TouchArcade.ru

Late last week The New York Times published an op-ed debate titled, “Hip, or About to Break a Hip,” a discussion about whether 45 year-old skaters are “embarrassing and risky or inspiring and life-affirming?” Opinions ranged from “inspiring and life-affirming,” to “… do something productive: become an ultimate fighter, get your G.E.D., date an 18-year old.” Um, wow, guys.

Appropriate then is the release of Brisbane-based IV Motion’s Penny Time [$0.99 / Free ], which flies in the face of that rather unnecessary conversation. Shorn of the skating genre’s mechanical trappings, the game is allowed to focus on the sport’s anarchistic roots. Its reply, “Who gives a #$%*?”

Penny Time announces its care-free absurdity with a series of vignettes that see the player character using a Penny skateboard, crashed like a meteorite from the heavens, to freeze time and subsequently summon some spirit animals in the form of a pig, dodo and porpoise. Right. So, the player is off on his or her quest to skate through a series of time-frozen environments with the aid of the aforementioned Ghost Dodo.

Play is similar to rhythm runners like Tomena Sanner [ $1.99 ] and Bit.Trip Runner. The player proceeds left to right, clearing obstacles by swiping when rolling over a series of white (up), blue (left) and yellow (down) targets. Levels consist of three sections: a standard area where one acquires points based on timing of swipes, a multiplier section, and then a “cash-in” portion where the player is given the opportunity to bank their multiplied points, or take them on into the next area and risk bailing and losing the combo.

Touch controls are a little dodgy. There are a handful of times each run where I go flipping over a guardrail or a child or something because the game’s missed my inputs. This is sometimes exacerbated not only by how unforgiving the game can be (I’ve often hit my trick on the periphery of a target only to tumble into a sad pile), but by the minimalism of the flat, untextured 3D models. It borders on gorgeous abstraction in the vein of a Katamari Damacy, but the environments are so busy it’s often difficult to tell exactly what’s ahead. Case in point, during a particularly funny intro I held the iPhone up for my girlfriend, sitting behind me on the couch, who responded, “I can’t see… it just looks like a bunch of shapes.” Indeed.

That in mind, I’m not sure that it’s going to have much of a following among the leaderboard junkies. But, in addition to Game Center leaderboards, the game has a bevy of character and board customization options, along with the requisite Facebook and Twitter support, 84 achievements and a fantastic OST.

A rhythm game lives or dies by the quality of its tunes, and electronic artist and fellow Brisbanite Hunz has crafted a score among the best on the platform. A warm, varied slice of electronica, it’s up there with the Groove Coaster [ $2.99 ] and Beat Sneak Bandit [ $2.99 ] soundtracks, well worth the dollar the game costs. It’s a trump card that staves off mediocrity in what is otherwise an “okay” game, an intelligent pairing that propelled me along on my quest to count the black cats littering the next area. Note: this game has its share of black cats.

With a smart few stylistic choices, IV Motion have made a fine if sometimes frustrating little game, worth the low price of entry. Like the skateboard brand it advertises, it is “designed and built to look good, perform well, and exceed your expectations.” A little rougher around the edges maybe, but a ridiculous, ageless thing that can be enjoyed by anyone. And that’s okay.

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Surprise! A couple of “core” members from Lumines and Rez team at Q Entertainment have just released a brand new game on iPhone and iPad under the brand Monstars Inc. The app is called Kotomon, and it’s available for an introductory price of $2.99 through May 31.

As you’d expect considering Q’s release history, Kotomon appears to revolve around a mix of action and music. In the game, you control an adorable little red monster charged with collecting and firing friendly monsters into bad monsters. Monstars describes it as a little like pinball, except every action you take adds beats and layers to the game’s soundtrack.

Kotomon seems like a neat app, so we’re going to get you something much more detailed as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

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London-based design studio ustwo created a heck of a game in Whale Trail, but it’s failing as a commercial entity. It’ll never hit the App Store top 10. The face of its bubbly and wide-eyed mascot, Willow, will never grace products like panties or fruit snacks. And at its current pace, it’ll be awhile before it generates a decent profit.

The studio has huge expectations that aren’t being met, and just based on trends, it’s clear that Whale Trail will continue not meeting them. It’s a failure in this life. But will it be one in its next? Again, ustwo is spending money on Whale Trail, giving it a second wind via creative mouth-to-mouth. It’s retooling and redesigning the oddball flying game as a free-to-play title in a high-bandwidth effort to attract the casual audience that the original version failed to reach, but managed to brush.

The hope is that this model, alongside some fresh content, will finally put the game over the top and onto hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of phones and tablets across the world. It’s a crazy plan. Crazy, however, is kinda its project lead’s thing.

On Conversion, Failure, And Journeys

I’ve been speaking with ustwo co-founder Mills about the upcoming transformation. Mills is like a bizarro Clint Eastwood. In the face of adversity he has the same grit and air of determination, but instead of a cowboy hat and a killer squint Mills rocks a long, flowing red wig and eyeglasses with thick, black frames. When he talks to you, even via e-mail, you feel his warmth, energy, and passion. He’s funny, too, and you see a lot of his brand of humor in his game. As we talk, he refuses to call the original Whale Trail a failure despite being able to produce evidence indicating as much. Instead, he calls it a “succailure” and the process of making it a F2P title a “journey.”

“Whale Trail was our first proper game release,” Mills tells TouchArcade. “Full heart, full passion. The launch was a success for our studio, showering loads of eyeballs on us but something didn’t quite click. Although we were hitting 12,000 downloads a day at launch, it tailed off pretty quick.”

In fact, Whale Trail has just hit over 188,000 total sales, and it shifts around 250 units a day across Android and iPhone and iPad. These kind of numbers would be enough for a lot of studios, but ustwo spent oodles of cash on the game. It needed Whale Trail to be up there with the Angry Birds and Fruit Ninjas and the Cut the Ropes of the world.

How those titles manage to stay up top is a matter of debate. Mills doesn’t believe that featuring, reviews, or exposure brings in new downloads. He thinks that word of mouth is now driving sales. As evidence, he notes that the game’s trailers still get around 500 new views a day and the music video for the theme used in the game drives interest, too. Riding on a wave of featuring, however, Whale Trail managed to light up the charts for a short period. Mills shot us the following handy chart, for those of you into the numbers:

Learning about why the game didn’t keep selling at its initial, breakneck pace is an important component of its upcoming transformation. Mills is soaking up everything he can. He frequently frames this entire ordeal as a learning experience.

“We went back to the drawing board and dove deep into the blue waters to understand why Whale Trail wasn’t quite able to take off. We had made a wonderful experience but there wasn’t enough ‘replay’ value in the current game. The new challenge levels added in iteration release two and three helped, but we needed more. Much more,” he adds.

The new version of the game is, indeed, functionally different. As you collect bubbles and travel, you’ll collect an in-game currency called Krill. With Krill, you can buy new powers, “useable treats,” costumes for Willow and its five new playable friends. If you want this stuff without the grind, you can buy Krill straight-up.

“The game is so much better. Players are now in full control of their destiny and each play rewards them. This was missing before,” he says.

If you’ve already purchased Whale Trail, Mills says you’ll receive a “BIG” bag of Krill when you update to the new version. Additionally, you’ll receive a message designed to make you feel “special.” Mills worries about how the current install base is going to react to this massive change, since the regular version will essentially die after this update. Perhaps that’s why this message to fans will be “like finding a bag of money in your house that you can use to pimp it right up 50 style” or “like finding a bag of candy that is so sweet, yet so sticky.”

When I bring up failure, Mills says I have a point, but he describes the experience so far as a “journey.” His studio has had opportunities to sell off the IP or actually make money, but ustwo as a whole is more interested in learning at this point.

“You can look at it as a failure, but I see it as journey,” Mills says. “Each iteration of Whale Trail has created a new buzz and has engaged the players more. It’s been a big lesson for me especially in regards to releasing something I wanted and releasing something that the majority of players want. We were very successful at creating buzz, we were very open about the whole experience and the story of Whale Trail will now be told via Penguin,” he tells us. He means the publishing company, not an actual penguin.

“We had two Whale Trail acquisition offers for the game as it currently stands now, but we were not interested in money. We were interested in better understanding what we could do to make the game better. I couldn’t walk away from it now, knowing it was not the game we wanted it to be. The game we have since built and are testing now with players is the game we should have released back then but didn’t realize it at the time.”

Even though the Whale Trail flopped, Mills notes some positives. It gave his studio new business opportunities, a higher-profile in the development community, and a lot of good will. These things, however, aren’t going to make new Whale Trail sail. A balance of IAP and fun mechanics are the only thing that’ll save it.

“I want to know more about free-to-play,” Mills says. “We are not being aggressive with the monetization potential. Players need never spend, but the joy they feel should allow the game to be pretty viral. We get a small social virility through Twitter right now, but the potential at the higher numbers is unreal. I guess the plan is for Willow to find some real Whales!”

We’ll have to see if the new version of Whale Trail hits the heights that Mills thinks it can reach. Regardless if it does or not, it’s going to be hard to call this iteration a failure. To Mills, success is all about what you do as you try to succeed.

“We didn’t set out to make something generic. Success is about crafting something you believe in and telling that story, granted it may never be a smash hit as the very concept of a little fat flying whale called Willow who lives in a psychedelic land is too far out for many to stomach, but we made something we are so proud of.”

We’ll have hands-on impressions in the near future.

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When you truly adore a game, sequels can be a scary thing. Sure, it’s more of what you love—but what if they mess it up? What if they abandon all the things you love for the sake of novelty? Well, Defender Chronicles [$1.99 / $2.99 / $4.99 (HD)] fans, let us put your fears to rest. We’ve had a chance to spend some time with Defender Chronicles II, and it seems to have everything the original had to offer. And every little bit of it is bigger, better, and sexier.

I spent the summer of 2009 consumed by the original. I had a brand new 3GS and pages of games, but Defender Chronicles – Legend of the Desert King was the one that devoured my time. Its mix of vertical tower defense and RPG conventions was completely irrestistable, and Gimka Entertainment and Menara Games propped it up with massive updates that added to its already substantial content. Defender Chronicles II is looking like it will contain that same potential for time investment, so you might want to clear your schedule in advance.

This game is leagues beyond its predecessor in terms of visual appeal, and that’s an achievement—as we pointed out way back in our review, Defender Chronicles was a looker in its time. But now every unit is more detailed and every animation is more fluid. And crisp—Retina support is in for iPhone, though apparently not for iPad. The game lives up to the rose-colored vision you may have of the original, but it’s much more refined, more up-to-date.

The gameplay has been similarly preserved. You’ll still spend your time turning flags into guilds and upgrading them through tiers of units, archers to rangers, squires to cavaliers. Strategy seems more important than ever before, with enemy units that take advantage of every potential weakness in your defense. Height and range are the biggest considerations as you scroll around massive, multi-tiered 2D maps. There are quite a few of those this time around, and they hit an almost Escher-esque level of complexity pretty quickly.

There isn’t much that’s changed outright, really. Voice actor George Ledoux returns to impress us with his Sean Connery impression, though he also pulls off an impressive lizardman. Heroes Melwen and the General return, but this time they’re accompanied by two new friends: Lovell and Elwyn, an archer and priest. The brand-new story of the heroes and their defence of Athelia against the Orcs and Forsaken is told through gorgeous comic-book cutscenes once more.

From our brief time with the game, it really seems like you’re going to be able to put in a ludicrous numbers of hours. There’s so much here for the player that wants to go deep, with heroes to level up and customize, hundreds of artifacts to locate and five difficulty levels and game modes to work through. The difficulty curve also feels a bit steeper, so if you’re already familiar with the game you shouldn’t be underwhelmed. If you’re feeling particularly cocky, you’ll be able to challenge yourself with a huge list of Game Center achievements and leaderboards.

Ultimately, it seems like Defender Chronicles II will be the perfect sort of sequel. It updates already excellent gameplay for a new generation of devices, and brings in all sorts of improvements in the process. It’s hard to imagine any Defender Chronicles fans being disappointed, and folks that are new to the series should be in for a treat. We’ll be taking a closer look at the game over the next couple weeks, and we’ll be back with our review after it hits the App Store on May 24th. In the meantime, the developers are posting regular previews in our discussion thread, so take a peek if your appetite isn’t already whetted enough.

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For as many App Store games that I eyeball on a daily basis, I admit that something that has a lot of visual pop or a very distinct style will always catch my eye. Looks don’t always equal quality though, and I’ve been wooed by many an attractive looking title only to be disappointed when the gameplay didn’t quite follow through.

This is not the case with My Little Hero [ $0.99 ]. There are many titles out there that feel like iPhone games, but My Little Hero is not one of them. It has that shine that is evocative of games on a larger scale, and you’ll notice it from the title screen onward. It drops you into the role of a brave young boy whose friend Pinky (note: Pinky is your favorite stuffed rabbit) is kidnapped by the Boogeyman and spirited away into your bedroom closet. What will you do to save him? Why, don a cape and a helmet and follow him in there, of course.

Gameplay is viewed from a 3/4 top down perspective and will remind you of Zelda in under a minute. It’s not just the whimsy of the style, but the layouts of the worlds and the movements of the enemies as well. As you search for Pinky, you’ll navigate you way through forests, swamps, deserts and eventually make it to the Boogeyman’s nest. Each of these areas is open world, although there is a clear path you can follow through each of them if you’re not in an exploring mood. The worlds have plenty of little sub-destinations on a cutely drawn world map, so it will take you some time to plow your way through while stabbing things with your wooden sword.

When you kill enemies (which are all cute, by the way), you’ll be rewarded with buttons, which can be saved to buy things later such as lollipops that will restore you to full health. Later down the line, you’ll score items as well, such a a trusty flashlight. My favorite part of exploring these worlds was saving my game, as I did so by approaching a little white nightstand that looks just like the one in my bedroom and pulling the light on the bedside lamp. It’s the kind of touch that makes you go “awwww” – and this game is chock full of them.

It’s hard to complain about much in My Little Hero, as it really stands out in the genre, but there was one thing I didn’t like and that was the absence of music in the levels. As adorable as the game is, I found myself imagining a silly soundtrack to go with it, and I felt its absence. The sound effects in the levels are great and just what you expect to go with the overall tone, but I think I would have enjoyed my journey more if I could habe bopped along to some tunes.

The other small detriment I noticed was that the level design felt a bit repetitive after a while. To counter this somewhat I tried playing it in bite-sized sessions so I didn’t burn out too much. It’s not poorly designed, mind you, but when something looks this standout, you expect it to come through that way on all levels, and I think I could have fallen madly in love with it if it provided a little more variety.

That being said, My Little Hero is still a fantastic game, and I had a great time playing it. What it’s missing in variety it makes up for with heaps of charm, and for the amount of content you get, it’s worth way more than a buck. The developers also promise more levels in the future, so eventually you’ll have even more worlds to conquer. If you even remotely loved Costume Quest or similar action adventure games, you won’t want to pass on My Little Hero.

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It’s a Thursday on the App Store which is as just as good of a reason as any to set your games’ prices to free if you’re an iOS developer, or, at least, so it would seem. It sort of goes without saying, but due to the volatile nature of pricing on the App Store, you better grab these games now if you’re interested in them. Few things are more annoying in the world of iOS gaming than missing a killer freebie.

Get your downloading finger ready:

Beyond Ynth, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – An absolutely fantastic puzzle game where you play as a little ladybug doing your best to survive each level, often by rotating curiously sectioned off boxes. Do not miss this game while it’s free. If you want to give it a go on your iPad, there’s Beyond Ynth HD [ $0.99 (HD)], too.

Braveheart, Free – [Forum Thread] – You probably have a lot of games on your iPhone, but how many of those games have you searching for the Holy Grail? (Not many, I’d guess.) You’ll hack and slash your way through all sorts of normal monsters, boss monsters, and other monsters. If you’re looking for the iPad version, Braveheart HD [ Free (HD)] is what you seek.

Escape The Ape, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – This jumping game puts you to the task of drawing lines to create trampolines for JoJo the monkey to bounce on. While it looks simple, gameplay is deceptively deep especially when you start reaching higher altitudes and need to work harder to collect power ups.

Fish Tycoon, Free – [Forum Thread] – I’m including this game in the list because these dumb Tycoon games are responsible for soaking up countless hours of my time, going all the way back to my Palm Treo 650 days. Or, before that, now that I think about it. …And now, fair reader, I place this curse upon you.

Highway Rider, Free – [Forum Thread] – Have you ever been sitting in traffic when some dude on a motorcycle recklessly lane splits you at what seems like a million miles an hour? Well, in Highway Rider, you can be that jerk. The point system even encourages it, in fact.

Swordigo, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – A side scrolling action RPG that is just fantastic. Imagine if you took something like Zelda II and released it in 2012, that’d be Swordigo. Download it. Play it. Love it. Trust me.

Towers N’ Trolls, Free – [Forum Thread] – I love tower defense games, you love tower defense games, and this is a tower defense game. It’s a pretty good one too, so if you haven’t scratched that whole laying out towers and murdering creeps itch in a while, here’s your chance.

Trigonon, Free – [Forum Thread] – The gimmick of this puzzle game is that it takes place in the factory of your mind. Your thoughts are represented by steel spheres, and you’ve got to get them out. Seems reasonable, and looks cool.

Vermes on Mars, Free – [Review] – [Forum Thread] – An interesting shooter where you control a small squad of robots (which are all upgradeable). You position them, and tap to target. It takes place on Mars, and your enemies are worms. The control scheme is worth giving this game a try.

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Late last month Everplay and FruitFireForge released Spellsword [ $0.99 ], a game we really enjoyed in our review. It took the arena-style action platforming of Super Crate Box [ $1.99 ] and added a ton of variety in the form of RPG-like upgradeable items and abilities. Even though the two titles shared a core idea, Spellsword really stood on its own as a different experience.

However, one of the main problems we had with the game had to do with the controls. They worked well on the smaller screen of the iPhone and iPod touch, but failed to scale very well to the iPad’s big screen. Today’s update addresses this very problem by allowing you to move the virtual buttons to wherever you feel is most comfortable. Also, an new option for “Pro Swipe Controls” has been added that makes the movement controls center on wherever you place down your thumb.

Speaking of options, there’s an actual Options screen you can access from the main menu. It’s here you can configure the controls and also some basic stuff like volume sliders, an option for disabling hints, and a new option to reset your current character if you want to start over.

In addition to all the new options, Everplay has also sent over a teaser for a new upcoming level which you can see above. This new stage will contain new enemies as well as new items for your character to unlock. No word on just when this new level will hit, but it shouldn’t be too far off. In the meantime enjoy the latest update which tightened up an already great overall package in Spellsword.

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Say what you will about Gameloft, the developer occasionally does a good job of filling the App Store void with iOS versions of console staples. N.O.V.A. 3 [ $6.99 ], the third game in the company’s perennial FPS series is one such title.  Capitalizing on the success of the previous two titles, as well as offering full support for the latest and greatest in Apple hardware, N.O.V.A. 3 offers a great action-packed single player experience complete with some very impressive visuals.

Following the never-ending trials and tribulations of Kal Warden, N.O.V.A. 3 continues the story as Warden is yet again recalled into action, this time to the ruins of San Francisco to aid an old friend. From there, you’ll travel to several more planets, a derelict ship, and even the home planet of the Volterites. I’ll save the spoilers for those of you that care about the story, but suffice to Kal gets tasked with saving the human race (again) from certain doom and will go through humans, Volterites and Judgers alike to accomplish that feat.

You’ll be saving humanity via gameplay that should be largely familiar for genre veterans. Like its predecessor, N.O.V.A. 3 has you exploring a wide variety of locales while battling enemy archetypes and hitting objective-marker based goals that shouldn’t offer much in terms of surprise. Also, you can expect the occasional break from the on-foot battle heroics by piloting Mechs, manning the weaponry on top of AI driven trucks and serving as sniper support for other NPCs. By now, it should be apparent that Gameloft has uncovered the formula for a successful FPS, and while N.O.V.A. 3 doesn’t offer much in terms of revolutionary gameplay, it certainly succeeds in what it does implement.

One interesting inclusion is an in-game store that offers unique weapons and upgrades that takes currency you earn by completing single player levels. It’s nice to see a system that actually provides rewards proportionally to how well you complete a level run. Unfortunately, the inclusion of IAP to bypass said currency collection lessens experience somewhat.

A well-done FPS is in some ways far more reliant on its controls than other genres. Thankfully, N.O.V.A. 3 works within its limitations to provide a competent scheme for a touch screen. The standard dual-stick controls are available, as well as generous use of a swipe gestures for swapping weapons and powers. I was particularly a fan of the gyroscope inclusion, as proper use of that option goes a long way towards making the game’s aiming accurate and fun.

N.O.V.A. 3 plays well on the iPhone, but I found the screen to be a bit cramped compared to the roomy iPad controls. Either way, a host of options such as auto-aim, attempt to help even touch-screen novices blast away with ease. While I imagine there are some folks that will never get used to touchscreen controls for an FPS, the fact remains that N.O.V.A. 3’s control schemes do a decent job of letting you take out baddies and navigate the environments with ease.

By the way, those environments you’ll be traversing across look absolutely gorgeous. N.O.V.A. 3 takes full advantage of the hardware offerings of the iPhone 4S and new iPad, which leads to one of the most visually impressive FPS titles I’ve played on iOS. The textures, weather and visual effects – even the shadows are all well done and simply stunning.

As nice as the game looks on the small scree, N.O.V.A. 3 begs to be played on a new iPad. The larger retina-display of the tablet lets you truly appreciate just how far the visuals have come in the series. The fact that the game manages to look this good while successfully running (for the most part) at a decent framerate is probably the most impressive accomplishment. Granted, there were a few mishaps with the graphics engine, such as a few instances of falling through environments, the occasional slowdown when there’s a lot of action on the screen and the unusually lengthy loading screens (that occasionally make you think the game crashed), but these do little to detract from what is an otherwise impressive visual system.

It would be easy to simply classify N.O.V.A. 3 as impressive eye candy and leave it at that, but Gameloft deserves credit for continuing the trend of creating a well-rounded FPS experience complete with a full story-driven campaign, a plethora of control and gameplay options and a balanced gameplay experience. We sometimes talk about games that possess that certain something that make them ideal for showcasing the might of iOS. I’d argue that, while N.O.V.A. 3 may not necessarily be at the top of that shortlist, it has enough going for it to warrant being close to such a classification.

This is part one of our two-part N.O.V.A. 3 review. In previous N.O.V.A. games, multiplayer played a very large component of how much our community enjoyed the game. With our early review copy, there obviously wasn’t anyone to be found to play with online. As soon as the game is released, and we can spend some quality time with the multiplayer we’ll post a follow-up focusing on the multiplayer aspects of N.O.V.A. 3.

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Sega’s Flick of the Dead is a real thing, and it appears to be exactly what you think it is: a legitimate Typing of the Dead spin-off, except for mobile phones. Earlier today, the publisher released the title on the Japanese App Store at the celebratory price of free. As of right now, it features over 25,000 words, a boss rush, and “a drill mode,” according to Siliconera. Eat that, Texting of the Bread.

In all seriousness, we’re absolutely stoked that Sega even bothered considering making a new version of this memorable title to iPhone. We’re doubly stoked that it managed to do so in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, it’s up in the air if an English version is in the works. We’re in the process of asking, so stay tuned — and play Texting of the Bread [$.99 / HD] in the meantime.

[via Siliconera]

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Ballistic SE [$1.99] and Fireball SE [$1.99] creator, Luke Schneider, has been porting another Xbox Live Indie Game to the iPhone and iPad. Inferno+, which features newer high resolution assets for retina screens, is coming later this month or earlier next. Luke dropped us a really awesome slow-motion teaser trailer that shows off a smidgen of the game’s creative twin-stick action, which seeks to combine elements of Geometry Wars (!) with the structure of Gauntlet (!!).

Luke describes the trailer in his latest blog post, shedding some light on what he’s trying to shoot for:

While the launch trailer will cover a lot more of what’s in Inferno+, for the teaser video above I only wanted to show a single quick sequence to give a taste of the game. Obviously it’s in slow motion, and zoomed in a bit, so I cheated a little, but I think that’s OK.

We’ve been pretty impressed with what Luke has released so far, so count us in for a day one download. Whenever we get a final build, we’ll shoot you a review. Hah. Get it? It’s a twin-stick shooter. We’re going to shoot our thoughts at you… like you’d fire bullets in a shooter. We crack us up.

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