‘The Hero’ flies into the Appstore
Mar 9th
Another Chillingo published game has hit the Appstore, this time featuring a mysterious super hero who spends his time saving the worlds most desirable cities from super villain ‘Dr. Hubbub’. Fly around this wonderful cartoony world doing what any normal super hero would do, save the world.
The game features a two sexy gameplay modes, a campaign mode where you will save the world from Dr. Hubbub and a Survival Mode, where you will endlessly save the world again and again to rack up those high scores.
Packed full of versatility, the game includes 3 Super Powers: Freeze, Boom and Zap, 15 Campaign levels, 20 different enemies ranging from zombies to your average robot as well as 20 insanely insane crystal achievements for you to try and achieve.
If you aren’t impressed by what it has so far for you, check out the trailer to find out how awesome it really is.
‘Rayman 2: The Great Escape’ Review
Mar 9th
Name: Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Developer: Gameloft
Price: $6.99 (AppStore)
Overall Rating: 
I’d like to say that having never played Rayman until now, I can only review this game based on itself, without any nostalgic factors affecting me whatsoever. And on that note, let’s being the review!
Rayman is a 3D platformer, best described as something a bit like Crash Bandicoot, but without arms and throwing energy orbs instead of spinning. OK, so maybe it’s not that much like Crash, but you get my drift.
The game plays pretty well, with enemies to fight, bosses to take down and a whole lot of obstacles to get by. It’s pretty faithful to it’s Nintendo 64 counterpart, with the funny gibberish uttered by the fantastic characters and great funky music. The game has a total of 45 levels, which I have yet to complete, though several problems are really making it quite difficult for me.
The first of the problems are the controls. Granted, virtual joysticks have never been the most precise of control methods for iPhones and iPod Touches, but in this game, it seems Gameloft have made an effort to try and make the V-Pad as small as possible to save screen space, but unfortunately this hasn’t exactly worked out extremely well. My finger still goes much further than the virtual stick goes, yet since the virtual stick has been minimised, the smallest of slip-ups can make Rayman move in a completely different direction, something that can get really irritating in the later levels when falling off platforms can cost Rayman his life.
Another problem is the save system. Nowadays, the iDevice is widely known as the optimum casual gaming device, with games optimized for short casual bursts of play. Now of course, I understand that Rayman 2 never was meant to be a pick up and play game, but here, you don’t even get checkpoints! If you need to go somewhere quickly while playing this game, and you quit, you’ll have to start the level all over again the next time you come on. Get a call while you’re playing? Tough luck, kiddo. It’s things like this that hold Rayman 2 back from being an excellent game for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Sure, it’s an neat platformer and I admit that if I were playing this game on my Nintendo 64, I’d love it. But the fact is, I’m playing this on my iDevice, and it just doesn’t work as well as I’d have wanted it to be.
Overall though, I still think this is a great platformer and although it isn’t perfect, if you’re willing to get past the awkward controls and the annoying save system, you’ll have the privilege of being able to boast about having THE Rayman on your iPhone.
‘The Red Star’ PS2 port coming to iPhone in Early Spring
Mar 8th
XS Games, a New York based publisher, has announced plans to bring a port of their popular The Red Star, a PlayStation 2 game, to the iPhone platform. The Red Star is based off of a graphic novel with the same name.
Originally released for the PS2, the game combines shooting, and fighting, as well as some RPG elements, making the game a hybrid of many genres of games.
The story line of the original PS2 game is:
…based on The Red Star graphic novel, set in a futuristic, magic-using Soviet Union, which uses floating Skyfurnaces (gigantic magical ships, reminiscent of all-metal blimps) and Warkasters (sorcerers) to conquer its enemies. Characters playable are Makita, a Nokgorkan rebel, Kyuzo, a bodyguard of Maya Antares, and Maya Antares herself, a warkaster (sorcerer and human energy cannon).
The game is set for a release in Spring of this year, with a price unknown.
Hit up the read link for a trailer of the PS2 version in action!
‘Astro Ranch’ Updated Already
Mar 8th
It hasn’t even been a week since release yet Tag Games is already rolling out their first update for Astro Ranch. It isn’t much but just a few bug fixes new in version 1.1. Looks like Beta testers have fixed a strange bug:
Version 1.1
+Fixed Crash that happens after 26 days.
+Fixed AstroBrowser Crash
‘Silent Hunter’ by Ubisoft Released in NZ
Mar 7th
Silent Hunter 5, by Ubisoft, is out in New Zealand, with global availability coming soon. The popular series dates back to the time of MS-DOS, though there have been four releases since, with a fifth already released for the PC this year.
Silent Hunter 5 is a submarine-based warfare game, where the player assumes command of a German U-boat. Players will then attempt to successfully defeat the opposing faction in a number of well-known WWII Atlantic war scenarios.
Interestingly enough, this trend of Ubisoft releasing more and more games, instead of having their sister company Gameloft do it, shows an increasing amount of attention being payed to the iPhone platform from bigger developing companies.
Silent Hunter 5 is available in New Zealand now, and will soon be available everywhere for 1.99 (U.S.)
‘B-Boy Beats’ Review
Mar 7th
Name: B-Boy Beats
Developer: Mobile Pie (published by Tag Games)
Price: $0.99 (AppStore)
Overall Rating: 
Mobile Pie has just introduced an interesting concept to the iPhone and iPod Touch – dancing with your fingers. We’ve already seen numerous rhythm games including three versions of the awesome Tap Tap Revenge, and even the widely-acclaimed Rock Band, but none of them have been as creative as Mobile Pie’s take on the genre.
In this game, you use your fingers as feet so you can ‘dance’ to several hip hop/rap tracks. This concept works surprisingly well and brings a fresh new experience to those looking for an alternative type of rhythm game to play.
The game controls seem to be pretty easy to understand; tap the screen when the rings get close around the circles. However, the moves that may seem ever so easy to pull off in the tutorial can suddenly seem so difficult when mixed in with a song and a bunch of other dance moves.
Sometimes, the taps can be a bit difficult or awkward to pull off, but you should be OK with them as long as you have some grasp of how to play rhythm games well.
‘Crazy Test’ Hands-On Preview – ‘Wario Ware’ on Steroids?
Mar 6th
With more fully console-quality games pouring into the App Store, alongside them are pretty fun intuitive apps.
TacTile Environment is developing one of those games that I’m sure will make a hit when it’s out. We’ve managed to get a little preview of their upcoming Wario-Ware styled game: Crazy Test.
The name suggests the genre of the content; it’s crazy yet pretty clever. The aim is to complete all of the mini-tasks with a time limit of about 5 seconds per task
iPad: Shipping April 3rd, Pre-orders on March 12
Mar 6th
Apple’s confirmed it: the ‘magical’ iPad will be shipping on April 3rd, but in the meantime you will be able to pre-order beginning March 12. While Apple hasn’t officially confirmed anything about the it, the 3G version of the iPad is expected to begin shipping later in April.
Unveiled on January 27th, Apple has pushed their tablet as being ‘magical,’ though many have criticized it for being anything but. While Apple has been very optimistic about the iPad, critics have been very negative towards it. For example, a popular argument is that the iPad is merely an over-sized iPod touch, and doesn’t fill the demand for a Mac tablet, something that Mac enthusiasts have drooled over for years. However, the iPad will fill a certain gap in Apple’s lineup, serving as a go-between of the iPhone/ iPod touch and the low-end Macbook.
Though it may not initially be as popular as Apple hopes it will be, it may become so later on. Like the iPhone, a series of updates and tweaks (to both hardware and software) may help the iPad reach its full potential. For example, the iPhone didn’t become extremely popular until the second generation (the iPhone 3G) was released in 2008, with a lower price, and the App Store. The iPad may end up being like that; only getting popular when the second generation is released.
Hit ‘More’ to read up on the price, as well as more reactions!
First Detailed Screens of ‘Zen Bound 2′ for the iPad
Mar 5th
One of the greatest features of the iPad Steve Jobs showed off that day back in January was the HD screen. Movies could well make good use of that, but what about games?
The creators of Zen Bound on iPhone have taken this into serious thought, and coming out with an idea: Zen Bound for the iPad. It sounds like it’s going to be a port, but by the looks of the screenshots, and the press release, it’s going to be a remake of the well-known title.
The graphical fidelity on the iPad far improves on the critically acclaimed visuals of the first game – the surfaces are brimming with detail, vivid colors and subdued tones
Drive the Furthest With a Given Amount of Fuel in this Free Hidden Gem
Mar 5th
Whilst searching through the AppStore today, I noticed a little free app from Volkswagen. Of course it’s just another game to advertise their product, but this one is quite different.
You’d think it’s a racing game, wouldn’t you? Well when you read the application description, and start this game up from your homescreen, it’s not very similar.
The aim of this game is to actually drive the furthest you can, rather than finish in the best position you can. Therefore there aren’t any opponents: just yourself and the given track.
Your brain an intuitivity is the key to this game. You’re given a certain amount of fuel for you to drive around corners and down steep hills. Be careful though, you have to brake and slow-down at the right times in order to efficiently use your fuel.
It sounds quite promising for a free application, and looks convincing for the typical driver. Remember, drive efficiently… on your iPhone.
