Welcome to our brand new regular weekly column. Every Tuesday, we march through the mediocre multiplayers, sift through the sordid sporting titles, and pound through the petty platformers to find the best, most interesting iOS gaming gems.
This week, we added a new featured called the Editor’s High Score. Just try and beat us.
Steamballs HDSteamballs $0.99 Steamballs HD $3.99
Digital Worlds
iPhone / iPod touch / iPad
Steamballs is a connect-three app with a vintage steam punk twist. Each ball has a different number that depicts its weight and your job is to place them on platforms and balance them evenly to connect three. If it sounds hellishly difficult, just wait until the special steamballs begin plummeting. Some special steamballs are bombs, while others will make a bomb if you drop them in the wrong slot. Some balls might even destroy your columns--it’s a lot to keep straight and the game is quite a challenge.
The game runs smoothly, and looks fantastic, on the iPad. The Steam Punk theme even adds a little je nais se quoi that helps differentiate Steamballs HD from the hoards of other connect-them apps.
Check it out if you like: the movie Wild Wild West, starring Will Smith, or Bubble Bobble.
Multipong$2.99
Febo
iPad
The Mac|Life editors have discovered the ultimate multiplayer iPad experience. It’s simple, attractive and fun for everyone. Like Pong, you control a paddle while a ball--in this case, a marble one--bounces around.
There is no multiplayer mode over WiFi or 3G. Instead, players must all huddle around the iPad to move their paddle by placing their finger on the device. Having friends not really your deal? Lucky for you, you can play it solo. In single-player, you move two paddles at once and gain points the longer you go without losing the ball. Simple maybe, but it’s far from easy. Three bucks means that the same costs under a dollar for each friend you might have.
Check it out if you: think regular Pong should be remade with Mario Kart-type power ups.
Geometry Wars$4.99
Activision
iPhone / iPod touch / iPad
Geometry Wars isn’t new, but the ability to carry it around in your pocket definitely is. Geometry Wars recently made their app universal by adding an iPhone/iPod Touch version. Luckily, the graphics have been toned down a bit, so it isn’t terribly demanding of your iPhone internal processing power. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t demanding.
As a matter of fact, Geometry Wars is one of the hardest games we’ve ever played. Rarely can a game award you for surviving for 60 seconds and still have a loyal following. At least part of that following has to do with Geometry Wars' perfect presentation. The game is beautifully composed, with an ambient techno melody that makes you feel as if you’re in an eighties chase scene (see also: Canabalt). It’s also more colorful than watching a Dane Cook stand up through a prism.
Check it out if you like: math… but not as much as you like frenzied shooters.
Battle Bears: -1$0.99
SkyVu Pictures
iPhone / iPod touch
Battle Bears: -1 is a prequel to the popular Battle Bears: Zombies! In case you missed it: you’re a tough bear on a mission to kill everything, before they hug you.
The music is really cool, too. Your after action report contains a nice hip hop song, and a rapper spitting rhymes about bears in space.
Don’t let the whole “plush toy” thing fool you, Battle Bears: -1 is one of the best third-person shooters on an iOS device.
Check it out if you like: Gears of War, but you like teddy bears too.
Canabalt$2.99
Semi Secret Software
iPhone / iPod touch / iPad
Canabalt is this week’s Editor’s High Score challenge. Like Geometry Wars, Canabalt makes the list by becoming another universal app, rather than a brand new release.
The iPhone version had us thinking that the game required us to play as a tiny pixelated Michael Jackson as he ran across rooftops through what appeared to be an alien invasion. After playing Canabalt on the iPad, we can pretty much confirm all that.
It’s tough to tell from screenshots, but Canabalt is actually quite a looker. Little birds perched on roofs scatter and fly away as you land near them. You must also carefully watch the background so you can attempt to avoid the unavoidable doom. The cherry on top is the unsettling, but perfectly suited, background music
Oh, and a little hint: If you hear a little pop in the distance… Jump.
Check it out if you like: Robot Unicorn Attack from last week, but want something slightly more cryptic and less unicorny.
Editor's High Score: 19,786
So, that’s it. Think you can beat our high score? Know a game you want to see featured? Sound off in the comments.
Follow this article's author, Nic Vargus, on Twitter.
Print
