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Daily iPhone App: LinkedIn Contacts
As a journalist, LinkedIn has become an indispensable tool for managing all my sources, public relations contacts, technology contact and more. And while I've been a user and fan of the LinkedIn iPhone app (free) for years (the iPad app is still horrible), I always lamented the fact that there was no way to easily organize or sort through contacts within the app. That all changed earlier this year however, when LinkedIn unveiled its companion app LinkedIn Contacts, which is our Daily iPhone App. LinkedIn Contacts is a power user's dream. Not only is it a speedy little app for searching through all your LinkedIn connections, it also allows you to sift through them with ease. LinkedIn Contacts allows you to filter your connections by tags, companies, titles, locations or sources. This is much easier than trying to manually find that name of a connection when all you've got is, for example, that he used to work for Apple and lives in London. You can also browse through your connections alphabetically, those you've newly connected with or by those you've had a recent conversation with (meaning, you've sent them LinkedIn messages). The app also has a nice "To Do" function, which shows you the job changes and work anniversaries of your connections. As a journalist, this is very handy because I can easily see when one of my PR contacts changes to representing a different company. Finally, the app also offers a calendar function, where you can import all your events from your iOS calendar and combine them with LinkedIn's data. For example, if you have a meeting set up at 2 PM with Sue and Josh from Apple, you could quickly pull up their LinkedIn profiles to get the latest information about them. LinkedIn Contacts is a free download.
Daily iPhone App: Vert, the beautiful conversion utility
There's no shortage of unit conversion apps on the iPhone. Matter of fact, a unit conversion app was the first app I ever downloaded -- and that app has remained on my iPhone since. That is, until I found Vert. Vert is the most beautifully designed unit conversion app I've ever found. I'll let the screenshots speak for themselves, but as you can see, a lot of care went into the design. Best of all, its flat looks make it a perfect fit for the new iOS 7. But design is one thing. What people want from a unit conversion app is a wide array of categories. Vert has 30 categories with over 700 different units. Not only do you have your normal weight, length, speed, time and volume units, you also get some units I've never seen before in a conversion app including Hats & Caps, Radioactivity, Shirt & Blouses, Shoes, Suits & Dresses, Typography and Viscosity. What is great about each category is you can favorite whatever ones you want so you can quickly just view a list of your most frequently converted items. Moreover, inside each category, you can favorite your most-converted units of measurements. For example, if you only use the Teaspoon US and Ounce UK units, you can favorite them so you don't need to scroll through the entire list of units each time. Other nice features include letting you view your conversion history, support for automatic currency updates for 164 currencies from 249 countries and regions, unit conversion precision up to seven decimals, multiple color themes and sets of unusual units, such as Kardashian, donkeypower, manpower, shot glass, fully loaded 747, Manhattan city block and more. Additionally, Vert will soon be updated with new features, such as the ability to combine units like foot + inch, mile + foot, hour + minutes and pound + ounce; icon view for categories; a new category just for rock climbers; and an organized list of categories (Units of Measurement, Clothing and Other). Vert is the best unit conversion app I've ever used and is available from the App Store for US$0.99.
Daily iPhone App: SlamBots crashes into some surprisingly deep action
SlamBots is the latest title from Retro Dreamer, a company that's been taking the one game a month idea very seriously this year. This title is based on a game Retro Dreamer put out back in February of this year, which took an endless jumping game and turned it into more of an arena-style beatdown, where you could jump on the heads of various monsters, touching down on the screen to "slam" them. Retro Dreamer took that idea and ran with it, converting it into a robot-style theme and adding a few more progression and monetization elements, and the result is this US$1.99 app in the App Store right now. The result is a very interesting title -- it's casual, but offers up a whole lot of depth if you're looking to go and find it. The basics are clear: You tilt your iPhone back and forth to control your slambot, bouncing off of platforms and enemies and collecting coins as best you can. But as you start to figure out the game's mechanics, there's actually a lot of complexity, and if you can land a few slams in a row, your scores can get sky high. See this players' guide by developer Matt Rix for more -- there's actually a lot of really deep, criss-crossing elements present in this game. Some of you might not be convinced at the price of $1.99, and that's fine: Retro Dreamer says there's a free, ad-supported version on the way soon, and I definitely recommend that one when it appears. But this is a really interesting title, and especially if you've been following Retro Dreamer's path through the App Store. It shows very well how app ideas can evolve forward into something really special.
Daily iPhone App: Warhammer Quest combines Rodeo Games' talent with the Warhammer setting
Warhammer Quest was originally announced way back in August last year, and now it's finally arrived on the iOS App Store, for a price of US$4.99. The game is indeed based on the old board game (set in the great and goofy British Warhammer universe), but it's also made by Rodeo Games, most famous for creating the popular Hunters series on iOS. Rodeo knows how to make turn-based strategy both interesting and easy to control on the iOS touchscreen, and that's exactly what they've done here, essentially translating their top-down, grid layout strategy title into the Warhammer universe. In Warhammer Quest, you pilot a crew of various fantasy-based heroes (warrior, mage, archer and shieldbearer are the core classes, though a few more are available via in-app purchase) through dungeons, clobbering orcs, goblins and any other baddies who happen to step in your way. Each hero has their own set of movement stats and abilities, and you pick up items and extra loot as you play, earning more and more options in battle. Just like the Hunters series, the interface is clean and clear, and it's very easy to navigate your heroes around the dungeon. It's not quite as easy to use spells and abilities (most of them are, strangely, buried in an interface rather than easily accessible), but still, the setup makes sense once you play with it a bit. There's an excellent meta-game as well, where you can travel to a town to train up your heroes and experience various random, lore-supported events. There are also lots of side quests to follow, offering all of the challenge and content that you'd like. There's even an expansion already ready to go via IAP, and I'm guessing (given what we've seen with the Hunters series so far), that we'll see lots more content for this game in the future. If you're a Warhammer fan, this is a must-buy, and if you like turn-based strategy at all, this is a prime example of a talented developer working side-by-side with a great property. This game is definitely worth $4.99, though Hunters seems to go on sale with some regularity, so you may want to wait and see if the price drops if you're willing to be patient. Given the size of the game and the quality of the content, however, Warhammer Quest is easily recommended.
Daily iPhone App: Mosaique is an original and inventive puzzle game
Mosiaque is a very original puzzle game that I haven't quite figured out yet. It appeared on the App Store a little while ago from a company called Winning Blimp, and the core idea of the app is that you need to clear the screen of colored squares by firing them in from the sides. The issue, however, is that if the square you shoot in hits a square of another color, it will switch out instead. Squares of the same color get cleared off, so your goal is to try and fire squares of the same color together, lining them up and clearing them off the board, refilling your meter for more shots. Mosiaque is the kind of game that's simple to play, but fairly tough to master -- even with the playtime I've put in, I'm not completely sure how deep the game's strategy gets. But there is a solid amount of fun to learning the game's mechanics, and as you play through the levels, there are some new tricks, too. Eventually, black blocks show up which will block your shots, and "void" blocks will appear that keep your shot meter from filling back up if not cleared right away. Mosaique is a lot of fun, and it's very original, both in look and in gameplay. It's worth noting that there are no in-app purchases in this one either. Buy the game for US$0.99, and you'll have access to the game's unlimited parade of levels. That should be more than enough to get you figuring out exactly how it all works.
Daily iPhone app: The Visible City celebrates Vancouver's neon past
In 1953, Vancouver was aglow with nearly 19,000 neon lights. Today, only a few dozen of those historic signs remain. Those interested in the city's glowing, buzzing past should check out The Visible City, an iPhone app from the Museum of Vancouver. This free app offers informative, colorful walking tours (available in English and French) through parts of the Canadian city, making clever use of narration and augmented reality to highlight what once was. There are two tours on the app, and each one is approximately 30 minutes in length. The first explores Granville Street, the city's long-time entertainment district. It's 1.4 km in length and features eight signs. To get started, stand at the designated starting point, which is The Yale Hotel at 1300 Granville St. (the app provides directions if you need them). Then, simply tap I've Arrived At Start to launch the narration and augmented reality. Note that the app warns users not to explore the Granville area alone, due to current crime rates. %Gallery-187942% The second tour explores Chinatown and Hastings Street. It's 1.0 km long and features eight signs. You can mark certain locations as favorites during your tour and even check in within the app, so others can see that you've been there. The app also features more than 40 audio and video stories with memories of the Vancouver that is no more. The augmented reality feature looks like fun (I'm not in Vancouver and was unable to test it). To use it, hold your iPhone aloft during a tour, and you'll see historical images from the 1950s through the 1970s superimposed over the real-time, present day. If you can't take the tours, The Visible City still has plenty for you. Each sign has its own screen complete with photos and a full history. You can also listen to the narration that accompanies the tours while you sit at home, but that's a little weird. The app also lets users to upload their own stories and even vote on their favorite signs and places. The Visible City's implementation of augmented reality isn't a gimmick, but a feature that contributes to the walking tour experience. It puts a fun, educational museum experience in your pocket. The Visible City requires iOS 5.0 or greater and is optimized for the iPhone 5.
Daily iPhone App: Daedalus Touch
If there's one thing bad about being a tech blogger, it's that you're constantly exposed to new and exciting hardware and software. More often than not, a first glance at an app turns into a buying opportunity, and the next thing you know you've spent anywhere from $0.99 to "a big amount" on the latest and greatest. That was the situation I found myself in with an OS X text editor called Ulysses III (US$39.99) after Megan Lavey-Heaton wrote about it. Well, it turns out that I'm now using Ulysses every day for blogging, and that it also has a companion iOS app named Daedalus Touch ($4.99, universal), which of course I had to buy. Both apps are products of German development house The Soulmen GBR, and there are some similarities between the two. Both work on the concept of stacks of sheets of paper and both are amazing plaintext editors. Install Daedalus Touch on your iPhone or iPad, choose to sync it with iCloud, and a Daedalus folder shows up in Ulysses III on your Mac. One of the features of Ulysses III that I appreciate so much is the "fourth pane" that can be added to the app window that provides one-click access to just about every Markdown style. While Daedalus doesn't supply that pane, it does support export of Markdown style conversions from the app. However, I made up for the lack of that pane by just creating a text document with the Markdown commands I use most often. Like Ulysses III, there's a row of customizable shortcut buttons that appear over the top of the iOS virtual keyboard. That keyboard row also displays a character and word count, perfect for authors who are tied to a specific document length. Daedalus Touch can import files or folders from Dropbox, WebDAV, and Box.com, and even opens zipped text files. Documents can be exported as single or multiple sheets, or entire stacks of sheets. The export options available include emailing as TXT, PDF, RTF, and zip archive, creating an ePub ebook file (including asking for a cover image and meta information), printing, converting Markdown styles, copying to the iOS clipboard, or opening documents in other iOS apps. There are four different color themes, including modes for editing at night, and three nice typefaces. One of my favorite features in Daedalus Touch has to be its excellent use of gestures for navigation in the app, many of which are included in the video embedded below. Another nice touch is a web browser built into the iPad version of Daedalus Touch, which makes it quite easy to do research without having to leave the app. The Soulmen GBR have created a winner with Daedalus Touch, and if you've already succumbed to the charms of Ulysses III, do yourself a favor and get the iOS app.
Daily iPhone App: JetSet Expenses
Capturing expenses can be a real burden on business travelers; I personally can't count the number of times where I ended up paying for something rather than being to have a company foot the bill, simply because I wasn't able to find a receipt or didn't log an expense somewhere. JetSet Expenses (US$4.99) has been around for a while but was recently updated to version 2.1 to add new functions for helping keep your business expenses in order. Version 2.1 has a number of updated features to make current and new users happy. First, the app now supports the larger Retina display of the iPhone 5. It's also providing support for printing expense reports (perfect for sending them to those pesky accountants) on an AirPrint printer or using an AirPrint workaround like Printopia with an older printer and a Mac. Expense reports can now be sorted by date, either from newest to oldest or vice-versa. A function has been added to lock the expense date; all expenses added after it is locked are filled with that date until you unlock the date or change it. Support for Google Drive and Dropbox has been updated as well. I was happy to see that with a single tap an expense report can be uploaded as a .CSV file directly to a Google Drive spreadsheet. In Dropbox, a JetSet Expenses report goes to a specific JetSet Expenses folder. The .CSV file is accompanied by pictures of any receipts that have been attached to the expense report. %Gallery-185159% During beta testing of JetSet Expenses, I pointed out to the developer that the travel databases were somewhat out of date, still showing listings for airlines like Continental (which has merged with United) and Northwest (which became part of Delta). While the developer did remove the old listings, some of the airline information wasn't added back in where appropriate -- there's no listing for United, which is currently the world's largest airline. Still, that's a minor issue that can be addressed in a future version of the app. The fact remains that JetSet Expenses is a very capable app for capturing those bills that accrue during business travel. The ability to share the expense reports via a variety of methods including uploads to Dropbox and Google Drive, as well as email and printing, is a lifesaver when you're on the road and need to get a reimbursement started.
Daily iPhone App: Hackycat makes kicking the cat fun
Stick with me on this: Hackycat is basically a game about kicking cats. In real life, of course, I love cats, and would never want to kick one. But Hackycat, designed by a very talented artist named Ken Wong, is all about playing hackeysack with a bevy of cartoony, colorful and surprisingly serene cats, kicking them in mid-air by tapping on your iPhone's screen to keep them up ... and letting them grab cheeseburgers along the way. Yes, as you might have figured already, Hackycat is a silly game, but it is a lot of fun. The gameplay itself is relatively simple, as all you'll need to do is tap the screen to keep the cats bouncing where you want them to go. If any of them falls to the bottom of the screen (or if you hit a bird bomb as it flies by), it's game over. The game's progression system is very well-designed, however: as you collect cheeseburgers, you can use them as currency to unlock more cats to play with, open up new heroes or powerups, or help yourself to completing certain goals. And since the game uses Wong's great art, all of the designs are very slick and fun. Hackycat is not extremely complicated, but then again that's part of the charm. It's a solid game with an unlock system that will keep you playing for quite a while if you want to open up everything. You can grab a universal version on the App Store now for just US$0.99.
Daily iPhone App: After Burner Climax brings high flying action to iOS
After Burner Climax was originally an arcade title, part of the old After Burner series (that was installed in an actual sit-in unit that spun around as you were flying -- pretty neat!). The title made the leap to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN a few years ago, and now Sega has released this version for iOS, available now on the App Store. Unfortunately, without all of the arcade bells and whistles, this version feels just a little bit flat -- it's probably meant more for nostalgic Sega fans than anyone else. But the graphics are still very impressive. You choose a jet, pick Arcade, Score Attack, or Climax modes (Climax is a special power that allows you to take down multiple enemies at the same time), and then get flying, using virtual controls or tilt to move your aiming reticule around. The shooting game is pretty shallow, but it's definitely colorful and fun. Fans of games like the Sky Gamblers series may be a little disappointed that you basically can just fly back and forth (and barrel roll, of course), but this is an arcade title, not a simulation title, so the goal is just to be flashy and exciting, and After Burner Climax does that. The game also brings in some really excellent features, including HDMI and Airplay support. This isn't a half-considered port -- Sega really did an excellent job in bringing this game over to iOS. I really enjoy After Burner Climax. It's definitely an arcade game, with all of the shallowness that entails. But it's fast and fun, and it's very nice to have a version of the old arcade favorite available on my phone whenever I want to jump in and play. Those who favor real flying will have to look elsewhere, but if you just want to shoot down some tangos while flying at high speed, After Burner Climax is available now for US$1.99.
Daily iPhone App: Zombies and Trains combine for gory fun
Zombies and Trains is the latest app from Dragonhead Games, an indie dev based in Norway. It's a zombie app (which is fairly meh these days), but it features a pretty inventive control scheme and a whole lot of content to play through. The app is essentially an arena game, where you're presented with wave after wave of zombies, and then need to kill them off. Rather than using a gun or a hatchet, however, you use something a little more powerful: A freight train. Each area has various tracks running across it, and just touching one of those tracks will send a train rumbling through, demolishing any zombies who happen to be in the way. The game can be frantic but very satisfying -- most of the stages involve a trophy in the middle for you to protect, and if even one zombie reaches it, it's game over. There are four different modes, including a progressively difficult Arcade mode, an endless wave mode, a one minute survival mode, and a "slaughter" mode, which just has you killing as many zombies as possible before time runs out. The whole thing is fairly simple, but the graphics are well done, and the idea of a train at full speed running through a herd of zombies is really just too good to pass up (especially if you've played The Walking Dead game, which combined zombies and locomotion in a much less satisfying manner). Zombies and Trains is available for 99 cents on the iPhone, or $1.99 on the iPad.
Daily iPhone App: Pixel People is free and simple, but also great fun
Here's the thing about Pixel People: I don't think it's very deep, it's basically just a time-based town builder, and much of the "gameplay" is just smashing various objects together until they work. All of that said however, here's the other thing about Pixel People: I can't stop playing it. This is the latest app from Chillingo, and that company's publishing experience shines right through here. This game is beautifully designed, from the gorgeous pixel art to the very nice touch of asking you to "cut" open a special card pack to unlock a new item. While most of the gameplay is simply just clicking on the screen (the idea is that you need to rebuild a civilization in space, slowly unlocking various jobs, buildings and housing as you earn more and more land and currency), the game brilliantly gives you more content at a steady rate, surprising the player almost constantly with little graphical touches, in-jokes and new twists and turns in the town system that you slowly build up. The game is free and runs with the often odious dual-currency system. But Pixel People is so giving (every time I log in to the app, which is often, I end up having gobs of money to spend) that I had no problem at all with the various in-app purchase options. You may be disappointed at how shallow the game is, but man, all of that pixel art just looks so impressively good.
Daily iPhone App: Food Run wants you to play with your food
If the name Food Run sounds familiar, you've got a good memory. We featured it about a year ago (via the developer's blog post) as a gorgeous example of Retina display graphics. Now, a year later, the game is available from Pixels on Toast, and you can see those gigantic graphics in action. The game is a nonstop platformer, similar to (though less inventive than) the great Run Roo Run. You play as a piece of food running along the screen, and you simply tap to jump at the right times, with the game doing everything else for you. Along the way, you can grab stars, dodge obstacles and jump up to grab other food items, which will run along after you. The game's fairly simple, and the clean and clear graphics do make the whole affair very smooth. Personally, I prefer a little bit more action to my platformers (Mikey Shorts is another great iOS platformer, if you haven't played that one yet), but Food Run has a nice Zen quality, and of course all of those stars across the levels do well in pushing you to replay each one until you hit it perfectly. You can pick up Food Run on the App Store now for just US$0.99.
Daily iPhone App: The Blockheads is another great take on sandbox survival
We mentioned developer David Frampton's new iOS game The Blockheads when it arrived last week, but just in case you haven't gotten a chance to see and play it yet, here's one more spotlight on it as our Daily iPhone App. The Blockheads is a really great game -- it's Frampton's take on Minecraft, with a touch-friendly iOS 2D look, and a number of interesting innovations that change the game up quite a bit. The biggest of these is the game's queue system -- unlike Minecraft or the great Junk Jack, you don't control The Blockheads' protagonists directly, instead you give them orders to walk around the world or dig up a certain square. This means the game is slightly more abstract than other survival sandbox games, letting you as the player focus on what you're building rather than tapping away on a certain block. Blockheads' biggest weak point is that the game does cling to a very realistic view of the world: Your Blockheads needs to sleep every night, and after a little while, finding food in the wasteland-like world becomes a priority. Building some items can also be slow -- the game is completely free, but relies on a "time crystal" mechanic for in-app purchases that can be a bit annoying when some tasks take an extremely long time. But aside from those small quibbles, The Blockheads is a really amazing title that's available right now for free on both iPhone and iPad. Frampton has tweeted that the game has already seen a sizable amount of success, and it's much deserved -- he's a talented and hardworking developer. If you missed this one when it arrived last week, don't make the same mistake again this time.
Daily iPhone App: You Don't Know Jack returns in Facebook form
You may be surprised to see the classic You Don't Know Jack here in this space again, as we've already covered it as a daily app. But that version is no longer on the App Store, and the new version that appeared yesterday is a completely different game, this time based on the Facebook version of the ubiquitous trivia title. As such, this version is played best with a Facebook account hooked up to it, but it's not needed -- you can still log in and play the game as a guest if you'd rather keep things more private. Aside from that Facebook functionality, this is essentially the same game we've loved ever since it first appeared on PC back in the day. Faithful host Cookie runs you through daily games of trivia questions, featuring wickedly hilarious puns and jokes, old favorites like Dis or Dat and of course the game-ending Jack Attack. Odds are you've played this game more than a few times before, but this is all new content yet again, so there's new fun to be had. The game also includes some freemium elements, like power-ups to boost your score, and various unlocks to be purchased with the cash you earn from the game. But all of that stuff is just extra, really -- this is the world's best trivia game reincarnated in a great new form. If you're a fan of the old YDKJ (and how can you not be?), definitely give it a download.
Daily iPhone App: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a really interesting gift from Square Enix for Final Fantasy fans. It's a music game that was originally released on the Nintendo 3DS earlier this year, in which players can play a touchscreen game with songs culled from Final Fantasy soundtracks, supported by a progression RPG game featuring stylistic versions of characters from throughout the Final Fantasy series. It's very much fan service: If you love the songs and the characters from these games, you'll love seeing and playing along with them in this form. Now the game's been brought over to iOS' single-screen platform. The game plays just as well as it did on the 3DS, and in some ways it's even better. You especially see this on the iPad, where the bigger screen gives lots of room to show off the game's clear and colorful graphics. Any Final Fantasy fan will love finding the references and hearing these songs again in this context is a really great experience. The only issue is the price. You can download the app for free, and it comes with two songs, so anyone who wants to simply try out the game can do so without consequence. Buying songs can be an issue, because they aren't cheap. Each track is US$0.99 and bundles run for $2.99. But if you want to get the whole thing, you'll be paying quite a bit of money. That makes sense to a point, because the 3DS game is still available for $30 or more in stores. But Square's a little greedy here, because buying all of the songs costs more than the 3DS purchase. Of course, Square Enix can set the prices to whatever it wants, but usually the App Store calls for a bit of a break. At any rate, buying a few of your favorite songs won't set you back too far, and the game is just as good as the 3DS version. If you're a Final Fantasy fan, definitely don't miss this one.
Daily iPhone App: Grand Theft Auto Vice City Anniversary is a great way to relive the memories
I don't know why it's so unbelievable for me to see this game running in full motion on my iPhone's screen. The iPhone 5 is a powerful device, and we've seen quite a few console-quality titles on the App Store. But there's something special about this game, probably the most coherent and well-made of the original Grand Theft Auto 3 series. There's a place in my heart, too, for San Andreas, but Rockstar hasn't announced that release yet, and seeing it running on iOS is just like magic to me. Let's start with some of the best voice acting in video games, none other than Ray Liotta as the great and rambunctious Tommy Vercetti. Vice City presents a huge area based on Miami, completely with a Scarface-style mansion and helicopter topped skyscrapers to explore and conquer. And there are plenty of side missions to find and assets to buy as well, not to mention that excellent '80s soundtrack. Vice City is a classic game, and it runs beautifully here on iOS. The touchscreen controls will occasionally trip you up, but they also work surprisingly well at times, so they're a livable reality on a device without buttons. You can see me being shocked at seeing the game finally out and working so well in the video below. If you want to take a trip back in time for yourself, the game's available for $4.99 on the App Store.
Daily iPhone App: Recall helps you remember that recommendation
Recall is an app that we were shown at WWDC last year, and it actually came out on the App Store last month, in a US-only release. But this week, the company behind the app has released it to a worldwide audience, and it's available now to everyone for a launch price of 99 cents. The idea behind the app is a simple one: It's an app that helps you remember various recommendations for media that people give to you, sort of like a to-do list for listening to music, watching movies, or reading books. As you can see in the video below, you simply click a button to add a book, movie, or a CD, and then the app provides you with all sorts of links and information based on that piece of media, as well as an option to remind you of that recommendation at a later point in time. The app's super simple and very well-designed -- it wisely gets right out of your way and lets you use it as needed without a lot of bother. It's currently available at a launch price of just 99 cents, and that's worth the buy. Some may scoff at this a bit -- perhaps you don't really need a whole app just to remember what books or movies you want to look at later. But I find it pretty useful, especially when I sit down on movie night and can't think of the last five movies friends have told me I should watch. Recall's a simple service that can help a lot with that very specific problem.
Daily iPhone App: Sonic Jump is Sega's first mobile-only iOS title
Sega has released quite a few iOS games so far. Just search the App Store for "Sega" to bring up lots and lots of various Sega-made titles. Many of those games are published by Sega and developed by other companies. The games that Sega has made are essentially all ports, or games that appeared on other systems first. That makes Sonic Jump, available today on iOS for the first time, Sega's first original mobile-only title. It's the first game Sega has developed specifically for Apple's platform. Now, "original" may be a little bit of a stretch, as we say in the video preview below, because Sonic Jump is essentially Doodle Jump, only dressed up with Sonic graphics and sounds. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as it is always fun to run the little blue hedgehog around (even if, in this game, he doesn't really do very much running at all). But it does mean that Sega didn't go too far off the beaten path on this one. If you've played Doodle Jump, you know how Sonic Jump works. The one exception is that Sonic Jump does have an interesting "stage" structure, which provides quite a few different levels to play through and then get rated on, with higher difficulties to chase all the time. That's a nice bit of innovation, but it doesn't really change the gameplay. Sonic Jump's tilt-to-move and jump mechanism is a well-traveled cliche on the App Store by now. All that said, Sonic fans will like this one, and the game is fun and well-made. It's probably not quite worth the full US$1.99 purchase price, especially since the game has a lot of freemium features already cooked in. But my guess is that Sega will drop the price on this very soon, so if you'd rather not spend the couple of bucks, watch for a price drop, and pick up Sonic Jump when it's a bit cheaper.
Daily iPhone App: Rayman Jungle Run
Rayman Jungle Run is the kind of iOS game that should be terrible. It looks from the outset like a blatant cash grab by Ubisoft, re-using the various sounds, graphics and gameplay from its popular Rayman Origins console platformer on iOS. But here's the thing: Rayman Origins is such a gorgeous and well-designed game that even this small-screen re-imagining is oozing with magic and fun. Yes, these graphics are being re-used, but they are still completely beautiful, and there's been so much new craft put into creating these levels and settings that Rayman Jungle Run feels just as fresh and enjoyable as the original console title. The controls are a big part of it -- rather than using a more traditional virtual D-pad and jump button, Ubisoft's developers have completely taken movement out of the equation, so Rayman simply runs forward without stopping. Instead, you just tap the screen to jump at certain moments, so the whole proceeding is all about timing (which, technically, great platformer games always have been about anyway). Later on in the game, further levels allow you to hover while jumping or punch as you go, but the controls are so simple and clean that you instead get to focus on the game's pitch-perfect gameplay. And there's plenty of that: Four different worlds with about 10 levels each, extra levels to unlock as you play and multiple goals per level, including time runs and extra Lums to collect. Rayman Jungle Run is an absolute pleasure to play -- don't be turned off by the fact that you've seen this art on the console before. It's available as a universal version now for $2.99.
