The Rock Band series may be best known for its wide array of plastic instruments, but as the original iPhone version of Rock Band proved, the classic gameplay also translates well to touch-based controls. Rock Band Reloaded is the series’ second outing on the iPhone and it only improves upon its predecessor’s formula. The game is not as feature-rich as its console brethren, but its core gameplay is still very fun and familiar.
It may be more exciting to stand up and strum a guitar or bang on drum pads, but there is also something to be said for convenience and portability. The iPhone is a perfect device for diving into a game to play a song or two any time the mood strikes you. Reloaded gives you the option to play the guitar, bass, drums, and vocal tracks, tapping along to the music. Hitting the notes feels very satisfying, especially for drumming. New to the iPhone this time around are vocals, which you can choose to actually sing, or tap. Singing is just as challenging as it always has been. One aspect of the gameplay that doesn’t seem to work so well is shaking the phone to activate overdrive—I often find myself missing notes (and thus losing my point multiplier) attempting to shake the device hard enough to register it in the game.
The game comes with 29 songs, including contributions from Vampire Weekend, Duran Duran, Nine Inch Nails, and more. There are a few instantly recognizable hits (such as Hungry Like The Wolf, White Wedding, and Kryptonite) sprinkled throughout, but much of the music included with the game or currently available for download is not as exciting or memorable as stuff we have seen from the console outings. Unfortunately, Rock Band Reloaded does not have access to the whole Rock Band Music Store, but there will certainly be a steady flow of downloads coming down the pipe.
Rock Band Reloaded features a World Tour mode, Quick Play, and a multiplayer mode that lets you search for “gigs” with other players. Essentially, Reloaded’s feature set is the same as Rock Band 2’s, minus stuff like character customization. Reloaded may sound a bit barebones compared to Rock Band 3, but it has the essentials to keep you rocking for quite some time, and that’s not bad for a five dollar game.
Naughty Bear is the story of a bear out for revenge. After being left out while the other bears had a party, Naughty Bear decided it was time for revenge. Never again will you envision a teddy bear as just a cute and cuddly children’s toy.
Naughty Bear has 2 game modes, story and challenge. Story mode has 27 levels each featuring a different goal needed to pass the level. The goal varies from a target number of Naughty Points, Cupcakes, or total bear kills. Challenge mode features the same 27 levels only it’s a race against the clock to rack up as many Naughty Points as possible.
Through the levels you’ll be introduced to a variety of enemies from standard bears all the way up to ninja bears. Each type has its own special traits that make them more and more difficult to kill. Each level is littered with objects including cupcakes, weapons, and sabotage stations. Cupcakes are worth Naughty Points so you’ll want to collect those while avoiding other bears until you come across a weapon since you can’t kill a bear unless you have a weapon equipped. Weapons are time limited and the screen will flash red when your weapon is about to disappear. Sabotage stations are various places like bbq grills or campfires that you can “set-up” that will attract bears while you hide in the bushes nearby. While a bear is distracted by the trap you’ve set, you can jump out and attack them from behind. Every kill triggers mini-cut scene that shows exactly how you are taking out the enemy. Kills also give you a point multiplier, which can be stacked with several rapid kills in a short time.
Naughty Bear is quite an entertaining title once you get over the shock that you are using children’s stuffed animals in an ultra-violent game. This isn’t surprising given the fact that it borrows a formula from one of gaming’s most recognizable titles, Pac-Man. At $2.99, Naughty Bear may be one of the higher priced titles that I’ve checked out, but it’s a very well made game that will keep you challenged as you work your way through all of the levels.
Since the day I caved and finally admitted that the iPhone was actually a real gaming platform, very few games have managed to capture my undivided attention. Cut the Rope is a puzzle game developed by the folks at ZeptoLab that has joined that very short list.
Cut the Rope is an ingenious game based on the idea that a mysterious package arrived with a strange creature inside named Om Nom. The only thing Om Nom wants is candy and it’s your job to get it to him.
Each level in Cut the Rope is a new puzzle where you must figure out how to deliver the candy to Om Nom. Feeding Om Nom is not your only goal, though, as you’ll also be trying to collect the 3 golden stars present in each level, some of which don’t stick around for long. Along the way you’ll encounter spiders trying to feast on the candy and even obstacles that break the candy to bits.
Much like some of the top games on the App Store, Cut the Rope features a deceptively simple concept that scales very well. Levels are short but fun, which allows for very short gaming sessions or long marathons. I found Cut the Rope to be quite easy, even on later levels, but that didn’t diminish the experience at all.
Cut the Rope currently features 100 levels broken up in to 4 stages, but a placeholder 5th stage promises additional levels are coming soon. Currently sitting at the top of the App Store, this isn’t one you will want to miss. Spend the $.99 and thank me later.
“Write what you know.” It’s an old saying in writing, and it’s why so many films and TV shows are about making films and TV shows. We haven’t really seen much of it in games, though (except in rare cases like the Japan-only Segagaga). Game Dev Story is a self-indulgent title with many references to the ups and downs of the industry, and it has more than a few jokes for the core gamer. That would be irrelevant if the game wasn’t fun.
It is.
It’s framed as a standard workplace management sim, with hiring workers, putting them to work on games or contracts, spending money and time to advertise or increase employees’ skills. Making a game progresses like this: first you choose a combination of a genre and a theme (for example, Fantasy RPG or Animal Trivia) and decide what platform to release it for. Each has its own effect on development costs and game success. Then your workers start generating points for the game in four categories: fun, creativity, graphics and sound. At various points in the process, you choose a worker to be in charge of different facets of gameplay, and their skills in that category determine how many points are added to the game’s total. Eventually, the game is released, reviewed and sold.
That’s basically how the whole game goes, but there’s an addictive quality to the quest to make a high-scoring game or sell millions of copies. Eventually you can create your own console, but most of the game is a series of other companies’ eerily-familiar systems. You know what to expect from the Senga Exodus, and you know not to believe the hype about the Infendo Virtual Kid.
All of this makes for a game you can’t stop playing, which is wonderful unless you have to be somewhere, do something or generally get sleep.
Game Dev Story, the initial effort from developer Kairosoft, is $3.99 in the App Store. It’s not a universal app, but includes optional directional pad controls for small screens and traditional touch controls for larger ones.
Jungly Jump is the newest game from iOS app specialist MEDL Mobile. It features two lovable characters, Squaty and Spiky, that are out to get a bite to eat. And they need your help. A simple-yet-challenging strategy game, Jungly Jump will test your creativity and keep you longing for just one more level.
The game is dead simple. Launch Spiky off the teeter-totter by telling Squaty, who climbs up and down the tree above, where and how high to jump from. Spiky’s trajectory is controlled by tapping the screen to aim. Each level has a target number of fruit to collect and a certain number of attempts in which to collect the fruit. Early levels have different patterns of fruit suspended in the air, but as you progress through the hundred-plus levels you’ll run into booby traps like fruit-rotting worms and even some power-ups to make the level easier.
Jungly Jump has a slight learning curve as you become familiar with the in-game physics. It has a ton of depth with the number of levels included and I really wanted to keep playing, but as the game progressed I grew tired of the aim, wait, and jump formula. Its cartoony graphics were fine, but Squaty reminded me an awful lot of Sid the Sloth from the Ice Age movies.
All of that aside, Jungly Jump is a decent strategy game if you are looking for something to play here and there. I genuinely had fun with it, but I just got bored on long playing sessions and found myself switching to other games after 10 or so minutes. It’s priced low at $1.99 so it’s a solid title to have at your disposal, but I wouldn’t say it’s one of my favorites.
