Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a cheapskate. (I even have a blog that says so.) Needless to say, when it comes to buying games for my iPhone, I tend to choose titles that are free or supercheap.
In fact, my buying habits work like this: If a game I want costs 99 cents, I'll usually grab it without a second thought. If it's $1.99 or $2.99, I'll sometimes pull the trigger, though not without some hesitation. Anything that costs more, I rarely pony up for it.
Am I alone in this regard? To find out, I created this poll. Cast your vote, then read on for more discussion.
I suspect most people will choose, "It depends on the game." And, sure enough, some games offer relatively limited replay value, and therefore should be priced lower than games you're likely to play endlessly.
On the other hand, why should I balk at spending, $5 for an iPhone game that's every bit as good as a $50 PlayStation game? (PlayStation 2, anyway.) I'll drop five bucks for a Starbucks coffee and cookie, which last all of 10 minutes, but not on a game I might play for weeks. Why?
Maybe it's because I'm spoiled by all the great freebies, like Tap Tap Revenge 3, Unblock Me, and Traffic Rush. Or perhaps there's less perceived value in a game that runs on such a small screen.
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N.O.V.A. for iPhone looks and plays like a certain console classic.
(Credit: Gameloft)Will we ever see Halo for iPhone? Let me be the first to say: who cares? We've got N.O.V.A.
Short for Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance (as if that matters), Gameloft's first-person shooter borrows heavily from the Halo playbook.
You're the sometimes solo, sometimes squad-based hero out to save mankind from the alien threat du jour. The game's 13 single-player missions span five environments (from bunker to jungle to spacecraft), each one dripping in console-quality graphic goodness.
An excellent tutorial acclimates you to the controls, which are always a challenge for any iPhone/iPod Touch shooter, but here are some of the best I've seen. Dip into the settings and you can choose from three control schemes or manually arrange the onscreen d-pad, fire button, and other controls exactly how you like them. Nice.
If you like kicking alien butt, you'll love N.O.V.A.
(Credit: Gameloft)Once you've exhausted the single-player campaign, you can engage in two- to four-player deathmatches--either locally or online. (One small gripe: online play requires a Wi-Fi connection, so you can't get your frag on just anywhere.)
I could say more about the game, but I really don't want to spoil the fun of discovering it on your own. N.O.V.A. really is something special (and that's saying something in a year chock full of special games). Don't take my word alone: the Download Blog's Jason Parker named N.O.V.A. one of the 17 best iPhone games of 2009.
How would you rank N.O.V.A. among first-person shooters for the iPhone? Is it better than Modern Combat: Sandstorm? Better than Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies? Share your FPS faves in the comments!
Time to play with your new toy.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)If an iPhone awaited you under the tree this Christmas, we understand if you're a bit excited. Reception woes aside, the iPhone is a remarkable device in many respects. It offers a great multimedia experience, efficient e-mail integration, a spiffy Web browser, and thousands of third-party apps that do everything from helping you choose a seat on an airplane to guiding your way to the airport. And now that it has multimedia messaging, we're no longer waiting for any basic cell phone features. Granted, those pesky network issues won't go away soon, but you may get lucky and have no problems. And even if you do, at least you have a shiny new gadget, right?
If you've never used an iPhone before, getting started can be a bit overwhelming. With so many apps and accessories available, it's not easy to separate the wheat from the chaff. And even if you're a veteran iPhone user who's graduating to the newest model, exercising discretion, particularly when purchasing apps, is wise. You might say, "It's just 99 cents!" but 99 cents multiplied scores of times can result in a hefty iTunes bill. ... Read More
Let's just come right out and call this the Year of Resurrected PC Games. So far in 2009 we've seen iPhone recreations of Civilization, Command & Conquer, Doom, Myst, and even the ancient Lemonade Stand.
Earlier this month, Gameloft brought back one of my favorites: Driver. I know, I know, the game first appeared on the PlayStation, but it's the PC version I remember. Set in the '70s (with a funk-a-licious soundtrack to match), Driver casts you as an undercover cop trying to expose a national crime ring. That, of course, is simply an excuse to get you behind the wheel for madcap missions across four cities. Driver is like a playable version of the classic car-chase scene from "Bullitt"--and you're Steve McQueen.
The Need for Speed series returns to the iPhone with NFS:Shift.
(Credit: Screenshot by Antuan Goodwin/CNET)
EA Mobile has released the second iPhone game in the Need for Speed series: Need for Speed Shift.
You may remember that we took a look at Need for Speed Undercover not too long ago and found it was a fun, arcadelike take on racing with a decent number of fully customizable vehicles. Shift is an evolution of that game but with more realistic racing physics in place of the hokey storyline. Also new to Shift are customizable racing views. Users can now select between chase-cam, hood-cam, bumper-cam, and cockpit views. The cockpit view is unique to the vehicle you're driving, but unfortunately there are no working gauges. The cockpit view is also the only view that features damage modeling in the form of a windshield that gets more messed up the as you hit things.
This Nissan Z features an accurate interior, but no working gauges.
(Credit: Screenshot by Antuan Goodwin/CNET)On your first outing with Shift, you'll be treated to a quick tutorial that teaches you how to drive with an iPhone. Shift pretty much plays like Undercover, but with a few key differences. Its steering is still controlled by tilting. The vehicles still auto-accelerate and brake when the screen is tapped. However, the race-breaker, slow-motion feature is gone and the controls are supposedly more realistic. In practice, this means that you can no longer win races without touching the brakes and that the transmission is now manual, which can be frustrating for novice users who just want to drive.
Fortunately, there are driver aids that can be activated that automatically brake and shift for you and assist steering that make your ham-fisted inputs smoother and more accurate. Users who want an easy to play, arcade-style racer can turn on the driving aids and win a few medals on the bus ride to work; and users who want more of a racing-sim experience can set all systems to manual for more control over the game. Driving aids or not, drifting is maddeningly difficult this time around. I prefer the drifting mechanics of Undercover.
... Read MoreAlong with Beeker and Fozzie Bear, Animal ranks among my favorite Muppets characters. So it's great not only to see him starring in his own iPhone game, but to report that the game's a blast.
At first blush, The Muppets Animal Drummer from Disney looks like something out of Rock Band: you've got five drums that light up and change colors (and occasionally catch fire); combo bonuses and power-ups that appear as you progress; and Animal himself (itself?) banging away center-stage.
A little bit Rock Band, a little bit Simon, The Muppets Animal Drummer is all fun.
(Credit: Disney)However, the gameplay's a bit different: Animal bangs out a series of beats using different parts of the drum set and different intervals. Your job is to play back the lick (by tapping the drums) using the exact same phrasing.
It starts off pretty easy, but quickly gets challenging (especially for rhythm-deprived individuals like myself). Even so, I find this a lot more fun than, say, Tap Tap Revenge or Rock Band, both of which reach a level of "impossible" that makes me lose all interest.
Here, you can improve your performance with practice--no superhuman levels of dexterity required.
There's also a Free Play mode that lets you drum along with any of the game's handful of songs (some of which must be unlocked by doing well in Classic mode) or songs in your iPod library. Younger kids in particular will have lots of fun with this, as it's really just noise on top of noise.
Whatever mode you choose, you'll enjoy snippets of Animal's voice along the way--icing on the cake.
And sweet cake it is. Animal Drummer may have built-in kid appeal (assuming kids these days even know who the Muppets are), but it's also plenty of fun for older players who enjoy music- and rhythm-centric games. At $1.99, I can highly recommend it.
(Credit:
CNET)
As we close out another great year at Download.com, we've been putting together several end-of-year software collections. Just like last year, Jessica Dolcourt and I have split up the iPhone apps of the year into two groups. Jessica has put together the iPhone Starter Kit that's perfect for grabbing the best productivity apps to make your life more...productive. My job is quite the opposite. I went through my favorite games of 2009 (and quickly realized I had too many), and was able to narrow it down to 17 of my most played games. If you're looking to waste some time, this collection was made for you!
I tried to make a collection of games that would have something for everyone, so I included quick casual games along with strategy, tower defense, first-person shooters, word games, and more. Obviously, I recommend every game in this list, but hopefully you'll be able to find a genre you like so you have something to play over the holidays.
Without further ado, here are my favorite games for 2009.
... Read MoreWe recently got our hands on a trio of iPhone games all currently available in the App Store. Whether or not you think iPhone games need buttons to work, we were fairly impressed by each of these offerings.
Whether you're looking for stocking stuffer ideas or a game to keep you busy on a long holiday trip, we highly recommend checking out any and all of these solid titles. Best of all, they won't break the bank and are perfect for gamers of all ages.
(Credit:
Sega/Other Ocean)
Super Monkey Ball 2 ($9.99)
Now before you balk at its $10 price tag, realize that Super Monkey Ball 2 offers most of what its console-counterpart would. We're talking over 100 levels of monkey ball tilting and rolling, mini-games, and Wi-Fi multiplayer. Not to mention, this is arguably one of the prettiest iPhone games we've seen, and it maintains a very solid framerate throughout.
So how does it play? While it may take you a few minutes to get used to the accelerometer functionality, we were really impressed with how well the title controlled. Though it's a bit tough to make turns on a dime--and stopping is harder than we would have liked--the second iPhone Monkey Ball game is sure to entertain previous fans and newcomers to the series.
(Credit:
Bitforge)
Orbital (99 cents, Free)
It might look like a simple puzzle game, but the amount of depth and strategy found in Orbital is mind-blowing. The basic object in Orbital is to destroy orbs by carefully aiming your cannon towards them while bouncing off the walls and other orbs already in the playing field. Each orb contains three hits (the number is displayed inside each orb), and will explode once it has run out of collisions. There's also a danger zone located at the bottom of the screen which you'll want to avoid reaching--think of maxing out the number of bubbles like in Bust-a-Move.
Two different game modes (Pure and Gravity) allow for the same basic mechanics, though your strategy may change between the two. What really got us hooked to Orbital was the multiplayer as it allows two people to switch back and forth turns, each trying to destroy each other's orbs.
There's a free version of Orbital available too, which allows for unlimited multiplayer and a score of up to 15 in the single player mode.
(Credit:
Critical Thought)
GeoSpark (99 cents)
GeoSpark instantly reminded us of Geometry Wars with its oddly shaped vector graphics and presentation. But underneath its familiar appearance, GeoSpark is truly an addictive game, forcing you to move quickly.
The objective in GeoSpark is to grab like-objects by linking them together to score points. You do this by essentially dragging these shapes together (you can link up more than just two in a row) and then letting go to cash in your score. You must accomplish this all while avoiding non-matching shapes--the catch being the more you chain together like-items, the stronger gravity you create. When this happens, other objects begin to flow towards your chain, and if one touches it, you lose your points.
GeoSpark has that emergency screen-clearing button found in Geometry Wars, but instead of shooting objects, it's your job to link matching ones together.
As we mentioned earlier, all three of the iPhone games featured here are available now on the App Store and are compatible with both the iPhone and iPod Touch. Check out more screenshots from all three games in our slideshow below!
The Simpsons Arcade is coming soon for iPhone and iPod Touch. What more is there to say?
(Credit: EA Mobile)Remember the Simpsons coin-op arcade game? It's about to get the iPhone treatment.
EA Mobile is soon to release The Simpsons Arcade, which it calls "a throwback to the actual arcade game from the early 90s." How soon? EA swore us to secrecy for some reason, but let's just say you won't have long to wait.
Update: The game is now available in the App Store for $4.99.
The game casts you as Homer (woo-hoo!), who must race and battle his way through Springfield in his quest for, natch, a donut. (Mmmm...donut.) Oh, and there's something about a devious scheme that needs foiling (D'oh!).
Wait a sec: If this game's a 90s throwback, what's with the Matrix knockoff?
(Credit: EA Mobile)Homer can punch, kick, dodge, belly-flop, and, my favorite, butt-slam his enemies. Along the way he'll earn "Family Frenzy" power-ups to summon help from other members of the Simpsons clan.
You'll also encounter various mini-games, including the very promising-sounding "Slap Homer," which uses touch and accelerometer controls to "slap" Homer back to life. Somehow, I can't imagine ever tiring of that.
"Ow! Stop hitting me! It really, really hurts!"
(Credit: EA Mobile)Thankfully, all the characters' voices are supplied by the regular Simpsons cast.
I haven't seen the game firsthand yet, and I actually never played the coin-op original, but I'm dying to try it. How about you? Think you'll take this trip to the streets of Springfield?
A glorious electronic makeover and new gameplay modes breath new life into the classic Battleship board game.
Free of messy pegs and full of clever touches, Battleship for iPhone and iPod Touch ($2.99) gives the classic board game a terrific 21st-century makeover.
In addition to Classic mode, the game offers two new options: Salvo and Superweapons. In Salvo, you get to select one target for each ship in your fleet--meaning for the first few rounds at least, you get to lob five shots instead of just one.
Suffice it to say, that makes the game go much faster than a traditional Battleship exercise, which can easily last 30-40 minutes.
In Superweapons mode, you get to choose four offensive or defensive weapons for your arsenal. Each one has a different "charge time," meaning you can use it only after a certain number of turns has elapsed.
Air Strike, for example, delivers a line of three bombs (for example, three shots for the price of one), while Decoy gives you a fake ship that registers hits just like a real one.
However, only a handful of superweapons are available at the start of the game. To unlock more, you have to sink ships over the course of many games.
I like the brief but lively cut scenes that appear when you fire a weapon, score a hit, and sink a ship. (You can even see aircraft sliding across the deck of the carrier as it capsizes--one of many nice little touches in the game.)
Because Battleship is best played against other humans, the game offers three multiplayer options: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and "pass & play." Missing, sadly, is Internet multiplayer, which would really be icing on the cake. How about it, EA?
Even without the online element, Battleship for iPhone ranks among my favorite board game adaptations to date. But fellow parents take note: When you play against your children and inevitably cry, "You sank my battleship!", be prepared for blank stares.
