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Contra: Evolution Review
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start. Most gamers who owned a NES are familiar with the Konami code. This familiarity is most likely due to Contra, in which the code would grant you thirty lives. While you could certainly become good enough at the game not to need this boost, it was always appreciated, and made this platforming classic a little more accessible. Now we have Contra: Evolution. Punchbox Studios has taken this seminal side scroller and not only given…
Watch The Video ReviewSqwords Review
Sqwords refers to itself as a blend of Sudoku and crosswords. We would describe the in terms of creating the perfect board of Boggle, where each cluster makes a word both horizontally and vertically. This is easy enough to achieve when the boards are three by three. But, as you advance through four other boards, each growing in size, things start getting pretty complex. Obviously, the level of excitement you feel upon hearing the phrase 'word creation puzzle gameplay' will dictate wh…
Watch The Video ReviewColin McRae Rally Review
Disclaimer: I am not much a racing fan. Perhaps it's having to deal with crazy drivers on the road everyday, but watching high speed vehicles zoom around perilous twists and turns, seeing drivers taking their lives into their own hands... Well, it's just a little bit much. The one exception is rally driving. In this discipline, the drivers are competing more against the clock than each other. Ultimately, they are competing with themselves, trying to perfect each corner they take to se…
Watch The Video ReviewLeaping Legend Review
Any platforming fan will gladly talk endlessly about the virtues of the wall jump. Given its consistant use in both 2D and 3D platforming games - and its inherent awesomeness - it wasn't going to be too long before someone had the bright idea to build an endless-runner around the concept. Enter Leaping Legend. A princess has been kidnapped and held in a tower, and as per usual, it is up to an intrepid adventurer to save her. Little do both parties know that this tower never ends. The…
Watch The Video ReviewLAYTON BROTHERS MYSTERY ROOM Review
If you own a Nintendo DS, chances are you've heard of the Professor Layton games. If not, they're a series of puzzle adventures in which Hershel Layton and his apprentices solve mysteries, riddles, and logic problems. A hallmark of the series has been its charming art style, memorable music, and likeable characters. Thankfully, all of this applies to iOS spin-off Layton Brothers: Mystery Room as well. You control Lucy Baker, a rookie cop who works for the enigmatic Alfendi Layton, one…
Watch The Video ReviewReturn to Castlerama Review
When Castlerama was released in 2011, it was described by its creators as a “photo-realistic walk”. Its apparent success has led to a full fledged game known as Return to Castlerama. In this case, the term 'photo-realistic walk' is only partially apt. While the are some nice lighting effects, it's hardly what we would call photo-realistic. But you definitely do a lot of walking. You play as David, the son of a herbalist who discovers that he has a greater destiny as saviou…
Watch The Video ReviewLIMBO Game Review
There's a recurring set piece in Limbo which involves a spider. You're making your way through the grey fog, plodding towards the next jump or physics puzzle, when a set of spindly legs hove into view behind you. You can't run especially fast, but the spider is in no hurry. A rising terror creeps up your back as you push forward, desperate to escape the advancing arachnid's hairy, stabbing limbs. If you don't think fast, a grisly death awaits you. You run. You jump. You hope. You'll e…
Watch The Video ReviewLeague of Evil 3 Review
League of Evil 3 is hard. You remember the first two games in the series? Remember restarting levels 20, 30, even 40 times, all the while cursing your disobedient thumbs for every mistimed jump overlooked bullet? Yeah. This one's harder. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on your appetite for punishment. You see, League of Evil 3 manages to embody everything that made the franchise the platforming powerhouse it is today. The controls are still some of the tightest yo…
Watch The Video ReviewAgricola iPad Review
Some board games have an extraordinary number of pieces, making the simple act of setting up a monumental task in itself. Now aficionados will tell you that's part of the allure, but especially with a game like Agricola, the benefit of being able to starta game in a couple of taps cannot be understated. Agricola is a turn based strategy game based around medeavil farming. Now stop right there. Before you cease reading or close the video window, hear us out. While the game may seem ove…
Watch The Video ReviewSid Meier's Ace Patrol iPad Review
Sid Meier's Ace Patrol is the latest experiment from the acclaimed creator of the Civilization franchise. It's a game that echoes of the combat changes made to the series in Civilization V. Thrown into World War I, you take to the skies as a flying ace. It's up to you to master your aircraft: changing altitude, rolling, banking, and blasting your enemies until they burst into flames. However, these dogfights play out not in real time, but as a turn based experience on a hexagonal grid.…
Watch The Video ReviewStay Alight HD iPad Review
Remember the years immediately after Angry Birds was released? You know: when almost every other game was a physics-flinger? We guess it's been a while since then, as playing a game like Stay Alight - which takes the mechanics that Angry Birds popularised and wraps them up in creepy yet beautiful world - is almost a novelty. The question is, can excellent presentation make up for all-too familiar gameplay? Stay Alight comes with an environmental message. Pollution is the source of thi…
Watch The Video ReviewWhere's My Mickey? Review
We'll give Disney its due: when they come across an award winning formula, they certainly know how to extract every drop of interest free from it. After Where's my Water?, Where's my Perry?, and other holiday and seasonal spin-offs we now have a version of 'Where's my' gameplay starring Disney's main mascot himself, Mickey Mouse. Who do they think they are, Rovio? We're just playing, of course. The truth of the matter is that in the world of bite-size physics puzzlers, the original Wh…
Watch The Video ReviewGloomy Hollow Review
Welcome to purgatory. Welcome to Gloomy Hollow. What better way to spend eternity than by engaging in an action-RPG experience set in expansive worlds packed full of enemies, that's then broken down into small, manageable levels. Hell, if you find enough souls, you may even be able to buy your way back to the land of the living. Now, we've seen plenty of ARPGs on the App Store before. And yes, we've even seen bite sized levels before, but there's something in the design and presentati…
Watch The Video ReviewSpiral Episode 1 Review
Spiral is certainly a strange beast. It features a very striking, and sometimes gorgeous visual style. It's got competent voice acting and an intriguing narrative. The gameplay not only offers variety, but incorporates touch controls relatively well. Saying all of this, the game plays havoc on your battery, and some of the aspects of the experience are not as well implemented as they should be. You play as Tempus, a young amnesiac who shares a body with a robotic arm called AVA. On co…
Watch The Video ReviewIcebreaker: A Viking Voyage HD Review
Physics puzzlers: there's a ton of 'em about. One's got birds in. It's quite popular. Now there's another one. It's got some birds in too. But mostly ice. Ice and Vikings. And birds. It's called Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage. We think its dead good. Here's why. Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage is like a really good sandwich. It provides you with a nourishing core, surrounded by a bunch of easily digestible, but thoroughly satisfying layers. At its frosty heart, it's a game about slicing ice…
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