You know which ones I’m talking about, with names like ‘World’s Greatest Police Chases’. You can’t help but stop and watch, and before you know it you’ve been captivated by the mayhem and destruction for a half an hour or more. Well, iOS-newcomer Hutch Games’ debut title, Smash Cops takes this guilty pleasure a step further, placing your right into the action of a number of high-speed police chases.

When you first start up the game, your ears are treated to a fantastic musical score for the menu which sounds like it’s taken directly from an 80′s cop drama title sequence. It sets the tone perfectly for exactly what you are about to to experience. With its stunning graphics, sound effects and top-down tv news chopper-camera view, complete with banner overlay announcing your mission details, Smash Cops really does feel like you are in an actual TV police chase. The work that the Hutch team have put into the sweeping camera work and over-all presentation really shines through, resulting in a genuinely unique, fun and fast paced game with loads of polish.

There are two different control schemes for players to choose from. The default is a mode where you place one finger on the screen behind your vehicle and you drag it left and right to turn the car. Tapping the screen with another finger triggers your ram/boost. The other option is a virtual joypad for movement. I’ve tried both and they both are quite responsive, though I do find myself gravitating toward the more familiar virtual joystick.

These are not just your average traffic violations, Smash Cops is mission-based with 22 missions currently available. These range from tracking down and arresting a stolen sports car before he reaches the state line, to getting to a crime scene within a certain time period, to driving an obstacle course hitting as few cones as possible. In some missions you will even be attacked by other vehicles which are trying to keep you from accomplishing your objective.

It is not enough just to pull over the suspect, you need to ram the heck out of them until their vehicle is completely immobilized, but at the same time being careful not to hit pedestrians or even other cops try to help (moving in on) with your bust. All these will do damage to your vehicle. If you take too much damage to your vehicle before completing the mission, then you’ll fail. Your ramming ability needs to recharge after each use, and when ramming you should always attempt to position your vehicle at the target’s front or side for the most damage and most satisfying slow motion wreckage sequence.

At the end of the mission you are awarded up to 5 stars based on a number of factors and the cumulative number of these stars helps you unlock new vehicles and missions. Starting with your Patrol car you can work all the way up to Brutus, an armored-car like beast of a vehicle. Each class of vehicle has different stats for speed, health and attack power.

If you are having trouble with a particular mission, you can opt to use a ‘Super Cop’, a one-time use souped-up vehicle that will help you complete your mission. ‘Super Cop’ credits are periodically awarded during normal gameplay, but they are also available in packs as an IAP for real money.

The only real issue I have with Smash Cops is that in some of the later levels, sometimes when you have the enemy trapped and you are bashing him, all of a sudden he’ll just disappear and pop up away from you, back on his per-determined path. The best way I can describe it is to imagine that you were playing an FPS and you’ve got a guy cornered dead to rights, and then all of a sudden there is lag and he escapes. It is just a little annoying and frustrating.

I can see so much huge potential for this game as far as future content and/or game modes. First off, iCade support might be kind of fun. Another idea I had was it would be really cool if there was some sort of cops and robbers (online) multiplayer mode where each player takes a turn playing one of the roles in a best of 3 or so matchup, where one player tries to get across the state line and the other (the cop) tries to stop him. Other than just additional levels, perhaps new levels wcould be created with a 70′s or 80′s theme to the cars and scenery , or offer levels which take place in other countries like, England, France, Germany etc..

In Conclusion

I’ve been having an absolute blast playing Smash Cops. While the 22 levels can be completed fairly quickly, there is definitely a lot of appeal to go back and replay completed levels with different vehicles to try and improve your star score. Because the suspects run on somewhat predetermined paths, replay also helps you discover new routes you can take within the city to cut off and disable suspect vehicles more quickly. I really hope to see additional missions added to the game soon. For me, Smash Cops is a must buy and is available on the App Store for $2.99.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Hutch Games, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Review, Smash Cops, Universal

While I’ve seen this kind of thing happening in the Console space fairly often, it is still a bit of a rarity in the iOS/mobile space. There is no charge to enter the tournament and the (universal) Letris 2 app is available to download at no cost as well.

So why not join in for a little free, friendly competition?!

For those of you not already familiar with Letris 2, it is a word game “where you must build words in order to keep the screen clean and tidy as long as possible”. Simple in concept, but challenging in the execution. The game is a sort of mash-up between Tetris and Scrabble, with lettered tiles constantly falling into the game area from the top of the screen. You must use these lettered tiles to form words in order to remove the tiles from the board (making room for more tiles). Letters do not need to be adjacent to be used in the same word.

If you already have Letris 2 installed on your iOS device, you’ll just need to make sure that you download the updated version and touch the “Tournament” button to participate. Ivanovich Games is currently seeing an average of more than 200,000 players per day Letris 2, and they are hoping that a large percentage of those daily players will participate during the one hour tournament window currently scheduled for 4:29:59 PM (EST) tomorrow, February 4th.

How will the tournament work?

Here are the rules (as they appear on Ivanovich Games’ website).

1. Press the “Tournament” button in the game to see when the next tournament will be held.
2. At the time and date indicated be prepared to enjoy an intense 60 minute online tournament and press the “Tournament” button so that the system can randomly search for your first adversary. This is how your first qualifying level will begin!
3. If you manage to win your match you will move on to the next round, you will be given a password which you can tweet to demonstrate your achievement and you can carry on playing, but this time, facing only players who are on the same round as you.
4. If you loose a match: No problem! You stay on your round and you can keep playing matches within the same round as many times as you like until the 60 minutes of the tournament are up.

When the 60 minutes are up, the winner will be the first person to tweet the password from the highest round. So it’s not about who gets the highest score, it’s about having fun and playing the game with players from around the world. The winner will receive $40 iTunes gift card.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Ivanovich Games, Letris 2, tournament, Universal

So the real question here has to be, has my Soul Calibur itch been scratched by this iPhone release, or is this a lazy and disappointing port? Well the truth actually lies somewhere between the two extremes, as I will explain in a little while.

Soul Calibur was originally an arcade game that was ported to the Sega Dreamcast. A 3D beat ‘em up where the characters used weapons instead of their fists, which added a sense of depth and combat variety like few other games, the real innovation was the freedom to run in eight directions, something completely unheard of at the time. Add fabulous graphics and an excellent combat system, as well as an impressive and inventive layer of content for the Dreamcast release, and an instant classic was born. The game has recently been ported to Xbox Live Arcade, and this iOS release has a lot in common with that particular build.

Soul Calibur has a convoluted background story about a quest to stop a creature called Nightmare, who is actually a young knight possessed by an evil sword, Soul Edge. A blade known as Soul Calibur is the only sword that is up to the task, and so a rather complicated, but not entirely unenjoyable tale unfolds.

You take control of one of an impressive roster of nineteen characters, and the brilliant thing here is that a lot of the characters truly feel and play differently from each other. Different weapons have different ranges and speeds, and the joy of mastering one of the fighters is a hallmark of the game.

This iPhone version has improved graphics over the original Dreamcast version, but lacks a little definition compared to the XBLA release. All the original moves, music, characters and stages are there as well, as far as I can remember.

Unfortunately, there are three massive problems that seriously make me question whether this is a worthy purchase. First of all, the big one; a complete, total and utter lack of any kind of multiplayer. No Bluetooth, local WiFi, and no online.

For me, a one on one fighting game is all about the multiplayer, with one player modes, be they story or arcade, strictly for practice. It truly baffles me how Namco have managed to leave it out. They have said that additional modes will be forthcoming, and I’m guessing this was rushed out the door to help promote Soul Calibur 5, but to have no two player mode is inexcusable.

The second big omission is the brilliant Mission Mode from the Dreamcast. In this mode you took on all kinds of crazy challenges on a RPG-lite quest that saw you earning points to unlock new content. Not here, and neither is Team Battle Mode. You do get Arcade, Time Attack, Survival, Extra Survival and Practice, as well as a museum to view artwork, but that lot really just boils to three real modes of play, not a lot when you consider that Namco are charging a whopping £7.99/$11.99 for the privilege of playing this. That is with a 20% launch discount.

The third problem is perhaps even bigger, the controls. While Namco have obviously worked hard to get the virtual controls right, you never get anywhere near the level of control needed to truly excel at the game. It isn’t really Namco’s fault, and you can get by pretty well in the default difficulty level in Arcade mode, but try anything more difficult or even Extra Survival mode and the lack of true precision really starts to tell. Advanced combos and tactical play are very difficult.

Whatever you do, don’t try going online with..oh wait, you can’t go online with this anyway.

I really could have forgiven the understandably imperfect controls if Namco had thrown in all the modes of the original and even added a few more to give iPhone owners something to shout about.

I love Soul Calibur. I loved it in the arcade and I loved it on Dreamcast, but I find this iOS version a lot more difficult to care about. The lack of multiplayer, mission mode and team battle mode is only exacerbated by the hugely inflated price. The not quite perfect controls help to enforce a feeling that, while Namco have done a great job getting the game to look and run well, they had their eye on the release of Soul Calibur 5 rather than on producing the best possible version for iPhone fans.

In Conclusion

Genuinely painful to rate a version of one of my all time favourite games so low, but as the game stands now I just can’t recommend it to anyone but the most die hard Soul Calibur fans, which is odd as they are the ones who will be the most disappointed of all. There is some fun to be had here, but lets hope they get with the updates quickly.

This review originally appeared on The Smartphone App Review (January 19, 2012).

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Bandai, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Namco, Review, Soul Calibur

They have iTunes credit codes on sale for 20% off, with FREE digital delivery!

Apple® – iTunes $15 Code – For Only $12
Apple® – iTunes $25 Code – For Only $20
Apple® – iTunes $50 Code – For Only $40
Apple® – iTunes $100 Code – For Only $80

or click here for more details.

No Best Buy Store near you?
No problem, because this deal is ONLY AVAILABLE ONLINE, but quantities are limited, so if you need to top off your iTunes balance then I’d jump on this ASAP!

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Best Buy, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, iTunes, sale

Well…happy day!

Prepare to turn that frown upside-down, because Days Of Wonder has just released an update which adds an all-new asynchronous, turn-based multiplayer game mode exclusively to Ticket To Ride Pocket. While this is not the real-time multiplayer mode the iPad release has, I think this new ‘Multi Mode’ is a clever choice.

Ticket To Ride Pocket players will still be able to have local real-time multiplayer games over Bluetooth and local Wi-Fi, and take on A.I. opponents in the local single-player mode, but the new ‘Multi Mode’ allows you to challenge your Game Center friends worldwide and make your moves whenever you have time.

The really cool thing is that this new mode will allow you to have multiple simultaneous games going against up to 3 friends (in each game). ‘Multi Mode’ is limited to the “Pocket Edition” of the game so don’t go looking for it on your iPad release. This was by choice in part due to the technical issues involved with getting two different apps (with different SKUs) to talk to one another nicely through Game Center.

“This is the update Ticket to Ride players have been clamoring for since we released Ticket to Ride Pocket.” Said Eric Hautemont, Days of Wonder Founder and CEO. “We love online gameplay, but faced a challenge: ‘how do you create a great online experience on a device like the phone that is constantly being used for other functions?’ We needed to build an experience where players could come and go as they please yet have something meaningful to do when they played; the thought of having multiple games going at once was what convinced us this could work. With Multi Mode, we’ve given players what they want without compromising on the gameplay that made Ticket to Ride so popular to begin with.”

When I read the news, my initial concerns were that since moves in Ticket To Ride can be really quick, you may often end up waiting a while for the other player(s) to make their quick moves and games could last a really long time. However, then I got to thinking that this is pretty much the case in just about every asynchronous, turn-based online multiplayer game.

Earlier this morning I loaded the new update. I immediately was able to find a random opponent for a two player game. Since both I and my adversary were making our moves right away, we had what equated to a real-time multiplayer game. So if the server (and your opponent’s) response time is fairly quick, you could potentially achieve a near real-time game anyways, even though this is meant to be an asynchronous multiplayer mode.

I’m excited about this new way to play this amazingly fun game, so feel free to send a challenge my way (OTGGamer). While I can’t promise real-time play (I have a job after all), I can offer some friendly competition.

Ticket To Ride Pocket is available on the app store for $1.99.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: App Update, Asynchronous Multiplayer, Game Center, iPod Touch, Ticket To Ride, Ticket To Ride Pocket, Update

One of my personal favorites of these meta score sites is Qualityindex.

I’m proud to say that our site’s review scores are now being included as part of Qi’s meta scores along side some really esteemed company including 148Apps, Slide To Play and Pocket Gamer.

Qi believes that “by carefully selecting and then combining critical viewpoints and organizing them in a logical way they provide app consumers with an indispensable guide to making their purchasing decisions. However, although the Qualityindex provides an invaluable point of access, it’s not intended to replace the in-depth critical opinion.” To that end they include links to the full reviews from every page for those who want to dig deeper.

We are honored to be a part of the Qualityindex’s meta scores and highly recommend that you check out the site.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, meta score, Qualityindex, Reviews

Over half of our featured Thursday new releases are free-to-play titles from CAPCOM, G5 Entertainment, Big Pixel Studios, Everplay Interactive and even Chillingo.

Big Pixel Studios’ Off The Leash is a one-handed tilt controlled game where you are a dog trying to out-run the cops and evade capture, while at the same time attempting to rescue as many of your ‘doggy pals’ as you can. The game features Big Pixel’s signature blocky-bit graphical style and is sure to please the casual crowd. Next up is Chillingo’s space-themed tower defense game, Spice Invaders. You control an invading pirate force, and must ‘protect them as they mine the Earth’s resources for the precious mineral, Spice’. Meant to be played online, this multiplayer game features some nice visuals, challenging and a massive amount of upgrades, this title will keep you busy for a while.

G5 Entertainment is back with a new hidden object adventure title called Royal Trouble: Hidden Adventures. >GHOST TRICK: Phantom Detective is CAPCOM’s stylized looking interactive mystery adventure game based on the critically acclaimed Nintendo DS game. You can check out the first two chapters for free, the rest are available as IAPs. Speaking of mysteries, this last ‘free’ title is a bit of an enigma. From the screenshots and description, Everplay Interactive’s Terra Noctis: Free Dreaming looks identical to the platformer game Terra Noctis that was put out by Bulkypix last December. It is unclear if this is a lite version of that game or what, but it is free.

Now onto the pay for apps…the first of which is Fly With Me, a level-based arcade platformer (of sorts) from EA. Guide birds through trees with a constant tap of the finger to keep those wings flapping. The goal being to “cruise through tree holes and dodge moving obstacles, like spiders, Venus fly traps, geysers, and more and chomp evil bees from small to large for a bug feast”. FreakZone’s platformer AWESOME Land looks very Super Mario-esque. However, instead of a plumber, the game’s hero is Manley, an approriately gruff looking man who’s motorcycle has been stolen by evil aliens and it’s up to you to help him ‘kick some alien hide and claim it back’.

Electric Pixel Factory’s debut game Gorilla Gondola features the unlikely pairing of a silverback and a ski gondola. Navigate the ski-lift-riding Gorilla through dangerous levels, jumping, stomping and tilting to avoid all manner of obstacles while collecting bananas and powerups. This once looks like it could be pretty fun and challenging.

Finally, we come to perhaps my most highly anticipated new release of the week, Reckless Racing 2. This is the sequel to Polarbit and Pixelbite’s great mudslinging, fast-paced, top-down racing game, Reckless Racing. This time the title is self-published and a universal app featuring the same great graphics and gameplay, but with a “selection of 18 highly detailed cars, ranging from small dirt buggies to fast supercars, and 24 routes in a variety of flavors make this a racer for all tastes”. Yeehaw!

So which of these new releases are on your “must buy” list?

Off The Leash Big Pixel Studios Free	Spice Invaders Chillingo Ltd Free	Royal Trouble: Hidden Adventures G5 Entertainment Free	Royal Trouble: Hidden Adventures HD G5 Entertainment Free
Terra Noctis: Free Dreaming Everplay Interactive Free	GHOST TRICK: Phantom Detective CAPCOM Free	Fly With Me EA Swiss Sarl 99¢	AWESOME Land FreakZone $1.99
Gorilla Gondola Electric Pixel Factory Ltd $1.99	Reckless Racing 2 Polarbit $4.99

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Chillingo, Deceased Pixel, ea, G5 Entertainment, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, New Releases, Polarbit, Reckless Racing 2, Universal

First off, Polarbit and Pixelbite will be releasing Reckless Racing 2, the sequel to their awesome top-down racer. The graphics, once again look amazing!

According to Polarbit’s twitter feed, the price will be $4.99, but it is unclear as to whether or not the game will be available in separate releases or as and the folks at Polarbit have confirmed that it will be a universal app.

Another big Thursday release will surely be Kids Vs. Goblins, which is developed by Stolen Couch Games and published by Crescent Moon Games. It is a tactical action RPG which promises “intuitive controls and a compelling story”.

“Each hero has a unique set of magical spells that are yours to control. Every situation requires different spells and tactics, so choosing the right combination will prove very important once you enter the hostile area. There are 60 different spells for you to master and combine and unleash the devastating effects on your enemies.”

While Kids vs. Goblins will initially only be available for iPad 2. Universal support for iPhone and iPod Touch is planned to arrive soon in a future update. Watch the trailer below for a sneak peak.

Watch for even more Thursday new release announcements in our weekly “New At Eleven” post.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Crescent Moon Games, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Kids Vs. Goblins, Pixelbite, Polarbit, Reckless Racing 2, Stolen Couch Games, trailers

It is I, Kevin Beimers, one of the cobjockeys who brought you the critically defamed Hector: Badge of Carnage series. So I thought, since the boys over here at AppAddict loved (and promoted) Hector so much, that I’d disgrace this fine site with my grim visage, maybe blather on about apps and whatnot. In truth, for years I’ve been trying to find a way to play games all afternoon and tell my wife I’m working. Done and done.

I suppose I should tell you a little about myself so you can decide if my opinion is worth time you could be spending watching babies laughing on YouTube. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a fat, vulgar, belligerent British lout who eats nothing but kebabs and kerbsides. I’m actually Canadian. The rest is more or less accurate though.

Truth be told, I’m kinda crap at keeping up with trends and new releases and such. I tend to trawl the App Store in fits and starts, usually just after finishing a big project or something, and I tend to get games that aren’t going to take up a lot of my time. Rather, I tend to pick little gems that I can dip in and out of; open it, finish a level or two, and close it. You know the type: Physics rollers and tilters and dexterity testers and mind benders and wordy-puzzly things, rather than full-blown attention-demanders. Very rarely do I buy stuff (which could be why I’m frequently disappointed).

I’ve got an iPod Touch 3G with a cracked screen, and an iPad1 that I got on sale when the iPad2s were coming out. My actual mobile phone is an eight year old classic Nokia brick, which features no apps, no ringtones, no colour, no rubber ear-plate and all the numbers have rubbed off the buttons from being in my pocket all the time. No one can figure out how to text on it except me.

I don’t tweet. I rarely Facebook. I love winning achievements but can’t be arsed with sharing them with my friends. I’ve never made an in-app purchase: I’ve earned all of my upgrades without spending any real money. I don’t even multitask. Consider me a very casual gamer, so casual that you should probably poke me now and then to see if I’ve gone to sleep.

That’s where I’m coming from. Just so we’re clear.

I checked out the list of games deemed by AppAddict to be review-worthy, and, not being able to decide, opted for my usual approach: I just grabbed everything I could get my mitts on that was free. You’d be surprised how often that works out.

The four new games that graced my iPad this month:

• Beaver’s Revenge™, which appealed to my Canadian heritage,
• Snoticles, which appealed to my cheeky juvenile side,
• Blockwick, which appealed to my obsessive-compulsive nature,
• Seal Force, because Milo, my 3-year-old son, liked that one of the seals was named Milo, and so did I.

I’ll start with Seal Force. In a word, it’s great! I love it! And that’s not sarcasm, I genuinely like it! Look at me, I’m using exclamation points!

Seal Force is a simple premise, as most fun apps are: You’re a seal, eat the krill. Actually, you are three seals – Sarge, Fonzie and Milo (heh, love that Milo) – pink, green and orange, respectively. They need to nab the pink, green and orange krill, also respectively. To nab said krill, draw the seal’s path, and get as many shells and power ups and such as you can in the process.

Story-wise, there’s an evil dude named Krillian, who is apparently behind it all, whatever ‘it all’ actually is – he doesn’t really do much besides popping up at the start to say “I’m gonna poison the whole sea!” in a nasal sneer, after which the game has nothing to do with sea-poisoning… but that doesn’t seem to matter one bit! It’s still a grand old time!

One of the features that kept me playing was the way the achievement system was handled. Since the adventification of the gamification revolutiomacation, the majority of game designers seem to be satisfying the achievement demand by dumping a thousand or so into a stupidly long list, usually containing little more than what you probably would have done while playing the game anyway – “Congratulations, you’ve received the Completed Level One achievement!” – that sort of thing.

Seal Force handles achievements in the style of Jetpack Joyride by doling them out only a few at a time, some easy, some hard, all different ways of playing the game. The shortlist is in the pause menu and at the end of each level. As a result, they’re always in your eye line, easy to remember, and thus you’re always tempted to knock off just one more before shutting it down and getting back to work.

Anyway, I finished Seal Force, so that’s gotta be worth something. Plus, the smile I got from my boy every time one of the other seals said “Nice work, Milo!” could bring a tear to your eye. It was like bonding, only easier.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Beaver's Revenge, Blockwick, Freeloader, iPad, iPhone, iPoad Touch, Seal Force, Snoticles

(Time to get on my soap box for a little bit…)

Further fueling my doubts were the number of recent review requests we’ve received for new games which look like they basically lifted the assets (and game play elements) directly from ZeptoLab’s fun puzzle game, Cut The Rope. One look at True Media Games’ Lay the Egg, Curatus Technocorp’s upcoming title The Candy Monster and (to a lesser extent) Sharp Creative Agency’s Drop The Chicken, and you will see (at least in my opinion) FAR TOO MANY similarities with Cut The Rope.

We see this type of thing time and time again whenever there is some breakout hit, everyone wants a piece of the pie. First there were all the Doodle Jump clones followed by the Angry Birds, Canabalt and Tiny Wings clones. Sure, developers can (and should) be inspired by these games, but you need to create something that is unique and fresh, not a mere facsimile which (as is usually the case) is less crisp and polished than the original.

Fortunately, creativity is not definitely dead amongst the iOS development community. For every clone, there seems to be two or three splashes of brilliance from indie development community. Recent releases like Hutch’s Smash Cops, Colaboratory’s Puzzlejuice, Asketic’s Mailboxing show that that independent spirit and spark is still burning strong. These are creative, original ideas that live or die by their own merits (and ironically) create new fodder for the cloners, it’s just the nature of the iOS ecosystem.

Before I step off my soap box, I just want to say one more thing: if you are just going to release a game that’s sole purpose is to try to capitalize on another’s success, why even bother? Releasing an iOS game is hard work, so instead, why not put your time and talent into developing an original idea…that’s just my two cents.

I apologize for the rant, I guess I just got asked to look at one clone too many…back to our regularly scheduled programming.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: clones, Cut the Rope, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Nimblebit, Zynga