A Gaming Diary
iPhone
Words With Friends (iPhone)
May 5th
I wrote a good word, Petey.
Fewer games than ever, but still enough for several moves a day.
FIFA 10 (iPhone)
Apr 30th
The new World Cup edition of the game came out last night, so I played some of FIFA 10 to see if it was actually any good. And, yes, it is. I don’t think I managed to score a goal, but it felt good under my thumbs. It’s got a bit of a reputation online, but I’m not too sure why. On the field, where it counts, it’s a very decent game.
I never touched him!
So, yes, in the early hours of the morning, still mostly asleep, I opened up the App Store and bought the World Cup game. Impressions next week.
Chaos Rings (iPhone)
Apr 30th
Went through the first dungeon at the second difficulty level and didn’t die! Hooray for me!
Die weird bird thing, die!
Partly because I’m stronger than I was, but mostly because I didn’t make any stupid mistakes. Also, there aren’t any bosses, so I was able to use magic in standard fights and not worry.
It’s a slog, this game, but it’s a good slog.
Tilt To Live (iPhone)
Apr 28th
One of the best just got better, with two new game modes added in an update yesterday. And not as paid-for DLC, either – these came for free.
Gauntlet mode. The green orbs give you extra time.
The first new mode is Gauntlet, in which obstacles come from right to left and you have to avoid them for as long as possible. No combos or scoring, it’s all about survival time. A nice change from the standard gameplay.
Code Red. It is to standard mode what Yorkie is to Galaxy.
The other new mode is Code Red, which is the same as the standard game, but misses of the boring bits at the beginning. This makes an absolutely brilliant game even more absolutely brilliant and makes me want to give the developers big, manly hugs and buy them beer. And then have them buy me beer, because, after all, I’ve already given them my money.
Mmmm… beer.
Street Fighter IV (iPhone)
Apr 28th
Was expecting the new update to turn up last night, but it didn’t. Sometime this week would be good, though, to fit in with the release of Super Street Fighter IV on the big consoles.
A glorious sight.
Anyway, rather than fight as Blanka, as normal, I decided to do some training with Chun-Li. She’s very odd, with her mix of half circles and charge moves. Seems like she might be fun if I could get used to her, but her special move training missions were harder than I expected.
I’m really excited about Super Street Fighter IV, you know. The PS3 version is in the post to me right now, but I really wish there was an equivalent of the iPhone control system. The iPhone version of the Street Fighter IV is so good because it’s all about good fighting tactics and not just performing complicated thumb movements.
Super Turbo Action Pig (iPhone)
Apr 28th
Another freebie, but a more immediately fun one than Koan. You’re a pig, flying from right to left and you have to avoid obstacles. To do this you press the screen to move up and release to float down. All very simple. It’s gorgeously presented, hard but fair and I’m very glad I’ve got it.
Fly, porky, fly!
I also like the fact there’s a goal beyond mere survival – every now and again golden sausages fly past and if you pick up five of them, well, something good happens, I expect. One day I might find out what – no spoilers, please!
Koan (iPhone)
Apr 28th
No idea what’s going on here, really. You move your black tile on to white tiles to earn points – the faster you move, the faster your time runs out, but the more points you score. Every now and again tiles of other colours pop up and give you extra points or reverse the colour of the board, or something.
I have no idea why I sometimes get thousands of points and sometimes almost none.
It all seems really rather random and if there’s any real strategy, I can’t see it. It is, however, bizarrely compelling, in a weird way. And, you know, it was free, which is always a bonus.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Apr 28th
PUGS on a triple word score. Not bad, but not great.
This has all calmed down a bit, in that I’m playing fewer games. The people left playing, though, seem to be the hardcore, so I’m probably playing almost as many moves per day as I ever was.
It’s been an absolute bargain for 59p, that’s for sure.
Angry Birds (iPhone)
Apr 27th
This is a tough level - don't forget the pigs at the bottom.
Didn’t play much on the old iPhone last night, but I did get some Angry Birds time in. I haven’t finished the new levels yet and they’re going to be very hard to get three stars on, from the looks of it. Not that that’s a bad thing, I don’t think. It’s great to have a new bird to play with, especially as getting the timing right for the boomerang move is pretty tough.
