Tag: Jetpack Joyride »

Jetpack Joyride's 1.3 update is still in the works, and Halfbrick continues to roll out teaser trailers showing off some of the new gadgets that will be made available. The latest animated teaser is for the Gravity Belt. While its effects are still somewhat unknown, it appears as if gravity will greatly increase while using this belt. Will this make it easier to fall to the floor when up high, helping those runs go up even longer? We'll soon learn just what exactly it does, as the update is scheduled to hit this month. The only other of the 15 total gadgets revealed so far are the Air Barrys and the Freeze-O-Matic, each with their own teaser trailer. Any two Gadgets will be usable together, though they will unlock in tiers of three each. So until this major update finally hits, keep collecting those coins, and get ready for the Gadget onslaught.

Halfbrick’s mega-hit Jetpack Joyride is getting a major update in the coming weeks that will bring some big changes to the gameplay. As shown to us at GDC by Halbrick’s Phil Larsen, the game is adding Gadgets. These will be items that can be used in order to bring new skills to the game. For example, one of the initial items, the Air Barrys, can be used to jump off the ground higher, about halfway up. There’s the ability to ride Mr. Cuddles at the start of the game, bursting out of the wall at the beginning, with the new Free Ride powerup. The Ezy-Dodge missiles make for easier obstacles to dodge, as per their name. Powerups will be tiered, where multiple in a tier must be bought before the new tier is available, and two powerups are available to be activated at a time. The 1.3 update is scheduled to hit in April, and we have screens and a trailer for the game. As well, Halfbrick are working on animated shorts like the game’s launch trailer to comically flesh out the story of the lab and its origins.

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There was a vast profusion of cool stuff happening across the 148Apps network this week, but the top of the top was the culmination of our 2011 Best App Ever awards. Head honcho Jeff Scott writes, "It was an amazing year. With over 1.5 million votes cast (over three times the number cast last year) and a record number of nominations, we now have the winners of the 2011 Best App Ever Awards. Thanks to all that voted, nominated, and made these fantastic apps!"

Read the full list of winners, and our own Carter Dotson's take on them, on 148Apps.com.

Kid-friendly GiggleApps featured a review of Fun Clock-Learn to Tell Time. Reviewer Amy Solomon writes, "Few apps actually tackle explaining the true concept of telling time they way this app does. After watching the included video in Fun Clock – Learn to Tell Time, children will be will well on their way to understanding how to read a analogue clock. As a parent, I don’t think I could have explained this better myself, also wishing that this video had been around when I was a child."

Take the time to read the full review on GiggleApps.

Finally, over at Android Rundown, Carter Dotson took a closer look at Apple's recent iBooks education initiative and evaluated it for what it could mean for the Android platform. Dotson writes, "It may not have been the sexiest announcement, but Android supporters – manufacturers and users alike – should not underestimate Apple’s education gambit. Their big push into education with iBooks 2 being optimized for textbooks (both the reading and selling thereof) and iTunes U offering deeper integration with college courses could be the necessary roots they have to lay down for long-term success at the expense of Android."

Read the full commentary on Android Rundown.

And that's the week that was. Don't forget to read a full list of Best App Ever winners at www.bestappever.com, and keep following us on Twitter and Facebook for all the contests, news and reviews you can eat. I'll be playing Jetpack Joyride non-stop until next week, but I'll see you back here then.

The votes have been tallied and the people have spoken. Jetpack Joyride is 2011's Best App Ever.

Halfbrick's latest title was one of the most-hyped iOS games of the year: we were reporting on it back in March when the game was originally known as Machine Gun Jetpack. Back then, the concept was the same: Halfbrick protagonist Barry Steakfries flies at a high speed through tunnels on a jetpack that fires bullets so quickly that it propels him upward. It's the kind of concept that's completely ludicrous but instantly intriguing. After all, when it was just a powerup in Monster Dash, it was entertaining enough, but now a full game is built around it? That's exciting. Afterward, the game became more extensive, adding a variety of new jetpacks and powerups along with the eponymous jetpack.

This is why the game was so extensively covered on the site, making a pre-release post announcement, and then running a 5-star, Editor's Choice review on launch day when the game came out. The game was talked about on The Portable Podcast multiple times, with glowing praise. Finally, we named it one of our top games of the year.

So what made Jetpack Joyride such a hit? Maybe it is that the game is extremely easy to get into. The controls require no real explanation, just tap to go upward, let go to go downward. No virtual buttons were necessary at all, just tap anywhere on the screen. It works perfectly on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

But it's also the way that it compels players to keep playing that makes it so addictive. The objectives compel players to play the game in a particular way, and to make a specific session have a goal to it, from trying to skim so many red lights, to running on the ground for so long. They introduce variety to a game where the goal is the same each time out: get as far as possible without dying.

Jetpack Joyride's use of currency is also especially modern: gaining coins for upgrades and new costumes is something that a variety of games are doing now, but is one that Jetpack Joyride excels at. There are the different levels of items to buy, from the simple costumes and jetpacks to buy (who doesn't love a Fruit Ninja-inspired jetpack?), to upgrades for the powerup vehicles, to finally the extra-distance bombs and second chance lives for high rollers. These generally require money to purchase reliably, but they can be earned in the game itself through the tokens collected and used in the slot machine.

In many ways, the game is about luck, as sometimes a high score requires that a second chance be earned in the slot machine, or a powerup be earned at the right time, or even just that a laser barrier show up a pixel later in order for the player to not die. It can be frustrating, but the fact that luck could easily turn back in the player's favor is part of what makes chasing that high score so gratifying.

But if all these secondary elements were taken away, if there was only one jetpack and no upgrades, no coins, nothing but pure skill involved, then it would still be one of the best games of the year. It's just that simple to get in to, and that desire to play just one more time, dive into just one more session is based not just on a desire to earn more coins, it's because the game is fun at the heart of it. Plenty of games have snazzy costumes and upgrades to unlock, but they aren't as addictive as this one is.

In many ways, the success of Jetpack Joyride is exactly like how Fruit Ninja has succeeded from a gameplay standpoint. Both are games that are not limited by the touchscreen, as both use direct input for control. Fruit Ninja has 1:1 actions with the tracing finger on the screen, and Jetpack Joyride responds whenver the finger is on the screen. They are not held back by the need for virtual buttons, and that direct user interaction is part of why the games have been such smash successes, and why people voted Jetpack Joyride 2011's Best App Ever.

In fact, the success of Jetpack Joyride is currently resonating throughout the App Store. Games like Sea Stars and Seal Force both take obvious direct inspiration from Jetpack Joyride in not just gameplay but in structure. The endless runner is certainly very popular nowadays too, as Temple Run's current success attests to.

I personally have had great experiences with the game. I first got to play it about a week before it released, which was also a day I had jury duty on. Jury duty was not very fun, but getting to play Jetpack Joyride during any chance I had to take a break? My growing addiction to the game was probably more memorable about that day than being selected for a long trial. It's the power of gaming, and it's the fun that a game like Jetpack Joyride can provide that can be memorable, and it's why it is a worthy choice as Best App Ever of 2011.

You're the best around! No one's ever gonna keep you down!

On This Episode:

Carter and an esteemed panel of regular Portable Podcast guests share their opinions on the best games of 2011, their most underappreciated game, and their favorite pre-2011 game that they're still playing.

Who We Are:

Host: Carter Dotson

Guest: Brett Nolan, AppAddict.net

Guest: Colin Walsh, Celsius Game Studios

Guest: Blake Grundman, 148Apps & Games Are Evil

Music:

"Beatnes7 (Theme to The Portable Podcast)" by The Eternal - Download on iTunes here:

"Nanocarp" by The Eternal

How to Listen:

Click Here to Subscribe in iTunes:

Click Here to Subscribe via RSS.

Listen Here: [powerpress]

Apps Mentioned on This Episode:

Part One: Games 16 - 25
In what was another fantastic year in the world of iOS apps & games, we are here to bring you the fifty titles that we, the staff of 148Apps, thought were the best of the year. Here are the gaming titles 6 - 15 in our Best Games of 2011:

15. Temple Run: There are typically two kinds of endless games: the horizontal endless runners, and the vertical endless jumpers. Well, here's the third kind: running into the screen, moving left to right, making swift decisions to avoid obstacles or turn in the correct direction. The originality was well-appreciated, and the game is quite fun, to boot. With its shift to free to play, it also serves as one of the best examples of how to do this business model in a fair way.

14. Scribblenauts Remix: When the first Scribblenauts game came out on the Nintendo DS in 2009, I immediately thought that with the need to type things in, and constant touchscreen usage, that it would work perfectly on the finger-friendly capacative touch screen of iOS devices. I am proud to report 2 years later that I was right. The puzzle platforming game where the items can be created from a vast dictionary of items, and modified with a series of adjectives, is as entertaining as ever, and is right at home on iOS.

13. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing - When Sega puts their full effort into a project, the quality really comes through. It's a serviceable kart racer with the standard weapons and powerups available, with great controls and a useful turbo boost mechanic. That it's on iOS gives it a lot of points where on other platforms it might just be another fun kart racer, but the fact is that this is a really good game, with top of the line features for iOS, even with a fun online multiplayer mode, which is something that is still always cool to check out on the platform. As well, the Sega fan service is part of the fun, too - racing through a Jet Set Radio series level while piloting a rocket piloted by a ChuChu from ChuChu Rocket feels more special than racing any Mario character at this point.

12. Whale Trail: 2011 was a great year for endearing protagonists and endless runner games. Whale Trail was one of the true gems of the year, as it was a beautifully-designed game: the art was top-notch, the music composed by Gruff Rhys helped create a magical and whimsical world, and the gameplay was forgiving, but rewarded precision. The new challenge mode adds a new wrinkle to the game, as it provides short challenge levels that focus on skillful navigation of set levels, instead of randomly-generated endless levels.

11. Super Crossfire - When I was helping to compile this list from 148Apps' writers, one title kept recurring in the lists: this Chillingo-published shmup. It was one of my favorites as well; being able to flip sides in this Space Invaders-esque game that also boasts super attacks was an ingenious twist. The controls worked very well for a touch screen, the upgrade system was simple but provided a great way to feel more powerful as the game went on. It's a time-tested genre with some modern twists, and it works perfectly.

10. Dead Space - EA did the smart thing in bringing this horror shooter to iOS. They built the game for the platform - they optimized the controls and gameplay to work even with the touch screen involved. This is something that even games designed for the platform fail to keep in mind, and Dead Space just about nailed it. It became a must-play for fans of the franchise by being an original story, as well; it also managed to create a scary atmosphere even on a 3.5 inch screen, though playing on the iPad was definitely quite the experience.

9. iBlast Moki 2 - Each little puzzle in this game is like part of a delicate machine. The solution may be to move a bomb just a couple pixels to the left, or to set it off a 20th of a second later. When this game gets going, it requires the kind of planning, and intellectual approach that a game like Angry Birds, which does rely a lot on the physical act of using the trebuchet to launch the birds, cannot provide. There is nothing quite so satisfying as watching the little Rube Goldberg machine I've constructed of bombs launching fuzzy little creatures around succeed just as I planned, after so many tweaks. The fact that the game also comes with a level editor so robust that Godzilab themselves made all the levels in the game with it is just icing on the cake.

8. Death Rally - Oh, look, it's an isometric racing game with combat. How novel, said the liar. Well, it's free, I might as well check it out. Hey, this is pretty fun. These upgraded weapons are pretty cool. I can race against Duke Nukem? How cool. I really want to beat the Adversary, but I need to race him perfectly. Just one more run, and I've got him. Okay, that was challenging, but I finally did it! Well, that was a novel use of a few minutes...wait, where did my afternoon go? Didn't I have things I was going to do? Whoops. Guess I'll just play some more.

7. Jetpack Joyride: My first extended experience with this game was the day I had to report for jury duty. That day was long, as I had to go through an extensive jury selection process for an important trial. I had plenty of downtime outside of that, and pretty much all of it was spent playing this game. One session turned into another, and then another, and then just one more to try to collect the coins to unlock that new jetpack, or that new outfit. It was some of the most fun any person has ever had on a day where they've been selected for a lengthy trial.

6. NBA Jam: The problem with bringing a lot of retro titles to iOS is the touch screen. Virtual buttons and joysticks are something that people still have problems with, but I myself have gotten used to them and just want people to stop griping about them. However, there is one glaring problem: any game that uses more than 2 buttons that need to be pressed regularly run into issues. The lack of muscle memory for where physical buttons are makes this a hassle. NBA Jam solved this by using a sliding mechanic - there's a turbo button in the bottom right corner, pass button to the left, shoot button above. Sliding from turbo to pass or shoot when needed was simple, and it solved the three-button issue in a way that allowed this game to work its magic on iOS. And really, because the game had both been out of regular circulation in gaming for long enough to feel fresh again, and because its core mechanics were just fantastical enough to work without much tweaking in the modern day, this was just a ton of fun to play on iOS.

Come back on Friday to see the games we selected as the top 5 games of the year 2011.

We took just enough time out of our Jetpack Joyride playing schedules to bring you this podcast.

On This Episode:

Carter Dotson and Brett Nolan discuss a pair of new releases, Jetpack Joyride and DrawRace 2.

Carter speaks to Chris Powell of Deadbug about the new swinging game, Swing the Bat.

Who We Are:

Host: Carter Dotson

Co-Host: Brett Nolan, AppAddict.net

Guest: Chris Powell, Deadbug

Music:

"Beatnes7 (Theme to The Portable Podcast)" by The Eternal - Download on iTunes here:

"Nanocarp" by The Eternal

How to Listen:

Click Here to Subscribe in iTunes:

Click Here to Subscribe via RSS.

Listen on WRGT Radio every Friday at 4pm Central

Listen Here: [powerpress]

Apps Mentioned in this Episode:

Halfbrick's latest original game for iOS, Jetpack Joyride, finally has an official release date. The game will release worldwide on September 1st, next Thursday. This is still technically a summer release as was originally promised when the game was announced. Halfbrick has also renamed the game from Machine Gun Jetpack to Jetpack Joyride because they felt naming the game after just one type of jetpack was now inaccurate as the game has grown and expanded past just the machine gun jetpack. This endless game has players using their various weaponized jetpacks to avoid airborne perils and take out enemies on the ground, collecting tokens that go toward upgrades and new jetpacks.

While the formerly eponymous machine gun jetpack is still in the game, it is no longer the focus of the game, as a wide variety of jetpacks have been added. A jetpack that shoots rainbows? I do not jest! It is one of many different types of armaments that players will have access to in the game, and can be purchased in the game. The game will feature a mission system where players get more tokens for completing certain tasks, as well as online leaderboards through Game Center and stat tracking of players' performance over time.

Jetpad Joyride will be available on September 1st for $0.99 with universal app support. The video also goes in to what they do to make the game look nicer on the Retina Display and the iPad, particularly the smoothing of the pixel art on the higher-resolution displays. This smoothing may be necessary due to a lot of the source artwork being from Age of Zombies, a game originally released on lower-resolution screens. Check out a new developer diary video below featuring footage of the final game, as well as some new screens of the upcoming title.