It seems fitting that it’s through the devices and services that he helped pioneer that Steve Jobs is being so fondly and enthusiastically remembered in the wake of his untimely death.
His impact for many of us was as much inspirational as practical, and though the wound is still raw, we should remember his encouragements to live life to the fullest — and we can continue to do so, celebrating his work in the process, by looking to the App Store for some of the notable game releases from this week.
The Adventures of Timmy: Run Kitty Run
A boy called Timmy who wears a cat suit is the hero of our first game this week. In The Adventures of Timmy: Run Kitty Run, you’ll find yourself struggling to rescue the prettiest girl at school who has been kidnapped by the school bully.
Timmy is a beautiful adventure platformer, and the level of care that has gone into the characters and environments is hard to miss. There are four chapters for a total of 36 levels that take you through the bully’s lair. The platforming is straight-forward but full of charm, with all the wall jumping, head stomping action you could ask for.
Currently on sale for launch, you can grab it for a dollar and help Timmy get his girl back — and make no mistake, once you pick it up you’ll find it hard to stop playing until you’ve succeeded!
Shadowgun
One of the relatively rare entries into the App Store’s elite category of games that truly show off the iPhone’s capabilities, Shadowgun brings a strong third-person shooter experience to the palm of your hand and the result is nothing short of stunning.
Console-quality graphics are just the icing on a well-rounded cake that features incredibly tough and varied enemies, a story with multiple paths and endings, unlockable content, and more. The control scheme is the familiar virtual dual-stick that seems to work best for the touch screen, and you’ll find it accessible and responsive, with comfortable stick sizes and an uncluttered interface so you always have a good view of what’s happening.
The developers describe it as a first entry in what will become a franchise, and that makes it all the more exciting to know that there will be a constant stream of updates and improvements. That said, this is without a doubt a showcase title for the iPhone and one that any shooter fan should play.
Price: $7.99
Developer: Madfinger Games, a.s.
Download: App Store
Piggy Adventure
In the world of Avelon, a fell wind has blown away the wonderful colours from the land. You play as a trio of painters who have set out to restore colour to the world and discover the truth behind their disappearance.
Using either tilt or touch based controls, you’ll have to make your way through many levels of top-notch physics gaming making use of the three animals as a team. The quality of the artwork and especially the animations set this entry into the genre apart from its competitors, but more innovatively, the developers have added a cool live recording mode that allows you to take videos of your playthroughs and share them on various networks directly from the app. This is an incredibly clever way to encourage people to spread the word and it works smoothly.
With more subtle features like hints, control sensitivity adjustment and unlockable secrets, you’ll find it hard to put this one down.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Com2uS Inc.
Download: App Store
Another World — 20th Anniversary
If the title of this game sounds familiar, it means that you’re either a nostalgic gamer or were around to play it in one of its previous incarnations on platforms that started with the Amiga, and was later ported to various other systems before arriving in iOS form for this 20th anniversary version.
The game achieved a huge cult following for its use of cinematic techniques to further the plot and depict expressive characters. As with some previous re-release efforts from other companies, there is a strong desire to be faithful to the original even as it’s brought to a new platform. Accordingly, you can switch between the original graphical fidelity and the snazzy new HD overhaul at any time, and there is still a virtual d-pad control scheme along with the new touch option.
The game itself is a sci-fi adventure about a physicist who is inadvertently trapped on an alien world by an experiment gone wrong, and must overcome fearsome local wildlife and difficult puzzles to survive. The story has aged well and the port is a terrific one that’s well worth playing for fans and newcomers alike.
HECTOR: Ep3 — Beyond Reasonable Doom
With the third installment on the App Store, it seems like a good time to feature the new series that’s been keeping Telltale Games — the folks responsible for the new Monkey Island series — busy for the past while. Hector is a similarly comedic series about a wonderfully crass and obnoxious law enforcement officer (named Hector of course) in the squalid town of Clappers Wreake.
The plot is both hilarious and incredibly engaging, and it would be a crime to spoil it; suffice it to say that you’ll definitely want to play it from Episode 1 and continue through. Telltale does episodic gameplay very well and each episode is satisfying in length and content despite being part of a greater whole. The game, like you’d expect, is an old-fashioned point-and-tap adventure game for the modern era, and the mechanics have been polished to the point of perfection.
Without a doubt, the Hector series is among the most gut-bustingly hilarious game series on the App Store and would be worth playing just for that. To top it all off though, they’re actually great games too with fun gameplay and rewarding storytelling, so there’s really no excuse for not giving them a try.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Telltale Inc.
Download: App Store
What Have You Been Playing?
We hope you enjoy this week’s selections and welcome your comments, thoughts or questions as we all continue to celebrate the legacy left behind by Apple’s late and great founding father.