Feature
by RevStu (November 14th, 2010 at 12:33 pm)
This weekend, in the absence of anything very exciting new to play, I’ve spent a lot of time with one of my very first iPod favourites. Pole Position Remix (£1.79/€2,39/$2.99) is a game riddled with flaws, and in the light of some of the stuff we’re about to discuss its current price point is extremely optimistic.
It does get frequently discounted down to 59p/€0,79/99¢, though, and IF you’re prepared to put in a couple of hours of gruelling unlocking work – which we’re by no means saying you should – you’ll find something rather splendid hidden away idiotically at the end of it.
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Review
by RevStu (November 13th, 2010 at 11:03 am) WITH SPECIAL GUEST STARS
Where, of course, NORA stands for “Numerous OpenFeint-supporting Redemption-style Arcade games”. Nicolas Robert‘s minimalist “Flamin” series is mostly based on those end-of-the-pier gaming machines that reward players with prizes either directly or by giving out tickets that you can redeem at a kiosk, but there are no prizes on offer here – not even Coin Dozer-type virtual ones.
Happily, though, AuroraFeint’s popular high-score service has stepped in to save the day by providing an alternative goal-and-reward system, and everything’s worked out beautifully in the end. Hurrah!
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Review
by J Nash (November 13th, 2010 at 1:49 am)
Blimey, this is a messy game.
On the Good Messy side, Zoobox’s 2D scrolling fighter is apparently sponsored by Bob’s Bladders of Blood Ltd and nothing occurs except as an explosion of chaotic mayhem. Each level lasts just long enough that you don’t care you’re chugging back and forth along the same threeish-screen-wide arena being randomly attacked from both sides until you fill your QUOTA OF DEATH.
Bad Messy: the power-ups are divorced from your inventory. What this means is that you can buy upgrades (with coins from dead monsters) for the full set of weapons, anticipating the Random Allocation Bat will dispense one you’ve powered up when you kill it.
(You have to double-jump to reach the bat and any bequeathed item vanishes after a few seconds, but the fighting’s such a dervish of punch-ups that you’ll inevitably auto-grab everything that passes. The trick is to upgrade everything to at least the first level before looking to pick a favourite.)
The power-up combos rely on your pressing Fire again (eg, a whirlwind sword comes after a straight poke and a leaping stab) so technically you can break off in the middle, but the fighting’s such an etc that you’ll inevitably be desperately trying to turn towards a sneak ambush only to find the game still thinks you want to finish your super-flashy combo on that corpse.
Boss fights are every five levels and are rubbishly cramped because they’re on top (rather than instead) of a standard minion rush.
Pretty much a heavy metal version of that disappointingly out of favour comic standby where a fight’s an impenetrable dustcloud of fists and ooyahs, Slashmaster confused me at first, entertained me for half an hour, and then I ate an apple. It’s free this weekend.
News
by NEWS ROBOT (November 13th, 2010 at 1:05 am)
++ OBSERVATION: BIT.TRIP BEAT RECOMMENDED BY PODGAMER UNIT REVISION-STU ++
++ OBSERVATION: COMPETITOR BOUNCE BEATS ENJOYED BY PODGAMER UNIT C.R.A.1G ++
++ OBSERVATION: UNPREDICTABLY FLUCTUATING GAME PRICES CURRENTLY AT 59p/€0,79/99¢ EBB AGAIN ++
++ DIRECTION: BIT.TRIP BEAT ++
++ DIRECTION: BIT.TRIP BEAT HD ++
++ DIRECTION: BOUNCE BEATS ++
++ OBSERVATION: GAMES OMIT RHYTHM OF Z80 HUMMING THROUGH XOR ENCRYPTION ++
++ PODGAMER NEWS ROBOT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND HUMAN MUSICAL TASTE ++
++ DECRY ++
++ DECRY ++
++ DECRY ++
Universal Review
by RevStu (November 12th, 2010 at 10:01 pm)
Drift Mania Championship HD is free today. I’d had a brief play of the Lite version when it came out and dismissed it as an uncontrollable and dull stunt game (and I hate stunt games, because I’m not 12). So this seemed an ideal opportunity to give it a second chance, especially as I’d bought my iPhone 4 since then and would have a chance to admire its gleaming Retina graphics.
I don’t think that’s actually them in the screenshot – it looks a lot crisper and shinier than that in real life, which begs the question of why a publisher would choose to use a low-res image when the high-res graphics are a sufficiently big deal as to be highlighted in the game’s title. But anyway.
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Review
by RevStu (November 12th, 2010 at 7:35 pm)
If you liked the splendid Say What You See (and why wouldn’t you?), you might find the alliteratively-similar Situation Shuffle (currently free) a comparably pleasurable time-passer. It’s another game in which forensically examining the fine detail of hand-painted pictures is the key to success, and if you want to try it out, you can play a level using only the picture below.
The object, as alert viewers might be able to ascertain, is to put the six frames of a short comic strip into the correct order. All you have to guide you is what’s in the pictures, and it’s not as easy as it looks.
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Review 
Podgamer Recommended
by RevStu (November 12th, 2010 at 3:25 pm)
Oh, this is wrong. It’s so, SO wrong. It’s ultra-wrong. It’s the wrongest thing ever. It’s Naughty Bear.
The bears of Perfection Island are having a party, with yummy cupcakes for all. But they haven’t invited Naughty Bear. This makes Naughty Bear sad. And when Naughty Bear is sad, things happen. Bad things.
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News
by RevStu (November 12th, 2010 at 2:59 pm)
Somewhere in my voluminous cellar full of board games, I’ve got a version of this that I bought from Past Times many years ago and which is simply called The Viking Game. Presumably this was because the original name, Hnefatafl, wouldn’t have attracted many customers in a posh UK knick-knack chain, and Centurion Games have taken that thought process to its logical conclusion, giving their iPod version the altogether snappier – and more informative – moniker of Zombwich.
The core of the temporarily-free game (which in the iOS incarnation has been simplified from the orifinal lineup of 24-vs-12 down to a punchy 8-vs-5) is capturing opposing pieces. Each side controls pieces which move like a castle in chess – covering as many squares as they like either horizontally or vertically – and capture an opposing piece by sandwiching it between two of their own side in immediately adjacent squares. But here, some of the pieces are ZOMBIES!!!!!!
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Review
by Craig Grannell (November 12th, 2010 at 1:22 pm)
Due to its simplicity, Tetris has stood the test of time. However, the game started life as the digital equivalent of creator Alexey Pajitnov’s favourite pentominoes game. He found it dull and games were over too quickly, and so through rapid iterations, he replaced the shapes with tetrominoes, made them fall into a well, and had solid lines vanish.
Presumably in an attempt to avoid being sued by The Tetris Company, iPentris takes the basics of Tetris but replaces its shapes with the pentominoes Pajitnov was so fond of, and it doesn’t really work.
"Nothing like Tetris" - Rarebyte legal team
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News
by RevStu (November 12th, 2010 at 10:12 am)
It’s surprising that on a format with both tilt and (depending on generation) gyroscope controls, we haven’t seen more Marble Madness knockoffs. There are plenty of 2D tilting-and-rolling games but remarkably few utilising the third dimension to channel Atari’s 1984 cult classic, and that may be at least partly because Super Marble Roll pretty much nailed it first try.
An App Store veteran with over 18 months service under its belt, Super Marble Roll recently went free for the first time ever. What we’re saying here is that you should go and download it now, yeah?
