Well we’re back and what better way to come back than a ‘First Play’ preview of the new top down shooter Dragon Fire: Una’s Quest.  Dragon Fire is a bright, fun and strange top down shooter reminiscent of ‘Pop n Twin Bee’ and ‘Parodius’ where you play Una, a small red Dragon who’s aim is to bring peace back to the land by shooting everything that moves.  The auto fire constantly shoots and you use an onscreen D-pad (or optional joystick) to control the player.  Power ups include Phoenix wing men, winged health fairy and power up coins which allows you to grow extra heads increasing your firepower.

The graphics are bright, colourful and imaginative as you will be shooting all sorts of ‘weird and wonderful’ creatures including flying pigs, minotaurs, griffen types creatures and a whole lot more.  The 14 levels each have 7 end of stage bosses which are REALLY weird such as rocket launcher hog, a spitting camel on a lilo and a strange lava Mexican throwing chilli’s at you… very odd… but at the end of each level you have to face down the dragon guardians.

The gameplay is good and the dragons moves well but there are a few times when it feels a little sparce and its hard to know how much health you have when you are bombarded by enemy bullets all the time.  The music and sound effects fit well and have a epic feel to them giving a relatively slow game an bit more excitement.  The levels don’t change so memorizing them and attempting to kill anything that moves is your best bet to completing it but we still found ourselves going back over the previous levels in order to collect the all important stars as these unlock three mini games.

We were only able to unlock two of the games at the time of writing which all seem to be pig related (weird i know).  The first is a plinko game in which you drop coins down a pin board to get them into a moving piggy bank at the bottom.  Its pretty simplistic but it has two game modes which is great for a quick game/distraction.  The second game we managed to unlock was a platform game like ‘Cliffed’ where you have to get a pig down a tower whilst a spikey bar drops from the ceiling… very fun, but quite hard.  The final game looks to be a tap game but as you needed 5000 stars to unlock we don’t see ourselves unlocking that for a while.

This is a great shooter with a retro feel which took us back to the top down shooters of the neo geo. You can tell its from an individual developer and not a proper software house but this is better than a lot of the apps out there. The build we had did have a couple of bugs which were some gaps in the background and a couple of colour inconsistencies but we hope the final build will have these sorted.  Overall, Dragon Fire is great fun, with creative enemies, colourful graphics and some interesting replay options. Coupled with epic music and plenty of options this is a refreshing game which is well worth a look.

VIDEO :

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There is a tonne of levels to work through each with different goals from simple ‘kill everything’ to ‘unblock the scanner’.  This scanner sits at the top of the screen to let you know where each of the enemies are in relation to you which does become very helpful in the later levels.  Each level has a story which links all the levels together until the final battle on the Kraken home world.

The graphics are bright and colourful if a little simplistic but there are a number of amusing nods to movies and TV shows from the island from ‘Lost’ to the obelisk in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The sounds and music all fit well and the game gels together nicely.  Where this game shines out is the gameplay, after the initial confusion of getting used to the controls it becomes great fun to move your ship around the arena, looping about and zapping the oncoming horde.

Despite the great selection of levels and fun gameplay, the game is completed quite easily and you are left wanting more.  However, it has been a while since I have wanted to play through the entire game so I recommend this game as its great fun and will appeal to both fans of the retro shooters and new players.

well worth 59p

[itunes link=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/attack-of-the-kraken/id335511023?mt=8&uo=4″ title=”US Link” text=”US Link”]    [itunes link=”http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/attack-of-the-kraken/id335511023?mt=8&uo=4″ title=”UK Link” text=”UK Link”]

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Let me start from the beginning, Happy Fight is a top down arena shooter where you and multiple enemies must run about totting up as many frags as possible.  As always, around the arena are power ups and weapons which you use to damage and destroy your opponent.

This all sounds pretty straight forward so far.  Where it gets weird is the characters, collectibles and general premise of the game.  The battles are set in a vibrant Tokyo setting with neon lights and colourful set pieces.  The story is simple; in the future, everything is too happy so a cat from the future has come back to bring happiness and destruction… yes I did say that… It’s crazy, but so is everything about this game. Each of the weird and wonderful characters are contained with shield ball and these include hamsters, cats, people, ghosts, zombies and even cup of noodles to name a few.  More characters are unlockable as you collect ‘happy points’ from each bout.  As people die they spawn a varied selection of collectibles which help with random achievements which you need to see to believe (such as the Bento Box Achievement for collecting all the food which goes in the box???).

The graphics are lush with a neon, cute, Japanese styling and the sounds match it perfectly.  It’s Openfeint enabled so you can see online scores, gain achievements and play other people, however due to this being a pre-release version we could not test this aspect of the game.  However, playing solo was good enough for us as the enemy AI is great and the difficulty grows as you progress through the levels.  The shear wealth of unlockable characters and collectibles (which include, toilet rolls, melons, plunger, plasters, leaks and Piyo blocks), will keep you entertained for hours and given that this can be played over Openfeint should increase the longevity as well.

Overall, this is a game ideally suited for the platform, the controls are simple, the action is fun and the visuals are stunning, it’s the death match simplified and we love it.  Matches are short and frantic so you can dip in and out as you see fit.  I’m sure that this game will have an iPad version coming out soon and we look forward to seeing more of the arena as our only criticism would be that you can’t see enough of the game zone whilst playing.  However, this will be staying on our iPhones for a long time yet

Great Job Pixel Studios, a fun little shooter in a sea of crap apps!

COMING SOON TO APP STORE: KEEP AN EYE OUT ON THE 5TH AUGUST!!!

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We have followed Big Pixel Studios for some time and loved their game Piyo Blocks and enjoyed a great developer Interview back in October 2009.  Since then they have had great success with Piyo Blocks 2 for both iphone and iPad.  Well they are back again, but this time they have put down their puzzle blocks and picked up a gung-ho cat.

Today they announced details of their new Japanese style dual-stick shooter title, Meow Meow Happy Fight. Set in modern-day Tokyo, a giant Happy Cat has travelled back in time from the year 2336 AD, where  everything is just too happy, to bring happiness and destruction to the cityʼs inhabitants!  With a massive 24 action-packed levels, 15 characters to unlock, 12 super power-ups and,  of course, 1 giant Happy Cat, this game really takes the dual-stick shooter to the next level. The slick character design, breathtaking backgrounds, and catchy Japanese music give an extra dimension to the game play.

“With Meow Meow Happy Fight weʼve created a game based around a simple mechanic, which gradually expands into something much more in-depth and skill demanding,” said Paul Virapen, Big Pixel Studios Managing Director. David Burpitt, Technical Director at Big Pixel Studios, added, “We put a big focus on the AI of opponents. They move, think and act as if they were controlled by real players, and can often out-smart you with a special
attack, or cheekily snatch a kill after you’ve put in all the hard work.” Connecting to OpenFeintʼs 29+ million gamers adds another layer of depth to Meow Meow Happy Fight. With a multitude of achievements to unlock, leaderboards, and social features, it will keep even the most avid of gamers coming back for more. “We’ve been passing our build of Meow Meow Happy Fight around the office and our guys can’t get enough. It’s a great game and is a fantastic addition to their great Piyo Blocks series,” said Eros Resmini, VP of Marketing and Developer Relations at Aurora Feint.

Meow Meow Happy Fight launches on August 5th in the App Store at the special introductory price of $0.99 (£0.59/€0.79) for a limited time, with the price going back up to $2.99 (£1.79/€2.39) shortly afterwards.

Check out the video below:

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The original Predator movie back in 1987 sparked a huge cult following and a subsequent movie and various crossovers with Aliens. Acclaimed producer Robert Rodriguez is set to rekindle that flame on the big-screen with a stand-alone movie, Predators, with Chillingo and Angry Mob Games stepping up for the mandatory small-screen game tie-in.

Like Guerilla Bob (Angry Mob’s last project), Predators is a dual-stick shooter, though distinguishing itself with a unique focus on melee combat to satiate that staple Predator action. Where would Predator be without the wicked arsenal that we all know and love? Angry Mob Games has taken heed and supplemented the melee combat with his many useful longer-range attacks (such as the Plasma Cannon and Disc Weapon) and sensory abilities too.

These all come together in arena-like combat scenarios– 24 of them to be exact– where you are tasked with dispatching the supple human prey wandering into your predatory habitat. To begin with, your Predator has only the use of his claws, which are single target shredding machines, and only a single combo. The first few levels operate as an introduction sequence to familiarise yourself with the 6 melee combos at your disposal. Subsequent levels gradually unlock weapons and abilities that are all required to continue.

The Predator’s arsenal provides both the objectives and context for the game’s missions. Some missions require you to use your cloaking device to eliminate enemies undetected; others require you to use your thermal detection to take out sniping enemies. Others again require you to perform particular melee kills, or collect trophy scalps with the trophy kill combo after netting your prey. No matter the task at hand, the Predator swiss-army-knife has a tool to tackle it head-on and with deadly force; and it’s great to see an effort has been made to make each weapon and ability useful.

Eventually, you are introduced to the overall targets of your bloody alien party; 8 warriors from Earth deemed worthy of being honorable Predator prey. These act as boss levels, which are unfortunately a low point in the game’s missions– requiring you to monotonously kill a large number of cannon fodder humans to flush them out– and then killing them when they do. Each of these targets has a unique ability to make your job all the more difficult. In subsequent levels they reappear as standard enemies, the end result being that the final levels are replete with enemies sporting machine guns, samurai swords and sniper rifles are all trying to take you down first, adding considerably to the difficulty.

The on-screen controls are adequate to the task, with the dual-stick mechanics functioning as well as we’ve seen so far. Weapons are switched with on-screen buttons, and your limited energy bar (responsible for powering most of your weapons and armor abilities) is represented in the top left corner. Melee combat is where the controls really stand out however, with an A and B button activating a number of different combos and attacks. Pressing B while running for example, will cause your Predator to leap attack; a subsequent B will cause him to Impale your enemy, and another 3 A attacks will initiate the Trophy kill to brutally sever their head. It may sound difficult on paper, but combos and attacks are fluid and easily executed and look absolutely gut-wrenching– pun intended!

On the flipside, the levels themselves in Predators attract our largest criticism. The jungle level at first appears lush and detailed, and though not overly large, suffices for the cloak and dagger gameplay required of the Predator. It is still a glorified square arena however, with clearly delineated boundaries containing what is essentially an open area somewhat reminescent of Minigore. And as in that game, the level does not change at all mission-to-mission. It’s a real shame that one of the strengths of Guerilla Bob– its varied level design– couldn’t be employed by the developers here as well.

The only other issue we had is that the game does suffer from a few minor bugs and graphical glitches that may hamper the occasional combo attack. Predators is also a little light on content, offering only a single difficulty level able to be played through in a couple of hours. Fortunately, the last level to be unlocked also doubles as an endless Survival Mode, in what will undoubtedly be the bread and butter for competitive types.

Throughout the levels, the more difficult kills are awarded with a greater honor bonus, a points system used to upgrade your unlocked weapons. In its current implementation though, honor points seem a little superfluous as we earned far more points than we could spend on a simple run through, and never had to work towards our upgrades. In any case, Chillingo’s Crystal platform is used to record these scores online and to provide a set of achievements for completionists to tackle.

Predators is a faithful rendition of the source material, checking off all the gory boxes to satisfy even the headiest of cult followers. More importantly however, Predators successfully combines fun melee combat, light stealth gameplay and missions acutely based on the Predator arsenal to offer a different and engaging Predator gameplay experience on the iOS device. We only hope that future DLC can introduce more interesting level designs and additional missions to flesh out the existing content.

App Store Link: Predators, $2.99 (Universal App for iPhone & iPad).

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EA has yet to announce a release date or pricing, but judging by how they’ve handled other pre-release games in the past on their Facebook, R-Type will likely appear on the App Store very soon. They’re claiming the game will be 100% true to the original, which seems like a lofty promise to make, but I’m keeping everything I have crossed that they manage to deliver. Tilt, touch, and virtual d-pad controls are included with multiple difficulty levels which will hopefully bring the difficulty of the game down to something a normal human can complete in their lifetime.

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The sequel to the well received Alive 4-ever dual stick shooter has finally arrived. Alive 4-ever Returns expands on the same zombie-invested formula but seems to add many new features to the mix.

The sequel offers a new graphics engine with weather effects, RPG elements as well as 18 types of zombies and 37 types of weapons. Feature list from the developer includes:

• 4 Player Co-Op (local Wi-Fi)
• Fabulous Visual Effects
• RPG Elements Such As Power-Ups & Picking-Up New Skills
• 13 Amazing Skills
• 18 Disgusting Types Of Zombies
• 37 Different Kinds Of Destructive Weapons
• 36 Bonus Equipment
• 40 Stages Of Challenges
• Supersize BOSSES!
• 3 Unique Game Modes
• More Than 40 Achievements Through OpenFeint

Here’s a recent gameplay video which shows off the new features.

We haven’t had a chance to put the game through its paces yet, but early feedback is being collected in the forums.

App Store Link: Alive 4-ever RETURNS, $1.99

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The dual stick control method works great on the iPhone, and as such, it seems like there is no shortage of dual stick shooters. Much like sifting through recently released match 3 games, a lot of them feel very similar, but every once in a while you stumble across a game like Pastel Games’ Shadow Edge [App Store].

Set in the 1940’s, Shadow Edge has this whole Indiana Jones-like thing going for it where you’re an allied soldier searching this tomb for some kind of artifact to help turn the tide of World War II. This can all be seen in the opening cinematic of the game.

You then fight wave after wave of undead enemies, using a variety of different weapons and always making sure to keep the torches of the level you’re on lit so you can see. The graphics of Shadow Edge are great, and this lighting gameplay element not only adds a cool sense of urgency as you patrol around making sure torches are blazing.

The controls work just as well as the other dual stick shooters on the App Store, and they never seem to get in the way of fending off wave after wave of undead baddies as you play through either the included adventure mode or arena mode which allows you to select any of the included maps to play.

The developers posted the following gameplay video where you can see how the game all goes together, notice how they’re constantly refreshing nearby torches to be able to see:

At this stage in the life of the App Store, there’s no doubt a lot of these dual stick shooters all sort of start to feel the same. Shadow Edge has a cool atmosphere I really like, with a great graphics engine that does a good job of making you feel on edge as monsters creep out from the darkness– Especially when you play with headphones on. I’m not sure if that’s enough to truly set it apart from the sea of similar games, but if dual stick shooters are your thing, Shadow Edge is definitely worth a look.

App Store Link: Shadow Edge, $1.99

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In the future convicts fight for their freedom in a frantic game show called ‘The Danger Room’. On this show the contestant must battle through 9 rooms for their freedom but each room is different and you face aliens, soldiers, zombies, robots, demons and more, before the final battle with ‘The Host’. You play Warren Connor, an ex-policeman convited for a crime he didn’t commit, now his family is in danger he HAS to play the show.

In each room (of which there are 12) there are weapon power ups such as shotguns, flame throwers, rocket launchers, and lazers. There are also lots of cash prizes to collect for you to spend if you can survive ‘The Danger Room’.

The Danger Room is a top down shooter from Debug Design. You play via two on screen joysticks to enable you to move and shoot in all directions. The initial build has 9 levels which can be fought through sequentially or be chosen via the level select screen.

[itunes link=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-danger-room/id354164732?mt=8&uo=4″ title=”Download it at itunes here >> USA” text=”ITUNES LINKS”]

[itunes link=”http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-danger-room/id354164732?mt=8&uo=4″ title=”UK itunes Link”]

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In each room there are weapon power ups such as shotguns, flame throwers, rocket launchers, and lazers. There are also lots of cash prizes to collect for you to spend if you can survive ‘The Danger Room’.

The Danger Room is a top down shooter from Debug Design. You play via two on screen joysticks to enable you to move and shoot in all directions. The initial build has 9 levels which can be fought through sequentially or be chosen via the level select screen.

The game does feel like the companies first game but there is some hints of greatness here. The game has some similarities to Smash TV as you run around the room frantically shooting the enemies which change depending on the room. The levels look pretty good but the main sprites are slightly one sided in that they are directly from above and it would nice to see their legs move or something to help bring it off the screen.

Another good point is the fact that the levels change and on each the enemies get harder and harder (we kept dying on ‘The Island’) but there are not enough levels in this initial build and ith only 9 levels you will probably complete it in a few days. However the developers have said that future updates will include addition levels, weapons and a high score table which is a must as this would definitely increase the longevity of the game.

The sounds are actually quite funny and include a deep booming robot host, standard weapon sounds and various groans and death sounds. There is no music to any of the levels which may improve the frantic nature.

On the whole, its worth 59p /$0.99 as you will get a few days of retro frantic fun and if the developer does do the updates then it could be a lot better. The controls can be a little unresponsive at times and when your character disappears under your thumbs its a pain but its a fun little jaunt

Out this Friday so keep em peeled – we hope you have an interview with the company soon.

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Sky Force is a traditional vertical arcade shooter in which you must battle across seven different levels, one of which features a boss-battle at the end. The game offers a variety of pickups and powerups along the way.

The game bears much similarity to Infinite Dreams’ earlier iPhone release, Sky Force Reloaded, which we reviewed back in March. (Reloaded was, interestingly, released to the App Store before Sky Force.) The game delivers a solid arcade shooter feel superior to that of many similar titles that can be found in the App Store.

Originally a mobile title that launched to rave reviews, the iPhone version, normally priced at .99, is free for the duration of the weekend. Don’t miss a freebie on a great iPhone vertical shooter experience.

App Store Link: Sky Force, Free (limited time)

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The developers behind Gunman [App Store], a camera-based shooter game, are currently running a contest encouraging people to get involved in Gunman battles at CES– And if the Twitter activity is any indication, quite a few people are. While this contest is largely irrelevant to those of us who aren’t at CES, one great thing came out of it: Gunman is free for the duration of the convention.

Gunman makes use of the iPhone’s camera to create a real-world multiplayer game similar to laser tag. By connecting to a WiFi network, players join a game then “shoot” each other by taking photos using the phone’s camera. If you’re running the latest iPhone OS, you can even zoom in as if you were using a sniper scope. Each player is tracked by the color of their shirt, and in my testing of the game I found the color recognition to be shockingly good.

The game comes with a few caveats of course. Large multiplayer games require WiFi, everyone must be wearing a different color shirt, and needless to say, until an iPod touch with a camera materializes you need an iPhone to play. Still, if you can round up a few friends all willing to wear different colored shirts that have iPhones in an area blanketed by WiFi, and don’t mind people wondering what in the world you’re doing running around pretending to shoot people with your phone, Gunman looks to be a lot of fun.

App Store Link: Gunman, Free (For a limited time.)

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One of the most notable iPhone games in the early days of the App Store was Ethan Nicholas’ iShoot [App Store], a turn-based artillery game reminiscent of Scorched Earth. In January of last year iShoot took the #1 spot in the list of top 100 paid apps (and anything that could dethrone iFart Mobile has to be big news), enabling Nicholas to kiss his day job goodbye and focus entirely upon iPhone development. An easy decision, we’re guessing; Nicholas reportedly made over 0,000 on iShoot in its first five months.

But what was next for this successful first-time iPhone author?  Time passed and we began to wonder just what Nicholas had in store for iPhone gamers, when word came in October that he would be bringing an outdoor hunting game made in partnership with four-time Olympic medalist, Kim Rhode. Yesterday, Kim Rhode’s Outdoor Shooting [link] arrived in the App Store.

Kim Rhode’s Outdoor Shooting challenges you to go on the hunt for deer, bears, rabbits, and wild turkeys in a 3D, first-person sports shooter set among a variety of outdoor locales (unlocked as you make progress). And it’s not just about pistols and hunting rifles; your arsenal includes AK-47s and even a rocket launcher. And, while some of our readers won’t have a taste for a virtual hunting title (with bunnies), the genre is a popular one on other systems and similar iPhone titles, John Moffett’s iHunt [{content}.99] and Glu’s Deer Hunter 3D [.99], have been doing quite well, of late.

See our brief demo video for a look at the game (note that virtual animals are shot and killed in this footage — even bunnies).

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

App Store Link: Kim Rhode’s Outdoor Shooting, .99

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In Nova you play as Karl Wardin, an ex-space marine who has been reactivated to investigate some strange alien activity in a futuristic setting where the Earth has depleted its resources and no longer can sustain life, forcing humanity to live on nearby orbiting colonies. Admittedly, the plot isn’t anything to write home about and the voice acting ranges from passable to downright cringe-worthy at times– Especially whenever Karl himself speaks. Thankfully, the gameplay itself more than makes up for these shortfalls.

The first series of levels will leave you wandering around on a space ship while you’re guided by various characters communicating over the radio. An arrow guides you from objective to objective, and gameplay amounts to simply following this arrow, killing anything that moves, and flipping switches to activate or unlock different objects and areas. Deadspace fans will feel right at home when the game asks you to traverse the hull of the space ship, even going as far as to mention enabling your magnetic boots. What do you do while you’re outside the ship? Run from pressurized area to pressurized area while avoiding incoming asteroids of course. (If you haven’t played Deadspace, you do exactly this several times throughout the game– The hull is even laid out similarly.)

Eventually after fixing a few different parts of the ship and killing oodles of aliens, you will make your way to the bridge to initiate the self destruct sequence and escape back to your ship. You then fly down to a planet with beautifully rendered lush forests which also happens to be infested by these same (although slightly different colored) aliens. The rest of the game continues in a similar fashion, with different characters telling you where to go and what to do across 13 different levels that take place in five distinctly different environments.

The run and gun action is broken up by mini games, a level where you man the turrent on a warthog-like truck from Halo, and even a couple boss fights. Scattered throughout the levels are locked crates which must be opened by playing a brief mini game where you move different objects around on a grid to solve a puzzle where you’re directing a laser beam from its source to the target. None of these are particularly difficult, and depending on how you feel about mini games you will either find these to be enjoyable distractions or just too annoying to bother with. Thankfully, it seems like there is enough ammo dropped by enemies and laying on the ground that the crates are optional but you will be forced to solve a few of these puzzles throughout the game as you “hack” things to progress.

Similar to Halo, your life is measured by a shield meter at the top of the screen which depletes when you take damage and recharges slowly afterwards. Your shield gauge also serves as your oxygen supply when you’re in space, and your super abilities also take off a chunk of your shield’s power. Super abilities? Oh yes, straight out of Metroid Prime you will slowly gain new abilities such as the ability to freeze enemies, shoot a charged up energy beam, and even run faster with speed boots.

If you’ve played Modern Combat: Sandstorm [.99 / Free], the controls in NOVA will be instantly familiar to you. If not, the game uses a virtual joystick on the left side of the screen for movement, and moving your thumb around the right side of the screen changes your view around. Different buttons frame the screen that do things like fire your weapon, toss a grenade, change weapons, reload, etc. There are two other included control schemes, one where the screen is split in half and moving your left thumb anywhere controls your movement while your right controls your view (essentially just removing the virtual joystick) and another with two virtual joysticks where you tap the screen to fire. I’ve found the default controls to be fine, although I did spend some time fiddling with the sensitivity.

Another nice feature is the ability to move all of the elements of the game’s UI around. I’ve moved the reload button closer to the fire button because I’m a compulsive reloader in first person shooters, but you can customize it however you want. (Although currently this option only seems available by adjusting your controls mid-game, and not from the main menu.) Strangely enough, even though it seems that Gameloft has put a great deal of thought in to different control options and customizations, the ability to invert the Y-axis of the camera control is notably absent. What will leave you scratching your head even more regarding the lack of invert look is that Modern Combat: Sandstorm, a game which shares a similar engine to NOVA includes Y-axis inversion. You can however flip the screen orientation, something that should make iPod touch users happy.

The performance of the game is phenomenal on the iPhone 3GS with fast load times, high frame rates, and everything else you could ask for in a first person shooter. Meanwhile, reader reports all the way down to the slowest device in the iPod family have been said to be smooth. Even while playing online in NOVA’s four player deathmatch mode, which surprisingly enough seems to be working just fine for everyone, a nice change of pace from Gameloft’s recently released Modern Combat: Sandstorm multiplayer update.

Playing online requires both WiFi and a Gameloft Live account. Registering for Gameloft Live is easy, and once you’re online you will have the option to play deathmatch or look at the worldwide leaderboards of players with the most points and kills. When creating a deathmatch game, available options include choosing one of the five maps, as well as enabling or disabling weapon stay and aim assist. Games can be set with a time limit or a frag limit, and both can be set to none to play for as long as you’d like.

When joining a game, you’re thrown in to a lobby which lists available games that have open slots for you to join. Those of you waiting for an Eliminate “killer” will be disappointed to discover that currently there doesn’t seem to be any random matchmaking, or the ability to have friends-only private matches. All you can do is create a game and hope that three of your friends join it before other people do.

Despite its limitations, online multiplayer (as well as local bluetooth/WiFi multiplayer) is a lot of fun and performs surprisingly well. I haven’t come across any lag or connection issues, and so far it just works– Although the true test of NOVA multiplayer will be how well it holds up once players start getting good at the game and scrutinizing the weapon balance. It’s too early to say how large the online community will get and what kind of staying power NOVA’s online presence will have, but it seems quite enjoyable right now.

If you’re a fan of first person shooters, or any of the previously mentioned console classics that NOVA is obviously inspired by, then you too will also likely really enjoy NOVA. It’s one of the most ambitious iPhone games I’ve played so far, and despite the questionable originality of the game I’ve really got to hand it to Gameloft for creating such an amazing iPhone experience.

App Store Link: N.O.V.A. – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, .99

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The Metal Slug franchise made a surprise appearance in the App Store this evening. SNK Playmore has brought a version of the classic game to the iPhone:

“METAL SLUG”, the 2D action shooter which has fascinated game fans from all over the world with its beautiful dot pixel art and gaudy action, has arrived on the iPhone for a new type of Metal Slug, “METAL SLUG TOUCH”! It will give gamers great excitement and thrills together with the simple and intuitive controls available only on the iPhone. Handle the versatile armored tank Metal Slug, and give chase to Morden’s Army!

Movement is tilt controlled (left/right) while turret rotation is handled by tapping on the left/right side of the screen. This results in your turret moving in the desired direction. Jump and squat movements are handled by swipe control (up and down) and finally, there are two additional on screen buttons: avoid and cannon. Controls of the game are shown through this trailer video.

If that all sounds confusing, it is at first. In the end, I found the primary controls to focus on were the turret rotation and tilt controls. Jumping and squatting came into usage much less, and with unlimited continues, actually trying to dodge enemy fire became were less of a concern. The game only comes with 4 missions, and I ran into a crashing issue that prevented me twice from completing the game. With no auto-save or ability to restart at a later level, this became particularly frustrating. A reboot later, and I was able to make it through the relatively brief campaign and had a reasonable amount of fun during.

In the end, Metal Slug Touch isn’t all that bad, but it’s also just not all that great either. Meanwhile, long time fans of the franchise seem particularly disappointed with the changes made to the iPhone adaptation (no non-vehicular levels, for example).

App Store Link: Metal Slug, .99

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Sad Cat Software released Project Phoenix into the App Store tonight. Project Phoenix is a very nice twin stick tank shooter with large levels and frantic gameplay. Oh, and it’s FREE for a limited time.

After successfully defending a key research facility from invading aliens in “Team Alpha” you have been promoted, and are now in charge of the army’s most advanced tank prototype. Your mission? Free the Earth of the evil invaders, which are going to throw their best military technology at you. Can you do it and save the planet?

The developer’s gameplay video shows the action which can get intense with tons of enemies on screen:

The game is well controlled using left and right dual thumb sticks. The current version of the game spans 7 different missions/levels each with a specific goal. Kills award cash which can be used to upgrade your vehicle’s armor, weaponry and more. Health and power-ups are also strewn across the levels giving items such as helper vehicles or air strikes. The game has a great classic arcade feel to it and you really should download while you can.

Project Phoenix is free for a “very, very” limited time. The developer plans on added more levels and features to the game over time.

App Store Link: Project Phoenix, Free (limited time)

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Game Over really was Game Over.

While many games have lost this unforgiving nature, and given in to the less hardy gamers amongst us, developer eBattallion’s Nanoids returns to that harsh nature of old, and it’s something we’re quite glad about.

From the looks of things, Nanoids has the staple of bullet dodging, boss destroying and soul crushing gameplay we have grown to love. The graphics are crisp, and appear to keep up with all that’s going on with a good degree of style.

The various weapons look suitably impressive, and should you fancy a change there are upgrades and different weapons to keep you and your spaceship happy.

Perhaps most important to fans of the series are the boss battles, and eBattallion promises them in ample abundance and size. Factor in a ‘save’ function that means you can return to a point later on, and it all sounds rather positive.

Okay, so saving isn’t as hardcore as in ‘ye olden days’, but it means you can pick-up and play Nanoids in short bursts, and progress through the game. Rest assured, though – it wont be an easy ride.

Nanoids is out now on the App Store for £1.79/$2.99. Saving the future has never been so accessable.

The post Review: Nanoids appeared first on AppTrawler.

Indeed, there’s currently a small explosion when it comes to space-based games.

Multi-platform MMOG Outer Empires has just touched down on iPhone (alongside Facebook and browser versions), while Freeverse is working on its winter-scheduled Warpgate.

First into orbit, however, was Wisp Games’s Flatspace, an experience Damien McFerran said, ” transcends the usual limitations of short-burst iPhone gaming to deliver a captivating universe of possibilities,” in our Flatspace review.

We caught up with Wisp Games founder Bill Klein to find out more about how the game was developed and what future plans he has for it.

Pocket Gamer: What’s the background of Wisp Games?

Bill Klein: I got into the games industry in 2003 when I founded a company called Extreme AI. We developed a couple of nice games for the Tapwave Zodiac, but didn’t get too far before we ran out of money. We closed shop in 2005.

I revived our gaming group early this year as a division of my own software company, Klein Computing. I was lucky enough to rehire my lead programmer from Extreme AI, and now we’re making a second go of it.

Why did you think it would be a good idea to bring an ambitious PC game like Flatspace to iPhone?

Back at Extreme AI, we were strong on programming talent but light on the art side. Our strategy was to find existing PC games that we thought would make good mobile games, and then port the games that we could get licences and source code for.

Our first port was a game called Firefly, written by Cornutopia. After learning more about Cornutopia, we set our sights on another of its games, Flatspace. We didn’t get a chance to do the game then, but came back to it when we started Wisp.

How much of the PC code could you re-use or was it a case of starting from scratch?

We reused a significant portion of the PC code for the iPhone port. Our goal is usually to minimise the changes necessary to do a port, and to localise the impact of any changes.

For Flatspace, we had a lot of work to do for audio and for the user interface and controls, but not much related to in-game graphics, game logic, or speed optimisation.

We found it very challenging to take a complex keyboard-driven control setup and make it work on a device with no keyboard and no mouse. We’re still working to tweak the control scheme and get it just right.

Why did you think this sort of large scale space game would appeal to the iPhone audience?

After really digging into the games available for iPhone, I was fairly surprised (and a little disappointed) at the general mini-game feel of most of them.

I had played much deeper games on older Palm OS devices and even the Tapwave Zodiac than what I saw on iPhone. We wanted to do a game that would deliver a bigger experience.

What were the most difficult things to get working on the iPhone and how far did you push the graphics?

Modifying the user interface to fit on the iPhone screen was difficult. Most of the Flatspace UI was designed for a larger, higher resolution PC screen. We didn’t want to spend the time/money to totally rework the UI setup, but we ended up spending a lot of time reorganising and moving around UI elements to fit on the iPhone.

We also had a hard time coming up with a simple, reasonable control setup that captured the myriad functions available in the PC game.

Graphics weren’t really an issue for us. Mark Sheeky from Cornutopia did a great job with the original graphics, and we were able to use his setup without major changes.

What about the most difficult gameplay features, and how much balancing work did you have to do in terms the economic system?

The economic system was built using an economic simulator and had been well balanced before we got our hands on it. We were careful not to change it any more than necessary.

We did make a few minor changes in an effort to speed the game up a bit and help people move through the early game faster.

What’s the reaction of players been, as you drop them into the deep end at the start of the game?

Our biggest frustration so far, which we are very aware is shared by many of our players, is that we haven’t been able to put together an in-game tutorial or instruction system.

Our current plan is to make a set of video tutorials available which explain the UI and control setup and give new players a better foundation. The video tutorials will be released as part of our first update (coming soon.)

For players that have taken the time to learn the game, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

How much did you think about pricing?

Pricing is a pretty tricky subject. We felt that the current price ($2.99/£1.79) was appropriate given the scope of the game and amount of playing time most players would get from it. I hope most of the people who have purchased the game think that it is a bargain.

What should we expect next from Wisp Games?

We’re already working on improvements to Flatspace, both in terms of in-game upgrades and in our support for our players. We expect to finish up our first update within a couple of weeks, which will include the video tutorials, an alternate control setup, and some additional options for custom games.

We’re also planning to release a free combat training version (essentially the arcade mode) as a standalone app, plus a new derivative arcade game for those wanting a more complete battle mode experience.

We’re also looking into versions of Flatspace for Android and possibly Palm Pre.

Thanks to Bill for his time.

Flatspace is available now priced $2.99, €2.39, £1.79. Hit the .Buy It!. button to go directly to the App Store.

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Namco’s Garters & Ghouls made its way into the App Store last night and is the latest twin stick shooter to arrive on the scene. You play as the freshly reanimated Marie Dupois fighting against an evil force known as “Thrum” who has caused the dead to rise under its control. It’s your task to close the portals of the underworld that spawn the various zombies, werewolves, and demons that are rampaging across the countryside.

The game plays a lot like iDracula and other similar games, with two virtual joysticks that control your movement and shooting. Along the way you come across different weapons and powerups, and throughout the land are shops run by the “Steam Queens” where you can buy upgrades for your character’s health, movement, weapon damage, and other things.

The main content difference between Garters & Ghouls and similar iPhone games is that the gameplay is structured around 25 distinct and large levels and framed in a slowly revealing storyline.

The task for each level, however, remains the same throughout: you must destroy the enemy-spawing portals strewn across the map. Still, going into a level with a specific number of portals to destroy gave me a greater sense of purpose than other pure survival shooters. There is some very light planning involved in avoiding getting caught in the crossfire between demon-spawing portals, and there are a variety of enemies which do get more difficult as well as a number of weapon upgrades.

The game’s difficulty, however, ramps up slowly, so it can feel like you are just grinding your way through the game. And if you listened to our last podcast, you would have heard that Eli Hodapp’s issue with the game was the repetitive and lengthy nature of the levels. While I don’t believe its any more repetitive than many of the existing survival shooters we’ve played before, I had also hoped the levels would provide more variety in gameplay.

Meanwhile, a number of other factors keeps the game squarely in the “good, but not great” category. The controls and animations are adequate, though not especially smooth, and the targeting of the enemies and portals requires you hitting just the right spot. This gives the enemies a 2 dimensional feel. The 1.0 version also suffers from some occasional crashes, though if this occurs only your in-level progress is lost and you can resume at the beginning of the level.

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Here are some screenshots from the latest build of the game:

They also released a gameplay video. While it isn’t the greatest quality, it at least gives you an idea of what the game is going to look like in motion:

For comparison, here is a video of the original running inside of the Daphne emulator. This latest version of the game for the iPhone will have the following improvements over the game from 1984:

• Full motion widescreen video, fully restored and presented in H.264 running at 60 frames per second.
• Vastly superior graphics and effects to match the on-screen action. Including an all new Cockpit, guns, missiles, and sound effects.
• Redesigned precision multi-touch controls.
• Accelerometer-based tilt steering! You really are in command of the worlds most awesome combat machine.
• Instantaneous seek time, providing a seamless experience where on on-screen action unfolds uninterrupted in real time.
• Unlockable Bonuses. Including Arcade Classic, and Expert Modes.

If Cobra Command is submitted this week like they’re planning, it should be available on the App Store sometime in mid-November.

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