Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Peter Willington'
Hands-on with Time Tangle - Adventure Time, the uncharacteristically derivative adventure starring Finn and Jake
Adventure Time is a series that is always trying to break down pre-conceived notions of gender, race, age, and any other social construct you care to mention. It's a pioneering animation that manages to appeal to kids and adults, with seemingly something for all ages to enjoy and learn from. It is bold, it is cute, it is welcoming, it is amusing, and above all it is original. Time Tangle - Adventure Time is a derivative auto-runner that will cost you $2.99 / £1.99.…
Time Tangle - Adventure TimeCrazy Taxi - EncyclAPPedia
Blowing the dust off of the great tome that is EncyclAPPedia, we're going to shake things up and make some "crazy money" with Axel, B.D. Joe, Gina, and Gus, in Crazy Taxi. EncyclAPPpediaɛnˌsʌɪklə(ʊ)ˈpiːdɪənounA video or set of videos giving information on many mobile games or on many aspects of one game and typically arranged entirely at random.…
Hands-on with Animal Boyfriend, in which I train Brian Thumper to be my perfect lover
I'll keep this intro short: in this hands-on with Animal Boyfriend I choose the human / animal hybrid that I'd like to date, pick a name (with a bit of help from the AppSpy community), and then begin the slow but steady process of teaching him how to be a better human being, just like I explained in our news story. In Animal Boyfriend there are spelling mistakes everywhere, confusing menus aplenty, and very little animation and sound. It's niche, and it's odd. But that's all totally okay, and I'll tell you exactly why that is in the video below.…
Hands-on with Rusted Emeth, the JRPG where you fight giant monsters in huge mechs for cash and glory
After it was released on Android a month or two back, Rusted Emeth is now out on iOS. It's a cool concept for a JRPG: many people have become hunters who collect bounties after defeating massive creatures in battle using their Golems (heavily armoured mechs). The visuals are a little basic, but keep with Kemco's usual 16-bit aesthetic, and I'm really liking the fact that the controls are optimised for touchscreens, and aren't virtual sticks. I fired up Rusted Emeth so I could show you the opening moments, click play below to see them.…
Animal Boyfriend is amazing and sweet and weird and creepy and you should probably start playing it right now
How's this for a video game premise... In Animal Boyfriend you take a "handsome Animal Student" (!) and help him to become a "refined" human being. Along the way you can change his personality and appearance (!!), talk with him and go on dates, and train him (!!!) to become your perfect boyfriend. The game has well over 1 million users in Japan, mostly female according to the developer, and it's now come to the west with a full English translation. To celebrate, a number of time-sensitive beginner events will be occurring in Animal Boyfriend; 1. Triple Attribute Point Campaign: Attribute Points are needed to change the personality of your boyfriend. EDT: Until 8/11 2AMPDT: Until 8/10…
Champ Man 15 is an iOS exclusive, Android owners left on the bench this season
Square Enix has confirmed that football management title Champ Man will be getting its annual update this year, and that the game will - rather expectedly - be called Champ Man 15. What's unexpected is that Champ Man 15 is exclusively headed to iPhones and iPads, with no word on whether Android owners will be able to get in on the fun this year. Want a trailer? Tough. Some screens? Sorry. But we do have the app logo for you. It looks like this; Other info on Champ Man 15 we've received covers off the essentials: it's free-to-play, will feature 440 real-life clubs in 23 leagues from around the world, and will include all the promotions, transfers, and stats from the 2014 / 2015 seas…
Hands-on with Micromon, a monster battler that's Pokemon in all but name
Some people are going to look at Micromon and get very very angry. They're going to say things like “this is such a flagrant copy of Pokemon”, and “this 'Glareon' design looks a heck of a lot like Flareon”, and “Nintendo should take these chancers to court”. But you know what? They shouldn't say those things. Because this is the closest any of us are going to come to playing a Pokemon game on iOS for at least the next 5 years. And even if Micromon is impersonating another game, it's a damn convincing impersonation. Here's my hands-on explaining more.…
Hands-on with Tank Biathlon, where tanks are raced to see which team can smash a shed in the fastest time
The Tank Biathlon is an actual real thing. It is, in many ways, the perfect subject for a video game: dumb, explosive, and competed in by males with a propensity for aggression. A company called Grotburn OU thinks Tank Biathlon would make a great game too, and has therefore gone and created Tank Biathlon, a free-to-play minigame collection of sorts that, as I note in the video, feels a lot like Track & Field: Tank Edition. The controls are spotty, the announcer annoying, but those visuals are very nice indeed and the concept is pretty fun. Also you drive through wooden sheds with enjoyable regularity, which is surprisingly fun.…
More free MSX games headed to iOS: Guardic and Yokai Tanken Chima Chima coming this August
A couple of days back I highlighted the excellent port of Zanac by D4 Entertainment, then went hands-on with it to show you how it plays, and subsequently had a moan on Twitter that more cult classics don't get the same level of treatment when they're ported. Clearly D4 Entertainment is in agreement with me, because after blowing me away with how it handled Zanac - which features new control schemes, a sleek conversion, and is ostensibly free - the company is doing the same with other MSX games. Shmup enthusiasts will be able to get their hands on Compile's experimental shooter Guardic, that does away with linear stages and allows you to pick your own path through the game. It has contro…
Hands-on with Zanac MSX, a classic cult shooter revitalised
Zanac is a shoot-em-up classic, a cult one. If you're over a certain age, or a follower of shmups, you might have run into it in the past, but to everyone else it's - at best - a case of “oh yeah... I think I've heard of that”. Now's the time for you to hopefully rectify that, with this excellent port of the MSX version, titled Zanac MSX. It has touch controls, controller support, high speed emulation, and it's free. Please note: at the time of recording the game was available and then unavailable, and at the time of publication remains unavailable. We contacted D4 Enterprise to find out what's going on, and they've told us the game will be available next week. Expect to see i…
Hands-on with Motorsport Manager, the super slick game of motoring management
I'll get this hands-on preview off to a flying start by saying the following two things; 1. This hands-on is longer than most.2. That's mostly because I didn't want to stop playing. The game is still a little way out from being released, and with this TestFlight build I played there were a handful of very minor tweaks to be made, but these trifling issues aside, I don't think I've played a deeper, better looking, more compelling management game than Motorsport Manager in years. I waffle on enough in my preview, so click play below and check it out.…
Hands-on with Touch Racing 2, the top-down free-to-play RC racer
I don't think it's unfair to compare Touch Racing 2 with the seminal Micro Machines or the under-appreciated Circuit Breakers. Touch Racing 2 is a top-down racer where you take multiple remote controlled vehicle types - a speed boat, race car, and off-road truck - and compete against others for glory, honour, and soft currency. There are a number of control options to find the setup you like best, the visuals lick along at a solid rate, and the upgrades for each vehicle feel significant and exciting. Take a look at my hands-on with Touch Racing 2, below.…
Attention: The Military Quarter is now available in Hearthstone
An army of Hearthstone fans will no doubt be excited to know that The Military Quarter has now unlocked in the card battling behemoth from Blizzard. It requires that you've already purchased previous chapters The Plague Quarter and The Arachnid Quarter, and will cost you $6.99 / £4.99 to access it. Or some Gold. Whatevs. Need stats? We got stats; Dancing SwordsDeathrattle: your opponent draws a cardMana cost: 3Attack: 4Health: 4 Spectral KnightCan't be targeted by spells or Hero PowersMana cost: 5Attack: 4Health: 6 DeathlordTaunt. Deathrattle: Your opponent puts a minion from their deck into the battlefieldMana cost: 3Attack: 2Health: 8 Baron RivendareYour minions trigger their…
Sherlock: The Network goes free-to-try on iOS, coming to Android this summer
Secretly, every person who has ever watched and enjoyed the Sherlock series on the BBC, has thought to themselves: "boy, I wish I could hang out with Sherlock, Watson, Mycroft, and the gang". I guess that's why Sherlock: The Network has been rather successful amongst fans of the series, as it lets you do exactly that, all the while solving a tough case full of intrigue, drama, and slightly phoned-in performances from Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and Mark Gatiss. If you were put off by the entry price of Sherlock: The Network, you can now try the first few cases for free, to see if you dig what developer The Project Factory is laying down, and then buy the rest via a single IAP o…
Chaos Rings 3 will come to iOS and Android in Japan this October
Fans of mobile JRPGs rejoice: the next instalment of Square Enix's Chaos Rings saga has a release date, announced platforms, and some new screens for you to see. The game is titled Chaos Rings III and will be available on iOS and Android (with a special edition going to PlayStation Vita called Chaos Rings 3 Prequel Trilogy). The mobile versions will likely be identical, though the Vita outing will come with some extra fluff and a prologue explaining the events of the series to-date. Date? October 16th in Japan. Price? 2800 yen, which is about £19.49 / $27.99. Western release confirmed? Not yet, but we're chasing Square Enix for details. Hyped for Chaos Rings III? Let us know. F…
