Story: there isn’t one.
Gameplay: The game is a side-scrolling motorcycle game. The game plays alot like Trials HD you are given a few goals and one course to start out with. The point of the game is to pull off stunts and win over the fans. You can mess up your whole run and still get fans. As you pull off tricks, you score points, the more points the higher medal you win. More medals, more tracks and locations.  The touch screen on your phone/mp3 is how you perform the tricks, pressing the screen in the direction shown on screen/trick list.  You also have to control the angle of the bike, if your landing is coming in too shallow, it will crash.   Your control choices are Arrows on-screen or tilting the device forward or back.

Sound/Graphics: The graphics of the game could be described as Trials HD without the man made obstacles.  It has the look of a real race/freestyle course. They seem to be fluid without any problems.  The sound is okay, it seems to be a little choppy in places. You hear stuff such as crowd noise, the whir of the engine, and a guitar sometimes.

Multiplayer:  There is none

Overall: its a good game. if you loved Trials HD for the consoles, this game should be bought.

Pros:

• not very expensive
• fun
• easy controls

Cons:

• hard to balance just right
• choppy sounds
• no multiplayer

8/10

Gameplay: DynamoKid is a classic platformer with a few twists that definitely deserve a look. You jump, destroy enemies, collect stars, and ultimately try and make it to the end of each level without dying. Since it is on the iPhone, touch controls come into play in various fashions. You tap the Kid to make him jump, you can swipe along dotted areas to let the world become more solid, you can tap to destroy or move enemies, and you can swipe/tap stars to drop them down to where the Kid can get to them. All of these elements work perfectly well but the pace of the game is where the difficulty comes in. From the second the game starts the Kid is moving quickly throughout the randomly generated world so make one false jump and you lose and must start over. Also you must juggle killing enemies, collecting stars, and jumping which was certainly frustrating at first.

Right now you only have one life so playing once and then exiting to the menu can be defeating for many casual players. With all of that said though, I found myself wanting to get better and playing at least three times every time I started up the game. From what I saw the world continues to evolve, add in more colors, add new enemies, and have some Easter eggs throughout the level. Coupled with the promise of new levels, UI & control updates, and more features in the future make this worth checking out for any platformer fan.

Graphics: Nice hand drawn to cartoon art style. The level and world evolves the further you get in the game with more colors, more distinct and diverse backgrounds, and elaborate enemies which makes the visual reward of getting further in the level very desirable. The menu system is simple and sweet with only my personal gripe missing. My personal gripe being the inability to play my own music library with or on top of the games sounds and music.

Overall: In the end I would say this is a fun platformer to try out and buy if you wish. The lite version gives everyone the free accessibility to try the game so there is no real reason to pass it by. Even if you aren’t a platformer fan but love challenging quick games, this one should be given a pass.

Pros:

* Fun addictive gameplay
* Quick play times make it great for quick or long play sessions
* Quick load times & visually exciting graphics make it a great show off piece for the iPhone.

Cons:

* Can’t play your own music while the game is loaded
* Very frustrating as you learn the games rules & controls

Score:  7 Out of 10

A copy of this game was sent to the reviewer by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

The 8-bit retro-style title, Dark Void Zero is now available for 500 points on the DSiWare. The title debuts on Nintendo DSi, with PC and Mobile versions planned for the coming months.

Capcom’s legendary lost project, Dark Void Zero, is now available to download on DSiWare. The never-before-released game straight from the Capcom vault is hitting one day before its next-generation sequel, Dark Void, arrives on store shelves for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Before you get your hands on the new high-flying adventure, check out Dark Void Zero and see where it all began for 500 points on DSiWare.

To commemorate Dark Void’s humble origins, Capcom commissioned the recreation of the original 8-bit classic, now re-titled “Dark Void Zero”, on the DSi platform. Players take on the role of Rusty, the first human born in the Void. With the aid of Nikola Tesla and his trusty jetpack, Rusty embarks on a quest to prevent the evil alien race, “the Watchers”, and their minions from taking over Earth in this retro 2-D action-adventure. The game also features an authentic 8-bit soundtrack by famed composer Bear McCreary, the man behind the music of Dark Void and Battlestar Galactica!

Dark Void Zero is available to download today for 500 points on DSiWare and will be coming soon for iPhone and PC! Dark Void Zero was developed by Other Ocean Interactive (Emeryville, CA).

Fancy making Zombie Rats via science? There’s an App for that!

Schrödinger’s Rat Now Available on Apple App Store

SouthPeak Games fuses quantum physics with fun in Schrödinger’s Rat for the iPhone and iPod touch

MIDLOTHIAN, VA – December 23, 2009 – SouthPeak Games today announced the arrival of Schrödinger’s Rat for the iPhone and iPod touch. In Schrödinger’s Rat players must guide a chalk ball through mazes full of items like quantum fur balls, disappearing walls, and mercury pools, which may help or hinder their efforts. There are 117 mazes in the game, each a test of an element on the periodic table.

“Schrödinger’s Rat does a great job taking advantage of the iPhone and iPod touch’s strengths to make a wonderfully charming and fun experience,” said Richard Iggo, VP of Marketing for SouthPeak. “Players can pick up the game at any time and have a blast tilting their way to the finish, and even possibly learn something in the process.”

The game’s quirky take on the classic quantum physics conundrum posed by Erwin Schrödinger, Schrodinger’s Cat, serves as a great introduction for children and others unfamiliar with scientific concepts, and an amusing backdrop for those who catch the references within the game’s story. FORMation, the game’s developer, sees the game as a great opportunity to get people thinking about science and the possibilities of laboratory experimentation.

Schrödinger’s Rat is available now from the iTunes App Store for the introductory price of $0.99. The game is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch running software version 3.0 or later. For more on the game, please visit www.SchrodingersRat.com.

Title: Bloons Tower Defense (NinjaKiwi.com) Price: $2.99

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bloons-tower-defense/id331271904?mt=8

Intro: I was first introduced to Bloons Tower Defense (BTD) after playing the original Bloons game on Ninja Kiwi’s website. I still remember when it was released and wasting a good number of hours playing the Flash version on their website. So I was naturally excited to hear that this great tower defense game was coming to the iPhone. The things I enjoy about this brand and game is the recognizable design across all of the Bloons titles. Icons, Characters, and Enemies are quickly learned and are transferable between titles regardless of what the core game-play actually consists of. In BTD, the game-play is as solid as their Flash game counterparts and a good port to the iPhone platform.

Game-play: (10-30 min. sessions) After selecting various options and finally selecting which level you wish to play on, the static game board appears. Each game session starts with a certain amount of money based on difficulty level which is the only way the game becomes hard or easy. As any other tower defense game you have different types of towers, or in this case “characters”, that do different things. The basic monkey unit fires darts at a relative slow speed and has a certain amount of range where they can pop the enemies, or bloons. This continues on to other towers being an Ice tower, multi-blast razor tower, boomerang monkey, catapult monkey, and a rocket tower. As the game continues on you have the option to unlock support towers and the super monkey which is a more powerful version of the basic monkey. Enemies come in the form of balloons, or bloons, and follow the level’s designated path. If the enemy reaching the end, an equal amount of strength they have is taken away from the player’s life. Each bloon you pop earns you points as well as bonus points for completing each round. You control when the round starts so there is plenty of time to setup, upgrade, and position all of your towers but once you start a round the bloons will continue coming until the round is over. There is a way to pause the game, however you can only place and upgrade towers during game play so you must resume the game from the pause to continue. There are also 1-use items such as monkey glue and tacks which can be placed at anytime but are only usable during the current round. The goal round to reach is 50 but the game allows you to continue on to an endless amount of rounds. Once you get past about the 60 round mark, you will have so many towers and bloons coming into the map that occasional memory will fall short and the game will crash but other than that it seems very stable. This crash doesn’t bring about too much frustration as it is handled exactly as interruptions which are discussed in the usability section.

Usability: The design and controls of this game were very thought out and implemented. Nothing frustrates me more than bad user controls and everything I touch responds in a fashion that I would expect. Input does become complicated when multiple towers are in close proximity to each other but the game will cycle through the highlighted towers as long as you keep pressing in the general location. Breaking up the game play with watching the cartoon action helps keep fatigue down as well as allowing for interruptions to not be an issue with the game. When phone calls or texts come into the phone during game play and you decide to take them, the game will reset to the end of the previous round so even though you have to replace any towers you did during last round, the functionality is very helpful. There are a few different ways to handle those situations but the way BTD handles it is very adequate.

Pros: Fun game to pick up and play, especially for fans of the Tower Defense genre 10-30 minute gaming intervals make for quick and long term sessions Flash versions of game to try before you buy.

Cons: In an oversaturated genre on the iPhone, BTD can get lost with no real difference besides the brand. Does crash when lots of towers and bloons are on screen

Score: 8 out of 10

Written by Mark “Jazz Malang” Gugler http://www.twitter.com/jazzmalang

Personally Purchased