iphone

Mobile Me

JettLeave a comment

I used to hate mobile gaming with a passion. Before I go into my little rant, let me say that when I mean mobile, I don’t mean dedicated portable gaming systems like the DS or PSP. I mean mobile like cell phone games. I looked down upon that entire segment of gaming. I hated the lack of graphical horsepower. I hated how weird it was to get games on your phone. I hated the poor quality games. I hated the controls. I don’t think any game controls well on a number pad. There was a point in the early-to-mid 2000s when analysts were predicting the cell phone market would expand tremendously, and I scoffed at that notion for all of the problems I mentioned above. Up until the release of the iPhone, I was absolutely right.

Continue reading →

A Dragon You May Not Want to Enter

JettLeave a comment

During the apex of my fascination with ninjas as a child, my dad went out of the way to sit me down to watch Enter the Dragon. My dad hyped up Bruce Lee to me as the best karate guy ever. Yes, even better than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now that’s serious.

Years later, I still idolize the only person to ever beat Chuck Norris. Seeing his name on this game for iPhone and iPad did pique my interest, but Bruce Lee games historically suck. Really bad. Even at $5, I was reluctant to give it a go. However, it went on sale last week on the iPad for $0.99, which is low enough for me to try almost anything.

Continue reading →

There’s A Zombie On Your Lawn

JettLeave a comment

I have been dancing around Plants vs. Zombies for the longest time. In spite of the overwhelming positive response for the game, a love for PopCap Games after Peggle ate me alive and a personal endorsement from my girlfriend, I historically haven’t enjoyed the tower defense genre. I don’t like planning for 10 minutes and then spending the next 10 watching my defenses crumble to crap without the ability to fix anything until I fail and try again.

With Plants vs. Zombies, PopCap Games managed to create a tower defense game that not only addresses the things I don’t like about the genre, but create a wildly fun game that may be universally appealing to just about anyone. I still consider myself a tower defense hater, but I love this game.

Continue reading →

Is NBA Live on the iPhone a Slam Dunk?

JettLeave a comment

After my overall positive experience with FIFA World Cup 2010, I decided to give my favourite sport a shot. NBA Live for the iPhone and iPod Touch was also on sale for $0.99 when I picked it up. As someone who has generally nit-picked at games based on my favourite sport to the point that I quit playing them years ago, I thought that having a mobile version could be interesting. While I’ve had some fun with it, I’m not sure the game has enough to overcome it’s deficiencies.
Continue reading →

FIFA World Cup on iPhone is More Fun Than a Vuvuzela

JettLeave a comment

Historically, I’m not a fan of sports games. This is weird, because I actually love sports. It’s just one of those things I would generally prefer to do in real life than in a video game. With that said, hockey and soccer are two of my favourite video game sports, which is also weird, because I don’t like those sports in real life.

I guess before I make this any more confusing, I picked up FIFA World Cup 2010 for the iPod Touch when it was on sale for $0.99 (85% off!). While I can recognize the game’s faults, it’s really fun to play and was a steal at $0.99.

Continue reading →

Thoughts on the iPad (and now iPhone) Geometry Wars

JettLeave a comment

Back when Geometry Wars: Touch launched in April, it was $10 and iPad only. Now in June, it’s half the price and now works for both iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch. I really like the series, but was reluctant to give it a go until this recent update and price drop. Now that I’ve spent some time with it on both platforms, I’ll give you the scoop on what makes each version different and which is better to play.

Continue reading →

Go Ninja, Go

JettLeave a comment

Ninjatown: Trees of Doom is a game based off of a line of plush dolls created by Shawn Smith. For those of you that read EGM in the mid to late 90’s, you may remember that Shawn Smith was a part of the EGM crew for a while. Because of his connections, he was frequently mentioned in video game podcasts such as EGM Live and Player One where he would talk about the old days of the magazine and promote his Ninjatown work.

I’ve wanted to support his cause for a while now. However, I didn’t really have room in my life for plush dolls and the first Ninjatown game was a tower defense game; a genre I’m not that into. When Trees of Doom was released on the iPhone and iPod Touch at the bargain basement price of $0.99, I was quick to pick it up. While I have to hand it to Shawn for creating mega-cute characters, is the game any fun?
Continue reading →

Drop It Like It’s Hot

JettLeave a comment

I can’t go anywhere without my iPod Touch. As my all-in-one mini computer, I use it for everything from media consumption, note-taking and games. While I was swept up in Peggle fever a few months back, one game has remained a staple in my iPod Touch game library. That game is Drop 7. It’s by no measure a new game. I bought the game months before I started this blog, and even then it wasn’t new. However, I have consistently gone back to this game and play it almost daily. It’s a great and simple game that is perfect to play on the go.

Continue reading →

Game Design Talk: Turning the Difficulty Up To 11

Jett1 Comment

I’ve been putting a lot of time into Street Fighter IV for the iPhone and I’m still having a lot of fun with it. I’ve gotten to the point where I can consistently hit 19-hit combos with Ryu, which is kind of scary, considering the fact that I can’t do that on the real thing.

Thinking I had mad skills, I decided to try playing the game at the toughest difficulty setting. On normal, I could beat the game with Ryu in under 8 minutes. On “Grueling”, it took me 25 minutes to get to the final boss. It was tough, but I didn’t mind the experience. It still felt somewhat fair.

It was when I got to M. Bison that the experience took a turn for the worst. If you’ve played a Street Fighter game, you probably can empathize with my pain. I spent another 30 minutes just trying to beat him before I finally broke through.

Continue reading →

Poor Episodic Gaming: Puzzle Quest on iPhone

JettLeave a comment

When I first bought Puzzle Quest on the iPhone on the first day it came out in December 2008, I fully knew that I could have gotten the complete game on the DS, XBOX Live or the Wii. However, I felt that this style of gameplay would serve me better on the iPhone. Despite the initial display issues (which were later patched), I was having a lot of fun with it.

That was, till the game ran out. You see, at a discounted price, you got 1/3 of the game, with the other two parts coming at an undetermined date at an undetermined price. I was able to get through that initial chunk within a few weeks. I said to myself, “OK, cool. I’ll wait for the second chapter.”

Continue reading →