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A Gaming Diary
Samurai: Way of the Warrior (iPhone)
Oct 7th
Hadn’t played this since getting a new iPhone, so I had to start over.
Got up to level three without much difficulty, though the rebalanced difficulty does seem to have made level two slightly harder and the big jump at level three doesn’t exist any more.
It’s still exceptionally beautiful and I do love cutting people in half and seeing heads roll. I just do.
I think I’m getting the combo timing down again, too. Seems to work best when you do the next gesture just as the animation for the previous gesture finishes, I think.
There’s a Lite version now, by the way, and the full thing’s on sale for 59p at the moment, so there’s no excuse for not having a go.
If you think you’ve found a bug on level one with a gate that won’t open, check out some paths to your left. Caught me out first time and almost caught me last night, too.
Stoneloops of Jurassica (iPhone)
Oct 7th
Went through another couple of levels last night.
Right now, the difficulty level is just about perfect for me. I can – and do – fail levels, but I win them more often. I like that sense of danger without getting stuck.
Hopefully the game won’t get too hard.
I’m doing better on the bonus levels now, so I’m starting levels with power-ups fairly often, which helps.
Alive 4-ever (iPhone)
Oct 6th
Oh, hey, I broke Survival mode.
I ran out of ammo and ran off to find some more, all panicked like. I noticed as I ran that no new zombies seemed to be arriving on screen. I shot one of the huge horde that was following me and – lo! – a new one appeared.
I tested it some more, running around for ages, leading the slow shambling mass of rotting flesh around the level. No new zombies. Shot a couple in the horde, two more appeared from offscreen.
So it appears that there’s a maximum number of zombies that the game can put in a level and, if you manage to get a load of slow ones, you can simply lead them round the level to your heart’s content.
It doesn’t affect the leaderboards or leveling up your character, as they both appear to be tied to the points that come from killing, but it does allow you to run around for ten minutes to unlock the super gold pistol.
It feels a bit cheap, but it’s an awesome gun. I went back into Survival mode after unlocking it and lasted nearly five minutes using that gun alone. That’s really not bad for a sub weapon. And, yes, I was actually killing zombies that time.
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.
