Farewell, September! Pretty soon we’ll be seeing Halloween apps making their way to the App Store, but in the meantime, here are our picks for this week’s best games.
Go play!
Where’s My Water?
Ok, so it’s not surprising that a monolithic company like Disney can make a good iPhone game, but it’s nice to see that they’re interested in pursuing original IPs too and not just making games based on their film work. Where’s My Water is a winning example of this endeavour and it proves that they don’t need a familiar franchise to make a great game.
In this fresh title, the sewer alligator, Swampy, needs some help preparing his bath. He loves clean water, which makes him the target of his fellow alligators’ malicious tricks. Your job is to get the clean water to him, and you’ll have a challenging time of it since you need to avoid traps, sewage and all other manner of obstacles.
There are lots of levels and the visuals are so gorgeous that you’ll want to keep playing just to see more of Swampy and his rubber ducky. Terrific top to bottom, Where’s My Water is an easy recommendation. And did we mention it’s universal binary?
Monster Island
How’s that for a happy icon? It belongs to Monster Island, and you’re going to find a lot more just like it on the island as you fight to rid it of unpleasant thug monsters that are causing trouble.
Each level requires you to lob various kinds of bombs to clear away the baddies, and there are five different types of projectile to unlock — each with its own specific strengths and characteristics that will help you. There are many many levels to get through and simple gameplay and vibrant visuals make it easy to lose yourself in the game.
Game Center features are included for social gaming fans, and if you want to listen to your own music while you play, the game will automatically silence its own soundtrack on startup which is thoughtful. If you’re not convinced, they have a web-based version of the game on the developer’s website that you can play for free!
Stardash
OrangePixel, the talented developers behind Meganoid, are back with another deliciously retro game — Stardash! This is really a continuation of their goal to bring nostalgic ’90s arcade gaming to the modern mobile world.
This time, however, even colour has been removed from the equation, leaving you in a sepia-toned world that may as well have been crafted for the original Gameboy. The game is very much a typical platform jumping game, complete with coins to collect, monsters to squish and hidden levels to uncover. There’s not much in the way of innovation here, but that’s the point — and few games so faithfully reproduce the unique charm of old arcade games as well as this one.
Despite the retro stylings, the levels are extremely well designed and very detailed, and the legitimate chiptunes in the soundtrack are sure to bring a smile to your face. If you’re a fan of nostalgic gaming then Stardash will make you very happy, otherwise your enjoyment will depend on how fond you are of games that eschew visual flair in favour of polished gameplay, strong style and retro sensibilities.
Price: $1.99
Developer: OrangePixel
Download: App Store
Tiny Journey
In the puzzle category, the charming little Tiny Journey pulls into the station bringing a neat gameplay mechanic and plenty of charisma despite its basic premise.
If you recall being an air traffic controller in Flight Control, then you’ll understand the perspective here as you control a train on its way through each level. You’ll need to pick up passengers along the way, and you have to be careful to avoid obstacles, connect power, switch tracks and more. It plays very well and ramps up smoothly in difficulty so you always feel challenged but never frustrated.
Candy-like graphics wrap everything up in a pretty package, and the price is just right for this streamlined train puzzler. All aboard!
Hero’s Way
We’ll end off with an RPG this week, and a free one at that. Hero’s Way is actually a title that we noticed earlier but wanted to spend some more time with before including. It’s not the largest or most visually arresting RPG that’s been released on iOS, but it offers some innovations and plenty of replay value instead.
For starters, the gameplay includes some clever drag-and-drop motions for combat which feel perfectly suited to the iPhone and help make an otherwise familiar battle experience feel fresh and immersive. The three hero classes you can choose from are also upgradeable, and you’ll want to progress so you can collect the hundreds of items, gems, spells and attacks available to you. The levels are all randomly generated so you’ll never get bored, and plenty of monster types will keep you on your toes as you battle through.
While the graphics aren’t some 3D showcase, they’re beautiful and very artistic and the sound design helps carry the mood superbly. Although free (and universal binary, by the way!) the app features in-app purchases of coins you can use to buy equipment and such. While not necessary, the steep difficulty curve might make it tempting for those who are more impatient. Hero’s Way is a great game that you can easily spend hours with, so give it a try!
What Have You Been Playing?
That’s a wrap, folks. Come back next week and leave us a comment if you have some other titles to talk about. Don’t be shy!