Com2uS is certainly in the seasonal spirit. The publisher has added Halloween trimmings to a ton of its current line-up of titles, including Homerun Battle 3D [$.99 / HD], Tiny Farm [Free], World of Magic [Free], and even Piggy Adventure [$.99 / HD]. Starting now, you can deck out your farms with zombie horses and jack-o-lanterns, blow baseballs out of the yard while wearing a pumpkin on your head, use Warp Gates and pumpkins as pet in World of Magic, and enjoy 12 Halloween-themed levels and new musical tracks across Piggy Adventure.
In other related Halloween-ynews, Homerun Battle 3D is now just $.99, three dollars less than its standard, non-celebratory price. Piggy Adventure also sees a cut due to this event: it's now $.99 instead of its usual $2.99.
Now, I ask you to enjoy the funniest series of pictures from a video game ever. You can catch images of the other games mentioned in this post at Com2uS's blog.
Penny Parlor [$1.99] wraps four antique coin-operated sports games into one release. But we're not talking about classic arcade games ...no, Australian-based GamesLab Apps are taking us further back in time, like pre-1950's, to the era of mechanical arcade machines which used to cost one penny to play.
The game displays a room (parlor) with four antique amusement machines shown in 3D, including: American Pro Football, Super Swing Baseball, The Amazing Golf Game and Smack'n'Whack Cricket. The old-fashioned color schemes, carnival music, and mechanical style movements and controls are all designed to convey the original feeling of playing these games at the fairground.
Halloween is great. It's the only day of the year you can get away with dressing as the bug-eyed rabbit from Donnie Darko and not immediately be sent to a crisis center. Also, it turns out that it's also a great holiday to save some cash on video games. 2K Games has joined the price-cut party with some stellar deals of its own, all of which are slated to run into this weekend. And if you decide to buy, they could possibly occupy the entire thing. Games like Civilization Revolution are time warps -- you boot them up and all of a sudden it's 4AM .
Here's the full list of what 2K is offering on the cheap. Take note that Sid Meier's Pirates, which is another great time sink, has hit rockbottom sales-wise, too:
I've been playing Civ Rev on my iPad for a long, long time now, so I've got zero problems with telling you to buy this thing now. Despite being a simpler version of Civilization proper, Civ Rev's easily manageable strategy components are deep, compelling and satisfying. Give it like an hour or so to learn and then wave goodbye to your fun-fun iPad free time for a couple of months. Also, this is the biggest sale it's ever seen. I mean, it's eleven dollars off! Definitely jump all over that while you have the chance.
Gameloft doesn't miss sales opportunities, so it's not much of a surprise to see a very select number of its titles get a price-slashing treatment this week in celebration of Make Kids Fat Night. Starting now and for a 'limited time,' you can save a bunch of dollars on decidedly un-spooky titles like Gameloft Action Pack, its MMO Order & Chaos Online, and Shrek Forever After: the Movie: the Game.
We're not 100-percent behind any of these, but we will note that the Gameloft Action Pack has a total of three decent titles bundled inside of it: Gameloft's answer to God of War, Hero of Sparta, its WWII shooter Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes, and its Mortal Kombat-ish homage, Blades of Fury. You could do worse with your dollar. For example: you could buy candy.
Putter King Adventure Golf [99¢] is released by Putter King, a company with real indoor miniature golf franchises, so these guys should know how to design a fun and challenging mini-putt experience. We were keen to see how their real-world ideas would translate onto our iOS devices. The good news is: They've done a pretty decent job of it.
This game sports four different modes: Championship mode is a regular single-player round of mini-golf. In Time trial mode, you're racing against the clock to sink the ball in the shortest possible time on any specific unlocked hole. Multi-player mode allows 2 to 4 local players to take turns on the same device (there's currently no online multiplayer). But before you play the other modes, you may want to invest some time on practice mode, to hone your skills. It would be nice if there was a career mode or tournament, to tie multiple games together, but there's currently not.
I have a weird amount of respect for the Worms franchise because not only has it lasted for almost two decades, it has consistently been a solid, albeit unchanging experience. The problem is, I've never actually been able to really get into the games, but with Team17's Worms Crazy Golf [$2.99 / HD], it's the first new experience that takes the oddness of the franchise and converts it into something a little easier to pick up and play.
If you've ever played any of the Worms games dating back to the Amiga, you should have a good idea of what to expect with a golf game. The difference is that you're only controlling one worm instead of a battalion and your goal isn't to crush the opposing team, it's to hit a ball into a hole. The same control scheme from other Worms iOS ports comes into play here, you can slide your finger around for a better view of the course and you'll move a small aiming reticle to line up the trajectory of your shot. You'll hold a button to set the strength and whack it as far and accurately as you can.
Perhaps you've already been clued in by the "crazy" in the title, but just so we're all on the same page, this isn't a set of normal golf courses. They're essentially tricked out, massive mini-golf style puzzles, with exploding sheep, suicidal worms, cannons, magnets and more.
2K Games’ NBA 2K12 [$4.99 / HD] doesn’t have quite the thrill or the touch of its brethren, but it’s a competent basketball title that stresses simulation over finesse and AI over finer points of control. Super fans might want to stay on the bench, though: 2K has reigned in and streamlined the overall NBA 2K experience to such an extent that it's hardly a recognizable game in the long-running series. It’s a shell of the experience available on consoles, and it’s not much of a looker, either.
What 2K did with 2K12 is similar to how it handled Civilization Revolution [$6.99 / HD]. Civ Rev, which was already a dumbed down version of Civilization proper, is even more dumbed down on touch devices, offering up simpler menus and actions that keep the pace ramped up without throwing away what made the core game good in the first place. 2K12 is an exceedingly simplistic game in the same vein. You can’t pick plays, some control options have been removed, you won’t be going online, franchise mode is missing some parts, and some of the special Michael Jordan touches -- the retro teams in particular -- have been stripped. What’s left is a fairly linear basketball simulation experience that you never really have direct control of, but can still participate within. (more...)
Wanna be a baller? I can't help you there, but you might want to take a look at PikPok'sSlam Dunk King [Free] for a bit of inspiration. You might have all the coordination and slick moves of a sloth, but if you've got nimble fingers you're most of the way there. And, honestly? You don't need to care a whit about basketball to love this game.
Slam Dunk King is all about the trick shot. Balls are sent your way, and you've got to dunk them like a pro while racking up some crazy combos. Flick them into the net, flick away bombs, and sneak a few tricks in and you'll be well on your way. There are twelve tricks to learn, from the humble Juggle to the Air Gordon, and each will rack up your points. Tie them all together and you'll fly off the charts.
If there’s one genre that’s prolific on the App Store, it’s mini-game collections. It’s not particularly surprising considering the general appeal for games that can offer small doses of gameplay for gaming on the go. Flick Champions [$0.99 / HD] looks to expand the genre with its own collection of sports themed mini-games. While Flick Champions certainly succeeds at providing some much-needed diversity in its sports mini-games, the fact that a lot of the better games are locked at the onset may irritate potential players.
As its name implies, the mini-games in Flick Champions are all centered on simple flicks and swipes in order to play each of the eight included mini-games. For example, both Tennis and Hockey are played as glorified Pong simulators which have you swipe around the field of play in order to block the ball (or puck) from scoring points on you. Other games, such as Bowling and Basketball actually require precise flicks in order maximize your scores in harder difficulties. Each game also has a variety of options to tinker with, allowing you to customize certain rules and make the gameplay as long (or as short) as you want.
When it comes to actual gameplay, Flick Champions has some fun games, but not all of them are going to be particularly compelling. As mentioned above, Tennis and Hockey are incredibly simplistic and, while fun, aren’t going to win any awards. Soccer is a sort of turn-based magnetic foosball simulator, and can be frustrating since a lot of the game is dependent on missteps from the opposing AI. Bowling and Archery were my most favorite games, as they actually require enough timing and skill that your success is mostly dependent on you and not the AI. The same goes for mini-golf, which features a whole 18-hole course and would be a good casual game on its own if it had more courses.
Another thing Flick Champions does a good job with is its overall presentation. The game has a definite Olympic-style motif which is prevalent in everything from your initial selection of a country to represent to its round-robin tournament ‘Cup’ gameplay mode, which has you playing against other countries for trophies (and experience). Also, the entire game, from the playfields to even the menus has a striking visual appearance (at least on retina devices). Some folks may be turned off by the simplicity of the player models (they look similar to ‘Mii’ avatars), but overall Flick Champions nails its visual style.
My only complaint with Flick Champions is the fact that only half the games are unlocked when you first pick up the title. Even more frustrating, the four that must be unlocked (Bowling, Archery, Mini-golf and Football) are by far the most interesting (and deep) games that are available in Flick Champions. Considering that the primary way of unlocking games is by accumulating experience through playing games, you’re going to see a lot of the first four games (at least a few hours’ worth) before you start unlocking the other titles.  Of course, an IAP option exists to unlock all collectibles and games instantly, but it seems a bit odd to have to pay extra to unlock these other games when you’ve already paid for the initial app download. I understand the need to create 'hooks' in order to encourage your player base to return to your game, but it would have been nice to have one or two more games available at the onset.
Overall, if you’re a fan of mini-game collections and you’re looking for a new fix, Flick Champions does a solid job of satisfying that need. There are certainly enough different games (assuming you’ve unlocked them all) for variety, and the available options and collectibles (along with a harsh difficulty on ‘Hard’) means that you’ll have plenty of reasons to return. However, if you don’t care for simplistic gameplay (or if you’re not a fan of sports games), don’t expect Flick Champions to offer anything particularly captivating.
We’ve previously covered NaturalMotion’s ‘breaker’ series of sports games and have liked the way each title seemed to extract the core gameplay elements of each sport to create a series of enjoyable objective-based missions. NFL Rivals [$2.99], NaturalMotion’s latest title, operates very similarly to its Backbreaker Football series, taking the basics from those games and infusing them with the official NFL license.
For those new to the series, the goal of NFL Rivals is to score as many points as possible by hitting all the objectives, dodging any players coming at you as well as a variety of obstacles, and building up your swagger as much as possible before scoring the touchdown (or in the case of defense, taking down your opponent). Your player is controlled via tilt for directional and acceleration controls, while a few on-screen buttons provide the rest of the controls.
In further BMX-related news this morning, those handsome Swedish chaps from Illusion Labs have gone and made their multitouch masterpiece Touchgrind BMX [$4.99] Universal in a brand new update. Touchgrind BMX launched back in May and we liked it a whole bunch in our review. It retained the same impressive technological aspects of the original Touchgrind [$4.99/HD] with its 3D visuals and smart use of multitouch, but offered a much more varied set of levels to perform your tricks and a much more favorable behind the back camera angle.
The Touchgrind BMX berry only became more plump and juicy with updates that we detailed when we sat down with Illusion Labs at WWDC this year, namely proper Retina Display visuals and TV-Out support. Now you can add Universal iPad support to that list as well, and this is actually the very first Universal game from Illusion Labs. I wouldn't mind seeing this trend continue.
Fans of the Stickman Skater [99¢/Lite] and Stickman BMX [99¢/Lite/HD] titles should definitely pay attention to Fun Mob Games' upcoming Pocket BMX. I’m actually a huge fan of the Stickman games, and I love how they’ve managed to cram all the complexity of pulling off tons of tricks and combos and distilled it down to a 2D platformer with simple touch screen controls. But, as much fun as those games are, they’re extremely mechanical and stiff. Your flip tricks and grinds are really just canned animations tied to different control stick directions, and it’s missing a certain layer of interaction that makes you feel more involved in the game.
I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do with EA's Madden 12 [$6.99 / HD]. I mean, a game like Madden we sort of need to review, but I've spent a considerable amount of time with the game and honestly couldn't even say what's different between Madden 11 and Madden 12 aside from adding one more to the numerical suffix, redesigning some menus, and updating the roster. So, I've just updated our Madden 11 review:
The Madden series hardly needs an introduction, as football player turned coach turned commentator John Madden has had his name on football games for the better part of 20 years now. On home consoles, it has become tradition for EA to release a new Madden game each year with updated rosters, a few new features, and other various tweaks. As of tonight, the second third yearly installment of the Madden series has arrived for the iPhone.
Last year Two years ago we took a close look at Madden NFL 10 and thought it was a really great football game for the iPhone. Madden '10 came loaded with all the licensed players, stadiums, logos, and everything else you'd expect of a Madden game along with game modes ranging from single exhibition games to full seasons. The two hip new features of Madden NFL 10 for the iPhone were hot routes allowing players to draw on the screen to control players, and "action control time" which switched the game to slow motion mode allowing for precise maneuvers with the virtual controls.
If you’re an avid sports gamer and an NFL football fan, then chances are pretty good that you know that today, August 30th, is the release of Madden NFL 12 on consoles. Also coinciding with those console releases are the iOS versions of Madden NFL 12 [$6.99/HD], which are now available in the App Store.
Following the formula of most sports titles, Madden NFL 12 appears to be just an incremental upgrade to the Madden released last year. The game description boast new features like expanded rosters (though, some players have noted in the iPad version thread in our forums that they’re not totally up to date, showing Donovan McNabb still on the Redskins rather than his new team the Vikings). Also, collisions are said to have been improved along with the graphics and an expanded playbook.
In case you're not aware (and we can't blame you) chain surfing is an "extreme" street-sport which involves balancing on a hanging chain-fence strung between two posts, for as long as possible, whilst possibly performing tricks.
Words can't do this strange activity justice, so check out the clip below, for a little introductory chain surfing demonstration:
Com2uS is certainly in the seasonal spirit. The publisher has added Halloween trimmings to a ton of its current line-up of titles, including Homerun Battle 3D [$.99 / HD], Tiny Farm [Free], World of Magic [Free], and even Piggy Adventure [$.99 / HD]. Starting now, you can deck out your farms with zombie horses and jack-o-lanterns, blow baseballs out of the yard while wearing a pumpkin on your head, use Warp Gates and pumpkins as pet in World of Magic, and enjoy 12 Halloween-themed levels and new musical tracks across Piggy Adventure.
Halloween is great. It's the only day of the year you can get away with dressing as the 
Gameloft doesn't miss sales opportunities, so it's not much of a surprise to see a very select number of its titles get a price-slashing treatment this week in celebration of Make Kids Fat Night. Starting now and for a 'limited time,' you can save a bunch of dollars on decidedly un-spooky titles like Gameloft Action Pack, its MMO Order & Chaos Online, and Shrek Forever After: the Movie: the Game.
If there’s one genre that’s prolific on the App Store, it’s mini-game collections. It’s not particularly surprising considering the general appeal for games that can offer small doses of gameplay for gaming on the go. Flick Champions [$
In further BMX-related news this morning, those handsome Swedish chaps from 
The Madden series hardly needs an introduction, as football player turned coach turned commentator John Madden has had his name on football games for the better part of 20 years now. On home consoles, it has become tradition for EA to release a new Madden game each year with updated rosters, 
In case you're not aware (and we can't blame you) chain surfing is an "extreme" street-sport which involves balancing on a hanging chain-fence strung between two posts, for as long as possible, whilst possibly performing tricks.
