A Gaming Diary
iPhone
iSplume (iPhone)
Oct 6th
It’s like Puzzle Bobble, but there are different sizes of bubble and you can tip your iPhone to change the gravity, which is a neat little feature.
It’s actually great fun, but unfortunately it’s terribly easy and there’s no endless high score mode, so once you’ve completed the twenty levels – which takes no time at all – there’s not much to do beyond going back to beat your scores on old levels.
It’s a shame that there’s no endless mode, because it would have given the game a lot more life – especially with a proper online high score table.
On the plus side, the game’s completely free. At 59p I’d probably have given it a cautious recommendation, as it is excellent while it lasts, but for free there’s no excuse not to go and get it.
Doodle Jump (iPhone)
Oct 6th
Now, I like Doodle Jump, I do. I just wish it didn’t have any enemies. Shooting at them just complicates things, I’d prefer to just tilt.
So I pleased when I saw the game had had an update allowing you to play in Classic mode, without any of the extra stuff that’s been added in updates.
Two problems with that, though.
1) It seems that the game actually had enemies in the first version.
2) It seems to share high scores with the current version, unless I’m missing something, but seems to be a fair bit easier.
Hmm. Anyway, I just put it back to the current version after a game or two of the classic version.
Whichever way you play it, it’s good fun and all, but I still don’t like the extra complication of having to tap the screen to try and shoot enemies. I never seem to hit the buggers, anyway.
Alive 4-ever (iPhone)
Oct 6th
Got to the first boss last night and dispatched him handily, due to having saved up for an M-16 to replace my starting gun.
After I few tries I even managed to beat the boss in less than a minute to complete the challenge for that level.
The new gun hasn’t helped so much in Survival mode, though. My new best is about five and a half minutes, so it’s only given me another minute or so.
Maybe I need to get better at the game instead of relying on stat upgrades? That’s a shocking thought.
I’m enjoying this game so much more after the update to version 1.1.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Oct 6th
I think I’ve been losing more games than I’ve been winning lately.
Am I getting worse, are other people getting better, am I playing different people, am I just having a run of bad luck?
I don’t know.
Stoneloops of Jurassica (iPhone)
Oct 5th
I doubt anyone reading this blog doesn’t know Luxor, Zuma or Actionloop.
I really don’t think I need to talk about the mechanics of the game. If, however, that screenshot doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, you have to fire balls into the chain that snakes around the screen and when you match three or more of the same colour they disappear.
It’s a good game concept – this version uses the Luxor method of moving across the bottom of the screen, rather than rotating in the centre – and the controls work perfectly in this iPhone version.
It’s also very well presented and even includes an odd feature where your house gets upgraded every few levels.
Not sure what that’s about, but it’s always nice to have some little extras like that in a game.
The game runs perfectly, the controls never fail you, there’s an amusing voiceover and I honestly can’t think of a single complaint. Even the difficulty curve, often a problem in games of this type, has been good so far, starting off easy and gradually ramping up the challenge.
There’s a Lite version that gives you more than enough levels to make a decision and the full version only costs 59p, which seems like a bit of a bargain given the polish and huge number of levels in the game.
Canabalt (iPhone)
Oct 5th
This may be a very simple game.
It may only consist of one button press.
Games may only last anywhere from about five seconds to about two minutes.
It may not have any colour.
It may cost £1.79.
But if you let any of those put you off, you’re a big old wronghead.
Because, you see, it’s brilliant. It’s everything an action game should be, distilled down. It’s Mirror’s Edge pared down to the bone. It’s lean, taut and endlessly exciting and involving. It plays wonderfully without sound, but when you do turn the volume up the sound effects and music do a great job in enhancing the experience.
It is, as I said, brilliant.
And so am I as, as this score proves.
Shame about the Twitter bug that stopped me from changing accounts, but I’ve had an email from the developers saying they’ll be fixing it. Until then, I just won’t annoy people by tweeting my scores. Even the really good ones.
Alive 4-ever (iPhone)
Oct 5th
I hadn’t played this since getting my new iPhone because I’d lost my save file and didn’t feel like restarting.
On Saturday morning, though, the game updated to version 1.1, which adds some excellent new stuff.
First off there’s a survival mode, where the aim is simply to go as long as possible without dying. You get a special gun if you last ten minutes – I’ve managed about four and a half so far.
Then there’s Horde mode, where you have to survive waves of zombies, with guns being given out for surviving a certain number of waves.
They’re both good additions, making leveling up a lot more interesting than simply going back and playing early levels.
The best new feature, though, is a lot more simple – there’s now an icon next to a level that appears when you’ve completed that level’s bonus challenge. No longer do I have to try and remember which levels I’ve completed fully, hooray!
So I played a lot of this at the weekend. The first seven levels are pretty simple, but there’s a big jump in difficulty at level eight. I managed it after a few tries, but I’m now having quite a lot of trouble on level nine. Great fun, though, and the update has made the game a lot more enjoyable.
FIFA 10 (iPhone)
Oct 5th
Been very much enjoying this. I even started a game in Manager mode. It’s not a full management game, by any means, but it’ll let me go through a few seasons with a team instead of just playing one-off games and doing the odd cup.
I started with Torquay, as I’ve played them in Football Manager. Their £15M transfer budget seemed a bit high. You know, just a little. (I tried to buy David Beckham, because he’s only worth £14M, but he refused to come to the club, saying he was too good for us. More importantly, their name breaks the score display at the top of the screen.
I couldn’t live with that, so I started another game as Aston Villa, which gets nicely shortened to AV and looks fine. So far we’ve played three games and won two. Interestingly, the game doesn’t seem to randomise fixtures – I’m just playing through the Premier League in alphabetical order.
So, yes, the game’s a bit rough around the edges, but on the pitch I’ve got no complaints, and that’s where it counts.
BaDaBoo (iPhone)
Oct 5th
Free game supported by some non-intrusive ads that appear at the top of the screen now and again. I’m not sure how often, or what they’re for, because I barely noticed them. One asked me to enter my email address, I remember that much. Guess what? I didn’t.
Anyway, the game. You flick the big blob around the screen and send the smaller ones flying. The small ones change colour when they hit the big one. You get points for collisions and for any blobs that are the same colour as the big blob when everything settles back down.
The game description says you can use strategy or luck, but I’ve been entirely unsuccessful when trying to use any strategy. I’ve had a lot more fun just flicking the big blob as hard as I can and watching everything bounce around. In that way it’s a limited success – well presented, nicely tactile and fun for a couple of minutes here and there – but it’s not a great game by any means.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Oct 5th
Played quite a lot of this over the weekend. Got quite a few games on the go.
My best move of the weekend was this one.
Annoying to not quite get up to triple figures, but at least that way it doesn’t break the little score bubble.
