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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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.

The post Preview: R-Type Screenshots Released appeared first on AppTrawler.

Smithers naturally loses the doughnut and Homer gives chase, since it must be a pretty good doughnut for everyone to want it this badly. Using a mixture of a virtual D-Pad and two on-screen buttons you engage in fisticuffs with the various henchmen who are, um, protecting the doughnut. There isn’t much to the plot, but given the arcade beat-em-up style of the game there doesn’t really need to be.

Characters from the show make up the game’s bosses, and scattered between every few levels is a mini-game of sorts where homer either chases or runs from something. The only real variety in the game is from the power ups you pick up along the way, which consist of weapons for you to use as well as other members of the Simpson family coming to briefly help you out.

Here is the first few levels, including a boss fight with Chief Wiggum and Mayor Quimby:

The Simpsons Arcade is a title in EA’s holiday lineup and is coming soon.

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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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In the game you control your old fart by a simple left and right arrow and you attack via three buttons, a kick, punch and by spinning your stick.  I can only assume that spinning your stick is a defensive move as it did nothing to the enemies and its not explained in the gameplay what it does.

To be honest, the gameplay was the biggest let down and half the time you didn’t know if you were hitting the enemies and eventually you have to walk over the top of them to register a hit.  The levels are repetitive and the enemies on the surface look ok but their two frame animation cheapens the whole game.

As I said in the beginning, this is a great concept and probably makes a fun flash game but the development is rushed and really needs to be have had more time spent on it. If they want to warrant the price tag they will need to update it soon with a lot of work.

The post Review: Fogey Fu appeared first on AppTrawler.

If you’re a child of 80’s video games like me, few games likely bring back more traumatic memories of horrifying difficulty than Ghosts ‘n Goblins. While the game was originally released in arcades in 1985, it wasn’t until 1986 that Ghosts ‘n Goblins cursed the NES with its presence and quickly grew in fame as one of the most difficult games of all time. Over the years there have been many sequels, ports, and remakes of the game with the most recent being Ghosts ‘n Goblins Gold Knights [App Store] for the iPhone.

So what has changed over the years? Well, the most noticeable thing are the sprite-based graphics from days of old have been replaced with a 2.5D world with all kind of new animations and environmental effects. It’s hard to say how much this improves the game though, as the textures are low resolution, the animations appear to be almost intentionally ridiculous, and what’s worse is the game doesn’t run very smoothly even on my iPhone 3GS.

The difficulty has been significantly decreased from the original. You can now absorb multiple hits from enemies before dying, and there are a whole array of additional weapons and power ups to be found in the game. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the challenge in the game now comes from negotiating the inherent lack of precision in the virtual D-Pad controls. Similar to how we felt about Earthworm Jim, if your memories of Ghosts ‘n Goblins involve a physical D-Pad, you will likely have an uncomfortably awkward adjustment period of missing jumps and falling in to pits.

Because of the increased life bar and chests with power-ups littering the game, the only real threat that the monsters you come across pose is knocking you backwards in to a pit. At the end of each level there’s a boss, but the gimmick of each boss only amounts to dodging different things. Levels feature multiple check points, and it seems like there’s always a checkpoint just before a boss so if you don’t beat them the first time you will almost assuredly beat them the second.

There is an in-game store where you can buy access to various cheats for 99¢ each. These cheats range from infinite lives to stronger armor and weapons. Unfortunately, there’s no “don’t fall in pits constantly” cheat you can buy, so none of them seem really that useful. Since after you die you’re able to select the last level you were on and start from that point, even having infinite lives doesn’t help that much.

Video by AppBank

Despite the game’s many flaws, it’s still Ghosts ‘n Goblins, and I doubt I’m alone in enjoying this game just because of that. Everything from the map scrolling across the screen between deaths to your guy running around in his underwear when you take enough damage to lose your armor is in place. If you’re into nostalgia, Ghosts ‘n Goblins does deliver but, otherwise, the iPhone version of the game can’t really stand on its own. If this is the first you’ve heard of Ghosts ‘n Goblins, you’d probably be better off playing it on a real console with a real d-pad, though it will likely cost you more than .99.

App Store Link: Ghosts ‘n Goblins Gold Knights, .99

The post A Closer Look at ‘Ghosts ‘n Goblins Gold Knights’ appeared first on AppTrawler.

Sometimes granny hides in the cupboard, sometimes the woodsman has to slice open the wolf pull out granny’s corpse.

There’s probably even some exotic versions in which the wolf and Red Riding Hood live happily ever after by continuing to claim granny’s pension.

We’ve yet to hear to a version where Red tools up with axes and dynamite and takes on the wolves, before moving on to wipe out various forms of vampires though.

Welcome to A Lyndon Wicked Tale: Red Rage.

Combining the Red Riding Hood theme with the sort of 2D sidescrolling action we’ve seen in Zombieville USA and Inkvaders, Red Rage sees you wandering around the woods, killing things.

So far, so simple.

Red can upgrade her weapons as she progresses through the game. She also has a rage meter which fills up as she’s attacked and enables her to do a massive fire-breathing super attack. And there’s an invisibility cloak if you want to hide – it’s useful for the boss attacks apparently.

Filling out the game is support for the OpenFeint social network.

The first in a planned series of A Lyndon Wicked Tales, Red Rage is out now priced 99c, €0.79 or 59p. Hit the Buy It! button to go direct to the App Store.

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The game has 4 modes: Story, Survival, 100 Rounds and Training. In Story mode, you play the role of a Tap Fu Trainee out on a mission to recover candy that the Sweet Tooth Clan has stolen from your village. Under the tutelage of the Elder Tap Fu Master, you gradually learn new skills. The story is told through cut scenes, dialogue boxes and muffled dialog. One of the things to keep in mind is that Tap Fu’s Story mode is a work in progress that currently only includes Chapter 1: Ninjas (7 levels). While additional chapters are planned in later updates, the content that is there right now offers just a glimpse into future installments.

Meanwhile, Survival mode offers high-scoring opportunities by battling a continual onslaught of enemies. A variation can be found in the other mode 100 Rounds where you must defeat the entire wave of enemies to move to the next round. Both modes provide the option of playing in two different locations: Mount Fuji and Sakaki Forest. Whether in the village or on the mountaintop, the colorful backgrounds look terrific even though they are limited in variety.

The big selling point for Tap Fu comes in your Tap Fu Trainee’s fighting abilities. These abilities—blocking, quick attack, jumping, spin kick, back kick, roll, and fireball—visually look great and the entire combat system is intuitive and well implemented.

Using either the virtual d-pad or specific finger gestures, these various moves can be performed. The easier of the two control options is the d-pad with specific action buttons that appear when available. The gesture-based controls require a bit of practice, but are also well implemented. Jumping for example can be accomplished by swiping upwards, while swiping downwards will result in a roll. In general, the quick punch/kick attack is activated by tapping the screen and will be your primary method of attack against ninjas.

Tap Fu includes a local and online scoring system which awards points for combo moves and style. The game also incorporates an achievement system for points scored, battle combos, damage inflicted, and length of survival.

In both Story and Survival modes, Ninjas do become more difficult to slay as you progress, as well as gain the ability to cloak their appearance and teleport from one place to another. While the gameplay can get intense, it is also becomes rather repetitious as there is a limited variety in the enemies. We also found the difficulty ramp up in survival modes to be very slow, making an average session drag out into more of a grinding experience than we wanted.

While the game’s art and core fighting mechanics are wonderfully executed, the current version of the game noticeably suffers from the inclusion of only an abbreviated story mode. Tap Fu can still be fun a game for those looking for a casual fighting experience, but we expect that it will quickly grow old those hoping for a deeper game.

App Store Link: Tap Fu, .99

The post Review: Tap Fu appeared first on AppTrawler.

It’s not called Inkvaders for no reason. The graphics boast a beautifully voguish paper cut-out aesthetic – not unlike South Park, but probably more akin to Paddington Bear. The deliberately stiff, stop-frame-style animation supports this comparison perfectly, and it’s hard not to raise a smile at the unique and endearing artwork.

Even the transition between levels upholds this distinctive look, as the screens are ‘peeled’ away, like a sheet of paper from a notepad, while the character is placed on top of the background by the animator’s finger in a way that would make Terry Gilliam hyperventilate.

The gameplay pits you – as a space marine-type hero – against the Martians, in what’s essentially an off-the-shelf 2D side-scrolling shooter. A selection of weapons are at your disposal, with cash and ammo provided by crates dotted around the background that are opened with a tap of the finger. Your limited ammo means you’ll need to switch between weapons as you run, which is also easily managed with a quick touch of the weapon’s icon.

This all comes together to make the controls very simple, requiring, for the most part, just the ‘left’ and ‘right’ buttons and a ‘fire’ button. Taking out the Martians is a simple matter of facing in their general direction and mashing the trigger, with some spectacular comic gore splashing about the place as their over-sized brains break free of vein-covered skulls.

The steady action-packed pace is made even more chaotic during brief bonus power-ups, when you’re instructed to “Rush!” – piling headlong into a throng of approaching Martians while your firepower is temporarily increased to kill with a single shot. The moon runs red with Martian blood as you dive boots first into the swarm for a hilarious few moments of xenomorphic massacre.

The weapons quickly become the best kinds mass destruction, with machine guns, bazookas and lasers cutting your alien enemies in twain, making this very much one for fans of games by The Behemoth, or viewers of Adult Swim’s bizarre cartoons.

Rather than jumping, your heroic astronaut has a jet pack, which allows him to hover for as long as his limited fuel lasts. This adds a very interesting dynamic to the gameplay, giving you the opportunity to take to the thin atmosphere and avoid the invaders for a very short moment. It also means you can collect up asteroids and comets, which are traded for guns, ammo and health at the next vending machine.

Topping off the game’s outstanding presentation is the option to create your own playlist from your iPhone’s library. Selections can be made at any time through the pause menu, and although it’s a small matter, it’s an important one that put a cherry on top of the already impressive icing.

So Inkvaders is ultimately a very simple run ‘n’ gun platformer, imbued with enough style and ease of accessibility to ensure it rises high above the many other games in its niche genre. This looks to be pretty much a final version, and there’s definitely nothing on the surface of Inkvaders that need fixing or even tweaking, so expect a red hot arcade blaster to be orbiting your fingers very shortly.

Looks:         Looks Fantastic and the style brings a smile to your face
Sound:        Great collection of retro space sfx and action packed music
Gameplay: Simple and easy to pick up but difficult to master, a perfect balance
Overall:      Solid, well thought out game that will have to going back for more

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