Since it was first shown in September, we’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Secret Exit’s unique and tranquil puzzle game Zen Bound.
It is something to be enjoyed at a slow pace: a game where a high score is not the goal. Zen Bound is designed to challenge in a subtle way, it does not attack or force the player. There is also an element of self-reflection, for each of the sculptures is a representation of a state of mind or a human emotion.
Early last month the developer released a series of new screenshots that made it all the more difficult to patiently wait for this excellent looking title to arrive in the App Store.
Since then Secret Exit has revealed more still on their Zen Bound webpage, setup not long ago. The page features new screenshots of the game, a new gameplay video, and a list of features:
- The most beautiful graphics yet seen on the iPhone
- Intuitive and natural multi-touch controls (tilt supported)
- 51 levels included (Tree of Reflection and Tree of Challenge). Additional free 25 levels (Tree of Nostalgia) coming in March.
- A captivating 22-minute downtempo soundtrack from ‘Ghost Monkey’
- Game soundtrack ‘Bound’ available as a free download to all customers in uncompromising 320kbit MP3 quality
At our last update Secret Exit had indicated to us that they were aiming for a release sometime in January but were prioritizing polish over schedule on the release. It looks like the team opted to keep polishing and, while there’s no set date on the new Zen Bound page, there is an indication that the game is “coming soon” and the developer has said in our forums that they have “high confidence” that it will be out this month (Feb).
See Secret Exit’s latest demo video. Gameplay involves “painting” the entirety of a 3D object by wrapping a rope around it.
Zen Bound is an IGF Mobile Audio Achievement and Best iPhone Game finalist.
EA Mobile’s Craig Law has been slowly releasing new screenshots from their upcoming Need for Speed title that has been long anticipated. The screens are said to be unenhanced screenshots straight off the iPhone itself.
Click thumbnails for more:
We still don’t have a known release date for the game.
Fans of the marble/labyrinth games should note that there’s a newcomer in the App Store and it’s actually pretty nice. Wooden Labyrinth 3D [App Store] offers 100 levels of tilting fun but adds a 3D twist. Besides the traditional 2D levels, it also offers platforms and obstacles that must be jumped over by simply shaking your iPhone.
The game also provides a 3D perspective that shifts with the tilt of your iPhone. It can be seen clearly in the video (below). The game plays well and “feels” right. It also provides plenty of calibration/sensitivity options.
The developers plan to offer a level editor in future versions. The price is $2.99 at present but will go up to $3.99 with the addition of the level editor.
Overall, a very well polished version of labyrinth that adds some interesting features over its competitors.
[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]
App Store Link: Wooden Labyrinth 3D, $2.99
Sunflat was kind enough to give us a heads up on their newly released PapiJump Land [App Store]. Yup… Mr. Papi is back!
Mr. Papi is the star of Sunflat’s Papi franchise which kicked off with the lovable and addicting PapiJump [App Store]. The game is described beautifully by Sunflat:
- Mr.Papi came to the Hamburger Land to eat ultimate hamburgers!
- This is an exciting jump action game.
- Tilt the device to move Mr.Papi (red ball guy) so that he eat all the hamburgers in the level.
Yep, that’s all there is. Tilt to bounce Mr. Papi to collect all the hamburgers. Sunflat provides 30 levels of progressive difficulty which is a bargain at the sale price of $0.99. The gameplay is simple but challenging. It requires a steady hand but could grow frustrating to those who don’t like these tilt-type games.
Gameplay video shows the later levels:
App Store Link: PapiJump Land, $0.99 (on sale)
Pocket Gamer recently sat down with Apex Design’s James Daniels, the man behind Payback [App Store], the Grand Theft Auto clone that started life on the Amiga in 2001 and saw recent release for the iPhone and iPod touch. The interview covers Daniels’ beginnings as a developer as well as his thoughts on bringing the game to the iPhone platform.
Payback’s been around for quite some time now. Can you tell us how it began, and give us a bit of info about the game on other systems?
It began way back in 1998. I’d written a few games for the Amiga in my spare time and decided I wanted to have a go at a commercial project. I experimented with a few ideas (everything from a first-person RTS to a Zarch/Virus-style game) before stumbling across a certain little-known game called GTA. I really liked the concept and there were a lot of additions I wanted to make to it - not to mention that it wasn’t available for my platform of choice at the time.
I initially developed the game in my spare time, but it soon became a full-time job. Payback was released for the Amiga in 2001 and won several “game of the year” polls. Support for 3D graphics cards and PowerPC processors quickly followed.
Amazingly, the game is still popular among Amiga enthusiasts today.
We reviewed Payback when it debuted in late January. See the full interview with Daniels at Pocket Gamer’s website.
Chillingo has really been cranking them out lately. The publisher recently made a post in our forums (more pics there) pointing to their upcoming isometric hack-’n’-slash game iDracula, from the developer of Orions: Legend of Wizards. iDracula invites players to lay down some monster smack–Van Helsing style.
It’s a point, shoot and run affair — stop to bag the goodies, guns and power-ups but watch out for the werewolves and other bad guys.
While further details right now are scant, the game will be priced at $0.99 and is set to debut sometime in the next week. We’re anxious to spend some time with this excellent looking title. Stay tuned for a closer look.
IndieAn has released a really nice side-scrolling tank shooter called Heavy Mach. [App Store] for $2.99.
The game is split into 6 missions with multiple stages (4-5) within each mission. A total of 60 stages are provided and can range in length. The game involves driving your tank and destroying enemy tanks while avoiding enemy fire. Controls are very well suited to the iPhone and involve left/right tilt for tank movement. Tapping at your target to fire and tapping on a lever to jump.
With my limited time with the game (Mission 3), it progresses in difficulty, though the basic mechanic stayed the same. It involves shooting and jumping (dodging) your way through levels. One strange omission, however, is the lack of collision detection between your tank and the enemy tanks. You can just drive right through them (though you do need to destroy the bosses to progress).
The best aspect of the game is the number of powerup weapons and upgrades you can get for your tank. Powerful weapons upgrades include a machine gun, shotgun, howitzer (high-angle gun), missile, laser, nuclear bomb and more. You have to be judicious about your use of these weapons, however, as you only get a limited supply of each as you go on. I found it worked much better to reserve these weapons for “boss” enemies rather than waste them on the minor players.
There are a few “1.0″ issues that we hope will be addressed quickly. The in-game menu button was not functional, and some readers are experiencing crashes (I personally experienced one). The in game documentation is also quite limited, so you should read through the iPhone description on gameplay. That said, the graphics and gameplay already provide a very polished experience, and I still think it’s easy to recommend at only $2.99.
This gameplay video shows almost the entirety of level 6 (Mission 2, Stage 2).
[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]
App Store Link: Heavy Mach., $2.99
After the tremendous success of iShoot, iPhone App developers seem to have been working round-the-clock in providing Lite versions of their games in hopes to reproduce some of Ethan Nicholas’ success.
Fastlane Street Racing developers Atod AB seems to be another major Lite success story with the release of their Fastlane Street Racing Lite [App Store] game just one week ago. The Lite version of the game contains only one car, but that’s apparently enough.
The Lite version hit the Top 100 Free games 4 days ago and quickly rocketed up to the #1 spot. The full $4.99 version followed just one day later and has risen from off the Top 100 Paid chart to #86, #45, and now #21 at the time of this writing.
We couldn’t be happier for the developers who are regular participants in our forums. We reviewed the game and found it to be the “best looking, best playing racing game” in the App Store at the time. We even included it in our Top 2008 games list. Here’s your chance to try it.
A good tutorial video to get you started:
App Store Link: Fastlane Street Racing Lite, Free, Fastlane Street Racing, $4.99
Last week Cowboy Rodeo released an iPhone version of Digital Illusions’ classic 1992 Amiga pinball game Pinball Dreams [link] through the App Store. We took a close look at the game and found it to be a superb conversion of an excellent pinball simulator and likely the best pinball experience to be found on the iPhone. Our readers have voiced extremely positive opinions of the game in both our review comments and our forums.
When Pinball Dreams was released the developer indicated that if sales were solid, both of Digital Illusions’ sequels, Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions, would be ported to the iPhone as well.
Tap To Play recently got word from Cowboy Rodeo that an iPhone coversion of Pinball Fantasies is already in the works and is set to arrive sometime in the Spring. We contacted the developer and confirmed that indeed the game’s release is certain.
Pinball Fantasies generally received even higher marks from critics than Pinball Dreams when it was originally released for the Amiga.
Stones ‘N Bones from Amiga version
Pinball Fantasies features four tables, each with one or more high scoring rounds that are started by achieving certain targets. Each table is vertically taller and generally more complex than those in Pinball Dreams. Level details as described by the game’s Wikipedia entry:
- Party Land - a table oriented around an amusement park, where the letters of either PARTY or CRAZY must be lit to start a high-scoring event. This is the easiest table due to several high scoring targets such as the Arcade and the Loop Ramp. This is the table included in the shareware release
- Speed Devils - focused on car racing, and the player must overtake cars to take the lead. This is more difficult due to much fewer high-scoring targets
- Billion Dollar Gameshow - a gameshow-style table where the player attempts to win prizes by achieving certain combinations of ramps. This is the most difficult, as if the player loses the ball before winning the jackpot the prizes are lost
- Stones ‘N Bones - based on a haunted house, where the player must go through different modes of play (by hitting targets spelling out “Stone” and “Bone”), with the later modes scoring more points. This is generally considered the highest-scoring table. It is similar in theme to Nightmare in Pinball Dreams.
See a gameplay video of the Amiga AGA Party Land level. (Note that the iPhone has a much “taller” screen than the Amiga, and will require less vertical scrolling to track the ball.)
Stay tuned for a full review of this retro classic when it hits the App Store.
Gameloft has released their latest iPhone game Wild West Guns [App Store, $4.99]. While it is another “tap to shoot” targeting game, as always, Gameloft delivers a well polished experience and adds extras to keep it interesting. The game involves your typical target-shooting but also adds environmental bonus targets to shoot (passing birds, rats, bandits).
Features listed include:
- 18 challenges featuring typical Far West environments (saloons, deserts, stables, trains, etc.)
- Diverse targets and enemies (cowboys, sheriffs, signs, flying sombreros, balloons, vultures)
- Interactive backgrounds that allow you to shoot elements in the environment to earn more points
- Extended lifespan thanks to 5 different game modes
- Exclusive weapons available only in this iPhone version: enjoy using the shotgun for extended damage and the machine gun to blast the background
- Use the touch screen to aim and shoot and the accelerometer to free yourself from the grip of an enemy
Gameplay video provided by Gameloft:
App Store Link: Wild West Guns, $4.99
Search
You are currently browsing the archives for the Touch Arcade category.
Pages
Categories
- AppCraver (10)
- Fingergaming (10)
- Razorianfly (5)
- Touch Arcade (10)
- Zym Blog (4)
Archives
