Appletell review - Cubis 2 for iPod

Section: iPod + iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, Features, Review Genre: Arcade/puzzle Format: iPod Game Developer: Fresh Games, LLC Minimum Requirements: iPod classic, iPod 5G, iPod nano 3G, iPod Software v1.2 Price: $4.99 ESRB Rating: N/A Availability: Now Here, then, we have a game perfectly suited to the iPod. It’s suited to the controls, and it’s suited to the small screen. What it may not be suited to is your schedule. If you only break out an iPod game when you’re trying to kill time before an appointment or while you’re waiting for your kid’s trombone lesson to end, the addictive nature of Cubis 2 may cause you to be late on more than one occasion. And actually, I hate using the term “addictive,” as it’s never accurate when speaking about games. Do people go into violent shakes when they can’t play Cubis for a few days? Do they sell the Renoir and the TV set to finance a new iPod classic or iPod nano when they’ve worn out the controls of the 5G due to intense Cubis 2 gaming? I imagine not. But if you’re into puzzle/arcade-styled games such as Bejeweled (also available for iPod), you will probably enjoy Cubis 2, and maybe even find it’s the more satisfying gaming experience of the two. The gameplay centers around the traditional task of lining up three or more cubes of matching colors. The cubes then disappear, allowing others to fall into their place. It’s like house cleaning, but with bright, happy colors and music, and no dog getting in your way. The twist here is that the board is laid down flat, and the cubes stack on top of one another. The 3D perspective adds an extra challenge with more possibilities for combo moves, and it requires some unique controls. Rather than just click directly on the cubes you want to match up, you fire a cube onto the game board from either the left or the bottom. This is done by lining up your shot with the click-wheel, then sending it into play by hitting the iPod’s center button. Smooth and intuitive, although sometimes difficult to land directly on the row/column you want. When you shoot a cube onto the board, it either pushes away the cube it hits (provided there’s room to do so) or it causes cubes to disappear if it creates a match of three or more like colors. If the cubes disappear, the cube above it will fall and crack, if there is one. Cracked cubes shatter and disappear if another cube is shot through it. Keep this up until the board is clear, and it’s on to the next. As is always the case with games such as this, the developers keep things interesting by having different cubes behave in different ways. For instance, there’s the Lift Cube which wedges its way underneath the first cube it hits, then becomes a regular cube. Although highly annoying at first, these cubes will help you set up better chain reactions (for more points) once you learn how to use them properly. There’s a Stone Cube that can only be removed with Lasers or a Bomb Cube, so, of course, there are Lasers and Bomb Cubes, amongst other things. You don’t know when you’ll get these various cubes (the three cubes “on deck” are always visible), and learning how to utilize (or, in some cases, deal with) them is what provides the game’s challenge. Oh. And there’s a time limit. Isn’t that always the way? To keep things even more interesting, Cubis 2 contains four slightly different play variations. Arcade Mode is pretty much what I described above, in which you have to clear a certain percentage of blocks from the screen. Puzzle Mode gives you specific tasks, such as clearing all of the star cubes within a certain amount of time. Then, there are Morph Modes of both Arcade and Puzzle Mode which add Ghost Cubes that float around and mess up your strategies, making the game more complex. Depending upon what type of gamer you are, that could be a problem with Cubis 2. It’s more difficult than other games of this sort. The multi-layered action makes for a steeper learning curve than you’d expect, and it’ll be a while before you’re able to develop strategies that...you know...work. As a result, easily discouraged gamers will bail on this early even if they’re succeeding, because they’ll have no idea why they’re succeeding. On the other hand, those that stick with it will be rewarded with a more satisfying gaming experience with a longer shelf life than most other iPod games. To help you along with this, Fresh Games includes a few different screen backdrops from which to chose, as well as different cube styles. The variations aren’t that drastic, but they do give you something else to look at every now and then. Even better, the music does a nice job of drifting into the background when you play. This is what music in games like this should do; if it’s noticeable, it would get annoying very quickly. There are multiple version of Cubis 2 available online for free play, so I very much recommend you check these out to get a good feel for the game. If you enjoy it at all online, you’ll like it even more on the iPod. There are other games you can download from iTunes that you’ll learn and get into more quickly than Cubis 2, but not many you’ll enjoy for longer. Appletell Rating: Buy Cubis 2 See other iPod game reviews. This review was originally published at Applelinks. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Appletell review - Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes

Section: iPod + iTunes, iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, Features, Review Genre: Tactical RPG Format: iPod Game Developer: Square Enix Minimum Requirements: 3G iPod nano, iPod classic or 5G iPod (video), iPod Software v1.2, 129MB disk space Price: $4.99 ESRB Rating: N/A Availability: Now I recently wrote an article for Appletell in which I wondered if the App Store / iPhone combination would kill iPod gaming. In the article, I opined that it will, and probably should, but that it saddened me to say so. For one reason or another, developers just never figured out how to program games for the click wheelbinterface, or what games to port over to the iPod. A few games stood out, a few were terrible, and the majority were simply mediocre. Then, suddenly, along comes Square Enix. Square Enix of Final Fantasy fame. Square Enix of Valkyrie Profile fame. Square Enix of Dragon Quest fame. Square Enix has released some of the best and most beloved RPG franchises—be they action, tactical or what have you—on pretty much every platform worth mentioning since the NES. And now, with the release of Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes, they’re on the iPod. Just having this company acknowledging the iPod is big enough, that they’ve also released arguably the best iPod game yet makes it all the more satisfying. Song Summoner is a tactical role playing game, meaning players control warriors one turn at a time, positioning them on a battlefield grid and having them attack their opponent (or not), before moving on to the next soldier. And although Song Summoner will draw many comparisons to Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Tactics, it actually plays more like Fire Emblem in that you move all of your soldiers before the computer gets a turn. These battles take place on a fixed, isometrical battlefield. The battlefield designs are somewhat uninspired, but they’re at least very colorful. The graphics in general are quite nice; along the lines of what you’d expect to see on the Nintendo DS. The sprite-based characters look good enough, but it’s the small battle animations that make the graphics work. They’re not going to win awards, granted, but they come together in a cohesive package that indicates the developers understood the strength and weaknesses of the device’s graphics capabilites, and worked with them accordingly. In games of this type, you’re usually presented with characters that you level up throughout the game, giving them access to greater weapons and abilities as they face greater foes. If Square Enix had been content to bring Final Fantasy Tactics to the iPod, that’s what we would’ve gotten. Instead, they decided to embrace the iPod for what it is—a music player—by letting you create Tune Troopers based on your music. You can create soldiers from any song in your collection, and that character will get its capabilities from the song’s characteristics (check out Jenni Lada’s Four Tips for Sturdy Tune Troopers). The ability to create your own soldiers is pretty cool, but not as intelligent as it sounds. I found that songs of similar styles could create wildly different characters. On the other end, you’ll also find yourself with quite a few characters who are extremely similar in capabilities despite being made from wildly different songs. And, of course, there are only around 50 character designs programmed into the game, so it’s not as if your soldiers can be truly customized based on your choice of music. These Tune Troopers don’t level up like characters do in standard tactical RPGs. Rather than gain experience trooper by trooper, battle spheres are earned at the end of a fight, which can then be used to beef up your army. However, each Tune Trooper has a limited number of uses (determined upon its creation) before it’s gone for good. This obviously will play with your use/level-up strategies, and can be frustrating for those used to dumping experience points onto characters in an effort to make them very strong by the end of the game. Here, that work can be for naught. On the other hand, it does force you to create more warriors, which leads to more fun with your music collection. Square Enix’s use of the click wheel is quite effective, as they chose to stick with the spinning motion for selection and execution instead of relying on the more cumbersome left/right button approach. The menus and battlefield are all circular, so you can just drag your thumb around the wheel to make your selections. This may take a little more time, but it allows for simple, one-handed play, and feels quite natural. In fact, the only annoying decision Square Enix made was apparently based on the assumption that we’re all fans of Pink or Avril Lavigne. The majority of the characters are exceptionally bratty, and are based on the “attitude = funny” equation that’s just really, really not true. The story is exceptionally dorky, too; evil robot guy rids the world of humans and music in order to control the planet with his mechanized “network,” and one lone rock and roll rebel must lead the fight against him. This idea was dorky was Styx used it for a concept album, it was intentionally dorky when Queen used it for a musical, and it’s just as dorky now. But, it’s fun. And honestly, this is the first iPod game that rises above the casual gamer audience to appeal to hard core gamers. It’s not enough bring it up to the level of the iPhone or Nintendo DS, the latter of which already has dozens of games such as this available to anyone willing to look in the used section at GameStop, but it does show that a great, ambitious game can be made for this little MP3 player if developers know what to do with it. Hopefully, now that Square Enix has shown them the way, more will be willing to make the journey. And hey, speaking of Journey, I wonder what kind of Tune Trooper “Stone in Love” will give me… Appletell Rating: Buy Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes See other iPod game reviews. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Appletell review - Bomberman for iPod

Section: iPod + iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, Features, Review Genre: Action/Arcade Format: iPod Game Developer: Hudson Software Company, Ltd. Minimum Requirements: 3G iPod nano, iPod classic or 5G iPod (video), iPod Software v1.2 Price: $4.99 I somehow missed out on the entire Bomberman franchise, but I know of many gamers who swear by it. The game can be traced back to 1983, when it appeared on a bunch of computers I’ve never heard of. It was when it showed up on the NES in 1987 that it really took off, and variations of the game have been developed for numerous systems since then. In Bomberman, you play a robot who has grown bored working at a bomb factory, and wants to get out. You know, because he’s every man’s Bomberman. Who doesn’t get bored with their daily job and tries to flee 20 levels to the open outdoors? The difference between us and Bomberman, however, is that we don’t have to navigate mazes, bomb enemies, find secret doors and battle bosses to leave our jobs. Well, except for Wal-Mart employees. Female employees, anyway. Like nearly every maze game before and after it, Bomberman has you navigating a little character through a top-down view of walled rooms. You’re being chased by an assortment of bad guys who get progressively faster and sneakier. Unlike other games, however, you don’t eat or shoot your enemies, you bomb them. Power-ups will help you on your way, but it’s otherwise just you and your bombs throughout. And the bombs aren’t just for killing; they also blast holes in the walls to help you work your way through them, and to reveal the secret exits to the next level. This all starts off fairly simply, as the monsters are slow and dumb. After about the fifth level, however, things change drastically; the monsters become much more motivated to prevent Bomberman’s escape, and the mazes become harder to navigate. You’ll need to find power-ups and learn how to properly use them if you want to survive. After every five of the game’s twenty levels, you’re presented with a minigame: bowling, a whack-a-mole style game, and one that has you jumping over bombs. They’re fun enough as diversions from the main action, thereby serving their purpose as minigames. You can go back and play them on command after completing them, but I’m not sure there’s a compelling reason to do so. I should point out you can do this with the game’s standard levels, as well, but again, why? Bomberman looks and sounds great on the iPod, taking advantage of the nostalgic character by presenting nostalgic graphics and music. I’m glad to see developers are not trying to force too much into the look and gameplay of iPod games, and are instead embracing it for what it is. The result here is a sharp, fun, diversion game that’s perfect for killing some time here and there. Unfortunately, no one seems to have an answer for the control problem. Using the click wheel to control Bomberman isn’t the exercise in futility that Sonic the Hedgehog is, but it can still be frustrating. To move Bomberman, you either rotate the clickwheel or lightly touch it in the direction you want to move. Hit it too hard, and you’ll leave the game without warning. Pressing the center button drops the bombs, meaning you’ll either have to stop running to drop bombs, or you’ll end up thumb wrestling with yourself while trying to control Bomberman with both. Thankfully, the pacing and movement options don’t require anything too complex...at least, not until the later stages. Still, Bomberman is currently about as good a game as you’re going to find on the iPod. It’s sophisticated and challenging enough to be a legitimate gaming experience, while retaining controls that are mostly manageable. I’d like to see games of this stort continuing to come our way, but the iPod click wheel will only take you so far before you’ll want to...well, bomb it, man. Appletell Rating: Buy Bomberman See other iPod game reviews. This review was originally published at Applelinks. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Appletell review - The Sims Pool for iPod

Section: iPod + iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, Features, Review Genre: Sports/sim Format: iPod Game Developer: Electronic Arts, Inc. Minimum Requirements: 3G iPod nano, iPod classic or 5G iPod (video), iPod Software v1.2, 31.5MB disc space Price: $4.99 I suppose it was only a matter of time before the Sims invaded the iPod as well. They should just rename the franchise “Invasion of the Platform Snatchers.” Every time I visit another household where someone’s playing a Sims game, I go to the basement to search for pods. Obviously, The Sims itself is far too complex to play on an iPod, so Electronic Arts has taken a pool game and thrown the brand on top of it. Well, that’s unfair, perhaps, as they have given some Sims attributes to it, but they seem to be more about justifying the branding than about contributing to gameplay. You start off by creating your Sim, which entails selecting a face, a shirt, your hair color, etc. What does this have to do with the game? Very little, as you don’t actually see your Sim holding his pool cue when playing. But it’s the kind of thing Sims fans enjoy, so...enjoy, I guess. Also true to the Sims genre, your player has aspirations beyond the pool hall. There’s money to be made, and as money’s made, you can get better pool equipment (fancier cues) to help you win games. And, of course, the more you win, the happier your Sim will be as he achieves his life goals and works his way up to being a pool shark. You don’t have to go this route if this isn’t your thing. There’s a Play Pool option that takes you right to the table without having to bother with putting on a shirt. Nothing you do here will affect the storyline you’re creating in the full story mode. If you’re more about the pool than the plot line, this is where you’ll be spending your time. Regardless of how you get to the table, The Sims Pool really shines once you’re there. Literally. The graphics are fantastic, rivaling those you’d see on the Nintendo DS, or even the Macintosh itself for this type of game. They’re bright, they’re crisp, and they’re very colorful. The animation is quite smooth, but that shouldn’t be hard to achieve considering it involves little more than a bunch of balls rolling around. Using the iPod click wheel to play pool may seem a bit odd at first, but its quite well implemented and therefore pretty easy to get the hang of. You line up your shot by spinning your pool cue around the cue ball with the click wheel. You then click the center button of the iPod to confirm the angle, and this can lead to some trouble; if you don’t pull your thumb straight off the click wheel, your angle can easily change a bit. This can get frustrating, but not enough that it screws up the game. Just realign and try again. Lines appear on the screen to let you know the direction the ball you’re hitting will go, as well as the rebound of the cue ball (helping you avoid a scratch). If you like, you can shut this feature off. After the angle is set, you can use the click wheel to put some “english” on the ball. This, of course, determines the amount of spin the cue ball will have. I can’t comment either way on the physics of this, as I didn’t really utilize it to its full advantage. As with real pool, I’m not good enough to worry about things like english and power and such; it’s enough for me to worry about hitting the ball straight. Once you’ve determined the spin, a traditional sliding power meter appears so you can adjust how hard you hit the cue ball. Hit the center button again and hope for the best. The abilities of your AI opponent will probably seem wildly inconsistent. In my very first game, he missed some fairly easy shots, and even hit in one of my balls. After I had acquired quite a lead, he suddenly sank five balls in a row to catch up, then missed a couple other easy shots to watch me win. Was I going to get hustled until my opponent took pity on me? I don’t know. This is a Sims game, after all. The computer opponent’s probably more worried about stealing my girlfriend or cleaning his kitchen than he is about playing pool. There are two games you can play in The Sims Pool: eight ball and nine ball. There’s also a trick shot challenge that’ll help you test and improve your skills, and it’s kind of fun after you’ve gotten pretty good at the game. You’re not stuck playing the computer, however. You can play other humans on a single iPod by passing it around. Unfortunately, there’s no option for playing doubles should you have, you know, more real life friends than Sim friends. Perhaps that would be a hassle, anyway; passing around the iPod is one thing, but passing around headphones is quite another matter. Technically, you don’t need sound to play this game, but the sound is so great I highly recommend you keep the headphones on. You can listen to your own music if you like, but I actually suggest shutting it off so you can more easily hear the pool hall ambient noises, which do a great job of pulling you into the game. Better yet, they’re not so repetitive that you can hear the loop. Very well done, but that’s the kind of thing you come to expect from Electronic Arts. Remove “The Sims” from its name, and The Sims Pool is still a great pool sim. That it’s this good on the iPod is very impressive, but not really surprising; Electronic Arts has made it quite clear they understand the iPod as a gaming platform, and what that should entail. The Sims tie-in isn’t needed here, but I suppose it does add an interesting element for those who’d otherwise tire of just playing pool. And if pool is all you want, you can bypass the Sims elements. That makes this a great game for the iPod that would actually be a worthwhile purchase on any platform. And that’s a good thing, as it’ll help keep your mind off those alien Sims pods in your basement. Appletell Rating: Buy The Sims Pool See other iPod game reviews. This review was originally published at Applelinks. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Will the iPhone kill iPod Click Wheel gaming?

Section: iPod + iTunes, iPod touch, iPod Family, iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, iPhone + Communications, iPhone, iPhone SDK & Apps, OriginalsYes, and it’s about time we put it out of its misery. Even before the iPhone, the iPod never stood a chance as a legitimate gaming device. This saddens me somewhat, too, because I really wanted it to be. I viewed gaming on the iPod much as I do on my Macintosh, in that I didn’t buy a Mac to play games, but if there are games available, I’ll certainly play them. Unfortunately, developers just never put much thought into iPod games, and Apple didn’t seem interested in helping out. The main problem, of course, is the scroll wheel. There are very few games that can be effectively controlled with a wheel, and developers just haven’t been able to work around that. Games such as Mini Golf, Vortex and Peggle are workable, but only because of the simple control schemes that mainly involve spinning in a circle. Okay. But why is Sonic the Hedgehog on the iPod? Bomberman? Pac Man? These are big name titles, sure, but trying to control them with a click wheel is an exercise in frustration and futility that only turns gamers away from the iPod. Games for the iPhone are being developed specifically for the iPhone. Developers are excited about the touch screen and accelerometer, and are already putting them to good use. Obviously, developers didn’t have that excitement about the iPod’s click wheel. As a result, we got a mess of games with titles we recognize—Scrabble, Yahtzee, Pole Position, Pirates of the Caribberan(?!)—because that’s the only way people would buy them. Even EA, apparently recognizing no one wants to play pool on an iPod, threw their popular Sims franchise label on top of it in an effort to move some copies. They did the same with The Sims Bowling and The Sims DJ. Actually, The Sims DJ goes in a direction that more games should have, in that it puts your music collection into the game. It’s not just background music while you play; rather, the gameplay is built around your music. It’s an original concept that could only work on the iPod. The same goes for iQuiz, which creates trivia games based on your own music. This is what more developers needed to do, instead of just throwing unplayable ports of cell phone games at us. Or, someone could’ve given us an iPod game pad. I imagine if the market had been there, someone would have. I’m not a developer and know little of design, but I can’t imagine it would’ve been hard to put together a cradle in which the iPod classic and 3G nano would sit, placing a D-pad to the left of the click wheel and a few buttons to the right. The D-pad would take over the touch commands of the click wheel, and the buttons would take over the wheel and center button clicking functions. With that device, the games would be able to be played as they’re meant to, and the entire catalog would open to all iPod owners on a device combo no larger than a Nintendo DS. Of course, the problem with such a device is that Apple updates the form factor of the iPod so frequently that it would have to be a wide open design to avoid becoming obsolete within a year or two. Plus, as I mentioned at the top of the article, people aren’t buying iPods for the games. The Nintendo DS and Sony PSP have that market covered, so it’s unlikely the type of person looking to play Sonic the Hedgehog would look to do so on an iPod. And so, we’re back to game design. Developers need to put games on the iPod that work on the iPod, which is why I’m thrilled to see a company as huge as Square Enix getting into the mix with Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes. Here’s a game that not only works with the click wheel (it’s not a perfect fit, but the turn-based strategy gameplay doesn’t require quick, precise control, and is therefore more forgiving), but that takes full advantage of the your music collection; the songs on your iPod actually become ”Tune Troopers.” How cool is that...building an army based on your music. I just added this game to my collection, and can’t wait to see what type of soldiers songs such as Queen’s “Ogre Battle” and “Vultan’s Theme (Attack of the Hawk Men)” give me. Or, for that matter, “Particle Man” from They Might Be Giants. So, is there hope for iPod gaming, or is this too little, too late? I fear it’s the latter, but I hope Song Summoner does well enough to convince Square Enix to embrace the iPhone and iPod touch platforms. Support from big name developers and publishers will improve public perception within the gaming community, and that can only be good for sales. After all, showing friends Vortex on the iPod never convinced anyone to run out and buy one, but Super Monkey Ball could certainly have that effect. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Review: Spore Origins for iPod

Offering a distilled experience of the first part of the full Spore game, Spore Origins makes a surprisingly good debut in this version for third-generation iPod nanos, fifth-generation iPods, and the iPod classic.