If you’ve been watching the Olympics which just recently finished you may be familiar to the excitement that took place on the BMX track. If so then Mad Skills BMX could be just the game you are looking for as it recreates the experience on your iPhone or iPad in a universal app that is available in the App Store right now for just 99 cents.
If you’ve already played turborilla’s other title Mad Skills Motocross then you will be pretty familiar with the game-play here although it’s a slimmed down version, both in the fact that you are using pedal power and in some of the features.
The game includes 40 different tracks and the first 11 will provide you with all you need to know about how to power and control your BMX. Controls are simple touch screen controls which you control using just two fingers via the left and right side of the screen.
With these controls you get to manage the pedalling and the positioning on the bike which will enable you to wheelie, flip and ride the bumps at the fastest pace you can, and speed is of the essence as each race is against another competitor and it’s winner takes all.
The tracks are set across a variety of environments including the concrete of inner city, the desert and the forest and while the graphics are good it’s the physics of the game-play which really makes this game what it is.
I can’t begin to imagine what it takes to translate the physics of riding a bike in real life to the small screen and it’s obviously not easy as many have tried and failed, however, whatever it is Turborilla have found it as it feels great to ride and even crash in Mad Skills BMX.
The art to winning the game is to keep your momentum up, hit the jump to early, or too late will result in giving your opponent all they need to take advantage and disappear off of the side scrolling screen. If you take a considerable lead over your opponent or find yourself behind you can see how far you are in-front or behind them via the gauge in the top left corner. You’ll have to respond quickly though if you are going to catch up.
Completing tracks will ultimately unlock the subsequent Intermediate, Expert and Pro levels through the single player mode of the game, you can upload your scores to compare them against your Facebook friends and post your scores to Twitter also. The Facebook leaderboards do add a degree of competitiveness but the promised GameCenter integration with the next update should improve that even further.
If you are looking for the tournament features that are available in this games big brother title Mad Skills Motocross then you are going to be disappointed as they haven’t found there way into this title yet but that doesn’t take away from the fun that can be had playing with yourself!
More tracks are promised via future updates and if you don’t want to have to win your way through the existing tracks to unlock them you can unlock them via inapp purchase. You can also purchase custom bikes and riders should it take your fancy.
Mad Skills BMX {App Store, $.99} is an enjoyable game and while the addition of ghost riders to compete against would make the game even more addictive it’s still pretty addictive without it.
[rating: 4/5]What we like
What to know
A game that’s been floating around the top of the charts for a while now is Ski Safari so we thought it was about time that we took a look at what’s making this 99 cent universal app so popular.
In Ski Safari you are faced with controlling Sven down a steep snow covered mountain side in a desperate attempt to avoid being swallowed up by the avalanche that is tearing down behind him.
From a controls point of view this task is easy, tapping the screen will cause sven to jump while tapping and holding either side of the screen will enable sven to perform forward and backward somersaults. The actions are all helpful for avoiding obstacles such as piles of rocks but also to help boost your speed by grabbing and riding with penguins, birds and the odd abominable snowman!
The action comes at you very fast as your speed down the mountain side attempting to keep out of the clutches of the foreboding avalanche that is chasing you, so quick reactions are a must if you are going to keep yourself alive.
If you are familiar with games like Jetpack Joyride and Subway Surfers you’ll also be familiar with the process of having mini goals set each time you take to the slopes. This can range from performing a double backflip or picking up 3 penguins to flying with a bird for X distance to tumbling for a given amount of time.
All this adds to the basic game premise of travelling as far as you can before you get swallowed up in a cloud of snow. These goals keep the game interesting and while all this is going on you also pick up coins which you can then spend on purchasing items such as coin magnets, costumes and rockets which will boost the distance you travel.
The key to a successful run is using the variety of animals that frequent the mountain side to boost the distance you travel and your ability to survive hitting the obstacles. If you manage to fly with the the bird, ride the abominable snowman and tame the wild wolves you should be on to a good score and even open.
The cartoon graphics lend themselves well to the snowy environment and even though you won’t have time to appreciate it as you speed down the slope the background detail of having other mountains with animals running down them is a nice detail.
If you haven’t joined the Ski Safari party {$.99, App Store} yet then there is no time like the present. It’s a fun game which you can use as a quick pick up and play title when you have a spare five minutes only to find that 3 hours later you are still playing it!
[rating: 5/5]What we like
What to know
If you a fan of hidden object style games and Where’s Waldo then No Red T-Shirt’s may be a worthwhile purchase for you as No Red T-Shirts for iPhone and iPad will find you hunting through 12 different locations to find some of the most heinous criminals that you may ever meet, such as reading newspapers, parachuting and of course, wearing a red t-shirt!
No Red T-Shirts sees you in the role of Robo, a police robot that has gone slightly off the rails and in this role you are charged with finding as many criminals as you can by simply tapping on them as they go about their business.
The bright, cartoon graphics that create the various locations are colorful, dramatic and will certainly appeal to a younger audience as will the controls which require a simple hunt and peck technique to spin the environments around as you tap on the currently active criminal.
The current offender type that you have to hunt for are highlighted as you progress through the game by flashing warning that appears across the screen and each time this happens you will need to change who you are hunting for. Find enough of them and you will be given the opportunity to send all the remaining characters home to bed.
Your success on each level will earn you the currency that will enable you to purchase upgrades, as with most games these days you can also purchase additional currency via in-app purchase, but it’s not heavily pushed and only required if you want to push forward your progress at an aggressive pace.
Each location has its own set of objectives to be completed and you can also call on the help of 3 power-ups and the additional help of Chronos and Thor to entice the criminals out of hiding and into your handcuffs.
The gameplay is pretty repetitive and so will probably not appeal to the most hardened of gamers but for a casual gamer there is some limited appeal here and if you do fancy turning your hand to over-zealous crime fighting then No Red T-Shirts could be just the game for you especially if you like the idea of big-brother looking over your shoulder!
‘No Red T-Shirts’ is a universal app that is available in the App Store for the discounted price of 99 cents while the summer lasts!
[rating: 3/5]What we like
What to know
Some of the most popular games on mobile devices are those quick, pick up and play games that you can play for a couple of minutes and end up still playing 3 hours later!
The latest to attempt to meet those requirements is Subway Surfers, a free universal game for your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad from Kiloo.
Subway Surfers task you to travel as far as you can along the tracks to prevent you from being caught by security who have caught you tagging one of the trains.
As you would expect there are multiple challenges for you to overcome and avoid as you aim to get as high a score as possible. Your biggest challenge is to avoid the trains that are on he track, both stationary and moving.
There are three tracks for you to navigate, swiping left and right will move you between the tracks to avoid the trains but you can also run on top of the trains should you find a ramp to get you up there or the sneaker power ups that will allow you to leap double height.
The game is all about timing as the trains leave little room for you to run or jump between them, however there is more to overcome including barriers that you can slide beneath or over and tunnels. If you do hit any of the obstacles you may get a second chance if you don’t hit it too hard, do it twice in short succession however and it will be game over.
The game does give you a helping hand to boost your high scores in the form of a variety of power-ups that include not only the previously mentioned Super Sneakers but also a Hoverboard, Headstarts, Coin Magnets and even a Jetpack! All of these can be purchased with the coins you pick up in the game but can also be brought via in-app purchase. These in-app purchases are pitched pretty well so unless you want to take massive shortcuts to big scores there’s no need to use them.
Coins can also be earned by liking the game on Facebook or tweeting about it on Twitter, however these are one off options unlike the ability to watch sponsored videos and earn 50 coins each time, although on occasion there are no videos to watch.
There are also 4 characters to play as, unlocking these is done by collecting special items that also appear in game, however after playing Subway Surfers for multiple hours I’ve only come across one of these special tokens once.
As if this wasn’t enough for you there are daily challenges and missions to complete while you play, these come in the form of traveling X distance, dodging X barriers and collecting tokens, if the game wasn’t addictive enough already these additional tasks certainly do.
Having taking multiple paragraphs without mentioning how the game looks you would think maybe that they aren’t all that special, in fact they look pretty good. Bold, solid and colorful graphics flow by fast both on the iPhone and iPads retina screens and will appeal to all players.
You can compare your scores with your friends via Facebook and GameCenter integration and although I did find that I they wouldn’t always connect as quickly as I would have hoped after playing a few games it would sync up and show me the leaderboards.
Subway Surfers {Free} takes the best of Temple Run and throws in the best of Jetpack Joyride and with the ability to challenge your friends via both Facebook and GameCenter integration this is a game that you will be playing for a long time to come.
Welcome to your new addiction!
[rating: 4.5/5]What we like
What to know
If you are one of the millions of players who downloaded and lost hours of their lives playing Jetpack Joyride then I may have a new game to break that addiction.
Madcoaster from App Store dominators Chillingo is a new universal game where you control a roller coaster train on a never ending journey through multiple lands in order to collect as many coins and travel as far as you can with all your lives intact.
The game has a great cartoon look to it and the multiple lands look great as you speed through them. The game starts with just a few ‘themes’ enabled which you travel through for 1,000 meters at a time. Should you complete 1,000 meters you will continue on through another ‘theme’ until you run out of lives.
The themes are based on different events and locations, so one moment you may find yourself zooming past panda’s in a Japanese themed environment and the next past pumpkins in a Halloween inspired theme. Additional themes can also be unlocked via in app purchase or by reaching 10,000 meters in the game. The in-app purchases are nicely positioned meaning that you don’t have to keep on buying them.
Your roller coaster carts have no speed control but things get pretty crazy straight out of the traps and you’ll need fast fingers as you leap gaps, loop the loop, and move up and down tracks.
As you fly along the rails you can pick up coins and smash though a variety of animals, the only thing that can kill you is falling off the track though, in fact smashing through the animals that are standing on the tracks or hitting birds that are flying past the tracks earn you rewards rather than hinder you.
All these things contribute to the variety of objectives that are set for you on each run and clearing these objectives will provide upgraded carts for you to ride. Not that these carts have any additional features, instead they just look different to prior carts, it would be nice to have power ups to make your cart faster or jump higher.
The game has that addictive quality that makes you want to try one more time to beat your current high-score or complete one more of the 30 achievements that are available via Chillingo’s social gaming network Crystal, or the GameCenter integration.
Madcoaster is a Universal app and is available from the App Store for just 99c so grab it while you can.
[rating: 4/5]What to know:
Growing up I would frequently send and receive greeting cards that used the poems and character of Purple Ronnie, a stick figure, funny guy who always brought a smile to my face, and in Fancy Pants for iPhone and iPad I was taken back to that time as the lead character in this game reminded me of him.
However, most of you will know Fancy Pants from the web version of the game that’s been around for a while now and the port over to iOS is a pretty accurate representation of the stick figured platformer although the opportunity to take advantage of the iOS unique control functions of a touch screen and accelerometer was one that should have been taken advantage of. Instead the controls are simply via 4 virtual buttons.
All that aside Fancy Pants {App Store} is still a lot of fun, it’s fast, smooth and addictive and has loads of content that will keep you coming back for more again and again.
The back story consists of the everyday story of rescuing your sister from a bunch of pirates who have kidnapped her, the story is fun, entertaining but following the story is not required and doesn’t take anything away from the game play.
After a brief tutorial you’ll soon find yourself running, leaping, climbing and crawling through large sprawling levels which are full of obstacles but also various challenges and things to collect. You don’t have to complete everything to move through the store mode, in fact having something to go back to the earlier levels to do is all part of the fun.
The artistic style of the whole game is one of simple line drawings but they spring to life as Fancy Pants charges through the 11 levels and multiple arcade challenges that you can unlock as you play through the levels. These arcade games can then be played separately and you can track your success across all of this via the Crystal social gaming network.
If you decide not to complete all of the side challenges then the game can be literally run through pretty quickly, the question is though, why would you!
Despite not taking advantage of any iOS unique control options the controls do work well and Fancy Pants moves around so fluidly that even when he’s not swimming under water it can seem like he is, and that’s no bad thing!
If you like platform games but want something that is a step up from the normal jump up, jump over, stomp, repeat, repeat then Fancy Pants is for you. Fancy Pants is only 99c at the moment and is a universal game so can be played on both your iPhone and iPad, however there is no iCloud support so you’ll need to complete the game on both separately.
[rating: 4/5]What to know:
I love my racing games and Mini Motor Racing came as a great addition to my iPhone. A top down racer with you a 5 opponents racing around beautiful looking and designed tracks makes for a lot of fun, frantic action.
There’s a great career mode, local multi-player and the ability to upgrade you car to challenge with the most fast and aggressive of opponents. Additional value is add by the GameCenter integration which consists of 16 achievements and leader-boards for all 22 tracks.
Mini Motor Racing can be grabbed from the App Store for just $1.99.
Tiny Tower by NimbleBit is the ultimate in addictive simulation game where you become the owner, manager and contractor of a tiny tower where you aim is to make it huge. Huge that is in the sense of the number of floors as it’s your task to build level after level of residential, commercial and retail stores.
The game uses a freemium model where the initial purchase is free and you can speed up your progress via in game purchase. That being said though in all the time I played it I never ended up spending an additional dime.
If you haven’t given Tiny Tower a try yet I urge you to do so although be prepared to not see your family and friends for a while as your addiction takes hold!
Another racing game makes it to my top 10 and this time with a whole new control system ideally suited to the touch screen of the iDevice. DrawRace 2 is another top down racer but this time instead of controlling your vehicle with an accelerator and a steering wheel you draw the path you wish your vehicle to take. It takes a bit to get used to but the satisfaction of getting around a sharp hairpin at full speed and in first place never gets tiring.
There are a range of vehicles all with differently handling and skills that can be unlocked as you progress and the tracks look wonderful too. If you are looking for a racing game with something a little different look no further than DrawRace 2, available in the App Store for just 99c for a limited time.
This one finds it’s way into the Top 10 mainly thanks to my daughter who is addicted to the fun game aimed at the younger age market.
The 9 Moogies are a variety of brightly colored farmyard animals that live in a barn. Each one can be clicked on and you will enter their weird and wonderful world. From a horse on a treadmill, a vacuuming cow and an experimenting mouse the animals are all kept pretty busy. The animals and their surroundings can also all be interacted with and along with the great sounds and music the game can keep a child entertained for as long as you’ll let them play with it.
The great thing about it for us adults is the fact that it’s not annoying, in fact I will quite happily find myself humming along to the music all day long at times! The Moogies is a universal app which is available in the App Store now for just 99 cents.
This audio and visual delight of a game takes you on a mysterious adventure where you are to solve a range of puzzles to to uncover the truth about your characters life.
You unravel the dark mystery as you wander around the rural location that is beautifully rendered on both the iPhone and iPad. The controls are intuitive and as you play the game you’ll find yourself engrossed in the excellent story telling.
While a little short in length it’s an experience not to be missed. dream:scape is available in the App Store for $2.99 and is a universal app.
There have been plenty of new and worthy word games released for iDevices this year and for many people W.E.L.D.E.R. possibly flew under the radar, it most certainly shouldn’t though.
W.E.L.D.E.R. is played on a 8 x 8 grid of letters and the aim is to make as many words as possible while swapping as few tiles as you can. While swapping adjacent tiles is the main way to move them you can unlock the ability to jump, reverse and group tiles. These additional options are limited though and are earned by scoring points.
I thought I would miss the fact that there is no mulit-player option but the challenge to clear each level by completing the required number of words with the given number of moves makes you want to not socialize anyway!
W.E.L.D.E.R. is another universal app and is available in the App Store for $1.99.
More racing in my top 10 games of 2011 only this time it of the two wheel variety and instead of racing around a track against other opponents this time you are racing against yourself along a crazy motorcycle assault course.
The controls are simple yet effective and your success is measured on each track on three conditions consisting mainly of beating a set time, collecting all the coins and completing the course.
There are 70 different tracks to complete, either riding as the Bike Baron or as a gorilla! But in addition to these pre-built tracks Bike Baron comes with a track editor that not only allows you to build tracks to race yourself but allows you to share them with your friends and the Bike Baron community.
At just 99c Bike Baron is available in the App Store now as a universal application.
The Angry Birds juggernaut continued in 2011 not only with the original Angry Birds and it’s follow up in Angry Birds Seasons but also with the release of it’s movie tie-in 3rd game Angy Birds Rio.
The saying goes that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and Rovio have certainly achieved that with Angry Birds Rio and with 6 episodes, 180 levels and 90 pieces of fruit to find there is plenty to keep you busy including a new bird that appears occasionally and which is not available in the other Angry Birds games.
If you are looking for a game to while away the hours then Angry Birds Rio will certainly achieve that with the even more charm, fun and entertainment as the two previous incarnations.
Purchasing Angry Birds Rio for just 99c from the App Store could be one of the best dollars you’ve ever spent.
When this game fell into my lap to review I was completely taken by surprise. All you need is one finger and fast reactions to enjoy this game as you power your jetpack wearing character along the never-ending level.
As you attempt to travel as far as you can you must avoid death by navigating around a variety of both static and moving lasers as well as rockets which aim to stop your progress. While the ultimate purpose of the game is to get as far as you can before you crash and burn the mini-objectives that you care challenged to complete on each and every turn keep things interesting as you always have something to achieve.
As you play you will also earn coins that you can then spend on power-ups, new cloths and a range of different jetpacks.
The balance of this game is in that sweet spot that just keeps you coming back for more and as a universal app it’s which is currently FREE in the App Store Jetpack Joyride is a must for every iPhone/iPad owner.
The irony of a game that was originally released in 2001 making the number 1 spot for 2011 is not lost on me, however the release of Grand Theft Auto 3 in it’s full form onto an iPhone is an amazing feat in itself.
The fact that it’s been done so well providing a huge open world environment of gorgeous sprawling city streets and a storyline which takes murder, revenge, violence and criminality to a whole new level Grand Theft Auto 3 has not been off of my device since it was downloaded and installed.
It loads fast, plays fast and is quick to jump in and out off which considering its a huge game is a great achievement.
While this may be the most expensive game in my top 10 it easily provides the best value for money and will provide hours and hours violent enjoyment! Get is from the App Store today and you won’t be disappointed.
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Bull Mouse is a very simple game that provides hours upon hours of fun. You are a bull that has to knock people out of the ring, completing over 50 missions along the way. Tons of power ups and extras keep this game interesting throughout its entirety.
The simplicity makes this game fun for all ages and easy to pick up and play whether at home or on the go. You utilize a bull to knock people out of the bull ring by pulling the bull’s tail and springing him at people running through the ring.
The people come in all shapes and sizes and move at different speeds and different directions. You can earn perks along the way that makes this easier. The perks are by far my favorite part of the game as they are fun to use and very effective. Make sure, if you see what you nab it up quick though as it will disappear after a short time period.
The game is broken up by the different challenges that you are tasked with. Tasks such as “knocking 50 blonde guys” out of the ring or “rock the fences 10 times” keep the game interesting and make it easy to spend hours staring at your screen trying to accomplish the next challenge.
Another fun aspect of the Bull Mouse is the extras. As you play the game you can gather tokens that allow you to boost your bull’s abilities such as speed and size. This in turn makes your bull an even better wrecking ball for knocking people out of the ring. You can also use these tokens to get costumes for your bull. The costumes don’t add anything but a sweet new look to your bull.
Overall I would highly recommend this game if you looking for something easy to pick up and play on the go. I found myself hooked quickly and styling my bull mildly amusing. At 99 cents its definitely worth checking out, especially since it is available for both your iPhone and iPad. Being Game Center enabled is also a plus.
What we like:
What to know:
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Arctic Escape is a simple yet unique puzzle game for the iPhone. You use commands to help corral penguins into a helicopter. Penguins into a helicopter you ask? Yes, the penguins have been abducted from Antarctica by an evil scientist and guess who gets to help get them back home: YOU! You will use commands to guide the penguins through levels and avoid obstacles. The goal is to get all of the penguins to the helicopter in a timely fashion.
As I mentioned earlier, the control system in Arctic Escape is incredibly easy to wrap your head around. You see a list of controls at the bottom of the screen that tell your penguins to go up, down, left, right and jump. You also have the option to erase something you put down by accident which I must say happens quite often with the screen size of the iPhone. You use the controls I mentioned to guide the penguins past traps that try to keep them from getting to the helicopter. Traps like breaking ice, holes, collapsing bridges and cages. If you plan out your routes carefully, these obstacles can be avoided but the maps always seem to find a way to throw your curveballs.
A word to the wise, try to space out your penguins so that they do not run into one another. This will help make them do what you intend to do. If they run into one another sometimes they will change directions unexpectedly and cause you to lose a penguin. As you progress through the game, other obstacles rear their ugly heads. These obstacles such as a hungry wolf and gates that have switches to open them can throw a kink in your plans so be careful.
This gameplay is very simple as you can tell but it is extremely addictive. This is a great thing because there are over one hundred levels that will challenge you along the way. There are 8 separate worlds with thirteen levels each. This may seem like too many at first but I can tell you as I progressed it was awesome to know that there was plenty more fun to be had and that the game would not be ending soon. The replay value due to this fact alone is awesome. I also love the fact that with 8 icy worlds the settings seem to continually change. This along with the continually changing challenges that you see along the way, the game is never dull and is always testing your wits. On top of the difficulty is the fact that being able to get 
through the levels quickly is how you get the best score. However, attempting to speed through the levels quickly is what gave me trouble so remain cautious when you increase the pace.
The visual and audio presentation of this app is nothing over the top but is ample for the extremely addictive puzzler gameplay. The type of game plays a large role in what you can do visually and how you should approach it audibly and they do a great job of both in this game. Too much focus in these areas would most certainly have taken away from level design and gameplay and those two things take the cake. The audio is great and the adorable penguins were well received by my wife. I would highly recommend this game to puzzlers who are looking for a nice long play that is extremely addictive.
Pros
Cons
$0.99
Category: Games
Released: Mar 30, 2011
Version: 1.0.0
1.0.0 (iOS 4.0 Tested)
Size: 30.9 MB
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Seller: Teyon
© 2011 Teyon. All rights reserved.
Rated 4+
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later