High Scores

So I was playing the 2nd level of The Creeps! today, and I reached wave 120 and had a score of 891,030. If you think you can beat my high score please do so. Contact me and i’ll post your high score. If you have high scores in another game that you would like everyone to see, please contact me and i’ll post it. Just send me a screen capture of your high score and the name of game/app. I will post it on the front page and high scores section.

Great application for Direct TV owners

I have a feeling not many people know about this or it hasn’t gotten much attention. But Direct TV has released an app into the app store. The applicaiton lets you search shows and set a record  for an episode from your phone to your home Direct TV DVR. You can set recordings from online, but this works great. You can click the icon to go directly to the app store to download. Pictures and the icon are credited to Direct TV and the iTunes store.

MLB.com At Bat 2009 sneaks into the top 10

The baseball season is getting ready to begin next week and with that, MLB.com has released an application to help you follow baseball from your iPhone.  It gives you up to date scores, video highlights, and live audio of games. It is pricey at $9.99 but if you are a baseball fan this looks worth it. Click the icon to go to the app store to buy it. Pictures are credited to MLB.com and the iTunes store.

Skype now available in the app store

Skype has been released into the app store. It shows a release date of March 23 but was not found until today. It is free to download.  Skype is a great application to make phone calls over the internet. Skype is one of the largest Voice IPs on the web. With the release of Skype this could turn iPod Touches into cell phones. There is no need to review as its self explanatory and free for anyone to download.  You can click on this Skype icon to take you directly to the app store to download it. Credit goes to Skype and iTunes for the pictures.

The Creeps! review

This is my review for The Creeps! It was released January 25th, 2009. It is currently $2.99. At one point it was reduced to $0.99 but it went back up to $2.99.

The Creeps! is a tower defense game. There are a total of 16 levels. 8 of the levels are challenge levels that require you to get past a wave of enemies. The other 8 levels repeat the challenge levels. Those repeated levels are unlimited waves of enemies.  In each level, you have a child in a bed that you must protect from monsters that are traveling down a path.  To protect the child you are given several different weapons to do so. In the first level you are given a ray gun and a glue bottle.  As the levels progress you are given a boomerang, UFO and other weapons. As you kill each enemy, you receive money to upgrade the weapons you place along the paths in the level.  As you progress further into the levels, the waves of enemies get stronger. Usually enemy bosses appear every 10th wave.  In each level the paths do change a little so it becomes challenging.  There are also objects in the way of placing weapons, which you have to shoot and destroy with the weapons you place.  The Creeps! is definitely a beginners tower defense. If you haven’t played a tower defense game yet, go with this as your first.
There isn’t too much to the controls. It’s mainly just tapping on specific areas on the screen and strategizing with your choices.

The graphics in this game are superb.  The cartoon theme works perfectly for this game.  Everything is done in 2D sprites. From what I understand, everything in the game was hand drawn or drawn on the computer and it is impressive. I am a big fan of the art in this game and it definitely was a factor in my purchase.
The Creeps! has no music in the game. It allows you to listen to your own music while playing which is a big plus. The only sounds produced in the game are from your weapons and the enemies.
Including the repeated levels with unlimited waves gives the game plenty of replay value.  The fact that it’s very easy to play and pick up adds plenty of playing time.  There is an expected update coming in the near future that includes more levels.
Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed this game.  It’s simple but very addicting.  The only issue I found with the game is that it only has 16 levels.  A tower defense game like Field Runners has 100 levels.  There is an update coming as mentioned above, but there should have been more levels. Anyone who doesn’t like tower defense games or has never played one, I recommend you play The Creeps!  Go buy it now!

Overall I give The Creeps! a 9/10

Gameplay videos to come!

You can click on this link to take you to the app store to buy The Creeps!

Top 10 paid apps

These are the top 10 paids in the app store as of 3/30/2009. You can click on the app icons to take you directly to the app in the iTunes store. Apps 5 through 10, I credit the pictures to the developers and the iTunes store.

1. Flight control $0.99 By: Firemint

2. Pocket God $0.99 By: Bolt Creative

3. Zombievill USA $1.99 By: Mika Mobile

4. Wolfenstein 3D Classic $4.99 By: id Software 

5.  Sully’s Flight $0.99 By: Laminar Research

6. 3D Brick Breaker Revolution $2.99 By: Digital Chocolate

7.  Flick Fishing $0.99 By: Freeverse Inc.

8. The Oregon Trail $5.99  By: Gameloft

9.  Blocked $0.99 By: Joel Rosenberg

10. iFitness $1.99 By: Medical Productions

Vans SK8: Pool Service released

Vans SK8: Pool Service was released Friday March 27. The game is a Tony Hawk like skateboarding game. You can choose between two characters Bucky Lasek and Omar Hassan. There is only one level for now and it is a pool. The game is priced at $4.99. It was released by Fuel Games. They also have another app in the app store called Spinner Deluxe for $1.99. These pictures below are completely credited to Fuel Games and the iTunes store.

You can go to this link to purchase the game: Vans SK8: Pool Service

FPS Hill Billy released into the iTunes App store

Hill Billy a FPS was released into the app store Sunday March 29th. It was submitted at one point for to the app store but was rejected because of its violence. It was resubmitted with green blood instead of red and was accepted. The game was created by Mixels S.c.a.r.l. and this is their first game released in the app store. The game is priced at $5.99. Here are some screen shots of the game below. All credit of the pictures go to Mixels S.c.a.r.l and the iTunes App store.

To purchase the game you can go directly there with this link: Hill Billy

Metal Gear Solid Touch Review

This is my review for Metal Gear Solid Touch.  It was released on March 8th, 2009 for a price of $7.99.  I would like to start off by saying that this is nothing like the Metal Gear Solid series you know. The game is just a shooter and nothing more. Although I do want to mention that Hideo Kojima announced that there will be an update. It will include more action to the game and 8 additional levels.

Metal Gear Solid Touch is a solid game for the iPhone. While to many it does not have much to offer, it still does a really good job of what it’s suppose to do. There are a total of 12 levels in the game.  Before each level starts you are shown a picture, followed by text to provide you with the story of the game, and finally a screen that gives you an objective. The objective is usually to take down a certain amount of PMC soldiers.  Each level is comprised of picking off PMC soldiers that pop out randomly in the stage. Your weapon choice is limited to an M4 and SVD sniper rifle. Throughout the level little ducks will pop up  that you can shoot to regain health. In later levels little frogs will pop up that you can shoot to acquire a rocket launcher.  Typically the rocket launcher will be most effective in boss battles.  After the completion of each level a screen shows you your stats for that level and gives you a rank.  The better you do in each level the more DP (Drebin Points) you are awarded. You can cash in those points in the Drebin shop to get different high quality wallpapers for your iPhone. I’d like to also bring up there is a section on the main screen called Special, which takes you to another screen with the list of all the Metal Gear games. You can click on the titles and they give you an extremely short synopsis of the game.

The controls are really sleek in this game and respond very well. Snake sits behind sand bags to take cover. To aim and shoot in the game, all you have to do is drag your finger to bring snake up from cover. To shoot at enemies you tap the screen where the enemy is. To use the sniper rifle, spread your fingers out and you’ll zoom in. To zoom back out you just pinch the screen.  The controls are simple but they make the game fun, especially when you go for headshots.
The music in the game is good. It is repetitive, but it’s Metal Gear Solid music so it will be enjoyable to hardcore fans.  I have seen complaints about people wanting to be able to play their own music. Metal Gear Solid requires unique music and listening to Backstreet Boys is not appropriate. Maybe it would work if your playing the Metal Gear Solid 1,2, 3 or 4 albums.. The sound of the shots are perfect and great quality for the iPhone. Overall the sounds and music fit the game well.
Graphics for this game are very good. People have such high expectations in graphics that it’s all they think of. The graphics are 2D sprites with some rendering.  Even though the iPhone is capable of so much more in graphics,  they still look great no matter what anyone says. If you want to play a full on cinematic looking Metal Gear game, pick up one of the console versions.
Honestly there isn’t a whole lot to the game. It can be finished very fast. Metal Gear Solid Touch is a pick up and play type of game. It is very easy to come back and play through a level to take out some PMC soldiers.  If you want to collect all the wallpapers in  Drebins shop, you’ll have to put some serious time in.  One of the wallpapers cost as high as 100,000 DP.  With the announced update of 8 extra levels (free to those who already bought the game) the games value should go up. Unless you are seriously into this game, there isn’t much replay value.
The last thing I would like to bring up in this review are the issues I found with the game. The first one is on the title screen when you try to select an option. The response to tapping an option is kind of funky. If you tap it like normal it won’t respond, but if you tap really fast it will respond.  Another issue I found in the game is that there is no pause or quit button during levels. I guess the reason behind this was to keep the action intense? Although it doesn’t take long to beat a level, it would be nice to pause if you have to for whatever reason. The last issue I want to bring up is the price. $7.99 for this app was too high and not necessary.  The highest it should have been priced was $4.99. I highly doubt it will drop that much or even at all since it is made by Konami. If you are a hardcore Metal Gear Solid fan, or are willing to take a risk I say pick it up.  Even though it is $7.99, it seems it still hasn’t been hurting that much. It is currently number 19 out of a 100 right now on the paid app list.
Overall I give Metal Gear Solid Touch an 8/10

Gameplay and video review soon to come!