:: ARCADE GEM
:: OBVIOUSLY NOT A GOLFER[Not sure if you want to riff on this particular robot? Have a look at our Riff the Robot review.]
So, you’ve just downloaded Riff the Robot and you need some help? Don’t worry, here are some great tips and tricks for beginners. They’re sure to give you the edge when going for those high scores, as well as help with deciphering some of the scoring system.
:: GOT SKILLS?
:: WERK IT
How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.
Take the monetization format of Candy Crush Saga and add the wonderfully addictive Peggle, and what do you get? Peggle Blast – a suitably enjoyable yet similarly cynical version of everyone’s favorite adaptation of Pachinko and Bagatelle. First things first: Peggle Blast plays just as well as any other Peggle game. It’ll still occasionally feel a touch random, but it’s satisfying for the most part. Dragging a finger around the screen manipulates where the ball goes, with holding it down will magnify the area. Lining things up perfectly to perform a loop-the-loop in order to take out loads of tiles at once is particularly satisfying. And, of course, Ode to Joy is still in there for when you succeed at a level. --Jennifer Allen
It’s like some kind of unspoken rule that floats through the universe: good guys build towers to the heavens, and bad guys build underground lairs that go down, down, down. Wicked Lair by Stefan Pratter is all about building a hideout that stretches down into the Earth’s molten bowels. If that’s not enough of a hint, let’s just say it outright: Wicked Lair casts players as a lair-loving bad guy. And that’s OK, because foiling goodie-goods with a trapped underground hideout is as fun as it sounds. Wicked Lair is a mash-up between tower defense and tower building. Players assume the role of a berobed baddie whose subterranean lair is under constant threat from heroes that don’t know how to keep their noses in their own business. --Nadia Oxford
Clearly heavily influenced by the Trials series of games, Offroad Legends 2 is a less refined but mostly enjoyable physics-based racer. It can’t quite compare with the mighty Trials, but given the limited options for the franchise on iOS it’s a worthy substitute. With plenty of variety at hand, you won’t just be racing motorbikes either. Instead, you’ll be using trucks, buses, monster trucks, and more to negotiate the various obstacles within each level of Offroad Legends 2. That comes with its own issues – namely that you never quite get fully comfortable with one vehicle before you move onto the next, but this does keep things interesting. --Jennifer Allen
At first, Earn to Die 2 is a lot of fun. Kind of like an endless runner but with more of a structure, you attempt to drive a vehicle from one end of the level to the other. The problem is that there are waves of zombies in the way, plus the terrain itself is far from safe. The other, more significant problem is that things soon turn a bit repetitive and Earn to Die 2 turns out to be too long for comfort. That’s a real shame, as early on Earn to Die 2 easily has that ‘one more go’ factor. Controlling your vehicle is simple enough with buttons to the right adjusting for acceleration or using a boost, while the left side of the screen offers buttons that dictate the trajectory of your vehicle while you’re in the air – much like in a physics based racing game. At first you can mostly get away with hitting the accelerate button and seeing what happens, but soon enough those little tweaks make all the difference in helping you explore. --Jennifer Allen
When dealing with the legacy of its title character, Bruce Lee: Enter the Game smartly opts for a more old-school approach – in more ways than one. The gameplay is classic beat ‘em up and has players swiping the screen to clobber goons with fast fists and feet of fury. It’s not the deepest fighting style, but it unfolds at a blistering pace that feels great to execute. In fact, it’s when the system awkwardly tries something more complex, like charging special moves to take down guarded opponents, that it stumbles. Players can also augment Bruce with limited shields and health boosts as well as a power-amplifying fury attack. They can even give him outfits lifted from his films, each with their own bonuses. --Jordan Minor
Toddlers and preschool-aged children will be delighted to try the new app, Duckie Deck Bird Houses, which allows them to explore this helpful craft. From first glimpse, adults will marvel at the use of the depth of field that this app has to offer as a lush green and mildly interactive landscape can be seen in the distance while one chooses a tree to build a birdhouse for. I am fond of the look of all of the tree selections as they are various shades of brown and grey – wonderful representations of real trees that most people have come across, complete with distinguishing features such as maple leaves, apples, or acorns. They are all very nice choices that will jog the memories that children have of trees from their adventures in nature. Also of note is the well-crafted background music used throughout – upbeat and a little quirky, which adds to the overall experience for both children and adults. --Amy Solomon
If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:
Magecraft: The War is yet another in a very long line of freemium city builders for mobile. Aping games like Clash of Kings and injecting a well-worn fantasy vibe does it stand out? Magecraft starts off a lot like most city builders. Starting with a threadbare base, the player must construct buildings and crank out troops to capture resources from enemies and become stronger and gain experience to become even stronger and so on. All player cities exist on the same map so rather than the arbitrary “neighbors” system common in other social games cities must be marched to to be attacked and distance always matters. --Allan Curtis
Antec should be known by now for its mostly great, affordable accessories; we’ve had the opportunity to look at several of its offerings. Its line of headphones, as exemplified by the PULSE (which we reviewed a few months ago), are nice value propositions, and we expected similar of the Antec PULSE Lite Bluetooth Headphones that were sent to us to review. So what comes in the box? Well, there’s the white headphones, matching white micro-USB charging cable, and ( I liked this small touch) a simple black drawstring carrying pouch. --Tre Lawrence
Red War may look a bit like Clash of Clans but it is in fact a mobile clone of War Commander, a Facebook game that allows players to build a base and take the fight to other players. Red War has the player take control of a basically non-existent base. After rebuilding some basic structures and receiving a small force of units the player must build a base, crank out more troops and generally roll over anyone who gets in their way. The game features a pretty familiar set of units. There are the ever useful rifle armed infantry, heavy machine gunners and snipers. Later on vehicles such as tanks and APCs come into play and medics and engineers round out the tactical options. --Allan Curtis
And finally, Pocket Gamer returned from the Basque Country with the winners of another Big Indie Pitch, reviewed Game of Thrones and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, picked the best iOS and Android games of November, and recommended some freebies to hold you over until Christmas. Check it all out right here.
:: PRICEY FAMILIARITY :: PRICEY FAMILIARITY :: Read Review »It's time to dust off your Pachinko skills once again, as after a long period of early access in New Zealand and an announcement from Electronic Arts last week, PopCap's newest iOS title, Peggle Blast, is available to download worldwide from the App Store now.
As you'd likely expect from a Peggle title, the game challenges players to take out all of the orange pegs on the board while trying to rack-up points with masterful skill shots along the way.
Peggle Blast is available to download from the App Store now for free.
Electronic Arts has announced that their next unicorn-run, pachinko-style game, Peggle Blast, will be released for iOS on December 2.
In this latest installment of the series, you must use your tried and true Peggle skills to try to clear all of the orange pegs while racking up bonus points and hit style shots.
December isn't far away so get ready for Peggle Blast when it releases next week for free.
:: ADDICTIVE FUN :: Read Review »EA has announced that a new Peggle will be making its way onto iOS soon, in the form of Peggle Blast. The game features a more cartoony art style than Peggle Classic, but will still feature all of the skill shots and peg destroying players expect from the series.
This announcement will not be much of a shock to some however, with Peggle Blast likely being the final version of the game currently out in New Zealand - known only as Peggle.
A release date and official pricing are yet to be announced for Peggle Blast, but if the app does indeed follow the same pattern as the similar version currently available in New Zealand it will be free to download.
:: UNREFINED BOUNCING :: PRICEY FAMILIARITY :: Read Review »EA has soft-launched a free-to-play version of Peggle in the New Zealand App Store, our sister site Pocket Gamer reports. But this appears to be a similar situation as to Tetris a few years ago: EA has removed the original Peggle from the App Store in that territory, making this quite likely the one version of Peggle that will be available in the future. This version features boosts, a level progression similar to Candy Crush Saga, and is optimized for portrait displays.
Time will tell if this is a portent of things to come, but it might be a good idea to keep a backup with the original version of the game and of the game's IPA file in iTunes handy.
AiAi and his primate pals are set to make their way back onto the App Store soon, as SEGA has recently announced Super Monkey Ball Bounce.
This new game in the series cites Pachinko as its inspiration and is set to contain over 120 levels and seven playable characters, each of which will have their own special ability. Alongside the aim of collecting bushels of bananas, players will also have to fight off the flunkies of the dastardly Professor Boscis.
Super Monkey Ball Bounce is set to roll into a release date sometime this Summer.
:: HOLD THE FIESTA?
In this instance, Microsoft has made so many mistakes with the Xbox One that they are struggling to get attention back. So they pay EA a bunch of money to make Peggle 2 and other games "exclusive" to the Xbox One - for a short period of time. Maybe even as little as a month. Microsoft thinks they look awesome, then we get Peggle 2 a few weeks later on the only platform that really matters, iOS. The Xbox One sells way fewer consoles than Microsoft expected, and mobile finally starts to get the attention it deserves. Wow, I think I just saw into the future.
I'll keep going and guess that it will be announced for iOS in January and be released right after that. And it will be free to play - that is almost a guarantee at this point.
So, um, Peggle 2, yeah. From the short demo shown at Gamescom in Germany, it looks like the original Peggle with more sparkles. Just more levels, and something called "Peggle Masters." Masters are characters in the game that have their own power-ups and abilities. Also included are multiplayer modes. We'll let you know more once the Microsoft exclusivity runs out. Here are a couple screen grabs of Peggle 2 from the EA press conference.
