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There are some games that try to impress by offering a well-rounded gameplay experience. Others meanwhile try to latch onto one or two key elements and hope that it’s enough to make up for other potential shortfalls. Violet Storm [$0.99 / HD] squarely falls into the second camp. While the dual-stick shooter impresses somewhat with its take on weapons and visual overstimulation, it may not be enough to overcome the otherwise generic gameplay and presentation.

As a dual-stick shooter, Violet Storm plays it safe with its gameplay offerings. Players have a choice of three different single-player modes: Sniper Mode, which is a timed run scored by accuracy, Speed Havoc, which challenges gamers to destroy a set amount of enemies as fast as possible, and Campaign.

Campaign is the most complete mode and pits you against a never-ending onslaught of enemies separated by timed waves. Survive a wave and you’re given a break (as well as a score bonus) before bigger and more difficult enemies come at you. There isn’t an artificial barrier around the playing field (like Geometry Wars, for example) so players are free to move in any direction for as long as possible. However, enemies will continually spawn near you and blindly running in one direction is a sure-fire way to get cornered and lose health.

As you battle enemy ships, you are rewarded with an occasional power-up (invincibility, damage boost, bombs) as well as weapon upgrades. The weapon upgrades are one area Violet Storm attempts to differentiate itself from other shooters. Weapons are relatively simple at the onset, but quickly build up to ridiculous multi-tracking lasers of various spreads and homing missiles (all being shot simultaneously no less). Last longer, and you even get to play with lighting. While Violet Storm obviously isn’t the first game to pioneer ridiculous weapons, I was impressed with the showcase nonetheless.

Keep in mind all these weapons lead to a dazzling display of visual elements and intensity, which is another area Violet Storm looks to improve upon. It really is a sight to behold when you combine lasers and missiles, along with the large influx of simultaneous weapons and their projectiles on the screen at the same time. In fact, the visuals may be a little too intense, as later levels definitely border on ‘bullet-hell’ extremes (without the precision, unfortunately). Disappointingly, Violet Storm occasionally doesn’t handle all the graphics well, as I encountered some slow-down across all current generation devices during the more hectic scenes.

Notice I didn’t say the game differentiates itself via graphical style; Violet Storm looks very much like a Geometry Wars clone in most ways besides the sheer amount of graphical elements and the weapons. Granted, the game still looks great on most iOS devices, including the new iPad. Oddly enough, while Violet Storm is a universal app, gamers looking for iPad retina assets will need to pick up Violet Storms HD, which is an iPad only app.

Once you get past the weapons and visuals, Violet Storm falters somewhat. The music becomes repetitive rather quickly and ends up detracting. Also, while Sniper Mode and Speed Havoc are nice twists on the standard gameplay, there’s little in terms of actual variety, (save for three difficulty levels) to keep you coming back. The game experience just feels as if it was designed simply to showcase the crazy visuals.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call Violet Storm a one-trick pony, but in terms of bringing things to the genre it’s pretty close. The over-the-top weapons and graphical effects look great, but even those aren’t implemented perfectly. Regardless, outside of those features you’re still left with a competent arcade dual-stick shooter. However, considering the wealth of choices already on the app store, anyone other than fans of the genre may end up deciding to pass on this one.

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I’ve never really been able to figure out what Square Enix’s deal is with the App Store. They go from releasing full iOS-exclusive titles like Chaos Rings [ $12.99 ] to flat-out weird “games” like Voice Fantasy [ $2.99 ] (among other zany titles). The just-released 774 Deaths [ $0.99 ] seems to come from the same “why does this exist” department as Sliding Heroes [ $0.99 ].

Billed as a “murderously difficult action platformer” 774 Deaths, according to Squeenix, is “certain to chew up and spit out even the world’s best gamers.” The format of the game goes a little something like this- You play a pixelated little dude going through rooms filled with locked doors. To progress through the doors, you need to complete the mini-games that each room has to offer you.

So far, I’ve been given the choice of four games, each with the same basic principle of navigating your guy to the end of the level while avoiding what appear to be blood covered blades. Each “game” has a different control method. There’s an auto-runner style game where you tap the screen to jump, a platformer style game with virtual controls, a vertical falling game controlled via tilting, and a similar tilt controlled top-down maze-style game.

None are particularly interesting, and I really can’t quite decide if the game itself is difficult, or if the controls are just terrible. Either way, you beat two of the games inside the room you’re currently in, the next room unlocks, and you repeat the process. Admittedly, I’m stuck on the third room right now, but there hasn’t been much variation to speak of yet. Per the iTunes description, there are 9 rooms in all.

I’m reluctant to call this a “review,” since, as mentioned, I’ve basically reached a stopping point in the game right now. With that being said, I haven’t really found what I have been able to get through to be that enjoyable, and like way too many things that Square farts out on to the App Store, 774 Deaths just has me wondering why an iOS port of Final Fantasy VI doesn’t exist. I’d buy that at a high price. (And I’d even say that in the same tone of voice as the merchant dude in Resident Evil 4.)

For what it’s worth, people in our forums seem to be enjoying 774 Deaths. So, if you’re a glutton for punishment, give it a shot…?

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Earlier this month we caught wind that Phosphor Games was planning to give the paid version of Dark Meadow [ $5.99 ] a free to play extreme makeover. Our community caught wind, formed up the all too predictable angry mob, and the next day Phosphor decided that the free to play version would come as a separate app instead of updating the existing paid version.

Last night, two things happened. First off, Dark Meadow: The Pact [ Free ] hit the App Store, offering players who never tried the original game a free opportunity to dip their toes into the Dark Meadow universe. Secondly, Dark Meadow was updated to have all the improvements of the free version. This includes Retina Display support for the new iPad and some new content which comprises both new areas and enemies as well as weapons. Getting around in the game is also easier, as they’ve not only added an in-game map, but also the ability to warp around so you don’t have to totally start over when you die.

Regardless, I’d still back up your original Dark Meadow .ipa file before updating in case you ever want to go back, especially if you’re the kind of person who hates shoehorned IAP currency. The way I (and a lot of our community it’d seem) read the original explanation from Phosphor on how they were going to split the free and paid versions was more along the lines of “We’re going to add the tweaks and new content from the free to play version to the existing paid version, leaving all the wacky micro transaction stuff to the free version.”

Unfortunately, what we got is an update which adds all the IAP currencies as well along with a consolation prize of sorts which amounts an ability to toggle the ads off along with some normal coins, sun coins (the IAP currency), along with some consumable health packs and bombs. (Bombs destroy enemies without needing to fight them.)

The IAP currency balancing is also crazy. If you want any of the new items which are purchased with sun coins, even in the paid version, you have three options:

1. Grind for eternity farming up kill streaks to earn sun coins.
2. Buy sun coins via IAP.
3. Complete referral offers like signing up for credit cards and online dating sites among other things.

Weirder yet, the way these referral offers are balanced against the actual IAP makes no sense. For instance, one of the referral offers asks you to buy a PC or Mac game from Big Fish Games for $2.99. This rewards you with as much IAP currency as the $9.99 bundle of sun coins, but you also get a PC/Mac game out of the deal. Normally I’d say this isn’t that big of a problem because you can just try to ignore the IAP items and play the game with what you can get with in-game coins… BUT.

The problem with this line of thinking and Dark Meadow is that character progression in these Infinity Blade-like games hinges on gear unlocks, while both saving up and looking forward to the next weapon you can afford. Yes, it’s entirely optional, but looking at what you can buy with the non-IAP currency from the in-game item shop feels like ordering off the kids menu when compared to the substantial difference in power found in the premium IAP-currency items.

That being said, if you can deal with this proverbial carrot being dangled in front of your face while you play through both the free and paid versions of Dark Meadow, the gameplay is actually legitimately better than it was before. IAP schemes aside, combat feels much more responsive, the ability to warp back to near where you were when you died was sorely needed, and it looks great on the new iPad.

The good news is that the guys from Phosphor are all over the thread on our forums responding to user feedback, and seem genuinely interested in making players happy. That counts for something, although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in this trend on the App Store. Dark Meadow was one of the early games powered by the Unreal engine, and it’s sad to see the game go down the same free to play path as everyone else instead of just proudly existing as a premium showpiece title.

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Here’s a story that has multiple layers of coolness, or, as Shrek would say (Yeah, I’m going there.) it’s like an onion. It all started back in September of last year at the 360iDev conference. 360iDev, in case you haven’t heard of it, is a great get-together for iOS developers because it’s still small enough that you can attend it and actually have a pretty good chance of meeting everyone there instead of just falling into the sea of people that show up for a massive convention like GDC. One of the things they seem to do at every 360iDev is a game jam, or, a marathon game development session where developers crank out workable games from start to finish overnight.

TUAW’s Mike Schramm attended the last one, but, instead of covering it for the site he decided to jump right in and build his own game. He blogged the whole thing, which I’ve found to be incredibly interesting to see what it’s like when a blogger jumps to the other side of the fence, so to speak. At events like these, we’re used to just showing up, hanging out, pestering whoever we can, and saying peace out… Not actually slogging through the whole gam jam process and coming out with an workable product entitled Antithesis [ ].

Original concept sketch on the left, final screenshot on the right.

The concept for the game is cool too. It’s a Pong battle, so to speak, where you control a black paddle and defend against a stream of black balls, while an AI-controlled white paddle does the same. The line in the middle shifts back and forth between both sides depending on who is playing better in a series of waves. Like most game jam titles, it isn’t the deepest game in the world, but it’s really cool reading the whole process and seeing the game in various stages of development then finally playing the end product.

Game Jam photo courtesy of RetroDreamer.

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Bandai is looking to fuse the world of smartphones and virtual pets in a big way with their just announced “smart pet”, as reported by Macotakara. Some details are a bit fuzzy due to translation issues, but from what I can tell the smart pet sounds like a pretty interesting idea. An app is downloaded to your iPhone or iPod touch, and that acts as the face of your virtual pet. Your device then sits inside a robot dog body and connects to it through the headphone jack, allowing the two pieces to act as one so you can interact with the smart pet.

The smart pet uses the front facing camera on the iOS device to recognize and react to certain gestures, and there will be over 100 different kinds of expressions that the pet can make. There will also be support for importing your own photos of your pets (or whoever you want, really), and there will be some sort of Bluetooth connectivity to allow multiple smart pets to interact with each other. And, perhaps most important of all, your smart pet comes equipped with the ability to sneeze. Sounds adorable.

The smart pet app is on course for release in Japan on March 31st, and will be a free download. With just the app you’ll still be able to begin training and interacting with your virtual puppy, and it sounds like it will be a complete Tamagotchi-like experience all on its own even if you don’t spring for a plastic robot dog body. If you must have the full experience, the smart pet body will be available about a month after the app, but no details on pricing as of now.

Neither the app or the body have been confirmed for US release just yet, but we’ll keep an eye on the situation for our own curiosity, and so we can be prepared once the robot dogs decide to turn against humanity (you know it’s bound to happen).

[Via Macotakara]

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Back in mid-2010 iOS 4 had just hit the streets and brought with it a ton of new features and a host of new APIs that would allow developers to integrate with core iOS elements more easily. One of these new APIs let developers pull music that was stored on the device for use within an app, and as gamers we immediately thought of the possibility of seeing something like Audiosurf coming to the App Store.

Sadly that never did happen, although there have been a number of rhythm games since then that have attempted to create gameplay directly from your music library. But none of them have come close to being able to integrate the two as well as Audiosurf did on PC back in 2008. Well today, Audiosurf creator Dylan Fitterer sent word that a new game in the series is on its way called Audiosurf Air, and that he’s already got it up and running on iOS.

This new Audiosurf is built using Unity, so as Dylan puts it “it runs pretty much everywhere”, including iOS. The trick now is to decide exactly what platforms he’ll actually be releasing the game on and when, but I think iOS is a pretty safe bet. He notes that even these first screens of Audiosurf Air don’t represent final graphics and there is still a ton of work left to do in the game, but still, new Audiosurf! The plan is to have the game come out sometime in 2012, and we’ll keep you posted on any new details concerning the upcoming Audiosurf Air.

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When Activision launched Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies [$6.99] late last year, we were decidedly underwhelmed with the sequel to the popular 2009 iOS survival shooter based on a mode from the console Call of Duty titles. There were definitely some improvements in Black Ops Zombies over the original, like better visuals and the awesome top-down Dead Ops Arcade mode, but the availability of just a single map and spotty connection issues brought down the entire experience.

In February, an update addressed many of the connection issues and added a couple of new weapons, as well as adding an in-app purchase currency system that allowed people to buy their way to weapons and items more quickly. The new weapons added just a very tiny bit of variety to a title that was desperately needing some, but with just a single map to play on, Black Ops Zombies still suffered from a lack of content.

On Friday, the game was updated once again, this time offering the welcome addition of a brand new map called Ascension that features Soviet Soldier zombies in a Cold War-era launch site as well as zombie monkeys. Yup, zombie monkeys. Also there are 4 new weapons to strap on to fend off the undead: the Thunder Gun, Matroyshka Dolls, Gersh Device, and a sickle. Killing zombie monkeys with a sickle is a pretty big selling point, in my opinion.

In addition to a new map and new weapons, all players who download the update or brand new players who download the game for the first time will receive 5,000 of the in-app currency CoD Points, and players who return to play the game regularly will also receive additional CoD Point payouts. Finally, there are some new Game Center achievements as well as the usual assortment of optimizations and fixes.

If a lack of content has been keeping you from Black Ops Zombies, then the addition of double the original content might change your mind. Granted, double the original content still only amounts to 2 maps, but at least it’s a step in the right direction and hopefully Activision continues to add to and improve this mobile Call of Duty experience in the future.

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Cave has basically cornered the market on iOS bullet hell shooters with a slew of solid ports from their vast library of beloved titles. As fantastic as the gameplay is in Cave’s shooters, the fact that they’re ports of arcade titles has typically meant that features like Retina Display graphics and iPad support have required to much additional work to implement into the iOS releases.

Last October, Cave bucked this trend by releasing Espgaluda II HD [$10.99/Lite] for the iPad 2. The game featured a selection of graphics that were redone in high resolution and native support for the iPad’s larger screen. Not everything was HD’d out, though, but it still made a pretty big difference in the visual quality of Espgaluda II, and the nice big screen of the iPad proved phenomenal for navigating a hail of onscreen bullets.

This week, Cave once again is dipping their toes into native iPad support. This time, however, they’re going full stop and have released Dodonpachi Resurrection HD [$10.99/Lite] as a Universal app so that it works with the iPad as well as compatible iPhone and iPod touch models. Not only that, but they’ve gone and updated Espgaluda II HD with the same Universal support, giving both titles new life in high resolution on the smaller iOS device screens.

Example of original screen (left) and updated HD screen with redrawn ship sprite (right) from Dodonpachi Resurrection HD (click to enlarge):

I won’t go into too much detail about either title – you can read our full review of Dodonpachi Resurrection or the review for Espgaluda II if you’re curious to learn more about the game mechanics – but what I will say is that the partial high definition treatment given to each game makes an even bigger difference on the small screen than it does on the iPad.

Both games look gorgeous on an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, and you can see that Cave has actually gone and redrawn many of the sprites in the game, as well as given the menus a visual overhaul. Some elements, like backgrounds and other hand-drawn artwork, aren’t technically as high resolution as they could be, but everything in the game has a much cleaner, crisper look than it did previously.

I imagine many of you have already bought either Dodonpachi Resurrection or Espgaluda II before the HD versions hit, so really it’s going to be up to you whether or not some increased graphical fidelity is worth the additional purchase price. To help you decide, there are lite versions of each, and in the case of Espgaluda II HD you can even buy each of the game’s modes as separate apps, Arcade Mode [$6.99] and Smartphone Mode [$6.99], which have also been updated to be Universal.

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Are you into Japanese RPGs with turn-based combat and slightly stilted translations? Do you crave a game that’s best played with a spreadsheet and a community of other players close at hand? Do you keep buying crafting or management sims in search of something truly deep? If so, get excited. Adventure Bar Story [$0.99] fills that niche beautifully. As a big fan of games like Harvest Moon and the fabulous Recettear I consider myself among that elite crew, and I love this game, flaws and all.

While it isn’t the best in its class if you look across platforms, there really aren’t any quality games similar to Adventure Bar Story on iOS. There are RPGs, yes, and there are management sims (so often presented in freemium grind-fests), but a deep combination of the two has been noticeably absent before now. Rideon Japan brings us a game settles right into that gap, offering many hours of entertainment for a remarkably low price.

When our story starts, our heroine Siela and her sister Kamerina are apparently competing to see whose apathy can run the family bar into the ground first. When a buyout offer arrives, Siela is inspired to actually try to get things up and running again. Her friend Fred offers to help. Fred owns the only shop in town, so he’s a good guy to have on her side. He lets Siela in on a little secret: there’s a field nearby where you can literally gather cooking ingredients from the ground.

After a trip to the meadow, Siela returns to the bar to cook up a few dishes. Once she’s got a few things worth selling she gives them to her sister, who opens the bar and sells the goods off-screen (no interacting with the customers for you). This is all a little silly, admittedly: icons indicating produce, meat, dairy and other supplies litter the ground of the meadow, and at first it seems there’s little to do but gather them up and head back to the bar to paw through menus and create inspired dishes like “Salted Daikon” and, um, “Salted Cucumber.”

But Adventure Bar Story slowly reveals itself to be atypical, even in the world of management RPGs. Everything in the game revolves around food. To level up, you eat. To earn money, you create dishes to sell. To advance the plot, you run your restaurant as well as you can. In fact, the game can be played nearly entirely as a restaurant management sim, finding the best prices for the best goods to make a self sustaining menu. Siela and her party only need to venture out into dungeons only when they’re high enough level to complete them and advance the plot. Or you can play traditionally, grinding monsters and looking for hidden secrets.

After a couple days of gathering and cooking the basics, the game opens up. A new dungeon unlocks and the story moves forward. New dungeons are filled with new ingredients, and this is when the cooking sim starts to shine. Trying to discover recipes from scratch feels similar to playing something like Doodle God [$0.99]: there is a collection of ingredients and tools to work with, and you’re left to discover the internal logic that drives the combinations. Once you get one recipe down, you can usually iterate on it to create other, similar things. A basic understanding of cooking helps, but if you hit a wall there are recipes to be bought. Hint recipes with a few blanks filled in open up as you discover new ingredients, too.

Each new ingredient dramatically increases the number of recipes that can be completed, so the bar really starts to hustle after a few days. Once its profile is high enough, Siela is invited to participate in local cooking contests. If she can cook something popular enough to take first place (something that can be worked out by paying attention to what sells in the bar), there will be big rewards and more interest in her bar.

I’m impressed by the depth of strategy Adventure Bar Story offers. Each day’s menu takes consideration: is it better to list high-cost foods, or use them for experience? Recipes that go particularly well together unlock combos that make them hot ticket items. And since the party can only head out once per day, deciding where to go to farm which ingredients is a challenge.

While combat follows a typical turn-based, random encounter RPG formula, that doesn’t mean it’s dull for long. Many of the skills effect the food that drops from battle. Dispatch an enemy with “Butcher” and it will drop extra items; skills like that abound. You don’t unlock them by levelling up with food, you unlock them automatically with points earned in battle.

Adventure Bar Story does contain IAP, but it’s ridiculously optional. Jewels, the premium currency, were added in on top of the existing content, and they add a couple shortcuts and a few handy weapons and items. You might want to use them to solve a particularly tough recipe or to get ahead on equipment, but they’re never, ever necessary.

The game doesn’t particularly distinguish itself on aesthetic levels. The music is enjoyable enough without being distracting, the environments and sprites are RPG-standard. The dialog often feels forced, but generally the translation is serviceable. There are a few language and cultural gaps to watch out for when working through recipes, though, and a handful are completely lost in translation. A word of warning, while we’re discussing flaws: save often. The game supports multitasking but no auto-save, so it’s easy to set yourself back by switching apps and taking too long to return.

Once you get the basics down, Adventure Bar Story can get pretty rote. You unlock new characters from time to time, find secrets and improve your bar, but it all happens slowly. So goes the story, too, so most of the playtime is spent navigating long lists of items and putting together recipes. It’s fun for a while if you’re in it for the RPG, but it’s great for a lot longer if you’re the sort of person who can’t resist a checklist or a spreadsheet. On the whole, this game is a steal—but only for the right sort of person. Many of them are hanging out in our forums, working on divining the game’s depths. Trust me, you’ll want their help.

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TUAW’s Kelly Guimont has spotted some interesting language in yesterday’s iTunes Terms And Conditions update. Here’s the text in question:

Certain paid In App Subscriptions may offer a free trial period prior to charging your Account. If you decide you do not want to purchase the In App Subscription, turn off auto-renewal in your Account settings during the free trial period.

Guimont speculates that this could indicate that Apple is preparing to offer developers an easy way to offer time-limited trials of their apps, like game demos. This would be a fantastic change. Developers wouldn’t need to support extra lite versions of their titles, non-game apps could finally offer quick peeks at their content, and the rest of us would have a chance to try before we buy.

Now, while it seems at least as likely that this functionality is meant for magazine publishers, the new terms address that specifically:

Certain In App Subscriptions may be designated as “Newsstand” products, in which case they will appear only within the Newsstand application on your device after download.

Sounds like there will be some support for non-Newsstand apps to take advantage of free trial periods, which (intentionally or not) may open the door for other app developers. We’ll keep an ear to the ground and let you know if anything comes of this

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