The free iPhone game Trawler report: Trenches Boot Camp, Zenonia 2, and Pocket Chef
26th April 2010
The wax and wane of game types on the App Store can be measured in months, rather than the yearly fads we're used to on other platforms. Look into the figures and it's not hard to see why.
There are now far more than 150,000 apps on the App Store, and many of the most popular are games. The only way to keep up is to be willing to shake off previous favourite games within minutes - to be ready to jump off the latest trend as quickly as you jumped on it. Then again, you could just do what many do and keep on playing Doodle Jump.
This week we have a selection of both games from some of these trends, including a twin-stick shooter and a castle defence game, plus others that have subverted the trend with a nice 'n rabid fanbase, such as Zenonia 2.
The best free iPhone games on the App StoreTrenches Boot Camp
By Thunder Game Works
Type Demo
Tower defence games are old hat, although - like gaming grandads, rambling on about the war - we're not quite ready to let them head off into the sunset yet.
If you're down with the kids, you'll already have moved onto castle defence games. These take place along a horizontal plane and leave you in the middle of a war of attrition as an enemy sends wave after wave of enemies in your direction.
Trenches makes you use the eponymous ditches strategically, to catch enemies out as they march on towards your men. This Boot Camp training edition lets you try out a handful of different units on the battlefield, including the sniper and machine gunner.
By Gamevil
Type Demo If you want to play a game like Zenonia 2, you'd better put aside a good few handfuls of hours. This mobile JRPG may have started its life on mobiles, but its sheer scope doesn't betray this fact.
We recommend checking out this free version before embarking on the full game, especially if you haven't played the original yet. It offers the first five main quests and six sub quests. This may sound like a lot, but the full version includes 98 quests, which would be enough to fill a hefty home console game.
A new feature to Zenonia 2 is the PvP online battle system, which you can also check out in this demo version.
By Tak Fung
Type Freemium The original Mini Squadron was a frantic side-scrolling flying game that managed to give you a remarkable sense of control over a plane, even though it all takes place across a single 2D plane - the kind with axes instead of wings.
Mini Squadron Special Edition is its sequel, and cranks up the action with more enemies and increasingly off-the-wall environments.
Pressing on each side of the screen gets your aircraft's pitch moving up and down, while it will also stall if you try to get it flying too high. Two levels are included for free, and you can buy an additional six, in packs of two, as in-app downloads.
By AngryMob games
Type Demo Twin-stick shooters started off so simple on iPhone. A top-down view, with no aim other than blasting away the undead. Games like Guerrilla Bob and Minigore have taken the genre to its logical conclusion, by laying-on fancy 3D visuals, a proper storyline and real levels bound to a sense of progress.
It's a big, wide world, but when you get right down to ityou're still blasting away at enemies A, B and C with big gun D. This free version will give you a taste of Guerrilla Bob's boomstick.
By Gameloft
Type Demo Gameloft is known for its own-brand approximations of popular games. We wouldn't say that the publisher nicked other peoples' ideas, but N.O.V.A. is a bit like Halo, and GT Racing is reminiscent of Gran Turismo and its also-ran rivals. If Pocket Chef owes a debt to another game, it's Cooking Mama.
We'll hand it to Gameloft with Pocket Chef - if anything, it's better than Cooking Mama on iPhone. Recipes are split into their various component procedures, such as chopping, whipping and fryings, and it's drawn using impressively detailed 3D visuals.
Based on a slight idea, Pocket Chef's execution adds some meat to its bones, end up in a surprisingly tasty package.
By Loserbait
Type Full
Trying to be funny is a dangerous game. Are you sure people want to watch a YouTube video of you doing something "wacky"? Is it merely your ego blocking your view of the big, bright, neon truth?
She is Reported to Have Said That Before is made by the people behind a string of juvenile, fairly idiotic YouTube clips. We know because we've watched some of them. The clips are bad enough by themselves, but this app is something else.
It's a soundboard app full of sexually suggestive sentences that, even in context, would only occasionally border on the humorous. An app by idiots, for idiots.