Features

The free iPhone game Trawler Report: Table Tennis Star, Hero of Sparta and Isotope top off a mammoth mound of freebies

2nd June 2009

The free iPhone game Trawler Report: Table Tennis Star, Hero of Sparta and Isotope top off a mammoth mound of freebies
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We’ve been swamped onboard the Trawler this week. Each day, the catch of freebies just kept on expanding, and none of them is a red herring. In fact, so voluminous is this week’s harvest of freebies that we’ve dropped the ‘Crap Apps’ slot for a week.

We even had to drop some strong early candidates back into the waters of the App Store, such was the competition for a place on this week’s report.

We can only assume that everyone’s been getting their games out there before all the revelations of E3 render all current games redundant. Then again, perhaps these freebies are just being offloaded before it gets a little too sunny and we all dump our iPhones and iPod touches and head for the nearest beach.

Even if you are misguidedly heading for the beach instead of settling down with your iPhone and an ice cold glass of lemonade, why not have a gander at this week’s mammoth selection of freebies as your sun tan lotion soaks in.

The best free iPhone games on the App Store
The Trooper Lite
By
Quattro Media Corporation
What is it? It’s a symbol-matching war zone
Type Demo

Symbol-matching games may be ten a penny on the App Store, but some of them try to add a little spice into the mix.

The Trooper blends a bit of war into its symbol-flicking gameplay by making matches act as attacks against invading enemies. A road leading to your base is shown above the symbol grid, so you can actually see which units are attacking you.

You just have to destroy enemies by matching symbols before they reach your base. It’s an imaginative take on this saturated genre that’s worth a look for puzzle fans. The Lite version lets you play a few rounds at a couple of different difficulty levels.

Hero of Sparta Lite
By
Gameloft
What is it? It’s a 3D hack ‘n slash fest
Type Demo

We’ve been spoilt by Gameloft’s artisans recently, with Assassin’s Creed and Terminator Salvation offering some of the best visuals seen on the iPhone.

However, long before either of those was released, Hero of Sparta was doing the rounds. A gorgeous 3D hack ‘n' slash game, it allows you to control your character with a left thumb-controlled analogue stick, while the right is used for attacking.

Although perhaps not the most sophisticated game you’ll ever play, but this accomplished adventure won a silver award at review, and it's well worth a look if you’re not keen to lay down the cash on a whim for any of Gameloft’s other premium games.

Platypus Lite
By
Astraware
What is it? It’s a claymation horizontal shooter
Type Demo

Animating with clay is expensive and time consuming. Nick Park took the best part of a decade to get his first Wallace and Gromit feature off the ground, and even that clay stalwart series has come close to relenting to the onward march of the CGI brigade. Platypus owes its unique look to claymation, having been constructed using the technique.

A horizontal arcade shooter, you control a little ship with your finger, blasting away enemy ships. Although standard fare in some respects, Platypus’s parallax scrolling backgrounds - also clay creations - give the game a look that draws you into its squidgy world.

Sally’s Spa Lite
By
Games Cafe
What is it? It’s a fast paced casual game about pampering people
Type Demo

The serve-‘em-up sim is arguably where work and play coincide most successfully, considering that the actions you’re undertaking in-game are really, well, work.

As the title suggests, in Sally’s Spa you play as Sally and run her salon. This comprises doing haircuts, face masks, massages, colouring - the works, basically. What makes it enjoyable of course it the fact that you get to take their cash at the end of it.

Once you’ve amassed enough, you can then upgrade your salon, hire staff and even move to new premises. Although the aim is world domination, one haircut at a time, Sally’s Salon is thoroughly casual and gets on with the iPhone’s touchscreen like a barber’s shop on fire

The full game lasts for absolutely ages, and this Lite version that lets you play a few stages should keep you going for a while too.

Johnny Crash Free
By
Digital Chocolate
What is it? A solemn and sober simulation of violent male ballistics
Type Demo

Even if you haven’t played a game like Johnny Crash on your iPhone, you may well have experienced one on your browser.

You have to launch Johnny into the air with the help of a cannon, and then try and keep him in the air by hitting certain objectives and special objects mid-air. Rather than just being a case of having to try to fire him as far as possible, each level has an certain stunt to have to complete in order to progress.

In the free version, you have to steal clothes from someone’s backyard clothesline, fly through an oil fountain and catch a lift with a passing eagle. Although undoubtedly silly, Johnny Crash is good fun.

Table Tennis Star Lite
By
THQ Wireless
What is it? It’s table tennis, obviously
Type Demo

When we reviewed Table Tennis Star on mobile, it became our favourite mobile table tennis game, scooping a gold award.

Although it has a little more competition for the top spot on the iPhone, its chops have been ported over to the touchscreen almost perfectly. Weirdly though, the bats don’t actually move as convincingly as they did back on the humble handset.

You get to play a full match in this Lite version. Although it’s not exactly against the most challenging opponent, it’s enough to give you a feel for Table Tennis Star’s intoxicatingly fluid controls. Although shots come and go in less than a second, in that time you get to set your position, spin and power, all with a gesture or two on the touchscreen.

Low Grav Racer Lite
By
Cobra Mobile
What is it? It’s futuristic accelerometer-controlled racing
Type Demo

The App Store’s been positively dripping with race games recently, including such high profile rubber burners as Need for Speed: Undercover and Fast & Furious.

However, within Low Grav Racer’s racing niche, the futuristic high-speed hover racer, this game remains one of the top contenders.

You control a huge metal craft, using the accelerometer to swerve it around the tracks, trying desperately to stop it from crashing into the side.

The free version lets you race two different speeds of vehicle over two interstellar tracks. WipEout fans should find a lot to like in Low Grav Racer, but even if you’ve never played any games from that classic series, Low Grav Racer’s worth a download.

Pick of the Week

Isotope Lite
By
Affogato
What is it? It’s a slick sci-fi shooter
Type Demo

Modern retro-tinged gaming is all about neon. If you take a game from the mid to late '80s and you add a bit of a neon vibe to its ancient graphics, you’ll be instantly hailed as stylish and most certainly ‘up with the kids’.

Okay, so it’s not quite that simple, but games like Geometry Wars have set this precedent over and over again.

Isotope is laden with this neon vibe, but it looks fantastic thanks to it. A dual analogue stick shooter, it lets you use your left thumb to control your plane’s movement and your right thumb to direct its fire. In each level you collect cash and experience points to buy new ships, upgrades, weapons and abilities. It's a shooter with depth.

The full version isn’t available, but this Lite version lasts longer than most, letting you play through a handful of levels and upgrade your craft. C’mon, get with the kids and give Isotope a download.