Ski Jumping 2011

Ski Jumping 2011 – Life on the piste

As an avid fan of skiing and snow sports I was delighted to get a chance to play on the new java game, Ski Jumping 2011. It must be said, although this is naturally not quite as near to the real thing as I’d wish for, it’s a good enough distraction.

What you must do is select the country you wish to represent (sadly the UK isn’t anywhere to be seen – so that’s pretty realistic!). Once you’ve picked which, ahem, ‘other’ country you wish to represent, you must then try your best to hurl your ski-jumper through the air as far as you can and land them safely. All this sounds pretty simple but of course, it wouldn’t be a challenge if this was as straight forward as it could be.

From the start you’re challenged by competing against the clock as you only have a certain amount of time to launch yourself down the ramp. This is only made more difficult as you have to watch the flag in the screen to see when the wind’s blowing in your favour or against you as you propel your way down the snow-covered ramp.

Providing you’ve managed to get the timing right, you then are only half way through the jump. You must then hit the button to jump off the bottom of the ramp to gain as much lift and improve your distance. As you fly through the air you must try to maintain your balance and aerodynamic form by tilting your control pad in the appropriate direction. If you get it right, you could be on to a world class jump, although should you make mistakes you’ll lose height and distance and could even resemble a snow ball when you crash land.

Once you’ve landed you’ll see the judges scores which will be based on the overall jump and not just on the distance you’ve travelled. If you get it right, you’ll be rewarded with being the top jumper – but don’t count your chickens just yet as you must repeat the process all over again to press home the advantage or close the gap on the leaders.

This is a pretty basic and repetitive game but it does actually make it challenging and rewarding.

Positives

Challenging

Quite realistic

Nice graphics

Negatives

Very repetitive

Luck plays as big a part as skill

Poor sounds

2 stars

Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time

Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time – It’s not easy being a timelord

It’s funny how regardless of the various escapades of the famous Doctor, the timeless question that will rattle on possibly longer than the series in its various guises is just who is the best Doctor Who? I could stoke the fire by telling you who I think it is, but I’ll raise myself above all that and simply review the game – Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time.

For any top down puzzler fan, this game will certainly be quite appealing. Of course, if you happen to be a fan of the show, you will be even more enthralled by the prospect of playing with Dr. Who and his assistant.

In fairness, this game is a co-op style puzzler where you must use the attributes of both Dr. Who and his assistant. The Doctor can push objects around (e.g. to position a block on a switch) and climb over objects but his assistant can walk over weaker surfaces and crawl under objects. So it involves a fair amount of logical thinking to get you through the sprawling levels.

As you can guess, as the game develops, the harder the levels become. Testing not just your logical thinking but also your reaction and ability to avoid being ‘deleted’ by Cybermen or exterminated by those pesky Daleks!

The game is appears almost exactly as something from The Sims and when playing I almost expected the same bizarre language and it was with a bit of disappointment that after such attention to detail in graphics, there wasn’t the same attention to detail in the sound department and rather than watching speech bubbles, the voice-overs could have made the game more authentic – especially as the bad guys all were eerily sounding as you’d expect.

Putting this to one side, I initially was thinking this puzzle game would only really appeal to the young and dare I say geeky. However, I’m delighted to say this game does offer a fair bit of a challenge and the more mature gamer will be probably entertained quite a bit more regardless of the interest in Doctor Who. More to the point, perhaps this game will help endear the new Doctor more to me than his various prior counterparts.

Positives

Co-op challenges

Plenty of tricky levels to master

Appeals to the younger child in me

Negatives

A tad repetitive

Lack of voice-overs by the actors

The ability to look around the level using a free-roaming camera would have helped

3 stars

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit – Enforcing or Breaking the law can be such fun!

For most people out there it’s fair to say that we all find a balance between right and wrong and make our decisions from it. If games are to be believed then whether we choose to obey the law or break it, it’s easy to see that when driving is involved you can have heaps of fun cruising around at high speed on some of the more scenic locations.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a shot in the arm to the much hyped and arguably overdone racing game genre. NFSHP is not just really pleasing to the eye (which is not a huge surprise due to the brand), but a doddle to get racing with right from the start. The hardest thing to really decide is whether you wish to enforce the law and drive some of the most powerful cars on the planet clamping down on the reckless petrolheads, or if you wish to be a modern day Smokey and the Bandit. In either case, one thing is for sure – totally disregard the highway code and open the throttle fully.

When you’re a cop, your career develops from a fresh recruit through the rankings by exploring the missions and proving a success on the road. Some missions are simply for you to be as fast as you can and beating the clock in a race to a crime scene, others are being brutal with those who flout the law (bashing and using weapons to stop the pursuit), and of course racing (against other cops).

The roles are of course reversed in this game of cat and mouse should you decide to drive as an outlaw. Similarly, you are rewarded with bounty for being the fastest, brashest driver on the road. You have access to other equipment to help you stay a step ahead of the law, jamming equipment which helps immobilise the police cars hunting you down and of course brute power of the Nitro.

You can play the game watching it in third person or indeed you can switch the view to inside the car – in either case, the effect is much the same – one huge thrill-ride.

On the downsides, and these are only minor grumbles. I would have loved to have seen a few bits of finesse like rear view mirror (or reverse view mode), so you can look around you for better experience. More importantly, no amount of shunts, prangs or bashes have an impact on the ride or performance of the car. For the purists amongst us, it’s a bit of a letdown but I guess when you have to drive your car like a missile around the tracks it wouldn’t work quite the same if your car comes off second best.

Since I’ve got that off my chest, on the plus side, and it’s a huge plus, you do get to drive some hot vehicles like a pro and can modify the game to either ride automatic or manual for a better feel. Steering is a dream, as is drifting around the corner, powering through with hitting the nitro and using the handbrake to cut inside the opposition. All in all, this is a delight to play and any driving enthusiast will be happy to get to ride in each of the cars.

Positives

Stunning to look at

Brilliant fun to play

High powered speed fest

Negatives

Upgrading your car and doing the basic levels is too easy

You can buy your car upgrades rather than earn them through completing missions (rather defeats the object of the game – not to mention a shameless way of earning an extra buck)

Damage (or lack of realistic damage – regardless of the carnage)

4 stars

Dungeon Hunter 2

Dungeon Hunter 2 – Life as an immortal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be...

Anyone who likes the top-down type of wizards and warrior style games like Gauntlet will no doubt be excited to see the second instalment of Dungeon Hunter.

You play the hero who’s charged with turning the tide of a tyrannical and rather evil ruler and the dark forces that follow. You can pick either to be a warrior, thief or mage at the very start and you then get to break out of the prison, beat up more than your fair share of monsters and unlock the mysterious levels to discover more about your character, and the fate that awaits you.

Some of the levels you get to explore aren’t much more than a nice add-on to the main plot, but importantly, they don’t just add a bit more colour to your character’s development but also help you get more powerful (in terms of attack and defence) through boosting your skill points.

As you move throughout the various lairs, you will uncover a number of characters who you can choose to help or ignore as you see fit. For example, you can speak to a prisoner who asks you to kill eight (killer) moths, if you do this mini-challenge, you will be rewarded, and if not, then it won’t have any significant bearing on the end of the game.

The games controls are pretty responsive and do all that you’d expect. The plot is plentiful and it seems almost a pity to move from one stage to the next as it’s such a pretty game with a lot of detail in each scene – however, it’s always matched by equally artistic scenes to enjoy at every next stage.

At the end of the day, this game is really entertaining and will challenge you and develops with you. I can’t say it’s in the same league as Fable in terms of the characters’ development as you interact with the environment around you, but for a handheld game it really is way up there.

The game suffers a little in terms of its automatic features, especially the automatic aiming ability with the mage’s ranged attacks. When trying to cast a spell, it would either miss or if there’s more than one enemy on the screen at any one time, you will have to pay special attention to ensure you attack the one you intend (usually the closest or more powerful monster); having said that, you will probably be watching the screen intently and very engrossed in it for all the other good reasons.

Positives

Beautiful game to look at

Decent controls

Lots to explore and good script

Negatives

Perhaps a bit too much for the less mature players to take on

Automatic aiming can let you down at times

It’s fiddly improving your character’s attributes

4 stars

Flick Golf!

Flick Golf! – Watch the birdie...

Have you ever pictured yourself being the next Tiger Woods (on the course that is!)? Well perhaps this is the game for you!

Flick Golf! is a cracking title which not only allows you to simply smash the golf ball from the tee, but also have the control to alter the spin, direction and course of the ball in flight should you wish to. The aim of the game is simply to score as many points as you can. This is achieved through getting the ball as close to the pin as possible, or, better yet, sink the ball in the hole.

Around the flag there are marked zones which illuminate when the ball touches one. The further from the flag your ball ends up, the lower the score you will be awarded. What is crucial to remember is the amount of points you receive is improved phenomenally by sinking the ball in the hole. Not only will you receive the maximum 1,000 points for the hole in one but also receive additional points for all the additional spin you’d put on the ball to ensure you got it in.

You have two modes to master; quickshot and world tour. As the name suggests, quickshot is all about being as accurate as you can under the pressure of a countdown. Not only do you receive more points for being precise but also get more time to score more points.

World tour is a challenge of scoring as much as possible with only nine shots which become more difficult as the game goes along. Firstly you have to manage to master the distance which gets changed from time to time but also you will need to keep an eye open for wind changes which will alter the flight of the ball.

It’s a bit of a guess when it comes to getting the ball in the hole. Sure you can pan the angle from side to side to help get  the stroke you want but the power of the shot is quite challenging in itself and as the camera follows the ball, you will fight the disorientation to ensure the ball goes towards the flag.

Overall, it’s a light and entertaining golf game which will keep you entertained for a while. If you’re looking for something a little more ‘realistic’ then I’d suggest looking elsewhere. Your stroke-play, approaches and tongue-in-cheek trickshots achieved by this game in either of the settings will however get right under your skin.

Positives

Bright and cheerful game

Nice twist on the golfing theme

Light-hearted entertainment

Negatives

Repetitive

Very challenging

Being accurate is awkward with the camera movements

3 stars

iRequiem

iRequiem – Like a bat out of hell...

This game is one of the oddest titles I’ve had the fortune of playing. I say this as I’m a little undecided as to how it came to be as addictive as it proves to be. Regardless of whether it was down to accident or design, it is something that probably only you will be able to decide but whether you find it so bad it’s good, or good old fashioned gaming at its best, you will probably find yourself lured to play for hours with little or no break!

There is a bit of a plot to the game but in all honesty it doesn’t really matter that you were such an evil so and so that, now in hell, wishes nothing more than to get your soul back and atone for your wicked ways through killing hordes of evil monsters. All that really matters is... do you want to fight for your life?!

The artwork doesn’t really do much for the imagination as the background rarely changes e.g. when you’ve worked your way through a fairly repetitive task of defending yourself from wave after wave of various nasty looking creatures and kicked the heck out of the end of level boss. After each level you get to replenish yourself by using the gold coins you’ve collected on your way; choose from a huge selection of weapons (both ranged and ones more suitable for close quarters) and artefacts which influence game-play (from luck to more powerful attack or defence).

Besides the coins you can collect along the way from the fallen enemies, you also can collect the souls and use these to your advantage. During the middle of a battle, you can duck into the church and make a prayer, which will result in replenishing health or invulnerability for a period of time through to good old lightning bolts and the magical ability to throw your enemy around the screen (which did prove pretty comical in its appearance but hugely effective and quite satisfying).

So whether you prefer to use weapons or dabble with the odd spell when blasting your undead enemies to kingdom come, this game really does allow you to have quite a bit of fun.

As mentioned, the game does have the odd stumbling block – namely the graphics are a bit basic and the controls aren’t always that easy to use (hacking, shooting and casting spells can all get jumbled in battle – particularly when trying to cause explosions on screen too). Otherwise, this title does all that you’d really want or expect it to and even these faults can be largely overlooked due to the entertainment this game has to offer.

Positives

Entertaining and hugely addictive

Simple and easy to get to grips with

Action hero commentary proves a great distraction

Negatives

Controls are a bit fiddly (facing the wrong way can normally occur)

Graphics seldom change

Very repetitive

3 stars

Gravity Guy

Gravity Guy – He’s flippin’ marvellous!

Who out there ever fancied having a special ability or super human skill? I think if we were being honest, just about everyone of us would like at least one cool ability. Alas being able to teleport and fly seems a little bit beyond our reach at least we can dream of what it would be like. Gravity Guy is lucky enough not to just settle for dreaming though as he gets to flip between surfaces with simple taps of the screen.

This game is a scrolling platform style format where you have Gravity Guy running from left to right as the ground moves along. What you must do is navigate your way through the course of undulating corridors. This is pretty simple in principle but when you’re having to rush away from your pursuing droid and the courses get increasingly more complex and testing to your reaction speeds, you will be firmly challenged by this little game.

Gravity Guy, as all superhero’s do, has his weaknesses. He’s pretty useless when it comes to blocks (he can’t jump – probably due to his gravity boots sticking so solidly to the surface), and he doesn’t like wide open spaces (as he’ll fall off screen). So my advice to you is as long as you remember to keep your feet on the “ground” (whichever way up that may well be), your chances will be radically improved.

If playing against the computer and the persistent droid you can give your friends a chance at proving their skills with up to four players allowed to play at any one time – needless to say, the competitive level is notched up just a few levels when competing with your friends and laughter and banter are bound to come as a result. The only tricky thing is having so many people holding the iPod/iPhone at any one time without either a) you can’t see what’s happening on screen or b) a fair bit of cheating will probably “accidentally” happen.

Overall this game is simplicity in itself and yet thoroughly challenging and very entertaining. Whether you play it by yourself or with your friends, you’ll be sure to find it nearly impossible to put down.

Positives

Hugely entertaining

Compete single player or multi-player

Very addictive

Negatives

Pretty repetitive

Limitless lives is good on the one hand but doesn’t do much for the really purist game players out there

Frustrating at times

4 stars

Rage

Rage – 1^st person shooter and atmospheric gem of a game

I’m increasingly amazed by the calibre of graphics and gameplay titles have these days. Not only do games look and feel more realistic in their detail and scripted storyline, but they are improving in every other level at a frightening pace.

Rage starts out with a great looking intro worthy of Halo or similar stellar cinematic games. Swiftly it develops into something which is a mixture of adrenaline fuelled racers like Motorstorm and all the best elements of other 1^st person shooters. Alas unlike its more powerful counterparts, this bloodthirsty game follows a very linear storyline which moves you through room to room and one scene to the next in what would be arguably a bit of a fancier version of a duck-shoot; the only difference is rather than ducks you’re shooting mutants who hit back!

Moving is done automatically; the only control you have is over the targeting, firing and dodging on screen. You have the option of either using the tilt or tap function for aiming. From my personal experience, I would advise against using the tilt controls as they proved less than effective and on frequent occasion became stuck allowing me only to pan from left to right and not tilt up and down (which usually resulted in taking more damage than was necessary). It is possible to recalibrate the tilt controls through pausing and shaking the handset, but this did break up the games atmospherics and became more than a nuisance.

On the plus side, the commentary in what became something of a Running Man style game, is really quite good and the graphics are pretty special. Blowing the heads off mutants and then going into overkill to leave nothing much of the body definitely keeps you baying for more. With the extras that keep you on your toes, ranging from hitting all the targets deployed around the levels and picking up extra ammo and cash proves to add to the excitement and challenge.

Overall this is a great game which is only hampered by the restrictive movements and rigid ghost train style movement from one room to the next. But in fairness, it does push all the right buttons firmly and will keep your itchy trigger finger happy for quite a while.

Positives

Superb graphics

Good storyline

Atmospheric

Negatives

Very rigid scripted movement

Tilt control proved unreliable

4 stars

Ovenbreak: Infinity

Ovenbreak – Infinity – Help the gingerbread man escape to freedom!

Ever since Shrek hit the cinema it’s been one of those things where I’ve wondered what a gingerbread man gets up to when he’s not being munched on. Thankfully the answer’s come in the form of Ovenbreak – Infinity.

What you must do is help the spicy and delicious man of dough escape to freedom as he realises he’s about to be baked in the oven. To do this, you have some basic controls which you must attempt to master. Running is done automatically from left to right as the ground and sweets move towards your gingerbread man. Pressing jump causes him to jump, tapping slide will get him to do that action and if you tap jump the slide button changes to hook, which if you hit this at the right time your gingerbread man will use his candy cane to swing greater distances (which is really useful when trying to jump over big gaps or reach high up jelly beans).

The game has lovely transitions from different phases to another, so it blends from the oven to tabletop to jack-in-the-box stage and so on. The only difference between each phase of the level is the speed which increases and your eyes must be peeled for every possible danger that is going to come your way.

Your timing is the most crucial part of this game. If you get it right, you’ll barely ever lose a life, get it wrong and you’ll miss hooking or accidentally hit something or fall through the gaps. Each of these accidents costs you a life and if you’re not careful you’ll spend all three with relative ease. Fortunately there are some yummy letters (which spell the word FREEDOM) and as soon as you have gobbled all of these up you will not only get more points but also pick up an extra life (but you can’t exceed the 3 you have). Keep your eyes open for the blue cat heads which give you bonus points.

There are four difficult levels to master which all are effectively the same sort of thing but just more challenging than the one before. Overall this game is pretty entertaining and will keep you glued to the screen for quite a while.

Positives

Four challenging levels

Cute and neat graphics

Pretty entertaining

Getting all the jelly beans and surviving the level intact is nearly impossible

Negatives

Very repetitive

Frustrating

Controls aren’t the greatest

Music drives you crazy after a while

3 stars

Splatterhouse

Splatterhouse – Arcade Retro Platform Slasher Fun

Anyone who remembers Splatterhouse or Jason from the Halloween movies will be delighted to see the return of such a classic game to the iPhone/iPod market.

For those of you who missed out on this classic platform game which appeared around 20 years ago, all that needs to be mentioned to you is make up for it now! OK, the graphics are pretty dated and not as appealing as some of the more modern titles, but as with all other retro games, it’s not made to look at but to enjoy as you play – and believe me, you will play for hours!

In fairness the only thing which hasn’t really improved with age is the sound effects, which at the time would have been considered cutting edge, but now it is almost cringe-worthy in its naffness. However, for all retro gamers out there, you wouldn’t wish it any other way, would you?

What you must do is use the on-screen controls to move your character around the various levels bashing and slashing monsters along the way. On the left side of the screen are the direction controls which allow you to navigate around the level and on the right side of the screen are your action buttons (jump, punch/use object and slide). To pick up an object you must use the up or down controls and use the punch button to either hit out with it or lob it.

If you remember games like Double Dragon then you’ll know roughly what sort of thing to experience with this title. Killing a monster usually takes only one or two hits, but some can require more hits or are only vulnerable to certain attacks like kicks rather than upper body blows.

Despite the rather low resolution and basic graphics, the game is completely addictive and there are so many levels to immerse yourself in, you’ll be amazed and entertained for hours. Also to the game makers credit, thought went into the graphics with relation to the results of a monster being hit with different objects e.g. chopped in half with a blade or splattered with a wooden plank.

Also, should you wish to make the game harder, you can alter the difficulty levels. Alternatively if you want to try your hand at a different version of the game, why not try and survive the Splatter Rush Mode? This is where you get to fend off swarms of monsters in a timed battle and get points for the unbroken chain of monsters defeated.

Ultimately you have a fantastic amount of fun bundled into this one download and you will be really pleased to add this to your collection of games.

Positives

Retro gaming fun

Addictive

Two different modes

Different difficulty settings

Negatives

Sounds are pretty basic

Graphics are fairly low

3 stars

The Impossible Game

The Impossible Game – Lives up to its name!

For those of you among us who’ve found that games have all got a bit too easy for you then definitely you should give this game a closer look.

When my editor asked me to take on The Impossible Game, I was thinking this was going to be a dubious honour. It’s not that I shirk a challenge but when it says it’s impossible it does beg the question of ‘what’s the point in trying to prove otherwise?’ or the reaction of ‘pull the other one!’

I’m relieved to say that the game isn’t quite impossible but damn, it’s insanely difficult!

What you must do is tap the screen to make the orange square jump at the appropriate time. Whether it’s to jump over an obstacle or jump on top of another. Although the graphics are pretty basic this game isn’t designed to be the most beautiful but thoroughly entertaining and retro. Whilst playing this game, flashbacks of classic BBC and Amstrad games from the 80’s sprung to mind – including the fuzzy explosive sound which screamed Piezo crystal speaker-tastic! Now I know I’m sounding a bit of a geek right about now, but it’s great finding a game that does exactly what it’s supposed to do, entertain and challenge you to within a hairs width of your sanity.

The game’s got two modes, normal and practice. Normal mode is where you play from the beginning and must attempt to get right the way through without making a single error. As soon as you make a mistake your block will crash and you must start from the beginning all over again. Practice mode allows you to play through the course but if you remember to place the marker flag, rather than starting at the beginning you will restart from that checkpoint.

Overall this game tests your memory and reaction speed along with your coordination skills. Additionally, once you have mastered the level, you can buy more levels should you wish. I think if the game makers were to try and make this game any more famous it would be to offer anyone who managed to complete this game within record time or within 100 attempts a £1million – as it’d be a pretty safe bet they’d never have to pay out a penny!

Positives

Incredibly difficult to master

Frustrating in a good way

Challenging

Negatives

No room for error

Controls were sometimes a let down

Great music but after a while it got repetitive

4 stars

Dino Rush

Dino Rush – Could this be the reason why dinosaurs became extinct?

Be prepared to not only go back in time but be entertained by one of the most cutest little dinosaurs you’ve probably seen.

As some of you may be aware there were a couple of kinds of dinosaurs, meat eaters and fruit & veg eaters (if you want to get technical these were carnivores and herbivores). Also if you really want to get picky then there were dinosaurs which liked to eat both meat and veg (omnivores).

Anyway, in Dino Rush you must help the hungry little dinosaur get as far as it can, as fast as it can but without coming into contact with the various dangers that you’ll encounter along the way. To do this you have to tap the screen to get your character to jump and munch on all the fruit you see. As you go along there are various power-ups to boost your progress, ranging from; superman (flying), food magnet and invincibility.

As pointed out, you have to be careful as you go along the levels as there are various things which will stop your game short. Cactus plants, big dinosaurs, lava and beyond will all hinder you and drain your energy – and if you’re not careful it’ll stop you dead in your tracks and force your game to be over. The only way you can keep your health up is by eating fruit!

It swiftly becomes a bit of a balancing act to jump for food and avoid coming into contact with the various nasties on the level. Each time you jump or fly you’ll cause your dinosaurs health to fall but as long as you gobble up the fruit then you’ll more than counteract the energy used!

Awkwardly enough the more food you munch, the faster your dinosaur will travel – which adds to the risks and fun this little title has to offer.

Ultimately this is a game well worth downloading and hugely entertaining as it’s perfect for a few minutes of distraction or a marathon effort in trying to beat your own personal best. This is one of those titles which just puts a smile on your face and leaves it there.

Positives

Colourful and clear graphics

Entertaining

Addictive

Suitable for all ages

Negatives

Repetitive

Did stutter occasionally whilst playing which made controls a bit hard to handle

4 stars

Amateur Surgeon 2

Amateur Surgeon 2: Suddenly the NHS doesn’t seem so bad!

If games are anything to go by, just about everyone who has access to some unsuspecting kitchen utensils and a car battery would be able to create some pretty drastic surgery in the comfort of their own home. Thankfully, despite all the horror stories, not even our health service has managed to go back to such medieval medical procedures - allegedly.

Amateur Surgeon 2 is a rather twisted and adult humoured game which involves doing some pretty repetitive tasks in an increasingly challenging combination. Using a lighter you can cauterise small cuts and then use magic cream to heal the scars. For more serious matters you may need to use the pizza cutter to do some not-so keyhole surgery, tongs to pull out a variety of nasty objects in a way that reminds me more of the boardgame Operation (so don’t touch the sides), sew it up and then suck up the blood using a vacuum cleaner and going through the lighter and cream procedure.

Sometimes it’s not easy to tell what the matter is, in which case you must use the metal detector to give you a clue as to where to cut. Once you’ve sussed out where to slice, you are in for a nasty surprise.

The level only finishes once you’ve managed to successfully treat all the patient’s issues. Before you get to treat the next rather colourful patient you will be treated with a cut away scene with some funny plotline for you to keep your interest.

For me the most amusing part of the game did actually come from the cutaway scripted plot and the game became more of a mild distraction. I’m sure the younger testosterone players will find this ‘close to the bone’ humour and gore too appealing to turn down, but otherwise it is a bit of a shallow title which misses out on the more entertaining finesse other titles do offer. Whatever you must do is try not to play this game whilst waiting in to be seen by your GP!

Positives

Dark humour

Plenty of challenges

Quirky

Negatives

Repetitive actions

Lends itself to the teen audience too much

Crashed whilst playing

2 stars

Train Conductor 2: USA

Train Conductor 2: USA – Overground, Underground it’s all the same to me!

For anyone who’s ever fancied giving ol’ Thomas the Tank Engine’s fat conductor a run for his money, you should probably give this game a closer look.

Although you haven’t got any talking trains, you do have plenty of problems to solve in the form of drawing the right track from one lane to another to ensure the train gets to its correct destination in safety. To do this you must use your thumb to swipe the train you wish to direct and draw the track to the correct destination track. This seems quite an easy task at first, and for even a klutz like me, the first stage or two are exactly that. But once you progress to the more advanced levels you must use all the skills you’ve learned up until that point to complete the task successfully.

To be honest the game doesn’t seem to actually do much more than count the number of trains you get safely from A to B and how many trains you fail to do so – but the total only ever gets shown when you have an accident and a train crashes into another. The whole time you’re left guessing whether you’ve got enough points to unlock the next stage or if you’ll have to go through it all over again.

It’s pretty amusing and certainly will keep your eyes peeled for any hint of which train needs to go where and arguably your fingers have to move even faster than your eyes can see to accomplish the task.

Each level you progress to has a slightly different twist or challenge to overcome, ranging from numbered or lettered tracks through to obstacles in the way preventing you from drawing a track to ghost trains and even fast and slow moving trains. To overcome this you may need to not just draw the tracks but use some skills to get the timing right to prevent having an accident. Tapping the train once will stop it dead in its tracks, and tapping it again will cause it to go again. Using this in combination with everything else will keep you entertained for quite a while.

Overall this is a good game which young and old players will probably find pretty entertaining.

Positives

Plenty of challenging levels to keep you busy

Quite a few novel differences to keep the challenge of each level fresh

Nice touches in the graphics

Negatives

Very repetitive

The music drove me nuts after a minute (thankfully this can be stopped)

Seemingly endless levels without any alternative difficulty settings

3 stars

Doodle Lab101

Doodle Lab101 – Drawing can be so much fun!

Calling all puzzle lovers with an artistic flair, look no further than Doodle Lab101. This game is designed to challenge your logical problem solving brain cells as well as your creative abilities.

Although this game relies on your ability to draw, don’t be put off if you struggle to draw more than a stick man, as this game is not going to be looking for someone who can be the next Rembrandt or Monet. Instead it’s pretty simple to master.

At one end of the screen you have a flask which tips upside-down and pours out droplets, and at the other end of the screen you have a beaker where you must try and collect a predetermined number of droplets in. The problem lies with a variety of doodles which either aid or hinder the drops going from one to the other. What you must do is use three simple controls – the pencil to draw lines to help guide the drops from A to B, the eraser to remove doodles or mistakes (believe me, you’ll make a few!), and the interaction tool which nudges the droplets around the screen.

It’s simple to see which doodles you can alter e.g. remove lines from and which you have to work your way around (as they can’t be tampered with), as they are clearly colour coded (blue for ok to alter and orange for unable to tinker with).

The challenge comes from thinking fast and acting even faster. You are graded on not just how effectively you can draw but also seeing how quickly you are to complete the task.

In the end, this is a pretty simple game and although the first few missions aren’t going to really challenge the more accomplished player, each level does offer some difficulty and before long you’ll be switching from drawing, erasing and nudging and back again in a frantic dash to try and get an A grade on every level!

This is a charming game and offers a multitude of levels for you to battle with. Overall it’s going to certainly entertain you for quite a while. Just remember to switch between tools as it’s one thing thinking of erasing but if you’re drawing, you can rapidly eat into the clock having to undo your last move. It would have been a great idea having the undo last move option available.

Positives

Plenty of levels to keep you amused

Simplistic controls

Quite challenging

Negatives

The graphics are a little basic

A bit too simple for some

Pretty repetitive

3 stars

Mr. Yin & Ms. Yang

Mr. Yin & Ms. Yang – Who say’s that opposite’s can’t work together?

It’s been long established that opposites attract, but rarely do we think that opposites actually can work together to get the same ends. Well, Mr. Yin & Ms. Yang soon puts an end to that!

This game is a beautifully poised and well worked puzzle title which will keep you not just glued to the screen but scratching your head the whole way through the increasingly difficult levels. What you must do is switch between the two characters to clear a safe path for both Mr. Yin and Ms. Yang to get safely from one side of the screen to the exit. This all seems quite easy in principle but soon becomes more than a challenge as you work your way around the level.

Both characters can build a block or remove a block to clear the way for either themselves or their counterpart. Switching between either character can be achieved by simply tapping the screen to activate that player. The problem is that when you activate one, the other becomes phased out. This of course helps on the one hand with controlling and positioning, but means you have to logically work out the way to not isolate and inadvertently prevent one or either from successfully getting their way to the exit – so be careful where you place or remove the blocks!

This is a very simple concept but the game is a really well thought out and will definitely pose all who play it a decent challenge.

The controls are pretty responsive and should you make a mistake of placing or removing the blocks in the wrong location, you can normally undo this without too much issue. Of course, however, should you go too far and make an epic error that can’t be undone quite so simply, then there’s always the restart option (which will almost certainly become your next best friend!).

In terms of graphics, it’s quite stylised and neat to look at. Although the black and white view is quite bland, you can make some alterations with the settings to snazz-up the borders.

Positives

Well thought out game

Challenging and highly addictive

Plenty of levels to frustrate and reward you

Negatives

Controls can let you down a bit at times

The blocky graphics won’t suit everyone’s tastes

If patience isn’t your strongest attribute, forget it!

3 stars

Catapult Madness

Catapult Madness – How far can you go?

There’s quite a story to this title, but in short the kingdom has been surrounded by monsters and with no real way out the besieged castle’s carpenter builds a catapult with the aim to fire the poor villagers to the safety of the nearest ally’s castle and to raise the alarm to get help. Not quite like a heroic quest you may have been accustomed to but nonetheless it’s a challenge.

If you are expecting a game where you get to wade your way through hundreds or thousands of monsters and beating them into a pulp then you will need to look elsewhere. Instead this is a game of a similar vein to the cult classic Inanaka Crash. What you must do is firstly pick the unfortunate ‘hero’ then work out the angle and the power of your catapult shot. To do this, simply tap the screen at the desired time when the gauge is in the right place. As soon as you release the villager, you get to watch them tumble with little grace through the air. Along the way there is little for you to do other than observe the villager bounce and fall as they come into contact with the floor, monster, birds and explosives. Whenever your character hits one of these objects, your catapulted character will react differently, ranging from; bouncing higher to gaining speed.

After each attempt, your distance is recorded and you are rewarded with gold which you can then use to buy improvements from the store. These improvements increase in cost as you upgrade, but each one of these upgrades have a different impact on your progress. These power-ups are activated whenever you tap on the associated icon. Some can only be used once, others can be used more often, should you have purchased more than one. You will also need to get a bit of a knack from using some of the upgrades in conjunction with one another and get the timing just right.

As an additional reward for your efforts, you’re able to unlock more villagers to launch in your next attempt. Each of these characters have different looks for you to be amused by as they bounce around like a bizarre human tumbleweed.

Although the game is pretty repetitive and as far as interaction goes, there’s virtually none, this is a really funny game which will keep you tickled pink for quite a while. Unlike Inanaca Crash where you get rewards and combos or instantly captured, this game leaves you feeling much more like a spectator and this is the only grumble I have with it. Let’s hope the upgrade or second version of this game has more similarities with the original ‘master’.

Positives

Amusing graphics

Good sound effects

Quite challenging initially

Negatives

Once you’ve upgraded enough times, you will win almost every time (but you can reset the game)

You feel more like a spectator than a player once used all the power-ups

Quite repetitive

3 stars

Ragdoll Blaster 2

Ragdoll Blaster 2 – Think Little Planet meets target practice and you’re half way there!

For me, I was one of those who bought Little Planet without ever seeing it and only afterwards thought that the concept was good but the overall package stank (don’t do a PC’s job on a console – it’s never going to end well!) So for me, when I saw a ‘sack boy’ styled ragdoll and a canon I thought this could either be utter genius or utter rubbish – thankfully I found it to be not just amusing but brilliant too!

What you must do is try to use your ragdoll to hit the target - simple eh? Don’t be fooled! This game ranges from pretty tricky to utterly evil.

The skills you must master to play this game do rank similarly to those you would require to do some of the tricky and fiddly tasks in the Crystal Maze. Outsmarting the awkward so and so’s who’ve created a variety of tricky and absurd levels will test your logic and aim to the highest height. You have a seemingly endless number of ragdolls to fire, but they actually respawn after your sixth shot. This is helpful in some levels as you can clutter things up if your aim lets you down. The downside though however is that sometimes your ragdoll may be in the perfect place but will miss the target due to being respawned.

In truth I managed to lose track of just how many levels I played when going through this game, but the levels seemed to just keep coming as quick as I could complete the last level. Even if you are able to master each level you can certainly test your skills in terms of seeing if you can do the level again using less ragdolls in the process.

This game is totally genius and will keep you playing for hours and no doubt mess with your head in the process. I can’t recommend this game highly enough, it ticks all the right boxes and even adds a few more boxes to the list and ticks those too.

Positives

Totally brilliant

Really addictive

Warped and off the wall fun

Very challenging

Negatives

The restart button is occasionally in the way and it doesn’t ask ‘are you sure?’

The skip next level button similarly doesn’t ask if you are sure

No tips to master a tricky level

4 stars

Zombie Racers

Zombie Racers – Hillbilly driving and the undead, what more could you ask for?

If you enjoy racing but find that the normal tracks lack that little something, well you could be in for a bit of a treat. Zombie Racers is not quite your usual racing game. Rather than having zombies behind the wheels, the tracks are littered with the hapless and frightening fellows. Sadly zombies are not known for their intelligence (despite their huge appetite for brains), and they’ve not quite caught onto the fact that zombies tend to get squished and lose the odd limb (and head) when coming into contact with a speeding vehicle.

Although it is quite fun decapitating the hapless circuit invaders, it’s sometimes a bit of a distraction and you will need to get the balance right between clobbering all the zombies and finishing it first past the post – as after all it is a race!

In story mode you must finish first in every race to go onto the next circuit. If you succeed the points and carnage are totalled up and turned into cash which you can use to upgrade your car (steering, speed and acceleration) or even purchase a new vehicle entirely. Failing to finish first and you not only don’t get to progress to the next course but all those hard earned points and squished zombies don’t mean a thing! This means that on some circuits you will need to really push your driving skills to the limit as the other three drivers will do just about everything they can to stand between you and the finishing line.

If racing is not quite what you fancy doing, then you can compete with the other cars in a clash of splatting every zombie within the time limit. Although you don’t receive anything for your trouble other than the knowledge that you’re a zombie killer extraordinaire, it’s still a good stress buster – especially if you pick up some of the power ups (ranging from flame thrower, magnet, immobilise and so on). The best way to stay sharp I found was picturing the zombies as people I didn’t like, it really did help focus the mind and make every squelch sound more satisfying!

Looking beyond the rather sadistic pleasure this game provides, this game does have a few issues – none more so than the rather unresponsive controls and glitchy bugs (e.g. it would place me from 1^st to last or even believe I was going the wrong way and put me a lap behind when I had crossed the line). Also the car doesn’t have any braking options and even though you might not touch the curb you will still end up being slowed down. These problems don’t stop the game from being addictive and in a sick kind of way, make it quite retro and even more challenging.  

Positives

Addictive and very amusing

Challenging

Lots of courses

Negatives

Lots of glitches which can ruin the game

The Green Day-esque music is quite annoying after the 20^th time

Very repetitive

2.5 stars

Trainyard

Trainyard – Puzzling fun hits the tracks, but does it get to the right destination?

Calling all trainspotting fans, and no, not the film. If you have a bit of a thing for trains and grew up playing with various Hornby engines when growing up, you will probably find yourself right at home with this particular game. Trainyard is a pretty exceptional and unique title that will push your logic and puzzle solving skills quite neatly to the edge.

The game’s premise is pretty simple, you have a start and a finish and you must build the tracks from one to the other. As the game progresses you will have to work out the best route to get the trains safely and successfully to the end. To do this you will need to take into account the timing, order and sequence of switching between lines. When you’re happy simply press the go button and watch your train or trains go on their way. If you do it right then your train(s) will arrive safely at their destination, if you make a mistake then you’ll either see your train crash, go to the wrong station or endlessly spin around in circles. The cynic in me says that this is arguably just how the London Underground and rail system in the UK in general actually practices its route mastering – or at least this explains the strikes (no doubt as they’re stumped on a devious level). Anyway, back to the game...

Some levels will need you to work around obstacles, others will require you bumping the trains into one another to get the desired colour i.e. red train and blue train makes a purple train, which must end up at the purple gate.

In terms of simplicity, this game certainly is a novel and intriguing title which will entertain many commuters and fascinate many more in the comfort of their own home. The levels increase in their difficulty and before long you will no doubt become pretty glued to the screen and feverishly working out just how to position the tracks to get the desired results and move onto the next screen. Overall it’s a great little find and one that any puzzler will be pleased to while away their time on.

Positives

Addictive

Simple but cunning

Logic, puzzling and strategy skills are all tested

Speed up or slow down the trains

Negatives

Could be a bit awkward if you’re colour blind

The hint option could be a welcome feature if added for some levels

No train sound effects

4 stars

Galaxy on Fire 2

Galaxy on Fire 2 – Space battles, an interesting plot... it has it all!

Space has been fascinating to humans ever since we learned to look up at the sky. Some of the greatest mysteries ever told and without any true answer have been tucked away in the far corners of the galaxy, such as is their life elsewhere and if Star Trek’s boldly going where no-one’s gone before... then why do they always seem to bump into someone?

Thankfully rather than simply trying to contemplate our existence and earth’s part in this universe, all we really want to know is, can we kick alien butt? To help answer this question we have a number of exciting games to delve into and happily I can report Galaxy on Fire 2 is certainly one of the best seen on the iPod/iPhone.

Galaxy on Fire 2 is a pretty epic game with plenty of twists, developments and none too shabby graphics either. Largely the game follows a neatly scripted and engaging plot where you discover after a short battle with space pirates, your hyperdrive’s been damaged and somehow you wake up more than a decade later at the opposite end of space and forced to work your way back home using any means possible.

I’m pleased to report that apparently not every alien is unfriendly and actually when they’re not trying to kill you, they’re keen to help you out with not just giving you means of an income but also ships and weapons. Also more importantly, you get access to weapons and show your flight skills off.

You’ll soon discover that every jaunt out in space will offer you a few challenges, whether its mining for rare or precious minerals and ore, to fending off attacks.

The missions are in general pretty quick affairs, only really made to last longer if you happen to be a bit of a lousy shot or just enjoy zooming around space. Overall this is a pretty entertaining game and although the script does arguably take up more gaming time than the actual playing bit (if you fail to skip through it) there’s lots to get involved with and it’s nice to modify your craft for the missions and improve your craft along the way.

Positives

Good graphics

Engaging script

Lots of missions

Negatives

Too much waffle at times

The controls are a little twitchy

Missions are pretty short and basic

65%

Tank Warz

Tank Warz – Tank Bustin’ Never Felt So Good!

Having played a variety of tank games I was thinking I would be pretty well versed when it came to this sideways on angle and power gauging competition of brute force and metal. For those of you who’ve played games similar to Worms then you’ll know a little bit about this sort of thing.

What you must do is slug it out with three other tanks and try to be the victor. Armed with your trusty tank canon you are left to guess the angle and power that is needed to get a direct hit.

If you manage to survive the level and eliminate the other tanks on the screen you will be rewarded cash for your efforts. The more accurate you are the better your ranking and cash prize. If you are destroyed whilst playing the level you simply go back to the tank modifying screen and get to go again.

Before each mission starts you have the opportunity to make changes to your tank. Whether it’s upping the tank’s arsenal with the variety of primary and secondary weapons, or bolstering your back up items (fuel, health, shield, teleport, mirror etc.), this is where the battle is arguably won or lost! With the money you’ve managed to win from being victorious, you will be able to increase your firepower and defensive properties of your tank.

This is the crux of the problem found with this game though. Everything is in the balance until a certain point whereby you can afford to buy the biggest and best equipment, once you’ve managed to do this then really you will not find the opposition any real difficulty at all.

To the creators credit, the missiles do no damage unless it’s a direct hit and the wind effects can not only have a direct impact on the missiles but also on the fire and gas weapons which can drift around or get stronger in the breeze.

If being king of the castle proves to be a bit monotonous to you then you can opt for the other game version which is much more target practice based than anything else. In this mode you must blow up and prevent the nuclear missiles from getting launched. To do this, you simply have to get a direct hit. However, if you don’t take the missile out on the launch pad then it will launch and your game is over.

This game is pretty addictive and offers a fair bit of competition but I am sure that if you like this sort of game then your energy would be better spent playing Worms 2 – Armageddon or some other similar title as it doesn’t quite hit the mark apart from the options to modify your tank over time.

Positives

Challenging and quite fun

Two different modes to keep you entertained by

Nice ability to modify your tank

Negatives

Once you’ve modified your tank beyond a certain point you will win each game hands down

Limited landscapes to take on

AI is not that tough

40%

Chu Chu Rocket iPod

I first reviewed Chu Chu Rocket several months ago on another mobile so it feels quite literally like déjà vu getting to play it all over again on the iPhone/iPod.

This popular game is a puzzler which will keep you occupied for several hours. What you must do is help the space mice escape from the evil space cats and other obstacles by getting to their rocket.

Unlike the other version, you have the benefit of not just playing the tutorial to learn the ropes but also get to pick other versions game types including; puzzle, challenge and 1-4 player battles.

The puzzle game provides you with a plethora of challenging levels to outsmart. Using the touchscreen you must place the tile down on the selected square and then use your motion to swipe the direction you wish the arrow to move the mice and cats in. If you make a mistake of placing the square in the wrong position or swipe the arrow the wrong way, you will have to cycle your way through and place the arrow correctly, needless to say that this can be a costly mistake.

Despite all the various game styles, the rules remain the same throughout. The rules are simple, as your mouse hits a wall or border it will turn 90 degrees (clockwise) and head in a new direction. By doing this, you can calculate the logical route that it will take throughout the various level mazes and try to get your mouse to safety without being caught by the cat(s).

The greatest advantage that this game has over its predecessor is the 1-4 player battle mode. In this setting you get to connect remotely or compete against the computer. This game is often walking a thin line between being hilarious and frustrating but always very frantic. What you must do is get as many mice to your ship, as many cats to the opponents ship and outsmart your opponents at (quite literally) every turn. Sometimes the computer will work together to help you, other times it will go against you, so remain on your toes at all times.

Overall, this game is pretty basic in terms of its appearance but offers a very compelling and addictive experience.

Positives

Hours of frustrating puzzle solving fun

Even more hour’s worth of challenges to get stuck into

Unlimited attempts at clearing a level

Negatives

Frustrating game at times, with no shortcuts to leap to the next level

Poor graphics

Awkward controls

80%