2.5

Let's face it: Super Mario Bros. is great, and everyone wants to capture the exceptional gameplay and experience that players have when playing this classic. Many people try, and few really hit the nail when it comes to the super responsive controls, and beautiful game environments. A new game by NoName Games called Omino aims to take a seat at the table of those who have been successful. They don't pretend to be doing something new, just trying to provide a similar experience for iPhone users.

Right off the bat you see the inspiration the Omino has from the Nintendo classic. Omino is a basic platformer, with blocks of various types and enemies to avoid and to destroy. The levels progress to the right and consist of fairly easy platforming during the early levels. Enemies are found on top of blocks and are either ones you can jump on to kill or ones you can't. Omino even has power-ups. Hitting some blocks from below will produce either a red hat or a blue hat. Red hats give you a fireball you can fire at enemies, while the blue hat will give you the ability to walk on water.

Unfortunately, even with a solid game mechanic set up, the developers have dropped the ball when it comes to the controls. The developers took the same path as Square did when releasing Crystal Defenders, and put the controls on the bottom half of the screen in their own area. This effectively shrinks the playable size of the screen by half. This would not be completely unforgivable if the responsiveness of the said buttons didn't leave something to be desired. Often when pressing a directional button and trying to jump at the same time the buttons do not react immediately causing your character to miss the jump and at best fall to the ground, and at worse to land in a pit and die.

Omino utilizes the freemium business plan. The first two levels are free while the rest of the game can be unlocked with an in-app purchase. So if you enjoy the first two levels, you are sure to enjoy the later stages which are very similar in style. The developer says he will be adding Open Feint support soon, which will give you more incentive to gather the coins scattered around the level. Overall it is an ok platforming game that tries to be like Mario, and while not doing a horrible job, doesn't quite make it. The levels are fairly basic, and the game itself loses its fun quickly.

POW is one of those apps that you download on a whim on those days when you're perusing the App Store for weird, free stuff.  Taking a page from the Batman TV show from the 60's, the app makes a punching noise when you hold it in your hand and move your arm forwards and back, pretending to hit someone or something.  It can be adjusted between right-handed and left-handed people.

The app is somewhat tricky to use and the sounds don't always occur when you make the motion (perhaps the app is trying to adjust when you move rapidly).  The app is free and has to be supported somehow, thus there are ads running along the bottom.

It is possible to customize the sounds the app makes and there are even duck quacks.

It's not a great app.  The graphics aren't really impressive and the sound quality is only fair.  It'll keep you occupied for maybe a minute as you kid around with a four-year-old boy and pretend to hit him.  Then he'll want to take it and pretend to hit his friends.  And so on.  And so on.  But it's not a great app.

Despite it's price, I can only recommend this one if you have the free space on your iPhone or iPod touch and like to pretend hitting people.  The app would be more cool if it had more of a Batman 60's TV show theme, but you can't have everything.

Antimatter is a very pretty game; from the moment you start, the screen is covered in particularly appealing pixilated performances (say that ten times fast). What it boasts in appearances, though, it sadly lacks in substance, and from a company that has historically delivered solid gameplay and original designs, Antimatter is a surprising disappointment.
The goal of the game is to guide your little ball of antimatter such that it collides with several blue rods that float about the screen. The rods turn red when you hit them, and the object of each stage is to turn all the rods red. However, if you collide with a red rod, you'll turn it back to blue, so you need to be careful about not hitting rods needlessly. You've got a timer in the upper-left corner of the screen which slowly winds down, but you recharge it simply by hitting the rods, which is almost impossible not to do, as they take up most of the screen.
There are always a few "power-ups" floating around the screen, which can do any of several things, almost all of which makes the game more difficult. The most frustrating of these is the lengthener, which increases the size of all the rods on the screen. It only takes a couple of these, or just one in the later levels, to make the level unwinnable, as you cannot travel through the rods, and they can obstruct your path so that you essentially cannot move. In this way, you can neither win nor lose so long as you do not give up. This is not good game design.
Aside from the genuinely impressive particle physics, the game offers nothing of special interest. The game is mindlessly simple, requires mostly luck, rather than any strategy or skill, and has no end-point. It's fun for a few minutes, but it has no lasting entertainment value.

As an old-school gamer, I've spent many an hour behind the proverbial DM screen, finding ways to make my friends on the other side squirm. I've pulled the ever-cliched "you meet in a tavern", the lich arch-villain that refuses to die, and the inevitable, "unbeatable" dragon encounter that the party stomped in two rounds. I've been engaged in traditional tabletop RPGs since the middle of 2003, and roleplaying freeform since long before that. The majority of my experiences in tabletop gaming has, predictably, been with Dungeons and Dragons, from Wizards of the Coast. However, ever since I got my iPhone, I've kept a wary eye out for any apps that would make my gaming experience easier. I've had limited success in this regard.

I was recently pleased to find an app called DM Tools, which claimed to be a notekeeper, a quick way to view and edit monster stats, and a "powerful initiative tracker." This was enticing for me, mostly because tracking initiative and monster hit points is the most tedious part of running a D&D game.

Setting up the app for use at the table is a little confusing at first, because there are no instructions, and some of the buttons are not where you would expect them. Once you get the hang of it, though, it takes all of 10 seconds to enter a monster or player character's relevant stats into the app, and then add it to the initiative list. This is mostly because there is very little information tracked by this program; only a creature's defense scores, hit points, and initiative bonus. Why it has a field for initiative bonus, I'm not certain, since you have to manually arrange the characters in the initiative order anyways, and initiative bonus doesn't even show up in the initiative list. I was also deeply disappointed by the lack of a "roll initiative" button that would automatically roll everyone's initiative bonuses and arrange them for me.

Once you have all the data input, and the initiative list organized, it's a fairly straightforward app that actually does a really good job of tracking hit points. It notifies you when a monster is bloodied, and it's a quick and simple matter to delete a creature from the list when it perishes in glorious combat (or when the rogue gets in a cheap shot). It also has a function for adding status effects, but I found the method to be unwieldy, and the status effect doesn't even show up unless you go back to that window to edit it anyways, so it doesn't make much difference.

Although this app can easily replace your normal scratch paper for jotting down initiative and tracking hit points, it does not replace monster stat-blocks altogether, since it has no way to record attacks of any kind, or any other statistics beyond defenses and hit points. However, those two things, and being a rudimentary initiative tracker, it does acceptably well. Could it be more? Certainly, and in the future, who knows what features may come with updates. However, as it stands, this app is little more than digital scrap-paper.

 In Jailbreaker , a 2D obstacle course of sorts,  you are “on the lamb” running as fast as you can. But along the way there are many obstacles in your path—saw blades,  wooden crates, plate glass, and any endless number of combinations of those three elements. If you run into any of the obstacles—the game’s over. But luckily you can do one of two things—slide under tall items, and jump under short ones.

In a nutshell, that’s Jailbreaker. In  essence, it’s a stripped down basic version of sonic the hedgehog—without the rings, powerups, levels, etc. The game is just running, jumping and sliding to avoid obstacles.

The pacing is fast (almost too fast) and using “Flight of the Bumblebees” as background soundtrack is a good choice as it builds the tension and need of urgency. But because the obstacles are often repeated, it isn’t very exciting or  graphically “stimulating”. Stark black and white and grey, with a little bit of red thrown in every now and then gives the game a noir sort of look. While the intention may have been to set the tone for the underlying scenario, because it doesn’t tie into any sort of story, or theme it just falls flat.

Overall I give the game a thumbs down--Jailbreaker is free and worth every penny.

My kids are starting to get into board games, so when I noticed Game Table in the app store, I thought it’d be a great app to have.

On the positive side, Game Table renders each of its games (Poker, Reversi (aka Othello), Checkers, Chess and Go) beautifully.  For example, the Go and Chess boards have nice wood grains on them; the checkers and poker pieces have a nice shiny plastic look to them. 

The controls and “physics” of the game are also well done—controlling the pieces is easy to master. Using various gestures you can shuffle a deck of cards, flip a stack of checkers, and move various chess pieces easily.

Likewise, the soundeffects through out the game are nicely done—from the clacking of the chips to the shuffling of the cards, the sounds are clear and high quality.

The programer’s notes say that the game is meant for 2 people, so I didn’t expect any computer game version. 

I did, however, expect that the ‘rules’ would be at least slightly enforced. Game Table, however, doesn’t enforce any rules whatsoever. If you want to just litter the ‘Go’ board with piece for no reason, go right ahead! If you want to put all the red checkers on the red squares and the black checkers on the black squares, Game Table will let you.

I’m on the fence if this is a plus or a minus. On one hand, it’s lets me interact with other playersjust like we would with a “regular” game board. (IE: Cheating can occur if you don’t pay attention.)On the other hand, one of the advantages of playing on a computer is the reinforcing of the rules. It lets me relax and enjoy the game more when I don’t have to examine if the other person’s move is legitimate or not.

I think, at least for now, I’ll keep Game Board on my iPad—it should at least prove handy when the kids want a play a game and we are out somewhere. 

I give credit where credit is due and A Real Scale is a unique and useful app.  Granted, there are only a few items that could fit on the iPhone or iPod touch that could fit the weight and size limitations of the app, but it was available for measuring an envelope for postage purposes.  A pretty useful feature if it matches up correctly with the post office scale.

Of course, the original $.99 price is only the beginning.  The app contains a bunch of tools that can only be activated for additional fees.  They use the scale to reel you in then they keep fishing.  Additional apps that come with the scale include a battery meter, a flashlight of various colors, a ruler, a protractor (which is for measuring angles) and an accelerometer.  Additional apps for a fee include a GPS, and a weather station among others.

The app can measure in both grams and ounces.  It comes with both text and video instructions for using it, so its easy to get started.

A nice feature that could be included with this app would be the ability to measure things from both portrait the landscape.  Currently, the app only works in landscape mode.

In short, this is one of those many-in-one apps that offers the unique option of a scale.

Many photographers, both professional, and hobbyists, have been known to participate in a popular photo project called project 365. Shooting for project 365 consists of taking one picture every day for a year. The idea is that at the end of the year, you will have a gallery of photos to reflect on the things that year that matter most, and to remind you all the things you did. Many people post their 365 projects on photo sharing sites like Flickr, and there are many apps out there to help organize photos, share them with friends, as well as remind you to take your daily photo. The iPhone app Project 365 is one of these that harnesses the power of the iPhone to make it conveinent to keep up with your photo project.

When you start Project 365, your first impression might be that you have the wrong app. Project 365 looks more like a calendar than a photo app. The calendar looks very bare at first, but as you populate the days, the calendar becomes a great tool for browsing the months in picture. To add a photo, or view a photo, you tap on a day. From the there you can add a photo or add a caption. Project 365 also has the option to email a photo, or upload to Facebook or Twitter. Most people who attempt project 365 add their photos in batches to save time, so photos can be added in any order you want. Picture can be replaced if you place your picture in the wrong day but you can not delete a photo without replacing it with another one.

While you cetainly don't need an app like project 365 to complete a project like this, it certainly makes it easier to organize your project and can help motivate you to continue taking photos every day. The developer's site also has an email reminder feature so you wont forget to take a picture. I think this app can be useful for some, but I also feel that it lacks some basic features like deleting a picture without replacing it, and being able to move a picture back to the iPhone library. The app is free, so give it a try and see if it might do the trick for you.

Dracula : The Path of the Dragon feels more like an interactive storybook than a game, although there are elements of mystery to the game. You begin as a priest en route to Transylvania looking for a mysterious woman.

The graphics and animation are excellent and the atmosphere of the app is quite Gothic. All interactions with other characters are done from the priest's perspective in order to achieve the fiction that you are this priest character.

You walk around the village by tapping little arrows that lead in different directions. When you have to interact with a person or object, there is a button to press. I kept walking around hoping to be attacked by a Vampire, but it didn't happen.

The game is fairly confusing and you have to listen carefully to the spoken dialogue, otherwise you miss important bits. It's a good app for Gothic mystery lovers. And hey, it's tough to argue with the price.

Of course, when something is free, it costs in other ways. In this case, you have to buy Parts 2, 3 and beyond if you want to continue the story. Part 1 gives you a nice taste of it, though.

Overall, I would still give this a pass due to the strange complexity of it. The graphics and animations are still very good. That could be enough for some.

Long before I had an iPhone, one of the games that I really liked playing on my old Java-enabled mobile phone was the tower-building game called Tower Bloxx. The goal of that game was to build as many towers as you can by stacking blocks that were dropped from a crane. Very recently, I stumbled upon a game being offered for free for a limited time only in the App Store, and its name struck me as oddly familiar: TowerBlocks. Curious as to why it was very similarly named as my beloved Java game of old, I took a peek and realized that the naming was not a mere coincidence. TowerBlocks is in fact another game that involves building towers by stacking blocks being dropped from a crane. And in addition to its being an iPhone game, I discovered that it's also a popular game on the Facebook platform, not unlike Tower Bloxx, which is also a widely played Facebook and online game. Now this begs the inevitable question: Regardless of which one came first, which tower-building iPhone game is better?

As of this writing, I have yet to try Tower Bloxx on the iPhone, so I'm just going to judge TowerBlocks according to its merits alone. As mentioned, TowerBlocks demands that you stack blocks, one on top of another, in order to build a tower or a skyscraper. The blocks, one by one, are carried by a crane, which swings like a pendulum above the ground. Your job is to tap on the screen at the exact same time when a block is directly above the previous block, so that once it's dropped the two are perfectly aligned. And this applies to all succeeding blocks. It's okay if you don't manage to drop a block precisely so long as it doesn't topple over and fall to the ground, since you are allowed a maximum of only three missed blocks before the game is over. Perfectly aligned block pairs, though, are awarded bonus points, so you might want to aim for those if you want to publish your towering scores on Facebook.

Upon launch of the game you will be asked whether you want to enable Facebook Connect for sharing of scores. After that you may already play or take a look at the current high scores or adjust the game parameters. I have an issue with the parameters section of this game. I was expecting to see a set of options to adjust various gameplay elements, but all that's in there is an option to enable or disable sound. Now why call it "Parameters" if there's only one parameter to work with?

Putting that minor concern aside, the game itself is pretty straightforward and the design of the game environment (which consists of the blocks and the crane in the foreground and the city skyline in the background) is good, but far from spectacular. The game also alternately follows and defies certain principles of physics. For example, the swinging of the crane and the behavior of the attached block is believable, as far as gravity and tensile stress are concerned, but once the block is released it just goes straight down as though it were not dropped from a swinging crane.

Tapping is the sole control used in this game, as a tap anywhere on the screen releases the block currently attached to the crane. It's that simple. You just have to tap at the right moment in order to keep the blocks aligned and avoid throwing the blocks overboard, so to speak. The game ends as soon as you miss a block for the third time and you'll be prompted to enter your name if you reached a new high score. I noticed, though, that even after I've entered my name after reaching a high score the game is not able to remember this and prompts me again the next time I get a new high score. Same goes with the instructions page before the beginning of a game. It is displayed every time I start a new game, and it could become rather annoying over time.

All in all, the game is very simple, but it's not as easy as it sounds. It's also not very difficult. All it takes is to get used to the movements of the cranes and the blocks and you're on your way to building the tallest skyscraper in town.