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 »

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.

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 - 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 »

Apple Positioning iPhone and iPod Touch as Mobile Gaming Devices

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Steve Jobs acknowledged that the iPhone and iPod touch "may emerge as really viable devices in the mobile games market this holiday season." The sentiment also echoes comments made by...

Review: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare game

From its visually stunning beginning to its emotionally wrenching ending, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a surprisingly deep, rich, and unique approach to the first-person shooter.