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Tin Man Can Review
There's something to be said for 'trial & error' gameplay done right. Games like Limbo and Another World are good examples. The player learns not to do something by being killed for their curiosity or their lack of reflex, but the checkpoint system of the game is lenient enough to allow the player to safely pursue their natural curiosity and exploratory drive. It's a nice balance, and one that Tin Man Can misses completely. Not only because every death sends you back to the start…
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Ski Safari: Adventure Time Review
Back in May of 2012, Defiant released Ski Safari, an endless-runner focused around riding animals. It was a surprisingly focused offering which stood out from its peers, so it's not so surprising that a hot property like Adventure Time would want to bend the game's addictive core to its own purposes. Ski Safari: Adventure Time is exactly what you might expect a combination of Ski Safari and Adventure Time to be. The core gameplay remains the same: escape the avalanche by riding animal…
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Might & Magic Clash of Heroes Review
The appearance of Might & Magic Clash of Heroes on the iOS platform marks its third transplantation from the original DS release. After garnering praise for both its handheld and console release, mobile gamers can now experience the wonderfully paced and executed Tactical-RPG from Capybara Games, the minds behind Critter Crunch and co-authors of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP. Explaining the mechanics might take a moment, but those paying attention may already remember a g…
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Cracking Sands Review
Going solo isn't always easy, especially when a major success like Reckless Racing 2 is under your belt. Polarbit and Pixelbite made a wonderful team and the end result was a racer that may still defining the high-water mark for the top-down racing genre. Recently Pixelbite made a small splash with Repulze, but something was missing - it lacked a sense of whimsy. Now, Polarbit releases their own racer, Cracking Sands, and while the concept is fun and calls upon the shade of Mario Kart,…
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Noble Nutlings Review
Boomlagoon, the makers of Noble Nutlings have received a lot of buzz thanks to being a company sporting ex-Rovio employees (you know, the developers behind Angry Birds). Before Angry Birds was a hit, Rovio had released many other games for mobile platforms - obviously these did OK for the company as they stayed in business, but what we're saying is it can take a lot of tries before hitting on something that really resonates. Keep this in mind for the review. Each level of Noble Nutli…
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ZENONIA® 5 Review
If nothing else, it has been an interesting experience reviewing Zenonia 5. The last game in the series played by this reviewer was the first, and it's interesting to see what's changed and what has stayed the same. In this latest installment there has been a war brewing between the rich and the poor, so much so that it has attracted the attention of demons. You start off as an apprentice in a small town that has dreamed of this conflict, and embark on a journey to try and put things r…
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Little Amazon Review
We come back to this time and time again, but if you design your game towards encouraging people to spend money on In-App Purchases, it should at most be a gentle nudge, and you should most definitely not have your entire game feel like a hampered grind. Little Amazon sadly falls in this latter category. Lily is trying not only to flee the clutches of the evil demon Gruul, but is trying to save the entire kingdom by running faster than she's ever run before. In a neat addition, the sto…
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Wake the Cat Review
See the cat. See the cat dream of yarn. Let's make the cat's dreams come true! See the yarn? Roll the yarn. Roll the yarn towards the cat. Don't let those hyper-dimensional portal slippers or gravitational fields get in the way. Let's make the cat's dreams come true! If our intro hasn't given it away, Wake the Cat is both a simple concept and a perplexing one. Each level consists of a small overhead view of a portion of the house, and of course the object is to roll the yarn towards t…
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Swing King Review
Being a monarch must be taxing. Oh I’m not talking about the day to day turmoil of settling disputes and playing politics, but more when you're trying to smooch your girl-frog and some evil black furball comes along and kills the mood by sucking all the stars away. That transgression cannot stand! So in Swing King, you set off trying to collect all the stars back by flinging yourself from anchor point to anchor point, trying to reach the saddle of your flying unicorn before final…
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Zen Training Review
One of the ways to think about zen is that it is the path towards enlightenment. It is training your mind to relax and be at peace. Anyone who meditates or has unsuccessfully tried to meditate will know how difficult shutting your brain off can be. That's why it's been so interesting to see games capitalize on this concept. In the news post for this game on our site, I mentioned Tetris as a game you can play without any brain power whatsoever. In fact, games like Tetris, Zen Bound, Pat…
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Temple Run 2 Review
When faced with such a task as creating the sequel to a smash hit, you're faced with the inevitable problem of 'how do we do better than supposed perfection?'. Some buckle under the weight, others learn to refine and extend what was successful, and others... well others end up like Temple Run 2. Imangi Studios have clearly thought long and hard about how to retain the free-to-play edge of the original while enticing players towards their in-app store - all without alienating players a…
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FINAL FANTASY ALL THE BRAVEST Review
Final Fanasy: All The Bravest by Square Enix and Bit Groove is a love letter to the JRPG's use of the classic 'ATB' system of combat by which players must wait until each character has rested long enough before attacking again. There's a giant problem though - the concept has been taken too far and the end result is Square Enix's most self-indulgent experiment in laundering money from its franchise and those who suffer through such 'nostalgic' modern titles. Once you've selected a bat…
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TNNS Review
After Ziggurat, it was going to be interesting to see what Action Button Entertainment came up with next. We're a little late to the party on this one, but with the release of TNNS (which is pronounced tennis), they seem to have cemented themselves as a maker of games with simple mechanics and premises, that reward an increase of skill from the player, while having very engaging low-fi presentation. TNNS is a variation on both Pong and Breakout, with a subtle change of control, and a r…
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Death Golf™ Review
Sometimes I wonder if we went down the wrong trouser leg of history and ended up with a version of Golf utterly devoid of any excitement or tension. Of course there's skill involved in making accurate shots and in a competitive environment you could argue for some sort of conflict occurring, but ultimately it's hitting a ball in the safe, lush confines of a green wonderland. Utterly safe. Utterly boring. Death Golf is like the other trouser leg - it's a world where golf is a struggle…
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Karateka Review
Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and accept that even heroes can make mistakes. Some would argue that Jordan Mechner has made several in his time, but the remake of Karateka (his break-out title from 1984) is definitely amongst them. Where the original was a relatively simple affair of fighting opponent after opponent using a joystick and two (or one) button setup. The game was praised for its fluid combat and clever use of tension to motivate players to save Mariko - it was…
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