multipliers / dividers and sign changers can really throw a wrench in your plans – or prove immensely beneficial.  The graphics are pretty snazzy for mainly being discs with numbers on them, and the music is quite upbeat and nice to listen to.  If you think you’ve played it all when it comes to line drawing, you really need to give this one a shot.

App Store Link

Racer – This is a simple car racing game where you’re driving down a multi-lane highway and you basically need to stay alive as long as you can.  To steer the car you drag it where you want to go – left and right to switch lanes and forward and back to move faster and slower.  There are two freestyle modes (one harder than the other), a “slots” mode which is basically freestyle where you need to collect stars for bonus points, and “career” mode which is slots with a goal of so many stars per level.  While not jaw dropping the graphics are certainly appealing, and the crashing and screeching when you hit a car are sure authentic.  Some music would be nice, but otherwise this is a solid if a bit simplistic little racer that has actually managed to hold my attention.

App Store Link

Yipe 5 – I bought this a while back and just now got around to trying it.  As luck would have it the game is actually pretty fun.  It’s very old school RPG, from the interface to the lack of character customization, but for some quick tile based dungeon exploring it does the job.  The graphics are colorful, combat is quick yet satisfying, and the whole thing is easy to pick up and get into.  Besides, where else are you going to get to fight zombie rabbits and zombie chickens in the same game?

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Well there you have it.  Three cool games in no particular order that can easily keep you busy for minutes at a time!  Racer is free as of this posting (6/18/2010), so if you don’t have it yet, now would be a really good time to grab it.

The Future Is Now...

The premise behind the game is really simple – you need to make sure the ball gets to the end of the level without hitting any obstacles or falling through any holes.  The ball is constantly rolling, and the only control you have is to make it jump by tapping the screen.  As you might expect, then, the key to doing well in the game is timing.  Of course I have no sense of timing, which makes this type of game particularly difficult for me, but with great challenge comes great reward, right?  Something else you have to be conscious of is that in some places even though it might seem like you need to jump, you might just want to fall.  The levels are short, so experimentation isn’t the end of the world.  Just don’t play like me and do the same thing 100 times just because you’re sure one time it’s going to work.

Along the way there are stars to collect in order to earn extra points.  You might miss one or two every now and again, but if you seem to be missing the majority of them then you’re probably doing something wrong, because the stars are laid out in such a way that they are reachable just by following the natural course of the level.  I think there are one or two occasions where the level splits and you can only follow one path, but that is a rarity.  There are a couple of things that will help you when you come across them.  Certain signs can speed you up, slow you down, or cause you to reverse direction.  There are also certain tiles that cause you to jump higher than normal.  While you may have the urge to jump over these things at times when you see them, they are almost always there for a good reason, so try to use them when possible.

When The Moon Hits Your Eye...

The visuals are quite a step up from the first game.  Right off the bat you’ll note that there are actually two different themes you can play with: cartoon and futuristic.  Personally I like cartoon a little better, but they’re both pretty nice.  The objects you jump over look to be the same for both, but platform tiles, signs and backdrops change when you pick a different theme.  Yes, this iteration of Fastball has backdrops!  The one on the cartoon theme even changes between day and night.  Cool!  Sound effects are there, which is better than nothing, though I do like the noise the ball makes when it speeds up.  The music is really cool, and there are actually three tunes – one for the menu, and one for each theme.  Like with the visuals I prefer the cartoon music, which for some reason makes me feel like I should be at a café somewhere in Paris.

This is still probably one of the more basic “rolling ball” games that’s actually fun, but I can’t deny that I get hooked on it.  Whenever I start a level I almost can’t put the game down until I get the level finished.  You will probably have to make several attempts at many of the levels, but like I said they’re short, so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.  Hopefully decent sales will encourage the developer to add a couple more themes, but the game is pretty solid as it stands right now.  If you’re looking for a nice, simple variant of games like Bounce On or Funkyball Worlds, this would be a great title to pick up.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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