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Daily iPhone App: Danger Boat is an endless runner on the waves
Most of the iOS buzz around this time last week was from the great Ridiculous Fishing, but there was another new release last week that I really liked and it's Pixelocity's Danger Boat. Vlambeer's big hit deserved all the attention it got, but Danger Boat was overlooked, I think -- it's a really well-made app as well that's simple but offers a lot of fun. "Boatpack Joyride" is probably how I'd best describe this one. It's a endless runner where you guide a boat along a watery course, trying to dodge obstacles, collect coins and use powerups while staying alive for as long as possible. Just like Halfbrick's famous endless runner, this one is well-polished and controls very well (you tilt back and forth to slide your boat around, and while I usually don't like tilt controls, this is done about as well as it can be done), and there are plenty of extras and powerups to spend with all of the coins you pick up. You can upgrade your powerups, you can buy booster items to give you extra benefits or you can buy new boats or places to race out of. There are a lot of fun details in this one, too, from the waves that kick you around to the various environments you race in while playing. Danger Boat is completely free and supported by in-app purchases, so there's no reason not to try this one. If you missed it during that Ridiculous Fishing rush, make sure you give it a good look now.
Zombie Track Meat features the Apocalympics
I must confess that I didn't come up with "Apocalympics." Its the result of a collaboration between Streaming Colour, FuzzyCube, and Pixelocity. The group meant to use the name for its zombie-based Olympics game, until the International Olympic Committee vetoed it. The title they settled on, "Zombie Track Meat," is still pretty good. It's a minigame title, as you can see above. You must master eight events, each with a zombie-related twist. In the swimming event, your cute, customizable zombie must navigate an endless pool while collecting brains and avoiding radioactive barrels. The long jump is actually a car crash, where your zombie is thrown from a car. The goal is to keep him bouncing along and extend the landing for as long as possible. The Javelin throw is actually a shovel toss, and so on. Each simple mini game features a single touch control. Much like Jetpack Joyride, they have little quirks to master and depths to explore. Zombie Track Meat ships with eight single-player events. You can earn "brains" to buy things in the store, like extra costumes or custom items for your zombie. The game's creators haven't decided how future events will be unlocked. They don't want players to miss out on content, of course, but there may be some kind of progression in the title eventually. Zombie Track Meat will debut on the Chrome App Store on April 1st. At that time, some of the events will be playable inside Google's browser. The rest of the events will arrive with the iOS release, which is set to hit when the real Olympics begin in late July, 2012. Zombie Track Meat looks like an interesting, casual collaboration between three talented iOS developers. We'll have to see how it comes out in June.
