The 'good Iphone games' thread

johnny_ultimate

A while ago, I would have thought 'good' and 'Iphone games' were two words that didn't fit comfortably together. But they seem to be slowly getting better. I still think the lack of any physical buttons is a major drawback for a gaming device, but developers are starting to adjust to the situation. Problem is, picking out the good stuff from the often overwhelming noise of the app store is sometimes impossible. So thought I'd start this thread to help navigate the app store. Recommend your favourites (or warn us about your least favourites here). Also, prepare for the inevitable 'Apple are ****' posts that are bound to follow :pac:

Anyways, some that I've picked up lately:

Dark Void Zero: got better reviews than the actual Dark Void, so checked it out. Alas, the trip from the DS hasn't been all that kind, mainly in control terms. Another example of how virtual analogue sticks are awkward and fiddly, not up to the task of carrying a twitchy 2D side scroller. The game is well designed, hard as hell but pleasingly retro. The jetpack is win too. Shame the controls let the whole thing down.

Plants vs Zombies: One of the best recent games on any console translates wonderfully to portable form. My favourite game on the IPod touch fo' sho'

Robot Unicorn Attack / Canabalt: Initially I was skeptical about paying for games that are available for free online, but at 2 euro or so a pop they don't break the bank. These games - simple high score games - are ridiculously addictive, and adding portability makes quick high score attempts even easier, although it's a shame you don't get any extra content that isn't in their flash equivalents. Robot Unicorn Attack in particular is possibly the best 'one joke' game that has ever existed. One more go, one more uber-camp unicorn running to an Erasure soundtrack

Krieg

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Robot Unicorn Attack

No way! downloading now
Hollllldddddd onnnnnnnn ♪♪ to the nigggggghhhhhhhhhttt ♪♪



Good idea for a thread.
Iphone has some really clever, innovative and damn right additive games


Flight control
Probably my favourite game
Review - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6njx7pHBKZY
price: 79c

Myst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F4t0KqblRQ
I would only recommend a purchase if you already played it on the playstation/pc since its a €4 game and not everyone's cup of tea. But the game has the potential to kill many many hours

Angry birds
Ill put this as my second favourite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV_v-BSQdKo
price: 79c

Mr. Rager

have you played icopter? so addicting
all ea games (fifa 10 etc) are good but pricey.

thewheel2.0

First of i would like to say that the iPod touch is the best pooping/bedside device ever.

Doodle Jump: is a really addictive simple game. €0.79!

Tilt to Live: used to be paid but now FREE grab it before they change their minds!

Virtual Pool: Best pool game on iphone try the free version first.

Rolando: Like loco roco on PSP great game. Bit expensive.

and +1 to all the games before especially canabalt.

billybigunz

Ronnie O'Sullivans Snooker: Top class game for 79c.
I got that flight control recently, excellent game but doesn't have much depth to it.

johnny_ultimate

thewheel2.0 wrote: »

First of i would like to say that the iPod touch is the best pooping/bedside device ever.

I agree with bedside - easiest thing to check emails / have a quick go of Robot Unicorn with in the morning. However, I draw a hygienic line at pooping

Couple of others worth mentioning:

Spider - Legend of Bryce Manor: been out a while, but there's a relatively new director's cut that adds new content. Really clever, plus has some surprisingly subtle and intelligent storytelling (everything is told through the environment). Very fun 'webbing' mechanics too. You can also follow a lot of the designer's ideas and goals through his monthly Edge column, which gives a good insight into game design.

Secret Of Monkey Island: it's Monkey Island, and although the controls are naturally awkward, it's still as compulsively playable and hilarious as ever.

Peggle: Again, found a natural home here. Has seen me through many a train journey.

Will have to check out Flight Control too.

Necronomicon

Flight Control is great.

I'm still not quite sold on iPhone gaming - I find that I can't sit down for long playing a game, so I tend to stick to the simpler ones such as Tilt to Live and Doodle Jump. I have a few 'bigger' (for lack of a better word) games such as Assassin's Creed, N.O.V.A. and Dexter: The Game. Though recognising their quality they just haven't held my attention.

A few of my favourites not mentioned so far:

Zombieville USA: A side-scrolling zombie shooter, good fun (€1.59)

Trace: A platform game where you draw the path that your stick-man walks on (Free).

Moto X Mayhem: A decent motocross game with a ragdoll physics engine that results in hilarious falls (€0.79)

thewheel2.0

billybigunz wrote: »

Ronnie O'Sullivans Snooker: Top class game for 79c.
I got that flight control recently, excellent game but doesn't have much depth to it.

Yeah id agree but its a great high score type game so competing with friends adds your own depth. Also for the first month i had it i didn't know you could change airfields! Clever game though i would consider it a must buy.

RobertFoster

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Secret Of Monkey Island: it's Monkey Island, and although the controls are naturally awkward, it's still as compulsively playable and hilarious as ever.

I hear another adventure game, Broken Sword Director's Cut, controls better than Monkey Island.

Also, how could I not recommend Beneath a Steel Sky

Josey Wales

Tilt to Live - like Geometry Wars but better.

Peggle

Bejewelled 2

Plants vs. Zombies - I only have it on the iPad but it is excellent.

Mr E

I have 3 sites bookmarked that I check every day (guess what they're for!)

http://www.freegameoftheday.com
http://www.freeappaday.com
http://www.freeappcalendar.com

Tilt To Live is free at the moment thanks to freeappaday.com, and will probably be free for the next 24 hours at most. You get some great games and apps on all 3 sites, so they're worth a daily visit.

Some recommendations from me:

Any recent games by Donut Games (like Cat Physics (€0.79), Spikey's Bounce Around (€1.59 - free Lite version available) and Paracute). Paracute is free at the moment, as a promotion for their newer game, Cat Physics. If you like The Incredible Machine, then you'll love Cat Physics. All 3 games are worth grabbing.

Space Miner: Space Ore Bust (€3.99, Free Lite Version) is asteroids with lots of purchasable weapons and a borderlands-ish looting mechanic. I've played through it 2 and a half times, and the game clock is showing 17 hours. Great value for money.

Angry Birds (€0.79) is an absolutely huge game and well worth the money. Think Boom Blox on the wii, crossed with Scorched Earth (ask the old people here!)

Espgaluda II is a shooter by Cave, and a cracking game. A bit pricey at €6.99 but I love it. Lite version available, so try it out for free.

Warblade (€0.79, free version available) came out on the PC a long time ago and has recently been ported to the ipod. Its basically Galaga on crack, and one of the best shoot 'em ups on the ipod. Try the Free version to see what you think. For a week after the game came out, I had the 4th highest score in the world (about 1.36bn). Got to level 498 one Saturday morning (took 4 hours). I've dropped to 40th now, and 16th on the Meteorstorm bonus level global leaderboards.

johnny_ultimate

Josey Wales wrote: »

Tilt to Live - like Geometry Wars but better.

+1 on Tilt to Live, but better than Geometry Wars? :eek: Possibly as good as a Geometry Wars clone on IPhone will get, but I still love me some twin stick shooting over it :pac:

Mr E wrote: »

Espgaluda II is a shooter by Cave, and a cracking game. A bit pricey at €6.99 but I love it. Lite version available, so try it out for free.

How does it control on IPhone? Since my IPod Touch is a gen too early to play it, I can't download the lite version to try. I can't imagine playing it without an arcade stick. +1 on the recommendation though, great opportunity to try a Cave game without having to pay 50+ euro to import the region free ones.

Mr E

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

How does it control on IPhone? Since my IPod Touch is a gen too early to play it, I can't download the lite version to try. I can't imagine playing it without an arcade stick. +1 on the recommendation though, great opportunity to try a Cave game without having to pay 50+ euro to import the region free ones.

Controls are great. No fiddly virtual D-Pad. It basically uses the whole screen. You move relative to where your finger is on the screen (so if you move your finger left, from any part of the screen, your ship will move left). Works very well. Try the Lite version!

irish_man

backbreaker is a very good iphone game
i cant remember what price it is but its under 2 euro

johnny_ultimate

Mr E wrote: »

Controls are great. No fiddly virtual D-Pad. It basically uses the whole screen. You move relative to where your finger is on the screen (so if you move your finger left, from any part of the screen, your ship will move left). Works very well. Try the Lite version!

I'd love to try it, but it only supports the latest models Are there seperate buttons for laser / rapid fire / shield / 'overdrive' mode too? And how many modes? (Just curious again to compare it with the 360 version in case Cave release any more ports in the future).

Mr E

Arcade Mode and iPhone Mode. There are 3 difficulty levels (novice, normal, hard) and each type has 3 different control systems: Simplified (autofire, auto barrier), Normal (autofire, manual barrier), Expert (Shot on/off, manual barrier, and a shot change button).

In other words, lots of options depending on your skill level.

K.O.Kiki

Not a day goes by when I don't play Dance Dance Revolution (the 1st one, laggier but you don't pay for song packs :mad:) and Space Invaders Infinity Gene.

johnny_ultimate

Was browsing last night and saw that Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 is now available on the app store :eek: On one hand, the nostalgia! On the other hand, can the IPhone handle something so fast-paced and button heavy? Hmm...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ-eNZMxYHM

sarumite

:shift: is a good puzzler platform in the same vain as Portal (it plays homage to it in more than one way...."the timer is a lie" etc)

Mr E

Yeah I agree, great but tricky! Especially the levels with spikes.
Shift was free last week on one of the sites I linked earlier.

sarumite

Mr E wrote: »

Yeah I agree, great but tricky! Especially the levels with spikes.
Shift was free last week on one of the sites I linked earlier.

Little trick I found was that when you are standing by the spikes.....as it comes up, shift from white to black or vise versa and you are still alive and the spikes continue to go on, giving you the oppurtunity to finish the level at your leisure.

Mr E

Warblade is free today, courtesy of http://freegameoftheday.com/
One of the best games on the platform by far...

Princess Zelda

Hector - Badge of Carnage - reviewed here. Quite a short point and clicker, but monkey island-esque humour. Worth a download

Colm!

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene is a total shoot-em-up classic, and it even syncs to your music! So.. sort of like a toned-down Beat Hazard with some classic Space Invaders elements.
It's also got a serious evolution\Darwinist theme in it, which I found quite cool.

Tap Tap Revenge is great, although it's a shame that you now have to pay for most DLC. Shame really. Also, not liking the whole "RPG" system they've added. I don't want to level up my character, I want to play a music game! The first one was superior, do pick up "Tap Tap Revenge Classic"

Canabalt is AMAZING. Just go to canabalt.com and you'll see why. Buy it. Really.

I'm still waiting on that Audiosurf port though. Seriously, make it happen.

What really annoys me about Iphone games, are the car games. They are actually really good games but you have to sit there and move like a plank to turn corners. Whilst there are some people out there like that , why dont they give us the option of using the pad ? ? ?

Mr E

Another good one from the freegameoftheday site... Chain Link Pro. Probably free until some time tomorrow, but grab it while you can. Ridiculously addictive.

Josey Wales

Mr E wrote: »

Another good one from the freegameoftheday site... Chain Link Pro. Probably free until some time tomorrow, but grab it while you can. Ridiculously addictive.

Downloading now.

Mr E

Another good one today - Sentinel 2.

Really polished tower defense game. I'm not normally a fan, but this is great.
Free until midnight tonight.

Mr E

By the way, if you're looking for a logic puzzle game, you won't get many better than Pathpix. 169 levels that will last you a long long long time. Early levels can be completed in minutes, but I spent most of the weekend (on and off) on level 160.

Then when you finish all of those, you can grab Pathpix Pro, which is another 300 levels for intermediate to expert players.

There is a lite version of Pathpix in the app store (for free), so no excuse not to try it out. It really is the only thing I'm playing on the ipod touch at the moment.

super_furry

Madden 2010 is surprisingly good. The touch controls are well implemented and one of the few sports sims to work on the iPhone. Haven't really played a Madden game since the Megadrive, but it's a lot of fun.

Mr E

Two good free games today.

Mega Jump
Jump O'Clock

Polar101

Angry Birds
Peggle
Plants vs Zombies
Critter Crunch

Best €6.96 I ever spent.

Mr E

Civilization Revolution is free today (down from $6.99). :eek:

Princess Zelda

Mr E wrote: »

Civilization Revolution is free today (down from $6.99). :eek:

That's not actually a bad game at all. Quite similar to the Ds version. Good for a quick blast

Krieg

Just got Osmos, fantastic. Great game to play while lying down with the lights out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NksH4ic6bos

Mr E

Yeah its great. Hate those orbit levels though.

Mr E

Monkey Island 2 Special Edition is down to €0.79 for a limited time (enhanced graphics and music, full talkie version).

animaX

Wow, some surprising omissions here!

Edge
Stoneloops of Jurassica (clone of Zuma - was only available in US store)
Ragdoll Blaster 2
Tiki Towers (clone of World of Goo)
Rogue Planet (clone of Advance Wars but quite slow and time consuming)

All worth checking out

Mr E

Playing alot of Frag lately. Its a bit like Angry Birds (but with grenades and terrorists instead of birds and pigs). It's single screen with loads of levels, some great puzzles and a decent amount of skill is needed for high level rankings. Try the Lite version first, and I'm pretty sure you'll fork out for the full version at 79c.

Polar101

Mr E wrote: »

Monkey Island 2 Special Edition is down to €0.79 for a limited time (enhanced graphics and music, full talkie version).

That's a great offer, I have the game on the PC but didn't mind paying 79 cents. iOS version seems to play much better than I expected.

Penn

Mr E wrote: »

Playing alot of Frag lately. Its a bit like Angry Birds (but with grenades and terrorists instead of birds and pigs). It's single screen with loads of levels, some great puzzles and a decent amount of skill is needed for high level rankings. Try the Lite version first, and I'm pretty sure you'll fork out for the full version at 79c.

Recently got this too. Great game. Some levels are infuriating until you work out how to do it. Some great level design too

A-Trak

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

. Robot Unicorn Attack in particular is possibly the best 'one joke' game that has ever existed. One more go, one more uber-camp unicorn running to an Erasure soundtrack

Krieg wrote: »

Hollllldddddd onnnnnnnn ♪♪ to the nigggggghhhhhhhhhttt ♪♪

This game is bloody brilliant.
I'm sure the mrs is going to start wondering why I keep playing the same Erasure track on my longer visits to the jacks.

Mr E

Another sale has kicked off today. Tons of good stuff there too. Osmos, Spider and Peggle are all €0.79 (and should be in everyone's collection)

Just grabbed Zenonia 2 and Peggle (again) ... If Ode to Joy doesn't put a smile on your face, then you're dead inside.

http://toucharcade.com/2010/09/30/massive-app-store-sale-on-major-iphoneipod-gaming-titles/

johnny_ultimate

Shame not all the games listed there are on sale over here, would love to try Mirror's Edge IPhone cheap

Picked up Osmos and Geometry Wars anyway. Cheers for the link!

Mr E

I got mirrors edge when it came out. It's a great version and a lot of fun, but far too easy.

I finished it over a weekend (playing a level here and there). You could probably finish it in an hour if you put your mind to it. There is some replayability with hidden bags and time trials, but I didn't bother. It was good to hear the lovely Lisa Miskovsky's title track again too....

johnny_ultimate

Mr E wrote: »

I got mirrors edge when it came out. It's a great version and a lot of fun, but far too easy.

I finished it over a weekend (playing a level here and there). You could probably finish it in an hour if you put your mind to it. There is some replayability with hidden bags and time trials, but I didn't bother. It was good to hear the lovely Lisa Miskovsky's title track again too....

Yeah it sounds good, but maybe not 3.99 good (not that 3.99 is a lot of money, but still)! I'm sure it will be on sale at some point, it is the app store after all!

BigDuffman

+1 on angry birds vote

Krieg

Balls! I was waiting for a peggle sale but 3 days ago said "feck it" and bought it for the 2.50, or whatever it was.

Also got fragger, great game. Very similar to angry birds as mentioned previously.

johnny_ultimate

Bah, didn't realise Geometry Wars was IPad only Bobby Kotick tricked me out of 79c!

vestanpance

Naughty Bear free today here.

http://www.freegameoftheday.com/

Mr E

Big EA Games sale on at the moment - lots of big games have dropped to $0.99 (€0.79)

http://toucharcade.com/2010/12/16/the-great-electronic-arts-99%C2%A2-sale-of-2010/