Home » Articles and Reviews by 'James Nouch'
Tim Schafer Confirms Plans For iOS Version Of Double Fine Adventure
Tim Schafer, the man behind classic point-and-click adventures such as Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango, took to crowdfunding website Kickstarter last week in a bid to raise $400,000 to make a brand-new adventure game. Schafer explained that publishers were unlikely to ever back such a project, and so asked fans to fund its development instead. At the time of writing, fans have pledged more than $1,850,000 on the project's Kickstarter page. The game's budget has increased quite suddenly, then, and Schafer's team at independent studio Double Fine have been looking at how best to use all that extra cash. In a video emailed to the project's backers (posted below), Schafer confirmed pla…
League of Evil 2 Brings Another Dose Of Scientist Punching To iPhone
League of Evil 2 has hit the App Store today, launching at the discounted price of 99c. Boasting 103 levels of tight platforming action, this much-anticipated sequel has you bounding through 2D environments with a vital mission. To punch scientists in the face. Evil scientists, mind. With stars awarded based on how quickly you complete each level, three-star obsessives will have to use every acrobatic trick in the book to ace the stages, including double-jumping, flipping, and wall-jumping. This follow-up to Ravenous Games's 5/5 platformer League of Evil does away with the pixel-art visuals of its predecessor, opting instead for hand-drawn animations by indie studio Bulletproof Outlaws.…
Gameloft Discount Prices Across Portfolio Of iPhone Games
Today is Valentine's Day, and French game makers Gameloft have shown that they know a thing or two about romance and wooing consumers. By discounting prices across their portfolio of iPhone games. Ten Gameloft games, in fact, can currently be downloaded from the App Store for reduced prices, including AppSpy favourites Earthworm Jim, The Settlers, and Hero of Sparta 2. Each of these titles can be yours for a mere 99c, and who knows how long these bargains will last? Better cancel tonight's dinner reservations and settle in for a night of iPhone gaming. Earthworm Jim Hero of Sparta 2 The Settlers Driver The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Eternal Legacy Gangstar R…
Super Meat Boy Being Rebuilt For Possible iPhone Release
Team Meat, the independent studio behind the console and PC indie platformer Super Meat Boy, announced on Twitter yesterday that they would be rebuilding the game from the ground up for a possible iPhone launch. According to the team's tweets, this game would be 'a re-envisioning of [Super Meat Boy] remade from scratch for touch', and it 'will not play like SMB!' Anyone speculating on what form the game may take can rule out a simple high score chase-'em-up, as Team Meat explicitly said it won't be 'a simple game like "Doodle Jump" it will be a larger more traditional game'. Nor will it control much like Super Meat Boy. Nor even be released unless the team are completely happy with the re…
Cave’s Dodonpachi Blissful Death Out Now On the App Store
Dodonpachi Blissful Death has hit the App Store today, the latest in a long line of Cave arcade shooters to be ported across to iOS. Not that we're complaining, of course. After all, Cave's previous iOS efforts include the 5/5 scoring ESPGALUDA II and Mushihimesama Bug Panic, which also earned top marks in our review. Anyway, back to Blissful Death... In Cave's newest manic shooter for the iPhone, you can select from six different ship types, take part in a Practice mode to hone your skills, and choose from four difficulty levels. Those of us with merely human reflexes will want to leave those higher tiers of difficulty well alone. Game Center and OpenFeint have also been integrated in…
League of Evil 2 Will Bound Athletically Onto the App Store Next Week
The sequel to pixel-art platformer League of Evil will leap onto the App Store on 15th February. Anyone even vaguely familiar with the original game will notice that League of Evil 2 boasts a radically different art style from the original. The pixel-art stylings of League of Evil have been cast aside in favour of hand-drawn animations designed by Bulletproof Outlaws. Hopefully, the first game's tight platforming, challenging gameplay, and ultra-responsive controls will make it across to this sequel intact, for League of Evil is something of an AppSpy favourite. The game earned a perfect 5/5 score in our glowing review, and appeared on our list of the Top 10 iPhone games of 2011. League…
Acclaimed DS Game Ghost Trick Haunts the App Store At Midnight Tonight
An iPhone version of last year's acclaimed DS title Ghost Trick has just launched on the New Zealand App Store, meaning it'll be available to download worldwide at midnight this evening. This supernatural adventure begins with the protagonist's death, and you spend the rest of the game playing a spirit detective trying to help others avoid the same fate. The unique puzzle gameplay has you possessing inanimate objects within your range to progress through each level. With its blend of offbeat humour and supernatural investigations, Ghost Trick may elicit comparisons from some readers with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: the zany courtroom drama that we awarded a 4/5 to on its iPhone debut.…
RAGE HD Update Includes New Gameplay Episodes As IAPs
id Software's mutant shooting gallery game RAGE HD has just received an update, which includes new in-app purchases and improvements to the game's visuals and performance. As anyone who's read our 4/5 review will know, RAGE HD's visuals were already pretty special. Now that the player model and weapon models have been replaced with higher-resolution versions, though, it looks crisper than ever. The headline feature of this update, mind, is undoubtedly the new Mutant Bash Store. It's from this digital shop that you can now buy new game content via IAPs. The first such 'episode pack' is available to purchase now, with more on the way soon. Finally, if you've got the appropriate cables and…
SupaSupa Games Brings Arcade Motocross Racing To iPhone
SupaSupa Games's debut iPhone release has just ridden onto the App Store. Yes, it really is called SupaSupaCross. Aforementioned game is a top-down arcade motocross racer with the emphasis firmly on fun rather than realism. In SupaSupaCross, you steer your bobble-headed racer across a series of off-road tracks, hitting the odd boost pad along the way to gain the edge over your competitors. You can choose between touch or tilt controls for steering, by the way. SupaSupa Games is an indie studio made up of former members of now-defunct THQ Digital Studio Phoenix - the team behind the MX vs. ATV series on home consoles. You can grab SupaSupaCross from the App Store right now for 99c.…
Remedy’s Explosive Racer Death Rally Is Free For A Day
Remedy's explosive racing game Death Rally is free to download today. Death Rally is an updated version of Remedy's 1996 debut game, and has you driving for your life in the titular vehicular competition. Gaming veterans will spot some familiar faces amongst the caranage, too, with Duke Nukem, Barry Wheeler, and John Gore all making appearances in a game that promises more than ten hours of high-octane racing. We loved Death Rally's high-adrenaline gameplay, which has you outrunning and outgunning race rivals, awarding the game 4/5 in our review last year. Accelerate onto the App Store now to grab your free copy of Death Rally.…
Telltale’s Hector and Puzzle Agent Adventure Games Discounted On iPhone
Telltale is currently hosting a sale on its iPhone puzzle adventures series Hector and Puzzle Agent, with select titles discounted to 99c from their usual price of $4.99. Both Puzzle Agent and Puzzle Agent 2 are reduced, so now's a good time to acquaint yourself with series protagonist Nelson Tethers, an FBI Puzzle Research Division agent, and the game's spooky setting: Scoggins. As you explore the strange town of Scoggins, you'll be solving puzzles for the locals, investigating the mystery of the local eraser factory, and guffawing at the dialogue. We awarded Puzzle Agent a 4/5 in our agent evaluation. Err, I mean, review. Meanwhile, episodes 2 and 3 in the Hector series are currently a…
Kanye West Has Reportedly ‘Brainstormed’ Ideas With Angry Birds Team
Kanye West has reportedly attended a late-night meeting with the company behind monster seller Angry Birds. Why? To brainstorm ideas and discuss possible avenues for collaboration. Naturally. British tabloid The Sun reports that Kanye's meeting with Rovio took place in London earlier this month, and to the surprise of no one, "it was his idea". There are no details regarding the outcome of this meeting, so we're left to guess at the form that any Rovio-Kanye joint venture might take. Perhaps Kanye could provide the soundtrack for a future Angry Birds project? Or perhaps Rovio could equip Kanye with a giant catapult to help him disrupt awards shows more effectively? Your guess is as go…
Cross Fingers Available For Free For A Limited Time
Cross Fingers, the block-shifting puzzler from Mobigame, is currently free to download from the App Store - reduced from its usual price of 99c. Over the course of a whopping 510 levels, Cross Fingers has you dragging blocks around the screen to complete ever-tougher tests of your spatial perception. Cross Fingers also boasts an Arcade mode, which challenges you to rack up the highest score possible in a sort of puzzle-based Survival mode. Whichever way you choose to play it, Cross Fingers is a very solid puzzle game. Worthy of a very respectable 4/5, in fact. You can grab Cross Fingers from the App Store for free right now. But, puzzle fans are advised to act fast - this is a limited-t…
Classic Dreamcast Brawler Soul Calibur Hits the App Store On 19th January
The critically acclaimed fighting game Soul Calibur will punch and kick its way onto the App Store later this week. On 19th January, to be exact. Originally released in arcades way back in 1998, it was ported to the Dreamcast the following year with updated graphics and an extra character: the villainous pirate Cervantes de Leon. Andriasang reports that all 19 fighters will be included in this forthcoming iOS port, and that it will feature six modes: Arcade Battle, Time Attack, Survival, Extra Survival, Practice, and Museum. There's no sign of the Dreamcast's expansive Mission mode, then, but Game Center leaderboard support for the Time Attack, Survival, and Extra Survival modes softens…
Gorgeous Tower Defence Title Jelly Defense Reduced To 99c
Infinite Dreams's beautiful-looking tower defence title Jelly Defense is currently available from the App Store for a mere 99c - down from its usual price of $2.99. Taking charge of the Jelly forces, you have to repel invading armies by strategically placing and upgrading towers. Jelly Defense stands out in a crowded field partly because of the colour-coded towers which add an extra layer of strategic planning to proceedings. And partly because it's absolutely lovely to look at. Oh, and it doesn't play badly, either - we gave it a 4/5 in our review. The game will likely revert to its full price sometime tomorrow, so if you're looking for some wibbly-wobbly strategy fun, then dash to the…
potterycode2013
