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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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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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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Gameplay in Heavy Mach 2 consists of taking various missions that seem to either have you killing things or collecting things, going out in to the battlefield to fight with your tank and returning with your spoils. As you earn credits and experience by defeating other tanks and completing missions, you can eventually buy tons of weaponry and different upgrades to your tank as you level up.

My favorite part of this game is how well the controls work. While the developers could have easily just used a typical virtual dual-stick control scheme, instead everything is done using different taps and drawing gestures on screen. To move your tank you can either tap on the battlefield, or you can draw a line with your finger for the tank to follow. Your tank will try to follow the exact course you plotted, so it will often get stuck if you try to make it cut corners or drive places it can’t. This is easily solved by just tapping or drawing on the screen to move somewhere else.

Attacking enemies is as simple as tapping on them, and letting your weapons do the rest. Tapping on screen twice causes your tank to dash in that direction. There are buttons framing the screen to use special abilities (such as calling in air strikes) and changing weapons once you get more than the starting load out. The interface as well as the different tanks themselves and the terrain are extremely detailed, and the animations are great– Much like the original.

The only thing that really seems to be missing in Heavy Mach 2 is any kind of plot to follow. The highly detailed scenery does a great job of setting the futuristic war-torn the mood of the game, and I just can’t help but wonder why you’re just randomly taking missions to destroy things. Maybe that’s just me.

Heavy Mach 2 combines the RPG elements of an experience and leveling system along with seemingly endless equipment upgrade and customization options. The controls work well, and I’ve had a great time rampaging through the countryside blowing up every tank I come across. While the original Heavy Mach was a great sidescroller, the sequel has translated well to the overhead view along with improving nearly everything from the first game. If you’re a fan of tank combat, you really should give Heavy Mach 2 a shot.

App Store Link: Heavy Mach 2, .99

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Attaching the word ‘Dante’ to any piece of entertainment suggests that a hellish experience is in store. Consider the risible 1997 Pierce Brosnan vehicle, Dante’s Peak, or the entire filmography of Joe Dante.

Okay, so Gremlins and Inner Space were pretty good.

Regardless of that, you have to say it was a wise move on part of Javaground to omit Dante from the title of its maze-running puzzler – this despite the fact that The Inferno is indeed based on the portion of The Divine Comedy by the fourteenth century poet Dante that carries the same name.

Tortured artist

The game – as with the poem – charts the writer’s journey through a mediaeval vision of hell, aided by the Roman poet Virgil. Minus some rather overripe between-level dialogue, however, that’s about it for the game’s literary pretensions.

I rather doubt Dante’s journey involved scurrying about trap-laden mazes and collecting glowing orbs like Indiana Jones, yet that’s exactly what you have to do in The Inferno.

It’s a fairly plain top-down 2D affair, with Dante moving along rather jerkily, one square at a time. The aim of each level is to make your way to the exit, which only opens up once you’ve collected each of the blue soul orbs that litter each level (usually in the most awkward spots).

There’s an overall time limit of four hours in which the game must be completed, your success or failure at which determines the ending you receive.

Trouble down below

With such a basic premise, the developer has opted to spread the simple directional controls across the screen. Movement by default is handled via a deconstructed virtual D-pad, with horizontal movement handled on the left side of the screen and vertical movement on the right.

While this two-handed approach would appear to be a wise choice given the lack of any other control considerations, it’s actually unintuitive. In fact, I never found myself entirely comfortable with having to operate two individual controls for simple movement – there’s a lingering feeling of detachment between your thumbs and poor old Dante.

Fortunately, there’s the option to switch to a single virtual control pad, but even this proves to be unsatisfactory given the need for pin-sharp timing and reactions on the tougher levels. Collapsing walkways, patrolling ghouls and intermittent spike tracks invariably lead you on a merry dance of death.

It’s often too difficult and the controls only make it worse. The aforementioned stilted movement and jerky animation must take much of the blame for these frustrations, as the sheer number of untimely deaths you experience begins to resemble a whole new kind of torment.

Judgement day

Still, there’s no doubting the old skool appeal of simply getting from entrance to exit as quickly and efficiently as possible, and the sheer number of levels provides a sizable challenge.

There’s a braveness and a purity to the game’s stripped-back style that proves strangely refreshing – how many digital trawls through the underworld do you know of that don’t involve even a smattering of combat?

Despite the oppressive setting, this is far closer to Edge than Doom. The only trouble is, The Inferno lacks the tightly tactile controls of the former, which are absolutely essential in a game with such a narrow focus.

The Inferno, then, while certainly not a tortuous experience, finds itself in the shadowy limbo of being merely above average.

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In a nutshell, the Sword of Fargoal places the player within the top level of a deep series of dungeons with the quest of seeking out the legendary “Sword of Fargoal” and escaping with it from the depths of said dungeons. Complicating matters is the fact that the layout of each dungeon level is randomly generated when the player enters it, and that the dungeons are all initially bathed in darkness, revealing themselves only as the player explores. Those lucky enough to locate the sword have only 2,000 seconds to find their way out of the dungeons which, even on the way up, are also randomly generated.

The iPhone version features completely redone graphics utilizing OpenGL ES to add depth to the stony visuals. It allows for pinch-and-spread zoom control to focus on the action at hand and features an optional on-screen mini map to aid in negotiating the twists and turns of each dungeon level. What’s more, the developer has implemented a full, real-time music synthesizer system for the game which delivers sound that, while ringing of retro, surpasses the quality of the C64’s SID-based score.

But, really, what makes the game so well suited for the iPhone is its casual nature as compared to the typical roguelike. And that’s not to say the game is shallow or light on dungeon crawling action, but rather we feel it’s simply a bit more accessible to the typical gamer than, say, Nethack, Moria, or Rogue thanks to an economy of controls, spells, and the like. Those who’ve never played a dungeon crawler before might just find themselves drawn in to Sword of Fargoal.

The game is on sale 40% off during its first week.

App Store Link: Sword of Fargoal, .99

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Indeed, Paramount has dug up an old film licence, providing us with a Pet Cemetery game.

Stephen King should be spinning in his bed.

Granted Pet Cemetery isn’t one of his best books, and the film wasn’t all that either, but this iPhone game should be hit over the head with a shovel and buried deep in a lead-lined grave.

Of course, there’s always something lost in translation between different media, but the deconstruction of a tale of grief and dealing with loss into a weak top-down tap-shooter doesn’t mark out developer Last Legion or publisher Paramount as wanting to do anything but cash in on Halloween.

That’s fair enough. It’s the quality of the game that really stinks, however.

For one thing, each of the very short levels is effectively the same, with set spawn points – typically house doors and bushes – from which either townsfolks or zombie kids and animals (bird, cat, dog) randomly emerge.

Each follows a linear, preset course to its predetermined exit point – usually another door.

The bad guys don’t have any artificial intelligence, attacking only when they collide with something edible that’s directly in their path. Indeed, because of the way characters spawn, it sometimes seems that the living are chasing the dead.

I know the reanimated are supposed to be stupid, but, really, come on.

Your job as the lone protector of the living is to frantically tap on anything that’s not a townsman until it dies in a splat of green.

Your only obstacle in this task is the number of characters on the screen and the ‘reload’ button in the bottom left of the screen that you have to tap to keep the bullets flowing. Various power-ups also appear that earn you bonus points and extra health. Occasionally you get a bigger ammo pack, too.

Your health level drops, either when the living are eaten or the dead escape without being shot, until it’s Game Over. If you avoid that fate, at the end of each level your kill and save totals are totted up, providing you with a score that can be sent out to Facebook or emailed to a friend.

And that’s it. There’s no variation in terms of the location, the enemies, the people you’re saving, let alone the gameplay as you progress. You just keep tapping away until you complete the game or die in the process. The latter is preferable to the former.

“Fifteen levels of fright” is the official marketing line. The real verdict rhymes with that.

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Dark Nebula is described as a “skill-based action game” which we previewed back in August. The game is brought to us in part by Anders Hejdenberg, the lead designer of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat.

Dark Nebula is a tilt-controlled ball roller, but one that adopts an action/arcade vibe rather than the more tedious precision work found in many others. In fact, it feels so different, I’d hesitate to put it in the same genre. The game proceeds across 10 levels of action-packed gaming. Each level is very well designed with a variety of obstacles introduced along the way. Your tasks include the avoiding of spikes, triggering switches, avoiding laser fire, and more. And despite no calibration options, the game’s controls seemed perfect.

Each of the 10 levels are primarily vertical scrolling scenes with distinct start and end points. Your ball has a single shield that can be replenished along the way. Get hit with your shield down or fall off the level and you have to restart at the beginning of the level poriton you are died on. If you lose all your lives, you can restart at the beginning of any level you’ve unlocked. There are 10 levels in all.

In fact, it seems the developers have gone to special trouble to avoid user frustration in the game. For example, if you get killed by a laser shot or spinning spikes, these elements actually slow down so it’s easier to get through on your next life. The result is a game that you will enjoy immensely to the end, though one that will end relatively quickly.

Dark Nebula is billed at offering an hour’s play time to make it through the entire game. If you are particularly coordinated, you will be able to make it through in a significantly shorter amount of time, though going back to get gold stars on each level do offer a legitimate amount of replay value.

Overall, Dark Nebula offers a very fun, action-arcade experience that we loved every second of. The game’s rather short length, however, is a legitimate point of concern, but at only {content}.99 and high quality of the overall experience, we still recommend it.

App Store Link: Dark Nebula, .99

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The game starts up with some of the happiest music that I’ve heard in years and then proceeds to turn to bullets and madness. The game handeled very well but I must agree with other critics in saying that I was hit by bullets a lot due to my finger being in the way.

There are many different powerups that can be collected throughout the levels that will help you destroy more of the enemies faster. A larger downside to the game is its shortness.

It didn’t last very long at all and the levels sometimes felt pretty repetitive. It definitely reminded me of a flash game that could be found online and as such I think its low price is justified. Overall it’s a decent shooter that is cheap and full of great looking gameplay. Check it out.

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