I come from the land of iOS devices with more apps. Also I’m kind of sick of the subtitled title already so I’m just going to stick with App Attack from now on. I also made a quick little picture I’ll use from now on as the thumbnail. I’d also like to remind you guys to continually check up on the free games since lots of sweet priced games get knocked to free for a few days and you can get some neat stuff sometimes like Spirits & Vector Runner for free.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
S:S&SEP can be purchased for 2.99 on the App Store.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP has been on everyone’s radar for months since it was first announced and it’s finally out for us to get our hands on. It first released in April on iPad devices but since many of us don’t own an iPad we had to wait until May to get the iPhone/iPod Touch version dubbed the ‘micro’ edition. They’re the same game, it’s just that purchasing the 4.99 version will allow you to play it on your iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch while purchasing the cheaper one will only allow you to play it on your iPhone/iPod Touch. The first thing you’ll notice when you start up the game is it’s gorgeous pixilated look. Everything has been done in such a beautifully done way, especially with the animations, that playing the game feels more like an interactive music video than an adventure game. This is the type of game that absolutely needs a pair of good headphones to enjoy the fantastic soundtrack that you’ll be treated to while playing. Everything seems to wonderfully sync together with the music and what you’re supposed to be doing perfectly and it’s pretty exciting to see in action. The gameplay itself is more of a point/touch action/adventure title where you’ll guide the protagonist around various environments and solve numerous puzzles while facing off against enemies. When it’s time to get your sword dirty with the blood of your foe you’ll have to twist your iOS device vertically and that’s when the music picks up for the fight to start. Some enemies are fought simply by blocking their attack and then attacking right after, boss fights on the other hand are a bit tougher since some will launch orbs at you that you’ll have to swing back at them. All of this matches perfectly with the music playing of course. That’s as far as I’m going to get into the game since I really don’t want to spoil much to anybody since this is really something everyone should own for their iOS device. You can expect to get a few hours out of the game with various side-quests hidden throughout the environments and there’s a neat Twitter feature that plays a part in the game as well. I’d also recommend purchasing the soundtrack online if you ever get the chance since it truly is a fantastic piece of work.
NBA Jam
NBA Jam can be purchased for 4.99 on the App Store.
I know many of you, like me, played the shit out of NBA Jam with your friends back in the day. Shouting the catchphrases with your buddies, getting on fire and slamming a sweet dunk, and stealing the ball from your friend to score the winning shot is how I’d describe my time with the game back then and it’s how I’d describe it now. The graphics got a *very* crisp update that are pretty close to the console versions with added touch screen control. You control your character with a virtual joystick and you have three buttons on the right side: a sprint button, steal (for stealing the ball, duh), one to jump to toss the ball and while holding the sprint button the steal button changes to a push and the other to an instant dunk. The buttons themselves are small enough to not obstruct your view yet still large enough so you don’t accidentally hit one you don’t want, it also helps that they’re transparent. Everything feels nice and smooth so there’s no issues at all when it came to switching from consoles to an iOS device. The first mode you’ll see is the basic arcade mode where you can jump into a game instantly with any team you want and face off against your opponent of choice. You’ll have over a dozen teams with multiple players within each team and you’ll be able to unlock hidden teams such as the mascots, the Beastie Boys, the stick-men, the republicans, & the democrats. The characters have 2D heads popped onto 3D bodies which gives everything quite a charming look as the characters make humorous faces when pushing other players, dunking, or just generally being awesome at the game. The other mode tasks you with picking a division, a team from that division, and then facing off against other teams in 30 matches to win. There isn’t any Game Center support but NBA Jam does have it’s own achievement system with dozens of achievements to get which unlock new players, hidden teams, and cheat codes such as big head mode.
Vector Runner
Vector Runner can be purchased for 0.99 on the App Store.
I love vector/retro styled games like Geometry Wars so I instantly picked this up when I saw the graphics and the fact that it was a racing game of sorts. The basic gist of the game is that you control a small square ‘car’ and you basically drive as far as possible without crashing into one of the many obstacles 3 times. There are extra points to pick up, shields, and invulnerability power ups to get along the way. I’m enjoying my time with it but most people may get tired over there only being one mode. I can’t complain much since I managed to get it when they made it free for a day, but there’s tons of fun in this simple time-killer.
Spirits
Spirits is can be purchased for 0.99 on the App Store.
Spirits is an interesting lemming-styled game I found where you have to guide a couple ‘spirits’ around an area to a portal. Your spirits are given various abilities to help you navigate your environment such as turning into a vine to walk on, becoming a cloud that blows wind in various directions, and digging a hole into a wall. These actions will kill that spirit instantly so it’s up to you to use your spirits intelligently to make sure you have the most amount as possible going into that portal. There are also little flowers you can pick up on the way to the portal to get that perfect score.
Puzzle Draws
Puzzle Draws is free for a few puzzles and upgradable for 0.99 on the App Store.
This is pretty much the exact same game as Puzzle Man from my last post, the difference is that the puzzles are full of abstract artwork. The game is still free with around 5 puzzles but can be upgraded for a dollar to get around a couple dozen. This version doesn’t have an Expert mode unfortunately. Now if you didn’t read my last App Attack I’ll let you know that I’m copy/pasting the summary from Puzleman since they’re pretty much the same thing. I’ve loved puzzles since I was like 3 and I’ve finally been shown the best puzzle simulator on iOS. You can expect to have around a couple dozen puzzles that range in difficulty from very easy to hard with the number of pieces increasing as you go up in difficulty as you’d expect. The controls work fantastically with the ability to zoom in and out by pinching the screen and you can rotate any piece with a simple double tap. All the pictures are of high quality and you’ll get quite a variety of them too. The leaderboards aren’t full of glitched/hacked times so that’s a bit of a bonus over the previous title. The game does time you on each puzzle so if you like going back to beat your times that might be some incentive to go back to some of them.
