New releases round-up: Jacob Jones, Frozen Synapse, Fast & Furious 6, and more
First impressions of this week's new and noteworthy iOS games
Every Thursday, we take time out to look at the week's new and noteworthy iOS games in both words and video.
This week, the standout games are quaint puzzle adventure Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery and deadly smart tactics gem Frozen Synapse.
But there are also a pair of movie games, and the requisite physics-puzzlers and endless-runners. Something for everyone this week, then.
Anyway. Enough talk. Watch the video, then read on for prices and App Store links.
Gravity Guy 2
By Miniclip - iPhone, iPad (69p / 99c)
Showing a curious disregard for the definition of the word 'sequel', Miniclip has just launched a game called Gravity Guy 2 which has almost nothing to do with Gravity Guy 1.
In the first game, you tapped the screen to flip gravity and bounce from the floor to ceiling and back. In this one, you tap to lift the closest platform up into the air and help Gravity Guy bounce up and gracefully float back down onto the next platform.
It doesn't have quite the same immediate feedback of the first one, and there's quite a steep learning curve to figuring out the right timing and rhythm of lifting these platforms. A novel twist on the endless-runner genre, then, but not massively enjoyable.
Tomb Breaker
By Simple Machine - iPhone, iPad (Free)
Gem-matching puzzler Tomb Breaker might look a little casual for us hardcore fiends at Pocket Gamer. But developer Kurt Bieg - of Circadia and Halcyon fame - lends some indie cred to this Facebook-like time sink.
The idea is relatively fresh. Instead of matching adjacent gems, you simply need to run your finger across like-coloured gems that are on the same row or column. Get a string of gems and you'll rack up a hefty score.
It's got all the usual match-three tropes: boosts, Facebook support, in-app purchases, and cartoon visuals. Nothing super, but generally a nice effort and a welcome change from Candy Crush Saga.
Frozen Synapse
By Mode 7 - iPad (£4.99 / $6.99)
In Civilization, as many as four years might whizz past between turns. In Frozen Synapse - essentially a tactical shootout in the world of Tron - a turn takes just five seconds.
In that time, however, you'll be able to micro-manage your little green unit's every movement, and order your squad members to walk, aim, stand, duck, and shoot at precisely the right time.
It's enormously overwhelming, and I've got no hope of giving it a proper go in 20 minutes. But according to our Chris, Frozen Synapse is "a very good port of an excellent strategy game". Ace.
Bombcats
By Radiangames - iPhone, iPad (Free)
Radiangames is best known for games like Inferno+ and Super Crossfire. You know the drill: twin-stick shmups, vector graphics, fancy particle effects.
It's a little surprising, then, to see this dev produce something like Bombcats. This F2P cute and cartoony physics-puzzler looks more like iBlast Moki than Geometry Wars, you see.
The idea of the game is quite clever. When you fire this cat like a slingshot, its tail becomes a fizzing fuse. You've got to finish the stage before kitty goes boom. It's good fun, there are different cats to try, and loads of levels to play.
But, as ever with a Chillingo game, it's packed to the eyeballs with hundreds of different in-app purchases.
Redline Rush
By DogByte Games - iPhone, iPad (69p / 99c)
Redline Rush is an endless-runner dressed up as a racing game. Which is such an obvious idea that I can't believe we aren't inundated with a handful of new 'endless-racers' every single week.
Taking on the role of a Dominic Torreto-type character, you'll avoid traffic and take down coppers in glitzy car chases throughout the city. All you have to do is swerve left and right.
It's got loads of stuff to unlock or buy, including a garage of fancy cars. The handling is okay and it's generally quite fun, but it turns out that swapping a dude for a car doesn't really stop the game from feeling like yet another endless-runner.
Manuganu
By Alper Sarikaya - iPhone, iPad (69p / 99c)
Manuganu is a colourful and competent auto-run platformer, with shades of both Rayman Jungle Run and Joe Danger. It's not as good as either, obviously, but it's a fun diversion if you've finished both games and crave more.
You know what to expect. Across 30 levels, Manuganu will automatically run through the stage. All you need to do is make him jump and slide to leap over chasms and duck under spikes.
There are alternative paths to take; lots of coins and medallions to find; and a few new mechanics introduced in each stage. Bonus: no in-app purchases to be found. Not a bad buy for 69p / 99c.
Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery: Episode 1
By Lucid Games - iPhone, iPad (£1.99 / $2.99)
The maker of Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery owes a fair debt to the creator of Professor Layton (or Puzzle Agent, if you're a member of the App Store faithful). Which means you'll get a range of puzzles you might see on a cereal box here sandwiched between some story and some exploration.
These puzzles aren't particularly fresh, incidentally. Think rolling big cuboids around a grid; tracing your finger over a knot of lines; and flipping on and off coloured lights. But they're well presented and always a little challenging.
The real standout element is the presentation. The squishy vinyl-like characters are enormously cute, the dialogue is enjoyable (and fully voice acted), and the whole story is worth following. This is the first of five episodes. I say bring on Episode 2.
Star Trek Rivals
By Elephant Mouse - iPhone, iPad (Free)
Star Trek Rivals is an asynchronous multiplayer card battler that has been cobbled together in time for the release of the latest Star Trek movie.
The idea is staggeringly simple: you plop down cards - featuring photos of actors and props from the Star Trek Into Darkness flick - that have numbers on each of their four sides. If you place a big number next to a small number, you take over your opponent's cards.
It's about as deep and tactical as Connect 4. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing - Connect 4 is fun, after all. But that's until you realise you can buy cards with much bigger numbers. In this game, fortune favours the rich.
Fast & Furious 6
By Kabam - iPhone, iPad (Free)
Fast & Furious 6 is pretty much CSR Racing. It's a drag racer where you have to launch your car and shift into gear at just the right times to get maximum speed and best your rival.
There are some new ideas here, of course, mind. There are sections where you drift around bends, and, well... Actually, that might be about it.
It's fine and there's lot of stuff to do, but you will face an endless barrage of opportunities to pay up. You can upgrade your car, buy nitrous, and top up your petrol tank. If you're into that, more power to you, man.
This is Not a Ball Game
By Absurd Interactive - iPhone, iPad (Free)
Don't believe the lies. This is Not a Ball Game absolutely IS a ball game.
It's a 3D Angry Birds where you lob balls at physics objects in the hope of destroying three magic boxes. If that's not a ball game, then I'm the British Ambassador to Turkmenistan.
It's apparently "inspired by Absurdism, René Magritte, and the Art Nouveau movement". Which is all well and good, but in reality it's about throwing things at other things in the hope that they will break. Yawn.
All Glory to the Pixel King!
By Steve O' Gorman - iPhone, iPad (69p / 99c)
All Glory to the Pixel King is a turn-based tactics game, with some of the most low-fi graphics imaginable. If this pixel-art was any more abstract, you'd be commanding coloured squares and rectangles.
The idea is to buy an army of troops - including soldiers, archers, and battering rams - and then use them to break into an enemy's castle and kill its king. Before your enemy does the same to your monarch, natch.
It's hardly Fire Emblem: Awakening. In fact, it's extraordinarily simple - you can't even see stats or life bars, so it's really just a matter of guesswork and trial and error to figure out the small rule-set. It's all a little obtuse, which isn't much fun.
