Zombie Highway for the iPhone
There is a full review of this game up on TouchArcade, so I’ll let you go there for more information about it and what they think. Something that, as of this writing I haven’t personally read. Not that I don’t value and respect their opinion … I could just care less about game reviews personally. I only care about what *I* think of a game.
But with my recently obtaining an Android Eris cell phone, I use it for all my MP3 playing needs since I’ve always got the phone on me anyway, so my little second generation iPod Touch is used exclusively for gaming now. And this is one of the games that kind of caught my eye.
Anyone remember the excellent film Zombie Land? This game, judging from the video anyway, kind of feels like that to me. That … and a little bit of 2004’s Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later mixed in. You’re just driving down this empty stretch of road (that doesn’t seem to have any turns on it) avoiding the wrecked vehicles. But occasionally, there are zombies off to the side that jump onto the side of your SUV and you have to either knock them off or shoot them off.
Now, just judging from the video, I’m wondering about the replayability. And the graphics don’t look all that great, but these are just initial impressions having not played it yet. At only $0.99, I may give it a go one of these days.
Halfbrick’s “Blast Off” is free right now for the iPhone/iPod Touch and probably the iPad.
Yeah, the title says it all. Just snag it right here. This is one of those games that I played the trial for on the Xbox 360 and, while it was good, it lent itself to more of a portable platform like the iPod for me.
Tweet Defense – My current little iPod obsession.
Justin and I talked about this game a little bit on episode 2 of the podcast, so I thought I’d elaborate a little bit more on here … even though all I’ve really played is the endless mode. When Justin says something along the lines of that he hasn’t gotten as far as I have, it was because I sent him a screenshot of round 167 I think it was.
Tweet Defense, as you may have guessed, is a tower defense game. Zombies come from one end of the screen and you have to keep them from reaching the other end and eating what brains you have available. You place towers of various kinds along the path (thankfully, there IS a path and it’s not one of those ridiculous sandbox style tower defense games) that shoot at, slow down or help other towers along the way. While it does have the cartoony art style, there is blood so it probably isn’t the best thing for young kids.
Fast & Furious Adrenaline for the iPhone just got a fairly sizable update.
Yeah yeah yeah, I’m well aware that this game doesn’t stand up to other racing games on the App Store like Need for Speed Shift, Real Racing, etc etc … but that doesn’t matter to me. Even though it doesn’t stand up quite as well, and it has it’s little hitches like the draw distance not being all that great. It’s still a pretty fun little game on the cheap at $1.99 and really shows how the games on this particular platform have evolved. It seems like they’re listening to the issues the players have with it and are working with them. Check out this list of stuff.
Puppet War FPS for the iPhone/iPod Touch
I haven’t played it yet … this is just my reaction to the absolutely absurd idea and trailer. What the hell? This is right up my alley … I love just WEIRD concepts like this. Apparently you’re a janitor working at this kid’s show and the puppets decide to just go nuts and go against humanity. So far from the trailer and the screenshots the graphics are surprisingly good and detailed, though I’m not sure about the gameplay. First person shooters on the iPod Touch and whatnot are kind of hit or miss.
I may end up getting this ridiculous looking game very very soon. It’s $1.99 and can be found right here.
Cammy is coming to Street Fighter 4 on your favorite iDevice via a free update.
I was a little skeptical of this game when it was initially released, mostly due to the fact you have no choice but to use the touch screen controls. And when not done right, it’s devastating. But Capcom definitely pulled through with this release providing a great version of SF4 for on the go. Obviously, with only 8 characters and a large loss of buttons (both literally and physically) its’ not going to make the hard core people happy. And trust me, I’ve seen my fair share of people bitching about this release. Some people even bitching … even though they haven’t even PLAYED it. Go figure there.
But I ended up dropping the money on it the day it came out, and I’m thoroughly impressed by it. It controls wonderfully with great graphics and sound … and while it’s definitely not a true Street Fighter experience, what are you expecting from a handheld.
Anyway, eventually, Capcom is going to be providing a free update to this adding in Cammy. While I’m not a huge Cammy fan, it’s definitely kind of surprising to see them even bothering to update this thing. Let alone making it free.
Now if only they would add some other little things to it that I won’t mention because of all the people who whine about spoilers. I’ll just say that this game basically works as a playable advertisement for Super Street Fighter 4 and leave it at that. Regardless of that, it’s well worth the money and if you haven’t checked it out you really should.
Maybe they’ll add in online multiplayer sometime. Now that would definitely rock. Then I could get my ass handed to me on my iPod Touch and the Playstation 3 at the same time.
Here’s a nifty little video showing Cammy in action courtesy of TouchArcade.
LED games on your iPhone and iPod Touch
If you’re around my age or older, you definitely remember these little things. There’s just something so damn addictive in their complete simplicity. Of course, to snag one off of eBay now would cost a friggin’ fortune for something that just has some lights and beeps at you. And, yes while those would be a lot better to have, there are people like me who want them, but don’t want to shell out of the money some of the nutballs want for them on there.
That’s where the iPhone and iPod Touch comes in. Someone has gone through the trouble of making as exact remakes of these games as possible on the platform, and they work great. Everything is handled from the clicks and beeps for sound, to the glowing LED lights. Hell, even that mechanical click of the buttons.
I used to have some of these when I was a kid, and while I have never really given two shits about football, I still played the hell out of the LED game for some reason. It’s just that approachable and that addictive.
This guy has released LED Football, LED Football 2, LED Basketball and, most recently, LED Basketball ‘78, which plays a lot more like an actual basketball game compared to the former where you just shoot your shots and try not to get them blocked. And they’re for my favorite handheld platform. Yes, even above the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Anyway, they’re $0.99 apiece, though I got the original LED Football free when the big football game was going on, so it’s up to you as to whether or not you wanna wait it out or not.
Below are some screenshots. They’re definitely worth nabbing if you have even a passing interest in the games of yesteryear and wondered what the hell people were playing before the Game Boy came along.
And if you want to give them a try for free, you can head over to Peter Hirschberg’s site where he has remade them for Windows (well, not ALL of them, but still). While they’re not in your pocket and they aren’t quite as slick as what’s on the iPhone and iPod Touch, they’re still friggin’ great remakes. And there's more OF them. There's Armor Battle, Autorace, Baseball, Basketball, Football, Football II, Hockey, Canadian Hockey, Ski Slalom, Soccer and Space Alert.
Don't let the simplicity of this stuff get to ya, or the fact that most of them are sports games. You're lookin' at a guy who can't watch a football game for more than about 10 seconds before he gets bored. And even I play this stuff.
Dungeon Hu released for the iPhone and iPod Touch
Now … normally I don’t go about talking about a game I know NOTHING about. And this is definitely one of them. There’s absolutely NOTHING in the description for it that would interest me at all … but at the same time there is. Check it out.
Dungeon Hu is an old style arcade game. If you like adventures, wandering in labyrinths and dungeons then this is your game.
The adventure goes through 6 different areas and 120 levels ensuring hours of exciting gameplay. You will have to deactivate traps, collect treasures, evade monsters and enemies, activate portals. Skill itself is not enough, you will have to use your mind and logic to complete the levels.
It certainly has a really cool look to it, and it looks like it has some content to it even though these 120 levels look like single screen affairs. I personally really like dungeon crawler games, especially Rguelikes …though I’ll readily admit I’m not any good at them. Of course … this looks a little more similar to something like Gauntlet to me, which isn’t a bad thing.
If you want to take the plunge and try it out, you can click right here for the App Store link. It’s a $1.99. I’m just worried that it’ll turn out to be some damned puzzle game and not a dungeon crawler.
And yes, I’m well aware of Rogue Touch and Sword of Fargoal … and if you’re for some reason not aware of them and have even a PASSING interest in Roguelikes and brutally difficult dungeon crawler RPGs then you should go and buy them both. I did, and of all the games that cycle through my iPod Touch … these two games are the ones that definitely ALWAYS stay.
A quick first impression of Street Fighter IV for the iPhone/iPod Touch
Been running through the Dojo part of it where it tells you how to do commands and things of that nature. And so far from what I've played, the time that they put into the touch controls really shows because this thing controls like a dream. It's really surprised me on how well it plays. Which is pretty damn important for a fighting game.
There's a little bit of a learning curve to it because it seems to default to the medium attacks then you choose different directions to do fierce attack and light attacks and the like. But I've been pulling off special moves like they're nothing. Including those fucked up "down forward, down forward + attack" super moves.
Double Dribble Fastbreak hits the iPhone and iPod Touch
Now, I'm not into sports games, I tend to play them VERY casually. I play the occasional baseball game, I play Tiger Woods PGA Tour (yeah yeah yeah. Take his name off it and it's still a great playing golf game) ... but I don't delve too much into the basketball games anymore. The last time I really played one ... I used to play NBA Jam : Tournament Edition on the Sega Genesis back in the day. And I still pop it in from time to time now.
My first start with a basketball game was Basketball for the Atari 2600 when I was about 6 or 7. And I didn't play it for more than a few minutes at best. But then we got an NES and one of the games that we got with it was Double Dribble. And I found out I really like that game. It's a basic, bare bones 5 on 5 basketball game which was GREAT for the era. And is still a hell of a lot of fun to play.