iPhone Roundup Comments by Kristan Reed

From Kotaku:

You may see other reviews be more kind to this game. Forget them. Those people may want to love this game, and that’s overriding their common sense, because I Love Katamari is broken. And that’s a damn shame. The iPhone needs ports of popular franchises like this if it’s going to gain traction as a gaming platform. Then again, when it gets ports like this, you wonder if the machine’s ever going to be up to the task.

Does that mean the game's been patched, then?

(For about five minutes this morning this was up with the wrong score for Katamari, because I am a total idiot. Sorry about that. Originally Kristan reviewed the pre-patched version before Christmas, but reconsidered once the patch came out, and I forgot to change the score when reformatting the review.)

Yep, it was patched a couple of weeks after release (and therefore most reviews, presumably).

Other good games:
Field Runners (basically tower defence for the iphone ... hooray!)
Space Deadbeef
And the awesomely amazing and free Trace



TRACE! Did I mention it's free?

Wicked. I do like to get me some Katamari. Although that means I need to buy an iPhone, and as they're more expensive than a PS3.... I'll pass for now.

Frenzic is pretty awesome too.

Some other good games for the iPhone but are less well known (surprised you didn't review Rolando) are;

7 citiesTD (better than Fieldrunners)
Tiki Towers (world of gooish)
Orions ( card game combat mixed with rts building strategy)
Aurora; Beginning (puzzle quest but slicker)
RF09 (football that works)
Warefare inc ( RTS )
Chicktionary (word game that's fun)
Numba (very good 3 block variation puzzler)

Dr. Awesome 59p (I think). I played it to death for about a week. Great value.

Oh, and this place is good for reviews ... www.appvee.com

I had to realise recently that my 1st gen Touch is too slow for many 3d games (like Hero of Sparta), which runs smoothly on a 2nd gen one, and is hardly playable on mine. :-/

What is the music like in the Katamari game Kristan?

Puzzle Maniak is very good value (£3) for a great collection of 15 simple well implemented puzzle games. The best element is ranked score boards based on daily challenges for each type and player challenges where you can challenge others to beat your times.

Bought an iTouch late last year. It is the best handheld machine by a looooong way.

Games are constantly knocked down in price. Have spent £2.99 twice, but mostly spend £1.19 or 59p for my games.

Brilliant range of games, covering every genre known to man.

Get clued in at:
http://toucharcade.com/
http://fingergaming.com/
http://www.148apps.com/

THIS is the gaming revolution.

The music is awesome - just stuff you'll be familiar from past games.

Thanks for the roundup EG, it was about time you gave iPhone some more coverage. Check the forum thread for some other great recommendations.

Ref. the Bejewelled 2 review. Their IS a high score table stored locally - there is a big red button on the menu screen that says "scores". This shows high scores for each mode, and also a "rank" - but this rank is sadly not linked to any online scoring system.

Maybe this is another game that has been updated since review time ?

Dr Awesome is highly amusing

We're looking at a bunch of other iPhone games - I've spent much of the last few weeks checking out recommendations and dipping into some truly great stuff. Check back soon for a few more roundups.

Crayon Physics Deluxe? Rolando? The iPhone/Ipod TOuch have lots of great, and ultimately CHEAP games.
Sure, it's not a PSP/DS killer....YET, but it's geting there.

Lack of buttons is still a major problem, but still, the quality of the games has risen dramtically in the last few months. And even the most expensive ones cost a fraction of what you have to pay for a comparable DS title.

@seasidebaz - get an iPod Touch.

No contract (YAY !), no pesky phone calls, no GPS (boo), no crap camera - BUT wifi and all the other goodness of an iPhone. And all for less than a PS3 or a Wii.

Thats what i did.

about time!!
but wheres Rolando!!

awesome game, leagues ahead of anything else on the handheld. For the naysayers who say its a rip of locoroco, visually is where the similarities stop. Its a whole different mechanic, and IMHO , a better more rewarding game.

I always wanted to play ILK but not having a PS2 got in the way of that. I just installed it now on the basis of this review and I'm soooo happy. I'm going to guess that the music is by Cornelius. Really sounds like something he'd do.

and wheres EDGE!! superb game!

need a quick follow up to this review.

Why bother reviewing toss like Brothers in Arms, this should be concentrating on games that really promote this new form of gaming not lucrative cash in bollocks

what about a Rolando review?

I hear that's the nutz.

Rolando is the best game on the iPhone by a country mile.
Flick Fishing is nicely addictive as well.

ROLANDO.

I just downloaded de Blob, pretty entertaining little game. My favourite games so far include 7CitiesTD, Fieldrunners and Arena Faint II (I suck at it though). And I would like to say the same for FerrariGT, but I just can't find a comfortable way to handle both steering and throttle/braking at the same time.
Spore Origins is pretty decent as well, although I haven't played it much yet.

I've only had my iPod Touch since Christmas though, so there are obviously a ton of games I haven't tried (even if I try to avoid the worst crap) - but I gotta admit that I usually have a bit of hard time convincing myself to play on such a small device at home when I've got a PS3 and a 40" HDTV sitting in my living room :). And when I'm out of the house I usually tend to feel more inclined to just listen to music than playing games.

I notice there was a small mention that independants will be getting a mention next article...that said I have to agree with a few posts on here:

Edge - strangely addictive, moving a cube about. Music is lovely.
7 Cities TD - different to field runners - a more traditional Tower Defence game with a set path...but way, WAY more upgrades/tower types.
Enigmo - Liquid manipulation puzzle game

...and you can't ignore Galcon!

More articles like this, please!

Are there any games sites like this for the blackberry storm?

JELLY CAR.

It's all about Jelly Car.

thanks Kristan - that seals it for me then.

Oohh.. guess I should check out Rolando.

Personal recomendations from the stuff I've actually tried...

Ivory Tiles
Dizzy Bee
Dr. Awesome
Fieldrunners
Subway
2079
Dropship
Tiki Towers
Galcon
Trace
Word Warp

With honorable mentions to:

Snail Mail
Mouse House
Pong (now called Qong or something, I believe... have avoided updating it as the new name sucks)
touchPhysics
Venger
Asterope
Jellycar
Mazefinger
Black Mamba Racer
Rogue

Please, please please have a look at 'old booth'

We have been taking comedy snaps with it this morning at work. Very, very funny!

@scrumhalf - are you really a scrumhalf? If so, who do you play for?

is that swede as in nathan, in the next room from me??

Swede:

Scrumhalf plays for Wasps
Biggles is a beloved WW1 fighter pilot
and Paleface is an albino who also goes by the name Chalky

Edge - strangely addictive, moving a cube about.

Clever to call a game on the iPhone "Edge", it makes finding info so easy. :p

/publishes PC game "mouse"

I really hate using my iphone for games. It's like incest or something.

Please review Rolando....
Apart from a few unintuitive bits like the spikey bits going the other way it really is amazing! it really is everything loco roco could have been if the psp had an accelerometre! the brilliant thing about the game is that it keeps suprising you with new and interesting bits!

Rolando is definitely on the list, along with most of the suggestions. Thanks for the tips in general, there are a few there I haven't got to yet.

Can anyone confirm if De Blob was patched to improve framerate? I got the initial release and it was very awkward to play because of poor responsiveness due to low framerate.

Galcon is also very good.

@UncleLou - if you search on app store, Edge is the first result!

To add to previously mentioned (good lists all), TouchGrind, Virtual Pool, Super Breakout, Tetris, Flick Bowling, Pinball (Zen and one other) are all pretty good to.

Real Football 09 as mentioned is very good and controls well. Rolando is probably the most professional looking game I've seen on the iPhone, stunning.

What, no Skybound? I really hope Eurogamer will get this reviewed next time, it's the most addictive games since Tetris:
http://skybound.tumbleweedinteractive.co...

Jelly Car is just excellent - and free!

Some other good games - all these are free or have free (lite) versions:-

Topple
Space Deadbeef
Moonlight Mah-jong Lite
Galcon
Lux Touch
Trace
Touch Hockey
Cubes Lite

ifart

Please spend some time with Skybound. I bought it recently for 59p I think and it's super addictive.
Rubbish presentation, sound and looks, but such an addictive game and so few people have bought it which is a massive shame.

Also, Snail Mail, Trace, Chess With Friends, Toy Bot Diaries, Dizzy Bee, Soul Trapper, Dr Awesome, Dropship, Fieldrunners, Platypus, Topple, Trism and Rolando all get thumbs up from me.

virtual pool. basically the exact same as VP3 on the pc. bloody fantastic. no snooker though.... unless i havent unlocked it via the career mode yet

Awesome, I've been hoping that EG would start throwing reviews at iphone games. I know it's already been mentioned, but I would love to see reviews of Rolando, Edge and Field Runners.

Thanks!

If de blob is anything close to the wii version, iphone users are in for a treat.
Its an awesome game!

Poker Quest
Wurdle
Hidden Expedition: Everest
Chess O (free chess, beats me but that's not hard)
Zen Pinball series (Inferno etc.)

My DS starts to collect dust, and the dead battery on my PSP remains unreplaced.