Zombie Goddess was recently updated with more content, expanded controller support (with camera control!), faster gameplay pacing, more generous coin drops, and improved polish and bug-fixing. And the removal of a checkbox that was of questionable taste.
In my review of Zombie Goddess, I characterized it having a great gameplay foundation, but in need of more content. That’s truer now than ever. Zombie Goddess is even more now than it was before, which makes the desire for more content even stronger.
Zombie slashing, even better than before
It’s great that the developers are actively responding to criticisms and user requests – it is a really nice thing to see in the App Store, where games are so often abandoned after the initial hype dies down. Developer Zozogame managed to address basically every complaint I had about the previous version, and pretty much every one I’ve seen, save for the one big one – more content.
Now that the base gameplay has been further polished and improved, I’m looking forward to seeing additional content on top of it. The developers plan to add boss fights, additional weapons, loot drops – and some even more expansive plans after that. It’s great to see the developers actively improving things, and I’m looking forward to seeing these updates released. Zombie Goddess is a very fun, though somewhat limited, experience. It’s worth a download, especially if the developers continue to update at this pace.
Stunt Guy 2, a game where you dodge traffic and slam into cars while a stuntman hangs from the back of your vehicle, was just released with MFi controller support.
Dodge, destroy, and collect
You can think of Stunt Guy 2 as an iPhone-game-version of the classic Tarantino film Death Proof. And if that sounds as awesome to you as it does to me, give this one a download.
Looks like the Benchmark edition was a temporary release – iTunes shows it as being no longer available. If you missed it, thats a shame, but the full game is still worth a download
A new “benchmark” edition of the iOS RPG masterpiece Oceanhorn is now available.
Oceanhorn has always been a premium game at a premium price. When I reviewed it, I found that it more than earned that price. However, to many people, $8.99 is too much to ask. While this “benchmark” edition is pitched around the cool device-benchmarking functionality, it also provides the first chapter of Oceanhorn free of charge. I hope that’s enough to convince the hold-outs to give Oceanhorn a shot, because it deserves it.
This is one beautiful benchmark
Oceanhorn really is a benchmark. Not just in performance and graphics – although those are outstanding – but in terms of just how great an iOS game can be. It’s obvious from the moment the game starts that the developers really cared about creating a great experience. With this free benchmark edition, I hope more people give this experience a try.
The hotly anticipated twitch-reaction-based arcade game Unpossible is now available on the App Store with full MFi controller support!
I’ll have a full review coming soon, but suffice it to say, this game is a lot of fun. If you’re a fan of games like Octagon or Impossible Road, Unpossible is a no-brainer.
Pinball Arcade has been on my watch list for some time, since the developers first announced MFi controller support would be implemented. That update is finally here. While there are many iOS pinballgames, Pinball Arcade is particularly well regarded among its fan-base.
In my brief testing, both Standard and Extended controllers seem to be supported in-game, though menu control appears inconsistent. Still, it is great to finally see a pinball game with controller support – those shoulder triggers are just made for toggling flippers…
Rabbids Big Bang, the space-rabbit-launching action-puzzler from Ubisoft, was just updated for MFi controller support.
Fans of the AngryBirdsSpaceGames will feel right at home here. While Rabbids doesn’t feel quite like a clone or knock-off, the gameplay is familiar and objectives similar. You launch your character, you navigate around gravity, you collect goal and try to get a high score – straightforward stuff for mobile games.
Rabbids in space!
Rabbids shakes things up a little bit by adding a little more direct control over your animal-projectiles. The biggest innovation is the jetpack, which allows you to steer your Rabbid. Because you start the round by hitting him into orbit with a baseball bat, there’s a certain degree of spin to your character. Timing when to trigger your jetpack in accordance with which direction your character is facing adds an interesting dimension to the gameplay. Limited fuel and planetary gravity require you to act reasonably fast, which makes timing a significant factor. It’s in interesting twist to the formula, and I think quite a successful one.
On a technical level, Rabbids does not disappoint. The graphics are solid, the framerate is smooth, and the music and sound design clever. Controller support is reasonably well implemented, with both Standard and Extended format MFi controllers supported both in-game and in the menus.
Collect green jet fuel and yellow coins
The biggest negative here are the in-game ads. Quite simply, pop-up ads in a paid game are unacceptable. Making money off of gamers, then turning around and selling those gamers to advertisers is a sleazy, amoral business practice. From a strictly practical perspective, these ads (marked as “Urgent News”) are impossible to dismiss without reaching out and touching the close button on your screen – in other words, an inconvenience for iPad gamers looking to play this game with the SteelSeries Stratus controller, and a black mark on the game.
Ultimately, Rabbids Big Bang is fun. It’s a little unoriginal, but it isn’t exactly a direct copy of anything else; Rabbids establishes an identity of it’s own. If the ads were removed, it would be an easy recommendation. As it is, the App Store is full of great games with more respect for their players – take it as you will.
iOS shoot-em-up Trisector is free for a limited time in celebration of PAX. If you’re a fan of shoot-em-ups and arcade games, give this one a download – it was worth the asking price before, and for free, this is a no-brainer.
I helped with testing and coming up with ideas for the implementation of controller support here, and I can vouch for that aspect of the game – this one plays great with every available MFi controller, with full menu support and hands-free play.
The free price promotion has come to an end. Don’t let that stop you from giving it a download, though – for fans of shoot-em-ups, it’s easily worth the asking price.
2D platformers probably reached their heyday about 20 years ago. In the age of 8-bit, 16-bit, even through the 32-big graphics generations, success in the console race depended on having a sidescroller with a red plumber, blue hedgehog, or some other platform-hopping mascot.
The era of the mascot-based platformer has passed. Gamers today are seemingly more interested in systems which have the latest military or sci-fi shooter. However, even though they may no longer be the system sellers they once were, platformers are still beloved by a large number of fans. For them, iOS has seen a bit of a resurgence of these games. These new-generation platformers have varying degrees of polish and quality, and often incorporate more modern elements of game design to reflect changing tastes.
Wind-Up Knight 2 enters the market as the latest of this new-breed of side-scrolling platformer. I’m happy to report that it isn’t merely a good mobile game, or a good homage to the classic games of the past. No, Wind-Up Knight 2 is a truly classic platforming game, period.
Time your jumps and collect the coins
At its core, the gameplay of Wind-Up Knight 2 is quite simple. That’s good – platforming games, as a genre, are defined by the cleverness with which they challenge the players using the relatively small set of moves they’re familiar with.
In this game, you control an auto-running character (the wind-up knight) who has to travel across the beginning of the stage to the end of the stage, collecting coins, dodging traps, and attacking enemies along the way.
Your subset of moves is relatively simple. You can double-jump over chasms, roll under traps, shield your head from falling debris, and swing your sword against enemies. It’s the care that Wind-Up Knight 2 shows in how it builds levels to test your ability to use these limited moves that truly shows what a great game it is.
Time your shield carefully to deflect traps
The arrangement of obstacles and traps in this game are clever. Failing to dodge an obstacle or trap never feels cheap – deaths always feel avoidable, and that fairness encourages you to attempt it again. You’re graded based on how well you complete each level, with greater awards given for higher grades. Getting an ’S’ ranking in a level requires collecting everything without dying. Not an easy task, but a fun one to attempt.
Each level has a large number of coins dispersed throughout it. Extra points are awarded for collecting all of these coins. You can use these coins in the shop to unlock additional costumes, weapons, and abilities. None of these are essential, but they add a great motivation to replay the levels you’ve already beaten.
Traps aren’t the only threats to worry about
The level of content in this game is truly staggering. There are tons of levels available in the regular game, and each of those levels include multiple challenge goals – collect diamonds, avoid killing any enemies, that sort of thing – in addition to the basic goals of beating the level and collecting the coins. Each level has 3 of these bonus goals.
The graphics and art style are truly amazing
The graphics of Wind-Up Knight 2 are absolutely gorgeous, taking the 2.5D art style established by it’s predecessor and cranking up the quality and artistic beauty to new heights. Lighting effects are beautiful, and tied to the environment and time of day. All of this happens at a buttery-smooth 60 fps.
Controller support is very well implemented here. Both Standard and Extended layout controllers are fully support. Menus can be controlled completely without touching the screen, making this a great hands-free experience. Buttons are well mapped and responsive.
Slide down walls and collect coins
Ultimately, Wind-Up Knight 2 manages to hit all the right notes. It enters an established genre – side-scrolling platformer – and builds upon the ideas and designs of the top games, while carving out a unique identity of its own. And it manages to do it with a rock-solid foundation and beautiful presentation.
Wind-Up Knight 2 is available as a free trial, with an in-app purchase to unlock all of the levels and add a little extra content. Some additional content packs are available to purchase, but are unnecessary to the game. There are no ads, spam, timers, or anything like that.
Fans of platforming games should download Wind-Up Knight 2 immediately.
Puzzle games seem like an odd genre for controller support. Despite this, the newly released Animal Battle shows that much can be gained from physical controls.
Animal Battle plays like a mix of Dr. Mario and the Bust-A-Movegames. Your goal here is to send groups of two colored blocks at a steadily increasing pile blocks at the top of the screen, using special star blocks to destroy all adjacent blocks of the same color.
Match star blocks with blocks of the same color to clear matching blocks
The goal is to destroy more blocks than you end up piling up, while outlasting an opponent who’s attempting the same thing in the screen next to you. Particularly well-executed moves send debris blocks to your opponent’s screen, further complicating their job.
For an iOS puzzle game, this competition mechanic manages to turn Animal Battle into a surprisingly tense and cutthroat experience, with careful strategy of tile stacking needing to be weighed against acting faster than your opponent. It works well in practice, and benefits greatly from the tactile response of hardware controls.
Break blocks in chains to send blocks to your overwhelm your opponent
Animal Battle has a few issues with analog stick sensitivity and slightly lower-than-ideal resolution, but those don’t interfere with the experience. Fans of arcade puzzle games don’t have a huge amount of choices if they want to play on iOS with a controller. The good news is, Animal Battle doesn’t merely “win by default” – this is a fun, challenging game that will appeal to fans of the genre.
People more interested in casual match-three puzzlers will probably be overwhelmed by the difficulty of an old-school arcade puzzler like this, but for fans of classic arcade puzzlers like Bust A Move or Dr Mario, this is an easy recommendation.
Hamster-based side scroller Flying Hamster (also available in HD) was recently updated for MFi controller support. In support of the update, both the standard and HD versions of the game are temporarily available for free.
As I’ve said in several other reviews, side-scrolling shoot-em-ups are a wellrepresented genre of game among iOS games with controller support. Fans of the genre have a wealth of options available to them.
The good news is, this abundance of choices does not, in any way, diminish Flying Hamster. This game has it’s own place in the pile, with a presentation and design unlike the others.
Classic side-scrolling arcade gameplay
As should be immediately evident from the graphics, there is a general cuteness and lightness of presentation that is at odds with the other shoot-em-ups listed. Whereas those games tend to have you flying spaceships in levels set against the blackness of space, Flying Hamster has you controlling a… flying hamster… against a series of colorful backdrops and cartoony landscapes.
Don’t let the graphics style fool you, though. Shoot-em-ups are not a genre known for easy or forgiving gameplay, and Flying Hamster does not disappoint. The cartoony graphics belie what is actually one of the most difficult shooters available on iOS, controller or no. Beating the game unlocks a harder difficulty – for most gamers, that won’t be necessary.
The graphics are cute, but make no mistake – everything here wants you dead
Flying Hamster’s best elements don’t come across well in still pictures. The graphics here are fluid and beautiful, the music is engrossingly old-school, harkening back to the days of 16 bit consoles. The story is told through short and cute cartoony interspersions between levels. As a game, everything you’d expect from the genre – Powerups, bosses, swarms of enemies, challenging levels and swarm formations – it’s all here, and it’s all well done.
This is a great game for shooter fans who are looking for something a little different than the norm, but no less challenging. With lite versions available, and the regular versions temporarily free, downloading this is an easy recommendation.
