iPhone and iPod Touch Game Roundup Number One

Posted by Anton Gordon at 10:15 AM Dec 30, 2009

​Over the holiday season, I finally joined the ranks of the iPod owners. Yes, I know I'm pretty behind the times on this one - while I had owned a couple mp3 players before, I'd never actually owned an iPod. But as the proud parent of a new iPod Touch, I've been spending a lot of time with Apple's App store, focusing primarily on the games, of course. Now, I'm far too new to the world of iPod/iPhone gaming to consider myself and expert, and there are more games out there to count. I plan to share my impressions with you on all the games and apps I play from now on, and hopefully that will help some of you new iPod or iPhone owners navigate the crowded world of iPhone  games.

After I've spent a little more time in the world of iPod games, I plan to review these games the same way I would any other game. But for now, I'll be offering roundups of batches of games and apps and simply offering my unscored impressions. I've broken the games down into categories: Yes, Maybe and Pass. I think the games in each category might surprise you.

YES!

Canabalt ($2.99)

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Canabalt is one of those simple concepts that just works. You're a tiny 8-bit guy jumping across buildings. The more jumps you make, the faster you go. Running is automatic, so all you need to do is time your jumps. It sounds basic, and it is. But Canabalt has that "one more try" appeal in spades, an urgency about it that's impossible to deny, and a lovely visual style and score that conjure a story where none is given. Canabalt is everything an iPod/iPhone game should be: simple, engaging and perfect for its platform. Every iGamer should buy it.

Fieldrunners ($2.99)

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A classic tower defense game, Fieldrunners has sucked up more of my time than any other game so far. Place towers in order to block invaders from reaching it. Like Canabalt, it's a pretty basic game, but one that has the potential to suck up a lot of your free time.

Avatar ($9.99)

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Of all the games I've played so far, Avatar has been the biggest surprise. It's a licensed game for a cell phone... and it doesn't suck. A prequel to the movie with a new character, the game offers the same settings, creatures and vehicles as the film without rehashing the plot. An action/platformer, the Avatar succeeds where so many other 3D portable games fail, thanks to an intelligent follow camera that keeps things focused on the action without having to worry about fiddling with it. Most of the time, anyway.

Rolando ($2.99)

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Another game that's perfect for the iPod/iPhone platform, Rolando is a cute, polished LocoRoco-esque platform/puzzle game. Getting your Rolandos to the exit of each stage is the goal, which is a matter of steering them through a series of obstacles. I was instantly sold by the way the in-game characters address the player as "Finger."

MAYBE

Silent Hill: The Escape ($0.99)

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Work your way through a series of mazes, avoiding monsters from the Silent Hill games. It works fine, although it's a little slow. I think the biggest flaw is that it's hard to get scared playing a portable game. The .99 cent price point is for a limited time only, I believe.

Call of Duty: World at War Zombies ($9.99)

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World at War Zombies tries to emulate the Nazi Zombies mode from the console game, and mostly does a pretty good job of it. The controls feel a bit "sticky" to me and movement is slow for such a fast-paced game. My biggest problem with World at War Zombies is the same one I have with most handheld ports of console games: it's too similar to the original, but not as good. If you love the Nazi Zombies mode so much you want to take it with you everywhere, this is great. If not, this may be a bit pricey to add to your collection.

Metal Gear Solid Touch ($0.99)

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MGS Touch looks great and follows the story of MGS4 pretty closely. However, it's just a shooting gallery. You pop up from behind cover, shoot, duck down and repeat. It's definitely not bad for the price (which, like Silent Hill, is probably promotional) but it certainly doesn't have the depth of the a console Metal Gear game.

PASS

Alan Probe: Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition (Free)

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This Adult Swim game is free, and still not worth the money. A bad, broken version of Trauma Center, Amateur Surgeon fails badly at telling you what to do, and when you figure it out it barely works thanks to touchy controls. This is by far the worst game I've played on my iPod so far, although I'm sure there are worse out there.

Ceville ($1.99)

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Ceville isn't a bad game. It's fine. It's just so uninspired that it's hard to care about it. You throw tomatoes or onions at moving targets. That's it. Well, there are combos. That's it. It works as intended, but just didn't grab me in any way.