If you play a lot of video games, you’re probably a little wary when it comes to those that are based upon movies – on top of that, if I had to choose one movie that would make a bad video game, there’s every possibility I’d have chosen one from the 70s about a big shark. However, in the case of Jaws on the iPhone, it’s actually quite a treat. Let me tell you a little more.

This game takes the top-down view that’s been tried and proven on this platform and puts you in charge of rescuing helpless swimmers from the clutches of Jaws’ jaws. Whilst the first stage simply requires you to swipe at the flailing figures in the ocean and guide them to shore, the game introduces several new ideas as you progress. For example, the open water levels require you to guide rescue boats of varying sizes by drawing a line on the touch screen. You then swipe the swimmers towards the boat and continue to guide the boat off-screen. Dock levels are much the same, with the rescue being completed when you guide the full boats into landing bays.

The varying levels really keep things fresh through all 10 stages in the game, while also revolving around the same gameplay mechanics to ensure familiarity and a nice learning curve. What really sets this game apart, though, it the way it puts across the feeling that you’re the one floating out in the sea, hoping not to be mistaken for a seal. The frantic nature of the game mixes with the classic “da dun, da dun” of the Jaws original soundtrack, cueing an imminent shark attack – and if the swimmers on-screen start to panic, you’d better panic too, as it’ll only attract the Great White to attack sooner.

Even once they’re aboard a vessel, you can’t deem them safe – if you misguide one boat into another, both will be sunk and everybody on board will be back in the drink with that dorsal fin ever circling. For those that are rescued, you’ll be awarded stars dependent on your performance. If you don’t save enough people, the mission is failed. Just scrape through and you’ll pass, but will only be awarded a single star – which won’t be enough if you want to unlock all stages.

This adds a little to the replayability by returning to previous levels for more stars, as do OpenFeint scoreboards and achievements. But, on the other hand, it would have been nice to see a few more included as once you get into it there’s every chance you’ll finish them all rather quickly. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though, as there’s a real treat to be had in the last level, but I shan’t spoil it – and do bear in mind that at a price of just $0.99, you’ll be sure get your money’s worth by just playing through the once.

It’s a nice little game, which takes the tension that was felt in the original movie (those sequels never happened, right?) and puts it upon the player. Achieving the full three stars on each level will take some working on, but simply finishing the game itself can be done in a short space of time. Which is refreshing to see in a way: with all the “endless” iPhone games hitting the App Store of late, it’s nice to get that feeling of “completion” for a change – and you’ll have a whole lot of fun getting there.

Star Wars featured one during Revenge of the Sith, while episode 76 of South Park delivered the somewhat more obscene “It” – now, it’s the iPhone’s turn to get one, by which I am of course referring to a “monowheel” or “monocycle.” The game is Monorace from Craneball Studios, putting you into the seat of one of these single-wheeled driving machines. Let’s see how it fares.

Basically, what we have here is a rather fast paced side-scrolling game in which your monowheel will continually be moving from left to right. Your job is to ensure that it gets to the finishing line, avoiding all manner of obstacles from deadly spikes to the edge of the screen itself (if it catches up with you, you’re done). This is all performed by the simple means of a single input. Due to a monowheel’s nature, it’s capable of driving both on the floor and ceiling – simply tapping the lower half of the screen will cause the wheel to jump, alternating between the two.

In order to progress through the game and unlock more stages, you’ll need to collect stars. These are awarded based on the time it takes you to complete a level. Before starting, the game shows you three different times, awarding you one, two or three stars respectively. Your finishing time can be manipulated not only by getting to the end as fast as possible, but also by collecting stopwatches along the way which decrease your overall time score. There’s also a nice little mechanic which means the timer counts faster if you’re lagging behind on the left half of the screen but slows if you’re on the right half.

In addition to hazardous objects such as pits, spikes and the landscape itself, other things to take into consideration are the speed up/slow down arrow sections, as well as a sort of physics mechanic. This means that driving uphill will slow you down, and that’s obviously not a good thing at all. You can, of course, counter this by simply jumping up these sections, but be sure to mind your head.

As well as an endless mode with high-score based gameplay and OpenFeint’s online leaderboards, there are two career modes to play through: “beginner” and “racer.” The latter mode raises the bar as far as difficulty is concerned. These both offer up forty stages each, meaning there’s a lot of replayabilty in there if you plan to finish them all. That said, some levels will offer a mass of replayabilty themselves as you repeatedly crash and watch your monowheel explodeing into a rather spectacular ball of fire.

However, despite the explosions looking rather spectacular, as do the menu screens and character designs (of which there are three), the actual levels in the game are a little lacklustre in terms of visuals. The landscapes are all made up of a rather dull brown or grey texture; though it obviously doesn’t affect the gameplay, it would have been nice to see the same effort put into this aspect as was put into the design of the characters and visual ephemera.

It shouldn’t put you off, though, as there’s definitely a lot of fun to be had with Monorace. It’s one of those games that (in the later stages) will frustrate you to the point where you’re about to throw you’re iPhone out the window – while at the same time you’re unable to put it down, attempting the level “one more time” in your determination to get to the end. If you can’t finish it, though, the character’s witty and humorous remarks will do just enough to keep you smiling. It’s certainly a whole lot of game for it’s $0.99 price point and shouldn’t be overlooked when your’e browsing the App Store.

Hello everyone this is Michelle from The Portable Gamer with your iCasual report for The Incident from Big Bucket Software for all devices running current iOS software. The Sky is falling, the Sky Falling… OK maybe not but there is a whole metric butt load falling and you need to avoid it.
Welcome to The Incident, kind of sounds like a new TV show, but I assure you, its a game. The goal is to not let the falling objects hit you by tilting your device to move your character. A bar on the top of the screen tells you where the items are coming from and what size they are. But regardless of what comes down, if it lands on you, you still get hurt. Watch the meter on the bottom to see how close to death you are. As the debris piles up, you need to tap the screen to try and jump on top of it. Tilt, jump & repeat, catching the occasional floating extras along the way. These extras can sometimes lead to more lives, goodies and even some bad stuff you should try and avoid. As long as you don’t get stuck, you will eventually get to where all the stuff is coming from which means you can then move on to the next incident.
Each of the 7 levels are similar, just with different backgrounds and difficulty, which did seem to feel a little tired after a while. Its a lot more fun in short sessions, too long at one sitting got a little boring. But when you do eventually die, you can re-live your deaths in the trophy room and see some achievements to shoot for, but no online leader board, a little surprising. The graphics are retro 8 bit goodness with an 8 bit score that sometimes gets annoying, thank god for the the mute button. This $1.99 game is universal so its great you only have to pay once to play on any devise but since its so short, you may not need to. Hopefully this 1.0 version is just the beginning. I would really love to update my Facebook status with “death by soda machine at 60 meters”. Until then, its a fun yet short diversion that with a little work could be even better.

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Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

iCasual is a free audio podcast that we deliver to you!
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Hello everyone this is Michelle from The Portable Gamer with your iCasual report for Wrecking Ball from Alternative Visuals for all devices running current iOS software.
Do you have a lot of bent up frustrations? Maybe somedays you just feel like breaking something. Well than Wrecking Ball may just be for you. In this physics based puzzle game, you are sent to a work site to destroy a frame of a building. At your disposal is a wrecking ball with a limited amount of gas. You touch the screen to move your rig and then you swing the ball by tilting your devise. If you smash the sweet spot your building will fall. If not, you will have to move and swing again until you either bring it down or you run out of fuel. The one oddity of the game is that tilting only effects the ball and not the building. I found myself trying to coax the structure to fall but it was unaffected by moving the device only by hitting it with the ball in just the right spots.
This 1.99 mind bender comes with 30 different worksites all designed to make you stop and think before you make a move. Each site gives you a different height to be reached and other obstacles to add to to the difficultly. You have a time limit, but you will really need to be careful how you wreak or you will damage other buildings or the environment depending on the site you’re at.
Once you’ve completed the included levels there is a editor to create and share your own. Plus, the developer promises in app purchases for expansion packs later in the year. This game doesn’t have very detailed graphics it stands more on skill than beauty. It was made for the small screen but looks and feels good on the iPad as well. If you fancy yourself a mindful player of any age that also enjoys destruction this is the game for you.

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Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

iCasual is a free audio podcast that we deliver to you!
Click HERE; to subscribe in iTunes | Click HERE; for the RSS Feed.

Hello everyone this is Michelle from The Portable Gamer with your iCasual report for Chuck Gnome from Movable Sprites LLC for all devices running current iOS software.

Before even looking at the app I mistakenly assumed that this would be a game where you would be playing a Gnome named Chuck. Well, not quite. I’m not sure what their names are but In this game you are actually Chucking as in throwing Gnomes at moving targets. You have a slingshot and a seemingly endless supply of Gnomes that you need to shoot at carnival style objects within a time limit. The controls are simple enough, drag the gnome back and release. The further back you pull, the farther the Gnome will fly. Hold the shot for a second and a trajectory line will give you special Gnome vision to give you an idea of where your headed. Most of the time though, you’re just gonna shoot as quick as you can so you’re able to unlock the next level.

The uniquely layered environment gives this simple game an added challenge that will keep you coming back for more. The graphics and sound in this $1.99 cutie are playful and funny which should appeal to kids of all ages. There is even a lite gnome version with one level just to get you hooked.

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Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

iCasual is a free audio podcast that we deliver to you!
Click HERE; to subscribe in iTunes | Click HERE; for the RSS Feed.

Hello everyone this is Michelle from The Portable Gamer with your iCasual report for Plunderland from Johnny Two Shoes LLP for all devices running current iOS software.

A’hoy Matey and welcome to Plunderland, where you control a ship of Pirates bent on plundering all the worlds treasures. To set sail, just tilt your device in the direction you want to travel. The more you tilt the faster you go and of course to stop just straighten up. Your ship comes equipped with cannons to destroy your enemy. When you touch the screen you get a helpful dotted line which shows if your aim is true, simply let go to shoot. Sink the ships to unlock the treasure and tap to collect. Each level has a goal to be reached in order to unlock the next, but you should try and collect as much as you can because you use the money for more powerful upgrades.

This stylish original game, might look like it’s for the little ones, but with the blood and violence, I would keep this puzzle game for us big kids. For 2.99 you’ll get hours of enjoyment and a promise from the developer of Free updates and extras coming soon.

If you downloaded it early you may not have been able to play it on some of the newer devices but the programers worked tirlessly and pushed a new version out that is now fully supported buy all our new shiny toys.

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Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

iCasual is a free audio podcast that we deliver to you!
Click HERE; to subscribe in iTunes | Click HERE; for the RSS Feed.

Hello everyone this is Michelle from The Portable Gamer with your iCasual report for Gushers from Razorleaf Studios for all devices running current iOS software.

In Gushers you play an up and coming oil tycoon looking to strike it rich. It’s basically a pipe game where you work your way through different areas of the world collecting oil. The story level starts you off with a drill and you get random pieces you need to place on the board so the oil will flow. Each level has a goal to be reached in order to move on and once you complete enough levels you also unlock a competition mode. The pieces you get are all pretty basic but they do add some power-ups to help you along. My one problem was with the cross pieces. I thought you would need to put a piece on all the sides but it didn’t require it. One level I didn’t lose when I only had a line attached to one side but the next board I lost when the oil flowed out the other side that wasn’t piped. A little confusing so lets hope the devs fix that.

I didn’t find the game play to be too different here than in other pipe games, but thats not to say I didn’t like playing it. The boards were short enough to fill time while I was waiting on line and fast paced enough to keep me on my toes. At the time of this review the game is $1.99 with 100% of the profits going to help the gulf coast oil spill victims which is why, The Portable Gamer payed for this game and I feel even though the game needs a little work, its still a buy in my book.

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Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

iCasual is a free audio podcast that we deliver to you!
Click HERE to subscribe in iTunes | Click HERE for the RSS Feed.

Hello everyone this is Michelle from The Portable Gamer with your iCasual Report for MagniFusion: Push, Combine, Squash & Pop from Toco Games for all devices running current iOS software. MagniFusion is a mouthfull to say but never fear its fun to play. You can choose from Puzzle or 3 arcade modes when you start. You’re then greeted by an odd looking fellow giving you the rundown on how the elements of the game work. The instructions will make sense once you actually play.

Small colored bubbles will come onto the playing field. Touch the screen and you are able to push the bubbles around. Your job in arcade mode is to combine them so you don’t run out of room before a beam is released allowing you to make more room. You can only combine the ones that are the same size, shape and color. The laser comes out at timed intervals to allow you to pop the same colored bubbles that match the beam. Though if you’ve made the largest bubble there is, then it will pop with any color beam. The left side of the screen has some timers you can watch to see when things will happen but the playing field gets filled so fast you won’t have much time to look at it. Its starts out deceptively slow, but will get harder before you know what hits you. Then there is puzzle mode where you need to perform what ever task you it gives you within the given time all using the same simple touch and push method.

This $1.99 game is an interesting and challenging diversion for any middle age child and up. Little kids would like to touch the screen and make the bubbles move but not really be able to complete the tasks to continue. The game is build for the iphone but works fine on the big screen of the iPad just the graphics are a little fuzzy, yet still playable. The built in music wasn’t very original, I was glad I could pick my own, maybe future upgrade will have other choices. A nice surprise was additional areas available by codes or as in app purchases as they become available.

One of these codes was given away in our preview post of this game so head over to the portablegamer.com and see if its still available after you bought the game and heard this.

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No, Huey Lewis, it is not hip to be a square.

On This Episode:

• Carter speaks with John Kooistra and Henry Truong of Cat in a Box Games about their whimsical new action RPG, Fastar, discussing the game’s origins and where the humor for the game came from. Click here to check out Fastar’s original prototype mentioned on the show.
• Carter speaks with Steve Tompkins and Dave Ahakim of Movable Sprites, discussing Chuck Gnome’s distinctive look, inspiration from carnival and theme park attractions, and how the game worked in z-axis elements in a 2D pop-up book esque world.

Who Are We:

• Host: Carter Dotson
• Guest: John Kooistra & Henry Truong, Cat in a Box Games (Fastar)
• Guest: Steve Tompkins & Dave Hakim, Movable Sprites (Chuck Gnome)

Where To Hear TPP:

• Click here to subscribe in iTunes:
• Listen on WRGT Radio every Friday at 4pm Central
• Listen Now:

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Music:

• None

Contact:
Email: carter@theportablepodcast.com
Twitter: @portablepodcast

iCasual is a free audio podcast that we deliver to you!
Click HERE to subscribe in iTunes | Click HERE for the RSS Feed.

Hello everyone this is Michelle from the portable gamer with your iCasual report for Dark Nebula Episode Two from 1337 Game Design for all devices running current iOS software. Dark Nebula Episode 2 is just what the name says, a continuation of their wildly popular tilting game that we should all know and love by now. I was so excited to finally get my hands on this beauty. The last one was hours of fun so I had big expectations for this one. It starts with a beautiful video catching you up in case you didn’t play the first one, and then the fun begins. You’re presented with a maze of 19 levels almost twice as much as you got from the original for the same price. The actual levels are more complex with better graphics and new power-up. A notable upgrade from the original. You even get weapons to fight back with this time around. The controls are simple to learn, you only need to tilt your device and your piece will react. As with the original, you need to collect items as you navigate the interrogate mazes and amazing environments. The game is not universal at the time of this review but still looks great on the ipads big screen. Avoid falling off the edge and get to the end as quickly as possible to earn gold. Options allows you to to control sound effects as well as difficulty levels and posting to facebook. But I think I’ll stick with normal for now before I try the expert mode. I’m very impressed with this .99 game and can’t wait until episode 3.

Title: Dark Nebula Episode 2
Developer: 1337 Game Design
Price: $.99
Acquired: Promo Code Supplied by Developer
Written and Recorded by: Michelle Lopez

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