QuickLook.Technobrains

I’m a big adventure game fan, but it seems like more often than not adventure games that make their way to iOS devices are simply ports from other devices, consoles or computers.  Consequently, when an original title comes along I get really excited.  Thankfully, The Train Ep. 1 didn’t disappoint when I finally got the chance to play it.  The interface was a bit clunky at times and the game was too short, but it was worth it for the decent visuals, the good story and the interesting characters.  Episode 2 ups the ante in the aesthetics department as well as the story, but it’s still pretty short.  That would be okay with me, except in its current incarnation the interface is quite frustrating.  Your enjoyment will weigh heavily on how patient you are.

The first episode chronicled the quest of a guy named Martin, who was trying to get to his fiancée.  The backdrop is a future Earth that has been devastated by the Apocalypse, and in this episode you get to find out how the emperor of this dystopian future came into power.  More appropriately, you get to play the someday emperor Greg as he takes the final journey that leads to his rise in power.  Aboard a train to India you’ll discover mystery, betrayal and the love of someone’s life… plus some other interesting loose ends from episode one.  You don’t need to have played the first part to enjoy this one, but it certainly can’t hurt.

Like a typical adventure game you’ll need to study all of your locations, scrutinize everyone you meet, and solve some puzzles in order to accomplish your goals.  Most items are collected by tapping on them, though some might be given to you by other characters in the game.  To use an item you tap on it in inventory and then tap what you want to use it with.  As long as your inventory is open, the last item you selected is “active” until you tap on it again or tap on a different item.  To talk to someone just tap on them.  You can then tap to scroll through the dialog.  Also, tapping on certain areas will cause a dialog to come up describing the area.  Just tap away from the dialog to close it.

Unlike the first game, there are no “extended” screens in episode 2, so you don’t have a virtual joystick to scroll around the screen.  That’s okay, because that system had a couple of kinks anyway.  Unfortunately, the navigation in this episode has what I call “sticky” syndrome.  If you click things to quickly, it’s possible for dialogs (or even descriptions when you pick up items) to get stuck.  The only way to clear this is to move to a different scene in the game or sometimes even two or three scenes away.  This wouldn’t be so bad except that every scene has a slight load time, and even slight load times add up after a while.  Patience will persevere, but in the mean time it can get frustrating.

The graphics are decent, and certainly better than episode 1.  The locations look nice, and for the most part the people look good, but there are times when they feel like cardboard cutouts.  There isn’t a ton of animation in the game, the most notable exception being the motion outside the windows to give the train a feeling of movement.  There are some sound effects here and there, though sadly no voiceovers.  That’s something I’d really like to see in this series.  The music is very nice and changes depending on the situation, which is nice because given that the majority of the game takes place in the train it could have been easy to stick with one track.

As original adventures on the iPhone go, The Train is turning out to be one of the most engaging series available.  The story is well thought out, the pacing is decent, and the developer sure knows how to create a cliffhanger.  The visuals are getting better with each iteration, and the music is blossoming as well.  My main frustration is that the interface actually seems to have gotten a bit worse.  I imagine a lot of it can be attributed to the development tool, but that doesn’t help us as end users out any.  Purely from a story and puzzle standpoint I’d recommend the game, but unless you mind a lot of needless backtracking you’ll soon grow tired of the fragile interface.

Final Verdict: On The Fence
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A wolf and a sheep go parachute jumping… no, this isn’t the start of some bad bar room joke.  It’s actually a new game puzzle game that has you trying once again to protect the poor, innocent sheep from the jaws of the vicious wolf.  This time they are trying to use parachutes and balloons to escape from their hungry adversaries, but unfortunately the wolves have the same methods of transportation.  You must safely guide the sheep to a certain platform while making sure the wolf doesn’t arrive, because if the wolf makes it to the end it will get the sheep no matter what obstacles are between them.

To guide the sheep you tilt your device left and right.  This actually works pretty smoothly for the most part, though control did feel a bit jittery on a couple of levels.  The problem is that the wolf moves right along with you, so you have to use elements in your surroundings to put some distance between you and the wolf.  Walls can keep one or the other of you from moving, while fans can slow your ascent / decent and springs can catapult you back upwards for a bit.  Ultimately, though, you need to make sure the wolf ends up falling in some water or getting skewered on the wrong end of a spike pit, because otherwise it will eat you in the end.  To move on to the next level you simply must survive the wolf.  To unlock a new level set you must collect a certain number of apples, three of which exist on each level.  The concept is simple enough, but some of these levels are extremely difficult.  On the plus side, you can always revisit a passed level to try and do better later.

Aesthetically, this game is all about cute.  The sheep is extremely adorable with its big eyes and little hearts floating from its head after beating a level.  The wolf is constantly eyeing its prey, and it’s actually kind of amusing when he eats the sheep (not that I don’t feel sorry for the sheep, mind you).  The accompanying sound effects fit the mood of the game perfectly, whether it’s the snicker of the wolf when he gets an apple before you do or the sheep’s laugh.  The music is well done, and each level set has its own theme.

Currently there are 60 levels broken into 3 worlds, and even though you might be able to finish each level relatively easily, you’ll have to work hard to get all the apples.  There are also 38 achievements to earn, so the game should keep you busy for quite a while.  Personally, I think it’s a while worth spending.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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This whole corporate name game thing confuses me, but whether you know them as Crawl Space Games or Elevate Entertainment, one thing is clear: these guys know their way around a causal game.  If you don’t believe me all you need to do is check out Crocodile Crossing, their latest offering for iOS devices.  The game looks like it’s for kids and the controls are deceptively simple, yet playing it through once or twice on the third level will make you realize that this isn’t just for the young ones.  Besides, the pigs are cute and it is fun watching them bounce around seemingly oblivious to the crocodile below.

The premise is simple – the poor little piggies just want to get from one side of the swamp to the other without becoming croc food, and it’s your job to get them there.  To do this you control a trampoline at the bottom of the screen by sliding it back and forth with your finger.  A pig must be safely nestled on the dock at the right side of the screen in order to be counted.  You have to keep an eye on this, because it’s not uncommon for a pig to just miss a jump at the end of its journey and end up plummeting to an implied doom.  Of course this can also get you into trouble (or at least it does me) because at the last moment I’ll whip over to rescue said pig and lose one coming from the other side of the swamp.

The first level is pretty easy, with a decent sized island floating between the two docks that can give wayward pigs and your poor trampoline a bit of a reprieve.  In the second level the island is moving back and forth, and I believe it’s a bit smaller.  Finally, level 3 gets rid of the island and zooms out a bit, giving you a wider gap to contend with.  I hope they roll out more levels, because I’m eager to see what will be coming next.  Every level sports the hungry crocodile, though he’s really just there for intimidation since you never see him eat any pigs.

As you’re playing wings, a clock and a trampoline will occasionally fall from the sky.  The wings will remain with you and save one pig from plummeting to their demise.  The trampoline temporarily makes your trampoline bigger, and the clock slows down all the action for a bit.  The power ups are pretty easy to retrieve (you simply tap on them), the down side being there is no multi-touch, so you have to let go of the trampoline for a moment.  Unfortunately, in this game a moment can make all the difference.

All together there are 3 levels and 5 or 6 different pigs, most of which need to be unlocked by playing the game and some of which aren’t even available to be unlocked unless you make an IAP for the full version.  The game does have a leaderboard for each level via OpenFeint, but sadly there are no achievements at this point.  Hopefully that will come some day.  In the mean time you can feel some sense of accomplishment by rescuing enough pigs to unlock each new level and pig type.

The visuals are cute.  Each pig has their own look about them, though they do all share a certain sports ball like roundness.  The crocodile pops up every once in a while with a big smile across its mouth, licking its lips.  The only disappointment is that there is no animation in the background.  The sound effects are done well enough, with each pig having a unique grunt.  There is actually a different soundtrack for each level which is nice, and the first level even has some nifty ambient noise.

Crocodile Crossing is another fine casual game from the folks over at Crawl Space Games.  It has the perfect appeal for kids, yet it’s still fun enough for adults to enjoy, even if you don’t have any rugrats.  You can pick up the game for free, but I would definitely encourage you to get the IAP pack, because that has the best levels and pigs in it.  This is one group of pigs that deserve all the help you can give them.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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I generally don’t do non-software reviews, in large part because I don’t use enough of a variety of anything to make comparative judgments.  When it comes to cleaning the screen of a mobile device, however, almost everyone has something they use.  For me that’s typically whatever happens to be handy: my shirt or a tissue.  Now I do have a screen protector, so at least I’m not rubbing these things directly against my screen.

Anyway, when I saw that Mobile Cloth was looking for people to try out and review their cloths, I figured I might as well give it a try.  Certainly whatever they had to offer must be better than my “weapons” of choice.  The difference, however, was incredible.  A couple of swipes with the MC nano (the smaller size cloth), and the screen protector looked just like it did when I first applied it to my device.  The best part is that all you need is the cloth, though they do suggest a bit of water if you have “caked on particles”.  Thankfully that doesn’t usually apply to me, as I’m the only one that uses my iPod Touch.

The cloths come in two sizes: 4”x4” and 9”x9”.  Obviously you can use either size cloth for any size device, though the 4×4 is a bit more portable.  What I like about the smaller size is that it fits quite nicely in the bottom half of the plastic case which came with my iPod Touch and which I still use to carry my device around.  Of course either size can be easily tucked away in a carrying case, and the larger size might be better for a laptop or desktop screen to clear off dust.  You can easily wash and dry the cloths so that they will last for years to come.

The cloths can be bought in packs of 1, 2, 4 and 6, and with the packs of 4 or 6 you get an extra one for free.  If you use your mobile device a lot or have a lot of mobile devices you use (these would even work well with camera lenses, photographers), I would definitely suggest giving a Mobile Cloth a try.  They would make great Christmas gifts as well!

Web Site: Mobile Cloth

I apologize for lack of screen shots, but I’m not really set up for that, and all the shots I tried to take had too much glare to be useful.  Check out the press section of the web site for some links with shots, or visit the “What Is Mobile Cloth” section for a decent video showing the cloths in action.

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Benoit Sokal is probably best known in the adventure gaming world for his Syberia series, but before those critically acclaimed games he devised one called Amerzone.  I had been looking forward to playing this game for a long time, and I finally got my chance with its release on iOS devices.  Sadly, after waiting so long for what I was sure would be an engaging experience, I’m not sure after playing episode one if I was left wanting for more or simply disillusioned with the experience.  Maybe it’s just the nature of the episodic experience, but I felt like I interacted with an intro rather than playing a full fledged game.

You play a journalist that has taken interest in the musings of an explorer touting the existence of a mysterious breed of “white birds” that is constantly in flight.  When the explorer dies, you find yourself on a quest to return his prize position, an egg that supposedly contains one of these white birds, to the Amerzone.  In part one of this three part tale you’ll rummage through the explorer’s lighthouse and eventually make your way to a craft that will get you to the Amerzone.  The craft launches and… game over.  I would be surprised if the game even took half an hour, and that includes me starting over at one point.

There are two encounters during this installment of the game, but most of your background will come from reading documents you pick up along the way.  I certainly don’t mind reading the occasional letter or journal entry, but I much prefer interaction with NPCs as my prime conduit for learning about my adventure.  This episode is also woefully light on puzzle solving.  There are really only a couple of small “brain teasers”, and most everything else is a matter of wandering around and throwing the occasional switch.  The overall feeling is very “adventure lite” compared to the Syberia series.

Navigation is a matter of dragging your finger to pan around the area (you pretty much have 360 degree vision), and tapping when you want to move or interact with something.  To use an inventory item you select it from the inventory screen, and then it becomes the active item, so you just have to tap whatever you want to use it with.  If you elect the “permanent help” option all pathways and interactive spots will marked, otherwise they won’t.  I’d suggest turning this feature off for more of a challenge, but it makes it almost impossible to determine where to move without directional arrows.  Plus, without the help on I was unable to pick up the first object I ran across that I should have been able to grab.

Graphically the game doesn’t disappoint.  All the areas you navigate through are incredibly detailed and extremely well drawn.  The character models aren’t great, but they look pretty decent.  My one gripe is that some areas are too dark, even with the lights “on”.  The sound effects are spot on and make you feel like you’re in a real place.  When you stand right outside the lighthouse, for example, the rolling waves almost make you physically look up for the nearest seagull.  There are a couple of spots where music plays, but for the most part your audio experience lies with the sound effects.  This isn’t always bad, but some subtle background tunes would be nice.

I realize this is only the first part of three, so maybe I’m judging too harshly, but it really didn’t meet my expectations in any way except visually.  The episode was too short, it didn’t stand well on its own, and there wasn’t a lot to do.  After I realized that I had finished part 1, I almost felt like I didn’t really care to know whether your character gets the egg to the Amerzone safely or even if these white birds really do exists.  Maybe as part of the whole package this is a fine segment, but since I haven’t played episodes 2 and 3 yet I can only offer advice based on this installment.  As such…

Final Verdict
Standalone: Not Recommended
As Part Of The Whole: On The Fence (until I’ve played parts 2&3)

And just so you don’t think I’m being unfair, here’s a perfect counterexample: Path Of The Dragon part 1 was not only good on it’s own, but it actually left me wanting to know what was going to come next.  You can check out my thoughts on that game here: Path Of The Dragon Review

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When I was a kid I found some amusement in those little plastic sliding puzzle games.  Of course they were a lot more fun when you could take the pieces out and put them back in however you wanted – it made them a lot easier to solve!  I’ve never been much of a fan of electronic versions of this type of game, though there have been a couple of developers that have made interesting mash-ups using the sliding puzzle mechanic as a basis for a different type of game.  Mixzle is one such effort, and one of the most original at that.  Every level requires you to dunk a ball in a basket, and all the intermediate pieces to make that happen must be moved around the board via the sliding puzzle method.  It can get frustrating at times, but I also find myself actually getting addicted to the concept.

Each level has a ball at the top of the screen that must be dropped into a basket somewhere else on the board.  The position of the ball and basket will be different on each level, and occasionally you might even get to move the basket around the playing board.  More importantly is the fact that you must slide all the pieces into place so that the dropped ball can bounce, teleport or whatever it needs to in order to get to the basket.  So what are these pieces?

They start with simple wooden parts that might be horizontal, vertical or diagonal boards, or possibly even triangular pieces.  Then you get similar pieces that are wrapped in cloth so they provide a softer bounce.  Springs provide a stronger, quicker bounce.  Fans blow the ball or cause it to float, depending on whether they are horizontal or vertical.  Teleports allow the ball to move from one spot to another without hesitation.  There may be other objects as well, but that’s for you to discover as you play.

Just like the standard sliding puzzle game, the board is divided into an equal number of squares horizontally and vertically, but one is missing so that you can move all the rest of them around.  To move a piece, simply drag it to an adjacent spot, assuming that spot is open.  One caveat is that every board has at least one piece that can’t be moved.  Another interesting feature is the ability to rotate pieces on certain levels.  Unfortunately there is a specific place on the board where the rotation occurs, so it can be rather costly moving pieces to that spot.  You score appears to be based at least partially on the number of moves you make, so unnecessary trips around the board can be quite detrimental.

You start the board with 10, 20 or 30 balls – this can be changed in the settings.  When you think you have all the pieces in place, press the start button and see if you make the basket.  I also think that your score is based on the number of balls you have left, but nothing in the game confirms either of these suspicions.  If you miss, start rearranging the pieces again.  The nice thing is that you can always base your next try off of your last attempt, so if you were close it might just be a matter of sliding a particular piece up, down, left or right one square.  On the other hand, if you’re playing with 30 balls and you’ve tried 15 combinations that didn’t work, it becomes rather difficult to keep track of that all in your head after a while.  And, should you actually have to start the level over again, your back to square one so to speak.

The visuals are actually quite polished.  The pieces look good, and everything is animated when appropriate.  The basket even flops around as you slide it across the screen.  The sound effects are pretty subdued, but then there isn’t really a lot of need for effects.  I do like the robotic sound the arm makes when it drops the ball.  There’s decent music when the menu is up, but there’s actually no tune playing during the game itself.  That’s a bit disappointing, as it tends to be more noticeable in slower paced games like this.

I’m still not a huge fan of the sliding puzzle mechanic.  However, when it gets used in a situation like this, it actually becomes an interesting game play tactic.  The levels are well designed, and even when they seem impossible it’s usually just a matter of adjusting the location of a piece or two.  It can sometimes get frustrating playing a level through more than one “game over”, especially when you’re playing with the 30 balls setting, but there’s still a sense of accomplishment when you’ve finished a level.  For those that are patient, this will become an addictive experience.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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One thing I like about the collection of games under the ArianeSoft label is that it’s hard to look at any of them and say “this is clearly a clone of xxx”. After The Fall Puzzle is no exception to this rule. One might argue that it feels like Dungeon Raid with a Fallout setting, but one on one combat gives it a different feel than even that game. The combination of simple game play and the ability for the flow of the game to turn on a dime make for an intense, exciting experience.

You play a lone soldier in a post-apocalyptic world just trying to survive. In order to do so you’ll have to go up against and defeat one adversary after another. Each opponent gets tougher, and each time you start with a level playing field. You each have the same amount of health to start off, and you both have 0 attack modifier and 0 defense modifier. The match 3 board is where you get your supplies by matching 3 or more of the same item. This is one of those games where instead of sliding tiles back and forth you draw a line through all the tiles you want to match (they must be adjacent). When you’ve made your selection you’ll reap the benefit of whatever tile type you chose, and then it will be your opponent’s turn. If you fall below zero health, the game is over. If your opponent loses you move on to fight another villain with more health.

Items on the board do one of 4 things. Weapons like grenades and axes do direct damage to the opponent’s health. If you have an attack modifier, that value is added to the total damage done by the weapons. Any defense the opponent has goes away first before health is reduced. Things like helmets and camouflage pants increase your defense. Objects like target signs and multiple bullets boost your attack modifier. Finally, food, drink and medical supplies help you regain health. The values of each object can be found in the help screen, and if one of the items in your chain has a x2 modifier the point total for that haul is doubled. Each round has a different set of objects, and in fact if the board needs to be reset because there are no moves, the variety of objects will most likely change.

Even though there are “stats”, you’ll be disappointed if you’re looking for a deep RPG experience. I sometimes forget that myself as I think “boy it would be nice if the game did this or that”. In reality, though, the game has a nice balance of matching and basic combat mechanics that keep it simple without it getting old. The one thing I am a bit disappointed with is the fact that it has OpenFeint integration but no achievements. Leaderboards are nice, but only effective as more people get and play the game consistently. At least achievements give you something to earn on your own.

The visuals in ATF are pretty decent. The creatures and your soldier look really cool, and the objects are all easily discernable, except for a couple of knives that look a bit too similar. There aren’t a lot of effects, but there are nice little touches like blood when someone is injured or a flash of light upon being healed. The only thing that kind of gets on my nerves is the jittering of the box for whichever player has the focus. A nicely outlined box would have sufficed here.

I like the sound effects, but in some cases they are a bit too generic. For instance, every creature sounds the same when it gets hit. There’s also something really creepy about a skeleton swallowing liquids! On the plus side, at least each of the weapons has a unique sound to it. The music in ATF is really good. I’m not sure it fits the post-apocalyptic mood so much (at least not the in-game music), but it’s easy to listen to and doesn’t get overbearing.

After The Fall Puzzle is a great example of how a game doesn’t have to be revolutionary to still be fun. It’s the matching concept we know and love with a couple of twists, and it doesn’t try to be any game’s clone. The non-fantasy setting is a nice touch, and random boards and creatures make for a new experience every time you play. It might not have all the bells and whistles of its contemporaries, but it’s great for spending a few minutes here and there when you feeling like matching with a little bit more.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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One thing I like about the collection of games under the ArianeSoft label is that it’s hard to look at any of them and say “this is clearly a clone of xxx”.  After The Fall Puzzle is no exception to this rule.  One might argue that it feels like Dungeon Raid with a Fallout setting, but one on one combat gives it a different feel than even that game.  The combination of simple game play and the ability for the flow of the game to turn on a dime make for an intense, exciting experience.

You play a lone soldier in a post-apocalyptic world just trying to survive.  In order to do so you’ll have to go up against and defeat one adversary after another.  Each opponent gets tougher, and each time you start with a level playing field.  You each have the same amount of health to start off, and you both have 0 attack modifier and 0 defense modifier.  The match 3 board is where you get your supplies by matching 3 or more of the same item.  This is one of those games where instead of sliding tiles back and forth you draw a line through all the tiles you want to match (they must be adjacent).  When you’ve made your selection you’ll reap the benefit of whatever tile type you chose, and then it will be your opponent’s turn.  If you fall below zero health, the game is over.  If your opponent loses you move on to fight another villain with more health.

Items on the board do one of 4 things.  Weapons like grenades and axes do direct damage to the opponent’s health.  If you have an attack modifier, that value is added to the total damage done by the weapons.  Any defense the opponent has goes away first before health is reduced.  Things like helmets and camouflage pants increase your defense.  Objects like target signs and multiple bullets boost your attack modifier.  Finally, food, drink and medical supplies help you regain health.  The values of each object can be found in the help screen, and if one of the items in your chain has a x2 modifier the point total for that haul is doubled.  Each round has a different set of objects, and in fact if the board needs to be reset because there are no moves, the variety of objects will most likely change.

Even though there are “stats”, you’ll be disappointed if you’re looking for a deep RPG experience.  I sometimes forget that myself as I think “boy it would be nice if the game did this or that”.  In reality, though, the game has a nice balance of matching and basic combat mechanics that keep it simple without it getting old.  The one thing I am a bit disappointed with is the fact that it has OpenFeint integration but no achievements.  Leaderboards are nice, but only effective as more people get and play the game consistently.  At least achievements give you something to earn on your own.

The visuals in ATF are pretty decent.  The creatures and your soldier look really cool, and the objects are all easily discernable, except for a couple of knives that look a bit too similar.  There aren’t a lot of effects, but there are nice little touches like blood when someone is injured or a flash of light upon being healed.  The only thing that kind of gets on my nerves is the jittering of the box for whichever player has the focus.  A nicely outlined box would have sufficed here.

I like the sound effects, but in some cases they are a bit too generic.  For instance, every creature sounds the same when it gets hit.  There’s also something really creepy about a skeleton swallowing liquids!  On the plus side, at least each of the weapons has a unique sound to it.  The music in ATF is really good.  I’m not sure it fits the post-apocalyptic mood so much (at least not the in-game music), but it’s easy to listen to and doesn’t get overbearing.

After The Fall Puzzle is a great example of how a game doesn’t have to be revolutionary to still be fun.  It’s the matching concept we know and love with a couple of twists, and it doesn’t try to be any game’s clone.  The non-fantasy setting is a nice touch, and random boards and creatures make for a new experience every time you play.  It might not have all the bells and whistles of its contemporaries, but it’s great for spending a few minutes here and there when you feeling like matching with a little bit more.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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It seems like one of the most popular things to hear on the App Store today is “my game is retro this or old school that”.  Unfortunately, that more often than not translates to nothing more than poor graphics and bad music.  Thankfully, Retro Dreamer is a company that knows all about its namesake, and they prove it quite admirably with Velocispider.  If it weren’t for the fact that the graphics and sound were a bit too good, I’d almost be willing to bet that this were a port of a Nintendo game, and that’s what retro is all about.

You are a velocispider – half velociraptor, half spider, with a bit of cyborg power thrown in for good measure.  Apparently your eggs are pretty tasty, because an evil scientist is trying to collect them for his breakfast.  You’ll have to fend off 20 waves of diabolical egg snatchers, including the good doctor himself.  There are a nice variety of creatures to fight, each with their own style of attack.  As for your part in this battle, you tilt the device back and forth to move the velocispider, and press and release the screen to fire a charge shot.  Normal firing is handled automatically.

My favorites are what I like to call the “fail whale wannabe”, the super crab, and of course the doctor, who you get the pleasure of confronting twice.  Besides the doctor, the only other creature that can steal eggs is a purple squid like thing, but you have to keep a constant watch because they’ll sneak up and snatch eggs while you’re busy worrying about something that’s actually shooting at you.  If you lose all three eggs the level is over.  Same goes for losing all three hearts.

Thankfully you get several power ups through the course of a level, including points, hearts, and a couple of nice weapons like double shot, triple shot and speed shot.  And the plus side, power ups carry through to the next level.  On the down side, so does the lack of hearts you might have.  The game has 18 achievements that you can work on, but given that part of the game’s old school charm is its tough nature, many of these will probably be hard to get if you’re a more casual gamer.  In fact, they’re aren’t really any you earn simply for playing the game.  But, that’s pretty good incentive for coming back again and again.

The graphics are retro perfection.  Imagine taking a Nintendo game and giving it a VGA facelift, and that’s the style of the visuals.  The velocispider is awesome, and the villains are pretty cool as well.  As for my favorites, I direct you back to the list above, as they are the same visually as they are game play wise.  The background has a nice “ravaged future” look to it, and the cut scenes remind me of the old Ninja Gaiden NES game.  I have no idea why, but they do.

The sound effects are about the only thing I’m disappointed with.  They’re not bad by any means, but they aren’t really fresh like the rest of the aesthetics.  It would be cool if some of the creatures made noises, and I’d really love to hear something from the doctor, even if it was just a maniacal laugh every once in a while.  At least the music has that same “authentic but upgraded” feel as the visuals.  Granted you’ll be too busy dodging bullets to notice for the most part.

Velocispider is old school gaming personified, right down to the single screen playing field.  At the same time it feels fresh and new, without really bringing anything different to the table.  There’s lots of action, splendid visuals, and a great soundtrack to listen to.  I just wish there were some sort of endless mode or something.  That would be icing on this delicious retro cake (okay, so I’m a bit hungry right now).

Final Verdict: Highly Recommended
App Store Link
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It seems like one of the most popular things to hear on the App Store today is “my game is retro this or old school that”.  Unfortunately, that more often than not translates to nothing more than poor graphics and bad music.  Thankfully, Retro Dreamer is a company that knows all about its namesake, and they prove it quite admirably with Velocispider.  If it weren’t for the fact that the graphics and sound were a bit too good, I’d almost be willing to bet that this were a port of a Nintendo game, and that’s what retro is all about.

You are a velocispider – half velociraptor, half spider, with a bit of cyborg power thrown in for good measure.  Apparently your eggs are pretty tasty, because an evil scientist is trying to collect them for his breakfast.  You’ll have to fend off 20 waves of diabolical egg snatchers, including the good doctor himself.  There are a nice variety of creatures to fight, each with their own style of attack.  As for your part in this battle, you tilt the device back and forth to move the velocispider, and press and release the screen to fire a charge shot.  Normal firing is handled automatically.

My favorites are what I like to call the “fail whale wannabe”, the super crab, and of course the doctor, who you get the pleasure of confronting twice.  Besides the doctor, the only other creature that can steal eggs is a purple squid like thing, but you have to keep a constant watch because they’ll sneak up and snatch eggs while you’re busy worrying about something that’s actually shooting at you.  If you lose all three eggs the level is over.  Same goes for losing all three hearts.

Thankfully you get several power ups through the course of a level, including points, hearts, and a couple of nice weapons like double shot, triple shot and speed shot.  And the plus side, power ups carry through to the next level.  On the down side, so does the lack of hearts you might have.  The game has 18 achievements that you can work on, but given that part of the game’s old school charm is its tough nature, many of these will probably be hard to get if you’re a more casual gamer.  In fact, they’re aren’t really any you earn simply for playing the game.  But, that’s pretty good incentive for coming back again and again.

The graphics are retro perfection.  Imagine taking a Nintendo game and giving it a VGA facelift, and that’s the style of the visuals.  The velocispider is awesome, and the villains are pretty cool as well.  As for my favorites, I direct you back to the list above, as they are the same visually as they are game play wise.  The background has a nice “ravaged future” look to it, and the cut scenes remind me of the old Ninja Gaiden NES game.  I have no idea why, but they do.

The sound effects are about the only thing I’m disappointed with.  They’re not bad by any means, but they aren’t really fresh like the rest of the aesthetics.  It would be cool if some of the creatures made noises, and I’d really love to hear something from the doctor, even if it was just a maniacal laugh every once in a while.  At least the music has that same “authentic but upgraded” feel as the visuals.  Granted you’ll be too busy dodging bullets to notice for the most part.

Velocispider is old school gaming personified, right down to the single screen playing field.  At the same time it feels fresh and new, without really bringing anything different to the table.  There’s lots of action, splendid visuals, and a great soundtrack to listen to.  I just wish there were some sort of endless mode or something.  That would be icing on this delicious retro cake (okay, so I’m a bit hungry right now).

Final Verdict: Highly Recommended
App Store Link
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Monty and the Mugwumps is the first iPhone offering from Jatzan, and I’m not really sure what to make of it. When I saw the screen shots I wasn’t impressed, and when I started playing the game my suspicions were confirmed. The more I play the game, however, the more I realize there’s just a bit of genius to the whole thing. It’s not like I have to say that either, because I certainly have enough other action / puzzle games to play. Despite the game’s amateurish audio and visual elements and rough interface, there’s a rather addictive game lying underneath.

You are Monty, and it is up to you to traverse 90 levels of dastardly mugwumps, nasty lasers and other things, rescuing all the little Montys and escaping to safety. This task won’t be easy, as Mugwumps love eating Monty for any meal of the day, and if you or the little one gets too close you’re dinner. There’s also a pesky time limit once the escape portal has been opened before the air runs out and you must start again. Every once in a while they even throw in an extra little quirk like the entire level being timed or you only having a certain number of moves to complete a level. I actually wish there were more of the latter type of puzzle, though I could certainly do without any more timing obstacles than I need.

To move Monty you tap him and then drag where you want him to go. Once you lift your finger Monty is off, and he can’t be maneuvered again until he stops. One problem is that if you don’t tap just right then you don’t get hold of Monty, and this can either waste precious time or prevent you from getting out of the way of an enemy quickly enough. Also, it’s hard to be completely precise with this method of movement, which can cause issues when trying to navigate narrow areas. You also have the ability to jump by tapping on Monty, but again if you’re off just a bit he doesn’t jump, and that’s not good when you’re headed towards a laser. Finally there are power ups you can pick up like a speed boost and high jump. You just run over them to collect them, and then you tap on them before your next move to use them.

The level designs are interesting. Most every level has a bunch of coins you need to collect before the portal will open. Some levels have doors which require keys to open, others have lasers you need to avoid or jump over. And of course there are the different types of Mugwumps you need to deal with. I’ve only played about a third of the game so far, but I’d imagine (or at least I’m hoping) that there might even be a few more things in store for me. Part of my problem at the beginning was that the level designs seemed pretty ridiculous, but as I continue to play I realize just how good some of them are. There are some that are pretty silly, though with this many levels that’s to be expected. The important thing is that it’s clear the level designer tried to be as diverse as possible when designing the different levels.

The interface could stand to be cleaned up a bit. Level selection is cumbersome to scroll through, and sometimes hard to pick the actual level you want. When you die it should give you the option to retry the level, instead of making you go back to the menu and select it again. A reset at the top of the screen that can be executed at any time during the level would be nice as well.

The graphics are a bit of a mixed bag. Monty looks like a big yellow asterisk with eyes, which is actually kind of cool. The monsters are kind of cheesy, but they still look half way decent, and I love it when their mouths open up to eat Monty. The walls and lasers and stuff look pretty basic, which when combined with the overall interface give the game a bit of an unpolished feel. The sound effects work pretty well. I particularly like the sound of a mugwump eating Monty and the different noises Monty makes in response. The music is nice to listen to, while not really standing out from the pack. At least there is background music and it’s tolerable, though.

Monty is definitely one of those cases where you shouldn’t judge the book by its cover… or more appropriately, the game by its screen shots. The cool part is that you can get a full third of the game for free by downloading The Story Begins, so you can see for yourself what the game is like without spending any money. I think you’ll find that it’s worth an extra buck to get the remaining 60 levels. Monty isn’t my favorite puzzle game in recent months, but it certainly merits spending some time with.

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link
App Store Link (free version)

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Golden Axe 3 was the end of an era as it marked the last episode of the series proper until the release of Golden Axe: Beast Master in 2008.  Sadly, it didn’t go out with quite as much of a bang as it deserved.  After all, the original Golden Axe was the first game I owned for my Genesis, and it would seem like by the time they got to part three it should be leaps and bounds above the original, right?  Interestingly, it never made its way stateside on cartridge, but only on the Sega Channel, which I was not privy to being a subscriber to.  After playing this iOS port, I’d say it wasn’t a total loss.

The biggest problem I have with part three is that there wasn’t much of a noticeable difference between the original up through this second sequel.  Sure it’s a bit flashier and there are now four playable characters, but when you even compare the growth of this series to its urban counterpart Streets Of Rage, it pales in comparison.  On the plus side, it plays quite nicely on my iPod Touch 4G.  It also looks better than the first two installments, though the color palettes are still atrocious.  At least the character designs are better and more defined.  The music is still the same wonderful chip tunes that permeated the series, and the sound effects are still pretty bad.

Game play is still pretty much the same, though you can actually get health and magic refills during the levels instead of having to wait until the end now.  There are also a couple opportunities where you can pick between two paths, and at least one instance where you’re fighting aboard a moving platform, two features which I believe were new to this iteration of the series.  Still, minor enhancements aside, this game falls more under the concept of “level pack” than an actual new game.  It just goes to show how spoiled we’ve gotten over the years.

Part one was fun just for the sake of reminiscing, and part two was enjoyable because it felt like a nice step up from part one (plus the port was much more playable than the first outing).  With this sequel, however, I’d only recommend it to three groups of people: die hard fans, hardcore nostalgia buffs (not necessarily fans of Golden Axe itself), and those that are curious about the series and haven’t tried the others.  Everyone else has probably either had their fill or won’t be interested when you compare it to more recent offerings.

Final Verdict: On The Fence
App Store Link
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I want to believe that Pocket Monkey Games has nowhere to go but up.  They started strong with games like Sparta, Champion Archer and Finger Sling (my personal favorite of the lot), and even Swingaling wasn’t bad.  When you look at the selections beyond Corporate Crackdown, though, most everything devolves into move left / right and kill to survive formula, and not a single one comes close to the quality of Sparta.  Battle Bunny falls in the middle of the group.  It’s not any more exciting than the other offerings, but at least it looks decent and the music is okay.  Still, I’m not likely to return to it once this review is over.

Basically the game is you against the weasels, though there is no intro or any sort of explanation as to why this feud is going on.  You can run left and right, jump, and use a knife or gun to defend yourself against the enemy.  Every action has an onscreen button, and they are all quite responsive.  I do wish the gun and jump buttons were flipped, but that’s a minor quibble.  There are coins to collect that seem to serve no purpose other than collecting them, and a meager 6 Game Center achievements that you can earn.  There are leaderboards as well, but I haven’t really been compelled to check them to see how I’m doing.

The enemies come at you from both sides, but other than two different types of weapons (which don’t seem to serve a functional difference), there is no variety amongst the weasels.  As the weasels attack you the screen will start to flash with bloody red borders.  The more frequent the flash, the more damaged you are.  Visually it’s pretty neat, but as a true life meter it’s worthless, because it doesn’t tell you how many hits until you die.  There are land mines which play nice as long as you don’t land directly on them, and that’s basically it for opposition.  My main cause of death is usually misjudging my jump and landing on a mine instead of going over it.  In the end, there’s just not a whole lot to do in this game.

The graphics aren’t bad, especially when it comes to the detailed background, but again there isn’t much variety.  All the weasels look the same except for the weapons, so your character is the main thing that stands out.  Again it’s not bad, but not great.  The one neat effect besides the blood border is the fact that the weasels do drop their weapon when you hit them.  The sound effects are pretty bland, and when you swipe a weasel with your knife it sounds more like you’re tearing paper than anything.  The music is okay, but it gets repetitive really quickly.

While a conclusion is probably overkill at this point, here goes anyway.  The move left or right and attack everything in sight paradigm has been done 100 different ways on the iPhone, and a majority of them are better than this.  I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed that Pocket Monkey Games will rise above their current offerings one of these days, but alas Battle Bunny isn’t their salvation.  I wish there was at least something that would make me say “you might consider this if…”, but that’s not even the case.  If you don’t own any Pocket Monkey Games, get Sparta instead.  Otherwise, you should probably look elsewhere.

Final Verdict: Not Recommended
App Store Link
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Tapper Pro is a game for iOS. You bounce a variety of balls in an attempt to keep them aloft. It doesn’t do that very well.

I could end my review here, but I’m going to elaborate as much as I possibly can.

Gameplay

Tapper Pro, created by developer Weeny Brain’s Game, is…well, I’ll let the developers describe it via their App Store product description:

[Tapper Pro] Is a relaxing yet competitive game that makes you coming back for more. Just tap on the ball and make the impossible happens.
Making the impossible happens is something I never quite did with Tapper Pro.Unless the “impossible” in this case is the wonky physics engine, then yes, the impossible is happensing all over the place. When you tap on the ball (only taps – swipes and flicks don’t seem to affect gameplay in the least) your ball goes flying at a disproportionate speed, firing wildly up. The upper play boundary is about an inch and a half off the top of the screen, making balls disappear into the void for a few moments. This makes trying to judge when and how fast a ball will return requires a level of Jedi senses that I simply don’t have a midichlorian count high enough to attempt. Generally a ball that gets fired up off screen will come back down taking its sweet time, at a pace I can only describe as a “mosey.”

I’ll let the developers continue:

The goal of the game is just simply gain as much points as you can while keeping the ball up in the air. It gets harder and harder as the game progress. Is easy to play but hard to master type of game.
They’re right, that is in fact the goal. And you earn one thousand points per successful “tap.” (Side note: Why do games insist on making points systems count “1000, 2000, 3000…” versus  “1, 2, 3…”? Has the points exchange rate dipped since back in the day?). And Tapper Pro is also a “hard to master type of game”, especially if you think what the app description says is all that happens in the game. After eight wild prods at your iOS device’s screen another ball appears. I think this is the “impossiblehappens” they were talking about. Two moons? Now there are three moons? Impossible.

 

The three different difficulties aren’t exactly varied. I can’t seem to tell any difference between “easy” and “normal” modes, while the only “extreme” mode involved the bouncing eye. This eye moves so fast and is so much smaller that it isn’t even remotely playable. I let my wife have a go at it (she’s usually pretty good at tapping/rhythm games) and she managed to make a second eye appear before nearly pitching my phone through the front door.

Clear Eyes drops, for dry, itchy eyes.

Graphics and sound

Tapper Pro looks and feels like the simple Flash games I’d play in the computer lab in grade nine. There are five playable spheres to usher around the screen from sports balls, to the moon, to an awfully red eye. Each ball is a perfect circle which is unaffected by the MS Paint quality environments. I hoped, for example, that on the basketball court “level” I’d have a chance to toss the ball at the net, or even get points for a swish. No dice. The backgrounds are static and lifeless.

The sound effects are…well, there are sound effects. The three sports balls sound like reasonably passable imitations of their real-world counterparts. The eyeball makes a weird “bink,” like a tiny spring. It also makes an vile squishing noise when it hits the ground – which happens a lot. Lastly, the moon, when tapped, sounds like a gunshot from Wolfenstein 3D. Fair enough though,

who am I to say what the moon sounds like when poked? Maybe it does sound like a digitized Luger.

Also, you can’t listen to the iPod while playing Tapper Pro, which is an entirely silent venture beyond the various gunshots, squishes and thuds. I guess having your own music playing may ruin the ambience and immersion into the world of Tapper Pro.

I know I’m slagging on a product created by a few people in their spare time. The thing is, this game costs money. I can’t in good conscience recommend Tapper Pro to anyone. There are far better free games in the App Store that have more features than the $1 Tapper Pro. Usually “Pro” indicates that there’s a free version of the title available in the App Store, but I can’t seem to find one. This game has all the excitement of trying to put gumballs back into the machine and is probably less fun.

Tapper Pro
Pros

• Colourful, simple graphics
• Facebook integration
• I learned what the moon sounds like

Cons

• Insane physics engine
• Static environments
• The sound the eye makes freaks me out

Rating 1/5

Final Verdict: Not Recommended

Tapper Pro on the App Store

Developers webpage

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What do you get when you combine a cute creature with an insatiable hunger for sweets, some rope, and the ability to play with physics?  No, this isn’t another Cut The Rope sequel.  This is Save Yammi, the latest puzzle game offering from BulkyPix.  I was worried this would simply turn out to be a Cut The Rope clone, and I still see shades of Om Nom ever time Yammi chomps on a cookie, but this is certainly a fun puzzle game in it’s own right.  Best of all, the game play is actually different than Cut The Rope.

Okay, so enough about that other game… let’s discuss Save Yammi.  You are trying to help a little octopus named Yammi find his way home to the Gulf of Mexico while avoiding a nasty shark.  Of course, you won’t know this without checking out the iTunes description, since there isn’t any sort of intro in the game itself.  Too bad, because given the graphics quality I bet an intro would be really cool.  Anyway, to get poor Yammi through each level, for some reason you have to feed him a cookie.  As luck would have it, though, this is one stubborn octopus, and he won’t eat the cookie until you’ve collected the 3 yellow stars floating around the level.  There are also red stars, but those are just for bonus.

So how do you help Yammi?  You start the ball (or cookie, as it were) rolling by tapping the cookie.  At any point, as long as you have rope left you can draw a piece of rope on the screen to help guide the cookie.  This helps in both giving it a path to roll along and in blocking it from going places you don’t want it to.  Keep in mind that rope segments will fade away after a certain length of time.  As the levels get trickier you get items like teleports and bubbles that help keep the cookie moving.  The game currently has 100 levels spread across 10 cities, and so far every city has introduced at least one new concept.

Your final score for each level is based on three factors: the three yellow stars (which you must get), the two red stars and how much rope you have left.  You only need the yellow stars to progress to the next level, but you can always go back and replay levels where you didn’t get all the red stars.  Save Yammi is also Game Center enabled, with a total of 16 achievements to earn and leaderboards to compete in.  Most achievements are built on doing a certain activity many times, so it should take you a while to collect them all.

The graphics are certainly one of the highlights of Save Yammi.  Not the backgrounds so much, mind you, as they are relatively plain compared to everything else.  However, all the objects look good, whether it’s a simple star or the grumbling thunder cloud.  Of course Yammi himself is awesome, with his big eyes and wonderful expressions.  If you leave the cookie rolling around him too long without having all the stars, he’ll even hold up a little sign to let you know that you need three stars.

The sound effects are actually pretty decent.  However, the one thing that troubles me just a bit is how much Yammi sounds like a certain other adorable critter.  In fact, if you closed your eyes you’d be hard pressed not to think you were hearing Om Nom when Yammi crunches a cookie.  Sorry, that’s the last time I’ll bring that up.  The music is pleasant enough, but it seems there are only two tunes – one for the menu and one for actual game play.  Even if each city didn’t have its own theme, a couple more scores would be nice.

I lied – I’m going to mention it once more.  For those of you that feel like you’ve gotten your fill with Cut The Rope or think that this is going to be too similar in game play, please give it a chance.  The rest of you that don’t have those fears should have already bought it.  This game is extremely fun, and really not quite like the other games of its ilk.  I just hope it manages to break the top 10 for a while, because it deserves all the accolades its brethren have received.

Final Verdict: Highly Recommended
App Store Link
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As a gamer of the 80’s, I grew up with a lot of magnificent adventure games: the Infocom classics, Sierra Online (before all the ownership changes) and several other companies come to mind.  Lately there has been a decent amount of adventure game activity on the platform, but it is as much about bringing us ports of old classics as actually delivering new tales.  Thankfully The Train falls under the second category, and while it’s a bit rough around the edges, it certainly provides for an entertaining experience.  It is a bit on the tough side, so be prepared to put your thinking cap on when boarding this transit system.

The game is told from the point of view of Martin, a “painter mage” that lives in a world where magic has been banned by a maniacal emperor.  On a routine visit to your fiancée things start to go awry, and suddenly you find yourself embroiled in a mystery to figure out what has happened to your beloved.  To find your fiancée you’ll need to visit several locations, interact with some interesting individuals, and solve a few mind bending puzzles.  Most of the time traveling to a new location is a matter of tapping where you want to go or clicking the “back” arrow when provided, though sometimes you’ll have to interact with the environment to set of a chain of events to get you someplace new.

To use an item you select it and then tap on what you want to use the item on.  An item will stay selected until you tap on it again or select another item, so if you start getting a lot of messages like “are you kidding?”, it’s probably because you accidentally left an item selected.  Interacting with mini-game style puzzles really depends on the puzzle.  You’ll tap, swipe, drag, tilt and more to accomplish everything that you need to.  You also tap on people to interact with them.  Sometimes the tapping seems overly sensitive, and there were multiple occasions where it took me several taps to clear a dialog away because it kept coming back.  One thing I found rather interesting was that most every screen was at least wider or taller than the physical screen, and to move your viewpoint you use a virtual stick in the lower left corner of the screen.  It’s a cool feature, but I didn’t care for what I assumed to be auto centering on some scenes because of it.

There are several puzzles in the game, both inventory based and mini-game style.  My biggest issue was the difficulty of the puzzles.  I found myself more often than not consulting the in-game help or the developer for tips or solutions.  I do like the fact that the hint option is context specific and almost always in at least two parts, so you don’t get the whole solution if you don’t want it.  I just wish I wouldn’t have had to abuse it so much.  One other facet I’d like to mention is the whole idea of Martin being a “painter mage”.  This gives him the ability to create and manipulate artwork.  It’s actually a really powerful concept, and it’s used a couple of times in the game, but it should have been explored more in my opinion.

The visuals have a very distinct look about them.  Everything is very detailed, but there isn’t a whole lot of animation anywhere in the game.  There are also certain areas where the artistic skill isn’t nearly as strong – the human figure, for example.  I like the artwork, but it doesn’t wow me like some of the offerings on the App Store.  The sound effects are the same way.  Nothing really jumps out at you, and given the locales there are some missed opportunities for cool background noise.  I’d also love to see speech added to the game – who doesn’t want to hear a zombie talk?  The music is really good.  It has the feel of an action suspense movie, which is just what a game like this needs.

Despite any grumblings I’ve mentioned, I would say The Train episode 1 is a decent start for The Moonwalls.  I was disappointed when it suddenly ended, because I was really getting into the story at the point.  If you tend to spend most of your time playing hidden object style games you might find this a bit daunting (not criticizing, because I love HoGs), but for more traditional adventure gamers this is worth checking out.  It’s a nice foundation for Martin’s world, and by the end you’ll want to pick up episode 2 (which should be out by the time I publish this).

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link
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Cut The Rope, Burn The Rope, Burn It All – iPhone gamers seem to have a slight obsession with puzzle games that involve destroying ropes.  The way I figure it, as long as the games are fun, that’s perfectly okay.  It’s even better when you throw in the element of fire – that way I can play with flames without burning my house down!  Of course my biggest fear with Burn It All was that it was going to feel too much like Burn The Rope, but thankfully they are completely different games, aside from the whole burning thing.  I don’t even have to worry about my headphones getting tangled with Burn It All either.

The premise behind each level is simple: burn everything that will catch on fire.  You have a certain amount of time with which to accomplish this task or you fail the level.  You can also earn up to three gems per level depending on how quickly you finish the level, though it is possible to complete a level without earning any gems.  When you beat a level a new one is unlocked, and when you complete all the levels in a world the next world is opened up for you.  There are currently 4 worlds with a total of 100 levels, and there’s a spot for a fifth world in the menu system, so hopefully we’ll see that one day.

To start a fire you drag a flame from its starting point to whatever you want to set on fire.  There are three different types of flames, each with their own abilities.  The yellow is the weakest, and can only burn ropes starting from the end of the rope.  The blue flame can burn a rope starting from anywhere and can also burn wood.  The green flame can burn anything and can set multiple things on fire before needing to be refueled, but it takes the longest to recharge.  In addition to simply running out of time, you’ll also get obstacles like stone (which can’t be burnt), drops of water that will put your flame out, and jets of gas that can be both good and bad.  My biggest obstacle, unfortunately, is that sometimes my finger gets in the way and I can’t tell what’s going on.  You don’t have to be directly on the flame to control it, but in my opinion the screen really isn’t big enough for relative control.

This is a bit of a spoiler, but I want to mention it because it’s probably the coolest mechanic of the game.  Once you get into the third and fourth worlds you get the benefit of the “time loop”, which actually lets you play a level twice with two different flames!  This is usually necessary because there are parts that can’t be destroyed by the first flame you get, but can be taken care of with the second flame.  The trick is figuring out how to maximize the use of your first flame so that you can make the most of your second flame when the time comes.  These levels are some of the most interesting but also the most challenging.  I have quite a few that I skated by with nothing more than a “win” (I had no gems) just because I wanted to see what came next.

The visuals in Burn It All are quite nice.  The board layouts look good, with a nice mix of rock, rope and wood.  And of course everything looks nifty when it’s on fire.  There are also some cool special effects like when a drop of water hits your flame or a gas jet accelerates your lighting ability.  The sound effects are decent as well, especially when it comes to the little noises and occasional words like “fire” that the flames utter.  The music is well written and there are enough tunes (at least from what I can tell) that you shouldn’t get bored with the soundtrack.

Burn It All is another extremely entertaining puzzle game, with enough differences from the pack to make it worth delving into.  Just a tad bit more variety on non-rope items that can burn would be nice, but at least there was something besides ropes to begin with.  The difficulty level gets somewhat extreme in the end, so don’t expect this to be a walk in the park, but it should keep the hardcore gamers happy.  Between trying to achieve 3 gems on 100 levels and attempting to earn all the achievements, you won’t run out of game to play for quite a while.  I think the base mechanic of Burn The Rope was a bit more novel, but in the end I found Burn It All to more accessible.

Final Verdict: Highly Recommended
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Are all cables created equal?

I ask this simple question since the price of a HDMI cable can range from around $4.00 to $100.00 plus. From a simple visual inspection, most HDMI cables look very similar in that they have a common connector on each end, a specific length of cable in between and in some cases a magnetic loop on each end.

Cables are not all created equal. Generally speaking, cables created using lower grade materials tend to have a shorter lifespan and exhibit lower performance levels.

A HDMI cable is designed to connect two HDMI compatible devices together and transfer the high definition signal between the two devices. The signal is uncompressed therefore a high level of digital information is being transmitted through the cable regardless of the cost price of the digital devices. As with any connection cable, the signal quality will degrade as the cable gets longer and the quality of the wiring used is lower. As the signal degrades between the sending and receiving devices (DVD player and HD TV as an example), the quality of the picture and the audio will degrade significantly.

To ensure that the overall picture and sound quality is maintained, you need to have a transmission cable that can minimize the signal loss. In theory, a cable made with a compatible connector on either end and copper wiring in between will transmit the signal between the two digital devices. This is where the difference between the lower priced cables and the higher priced cables come into the picture. Most lower priced cables are just that. Copper wiring with compatible connectors and in some cases a magnetic loop to minimize external signal interference. Higher priced cables will use various methods to minimize the signal loss and ensure optimum signal retention.

 Here is a list of specifics that you should be aware of that helps to maintain the overall signal quality received by the high definition TV.

1: The quality of the copper wiring used internally. Higher quality copper wiring ensures that the signal loss and signal speed degradation is minimized. The amount of copper wiring used. Typically more copper wiring is required to send digital signals over older analog signals.

2: The quality of the outer shielding material used. Higher quality shielding minimizes the wear and tear when the cables are moved. The electronic signal interference from other electronic and mechanical devices are also minimized.

3; The quality of the end connectors used. Gold plated end connectors minimizes the signal loss between the devices and the cable.

4: Signal amplifiers built into the connectors. This ensures that the signal sent between the devices are of optimal strength to travel through the wiring and reach the intended target at the peak signal level.

An HDMI cable with “active technology” taps into the devices power source available via the HDMI connection. By accessing the available 5 volt /5 mA power, any cable that uses the RedMere “active technology” chip has the ability to use the power to equalize the signal. By doing this, the signal transfered through the cable can be boosted to reduce the amount of copper wiring required and produce the optimum level of signal output.

This means the copper wiring and shielding material can be reduced by 70 %. The HD video cable, typically very thick and cumbersome can now be made ultra-thin, portable and very flexible. The RedMere active technology chip used in a HDMI cable will allow you to have a clear high definition image and great audio output.

 

 

Companies that manufacture cables using the RedMere active technology include:

• Buffalo
• Monster
• PNY
• RadioShack
• Samsung

 

 

Prices for these cables do vary but are typically in the $80.00 – $100.00 USD price range. I have only tried the test cable manufactured by RedMere and not the various cables that use the RedMere chip. This being said, any cable using the RedMere chip under the redmere specific guidelines should produce a high quality HDMI cable. The final choice of which cable to purchase would depend on the price and convenience to you.

There are other factors that determine your overall choice of cable based on distance between the source and receiving device, if the cable is to be exposed or installed within the wall, and if the cable will be used only for temporary connection like via a portable device and TV or permanently between a component DVD player and TV. Overall, any cable suited for your specific requirements that utilize the RedMere active technology should provide you with a quality video and audio signal.

I really like the RedMere active technology based HDMI cable since I tend to disconnect and connect other devices like my iPod Touch and video camera. The soft and thin cable makes it easier to disconnect and attach to other devices that will be connected for only a short period of time.

When purchasing any cable, try and get the retailer to demo the actual cable for you based on your setup requirements. This way you minimize the headaches when you get home. One last point to note: The HDMI cable should be marked indicating which end plugs into the TV and which end plugs into the sending device. Connecting the devices incorrectly will certainly produce poor results. Don’t let active words used in the packaging like EXTREME, HIGHEND, and PREMIUM convince you that the cable is better quality. Always check the specifications and ask the salesperson questions to ensure you are getting what you paid for and actually need.

Pros:

• Very flexible and lightweight.
• Readily available from a number of popular manufacturers.
• Clearly marked and simple to connect.

Cons:

• Can get pricey when dealing with longer cable lengths.

 

Final Verdict:

I would highly recommend using an active technology cable that uses the RedMere chip. The extra money invested in the high quality connection cable will ensure that you maximize your return on your money invested in the highend DVD player and HD TV.

RedMere

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I’m going to begin by saying that I haven’t gotten into online music for any length of time before being asked to review Radical.fm. The longest I used one was when I turned on iTunes’ Genius and Ping – and forgot about them. To be honest I prefer the old-school methods of music discovery: be it borrowing a CD of obscure live tracks from a friend; using an app like Shazam while out and about; or even more traditionally, the radio.

That being said, I can see where Radical.fm wants to go, but it’ll be a while before it gets there.

When I received my beta invitation, the header of the email touted Radical.fm’s superiority over the big players like Pandora and Spotify. Given the latter’s much-anticipated entrance into the United States, it’s hard to see the niche in which Radical fits.

The Music

The selection in the beta is limited, but it has seemed to expand as I’ve been using the service. I tried a stream-of-consciousness search to see how varied the library is.

Paul Simon – Mother and Child Reunion (search returned only a live track)

Jack Johnson – The Horizon Has Been Defeated

The Police – Message in a bottle

B.B. King – 3 O’Clock Blues

Robert Johnson – Cross Road Blues

The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil

The list was pretty impressive, showing me versions of “Sympathy for the Devil” by artists I wasn’t aware covered it (Blood, Sweat and Tears!). However, I hit a wall with the next song in my search: “Paint it Black” as covered by The Tea Party. It was a fairly popular song a few years ago, but I suppose that on a global scale the band may simply not be well known. I figured the omission could be addressed by the CRTC’s (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission) draconian rules, or simply a qualm with record labels. A search for further Canadian artists turned up mixed results. There was a decent showing from The Tragically Hip, Barenaked Ladies, and a healthy dose of Rush. A few acts like I Mother Earth, Sloan, or The Trews are simply nonexistent.

Dipping into other genres I experienced the same hit-and-miss searches as I had in Rock. I was pleased with the healthy results returned by entering Sugarhill Gang, George Clinton (with and without Parliament Funkadelic) and N.W.A. I even came across a very unfortunate version of “Baby Got Back” by Vanilla Ice which, until recently, I was blissfully unaware of. My final hip-hop search was a surprise: nerdcore hip-hop artists MC Frontalot and Optimus Rhyme had a handful of tracks between them – more than I expected.

The Experience

This is a beta version, and it shows. Radical.fm is definitely built on some good bones, though. The UI is clean and unobtrusive, with the only ad space (so far) is relegated to a huge quarter-screen-filling banner to the right of the main panel. On login you’re confronted with the simple interface. Across the top you have your basic music controls: pause, play/next, and a microphone icon representing a voice recording/be-a-DJ feature that wasn’t available at the time of writing. Surrounding the controls you have a volume slider and elapsed/remaining time indicator. To the right of the controls you find the area of the the UI I personally spent the most time in. It shows the song currently playing (with expandable album art), options to play more, less, or block songs by the current artist, and finally a “Buy” link. Clicking this little shopping cart gives you the option to purchase the song from various outlets (at this time, only Amazon and iTunes). The same options are available for the previously-played song, but I found myself frustrated that I couldn’t go back any further than one song. Basically, if you didn’t catch the name of that band you liked that played two songs previously, you’re out of luck. Radical.fm does fancy itself a radio station, and that part of the real radio experience is replicated perfectly.

Below the main controls is the other place you’ll be spending all your time: the slider board. This is where you can create custom stations (like mine, “The Biology of Rock”, an attempt to explore the roots of rock throughout history). You’re given up to ten genres to dump into your very own station. I chose everything from “Punk” to “Funk”, “Old Rap/Hip-Hop” to “Alt Rock”, and…well, it isn’t exactly chock-full of variety. You can pick from a handful of rock eras, a few hip-hop and reggae options, and a sampling of house, trance, techno, and the like. There are some strange options, such as “Love Songs”, “Teen Pop”, “Today’s Teen Hits” , and “Recent Teen Hits”. In a search I came across both Leadbelly and Howlin’ Wolf, yet there isn’t a selectable “Blues” genre. It isn’t exactly “niche”. I imagine this will come with time, but I can’t see the necessity of three teen-centric genres – but maybe Beiber Fever hasn’t taken hold of me…yet.

The genres themes are assigned to sliders, which is probably the neatest feature of the service. Feel like more dirty power rock in your day? Slide the 80s Rock toggle to ten (eleven?) and get your Bon Jovi fix. A few hours later you’re tired of Poison and Queensryche (though I don’t see how that’s possible), so you take that slider down to three and drag your “Classic Pop” to seven and “Punk” to nine. Now you’re getting NOFX chased by Men At Work, which is a startling, but refreshing experience.

Another option for the slider board is custom playlist creation. This is where the generally user-friendly UI takes a dip. You (strangely) have two search boxes: one for artist, one for song names. The search does provide a suggest feature below as you type, which is nice considering how very picky the engine can be (“BB King” doesn’t show up, but “B.B. King” does). You search for a song and add it to your playlist. It’s straightforward and bare-bones. The simplicity has a few drawbacks, however. Don’t expect iTunes-style artist information here: you get song name, artist, length, and a link to purchase the particular song. You can then – click by slow click – scoot the chosen songs up and down within your playlist, or remove them entirely. Another issue with this format is the inability to add multiple songs in one go. Something we just expect in apps from iTunes to Gmail and everything between simply doesn’t exist in the beta. I really hope this basic feature makes it into the final build, because this oversight really brings down the experience for me. I don’t mind being obsessive-compulsive with my own music library, but I really can’t get behind going song-by-song with a service like this.

The last major feature of Radical.fm is the Radcast. This portion of the service lets you listen to other users’ stations and interact with them. You can “Steal” users’ stations – a bold word to use in the age of torrents, piracy, and the definition of ‘free’.  Once you’ve “stolen” a station or playlist, you can either simply listen to their stream, or add it to your own. The interface of the Radcast reminds me strongly of Mplayer, the ancient PC gaming and chat service from the turn of the century – in both aesthetics and operation. Take from that what you will. As someone who hasn’t been in a chat room since the days when modems screamed at you before logging in, this area didn’t really capture my attention. Granted, chat isn’t the point of this service – music is – but it just seems a little frivolous.

Radical.fm wants to be in your browser at home, at work, and in your pocket. The newest promotional video (which may draw more attention from the Beatles’ legal team than the services’ merits) states that they’ll be rolling out a mobile version. They’re promising iOS, Android, and BlackBerry apps “soon”. Having this service on the road would be a major plus for them. Strangely, the example they use for their multi-user station synchronization is a group of people jogging together. The idea is that they can all listen to the same station as they go along on their run, all happily hitting the pavement presumably in time with the music. Now, I don’t ever see myself in this situation, but if I can listen, in real-time, to the same song my friend in Sweden is listening to, that’s definitely a unique experience. Or you can do as I did: pick a random user and give their station a listen. Going from Sum 41′s “Fat Lip” to Barbara Streisand’s “People” is…different.

At its core, Radical.fm is a solidly built service that’s a little rough around the edges. It is clearly still a beta, and I feel it’ll hang on to that prefix for a while. It has some easy fixes to make and I’m going to keep checking back to see if their catalogue expands. If it does, and the mobile app deliver on their promise of real-time synched streaming, Radical.fm will be up there as a major contender in the industry.

PROS

Easy-to-use main UI.
Large library for a beta run.
Excellent sound quality.

CONS

Baffling genre selection.
Difficult playlist creation.
Pop-up confirmation/notifications nearly every time you make a change.

Final Verdict

I believe that Radical.fm has promise. As it grows and expands its library and irons out a few (easily fixable) bugs on its way out of beta, Radical.fm has a chance to be a major player on the streaming music scene. With innovate features like the genre-specific slider board and promise of real-time sync across multiple devices and platforms, Radical.fm does indeed set itself apart from the pack. A few features remain to be implemented (notably, the ability to broadcast your own voice live via your station), but for now it has a strong showing with what its got. For users wanting an easy-to-use and hands-free custom streaming experience, Radical.fm is sure to be music to their ears.

3.5/5

Final Verdict: Recommended

Radical.FM

Radical FM Player

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Paper Munchers is proof that the food chain works just fine, as long as it’s aided by a bomb every now and again.  The big monsters are hungry, and it’s up to you to feed them as efficiently as you can.  This is a different take on the physics puzzle concept that’s both fresh and fun.  That is, of course, unless you run out of bombs.  But, as a last resort, there are always in-app purchases for that.

The world of Paper Munchers is full of big monsters with their mouths wide open, just hoping that something small and scrumptious will pop in.  There are plenty of little monsters for them to consume, but the small critters don’t seem too eager to just jump into the jaws of death.  That’s where you come in.  As wielder of the bombs, you simply tap the screen to place an explosive device, and watch as monsters go flying.  Every monster will get consumed, but aside from helping you complete the level, only certain ones are beneficial to your immediate game play.

There are two types of bombs in this world: temporary and permanent.  Permanent bombs come in a group of three, and this group gets replenished each time you start a level.  The one saving grace to your collection of permanent bombs is that you can actually earn them back while playing a level.  The first critter of a certain color that lands in the mouth of a big monster of the same color after using a bomb will earn you a replacement bomb.  Don’t get too excited, though.  If you land a small pink monster in a big pink monster’s mouth, and then a blue one in a big blue monster’s mouth on the same turn, you won’t get two bombs.  Still, if you can manage it you should be able to keep your supply of permanent bombs coming.

Temporary bombs, on the other hand, are quite fickle.  As their name implies, once you use them they are gone.  Don’t despair, though.  You can always buy bombs in the store.  Bombs cost currency, which you earn every time you complete a level.  Or, if you want to fast track things, you can spend your hard earned cash buying currency through in-app purchases.  It all seems a bit ironic if you ask me.  So far I haven’t run across a level I couldn’t beat with only my 3 permanent bombs (I ran out of temp bombs pretty quickly), but going this route you’ll certainly spend a lot of time on some levels.

The graphics in Paper Munchers are interesting to say the least.  The background employs the “make it look like paper” style of art, which I suppose has something to do with the name.  When implemented well it can be very stylish, and there’s no question that it looks fabulous here.  They even managed to make the oft times drab color pallet work.  The small creatures are basic shapes like rectangles and squares that have eyes and mouths, though they are certainly animated little shapes.  The hungry monsters start out as gnarly beasts with wide, gaping jaws, but later transform into other things like big organic saw blades.  One of the best (and admittedly rather morbid) parts of the visuals is the bones that are spit out when the monsters are done eating the small creatures.

The sound effects work well towards creating a darkly humorous mood.  The victims gurgle and chirp until they cease to exist, and in the case of the wide-jawed monsters, a nice little chomping sound followed by a spit completes the gruesome picture.  Other noises are appropriate to the types of monster you are feeding.  I will admit that I was a bit disappointed with the music, which is actually rather plain.  Given the atmosphere I would have almost expected a couple of Danny Elfman style tracks.

The main issue I have with Paper Munchers is that except for when you first complete a given level, currency doesn’t flow so freely in this game.  If you don’t mind spending some real do for fake currency, or you can live with 3 bombs once your supply of temps has been depleted, this is one very entertaining game.  Just remember that no actual monsters were harmed in the making of this software.

Final Verdict: Recommended
App Store Link
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