Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Andrew Nesvadba'
Men in Black 3 Review
Let it not be said that all 'freemium' titles are bad - sure they have their huge flaws, but time enjoyed is time well spent. With that said, time wasted is time not enjoyed and definitely not well spent and this is where the genre comes in to contention: If you lack the motivation, then what are you playing for? Men in Black 3 slides uncomfortably in to this second problematic kind of thinking, albeit presenting all the visual polish and flair Gameloft can muster, but it's not e…
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Air Mail™ Review
If there's one thing the iOS platform does well it's casual games - this doesn't mean they're necessarily easy, but they strip away complexities until a simple, elegant core remains and pair it with gorgeous and almost timeless visuals. Air Mail by N-Fusion Interactive and Chillingo is just such a game, allowing players to literally dive right in to the role of a pilot and stripping away the usual violent role for one that focuses on the joy and freedom of flying. Taking its cues from…
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Friday News Wrap-Up 25 May 2012
It's Friday the 25th of May and you're here for one reason and one reason alone - to hear my sexy sultry voice as I bring you the News Wrap-Up for this week. So lets hop to it! Fruit Ninja - Celebrating 2 Years In StyleFruit Ninja may be collecting dust on the virtual shelves for some and for new iOS device owners it may still be one of their favorites - in either case, the latest update to Fruit Ninja is a huge one, featuring collectable currency that can go towards new power-ups from Gutsu and Truffles, two new characters in the game's expanding world. Better still if you don't own the game you could be lucky enough to score one for free - head to the anniversary website (link d…
Pastry Panic Review
[Pastry Panic was featured as the Mini-Review for the Friday Wrap-Up on the 25th of May, 2012.] Short, sweet and addictive - these are all words you could use to describe various kinds of pastries. These adjectives are similarly applicable to Underground Pixel's cute time-waster Pastry Panic. Featuring two gameplay modes, 'Mad Dash' and 'Toungue Tied', your main objective is to eat and thereby prevent various metal objects from passing across the screen on conveyor belts. In the first…
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Tiny Plane™ Review
Somewhere along the way games of the 'endless' variety started the lose their way, opting to focus on short, repetitive runs that often feature missions to offset the lack of actual gameplay and, at times, luck required to advance. Tiny Plane by PowPowGames and Chillingo harkens back to a simpler time when endless games played fair by quickly adjusting its challenge to the individual player. Whether you're collecting fruit or coins, in Tiny Plane your objective is to not run out of fu…
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Slingshot Racing Review
Touchscreens offer a unique opportunity for a developer to think outside the box to come up with something unique and interesting, but those that stray too far away may find themselves addressing a niche audience. Snowbolt Interactive and Crescent Moon Games strike a happy balance between innovation and reimagination by creating an elegant top-down racer that requires little more than a tap to play. Each track is made of ice and your 'racer' is more akin to a sled. As such it has no m…
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Scotland Yard Review
I've made it abundantly clear in the past that I love board games. While video games are obviously a passion of mine, their roots are embedded deeply in the social past-time of gathering around a table and vying for supremacy via cards, dice, tokens or just your mind Scotland Yard is almost 30 years old now and a true classic, but also one that may have left many a child frustrated by its obvious weaknesses as a board game, so how does it shape up as a video game? The game supports b…
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Rocket Fox Review
Sometimes a game can fail to come together, even if most of its individual parts aren't particularly lacking in polish, due to one critical feature failing to deliver. Despite the cute premise, presentation and fun gameplay ideas in Rocket Fox by Namco Bandai, the controls fall horribly short of what the game deserves. As the cute foxy protagonist 'Guy' you must set alight all of the rocket-flowers by bouncing on them. Each flower has a different effect, ranging from bouncing you high…
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Run Run Die! Review
Designing a winning platformer for a device that is notorious touchy about its control quirks can make life hard for a developer. Run Run Die! by Voltic Games side-steps this problem by joining other auto-running games like The Impossible Game, tasking players with precise timing challenges that quickly reach maddening levels. The story goes a little something like this: You're a furry little mammal and a meteorite has crash-landed, setting you and your family on fire. To survive and…
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Tower of Fortune Review
[This game was featured as the Mini-review for the Friday News Wrap-Up for the 18th of May, 2012] If there's one inevitable fact a gamer has to face up to when playing a dungeon-crawling RPG, it's that they'll eventually have to deal with the dreaded 'RNG' monster. For those not familiar with it, 'RNG' stands for 'Random Number Generator' and refers to the luck required to survive some encounters; to get certain items to drop; and so on. Tower of Fortune by Game Stew is bold in its u…
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Friday News Wrap-Up 18 May 2012
After too much faffing about due to sickness I'm rearing and ready to go so lets skip the nonsense and dive right in to the Friday News Wrap-Up for the 18th of May, 2012. Republique - Reaches Kickstarter Goal!With the last few months being an absolute minefield of developers trying to self-fund projects, it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. In the least there's no harm in putting money down on something you think you'll enjoy and Republique is just such a project. Despite the limited demonstration of what's on offer in the game's unique adventure-esque title, it's clear this isn't your ordinary throw-away Arcade title and definitely something the iOS platform deserves.…
Extinction Squad Review
Thanks to globe-trotting adventurer Chuck Darwin the dodo is no longer extinct and has once again populated the world. Unfortunately, other animals aren't so happy about this and take to ending their lives by jumping off cliffs. Chuck will have none of this and with the help of a trampoline team you'll bounce them to safety. Whether you play in Adventure or Count Down mode, there's a cycle of gameplay you'll have to master in order to start scoring it big. First comes the slew of crea…
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Sonic The Hedgehog 4™ Episode II Review
For many, Sonic The Hedgehog 4 is a return to form for SEGA's speedy blue mammal, but it hasn't been without its bumps and scrapes. Episode I remixed and built upon the classic platforming formula while also handling admirably via the touchscreen controls. Episode II goes even further by bringing back Tails, revisiting Sonic 2's bonus stage system and most exciting of all, introducing a 'lock-in' system for the iOS to unlock all-new content. Lets get the bad out of the way first thoug…
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ChickenBreak Review
Chickens like to run - I know this because a movie told me once and I have yet to Google it to verify this factoid. As such I find it entirely plausible for someone to create a game about a tiny, athletic and clearly psycho-kinetic-power-wielding chicken attempting to escape imprisonment. This is ChickenBreak by CGMatic. Instead of the usual fixed flick or tap controls that force your auto-running character to perform a basic action, the game tasks you with protecting the chicken in t…
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Jake Escapes HD Review
Jake isn't very bright - sure, he's the world's greatest thief, but stealing ultra-secret technology from the Government never ends well. Now he's caught up in the shadowy world of spies, agents and super criminals as they attempt to claim what Jake has stolen, so now he has to escape... up the side of a building. It's a flimsy premise to justify having someone springing their way up the side of a building, but you can take or leave the story as you dive in to the shallow, yet briefly…
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