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Daily iPhone App: Ascension
I do enjoy Shadow Era, and Hothead's Kard Combat is excellent as well, but my new favorite deck-building card game on the App Store is Ascension, based on the real-life title by Gary Games. There's a lot of similarities to the great card game Dominion, in that you build a deck up as you play the game, rather than having to rely on a pre-built deck. As you add new summons to your deck and "slay" monsters, you earn honor from a limited pool, eventually trying to finish the game with more honor than your opponent. The game is well-balanced, and while strategy at the beginning of the game is pretty simple, it really ramps up as your deck is established, with different summons both affecting the cards you play and what kinds of powers you can earn as you go along. The cards are all hand-drawn, easy to read and look great. Once you figure out how to play (there's an extensive tutorial to teach you), games move along at a solid pace. It's an excellent card game, and quite original in terms of how it's balanced and how it plays. And of course Game Center integration and asychronous multiplayer add a few solid selling points as well. Ascension (subtitled Chronicle of the Godslayer) is available for US$4.99 as a universal app. If you are into these types of card games at all, definitely check it out.
Daily iPhone App: VidRhythm
When Harmonix (the makers of Rock Band and Dance Central) first announced it was creating a brand new iOS app, I was looking forward to a brand new music game of some kind. But the company surprised us all with VidRhythm, now available on the App Store for US$1.99. It's not really a game, really; it's a casual (and fun) remixing tool and music video maker. The game has a bunch of tracks (mostly original, though there are a few classical songs in the mix as well) that are assembled out of little hits of sound, everything from bass drums and high-hat hits to various other beats and samples. Your job as the music video maker is to replace those samples with your own audio and video. The app tells you exactly what to do (like "say Bom"), and you can then record video of you or some gullible friends doing just that. Record all the samples, choose a video style, hit Go, and voila: almost instantly you have an original music video, made up of your own video recordings and audio mix. It's wild to see in action. There's no actual game to play, but it is a lot of fun to play with, and Harmonix has done a great job of hiding all of the video and audio processing that must go on behind the scenes to make something like this. You can see some examples of the videos on YouTube, but until you actually dive in and make one yourself, it's hard to tell just how magical the app really is. Essentially, VidRhythm is a cool toy, not to mention a fun creative tool. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get a full game from Harmonix, but this is nice, too, and I look forward to seeing the kind of videos people end up creating with it.
Daily iPhone App: Radballs
I can't say I'm really a fan of the name, but Radballs is a solid music puzzle app for iOS that reminds me a lot of Lumines (definitely not a bad thing). You need to match up little orbs in sets of 4 or more to make rounded-off rectangles, and then, just like in Lumines, a "beat bar" comes by to clear them off the board and earn you points. You can grab the beat bar to "scratch" it for extra points, or use powerups as they drop to help you clear the board as well. The music is well-done (there are even some OK Go remixes in there) and ties into the gameplay very nicely, so you can listen and sort of make music as you play along. It's fun and fairly addictive, though things are even a little complicated -- the tutorial is quite long, actually. The controls take a little getting used to as well; the balls will bounce around quite a bit, sometimes making precision moves tough to do. Still, it's a good game -- if only that name was different. Radballs is a universal app for the iPad and iPhone that's US$2.99 on the App Store right now.
Daily iPhone App: Pigs in Trees
If you're anything like me, you probably overlooked Pigs in Trees when it came out a little while ago, thinking it was more of an Angry Birds knockoff than anything else. And you'd be forgiven for thinking that -- it indeed features cute pigs fighting attacking birds, with lots of silly music and sounds. Clearly the developers were influenced by Rovio's hit, if not actually trying to rip it off. That's unfortunate, to a certain extent, because Pigs in Trees is actually a very different game. It's a line drawing real-time strategy title, which has you guiding planes (with, yes, pigs in them) after targets that are incoming to an airfield. I almost wish the creators had been a little more creative with their art and style, because the game is much more original and even interesting than it looks. Like Flight Control, you're guiding multiple planes around by line drawing on the screen, but unlike Flight Control, the pigs will fire on incoming birds when they get close. Things start slow, but soon you're running a pretty intense battle around the map, using power-ups to try and hold off the invading hordes. It's fun, and even a bit challenging, especially if you really try to min/max the combo system. Full Game Center integration keeps the game playing even after you've cleared all 60 levels, and the devs are including new content as quickly as they can. You may have missed Pigs in Trees last month on arrival, but if it sounds interesting, you should give it another chance at the US 99 cent price. This definitely isn't Angry Birds, even if the icon and art style makes it look so.
Daily iPhone App: Frogger Decades
Everybody knows Frogger, right? 30 (!) years ago, Frogger jumped into the arcades and became one of the most popular arcade titles of all time, and now Konami has released a new version of the game on the iOS platform. It's not exactly the same as the old game (the graphics are in 3D now, and you're looking at the frog at an angle rather than from directly above), but the same obstacles and gameplay are here, as you advance a little frog up through a series of roads and byways, all while avoiding cars, spikes, and anything else that gets in your way. The controls are a little goofy at times, though there are two choices, depending on if you want to try touch-based controls or more traditional virtual buttons. The only real disappointment with the game is that as far as I could tell, there's no way to actually play the old arcade version; that would have been a really nice extra to seal the deal. Otherwise, Frogger Decades is a nice package that will evoke some of the old hop-and-jump gameplay that's made this one so popular. It's currently available as a universal app for US$1.99 on the App Store now.
Daily iPhone App: DrawRace 2
I got to see DrawRace 2 in action back at GDC this year, and it's a wild one. The title is a racing game at heart, but it plays unlike any racing game you've ever seen: Instead of driving the car around the track, you actually just draw a path around, dictating where the car will go, when it will turn, and how fast it should move. You have to still use the same rules as driving, however, as you push your finger around. Move too fast in the straights, and the car will spin out when you try to go around a curve. Or hit the side of the track accidentally, and you'll lose time in the race. It's a weird concept, but the execution makes it work anyway. The sound is particularly notable -- as you guide your finger around the track, you can hear the tires squeal and the engine growl, so the experience is very much like actual driving. Fortunately, at just US 99 cents, it's not a big risk to download the app and see what it's like. Chillingo is publishing this RedLynx-developed title (RedLynx also worked on the popular Trials HD game on Xbox 360), so there's Game Center support, lots of content and challenges to play through, and plenty of the polish that the publisher is known for. If you like driving or racing games, or just want to try out this crazy interface, definitely give DrawRace 2 a look.
Daily iPhone App: Quarrel
Quarrel is yet another word game for the iPhone, but this one is actually worth taking a look at. Instead of another Scrabble clone, in Quarrel you're also playing a metagame where you control an empire of warriors trying to take over territories by fighting battles with word scores. It sounds complicated (and it really would be, if the game didn't have an incredibly detailed tutorial to walk you through everything), but once a game gets rolling, it's terrifically fun. Developers Indiagames went all-out with presentation, and everything oozes quality, from the cute characters and smooth notifications to the sparkling gameplay. Everything is extremely well designed, and the game is really well balanced -- there's even something to do while you're not fighting a battle, which can grant extra rewards and power. If I have one complaint, it's that things are a little slow once you understand everything, but that's a minor concern -- otherwise, the gameplay's so well designed that it's really enjoyable. The one really big misstep here is that the game doesn't have any multiplayer included -- all of your battles so far are against AI opponents (though there is Game Center integration for achievements and leaderboards). That's coming in an update, supposedly, and when that happens, Quarrel will really be something amazing. Until then, though, it's still a really excellent game. There is a "Deluxe" version with a few extra modes and a dictionary available for US $4.99, but the free version for iPhone will allow you to go through the tutorial and play matches against the AI. Quarrel is a really amazing title, and I bet we'll see it become quite popular as more and more gamers discover it on iOS.
Daily iPhone App: Early Bird
Booyah is a company, originally founded by ex-Blizzard guys, that made some big steps in the relatively early days of the App Store with its social game MyTown. Since then, it looks like the development over there has taken a turn for the more traditional. Early Bird is the studio's latest product, and it's a physics-based puzzle platformer that's actually more similar to golf than anything else. The idea is that you control a bird by swiping across the screen (Did I mention that Booyah has gone a little more traditional? At least it's not angry), trying to make your way across a level to a target where a worm has taken up residence. Get there in fewer swipes than the game offers for each level, and you'll be the early bird, with a star rating to match. Run out of swipes, and you've got to start the level over. This one checks pretty much all the marks -- the graphics and sound are cute, the gameplay is solid (though the swiping mechanic is a little simple), and there are plenty of rewards to go after, from that aforementioned rating to bonuses for landing right on the target and so on. Both Game Center and OpenFeint integration are included, and there's apparently more content coming soon. The game is just US 99 cents for iPhone, or there's a $1.99 HD version out for iPad as well. Early Bird's not quite as risky or groundbreaking as Booyah's other titles, but it's a solid game for sure, and shows that when Booyah wants to focus strictly on hitting the right market with a well-made game, they can do just that.
Daily iPhone App: Star Legends
Star Legends is the release title of Blackstar, an MMO whose origin I've recounted on the site here before. Spacetime Studios was a company formed from the ashes of an unreleased PC MMO that went on to make Pocket Legends, a full mobile MMO that started on iOS and then moved on to Android. Earlier this year, we heard that the company planned to use the built-up Blackstar concepts and work to create a sci-fi themed MMO for iOS, and Star Legends, released last week and now available for free on the App Store, is the product of that work. Like Pocket Legends, the game is a full World of Warcraft-style MMO, with persistent characters, environments, and lots of instances and dungeons to fight through. Of course, it's all sci-fi based instead of fantasy, but Spacetime built up a really in-depth library for its planned title, and Star Legends presumably has made full use of it (with lots more content to come, no doubt). If you've never played a game like this, it can be a little confusing, but if you've ever jumped in to an MMO before, you'll be amazed to see what Spacetime has done with the genre on a mobile platform. The game is microtransaction-based, but there's plenty to do for free right away. If you're a fan of Pocket Legends, or just want to see what kind of magic Spacetime has been working, definitely check it out.
Daily iPhone App: Contre Jour
I saw Chillingo's new game Contre Jour back at E3 this year, and really enjoyed it. It's a very atmospheric puzzle-platformer in the vein of games like Cut the Rope, but as you can tell from the title (which is French for "against daylight"), it's a little darker than that game. You run an eyeball named Petit around a strange little world with stalks for him to swing on and bulbs for him to stick to, and the black and white graphics and great sound design perfectly set the scene. There are sixty levels to play through, and nearly all of them are inventive and fresh. Contre Jour is a really solid experience -- it's casual enough for all players to pick up, but it never gives away that quirky art game feel. Really well done, and a great purchase. Game Center achievements seal the deal. The iPhone version is available for US 99 cents, or you can pick up a universal HD version for iPhone and iPad for $2.99.
Daily iPhone App: Gesundheit
Gesundheit is a strange but beautiful little game, recently released to the App Store by Konami. It's sort of a puzzle game, though there are action elements as well. You play a little pig whose talent is that he can sneeze boogers out at a distance, which may not sound like much, but certainly comes in handy when his little pig town is invaded by rampaging monsters who just happen to like the taste of his nose's output. It sounds gross, and it kind of is, but the game's winning art style and great soundtrack make it all much more charming than revolting. Each stage has the little pig navigating the town's roads and buildings to try and not only grab some starfruit, but also catch all of the monsters in traps by sneezing in the right direction. It's a lot of goofy fun, and especially at the launch price of just US 99 cents, it's easy to recommend this one. Full Game Center integration and a nice stream of challenges as you play keep the replayability on this one high, and that art style and soundtrack are just really, really enjoyable. Definitely give it a look.
Daily iPhone App: MusicPound
We've been covering a lot (a lot!) of iPhone games in this space, but of course there are many other types of apps on the App Store. MusicPound isn't a game -- rather, it's a music discovery app that's designed to compare your music library (on your iPhone, so you'll have to load music on there if you don't sync it usually) with someone else's. The app will give you a "Music Compatibility Rating," as well as chart your most played and favorite songs, and give you some insight on what kinds of music you both listen to. Obviously, the feedback here is mostly just for fun -- you're hopefully not going to keep or ditch a friend based on what this app tells you. But the app can give you some good recommendations based on what kind of music your friends like, and where your libraries intersect and diverge. And of course MusicPound lets you jump into iTunes to fill in any gaps in your library. And the app itself is free, so the price is right. You get three comparisons with your free download, and if you want more, you can do an in-app purchase for just $1.99. MusicPound probably isn't the only music recommendation app you'll use (I really like Pandora and Shazam as well, both apps that I've mentioned before), but with a willing friend in tow, it can add a fun social twist to finding new music.
Daily iPhone App: Roboto
Roboto is a solid platformer for iOS that features you controlling a little robot around a series of levels, 30 in all. Gameplay is pretty strictly action/exploration based, very much in the vein of Super Mario Bros., though the robot has a few extra movies that Mario didn't have. Specifically, he can glide for a short amount of time, as well as switch gravity as certain points, which adds a little more complexity to your search for golden gears throughout the game. Other than that, this one plays as you'd expect, and the general polish and quality makes it stand out among the many various platformers available on iOS. The one issue I had was with the on-screen thumbstick -- it's almost too close to the left edge of the iPhone's screen, so whenever I headed left, it would drop off and stop my movement, sometimes right over a gap. Other than that, though, controls are precise and intuitive, which is what you want in a platformer like this. Roboto is available in an HD version that's universal across iPhone and iPad, complete with OpenFeint and Game Center integration, and a whole bunch of minigames and unlockable powerups and weapons. It's a solid buy, even at the current price of $3.99.
Daily iPhone App: Defender of the Crown
You probably already know what this game is like, especially if you're one of the many, many people who played earlier versions of it on the Amiga and all of its various ports. Defender of the Crown is a classic medieval empire-building game, presented on iOS as an official Amiga emulation, which means it has all of the old sounds, slowdowns and everything else, good and bad, you remember about the original title. Honestly, playing it now, there is more good than bad here. The most unfortunate thing is that the app makes strange use of the touchscreen as basically a mousepad, as you can drag a cursor around (even if you're right on top of the selection), then tap to click. But once you figure that out, the controls work out. Unfortunately, you'll have to remember how the game plays more than anything else, as there is no in-game manual, even on the App Store.* But much of it is self-explanatory, and even the parts that aren't (I had trouble remember exactly how sword-fighting went) are easy enough to experiment with and figure out. This game is almost too faithful to the original. I wouldn't mind seeing an updated version with new graphics and smoother touchscreen gameplay, not to mention Game Center integration, hit the App Store at some point. But for now, this is what we've got -- a universal version available for US$2.99. If you like this retro hit, you'll get exactly what you're looking for. *Update: There is actually an in-game manual -- it's under the blue arrow on the Amiga interface. So that will help if you're trying to figure out how to play.
Daily iPhone App: Siege Hero
This is Angry Birds, no doubt about it: In Siege Hero, you're throwing rocks at fortresses built precariously out of surprisingly breakable materials, and trying to crush a series of pigs soldiers for points and ratings. Odds are that you know this gameplay works already -- just one glance at the picture above should tell you what you need to do. But wait, the twist here is that rather than a sideways view of the action, you're shooting at the fortress from head on. And honestly, that's enough to bring you back to this style of gameplay, even if you've already beaten the crap out of Angry Birds (or, like me, get you to take another look at it, if the unhappy avians didn't sell you on it the last time around). Coming from a first-person angle means you've got a little more precision to your hits, which means it's more about dismantling the structure rather than just hitting that arc right. Consequently, Siege Hero is a lot of fun, with tons of levels to play through, different characters to play with, and of course full Game Center integration for achievements and leaderboards. It's US 99 cents on the App Store now, $3.99 for an HD iPad version, or you can try it out for free.
Daily iPhone App: A Game With Balls
This game's title isn't just cheeky -- it's pretty literal. A Game With Balls definitely has lots of balls in it -- you play as a sort of cannon that shoots balls, and there are various balls and other shapes slowly floating down the screen towards you. The balls you fire have a little bit of weight to them, and so it's a physics action game as you try to shoot away the invading shapes with your own ammo. The title's not bad, though it gets a little repetitive -- "beating" each stage basically just requires you to sit there shooting for as long as possible, so while there are separate mechanics for each of the four stages (or themes, as they're called -- each one has a different graphical look and feel), there's really just the one premise to play with. Still, the physics work well, and the graphics are solid and well-done, so if you want a little something fun to whittle away the time, this one's worth a look. A Game With Balls is out now for only US 99 cents as a universal app. There is full Game Center integration, and the developers promise more content is coming soon.
Daily iPhone App: Baby Monkey (going backwards on a pig)
There's two ways to do this. I could tell you that Baby Monkey is a terrific running game, with a really fun double-jump mechanic, bright and colorful graphics, and the catchiest theme song I've heard all year (the game itself is based on Parry Gripp's song). I could say that it's got full Game Center integration, and is available in the App Store for just 99 cents right now. And I could tell you that it's a must-buy title with lots of fun and replay value. Or, I could just tell you that it's got a baby monkey that rides backwards on a pig. Either way, you should be on your way to the App Store to pick it up right now.
Daily iPhone App: Kickin Momma
Kickin' Momma is Hothead Games' latest iOS title, and it pretty blatantly borrows some gameplay setups from Popcap's popular Peggle. That's actually ok from a gaming standpoint, though, because the game is executed very well, and there's just enough newness here to really enjoy the proceedings. The idea is that "Momma" kicks her little spawn off into a little series of circular pegs, and your goal in each level is to pick up as many little red gems as possible. Hothead uses a Chillingo-style rating system for each of the 36 levels, and there are other little mechanics that pop up later on, like explosive and multiplier pegs to hit. There's a whole lot of sparkle and flair to the game's design, with lots of particles kicking around and flashy graphics to enjoy. You can earn accessories for Mama as you play, and there's full Game Center integration for both leaderboards and achievements. Kickin' Momma is a great game with a lot of style, and while yes, it does re-use some ideas from Peggle specifically (though Peggle is kind of based on Plinko from the Price is Right, no?), there's enough care and work put into this one that it's well worth the purchase. You can buy a standard iPhone version for US 99 cents, or a universal HD version for both the iPhone's Retina Display and the iPad for $1.99.
Daily iPhone App: Temple Run
The latest title from popular iOS developers Imangi Studios (creators of Harbor Master and Max Adventure) is called Temple Run, and was released to the App Store last week. We've watched the development of this one pretty closely -- I saw an early version of it at GDC, and we saw it again later on in the year, as well as in Imangi's own promotional footage. It's a running game in the style of Canabalt, though it features 3D graphics and a behind-the-back perspective rather than a 2D side-scroller engine. Gameplay is a little more complex than other titles of this ilk, too: You swipe to the left or right to turn, and swipe up or down to either jump or duck under logs in your path. The action's hectic and fun, with a Simon kind of feel, as you swipe ever faster trying to dodge all of the obstacles in your path. You can also tilt your device to collect coins on the left or right, and those coins can then be used for upgrades, offering a little progression system (as well as a way for Imangi to offer convenience-based in-app purchases). Playing the game once will probably show you all it has to offer, but then begins the score chase, made even more intriguing by Game Center leaderboards and achievements. Temple Run is another quality title from the husband-and-wife team at Imangi, one you definitely shouldn't miss if you're a fan of this genre or this developer. It's on the App Store now for just US 99 cents.
Daily iPhone App: Groove Coaster
Groove Coaster is a new rhythm game from the creator of the popular iOS title Space Invaders Infinity Gene, and it too is earning lots of accolades as a beautiful and addictive title. It starts out simply enough: just tap on the screen in time with the music as your little character follows a line through 3D space. But while early levels are slow and relatively easy, later levels get more jagged, with quick turns and quicker hits required. Near the end of the game, there are other gestures to play with, and all of the levels have you ranked with various grades. Game Center and Facebook integration lets you compete and share scores with friends, so that will lend a nice chunk of replay value as well. Groove Coaster is a great title, available for $2.99 on the App Store right now.
