Mobile Version

Illuminations is developed by Killer Robots and is an interesting shoot-em-up type game. It is based around the idea of a firework show. You have to shoot rockets that come up from the bottom of the screen in order to make them explode, if you miss too many, then the show is over for you. You also might find enemies that might spawn at random to keep you from “giving a good show,” these also must be eliminated (and added to the show).

Layout:
Layout is simple. The main menu allows you to begin a new game, view high scores, view options and instructions. In the options menu you can turn on and off sound and/or the music. When you tap the screen around the actual buttons, fireworks are seen exploding – nice touch.

Within the game itself you have your “show meter” in the top left corner if you miss too many rockets the meter will drop, it is drop too far then it’s game over. In essence, it’s a life meter. In the upper right hand corner on the screen, the blue meter displays the amount of ammo you have left, the better the weapon the faster it falls, but if you pause, the ammo will regenerate. To the right of the blue bar displays one of five ammos that you can obtain. The pink bar is your bomb reload timer is essence. When you set off a bomb, the bar has to reload before you can use another. The number at the end of the bar is how many bombs you have left. Both ammo, lives, and bombs can be obtained from shooting the enemies.

Controls:
The game utilizes the tilt controls in the Phone and by tapping on the left-side of the screen you shoot your normal ammo, double tap the right-side of the screen. To pause the game and view a menu, double tap the pause button in the upper left-hand corner.

Graphics:
The graphics in the game are fairly simple your “aircraft,” enemies, rockets and ammo all appear 2D. When explosions occur – thus the fireworks, the particle graphics are very nice for the game. The background is a 3D basic cityscape the moves around at random. While many of the graphics are very basic, I think it adds to the overall user experience of the game.

Issues:
I didn’t like the fact that the neutral position for the tilt controls was when the iPhone was lying flat on its back. I’d like to see a a neutral reset button whether manual or automatically set when the game begins.
When firing you letting off a bomb, I noticed that in my mind I would switch the controls around meaning I’d shoot using the right side of the screen instead of the left side. It would be nice if there was an option to switch this.

Overall:
I find this game pretty cool and oddly addicting. At only $3.99 this game will keep you occupied for hours. Some might find the price a little steep, but if you are into asteroid-like games with much better graphics and weapon upgrades, then this game is going to be for you.

Pros:
-Interesting gameplay
-Different levels of difficulty.Cons:
-Audio is needed in order to play game.
-Game gets rather boring after a few levels

3.5/5

Note*: You might notice that in iTunes the reviews are extremely low. Their original release had horrible controls that nearly made the game inoperative. With the release of 1.1, these issues have been corrected.

Controls:
The game is controlled by tilting the device. You begin the game by holding the iPhone at a 45 degree angle away from you. Whatever position you have the iPhone at the beginning of the game will become the neutral position. As the game begins, a building number will be called out to you telling you where the terrorist it. By tilting the iPhone in the direction you want to go (tilt away – move up; tilt towards you – move down; tilt to the left – move left; and tilt to the right – move right). When you get close to the terrorist, the screen will zoom in as if you are looking through a scope You then have to slowly position the cross-hairs on the terrorist and “pull the trigger” by tapping on the button in the bottom right-hand corner.

You can pick whether you want to play on easy, medium or hard. You are given less time to find and snipe out the terrorists in the harder levels.

Issues:
The main issue I had with this application is that you must have the audio on to hear which building you need to go to. On the first few levels on easy, you can get away with just moving around looking for the targets, but soon after that, you don’t have enough time to search for the target. At only $0.99 this application is worth a bit of fun.

Overall:
This game has an interesting concept for a game and at only $0.99 this is a pretty good game. My main complaints are that you have to listen to the audio in order to play this game successfully and the gameplay itself gets boring after awhile.

Pros:
-Addicting game play
-Uniques game
-3D graphics

Cons:
-Only 26 levels

Game play:
The game is a little hard to describe as the video below should help out a bit. But the basic concept is to make it to the other side of the level while having to dodge objects of keep from falling off the platform or from getting pushed off for that matter. This game will really test your reflexes and your ability to control the cube. Besides completing the “obstacle course” you can also attempt to collect all the multi-colored prisms on the level. There is a mini-map in the upper left- hand corner of the screen to help you find the prisms. If for some reason you fall off the platform, you won’t have to start over from the very beginning, rather at a certain “checkpoint” that is defined by the game. The game can be either played in landscape of portrait mode. You just rotate the screen by using two fingers. If you decide to exit out of the game, you will have to start at the beginning of the level. There are a total of 26 levels in the game. I’d like to see the ability to save you place within the level even if you do decide to exit game, but in the end, I didn’t really find it necessary as I always seemed to get back to that point with ease.

Graphics:
The 3D graphics are excellent for this game. I love the ever changing color of the cube.

Sounds:
In the game you have the option to turn off either or both the sound effects or the music. The music is somewhat best described as a “far-out galactic” mood music. While the sound effect are very appropriate and only add the the user’s experience.

Controls:
The cube can either be controlled by swiping your finger in the direction you want to move or there is an option to use the accelerometers in the iPhone. I however found the swipe method the best and the easiest way to move the cube even in the most “delicate” of maneuvers.

Overall:
This game is one-of-a-kind with its unique game play and interaction, and I think it is suited for just about any person. I had no issues with this game. Out of the 26 levels I am currently halfway through level 25 and have loved every minute of it. I think the only thing people might balk at, is the fact that the $6.99 price tag might seem a little high for only 26 levels. I really hope to see more level in this addicting game. If there were 50 levels this app would have a 5/5 star ranking.

InvinciBall (developed by ProtonStudio) is easily described at a King-of-the-Hill game. The basic idea is to take your “ball” and knock other balls off the “island” before they knock you off.

Game Play:
There are 3 different modes of play: Classic, Survival, & Territory.

In Classic mode, there are several “scoring-zones” that are placed around the playing field and for every second you are on those scoring-zones, you receive 1 point. The first person (you or the iPhone) to 50 points wins.

In Survival Mode, you begin with 20 lives and attempt to knock the other players off the playing field. If you lose all your lives, you lose. The last one remaining wins.

In Territory Mode, roll across the scoring-zones to “capture” them. As they become the color of your player, for every scoring-zone you roll across and for every second they are your color, you earn a tenth of a point (0.1).

For all modes there are 3 difficulty levels (easy, medium & hard)

Controls:
You drag your finger in the direction you want your ball to roll in. You can also hold 2 fingers down on the screen to stop.

Graphics:
The playing field itself is a 3D environment. Which with the included textures, the 3D environment is a nice addition to this game. The balls themselves aper as “3D smilies” however, as they move across the screen, they appear 2D – they always have the faces, facing you. I enjoyed watching the facial expression change depending on what I was doing in the game. I however wished that the balls themselves would actually roll across the play-field rather than “glide.”

Issues:
Controls – While it seems that they developer thought it was better to use a drag method to control the ball rather than using the built-in accelerometers, I think it takes away from the game. By doing this, it is sometimes difficult to see the rest of the environment because you are covering it up with your finger. I also repeatedly found myself trying to tilt the iPhone to get the ball to move in the direction I wanted it to go. Quite frankly it just seems more natural to control this game using the accelerometers – something of which this game is missing.

Graphics – While the environment is 3D, the balls themselves are not – they are 2D. The balls appear to glide rather than roll across the game surface.

Game Play – The lack of environments is my main concern for this game. While the game only offers one environment, I’d like to see more. I also think the addition of multi-player would make this game phenomenal.

Other- The “Made with Unity” splash screen is unnaturally long for this game. Whether this is a loading screen or not, I am unsure. If it is, it would be nice to be told that on the screen.
Once the main menu loads and you select a mode, then a difficulty, it takes about 7 seconds to load. As soon as the actually game loads, there is a bit of lag in the game and also in the sound. This concerns me, as I feel that this application is taking up a huge amount of RAM.
Within the game itself, there is no way to pause or even exit back to the menu. You have to exit to the home screen then re-enter the application.
There is only one environment. I’d like to see more. Maybe even multi-islands would be awesome.
The balls are blue, except for yours – it’s yellow. In the Territory Mode, you are also yellow, but the other balls are blue, red & green. I think it would be nice to have the balls all different colors and consistently throughout the other game modes. It would also be nice to be able to select the color of your ball rather than just the standard yellow.

Overall:
I think this game has a great future, but there are some things that really need to be ironed out – like the pause/return to menu issue and the control issue. It would be nice to have the option to pick which control method and possibly a sensitivity control as well.
I think it would be phenomenal to see on-line multi-player on this kind of a game.

Pros:
-Addicting game play
-3D Environment
-3 Modes of game play

Cons:
-Balls glide rather than roll
-No tilt controls
-No pause in game
-No menus in game
-No multi-player
-Only 1 environment

In the game, you select a level (all levels are unlocked to begin with)

You mission – Destroy all enemies!

Mostly your enemies consist of “plastic army men” figures shooting little orange balls at you. (there are3 also helicopters). The green ones- one shot kills them; red ones are killed with two shots; gold ones are killed with 3 shots. Others take 5 or more shots. As you kill each enemy you may or may not receive power ups or as I called them “crates of goodness” If they have a letter on them they are for ammo power ups, others have a red cross on them and these help your health bar.

Layout:
In the top left-hand corner you have a health bar, bottom left-hand corner, you have you ammo type and count. By tapping on this, you can rotate the different ammos you currently have (normal shot, rapid shots, spray shot, and rockets). In the bottom right-hand corner, you have your pause button. You can then continue the game or quit to the game-home screen. You control the tank by tilting the iPhone in that correlating direction. As for shooting and aiming, you just need to tap on your enemies.

Game play:
My main concern was that – all the levels are unlocked and I didn’t feel like I was playing to accomplish anything…i was just playing. It would have been nice to have just one level unlocked an the other become unlocked as you beat the previous level. After awhile I found myself get bored as the surroundings became redundant to me.
I also felt that “my enemies” were a little too small for aiming at, this might cause problems if you have trouble seeing small items on the screen, however, the colors between the enemies and their surround normally contrasted, so this did help a bit.

Sound/Music:
The sound and music in this game reminded my of the original Nintendo games. The “bullet” hits are nothing close to explosion nor gunfire, they are single tones (reference video). While even though I thought this was weird at first it began to grow on me as the music also has the same themed music Nintendo-like music (MIDI.)

Graphics:
Graphics are simple 2D graphics and the textures seem to have been created in Paint. Don’t get me wrong I not saying they are crappy, what I am getting at is the fact that they are very simple textures.

Overall this is a nice game, however, I didn’t feel like I was playing for anything….I wanted to be able to unlock things or other things to that nature. I also felt that even though I had it one easy, none of the preceding levels felt harder for me. If you are one of thoose people that like to play retro-like-Nintendo games, then this should be enjoyable for you; otherwise, I’d wait a bit. I ‘d like to see the unlocking of levels rather than picking which level I want to play on.

Pros:
-Simple “retro” 2D scrolling game
-Sound and music add to user experience
-Harder levels = better experience.

Cons:
-Lack of “playing-to-get-something”
-Army men, seemed small
-Army men, never changed shape or form, just color

While this app came out some time ago, I have been meaning to write a review for this app, but I always end up getting distracted playing the game, then running out of time. So finally I have distanced myself from my iPhone to bring you this review.

This is easily one of the most addicting games I have come across. ngmoco:), the developer of this game has undoubtedly created a unique gem of a game.

Pros:
-Unique game play
-Characters faces interact with each other
-Addicting game play
-A combo of Touch Physics & Lemmings = addictiveCons:
-I can’t really think of any.

The point of Rolando is to roll the Rolandos (characters) around the screen and move them from one point to another while avoiding deadly monsters, fire pits, etc. In order to get them through you might find that you have to push things around, climb across boulder, drop bombs, build bridges, etc. The easiest way to describe the app is to say that it is a cross between Touch Physics for the iPhone and the old Lemmings game.

Controls:
The game utilizes the accelerometers to maneuver the Rolandos on the screen – you tilt in the direction you want to move,. You can also make your Rolando jump by swiping your finger from the bottom to the top of the screen. When selecting your Rolando, you can tap on one of them to select it or draw a box around several Rolandos to select multiple ones. While tilting the iPhone in a certain direction controls the Rolandos, you might also find yourself using your fingers to pull back catapult, flip switches, dropping bombs, drawing bridges and other awesome little things.

Layout:
The game begins with a segmented screen- 9boxes that are black and then “unlocked” when you beat certain levels, within this main screen you can basically just play around with the different Rolando characters. I thought this was a neat little touch as its not really part of the game, but great way to get the user involved in the game – before the game. After tapping on the menu item to begin the game, you will be taken to a “story-book” map that basically lists the levels along you way to the Rolando City. You select the level you wish by tapping on a white circle and then again when the white balloon appears. The map is separated into 4 quadrant, or to say, 4 worlds. Each one having its own theme. Within the levels themselves you have to get the Rolando(s) from point A to point B winding your way around beast trap doors and catapults. While all levels require that you exit through the magic door at the end, you might also find that you must save the sleeping-prince-Rolando, in which, he is bigger than the other Rolandos and also uncontrollable, making the level quite difficult to an extent, but very addicting.

In the game screen, in the top left-hand corner, your are given a time limit and given extra points if you complete the level in the allotted amount of time, if not, then you don’t get any extra points. Underneath the times is a counter #/# meaning, the first number is how many Rolandos you have gotten through the door and the second number is how many you must get though the level to complete it. If you tap on either of these icons a menu will appear to allow you to restart the level, continue, or quit.

If you decide to quit, don’t worry, your game will be saved (iSave). Some levels have “checkpoint-balloons” so that you begin from the point of the balloon in case you are to die. If you push the home key in the middle of a game (without dying) you will resume from that position.

Sound:
There is music playing in the background and in games I tend to reduce the music over the sound effects to reduce noise confusion, in doing that, I enjoyed the music within the game and did not feel that it ever annoyed me. There are multiple sound effects that each animation gives off in the game and makes the game all the more interactive. The Rolandos themselves will “talk” to you via text bubbles and making a unique sound (reminiscing of the old Nintendo 64).

Overall:
I found this game extremely addicting. It is one of those games, if you just happen to have a couple of minutes to kill, then you can play this game then save your progress and continue later or if you have a bunch of time to kill, then by all means, play longer. I have played about halfway through the game and have found it very enjoyable and one of the best games I have purchased. I go though so many apps that I barely have time to complete each game before I move onto the next, but this one just has me coming back no matter what my time limit is.

Replay-ability I am not quite sure of. Once I complete the game, I am not sure I’ll go back to play the levels again. However in having that timer, you can go back and attempt to complete the level with that time slot. If you are one of those people that like to get every little point, then the replay ability is high, otherwise, it going to be low.

This is probably the only game I haven’t found anything negative to say about it and that in itself is outstanding.

One of the other games that ngmoco:) has made, Topple, I found in that game, that the blocks facial expressions reacted to each other and I found that so cool, and Rolando is no exception. Rolando is sure to please any puzzle-lover or adventure-game lover of any type! At $9.99, this game is a must and easily one of the best.

If you happen to find yourself near the “credits” button, under the options menu, you might want to take a look at it. It’s probably the most creative and well-done credit sequence I have seen i an iPhone app.

Wanted is a simple picture editing application that turns a picture of a person into a wanted poster. The poster can then be printed out onto a piece of paper for the office. Don’t worry the output file is much larger than a normal iPhone picture.

Pros:
-Large resolution final pic
-Interesting Concept
-Music goes good with the theme of the app (a new one for costuming)

Cons:
-Sometimes placement of objects is hard
-”wood” behind the “poster” I feel, shouldn’t be there.
-Only a few objects available

The app begins with a menu and “wild-west” type music. You have the option to turn the music on and off as you wish. I found listening to the music relevant to the app, but turned it off after awhile.

In the menu you can select whether you want to use the camera to take a picture or if you want pick a picture from the camera roll. Here I picked a random image from Google…

The next screen you’ll see will have places to edit the title, in other words it doesn’t have to say “Wanted” also you can edit the reward, the status and the name in the poster. You can also edit the picture by tapping on the items next to the picture you have picked/taken.

You can then add pieces to the picture such as a hat, a revolver, a mustache, and/or a sheriff’s badge by tapping on it, it places is it on the picture. You can re-size the objects by using two fingers to rotate and re-size the objects. I noticed that after placing one object, then placing another that the 2nd objects was not automatically selected and threw my previous placement off until I realized I needed to select the second object, I also found that one of the hats, that has a curve to it on the bottom of it.

The below photo is the final picture. You can click on it to see the actual resolution of the photo itself. The developer claims that it is a printable photo, however, I have yet to do this, but when I do, I will say so below.

Overall this is an interesting app and I can see a fit for this app. I would like to see more objects added or more so more options of each object. While I like the final photo, I am not sure I quite like the wood background behind the “poster” within the final pic. I would like to see a default selection tool when placing the objects in the photo also a list of ideas for what to put in the title to make different posters. I really like the large file it exports to (noted above). Overall for the price tag of $0.99, this is a functional app for whatever purpose you plan on using it for…

More Screen shots can be found here.

Video

Mobile Version

Pros:
-Good use of controls.
-Possibly a good app for kids (may need rubberized grip )

Cons:
-Lack of 3D graphics.
-Lack of creativity in game play (mission-wise.)
-Replay ability – Low.
-High Price for Low replay ability.

This was one of the first “good” games that came out for the iPhone and I grabbed it as soon as I could. The basic idea of this game is that the city is black & white and you have to “free” the city by coloring it. You color the buildings by running-into them. You collect different colors of paint in order to turn the Blob that color. You have to complete certain tasks in order to complete each level. The colors you pick up, let’s say the Blob is red and if you have a mission to turn a building orange, then you have to find a yellow paint in order to turn the Blob orange. You may also have to be a certain size. The more colored paint you pick up the larger you get. If you accidentally run into an I.N.K.T. agent (the ones that make the city monochrome) then you must find a water fountain to wash off, also downsizing the Blob.

Controls:

The game utilizes the accelerometers to control the de Blob movement, before beginning the game; you can neutralize the accelerometers so that you can play from any angle. You can also use touch controls
– touching in a certain direction on the screen, makes the Blob
go in that direction. Control is fairly easy. I prefer the tilt method
of control, as using your fingers on the screen blocks your field of
view.

Graphics:

Around the time this game came out, it also came out for the Playstation 3 & Nintendo Wii. The game sported 3D graphics. While the game for the iPhone, is somewhat 3D, it is mostly 2D graphics, which is a bit of a let down, actually quite a bit of a letdown. For the most part this game is in black & white, until you color it that is. Graphics here aren’t that great at all.

Opinion:

I thought the whole concept was interesting, but for me the game got quickly boring after the tutorial. This game might be good for kids or even teenagers, but pass that; I don’t see it working for that person. The mission’s aren’t that complex, you just run into buildings, that’s it…

Video
Normal | Mobile Version
More screenshots here.
4.3/5

For those of you that remember the ‘ol N64, do you remember shooting  the wall and the bullet holes didn’t show up? Or when you would attempt to run over someone with a tank and they wouldn’t die? Well unlike the N64, you can do that in this game, as well as get run over, bombed, shot, or punched in the face.

After having played Brother In Arms I found that this game really sets it own standard. There is nothing like it in the app store.

There are 4 operations from which there are 5 missions in each. I think there is a fair amount of game play, not necessarily a great amount, but a fair amount. Now to leverage that, I found that if I replayed a mission, I played a different soldier in that mission. I’ve also found that the outcome in not always played out the same way each time. So on that note, the game play can seen as quite significant  (the video does not explain this.)

The controls in this game are my main complaint. But let’s face it, these controls are for the most part the best and really the only way to control the type of game.

First to control your direction, you place your thumb on the yellow dot in the bottom right corner and slide your thumb in the direction that you want to go. This is basically the same as ASDWZ on a keyboard for a PC game.

To face a certain direction and ultimately where you aim, you use your right thumb, and move your line of sight around on the screen. To shoot, you press the button in the bottom right corner.

To throw a grenade, you press the grenade image in the upper right-hand
corner, then you tilt you iPhone in the direction that you want to toss the grenade. Finally you press the “shoot” button to throw the grenade.

To operate one of the guns on the ground, you as usual, press the usual fire button, but you use the control in the bottom-left corner to control your aim. This control I’ve found ultimately difficult to operate.

To control a tank, you use the same controls as if you were walking. The direction you go and the direction you fire can be controlled independently.

Finally to drive a jeep, a steering will appear in the bottom left corner and a forward and reverse buttons in the bottom right corner. I found driving the jeep extremely difficult. Having bought Asphalt 4 from Gameloft, I am hoping they can implement the same controls for the jeep as are effective in Asphalt 4.

This game uses many methods of control that I have ever seen in any app, while at first you might find it hard to control the game, but as you continue to play, you’ll get used to the controls.

Like Asphalt 4, there are a few (3) control schemes – the one mentioned above, another that is like using two “virtual” joysticks, and another which the direction you move is the same but to control your sight, you tap in the direction that you want to view. I recommend control scheme 1 or 2.

As for shooting the enemy, your gun sight will turn red when you get near an enemy. The gun-sight utilizes snapping so that it is easier to hit your targets. However this is not true (snapping) if you are using a sniper rifle.

You have the ability to hold up to 3 weapons (from what I’ve done so far) and by tapping on the current gun icon in the top left-hand corner you can change your weapon as well as numerous other options.

Price: This game only came out a few days ago and if you love FPS shooters or a fan of Brothers In Arms, series, then you shouldn’t  wait to buy this game, however, if you a re a little hesitant in buying this game, then wait a week or two as the price tends to drop on Gameloft games after about two weeks

Pros:
-Awesome graphics
-Unique controls offer unique game play
-First-person shooter
-Multiple mission roles
-Audio is awesome (including the ringing-ear effect when a bomb explodes nearby)

Cons:
-Controls can seen awkward or hindering during game play as it might block your line of sight.
-Small amount of missions.

Overall I definitely recommend this application. I would like to  see some better handling of some of the vehicle controls and like some of the other popular Gameloft games, Wifi connectivity…maybe a co-op or a death-match of some sort…. well maybe not a death-match, that would make another good game altogether… I’d also like to see some more missions added (or the multi-player.)

Video

Normal | Mobile

I apologize, the audio on the videos is low.

More screen shots can be found here.
App Store Link
4/5

My main concern before getting this application was – would it be able to handle all the animations on the screen, or would it just be an expensive crashing app? After a brief setup and I selected the tutorial, I got a white screen. I thought this was a glitch (First thought – “NO, Not the white-screen-of-death!”), but after about 15 or 20 seconds, the main Sim-screen came up and walked me through the controls and what everything meant. That alone was very nice to have – major kudos for the help explanations.

Issues:
The first thing it caught me was – how to add roads. I immediately had problems with this, laying it exactly where it wanted me to. I felt that an offset feature would be nice, so that I could see exactly where I was laying the road instead of covering it up with my finger. I later realized I could zoom in to be more accurate, however, this might prove difficult if you want to lay down a long line of road – pave > pan > pave > pan, etc. Also if you are off when you place something, you have the ability to move it around before confirming its location (a type of “post-offset.”)

Another issue I noticed was under the help menu (not the in game help,) that the buttons are very short and a bit hard to hit if you have fat fingers.

Animations:
Other than that, the game seemed to run just fine. I like how it adjusted some of the imagery to keep from eating up too much RAM without taking away from the game play. For instance – as you zoom out, animations will stop on the structures and just become static images. If you zoom in, all the way – in, you can see you Sims in transit (vehicular movement), however the images become fuzzy and less-sharp in detail as you zoom it. This was a bit of a let down, but I guess it has to happen to keep your handy-dandy iPhone from crashing… After all if viewing one or two structures on the screen, the structures animate, i.e., smoke stack on the oil factory puffs smoke.)

Controls:
The controls are fairly intuitive, incorporating the pinch/zoom, double-tap to zoom, and other features that you would normally use in the Maps.app are implemented into the application when viewing the map.

Tutorial/Help:
If you have question regarding anything on screen, just tap the question mark in the bottom left-hand corner, then tap the area/item that you have a question about and you will be given an explanation. This app has very helpful feature if you are new to this type of game.

Display:
There is a news ticker at the bottom of the screen that alerts you to things that are going on in your Sim’s world. If it is green text, then it usually means something good or something that needs to be fixed soon. This leads me to Advisors – depending on the “news stories” that show up, you have different “advisors” That will advise you on what to do in order to make your city better.

Conclusion:
This game exceeded my expectations in how the game handles and the depth of play, however, I was a bit dismayed on how hard it has to simply lay road down and how the images deteriorated when you zoomed in (I expected more from EA on image quality). If you’re a fan of SimCity or other God-view Sim games, then you should love this game.

Pros:
-Intuitive & Familiar controls
-Numerous features
-In-depth game play
-Great help menu
-Numerous map views to help you during the game.
-Several difficulties of play.

Cons:
-Some of the menu buttons are hard to tap on.
-Laying road or other narrow landscaping accurately can be difficult & frustrating.
-Images aren’t as detailed (noticeably when zoomed into the region).

Pros:
-Fun puzzle game
-Setting panel can be fun to play with
-Auto save & resume
-Simple controls

Cons:
-Early levels can prove difficult and frustrating. (However changing some of the settings might fix this.)
-Can’t save multiple games for multiple users.

4.1/5

This little app reminds me of an app that I had on my old jail broken iPhone. I think it was called iPhysics or something like that. Well if you know the app I am talking about, imagine that but as a “lite version.”

touchPhysics is a series of simple (sometime not so simple) puzzles in which you have to make a little purple ball touch the yellow star. Sound easy? Think again, as you progress through the levels, they slowly begin to get harder. There are a total of 30 levels to go through not bad for this little app.

In order to complete the levels you have to draw “lines” (drawing a straight line with your finger/crayon); “polygons” (drawing the objects with your finger/crayon) and “small squares” (by tapping the screen once) that hit the purple ball in order to get the purple ball to hit the yellow star.

You can also remove an item from the screen by double tapping the object. And it you find yourself stuck, just shake (and hold onto your iPhone) to erase the shapes you have created.

You can also change some of the setting in the setting panel – like friction, gravity, and elasticity. You also have the option of adjusting the music, turning off of changing the playlist.

For $0.99 (right now, normally $1.99) this is a great little app to keep you entertained for a few hours (or more).
I would really like to see the more levels added and the ability to save multiple users progress.

Glyph is a 3-or-more matching-type game, it is however much different than other games in that is adds small cut-ins & other small games, similar to Simon-Says – in which you has to memorize the way they light up. And then repeat it.

The goal of the game is to rid the playing board of rocks & gems by tapping the gems on the screen that are in clusters of 3 or more. The game tells you that you must “dig” through the gems to reveal “glyphs” in order to complete the level. So as the user gets rid of clusters, then break away the rocks behind the gems revealing the glyph. The best way to describe this is like a mix between a classic brick-breaker (pong) game and Collapse.

The controls are very straightforward for this game. Simply touch the screen where the guide tells you to do so. Throughout the game there is a guide that explains all the aspects of the game, this way you are not left to determine what certain things mean. If you already know the aspects of the game, you have the ability to skip through the guide.

The graphics in this game are really nice, right down to the details on the gems themselves. There are several animations that interact with you during game play that makes the game all the better. There are several instances where the game has cut-ins, where a narrator speaks to you about your quest in collecting all the glyphs/ruins. There are a few instances where the white text is overlaid on a light background making it nearly indiscernible.

If you cannot read the text, the narrator will read the text aloud and if you cannot read it, but can hear it, then you will hear the narrator speak the text. Along with the graphics there is very good sound quality in the game. Every level there is a rotation of background music, so the same three or so songs are not being constantly played over and over again, however, if you play a level for a long period of time the background music can get too repetitive and annoying (it can be turned off in the options menu). There are numerous sound effects in this game to help keep you immersed in the game as well.

If you like Zuma , then you should love this game.

Overall the game is priced currently priced at only $2 and is a “steal,” but in the near future, it will go up to $5.

Even at this higher priced it is still a recommended application for the iPhone

4.6/5

$1.99

Pros:
-Awesome Graphics
-Intuitive Controls
-“Neutral” Control Button (tells the iPhone what is the neutral position, allows you to play in any position)

Cons:
-May take some time to get used to the controls
-Unless you have a significant amount of time to to sit down and play this game at any point in time, this game may not be for you. You cannot save during the game only after you have completed a level.

4/5

$3.99

Nanosaur2 comes from the makers of Bugdom 2, Enigmo, & Billy Frontier. I personally think this game is the best so far put out by Pangea Software, or any game for that matter. The object of the game is to fly through the levels picking up dino eggs and depositing them in a wormhole while defending yourself from other trying to eat you or other shooting enemies.

The graphics are OUTSTANDING!

I found it quite cool that I could shoot into the tree and make them burn down…even the old Nintendo 64 couldn’t do that!

However, those trees aren’t exactly friendly, hit one & you’re a goner.

Koi Pond is an interactive Koi simulation game.

Pros:
-realistic water movement
-realistic fish movement
-nice sounds

Cons:
-graphics are not sharp as they should be.
-only 3 Koi

4/5

$0.99

This is a very simple app. Basically the only functionality for this app is to play with the water and “feed” the Koi.

The are 3 different Koi that swim in & out of frame, from what I can tell they move randomly, it doesn’t seem like there is a pattern.

When you move your finger across the water, it ripples and quite realistically I might add (the picture below shows the ripples my finger was making).

You can also move the lily pads around, which make the water ripple as well.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 it the graphics of the whole app didn’t seem as sharp as other applications.

I have been wanting a flight simulator application for my computer but my PC doesn’t have enough RAM and my MAC’s OSX isn’t updated enough (yeah yeah I know…) So for me, I was really excited to get this application. What I am getting at is – I have very little experience with operating flight simulators, but here’s my take: