The free iPhone game Trawler Report: The past with Air Hockey Gold, the future with Space Miner, the present with Opel Astra Youstar
22nd March 2010
Spring has sprung, with the first rays of light hitting the UK after the eternal grim winter that seems to have gripped the country since the steel industry collapsed, so we're trying even harder than normal to keep your interest in iPhone gaming up.
This week on the Trawler, we're covering all bases. Fancy some simple fun? Try out Air Hockey Gold. Want something with a touch of the epic about it? Try out Space Miner. Can't do without eye candy and cutting-edge dynamics? Have a go at ngmoco's latest freebie, Eliminate Co-op.
We've got advergames, demos, freemium picks, and a good old demo or two to boot. What more could you want?
Get downloading, grab a glass of cool lemonade and enjoy the sun before it fades. From inside, mind. It's still a bit nippy out there.
The best free iPhone games on the App Store Pipetrix
By Zachary Poley
Type Full
Trying to make Tetris seem new is riddled with potholes - making a classic more complicated can often just make it worse.
Pipetrix is a neat hybrid of Tetris and Pipe Mania. The blocks show up at the top of the screen and fall down slowly just like they did in the original Tetris, but within each block is a series of pipes.
Match up the pipes when they reach the bottom and they'll effectively become the same block, evaporating when part of the block is destroyed in the usual Tetris fashion - by completing lines.
Confused? Give it a try, it makes a lot of sense in action. The touchscreen controls work well too, and there are nine levels of difficulty to test your gaming mettle with.
Ragdoll Blaster 2
By Backflip Studios
Type Demo
Watching an advert about not speeding when driving – those adverts where you see some poor kid contorted into an inhuman shape after being bashed by a careless driver – can be incredibly harrowing. Swap the child with a toy and it's great fun though.
Ragdoll Blaster lets you launch said toys into the air using a canon. Your aim? To hit a target with them. Naturally, each level puts a set of obstacles between you and the target to make things that bit trickier.
You've got a limited number of ragdolls at your disposal, and you might be tasked with breaking down a wall with them, or flipping a switch to open a gate. This lite version lets you try a few introductory levels. Remember, readers - watch your speed.
Eliminate Co-op
By Ngmoco
Type Full Eliminate was the first big-budget game to be based solely around in-app micro-transactions. The original edition was a deathmatch, where you fought against players from around the world online, but Eliminate Co-op shakes this formula up.
Eliminate Co-op lets you team up with other gamers, working together to destroy battle drones rather than just trying to blast each other into oblivion. Many console shooters don't even allow you to play co-op, so once again ngmoco's pushing the gaming envelope on iPhone
You can play Eliminate Co-op for free, but matches drain your energy cells. These regenerate over time, but if you want to play more often you'll have to splash out on more – they can be bought for real money from within the game.
Air Hockey Gold
By Acceleroto
Type Full Remember back in the old days of iPhone gaming, when we used to be happy with a simple game of touchscreen air hockey? Like slipping on a comfortable shoe, you can relive those days with Air Hockey Gold, which will cost you 59p if you want to get rid of the ads that feature in this version.
You can play against a real opponent over Bluetooth, or even on the same iPhone if you're willing to risk it getting flung across the room. You control your paddle using the touchscreen, and just have to make sure that the puck doesn't fall into your goal.
It's simple, but can get very frantic. The AI difficulty ramps up in six stages, from Kiddie to INSANE!. The last one gives your opponent Neo-like Air Hockey abilities, so don't expect to win unless you're a whole lot better than we are.
By Venan Entertainment
Type Demo Yeeee 'Haw. Fancy some space minin'? Venan Entertainment has just released a freebie version of its space mining smash Space Miner: Space Ore Bust where you have to crawl across the galaxy, collecting precious metals from asteroids to get your uncle out of a financial hole.
You extract these ores by blasting the asteroids and pulling in any good stuff left over with your tractor beam. This free version lets you play the first few missions, and try out some ship upgrades.
By Adam Opel
Type Full Volkswagen has done something amazing with the iPhone - it has proved that advergames can be worth playing. Teaming up with Fishlabs, it has produced three classy 3D racers you can get for free from iTunes. That's what you get when things go right. When they go wrong, you get Opel Astra Youstar. It's a video advert for Opel's latest Astra car, and lets you "star" in it by chucking a few pictures into frames within the advert, which move a bit as the final video plays.
You'd have to try very hard to make your pictures make any sense within the advert, and even if you did that, the results probably wouldn't be fun or funny. Not just a crap app – this is an ugly, transparent slice of marketing nonsense.
