Now that we’ve crossed into August, we must confront the sad fact that there’s probably more summer behind us than ahead. We feel your pain and are ready to console you, as always, with a new collection of fresh and wonderful games from the App Store.
Click through to see this week’s picks!
Mad Wheels
Many racing fans were skeptical of the iPhone as a platform, but we’ve been increasingly impressed by the genre’s offerings on everyone’s favourite mobile device, and this week we start things off with another game that reinforces our enthusiasm: Mad Wheels.
For those of you still keeping your fingers crossed for a Twisted Metal reboot that you can carry around, you may want to scramble to the App Store to grab Mad Wheels because it’s likely as close as we’ll get for now. For those unfamiliar with Twisted Metal, you can consider Mad Wheels a combination between Burnout’s vicious racing and Mario Kart/Modnation Racers’ item-based attacking of your opponents. In addition to a very impressive single-player arcade-style battle racing mode, you’ll also find an excellent Wi-Fi multiplayer option.
Mad Wheels boasts smooth controls and clean visuals, plus features a solid variety of weapons and powerups to keep things exciting as you hone your skills alone or with friends. Those looking for a pure racing experience should steer clear, but anyone who likes a good old fashioned car brawler will love Mad Wheels.
Price: $0.99
Developer: NewFX Games
Download: App Store
Gesundheit!
One of the most artistically impressive games in recent memory, Gesundheit! is the latest creation from Konami’s mobile division — this time an all-new, original tale for your iPhone!
There are several things worth noticing about the game. First of all, the hand-drawn artwork is absolutely superb and has a vaguely LittleBigPlanet vibe, though somewhat more papery. A cute original score helps support the vibrant visuals, and the cinematic sequences alone are sweet and unpretentious, making the story an easy one to get involved in. Gameplay is the key, of course, and Gesundheit’s is solid. Controlling a sniffling piglet seeking to rescue his friends, you’ll tap to navigate through the levels and devise clever ways of trapping the large beasts that patrol them. Oh, and you’ll also sneeze a lot and use the boogers you launch to attract the monsters.
Gesundheit is completely charming and we can’t wait to see what the promised updates bring, even though we’re still far from beating all 40 levels that are in the game so far.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Konami Digital Entertainment
Download: App Store
Hedgehog Adventure
One of the unfortunate aspects of the App Store is that it has become so staggeringly vast that it’s not uncommon for some extremely good titles to simply miss the spark that sends their competition into the charts. The gorgeous Hedgehog Adventure is a good example of a game that should be receiving more attention than it has been — we’ll do our part.
A platformer at heart, Hedgehog Adventure combines incredible artistic refinement with a simple and engaging gameplay experience that offers all the usual platforming goodness without any extraneous complication. If you’re more into the old-school jumping and collecting of items, then this is your game. There are two things that do set Hedgehog Adventure apart (besides its terrific art), and those are the seamless level transitions and the physics puzzles. The first is a subtle but surprisingly clever thing: at the end of each level, instead of being tossed back to a menu, a door opens and you simply pass through to the next level. This is an incredibly effective way to encourage you to keep playing, because it’s like there’s no set end. As for the physics, the game brings in a series of blocks that end up serving all kinds of puzzle purposes, which keeps the gameplay from getting stale.
Any way you look at it, Hedgehog Adventure deserves more attention, and we’re sure you’ll agree once you’ve taken it for a spin. Ater all, the whole spinning hedgehog thing has worked pretty well in the past, if we recall …
Gravity Lab!
Physics becomes the primary factor in this next app. Gravity Lab! is an interesting puzzle game with a tricky but rewarding new take on the idea of physics puzzles.
You play as Steve the robot, and each level requires you to clear a path while collecting 3 stars. The paths are obscured by coloured blocks, and the core concept of the game is that each colour of block responds to gravity differently. Some will fall down, others will fall up, or left, or right — there are even zero-G neutral blocks! This is fairly mind bending at first glance, but once you’ve made it through the initial levels, you’ll get a better sense for how everything works and what kinds of moves you’ll need to use to get all those stars. The controls are very simple: you just pick a direction to launch Steve in and decide how hard you want to fling him based on how far forward you drag in the launch direction.
The game’s engine is fully 3-D too, and you’ll notice this when you manage to hit all three stars because the game will slow down and zoom in dramatically to show the last one being knocked out, which is very cool. And there are plenty of satisfying, brain teasing levels to keep you busy, so if you need something fresh in your puzzle pantry, check out Gravity Lab!
Price: $0.99
Developer: Mobile Snap, LLC
Download: App Store
Groove Coaster
Ending on a sci-fi note, we draw your attention to Groove Coaster. Think of it like AudioSurf for your iPhone with a strong TRON influence and you’ll have a good idea of what to expect going in.
Groove Coaster is a musical beat game, and as such you can expect to need a good sense of rhythm in order to enjoy it. Luckily, we’ve got so many musical games to play that most of us have had our skills sharpened already. The one-touch controls simply require you to hit the beat (sometimes to hold it) when indicated. Otherwise, you’re encouraged to enjoy the evolving landscapes that each stage generates, and the game is excellent about rewarding you for good gameplay. You’ll find a lot of unlockable goodies including new avatars, skins, and music.
We’re a little unclear on whether or not there are plans to include playing to your own tunes down the road, but for now there are lots of interesting tracks included and the game is addictive enough that you’ll be too busy playing to worry.
Price: $0.99
Developer: TAITO Corporation
Download: App Store
What Have You Been Playing?
If you have a moment, pop into the comments below and tell us what your favourite games from the month of July were. We love your feedback and are always excited to hear what great titles we may have overlooked.