Downbound Review

This is all done through 4 environments, the Afterworld, Double Rainbowland, Deep Blue Sea and Underworld, each of which contain 4 levels and an unlockable Endless Mode.

You have 11 spherical, unlockable characters to play with and these characters get unlocked based on the number of stars that you collect and although they all look cute I wasn’t able to find any tactical advantage to playing with them.

The levels aren’t just flat though, they have bumps and raises in them not to mention obstacles that need to be maneuvered around. Luckily a quick tap of the screen will make your little character jump in the air and tapping the screen again as it bounces will double that height.

As you fall and bump down the screen the dark clouds of the falling sky will chase you down the screen and if you take too long in negotiating a path down the screen it will swallow you up and it will be game over.

The graphics are pretty and cutesy and will certainly appeal to younger players as will the simple music and sound effects that accompany the game.

Unfortunately though the levels offer little in variety and become pretty boring after a while and there is little incentive to go back and collect stars that were previously missed. While the Endless Mode just offers more of the same without an ending!

While Downbound for iPhone and iPad is entertaining for a short while it soon gets boring.

What we like:

• Cute, pretty graphics

What to know:

• Little variety
• Repetitive game-play

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SPY Mouse Review: A Pac-Man style game for iPhone that is nothing but squeaky fun.

The object of the game is cheese. Well, having your mouse get the cheese out of the cat-infested houses along the path. Each house has it’s own maze-type layout that makes for interesting challenges to be worked through. Multiple cats, sleeping cats, cats in the middle of the room, cats near the door, etc. all require different spy strategies to successfully maneuver around.

The game controls are easy to master. Put your finger on the mouse and draw a line where you want it to go. The mouse follows that path, but only goes at certain speeds, so you’re not just dragging the mouse along. There’s a bit of timing in drawing the lines as well, to avoid the patrolling cats. In some homes, there are mouse holes that allow you to pop from room to room. It can be great fun to duck into a mouse hole and watch the cat slam into the wall right behind you.

You can actually befriend a cat too, through an in-app purchase, to help you fight fire with fire. But managing on your own is also an option. As the game goes along, the challenge increases with additional cats to avoid and more difficult paths that must be navigated. And watch out for the mousetraps!

The cute graphics, animations, and comedic spy-show music put you in a happy mood just opening up the app. The simple look and interface trick you into thinking the game is also simple, until you get nabbed a few times.

There are some games I play because I have to. Then there are some games I play because I want to. SPY Mouse {$.99} is definitely one of the latter. This one’s going on my short list.

Pros:

• Cute graphics
• Great animations
• Comical feel to the challenges and the visuals/music

Cons:

• Occasionally it’s difficult to determine the final exit to the maze

Brought to you by Chillingo and CobraMobile ‘Storm In A Teacup‘ [$.99] is all about a little boy called Storm. The boy has a brother called Cloud who created a wonderful world for him to explore in a little teacup full of magic.

It is a sweet platformer and sure to appeal to all ages. You control Storm around the world using left and right controls that you simply tap. His little magical teacup also can fly! To the right is a boost button to help. Tap and hold and he will fly up until his boosting powers run out or tap several times to keep him flying up. To see when his boost is running out, there is a bar at the top left which shows it going down when in use.

You need to help Storm make his way through each level of this colourful world. During the travel he needs to collect sugar cubes as he goes. The more he collects the higher the score he will achieve at the end of each level.

Each level is full of platforms to jump on and obstacles to avoid. There might be a dark cloud firing at you or spinning blades that will try slice you out of the way. Make your way past them flying and jumping where needed.

What I liked about each level is you are given a little challenge in each. You might have to reach a key to move further through the world or move a boulder off a seesaw to block an obstacle from firing at you. Some take a few attempts and luckily there is a check-point in each level so you don’t have to restart from the beginning.

When you first start each level you can’t see everything that is around you. You can only see it when you are moving along and flying high. So you might find that when you first set off you are bumping into blades and getting caught by the clouds. In some parts you will most likely have to retry several times.

There are 40 levels altogether to complete and collect the sugar cubes. You can retry a level if you want to get a good score and try and collect all the cubes. So once you have completed all the levels there is still good replay playing it this way.

I loved the cute little animations and magical sounds. The world is certainly colourful and very appealing to the eye. The sound effects and music are great. Storm In A Teacup for iPhone is enabled with Game Center and Crystal and offering 15 achievements to complete. It also supports multi-tasking and has full retina display.

Pros

• Great animation and sound effects.
• Game Center and Crystal support.
• 40 Challenging levels.

Cons

• More levels would be great

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For many the upcoming Easter holidays are a few days break but for anyone with children you will know its actually a couple of weeks. Two weeks off trying to find exciting things for them to do can be a huge task in itself, I should know I have 3 little ones! So after checking the app store for the latest Easter goodies, here is some I found that might just keep them happy for a while.

1. Sneezies Easter Edition

Developed by Chillingo, if you have played Sneezies before this is an Easter version. 24 levels and 8 mode levels. Try to rescue as many Sneezies as you can by bursting their bubbles with your finger. Great graphics and sneezie sound effects. You can even post your high score online to compete against other sneezie players.

2. Dress Eggy

Developed by Emantras Dress Eggy is an app to let you decorate your egg and turn it in to a postcard picture to send to your friends. Colour and decorate your eggs with lots of colours and shapes. Then choose from a selection of wallpapers and for a added little touch you can record a message or use a pre-recorded one.

3. Easter Egg Painter

Created by SwartzentEnterprises is an egg painting application. You can paint with any colour and brush size. There is also the option to draw on your egg or make a face or simple colour it in then take a photo ready to send to your friends and family.

4. Easter Egg Hunt

Developed by Michaelapps Easter Egg Hunt is an easter egg finding game. You use the iPhones accelerometer to search the screen for hidden secrets. The game also includes OpenFeint achievements.

5. FlipEggs – Easter Edition

Created by TropicalPixels FlipEggs is a great memory game. There are two modes, pre-schooler mode and toddler mode. The game is simple you flip cards over and have to match two of the same. All the cards have lovely easter eggs and bunnies on them. Can have different levels of difficulty from 4 to 24 cards.

6. Boing Bunny Boing

Created by Onteca Boing Bunny Boing is a great action puzzle game. You have to help the easter bunny deliver all the apps to the children. Different levels to complete and also supports OpenFeint.

7. Easter Eggs – Find the eggs, help the bunny

Developed by Mobilebits Easter Eggs is an addcitive puzzle game for all ages. Guide the bunny around the map and help him find all the easter eggs. There are 50 eggs to collect altogether. There is also the option to compete with friends by connecting with your facebook friends. Share achievements via Twitter and Facebook.

8. iCardU – Easter Edition

Created by Dot8studio iCardU is a fun way to create and send Easter cards. Decorate the egg with colours, stickers and accessories. Pop it on a background, add a greeting and then send it via MMS.

9. Magic 3D Easter Egg Painter

Developed by SubVersus is an app designed ideally for the iPhone 3GS or an iPad although it will still work on other iPhones just only using tilt control. Magic 3D egg lets you see the egg in 3D and paint all sides of it from any possible view. A great unique twist to the normal ‘paint an egg’ apps.

10. Easter Math

Created by Prativo Easter maths is a great app for younger children. Its a fun educational game with addition and subtraction. After you do each quiz you get your results so your child can then see how well they have done. All surrounded by a cute easter bunny background.

11. Easter Egg Blitz

Created by JasonKlinke is a cuite little easter game. Help your easter bunny by guiding him left and right to catch the falling eggs. When you have as many as you can hold you count them uo to see your score. Watch out for the rotten eggs!

12. ATEggs – Easter egg hunting game

Developed by Afanche the game is a great egg hunting game. Search in the grass for the hidden eggs. You can see clearly on the screen how many there is and you just have to tap and search for them.

13. Easter Match

Created by Postimagineering Easter match is fun egg matching memory game. Slightly harder than you may think with similar cards to confuse you and you are also on a timer. Match the cards and improve your memory skills.

14. Easter Bunny Tracker

Developed by Talusmedia this Easter Bunny Tracker is great for getting your kiddies into the Easter spirit. Each day you will receive blogs with pictures and audio telling you tales and a radar map updating where abouts easter bunny is. Using your iPhones location the app can tell you how long it will be before easter bunny arrives!

15. Easter Angel

Created by Lindmandesign the Easter Angel app includes 12 cute Easter Greeting Cards. Its very simple to use, choose you card enter the mail address and send. A great and quick way to send your easter wishes to family and friends.

16. Hunting For Easter Eggs

Developed by Gogiigames this is another cute little hunting game. After all we all like easer egg hunting! The game consists of beating the clock and finding all the eggs hidden around the house. With a 3D environment this game is sure to be a win with the kiddies.

17. A Talking Easter Bunny

Developed by Gigabytesol this is just a basic little app to keep the kiddies amazed, an app with a difference. It is a talking bunny who say’s little sentences to your children using the iPhones in built microphone to listen to you. Great app to amaze the children

18. Dodger Easter Edition

Developed by Orientmaple this is a great game for all ages. Help the character dodge all the balls and chase bunnies. Avoid as many balls as possible. Look out for the easter gifts to enhance your game and help you along.

19. Easter Game – Slider Puzzle

Created by Myhip this easter game is a great easter puzzle. You just slide the pieces up, down, left or right to try and make the full picture. There are 16 images to choose from.

20. Easter Egg n Spoon Race

Created by Iconicapps turn your iPhone into the spoon and carry your precious virtual egg. Challenge your friends to a race. Great 3D imagine and for an added entertainment value why not get the kiddies to hold and balance it whilst your drivin in the car! Hard to do but sure to keep them occupied.

There is something for every age in the list above that are sure to keep the kids entertained throughout the holidays. All of them can be used on the iPhone or iPod Touch. If you know any more great Easter apps add them in the comments below.