1st Impressions

The Jim and Frank Mysteries: The Blood River Files is a combination of a puzzle game and an adventure game. It reminds me of a cross between Myst and Return to Monkey Island. The game play is simple, the graphics and sound effects are of the highest quality (pretty much expected fir a Chillingo release), and it promises 20-hours of entertainment for the bargain price of $0.99.

The game impressed me. It was both entertaining and challenging. It allows for multiple profiles/players as well as options for turning the music and sound effects on and off. Unfortunately though, getting back to that screen to change those options is somehow beyond my grasp. Maybe that is a extra credit bonus. LOL

One unique thing in the game us the ability to fund a couple of “eureka” bucks at each location. These can be used to purchase hints or skip puzzles. They can also be purchased with in-app purchases. While I did not take advantage of that, I thought it was a really good idea.

Other than an easy way to get back to the main screen, my only other suggestion would be a free lite version with the first couple of puzzles in it. I really think that once folks try it, they will definitely want more.

Overall, this is going to be a game that stays on my iPhone 4 for a while. The hand drawn scenes and 60 puzzles make it difficult to put down and you want to see what is next.

Catagugl is a cute $0.99 game that reminds me if those Yeti and Penguin games where distance is the goal. Using a circular swinging motion demonstrated on the help video, your goal is to launch the Gugl creature as far as possible. Hitting clouds, bouncing off red balls, and deflating during flight will increase your distance. Once you set a new personal high score, you can submit it to leader boards and compare your progress with that if others.

The graphics on the game are high quality and game play mechanics something that children should be able to master with no problem. I think kids will find a lot if appeal in the game. The entertainment value for adults will likely be limited however.

I did have one issue with the game. the help video shows a build-up of your strength. I didn’t get that. I am not sure if that was due to poor game play on my part or maybe an issue with the iPhone 4…or maybe some combination of them. Either way though, this doesn’t detract from the odd sense if accomplishment one feels with setting a new high score.

Hacker Evolution 2010 reminds me of the one time I went to a casino.  I could not figure out how the games were played and quickly lost interest.  The premise probably isn’t that complex, but it is just different enough to confuse me.

The goal of the $0.99 game is to hack the computers being shown on the screen using either a direct hack or a virus.  You start out each level with a certain number of viruses for attacks and a firewall level that reflect the strength of the servers you can hack.

The key to this process, and what is smarter than I am, is that if you don’t do these attacks in the right order and bounce your attacks off of the right servers, you run out of viruses and firewall and can’t go any further.  To make this more frustrating, there is no “restart” button on the screen.  You have to exit out to the menu and start a new game.

The game offers a couple of pages of help.  But, contributing to my confusion, the text is fairly small and I can’t read it.  I think the game would really benefit from a tutorial level that walked the user through a level.  I don’t believe the game is complicated.  I like a game that is a challenge.  The addition of a short tutorial and/or some larger text in the help section would help with the understanding though.

Overall, I’d probably give the game a score of a B.  It isn’t as addictive as other puzzle games I’ve played, but should offer multiple hours of challenge for a reasonable price.  If you want to check out the concept, Hacker Evolution Lite is a free version of a similar title from the same developers and should give you a good idea of game-play.

Nurikabe Vault is, in short, a must-have iPhone application for those that like logic puzzles.  The concept, according to Wikipedia, was invented by the same guys that came up with Soduko.  It’s more graphical and less numerical though.  If you like PathPix, you are going to feel right at home with this $2.99 title.  Like PathPix, your game level starts out with some numbers.  Your goal is to connect “blocks” or “boxes” that total up to the number.  These connected boxes can only connect vertically and horizontally.  But there is an interesting twist that sets these 500 levels apart from games like PathPix.  Your collections of squares have to be divided by a “path” that is no more than a single square wide.  And it too has to connect in a single unbroken line that doesn’t break or try to go diagonal.  Two different collections of squares can touch diagonally, but that doesn’t “count” as a connection.

The game interface is incredible.  A lot of thought went into it, and it shows.  What you can’t see in the screen shot to the left is that those background graphics that look like green gears actually rotate or move slowly.  The initial menu also uses this gears-type theme.  In it, you have an inner wheel and an outer wheel that you rotate to get to the level number that you wish to play.  A status message at the bottom of the screen tells you if the level has been completed or in progress.  If you have completed it, it tells you the best time you have for reaching the solution.

Once you get into a game level,  touching a gray square and dragging your finger will add adjoining gray squares.  You can do the same if you are adding to the “path”.  Tapping any square (except for the ones with the numbers on them) will rotate though the options of a “block”, a “path”, or neither.  Once you finish a level, the button on the bottom of the screen to undo a “move” changes to to one that takes you to the next unsolved level.  The levels also auto-complete once there is only one choice left and that choice solves the level.  I wish this was an optional thing though as sometimes, as I neared completion, it completed it for me before I had that “Aha!” moment and realized that I had solved it.  It almost made me feel cheated because I had not fully figured out that I had figured it out.

Like I said, the game comes with 500 different levels, each with a unique solution.  The levels are divided over five different “worlds”.   Puzzle sizes range from the simple 6×6 grids like what I’ve displayed here, but go up to 9×11…basically three times the size of the small ones.  In order to get from one “world” to another, you need to swipe horizontally on the main menu screen.  This is not as obvious as it could be, but takes you to the larger levels with the different graphical themes associated with that “world”.

The game graphics are incredible, but the minimalistic “clicking” sound effects are perfect for listening to your own music or, like me, an audiobook while you play.  One future enhancement that I would love to see would be the ability to start the titles or playlist from within the game so that you can also stop it when things get hairy and you need to concentrate, but don’t want to just mute the sound and loose your place in the book.

Nurikabe Vault also includes OpenFeint support for leader boards.  You can also challenge your friends.  Other game features are not quite as obvious though.  If, for example, you split up your “path” so that it isn’t continuous, it will “tremble” or “shake” a bit to get your attention.  Same goes with a collection of the “boxes” or “blocks”.  If you don’t have enough in the collection, it will “twitch” a bit.

While the game costs $2.99, I think it is well worth it.  A free version with 20 levels is available if you would like to try it out.  You can also become a fan of their Facebook page where occasional promo codes or news is announced.  I’d highly recommend the Wiki page as well.  Not only does it do a great job of laying out the rules and some strategy tips, but when you look at the graphics there, it really shows you how far Nurikabe Vault goes in setting itself apart with an an incredible implementation of a classic logic game.

Before reviewing this game I have a couple of confessions to make. First, while it has been a while since I communicated with them or even spent any time with their games, I do have a long relationship with the developer, LDW. Several years ago I was heavily involved in beta testing and then reviewing some of their mobile applications and I have to tell you that I have never been associated with a nicer developer than Arthur Humphrey and his wife Carla.

Secondly, I have never really been a huge fan of spending hours and hours on a mobile device or my laptop just to maintain an imaginary farm on Facebook or a family in my iPhone. When I read on my iPhone’s facebook app (you can block the messages on the PC version) that a friend has grown some pretend crop on their imaginary Farm in Farmville, the thought crosses my mind that these folks need to get a REAL life.

The problem (call it an epiphany if you want) is that, after spending some time with my Virtual Family (I named them after members of my own family and my mother in law would be so proud that her daughter married a rocket scientist… LOL) I can really start to see the appeal of constantly checking in on your family to check their status and make sure that they are all right.

So…. On with the review. Virtual families is an iPhone version of the same game that is available for other mobile platforms as well as for the PC. In it, you adopt a family (one member at a time) and and assist them in their lives as it takes place in real time. By that I mean that the time in the game progresses at the same pace as it does in real time (I wonder if they lost an hour sleep due to DST last night like I did… LOL) and so they sleep when you do and are up and awake during the day just like you are.

Based on the same game engine that is used for the Virtual Villagers games, Virtual Families offers a bird’s eye view of the members of your virtual family as well as the house and surrounding yard. You can control the members of your family directly (a simple action by simply tapping on them and moving them from one room to another…) of indirectly my helping to form their personality and character. This is done by using a set of gloves, one used for scolding behavior and the other for praising their behavior. You have to be careful in how often you use them however because using either one too often will annoy them and may cause them to become rebellious.

While some players of this game might think that this is a scaled down version of one of the Sims games, I would have to disagree. The Sims games, specifically Sim3 for the iPhone, not only costs 3 times as much but seems more designed about running around and partying with other players, whereas this one is based on raising a family and then handing the reins over to the next generation to watch them continue maturing and growing up as well. As a matter of fact the game offers a Family Tree screen where you can track the generations of family members that you have assisted in their growth and lives. It will leave you feeling like proud parents or grandparents.

There is much more to this game than I have discussed and I feel that I have only scratched the service. In an effort to keep this mobile review from being 12 pages long, however, I will refer you to the games support page where, among other things, you can find a 30 page game guide containing hints and tips from the developer.

The only suggestion I have for the developer might be to offer an option to allow for larger font size in the menu options as well as the pop up messages. My 48 year old eyes find it hard to read them at times on the small iPhone screen.

If you would like to check it out before purchasing it, there is a free Lite version available in the iTunes store and you can also check out a video on YouTube. I wouldn’t waste your time, however. For only $1.99 you can have generations worth of fun.

Every once in a while there are games that I run across in the iTunes store that I just have to review – even if I have to, due in many cases to a lack of patience , purchase it myself instead of waiting on a developer to marketing company to provide me with a promo code.

Such is the case when it came to TileStorm.  Due to other puzzle games that I have recently reviewed, the Genius feature on my iPhone recommended  TileStorm and I am glad it did.

With over a hundred levels, TileStorm by Andrew Cakebread (it is amazing that a game of this quality was released by an individual instead of one of the top iPhone developers…) is at its heart a sliding tile type puzzle game with a twist.  You see, as you progress in the game, you encounter not only the need to reuse some of the tiles but encounter tiles with special properties such as them being stuck to another tile (requiring you to remove two at a time) or other special features such as jumping from one tile to another.   If I could make one suggestion on the game it would be the ability to pan, zoom, and rotate the puzzles so that you could get a better perspective on them.

The 3D graphics are really amazing to the point that it makes it into my “eye candy” game category.  You have to complete all the games in one of the four worlds before you can advance to the next.  While the graphics in the first level were kinda basic, the screenshots I have seen of the three worlds are absolutely amazing.  Here are a list of some of the game’s other features:

- 100 challenging maps of generally increasing difficulty..
- 4 beautiful themes including Industrial, Egypt, Medieval and Jungle
- 5 great tunes – classic game tracks for each theme and the menus
- Intuitive and responsive controls
- Fast fully 3D graphics engine; TileStorm looks great on any iPod or iPhone, but runs fantastically well on a 3gs
- Extremely fast launch time
- Automatic game save on exit
- Full player statistics stored under options menu including combined paying time and number of screen presses
- Individual level times stored.. go back any time and try to beat your fastest time
- Factory reset option available
- Automatic ’screen flip’ for inverted use
- Fully functional audio mute; listen to your own music whilst playing TileStorm
- TileStorm can be downloaded straight to your phone over a 3G or Edge connection

If you would like to see a video of the game in action, showcasing levels from all four of the worlds,  check it out here.  Afterwards I am sure that you, like me, will rush over to the iTunes store and purchase it for yourself.  For $1.99 you will receive hours and hours of puzzle solving pleasure. One of the best features of the game is that, if you get stuck, the developer promises to help you get past that level so that you can progress in the game.  This is the first puzzle game that I have played that has come with that kinda offer.  So many times in the past I have gotten stuck for hours on a certain puzzle and ended up just putting the game down, thereby wasting the rest of the levels.

Last night I was watching a Nighteline special in which they were filming hybrid animals. They had thus absolutely huge (and beautiful) liger (a cross between a tiger and a lion) as well several other species.  It was while watching that segment that it dawned on me that The Wars by Deluxware is exactly that – a hybrid between a tower defense game and a strategic game like Civilization because you have to balance your strategy between fighting against your opponent and upgrading your civilization through 6 different periods of time. The advantage is that each of them have their own unique weapons and other game elements and so upgrading from one era to the next.( You gradually make your way from the cave man era all the way into the nuclear age. )

For example, the game starts out in the cave man era and you begin my pitting your cave man against your opponent. You can gradually upgrade your cave man and even get wooly mammoths to ride, making you even more stronger. Before realizing the second component to the game I spent all my recourses on upgrading my cave men until I had several wooly mammoths and were killing my opponents as soon as they stepped out their door.

Imagine my surprise when my opponent’s cave turned into a castle and the cave men were replaced with knights in armor and carrying swords.  Before I knew what was going on they had killed all my men, my mammoths, and were destroying my base before I knew what was happening.

One of the interesting things about the game is the “secret weapon” that is available periodically.  Imagine my surprise when I tapped on it in the cave man era and say a cave man in a rudimentary wooden helicopter fly over and drop rocks on everybody.  In other levels the secret weapon might be a bomber or even a UFO.

The Wars is available in the iTunes store for the very reasonable price of $0.99 and worth every dollar.

The unfortunate fact is that, when anyone in Hollywood wants to release a sequel to summer blockbuster, they know that the sequel has to much better than the original (more explosions, gore, or special effects depending on the type movie) in order for the fans of the original to perceive it as even being “as good” much less “better than” the prequel.

Astraware has released Tradewinds 2 for the iPhone and I would like to take a moment and look at it both as a stand-alone game as well as comparing it to the original.

Traadewinds 2 by Sandlot Games is designed around you playing the part of a pirate as you attempt to build your fortune.  You do this by going from port to port (in the Caribbean vs. the Far East)  and picking up jobs (such as rescuing someone or simply delivering goods from one port to another) and/or fighting other pirates and, claiming their booty for your own. There are several captains, each with their own different story line, to choose from (although some will only be unlocked if you complete the game as one of the available ones) and about 20 different ports that you can ultimately visit. There is even a character generator that can be used once you finish the game as an existing choice of captains.

Once you reach port you can gain valuable intel by buying drinks for the locals at the bar or head straight to the local governing body to pick up an assignment.  While in port be sure to take time to have your ship repaired or upgraded at the shipyard.

Tradewinds 2 is great as a standalone game but I was actually disappointed when I began comparing it to the original. My son, who has spent hours with this version and more hours than I can count with the original, wrote up this list of pros and cons when he compared it to the original:

Pros:

• Many more cities to unlock and then visit than the original TW
• Four (instead of three) starting captains, with two (instead of one) unlock-able ones, each with their own unique ship bonus

Cons:

• The economic tips only refer to one city, depending on which captain you choose
• Instead of having X ships battling against X number of ships simultaneously, you only one ONE ship against X number of enemy ships…. You can upgrade your ship and # of cannons, but you still end up with ALL them shooting at just you
• The music is annoyingly low-quality, and unique per city (Note: you can choose to listen to music from your iPhone library if you wish…)

Conclusion: if you are a fan of strategy games then you will find this game quite appealing.  If you are a fan of the original and are looking for vast improvements in the sequel then you will enjoy it but might be disappointed with it as well.  Available for $3.99 in the iTunes store, I think it might be slightly overpriced but fans will enjoy it all the same.

Several years ago I remember an automobile commercial (I think it was for Oldsmobile) that used the catch phrase, “This Is not your father’s Oldsmobile…” The purpose was to emphasize the differences between the old model and the new one.

Well, I would like to borrow that phrase and say to the folks that were fans of the original Ragdoll Blaster, “This is not your father’s Ragdoll Blaster!!” You see, to compare the new one to the old one would be like comparing the new Ford hybrid to the old Model T. It would be like comparing a Rembrandt or Picasso to a cave man’s drawing. It would be like comparing my wife to…… well, I better not go there but you get the idea.

The game play itself is basically the same but the game has been totally revamped. The graphics are far better (utilizing numerous colorful backgrounds as well as much better graphics for the game elements) and the entire gaming experience has been improved to the point that it is like listening to a band on an old cassette tape versus hearing them in person.

There have been many changes to the game including almost 50% more levels (150 or more), replacing a dashed blue “sight line” with a red laser sight, and adding many more physics elements including secondary cannons, portals, gravity wells, and such.

As I have said in previous reviews, I love physics based games and Ragdoll Blaster 2 has just jumped to the top of my Must Have application list. While there is a lite version available for trial purposes, don’t waste your time. Ragdoll Blaster is available for only $2.99 from iTunes and is worth every bit of that and more.

The only thing I didn’t like about the game was its use of Plus+ to keep track of high scores instead of Open Feint which I think is beginning to become the standard in the online leader board contest. Of course the ability to imagine that the ragdolls are family or co-workers when you fire then into walls is a bonus so I guess the two balance each other out… LOL

Create A Mall is a $3.99 game in the App Store.  It reminds me of a cross between Sim City and a Tower Defense game.  The premise is that you have to build a successful mall.  Starting out with small shopping centers as a 3-level  tutorial, you build, and then upgrade, different types of stores in order to balance revenue with popularity.  It is this upgrade option that reminds me of upgrading towers in a TD game.  You can also destroy a store so that you can put something new in its place.

The game is going to offer the casual gamer a lot of play time.  There are a total of 30 different “levels” in six different cities.  As you complete each level, you are awarded money that you can use to upgrade or build stores as well as spend in the stores that you create.  You are also given trophies for meeting different goals.  These can be displayed in your office.

The unfortunate part of this game is that it seems to be geared solely to female players.  Doesn’t matter if you give your player name as “Daniel”, you will be referred to in the game as “Kelly” and playing as a girl for girly things.  When it comes time to purchase things, it seems geared towards women’s jewelry, women’s shoes, women’s blouses, and so forth.  Makes it kind of hard for a guy to get excited about.

I like the concept of the game though.  Although I’ve never played Sim Tower, I’d think that the game would appeal to more of that type of audience if it was either gender-neutral, or offered playing as a male character with sporting goods stores, electronics stores, hunting/fishing stores, and so forth.  If it added this, I could really see justifying a $3.99 price point.  As it is though, I’d only recommend it to those that really like things like Diner Dash or other girl-friendly time management games.