Last month Minecraft developer Mojang let their legions of fans know that they'd be changing the current direction of their mobile version of the game, Minecraft - Pocket Edition [$6.99/Lite], into something more akin to its PC counterpart. You see, Pocket Edition launched in the App Store in mid-November after a brief stint as an Xperia Play exclusive, but was missing a couple of core components that are key to the Minecraft experience – namely mining and crafting – which is why we didn't exactly love it in our review.
Mojang has again updated their blog with the latest status of what direction the Minecraft - Pocket Edition project is heading. They admit that they mistakenly thought gamers would want something closer to Minecraft Creative while on the go, so that's sort of how Pocket Edition was designed from the start. Because of that, now that they want to go back and add in things like enemies, survival, and crafting it's going to take some pretty hefty rejiggering of the entire game.
And the beginnings of this rejiggering will be what's in the forthcoming update which Mojang plans to have submitted by February 8th. There will be some pretty heavy behind-the-scenes type stuff in the update which will allow for a smoother transition when survival mode is added in the future. Crafting is also coming, but since it requires a pretty extensive interface overhaul, it's still a ways out. Survival mode will most likely be hitting pretty soon this year, and the update lays the groundwork for that.
But just because this update is filled with a lot of boring technical foundation which you cannot see, there are still a few minor new content additions to look forward to. There will be some "neat looking animals" and some new blocks, as well as doors and fences. That's right, doors and fences! The best part of this update though is that with the behind-the-scenes grunt work out of the way then new content should be easier to create and updates should start coming much faster going forward.
We'll definitely be keeping our eye on how Minecraft - Pocket Edition evolves, and while you wait for the update that's coming next month you can hit up our forums for discussion of the game.
Lots of folks out there became new iOS gamers over the holidays, and one of my personal App Store favorites that may not be on their radars just got iCade support in an update. Madgarden's excellent Saucelifter! Heavy Disc [App Store] is a Choplifter clone that started life on the PC and landed on the iPhone in early 2009. Since then, it has seen numerous updates, getting iPad support as as universal app and receiving various gameplay tweaks here and there.
Gameplay involves piloting your flying saucer to various Earth-based prison barracks, blasting open the doors, picking up your captive crewmates, and dropping them off at the transporter where they're beamed safely back to your alien world. This is made challenging by evil Earth forces, including tanks, laser turrets, fighter jets, and flying attack drones.
There are a lot of nice touches to the title. The stylized, vector-based 2D graphics lend the game clean, future-retro visuals, with a day-into-night changing skyline that adds nice variation to the scene. A letter-box effect alters the aspect of the play area to provide early warning of incoming enemies. It's extremely well done.
On the iCade, the leftmost six buttons control fire / autofire in the three relevant directions -- left, down, and right. I greatly enjoy Saucelifter! via tilt-control, but I have to say that gameplay on the iCade more closely delivers the kind of fun I remember having in front of Gorlin's helicopter classic, hour after hour, back in 1984. Other iOS controller accessories that feature iCade emulation, such as the iControlPad, should also work fine with Saucelifter.
Those not sold on Saucelifter! should at least have a look at the Lite version [link].
Attention League of Legends fans. If you've found yourself wanting to get your LoL on while on the go, then Maya Games might just have the prescription for you with their just released Legendary Heroes [Free]. While I don't think it was the intention of Maya Games to have Legendary Heroes be a straight up rip of Riot Games' super popular free-to-play action strategy title, it certainly seems to take some heavy cues from it in the visuals department, the gameplay, and the free-to-play structure.
Legendary Heroes gives you several different classes to play and progress with, and lets you control up to 3 of them simultaneously as you defend your own team's base and attempt to destroy your enemy's. Like many free-to-play games, Legendary Heroes utilizes a dual in-game currency of gold and crystals. Both can be earned in game through play or bought as IAP to speed up your progression.
While Legendary Heroes looks like a pretty solid League of Legends wannabe for iOS, it is missing one huge component – multiplayer. Currently, it's solely a single player experience. Maya Games is incredibly active in our forums though, and states that multiplayer is one of the top priorities for a future update if the game can do well enough to justify it. Until then, Legendary Heroes still seems like it might scratch that LoL itch if you're on the go, even as a single player game. If local or online multiplayer reaches the title in the future it could really take off in a big was, as the foundation of the game now seems pretty good.
We'll be diving deeper into Legendary Heroes in the coming days, but if you're curious, there's really no reason not to give the game a free download and check it out for yourself, and be sure to check out the forums where more player impressions, gameplay videos, and information straight from the developer can be found.
If you've been listening to our show, you already know that Rocketcat Games has plans to release a free-to-play RPG based in its Mage Gauntlet [$2.99] universe. Earlier this morning, Rocketcat dropped another first-look at a class for that game on its Facebook page. It even threw out some information on what it's shooting for with the title.
"The Spellsword is essentially the same as Lexi from Mage Gauntlet. Anti-magic dash move, finds randomized single-use spells, while also being very strong in melee. However, he has low health compared to almost every other character."
"Despite the similarity to Mage Gauntlet mechanics, we'll be taking a lot of time to improve things with the Spellsword. The heart system will be replaced with a health bar system, allowing for things like armor that actually reduces damage.
We're also looking into altering the equipment a bit. Some ideas include making some of the swords change what your charge-attack does, the spell-critical robes being replaced with new effects, and the spell trinkets adding secondary effects to the specific spell."
In brief, Rocketcat's Next Game will be a randomly generated dungeon crawler that jives with the spirit of Mage Gauntlet. Players will have different classes to choose from, and other classes to unlock via an in-game gem currency system. Since it's free-to-play and all, those gems will be also be available as optional IAP downloads.
Rocketcat seems pretty serious about sharing stuff for this title on its Facebook, so go give that a follow if you're into what it's doing next.
We’re certainly no strangers to Glu’s action-oriented freemium model and, whether you love it or hate it, Frontline Commando [Free] looks to follow a very similar format. Sporting great visuals, tons of content and a decent control system, this third-person cover shooter certainly has some positives going for it. However, its freemium system, along with a lack of gameplay variety, may be enough for some to simply pass on it.
Like a lot of other war-themed shooters, Frontline Commando places you in the role of a soldier stranded in the middle of a battle zone with the goal of single-handedly taking down all the enemy forces out to get you. You’ll complete this daunting task through various missions with objectives that include Elimination (kill all the baddies), Survival (kill all the baddies until time runs out) and Rescue (kill everyone but the civilians).
Two favorite franchises of the TouchArcade forums, Dungeon Hunter and Zenonia both had sequels drop during the Christmas flurry of releases. Both the good news and the bad news is that these games are totally free to play. Depending on which side of the free to play fence you're sitting on, this is either great news or horrible news. I'm not sure there's any wiggle room in between, if arguments on our forums and in iTunes reviews are any indication. In my opinion, regardless of how you feel about the whole free to play thing, both Dungeon Hunter and Zenonia come from a pedigree of games that are worth giving the benefit of the doubt to. They're free to try, and who knows, you might not find their respective free to play mechanics that offensive… So I say, no harm in giving them a spin.
Dungeon Hunter hit in mid-2009 when we were still totally willing to overlook Gameloft being, well, Gameloft with their highly "inspired" games and were just beyond happy to get a great 3D dungeon crawler on the App Store. Dungeon Hunter 2 hit over a year later and improved upon the original in every way imaginable, most notably, adding online co-operative play.
Dungeon Hunter 3 [Free] departs from the traditional Dungeon Hunter formula in that it abandons all semblance of a story in exchange for a hoard mode which has become a surprisingly popular secondary game mode for all sorts of console games. Choose a class, kill everything as fast as you can, repeat. Like many "premium" games that make the "freemium" leap, progression feels artificially limited and grindy, unless you feel like opening your wallet. Still, if all you're looking for is to bash some monsters faces in, Dungeon Hunter 3 will do the trick.
Similarly, Zenonia hit the App Store in early 2009, and even though the Korean RPG formula leans heavily on grinding, there wasn't anything else available that came close to the gameplay offered. Iterative improvements were made both over Zenonia 2 and Zenonia 3 with new art, sound, classes, monsters, and more added with each jump in the series.
The recently released Zenonia 4 [Free] follows this trend, with a free to play mechanic sandwiched in. The controls feel just as clunky as every other Zenonia game, but just like previous installments, don't take long to get used to. Zenonia 4 is the best looking Zenonia title as well, as it comes packed with full Retina Display graphics. Progression doesn't feel any slower than other titles (which were never very fast) and the free to play mechanic hinges on a constant pressure to buy ZEN points which can be used to improve your character in basically every way you can imagine.
I just wish both of these games were available as a single purchase game, tuned to provide a fun gameplay experience from beginning to end instead of goading me to open my wallet or play for eternity. This seems to be the case for most of these "premium" games that make the free to play jump, so it's not like the shift in gameplay should be news to anyone. Regardless, they are free to try, and we still likely won't see any new games until next week...
Let's wind back the clocks a bit so those of you who weren't around for the great iDOS fiasco of 2010. It all started with Apple ever-so-slightly easing up on their approval guidelines which opened the floodgates for quite a few apps (such as the Google Voice apps) that seemed to eternally be trapped in approval limbo. Whether this had anything to do with iDOS or not is debatable, but it seems awfully coincidental otherwise. Anyway, on the morning of October 26th last year, iDOS hit the App Store. It was a shockingly full featured DOS emulator complete with keyboard and mouse support, as well as a basic virtual gamepad, multiple screen modes, and so much more.
The crazy part about iDOS is there seemed to be nearly no limit to what it was capable of. If you scroll down on this story you'll even find someone successfully installing Microsoft Windows, within iDOS, on their iPad. iDOS was quickly pulled, then re-appeared in late January of this year with quite a bit of its functionality stripped. Regardless, people quickly figured out how to load things into iDOS, utilizing utilities like iExplorer and other Mac/Windows programs that allow you to fiddle with the file system of your iOS device. Once again, iDOS was removed from the App Store.
Yesterday, iDOS hit the App Store once again, this time as Aemula Oldies [Free] for the iPad and Aemula Oldies S [Free] for smaller screen devices. There's also the Aemula Gamepad [99¢] which works a lot like the other gamepad apps and pairs with an iPad playing a game. It seems that the functionality has been stripped even further, as all the previous command line access has been traded for a simple menu to load the included games.
The freebies packed in with Aemula Oldies are Mille Bornes, Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle, Duke Nukem, Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion, Scorched Earth, CD-Man, The Catacomb Abyss, Bio Menace, Monster Bash, StarMines II: Planet of Mines, 4D Prince of Persia and CHAMP Kong. They all seem to work decently well, too.
I sort of think third time is the charm for iDOS, err, Aemula Oldies, as I'd imagine that there aren't any holes for slipping other things to emulate in left anymore. Of course, I could be totally wrong on that, so if anyone figures out any tricks, be sure to let us know.
Emulators have had an interesting history on the App Store, to say the least. There are a few emulator apps that have received Apple's blessing, namely Manomio's Commodore 64 [$4.99] and a choice group of similar emulators. More often than not though, they randomly appear, having slipped through the Apple approval system, then are quickly pulled. Right now we've got no clue which side of the fence iMAME [Free] is sitting on, but it's free, so there's absolutely no reason not to download it just to have it.
iMame comes preloaded with nine less than stellar ROMs to play, but the real interesting part is going to be whether or not it's possible to side load other ROM files into the app. I've been tinkering around with various tricks to load other ROMs into the app that have worked in other instances of similar emulators on to the App Store, and so far haven't had anything work. Regardless, I give it about two hours (or potentially much less) before someone figures it out, and a few hours after that for Apple to pull it from the App Store.
Go go go!!! I'll keep this post updated as new things develop.
Way back in 2000 when I first started playing The Sims, the big joke was that Sims players were wasting their time living virtual lives when they could be living their own. That stigma faded over time -- once MMORPGs made it big, there were bigger time wasters to fry.
But The Sims FreePlay [Free] hearkens back to those early days in more ways than one. For one thing, it's more like the original than any of the other mobile titles. For another, this game plays in real time. That means when you take the time to send your Sim off to shower, you really could be doing it yourself. Never before has a game given me such an uncomfortable awareness of my own time-wasting -- but the returns make it feel worthwhile.
Living in Southern California, I spend most holidays in front of a space heater watching White Christmas on TV and wishing I was one-half of a musical comedy duo trying to gain the affections of two sisters while saving the inn of my old Army commander.
But more than that, what I want more than anything is the snow that the movie is named for. I sit inside daydreaming about that beautiful, luscious blanket of powder covering the ground (yes, I realized that they probably filmed that movie on a sound stage not far from me, but a girl can dream!) while red-faced children fling snowballs at each other. Alas, as that is unlikely to occur pretty much ever, I’ve been making do with Snow Fight [Free].
Jelly Defense creator Infinite Dreams is joining in on the sales fun alongside a gaggle of other developers. Until the 21st of this month, you can grab all of its games at a (now) freshly discounted price. Games like Let's Create Pottery and Jelly Defense, for example, are now just $.99, while others like Shoot The Birds and Sky Force have gone entirely free.
Here's the full list of what it's offering. And do note that these only extend a few days -- this isn't your everyday seasonal sale, in other words.
We definitely suggest Jelly Defense at this price. Sure, it's pretty middle of the road as far as its tower defense play is concerned, but the art and character really makes it a must-have kinda game. Infinite really wants you to check out Can Knockdown 2 at its free price point, too, for what that's worth.
As 2011 draws to a close our debate for Game of the Year is heating up. And one of the games we'll be seriously considering as the victor,Jetpack Joyride[$.99], is now free on the App Store. Jetpack Joyride is fantastically good; we're big fans of its irreverent style and its simple, yet stunningly engaging flying action. That's why we're considering it, and why we're endorsing you giving it a free download right now.
If you're a TouchArcade merit badge holder, you're more than aware that we posted about the game once again last week. Halfbrick has continued its commitment to updating the flyer consistently and often. The latest update sees the introduction of seasonal stuff, like Christmas tree-themed jetpacks and festive clothing. Get that now, if you haven't.
Attention: if you're particularly fleet of finger, you can grab PopCap Games's new-fangled Bejeweled [$.99] for the price of $0. Apple is continuing its crazy promotional program via Facebook, and this week it's giving away Bejeweled while supplies last. All you need to do to claim a free copy is hit this link, mash a few buttons including a "Like" or two, and then you can download the game for free, like a boss.
We recently gave Bejeweled a spin and came away thinking, "Yep, this is Bejeweled." That isn't a complaint, either -- this new iteration is as good as any in the franchise, and that means it's really good. Especially in bursts. Give it a shot.
Also, get ready for a bunch of crazy deals in the near future. Ninety-nine cents off is going to be baby stuff compared to what we're going to see later this week.
During GDC this year, Team Phobic released Undead Ocean [$1.99], an action platforming title built from their experience with the excellent Bounce On series and a healthy nod to classic action platformers from the bygone 16-bit era. We liked Undead Oceanquite a bit when it initially launched, especially due to the fantastic level designs and copious amounts of hidden areas. It really felt like the kind of game I would have gobbled up back in the day on my SNES.
Originally, Undead Ocean was built with expansion in mind by way of adding additional islands with new levels via updates. It might have taken a while, but the first major addition to Undead Ocean has hit the App Store. This update includes a new island with 15 brand new levels, new enemy types and boss fights, new powerup items, new story cutscenes, and of course something that any good island adventure needs: a huge volcano. You can see most of these new goodies in the following trailer:
Undead Ocean is one of the better action platformers available on iOS, and today's update practically doubles the amount of content from the original release. If you're looking to try before you buy, you can grab Undead Ocean Dojo [Free], a free spinoff title that features an intro level not contained in the regular game which should give you more than a good idea whether or not you'll be interested in the full, and is a pretty cool game on its own merits as well.
It's getting close to the holidays, and for us that means we're going to be posting a lot of deals in the near future. And we're not just talking about your everyday, "Hey, this game is now half off" kind of deals, but also the crazy "Hey, this game is free now for some reason" brand of price cutter-y. Case in point: Mobigame's Edge [Free] is now free on the App Store, for the first time ever, in celebration of the season. Whoa!
If you didn't get Edge the first time around, this is obviously a fantastic opportunity. Sadly, it's probably better known for the legal stir around it, but you should check it out because it's a sharp puzzle game with some really hip inventive mechanics.
In addition to this cut, Mobigames has reduced the price of all of its other App Store titles, including Edge Extended. Here's a list:
Last month Minecraft developer Mojang let their legions of fans know that they'd be changing the current direction of their mobile version of the game, Minecraft - Pocket Edition [$6.99/Lite], into something more akin to its PC counterpart. You see, Pocket Edition launched in the App Store in mid-November after a brief stint as an Xperia Play exclusive, but was missing a couple of core components that are key to the Minecraft experience – namely mining and crafting – which is why we didn't exactly love it in our review.
Two favorite franchises of the TouchArcade forums, Dungeon Hunter and Zenonia both had sequels drop during the Christmas flurry of releases. Both the good news and the bad news is that these games are totally free to play. Depending on which side of the free to play fence you're sitting on, this is either great news or horrible news. I'm not sure there's any wiggle room in between, if arguments on our forums and in iTunes reviews are any indication. In my opinion, regardless of how you feel about the whole free to play thing, both Dungeon Hunter and Zenonia come from a pedigree of games that are worth giving the benefit of the doubt to. They're free to try, and who knows, you might not find their respective free to play mechanics that offensive… So I say, no harm in giving them a spin.
Jelly Defense
As 2011 draws to a close our debate for Game of the Year is heating up. And one of the games we'll be seriously considering as the victor, 
Attention: if you're particularly fleet of finger, you can grab 
It's getting close to the holidays, and for us that means we're going to be posting a lot of deals in the near future. And we're not just talking about your everyday, "Hey, this game is now half off" kind of deals, but also the crazy "Hey, this game is free now for some reason" brand of price cutter-y. Case in point: Mobigame's Edge [
