Within days of announcing that NBA Jam for iPhone was on the way, EA released the game to the iTunes store. Unlike NBA Live 10, which was a heavily watered-down version of the console game, NBA Jam on the iPhone stays relatively close to the recent console games. This mobile package includes essentially the same graphics, same sounds, and most importantly, the same exciting gameplay, in a format you can take with you anywhere.
With a major holiday coming up, many iPhone game publishers are once again slashing the prices on a number of their games. Before writing this feature, I went nuts and bought a ton of games myself, many of which I will write about in the near future. If you’re looking to load up on iPhone games for yourself (or gift to a loved one) and don’t know where to start, I’d say start with my recommendations in this post.
NBA Jam was one of my favourite video games growing up. I was sad to see it fade into obscurity as new versions of the game watered down the formula, but I was pumped to get my hands on the NBA Jam reboot, which came out on Wii, PS3 and XBOX 360 last year. While I liked what I played of it, the new game didn’t strike me as something I’d be willing to pay full price for at this point in time.
Luckily for me, NBA Jam is now coming out on iPhone.
NHL 94 is one of my all-time favourite sports video games. I have fond memories of playing this game for dozens of hours with friends. Many years later, when I got a Super Nintendo again, I made sure to pick up a copy of NHL 94, which to me, still holds up as a fun game to play. I understand that video game hockey has progressed greatly in the last 15 years, but as a non-hockey fan (and as someone who hasn’t played a hockey game since then…yet), that game is still good enough for me.
I was sold on NHL 2K11 on the iPhone when I played the lite version. Almost instantly, I realized that it played a lot like NHL 94. After a few minutes with the demo, I shelled out the $0.99 for it and have been playing it since.
With Dead Space 2 hitting stores this week, it’s easy to forget (or miss completely) the fact that Dead Space also came out on iPhone at the same time. Though the console sequel will likely get all of the hype and the love, I think this game is definitely worth some attention of its own.
It’s like 1992 all over again, this time on the iPhone. Street Fighter has dominated the iPhone fighting game scene for the past year and Mortal Kombat has just arrived, trying to take the throne. While the initial Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat debate carried on for a number of years and across multiple iterations of each series, even the most dedicated Mortal Kombat fans can’t make a case in this battle. Not only does Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on the iPhone fall short of the bar set by Street Fighter IV, it also falls short as a Mortal Kombat game.
Infinity Blade is a revelation. Built on Unreal Engine, this game pushes the graphical boundaries of the iPhone and iPad so far beyond what you think those devices are capable of that you may have a hard time believing that these visuals are coming from those devices. One could say it’s, unreal.
Sorry for the horrible joke. I don’t need to explain to anyone how amazing this game looks. But it is worth talking about how well it actually plays. Does the gameplay rival the graphics in awesomenss? Or is this a graphical showcase with no substance?
A few weeks back, Capcom Arcade updated its lineup of games to include Street Fighter II: Championship Edition. If you bought Street Fighter II like I did, you should feel burned, because this makes your purchase obsolete. However, you also should have seen this coming.
Whether you were playing games on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, iOS gaming was really strong this year. There were a ton of great titles that hit the iTunes store, many of which went on sale at crazy prices. I have bought dozens of iOS games, though I’m embarrassed to admit that I did not put much time into most of them.
If you’re looking for a definitive list of the best iOS games of 2010, I’m sure that sites like Slide to Play and Touch Arcade will do a much better job of that than I ever could. At the very least, I can share with you my list of favourite iOS games of 2010.
Infinity Blade (iTunes)
Infinity Blade has created quite the buzz for itself. Up until I read reviews about the game, I had absolutely no idea what it was about. However, I’ve known about it ever since it was debuted a few months ago. Up until now, I’ve known Infinity Blade as the graphically-stunning iOS game.
In Third Person 