When casual everyday objects spontaneously start falling from the sky, you know something is wrong. Unless of course, it’s in a game, which is exactly what is available here. Lava lamps, arcade machines, stop signs; you'll have em all raining down on you with a slew of other items! The concept of the game is extremely unique, yet deceptively simple. You are just another normal guy who wants to live his life, then suddenly, it starts raining all kinds of stuff! You have to dodge all you can and the controls are executed perfectly, with the standard tilt controls to move left or right. To jump, you just have to tap the screen. It’s simple and it works as well as it needs to and I’ve never found I died dude to lack of control. There’s an indicator at the top of the screen to show where the next object will fall, so you’re never at a loss of where you aren’t to go next. (more...)

Name: Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2

Developer: Polarbit (published by Activision)

Price: $9.99 (AppStore)

Overall Rating: 5 / 5

Nowadays, if you’re looking for a racing game, the Appstore isn’t a bad place to look. There are titles to please every gamer, be it simulation driving lovers, or arcade driving Junkies. The veteran idevice gamers here will remember the first racer on the device though- Crash Nitro Kart by Polarbit. It was a fun game which I really enjoyed playing, though wasn’t the best game tech wise, with a short draw distance, a small number of tracks and missions as well as a lack of multiplayer. The sequel to that game has finally been released though, and it sets out to improve on all the aspects of its predecessor. In my opinion, it does the job pretty well. It still has the quirky nature of the first game, but this title just has so much more to offer. (more...)

Name: Princess Fury

Developer: MoStar

Price: $1.99 (AppStore)

Overall Rating: 4 / 5

Slashing through wave after wave of evil knights is something we’ve seen before, perhaps something we’ve seen too many times! The question has to be asked though- does it ever get boring? My answer would be no. There’s something about the whole thing that is just so appealing to me, whether it’s the thought that ‘they had it coming’ or that it’s just massively satisfying! But now, for the first time, you can slash countless helpless knights as a princess! Yes. In princess fury, you play as a princess (who is tasked with the job of ridding the kingdom of the evil red knights. To do so you have your loyal servants, a few magic tricks as well along with your massive sword. (more...)

Name: Assault Squadron

Developer: Binary Mill (published by Chillingo)

Price: $2.99 (Appstore)

Overall Rating: 4 / 5

A good top down shooter on the App Store is hard to find. To me, most have been pretty mediocre games that never struck me as special or amazing in any way whatsoever. It seems however, that Binary Mill have managed to change this dreary prospect with their all new game, Assault Squadron The game is not just a top down shooter, but a side scrolling one as well. This means that every other level, you have to rotate your device. There isn’t anything especially unique about the game- it’s just fun to play. Whether it’s down to the easy controls, smooth frame rate or crisp graphics, I can’t really define it. There’s something about this game that other seem to lack. (more...)

Name: Crash Course

Developer: DFC Games

Price: $0.99 (Appstore)

Overall Rating: 4 / 5

If there’s one thing I dislike about games, it’s bland uninspired content. Stuff that’s not really anything new, just a pale image of the game it tries so hard to impersonate. Take the many clones of PapiJump for example. Apart from Doodle Jump (and my personal favourite, Mega Jump!), most (not all though!) of them are cheaply made games that are obviously just quickly mashed together for a quick buck. ‘What about copies of console games?’, I hear you say. And for that, there’s Gameloft. Now I’m not going to go and rant about how much I hate their games, since I don’t. They’re all great technical achievements that are usually fun to play and awesome to look at. Then again, they are a big developing company. (more...)

Name: Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion!

Developer: Artifical life, Inc.

Price: $4.99 (Appstore)

Overall Rating: 4 / 5

Linkin Park is one of my favorite bands - I haven’t heard a single song of theirs that I dislike. Therefore, it was natural that I would be at least slightly interested when I found a game on the App Store designed by the band themselves. Was there really reason for this hype though? Did this game really hold up to my expectations, or was it just a cheap, short-lived and lacklustre advertising tool? I’m happy to say that in my opinion, this game was actually quite entertaining. Sure, this is no space miner, with an epic storyline and deep upgrading elements, but it was still a blast to play through. The bulk of the game is in essence about running around the different area and either spamming your attack button or searching the backgrounds for items to tap (take pictures of creatures, deface wanted posters etc.). Although many may find this fun (hi there!), I’m sure it can be a turn down for some. (more...)

Back in June last year, all us hardcore gamers were treated to one of the best dual stick shooter on the platform, PewPew. Even more amazingly, it was free! Now, almost one year later, it's sequel PewPew 2 has finally been released. This sequel features more music, new game modes, extra ships as well as a great (but short) campaign mode. Naturally, this game is every bit as challenging as it's predecessor, in fact some of the newer modes are harder! Needless to say, if you even remotely liked the first game, this is a must have. If you've never played PewPew before, what are you waiting for? Go try it out! You've got nothing to lose, except perhaps several hours of your life!

You can get PewPew2 from the Appstore for just $1.99

Name: Aftermath

Developer: Headcase Games

Price: $0.99 (Appstore)

Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5

Before my time, I’m sure zombies were depicted as horrible abominations of life; corpses rising from the dead is not a joyous thing after all. Nowadays though, it’s questionable whether they’re still thought of so, or whether they’re just used to make money. Sometimes, zombies are objects of comedy, but not here. Aftermath is a game that reminds us of what zombies really are. Dead, rotting corpses, rising from the dead, hopelessly outnumbering you and desperate to chew on your brains. In Aftermath, you’re constantly swarmed by zombies, with hardly any life left and barely enough ammo to keep them at bay. (more...)

Name: Warpgate

Developer: Freeverse, inc.

Price: $4.99 (AppStore)

Overall Rating: 5 / 5

When Warpgate was first announced, it was immediately assumed that it would be another top down space shooter, which I would’ve very happily gone along with. To our surprise though, it turned out to be a free roaming space exploration game, which isn’t a bad thing at all. On the contrary, I'm extremely pleased with the way the game has equal parts exploration, combat, and commodity trading so gamers of all types can enjoy the game What this game really comes down to is simply buying items at low prices on one planet, finding another planet that’s offering good money and selling your items at high prices. Although this may seem pretty tedious, it’s surprisingly addictive. Naturally, going through space won’t be extremely easy, what with rival ships and pirates trying to attack you, you’ll have to make sure you have enough armour and strong enough weapons to take them down. (more...)

Name: Solomon's Keep

Developer: Raptisoft

Price: $0.99 (Link)

Overall Rating:5 / 5

Rarely has a game kept me captivated from start to finish; it takes one of extremely high caliber to do so. The last game that did this was Space Miner: Space Ore Bust, but another title has compelled me to play it through to the end. Many developers these days create games that have high initial appeal that disappears after a few days, but Raptisoft did something radically different. Solomon’s Keep is a hybrid of dungeon crawling and dual stick shooting which starts you off as an apprentice mage set off on his final test: to defeat the evil dark wizard Solomon, hidden deep within his fortress. To do so, you must go through the levels, collecting gold and experience along the way, to buy new items and level up your skills and attacks. Unlike many RPGs, there is no skill tree in this game. Instead, whenever you level up you will have the choice to upgrade one of three random skills. These range from a larger mana bar to more powerful attacks. Success in this game leans more on strategic upgrade selection than skilled shooting. This is not a long game, nor was it meant to be one. The intent is for a player to replay it many times and have the game still feel fresh. This is achieved by randomly generated dungeons and an unpredictable skill upgrade system. Sometimes when things don’t go your way, you have to start depending on your gold: you can use a magic key to summon a door whenever and wherever you’d like, so you can go back to your wizard school. There you can buy items and upgrade your skills with your gold. The 3D graphics are wonderful, and they convey the spirit of the game perfectly; not too serious, but not too childish either. The spells are beautiful and the bosses are a sight to behold. However, one graphical effect I wasn’t too keen on was the darkness around the edges of the screen. Of course, it provides a sense of creepiness and makes unexpected monster encounters possible, but playing it in a bright area makes it seem . Other than that, this game doesn't have any flaws. Solomon's Keep is what Catacombs should have been. Part roguelike, part dual stick shooter, it's a great casual game for almost everyone.  Although it can take a game or two to get used to used to the random skill selection, once you’ve got the hang of it you'll see that this game truly amazing in what it does with two radically different genres. And at the $0.99 price point, Solomon's Keep is a game you don't want to miss out on.