August 2011

It’s not often that you play a platformer in which the main character hasn’t been anthropomorphized in some way. You play as a guy, or a hedgehog made to look and move like a guy, or a guy made of meat, or a guy who’s really pixelated… or a girl. That happens too. What doesn’t happen much is the path taken by iOS darling EDGE: you’re just a cube. You don’t have a face, arms, legs or any of that. While we love iOS games around here, we’re glad to see Two Tribes take on PC porting duties for Mobigame’s abstract title. READ MORE

When most professional developers attempt to make a 3D game that uses 2D assets, it usually ends as an unpolished mess that loses its charm quickly and isn’t generally fun to play. EasyGameStation, the developers of  the recently-localized Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale, manages to blend both dimensions splendidly to bring us the world of Chantelise, a love letter to both lovers of 2D sprites and tough action games. READ MORE

This week, we take a look at rhythm title Jukebeat and the iOS port of Final Fantasy Tactics.

Jukebeat (Universal): Jukebeat is just one of Konami’s recent music games to hit the market in the last few years. Originally called Jubeat in Japan, their 16-panel touch game finally makes its way over to the US in the form of an iPad/iPod Touch title. The premise of the game is simple enough, and it’s best described as musical whack-a-mole. Tap the panels in time with the music and earn a score. Earning over 700,000 points will earn you a passing grade. Anything lower results in failure. Split into three difficulty categories and ratings ranging from 1-10, you’ll definitely find songs you like and will be able to ease yourself into the game. READ MORE

This week, we match flowers, roll a sphere and do other things that don’t cost much.

Flowerz: This game’s similar to the match-three games Bejeweled and Hexic. The main difference? You’re now matching flowers. You start off with only matching red, blue and yellow flowers, but as you progress, you have to start matching more and more hues. READ MORE

I doubt many thought that Square Enix would get involved in the business of zombie-killing. In Dead Island, they and Deep Silver make us get up close and personal with them, in a much more open world than we’re used to. From our time with the game, we can definitively state that the apocalypse has rarely been more enjoyable. READ MORE