Topic: iPhone/iPod Touch game thread?

[KDR_11k]

I don't think we have one so I feel like starting it. Recently got an iPod Touch for Christmas so I'm now accumulating games for it. By the way, if you think the shovelware situation on the Wii is bad you haven't seen the App Store. Recent WiiWare abomination Dragon Master Spell Caster would probably count as one of the better games on the App Store if it were released there.


What stood out for me:


Doodle Jump: It's on the top of the paid games chart and hell, it's there for a reason. Neat little timewaster when you're standing in line somewhere. Quick to start, quick to play and low on the system resources (so the battery won't run out fast from it).


Armor Raiders: It's inspired by the same games as Glory Days 2 but really, GD2 is WAAAAAY better. The heli moves too sluggishly (means refills and respawns take FOREVER), the blast radius on the bombs is too small, units are way too expensive for the income you get and the AI is annoying as **** (always tries to get above you and drop bombs on you, can't escape from that position because the AI always reacts perfectly to your escape attempts and if you collide it's instant death but only you have limited lives). Oh and I don't think the heli tilting is very correct either, I was able to pull off some amazing stuff with the heli physics in GD2 but AR feels like you're piloting a brick.


HAWX: Yes, it's a pretty complete port of the HD console version (obviously with worse graphics) but Gameloft forgot a crucial part of what makes HAWX: The damn OFF mode! It's included as a camera angle but in the original game it did more than that, it changed your plane physics (namely let you get much slower than regular mode, allowing drifts and stalls). Also the gimping of the multi-AA range (4k to 2k) prevents it from really being a multi-AA in most cases because you can't fit enough enemies into range and it has no difficulty selection (HAWX was easy, you had to play on the highest difficulty for any decent challenge and this is locked to the lowest where it takes like 10 rockets to down you!). Of course it's also harder than regular HAWX because of the missing OFF mode physics that made dodging missiles so much fun. Seriously, the shortcomings are just tiny logic parts, nothing that could be blamed on processing power.


NOVA: OVERHYPED! It wants to be Halo. I don't know if it succeeds but I don't like Halo and more importantly a highly story-driven FPS isn't a good match for the iPod, you can't go in and out quickly and expect to have much fun. Malstrom Arcade Test: FAILED!


Tomena Sanner: Hey, it's that WiiWare game but cheaper! I don't like how hard it is to tell when you're supposed to push on each obstacle.


Army Wars: That one's pretty cool, feels a bit like an attack version of Plants vs Zombies. You place units on the battlefield and they march in a straight line, there are no fixed lanes but both horizontal and vertical range play a part (e.g. sidestepping the long but narrow field of fire on a sniper). I don't like how the early weapon unlocks are mostly just veteran units though that have little bearing on the game.


Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs: Sure, it's a licensed game but it's made by Two Tribes, the makers of Toki Tori! It even uses many of TT's mechanics (pillars that you put behind yourself, bubbles that you can float in, etc).


GO! GO! Rangers: Nice TBS game, kinda like an RPG but without the whole levelling stuff. You get a selection of rangers that you can move in your 3x4 grid and fight a boss whose attacks are fairly pattern based (e.g. damages a certain row or column, strikes all heroes in the first manned row, etc), you move your rangers around to use their different abilities (they use different moves in each column) and dodge attacks. The first few levels I played so far only have the same boss with an additional move each time (and of course new unlocked rangers), possibly as an introduction but still kinda boring.


It's interesting how people constantly try to reexamine the definition of a game and while many are duds at least I've found many different takes on genres like the RTS (unfortunately it seems there's a ton of clones of that shitty Nanophage Wars flash game or whatever that cloned too, a type of game that I consider completely devoid of strategy or sense). Been thinking of gobbing into that river myself but I'll probably end up never doing it due to lazyness.

[NWR_DrewMG]

GeoDefense, GeoDefense Swarm, and GeoSpark are all exellent imo.

[D_Average]

Fieldrunners - Best tower defense game in the universe

Soosiz - Charming 2D platformer.  With a sprinkle of Mario Galaxy on top.

[BranDonk Kong]

The stickman game with the bow and arrow is pretty cool...and I am T-Pain. Other than that, everthing I've played on an iPhone/iPod was crap. Not counting Monkey Ball.

[D_Average]

Oh, the mega popular Flight Control is popular for a reason.  Well worth the .99 cent price tag.  Its a game that really shines on the iphone.  Only MS Surface would top it as far as platforms are concerned.

[NWR_insanolord]

D_Average already said it, but the point really needs to be hammered across; Flight Control is amazing. I think it's coming to DSiWare, but for once that's going to be a downgrade to the controls. Also, Space Evader is an old-school style high score game that is extremely simple but I've sunk a ton of time into it.

[KDR_11k]

I have Flight Control, didn't find it very interesting though.

The stickman game with the bow and arrow is pretty cool...

Catoon [sic] Wars Gunner?

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

I've only played three games on a friend's iPhone.

iDracula: A decent attempt at the Endless Survival mode style of gameplay. It's a third-person shooter, not quite at a bird's eye view but close. With your Van Helsing lookalike, you move around a small area and shoot indefinite waves of creature for as long as you can until you die. As a round goes on, you find new weapons and unlock perks for your character to help him out, so there's a little sense of progression. The controls are trying to simulate dual analog though, with mixed results unfortunately. You hold the iPhone/iPod sideways and there are two wheels at the corners of the screen: the left one for movement and the right for turning & aiming. It works okayish but the game's compromise for a lack of a "Shoot" button is to make your weapon fire automatically whenever your thumb is touching the right wheel. For a game with limited ammo, this is a bit troublesome as you can burn through a lot of bullets just to turn and point your gun at an enemy. I heard there's a free version (stripped down of course), iDracula Lite, so trying that out before paying for the full game is likely your best bet.

Tap Tap Revenge 2: Semi-competent Guitar Hero clone, I suppose. It's probably too easy; even on the Expert difficulty setting, I got 90+% on the songs that I played, and I wouldn't consider myself a rhythm game aficionado. The quality of the music is down to personal preference. Although most of the songs in Tap Tap's tiny setlist were obscure to say the least, the quality of the sound was good.

Archers: I would assume this is the game Brandogg was referring to. Anyway, it's fun in short bursts - as in a few minutes at a time. The player drags their finger across the touch screen and moves it up or down to set the power and angle of their shot respectively. The winner is the one who depletes their opponent's health bar first. It reminds me of the Flash game Bowman, right down to the turn-based 2 player option.

That's all I have to contribute. Right now, I'm thinking that if I ever buy an iPhone or iPod Touch, which in itself is 50/50, I don't believe I'll be using it as a portable gaming device. It depends on the pricing structure for the App Store... are all the games dirt cheap?
By the way KDR, I think Plants vs Zombies was released on the iPhone/Pod Touch a while ago. I don't know if that particular version is worth checking out -- on PC, it is an excellent title.

[KDR_11k]

I got the PC version of PvZ and got my fill from that. Even seen clones of it, no interest though.

Pricing is mostly 1-2 "units" (1 USD, .8 EUR, .6 GBP, it shows the currency value but prices generally come in increments of those "units") per game, some go higher. I paid 5.50 EUR for HAWX and NOVA each but most games are significantly less. However most games are also VERY low on content, you usually get a game idea implemented as an endless mode and that's it, usually with upgrading and whatnot but no real levels to get through.

[NWR_insanolord]

I've been playing a couple things pretty regularly, so I figured I'd post them.

The first is called geoSpark, which I'm not sure how to describe other than that it's pretty simple, very fast, and extremely addictive. It's another game to add to the list of "This would be even more fantastic on the iPad."

The second is called Heavy Gunner 3D, made by the same people who made Homerun Battle 3D, which was a game that I thought sounded shallow and stupid until I played it and got hooked. It's a shooter where you shoot from a stationary point, with on-screen sticks controlling the aiming cursors for each of your two weapons and camera movement done through tilt. The setup works pretty well, and I'm having a hard time coming up with another platform it could work on (PS3, maybe, with the sticks being the guns and sixaxis motion doing the camera, or possibly on the Wii with two remotes, pointers to aim and one of the d-pads handling the camera).

[KnowsNothing]

I've got a few of the popular paid titles like Plants versus Zombies, Bejewled 2, Doodle Jump, and Flight Control.  I also have this one called Wordsworth which is kind of like Bookworm but with a hexagonal playing field, more game modes, and a more complete dictionary (from what I've read Bookworm is missing a lot of common words).  Wordsworth is very fun (if a bit boring to look at) but sometimes hard to control.  My friends never have a problem choosing the right letters though so maybe it's just my terrible coordination at fault.

As for free games, SF Cave is really stupid but I think pretty addictive, and if you don't want to shell out the dollar for doodle jump there's the free Papi Jump (but once you go Doodle you can't go back).  Unblock Me Free is a nice Rush Hour clone (I assume there's a paid version but I don't really care, the free one is enough), and Traffic Rush is kind of like Flight Control in that you try to keep tons of cars on screen from hitting each other.  Frustrating but fun.

[NWR_insanolord]

I said this on Twitter, but, as crazy as it seems, Resident Evil 4 actually works pretty well on the iPhone. Not as well as the Wii version, certainly, but I prefer it to the analog controls of Resident Evil 5.

[D_Average]

Simple motobike game I love, MX Mayhem

[D_Average]

This just popped on Youtube, looks somewhat legit (the new 4G iPhone).  I dig it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQtdLJgmiB8&playnext_from=TL&videos=cUgc2txgqh8

[NWR_insanolord]

If you enjoy iPhone gaming I suggest you subscribe to IGN's iPhone Game of the Day e-mail newsletter. I've already found a few really good games because of it.

[gbuell]

I am gaming on my iPod Touch more than my DS lately. Hope that isn't too blasphemous, but I find the gaming catalog on the App Store to be a lot better than people give it credit for, once you take the time to look for the gems. (This is especially true if you like puzzle games, which I do.) Games in bold are the ones that take up the vast majority of my iPod Touch gaming time.

Frotz - this app includes dozens of the old text adventure games, and lets you download more, and it's free. Totally ****ing awesome.

Aurora Feint II Lite - this takes my favorite falling-blocks puzzle gameplay mechanic (the one used by Tetris Attack/Panel de Pon/Puzzle League/Henry Hatsworth) and adds the accelerometer, letting you turn the device sideways to change the direction of gravity. Add some light RPG elements and nice production values and you've got a pretty addictive title on your hands. Also, free (though there is a more feature-full paid version.)

Bookworm - not much needs to be said here, I just love this game.

Bust-A-Move - pretty good Bust-A-Move version here, though the graphics aren't too great. Anything Bust-A-Move is worth getting imo.

Chuzzle - another ridiculously polished PopCap timewaster.

Drop7 - I may have sunk more into this one than all the other ones combined. Ridiculously addictive puzzle game mechanic. Drop balls that display a number from 1 to 7, and when a row or column has that many balls in a row, they disappear. For example - when you drop a ball onto an existing column of 3 balls, so that the column becomes 4 tall, all the balls with the number 4 disappear from that column - even the ones that were there before. This makes the game very strategic, and the potential for chain reactions is immense. Definitely check this one out.

Earth vs. Moon - a really fun, good looking Missile Command type game.

Eliss - this one is very retro-stylish and unique, but difficult. Uses multitouch well. You have to combine or split apart giant floating circular blobs in order to fit them into holes, but if you let different colored blobs touch each other, you lose health. This one has a lot of style.

Galcon Labs - a really cool strategy game that makes great use of touch. Send armadas of tiny ships from your planets to your enemy's while he does the same to you, take over larger planets for larger regen rates. A lot of different game modes and difficulties, plus multiplayer.

GeoDefense Swarm - the only tower defense game you need (unless you cound Plants vs. Zombies.)

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars - Rockstar did a great job with this one. I haven't gotten too far into it but the amount of polish and detail is above and beyond for an iPhone game. I'm a little overwhelmed at the possibilities.

Orbital - gorgeous Geometry Wars-esque graphics with Peggle-esque gameplay, really fun. Shoot a ball to knock out other balls, and when your ball stops, it grows in size until it hits another object or wall. Necessitates very strategic aim. Supernova mode lets the balls explode and damage nearby balls, allowing for sweet combos.

Peggle - another great PopCap game. I'm loving going through the challenges on this one. Everyone knows what this is so I won't explain it, but the iPhone version is totally worth getting.

Plants vs. Zombies - can you tell I love PopCap? Just get this.

Space Miner: Space Ore Bust - awesome, awesome Asteroids spinoff, with dozens of zones, upgradeable ships, powerups, different enemy/asteroid types, and really really really funny writing. This is one of the best games I've played in the last couple years, full stop.

Unify - another simple, good looking puzzle game, which has you manipulating two sets of falling bricks at once to match colors. More fun than it sounds.

Zen Bound - this game is truly unique and beautiful. Really nicely-rendered 3D wooden objects that are fully manipulatable about all axes. The goal is to wrap a piece of string around the object - the string covers the object's surface with paint, and you complete each level by covering a certain percentage of the object with paint. You only have a limited length of string, so you need to be conservative in how many twists and turns you use to get into the object's different nooks and crannies. This game takes time and patience, and has a beautiful, serene soundtrack to add to that zen atmosphere. One of the best games on the App Store.

[KDR_11k]

I am gaming on my iPod Touch more than my DS lately. Hope that isn't too blasphemous, but I find the gaming catalog on the App Store to be a lot better than people give it credit for, once you take the time to look for the gems. (This is especially true if you like puzzle games, which I do.)

I suppose that explains why I only use the iPod for podcasts and keep the DS for the games, I don't like tile-based puzzle games (only logic puzzles). Also I fucking hate the Galcon style of "strategy" that half the strategy games on the App Store ape (the other half apes tower defense). Well, okay, that's not entirely true, there's also a style that consists of Swords & Soldiers-style soldiers walking around while you shoot with some heavy gun from your fortress but it's still dull and crappy.

[gbuell]

Well yeah, good point on Galcon, I think it's a fun intuitive timewaster but it's not truly very "strategic". There is a decent Advanced Wars-style hex-grid TBS called Uniwar that I've got, but I haven't seen much more complicated than that.

[NWR_insanolord]

If you play on the higher difficulty levels or against an actual person there is definitely strategy involved in Galcon. It's kind of like Wii Sports Resort swordfighting in that at the low levels you can succeed simply by spamming, but if both people know what they're doing there's a lot more depth to it.

I've been playing a good bit of Freaking Inkies lately, which is a game where you shoot these little monster things with the same color that they are, which can involve mixing colors to get the right one. It's a lot of fun, but it gets hard quickly.

[KDR_11k]

I got Galcon Fusion in an indie pack on Steam, I believe I was able to win almost instantly on all difficulties by going right for their starting planet as soon as they move out to conquer something.

[KDR_11k]

I took the risk and threw 4€ (expensive by iP* standards but if you take a step back you realize it's not much compared to other platforms) at a game called Land Air Sea Warfare, turns out this really is a proper RTS game similar to Supreme Commander or Total Annihilation. There's a PC and Mac demo here and the iPod version is exactly the same (of course it's the full version, not the demo) content-wise and the interface is adequate even though there are definitely ways to improve it.

[NWR_insanolord]

This thread isn't technically about the iPad, but the one game I've been playing the hell out of on the iPad is SmartGo Kifu. It's a fantastic version of the ancient board game go. It logs every game you play, and lets you go back and analyze your moves and replay segments of the game in different ways, and includes a whole bunch of go problems to solve. There are versions of it for iPhone/Touch, and I have one of them, but it's got nothing on the iPad version.

[NWR_insanolord]

I've been spending a lot of time with a game called Cross Fingers. It's a puzzle game that could not have been done before the iPhone; it needs the multitouch screen to work. The name is accurate, as you're going to need several fingers to play this one, and they can get in each other's way. It's a puzzle game with a simple premise, based upon the old tangram puzzles, where you assemble shapes into specific patterns, but adds enough to feel fresh. It's an iPhone game, but I've been playing it blown up on my iPad, and I think it would be considerably more difficult on the smaller screen.

[KDR_11k]

Been having a lot of fun with Land Air Sea Warfare, can't believe how crappy the name and icon is for a game this awesome and well made. Finally proper RTS battles on the commute, no compromises. Apparently the dev is working on a proper iPad version and I think the extra screen space would be very useful.


Are there any build-up strategy games (like Anno or Sim City)? That would seem like a natural genre for the system.

[NWR_insanolord]

There is a SimCity, but it's getting a sequel that's supposed to be a lot better and fix some of its problems that's supposed to come out any time now, so wait for that. There's also a version of The Settlers that I've had my eye on for a while and will probably buy once I get my new iPhone and have the space for it.