Title: iJuggling
Developer: Kevin Bertman
Price: .99
Acquired: Promo Code Supplied by Developer
Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

David Whatley, Critical Thought Games - David came on The Portable Podcast to talk about geoSpark a feww months back, and it was tons of fun to listen to his well-attended GDC Talk. His main point was to focus on the things that you are good at, as a developer, and outsource the rest. His priority in developing a game is game design. We think it’s worked out pretty well for him. Using examples from his own game sales numbers for geoDefense and geoDefense swarm, he showed how a good PR company, Triplepoint PR in his case, can make a great game make tons of cash. He didn’t talk about geoSpark numbers, so I’d be interested in comparing those numbers as well.

Canabalt Post-Mortem – The indie darling of the iPhone and indie games scene, Canabalt was developed in about 5 days. Its theme and look was inspired by other media, such as District 9, Half LIfe 2, and some older 8-bit games. The developers talked about the decision to release the game on the web for free as a Flash game, and how that helped sales and word of mouth. In addition, they announced that thier rapid flash-based development tool, Flixit, will soon be available to developers who want to rapidly develop this type of 2D game for the iPhone.

Title: Supermarket Management
Developer: G5 Entertainment
Price: $2.99
Acquired: Promo Code Supplied by Developer
Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

Hangman Free

Developer: Optime Software, Inc.
Genre: Word Game
Rating: 4+

Remember playing hangman in school? On the bus? At the library? Do you realize how many hangman apps there are out there? Holy cripes! It may be a good idea for you to stay away from that search, just in case the sheer volume of it blows your mind! Now, I can’t speak for all those other versions, but I can tell you that if you’re looking for a good representation of the classic, this is a very good place to start. From the warm tones of the chalk writing on the board, to the celebratory ding of the winning player, the sounds of the game are great. Visually, there is vibrant color chalk used for the letters and the hangman drawing, the letters are clearly visible, and the red that marks off the letters which have already been chosen is very distinct. No tutorial needed. This game is intuitive and nostalgic.

Pros: Lots of word categories to choose from.
Cons: You can’t add a million details to try to secure the victory.
Verdict: If you ever liked hangman, this is a good app to have.

DoodleBuddy

Developer: Pinger, Inc.
Genre: Drawing
Rating: 4+

This game was introduced to me by a buddy of mine. He loves to draw. I, however, suck at anything art related. That being said, this really is a great app for anyone who loves to doodle. DoodleBuddy is reminiscent of Window’s Paint program. You have stamps (each of which make their own sound when you use them), pens of different sizes and colors, a smear option, differing backgrounds (or use your own), etc. The coolest thing about this app, though, is the option to simultaneously doodle with a buddy. Simply send them an invite, and, should they deem you worthy, you can draw with them. There is a chat as well, in case you decide to talk while you doodle. It’s as simple as that! Either doodle by yourself, or with a friend. This is better than productivity.

Pros: Can doodle with a buddy (hence the name) with tons of tools to use.
Cons: You have to click an email link to accept the doodle invite.
Verdict: This is a great app to have when you need to kill time, or you’re feeling creative.

Whiteboard Free

Developer: Raizlabs Corporation
Genre: Productivity
Rating: 4+

As we all know, chalk boards make a lot of noise. And I’m not just talking about that horrific nails thing . Chalk breaks, erasers are dusty, you catch my drift. So, along came the whiteboard. This cute little markers that erased so easily (unless you accidentally used permanent marker), the wide variety of colors, the ghosts left on the board after they’d been erased… Those were the days. Well, this app is a very good representation of that whiteboard. There is a pen (red is the only color you get with this version), an eraser, a trash bin, and a save option (to save that physics break through). It’s simple. Almost too simple. The use is simple, the pictures are very detailed (the marker and eraser), but if you’re needing a whiteboard app, this may be TOO simple for you.

Pros: A bluetooth option allows for sharing and collaboration.
Cons: One color only for the free version
Verdict: There are probably other apps that will serve this particular purpose with more panache.

What does it do? It connects to the same live server that the PC game connects to, allowing players to access their characters, inventory, chat, in-game email and auction house. Best of all, it allows you to craft and sell your items. On the iPhone. AWAY FROM YOUR PC!

See, the biggest problem I have with an MMO like Fallen Earth is the sheer amount of time I need to devote to it to make any progress. I can’t sit at my PC all day every day to craft items, connect with other people, etc. I spend my time in MMOs doing quests and the like, but never crafting or auctioning. This app will make it possible to connect to Fallen Earth, set up some crafting and auctions, and then go do something else.

How does it look? It looks and feels just like the menus and windows of the Fallen Earth game on the PC. I was amazed by the fidelity and design of the app. Haydysch had the game running on a PC, and showed how the chat, email, and item crafting worked simultaneously on the iPhone and the PC game. Now, obviously, you can’t run your character around and engage in quests or anything graphics-based. But the rest of the MMO time sink is all contained here, on the Fallen Earth iPhone app.

Be sure to stay tuned here for a review of the app, which is due to release in Q2 of this year.

Developer/Publisher: id Software
Genre: FPS/RPG
Price: $3.99
Acquired: Review Copy Provided
Verdict: A  fun RPG-lite experience that won’t deter Doom/FPS fans from enjoying this
Pros: Great length; great blend of RPG and FPS elements; game’s storyline is light and satirical of RPG conventions
Cons: Crashes galore…save often.

Doom 2 RPG is the RPG for the rest of us. It’s the RPG for people who hate the standard RPG format, for those who like first-person shooters with a sprinkling of RPG flavor and plenty of demons to kill.

Doom 2 RPG’s story is far less intensive than most other RPGs – someone went and opened themselves up a portal to hell, and you’re the sucker tasked to save the day. You pick one of three characters with different strengths and weaknesses, and then you’re trotting the solar system and portals to hell, slaying demons when appropriate. And here in Doom 2 RPG, it is always appropriate to slay demons, and the occasional rogue AI that’s found a way to metastasisize between the digital and ‘real’ worlds. Typical everyday problems.

Doom 2 RPG is, at its core, a turn-based RPG – every action you take, from moving to shooting to item use, takes up a ‘turn’, which only really becomes important when enemies are in play – you’ll need to be careful of the actions you take, as you’ll often have huge packs of enemies trying to murder you, so you’ll want to be selective of your weapon type; certain weapons like the Holy Water Pistol will stun certain enemy types and cause them to scurry away for a few turns,or some energy weapons will be stronger against enemies than bullet-type weapons. You’ll also want to use your Nano Drinks, which bestow temporary abilities on you – the Super Quench is a huge boon against enemies that can burn you, as it not only can cure the burn effect, but can make you immune to those attacks, for example.

Yes, the game is a turn-based RPG at its core, but everything else screams “Doom” at you. The first-person perspective, environments, enemies, weapons – this is a Doom game, just in turn-based form. And that’s why it’s so enjoyable – you don’t think you’re playing an RPG, you think you’re playing Doom. The RPG elements are so lightly implemented that even someone like me who grows tiresome of RPGs, Doom 2 RPG had me hooked. In fact, the only thing that kicked me out of the experience were the crashes – it would frequently happen when travelling between levels, and occasionally at random moments; it’s not a gamebreaker, but is annoying. Save often.

There’s at least 4 or 5 hours of gameplay if not more for you on the initial playthrough – and the game is very fun. I’ve read that Doom 2 RPG is a throwback to classic PC first-person dungeon hacks,  and Doom 2 RPG certainly has me thinking I should be investigating this genre a bit more, if they’re anywhere as fun as Doom 2 RPG was.

First, the million dollar question, the controls. Capcom did a surprisingly good job with it. If you’re an expert’s expert, you’ll likely be frustrated by the occasional inaccuracy of the controls, but they generally work to a surprising degree. The best comparison might be the analog stick on the Xbox 360 controller; this is actually something of a compliment as to how well it works. Half and quarter circle motions are great, shoryuken motions are a bit trickier. Charge characters like Blanka have few issues with their special moves.

One issue is that you only have the single punch and kick buttons instead of the 3 strength variations; some characters suffer more from this than others. Blanka loses some of his strategy as you can’t do the short distance versions of his moves, and Dhalsim uses his limb-stretching moves a lot. Your super and ultra combos are incredibly easy to use, as you only have to tap the ultra and super bars to activate them for most characters (Blanka’s works by charging back, then tapping the appropriate bar). You can still activate them by doing the correct motions, but I’m not quite sure why you would do this, as tapping the bars just works so much easily.

The issue with Street Fighter 4 on the iPhone might be the content – you only have 8 characters and apparently none are unlockable, as the final boss is just M. Bison, not Seth. Actually, this is a good thing. Pretty much the only major benefit that you get from beating the game is a snazzy Super Street Fighter 4 cutscene, featuring 2 characters who aren’t even in the iPhone version.

The game modes include a standard ladder progression, single fight versus a computer, a Dojo mode that is similar to the console version’s that lets you master each of the characters, and a Training mode. There is a Bluetooth Versus mode that I haven’t gotten to test yet as well. The game itself runs very smoothly on the iPhone 3G – all the art is sprite-based, but based on the console version’s backgrounds and character models. There’s a little occasional slowdown on the 3G, but nothing too obtrusive or even frequent.

Honestly, I leave Street Fighter 4 impressed at the job Capcom did with the game; the controls were better than I ever could have expected, and the final product is well-done. Is it worth $9.99? Well, it’s one of the best attempts at making a portable fighting game, easily; this isn’t saying much, granted, given the history of handheld fighting games, but for people who need a Street Fighter fix on their phone, this should suffice.

Title: Typewar
Developer: Massively Overrated
Price: $1.99
Acquired: Promo Code Supplied by Developer
Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

The Binary Mill and Chillingo’s new axis-bending shmup, Assault Squadron, was talked up on the latest episode of The Portable Podcast, and now the first trailer of the game in motion has been revealed to the masses, as shown above.

Developer/Publisher: Traplight Games/Chillingo
Genre: Action
Price: $1.99
Acquired: Review Copy Provided
Verdict: A solid and at times addictive action game.
Pros: Fantastic graphics; you get to play as a superhero! Great Crystal integration as well
Cons: Flying controls can be wonky at times, and picking up enough velocity to properly hurt your enemies is challenging sometimes.

The Hero is an entry into a genre that really hasn’t seen a lot of entries into it – games where you play as an invincible superhuman character (some kind of “super man” perhaps?) trying to defeat villains out to hurt the innocent. Traplight Games have answered the call with resounding success.

The story of The Hero is that you’re the eponymous superhero, who is out to save the planet from the evil Dr. Hubbub. Along the way to the big climactic fight, you’ll fight such enemies as zombies, swarms of bees, ninjas, soliders, tanks, helicopters, UFOs, and satellites with giant frakkin’ lasers. You’ll also have to save falling babies, and try to intercept falling meteors as well. The life of a hero is fraught with danger, as well as lazy cops and voluptuous reporters who are totally crushing on you.

As an invincible super hero, you cannot be killed; no, you can only run out of fame. By taking damage and allowing dangers to persist unchecked by your mighty powers, your fame bar diminishes. To restore it to its former glory, you must destroy the threats (or save the babies; destroying them by letting them fall to the ground is just mean, dude), or high-five the citizens hanging out of their window, wanting only the recognition by a superhuman being to shine a little light on their weary lives. As well, their kudos will have the advantage filling up your special powers meter, which allows you to freeze, explode, and electrocute your enemies as it progressively fills up.  These are your only weapons besides the original superpower: velocity.

As an invincible superhero, you can’t be felled by a hard knock to the head. The Hero thusly deals death to his foes by ramming into them at high velocities. You don’t have any punch or kick attacks, so when attacking enemies, you need to make sure you have momentum, so you’ll need to fly around to pick up some speed to do damage to some of the stronger enemies, as otherwise you’re just pushing them around. You have a turbo boost that you can use to help pick up some speed in a jiffy or to fly around the cities more quickly.

The Hero’s missions have you flying around cities, dealing with dangers as they spawn into the levels – you must take care of all the threats in a level without running out of fame in order to complete the levels. The earlier levels feature the smaller threats like the bees and zombies, and the later levels feature tanks, helicopters, UFOs, and satellites a-plenty, until a near-final level that throws everything but the kitchen sink at you, including threats you haven’t had to deal with since very early on in the game, and a final boss where your fame bar does serve as a more traditional health bar, as increasing your fame is nearly impossible in this level. The Campaign mode has 15 levels, along with 4 Survival mode levels that you unlock through playing the Campaign mode, which took me a little above 3 hours to beat on the default difficulty, which I mostly accomplished in extended sit-downs with the game as I had trouble putting it down at times. Flying around being a superhero is exceptionally fun.

Also exceptional? The graphics. The Hero’s in-game graphics look just like the concept art that’s surrounded it, and the game runs very smoothly on the iPhone 3G. There’s even a higher framerate option available for those iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 3rd Gen owners who have beefier hardware, but you don’t seem to be missing much if you don’t have those devices. This isn’t putting down the game in any way; it’s a testament as to just how well the game runs on the 3G. The controls work fairly well; the on-screen d-pad is serviceable, but it can be challenging to turn around quickly, but this was a minor complaint that I was able to work around. There’s plenty of replay value with Crystal high score leaderboards and achievements (including some interesting ones, like trying to lift a tank into outer space), the Hard difficulty, and the 4 survival levels.

The Hero was fun; I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s an essential game, but it’s a top to bottom well-done package with plenty of elements to hook you to it. Not a lot of bad things to say beyond issues with turning and velocity, and those are minor at best. The Hero is, dare I say, a heroic effort from Traplight Games.