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Late last week Capcom surprised everybody by announcing an iOS port of their classic arcade fighter Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 [ $2.99 ]. In all honesty, I suspect this was a cleverly timed release to casually tie in with ‘The Avengers’ movie coming out next week, but whatever the motivation I’m not complaining. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is one of the most beloved fighting games in history, and prior to the downloadable rerelease on XBL and PSN in 2009 it could be kind of a difficult game to play unless you owned the Dreamcast or the somewhat rare PS2 or Xbox versions.

With that said it’s fairly mind blowing then that today you can download the entire original game onto a device that fits snugly in your pocket (or to your iPad if you’d rather, since the game is Universal, though it’s extra snug trying to jam that in your pocket). The iOS version of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is really cool for what it is, basically a cheap nostalgic trip, but it’s plagued with several major problems that drag the experience down, making it feel more like a novelty rather than another solid iOS fighter.

The major sticking points in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 are that it’s difficult to control compared to the other top iOS fighters, the 12 year old visuals have not aged gracefully, and the overall performance leaves a lot to be desired. However, the virtual control setup that Capcom has come up with for the game is pretty clever, and just having a classic like Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 in my pocket is worth putting up with its shortcomings. It’s just a shame because with a little more care I think this port could have been a whole lot better.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 features a whopping 56 playable characters, 28 from the Marvel camp and 28 from Capcom. Only 24 are available from the start, with the rest being unlocked from an in-game store using coins earned through play, or for performing certain tasks like completing the arcade mode with different characters.

In the XBL and PSN versions of the game, all characters are unlocked from the start, but I far prefer having to unlock them on my own as it gives you a sense of progress and some goals to shoot for while playing. However, if you’re dying to download the iOS version and bust out some local Bluetooth multiplayer with a buddy (sadly there is no online) right out of the gate, then you might find it annoying to have to spend significant time earning enough coins to unlock your favorite characters. Surprisingly, there is no sort of in-app purchase option to unlock everything.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is all about 3-on-3 tag team matches where characters can be swapped in and out at will, there’s a crazy emphasis on battles in the air, and the combos and special moves are all outrageous and over the top. Unfortunately, the iOS version runs so sluggishly that much of those fun moments are turned to frustration. The framerate can be a bit choppy and the virtual controls don’t seem to respond as well as even other Capcom fighters available on the App Store. This makes pulling off elaborate combos and air battling nearly impossible.

Despite the controls being sometimes unreliable, the default controls that Capcom implemented to simplify the experience are pretty nifty. There’s just a single button each for punch and kick, then there is a special button for controlling teammates and another for special moves. Besides just tapping these special buttons, each one can also be flicked in 4 different directions in order to perform additional moves. For example you can simply tap the special move button to shoot out a hadoken (fireball), but if you flick it to the side instead you can instantly launch into a shoryuken (dragon punch).

It’s a really cool idea and when it works well it’s brilliant, but for some reason much of the time it feels like the special buttons don’t respond to many of your flicks. There is the option to go with the original arcade game controls, which means no flicking for special moves, and I found that this option is much more reliable but does require more work on your part.

The visuals in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 are also a pretty big letdown. I expect a 12 year old game to look dated, but for some reason the iOS version looks worse than any previous version. Sprites are noticeably jagged and pixelated, something that is accentuated on the iPad’s bigger screen. On the bright side, the fully 3D animated backgrounds are intact here and actually look quite good, especially when you consider the boring static backgrounds used in Street Fighter IV Volt on iOS.

So, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 has a lot of issues, but nothing that renders the game completely unplayable. The controls work well enough but are far from as good as other iOS fighters, and definitely not good enough to fully pull off some of the game’s more complicated techniques. If you’re a fan of the game on other platforms and can accept the problems it has on iOS for the sake of having it in your pocket, then I think it’s definitely worth the $3 price of admission (or $5 when the intro sale ends). Personally, I’m having a ton of fun playing through the game again, even with the inherent frustrations.

If you don’t have any particular affinity for the original game but are just looking for a new iOS fighter, then Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is a tougher sell. The controls are passable, but nowhere near the likes of Street Fighter IV Volt [ $6.99 ], King of Fighters-i [ $6.99 ], or SoulCalibur [ $11.99 ] on iOS. It’s frustrating because those examples prove that Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 could have been such a better port, and it may be in the future after some updating, but if nostalgia isn’t playing a big role in your desire for having this game on iPhone then I’d suggest waiting to see how things shake out down the line.

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Total War Battles: Shogun [ $6.99 ] is not perfect. Anyone who tells you differently is either lying or particularly forgiving in regards to an absence of visual cues. Nonetheless, while Creative Assembly and Sega’s first attempt to bring their award-winning franchise to the iOS platform is one pockmarked with problems, it doesn’t change the fact that this real-time strategy game remains an excellent addition to the App Store.

Set somewhere in late 16th century Japan, Total War Battles opens to a familiar tune: an overcast sky, one army torching another army’s infrastructure to the ground, a father passing on his final instructions to his son. As the earnest heir, it is your responsibility to seek out those who are responsible for the tragedy that befell your clan and to exterminate them with extreme prejudice.

While hardly the most inspired premise out there, the story works well enough as an excuse to visit slow, well thought-out havoc onto opposing factions. Of course, it kind of helps that the game is also lovely to behold. Though not on par with games like Infinity Blade II, Total War Battles: Shogun still boasts of well-animated military men, excellent weather effects, decent voice acting and a suitably epic soundtrack.

Gameplay in Total War Battles: Shogun consists of you first picking one of the campaign-based missions currently available to you or an EXP stage from the world map. Depending on the nature of the level you’ve selected, you can either expect to be called upon to beat down on a number of units, defeats a certain type of enemy or to participate in a round of city planning.

Yes, you heard me. Should you choose to accept the responsibility, you’ll find yourself taking a break from the rampant warfare to work on stuff like figuring out how to jam eight shrines into a less-than-spacious map. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Buildings here come with their own set of requirements and restrictions. For example, shrines will not permit themselves to be constructed next to the vice-den that is your average trading post but will require the proximity of a lumber mill in order to exist. (No, I have no idea why either).

As for the rest of the game, it’s a little more straightforward. In between assembling the correct assortment of unit-producing buildings and ensuring that they remain in serviceable condition (enemies will do their best to burn them down), you’re going to have to send your army at your foes. Simple, right? There’s a small twist. While you’re capable of manipulating their frontal charge, you will not be able to tell your units to move back. Retreat is impossible for them as they apparently subscribe to the laws of Bushido. Additionally, you’re also going to have to take the fact that your battalions are incapable of turning on a dime and the fact that there’s a cooldown associated with your navigation-related commands into consideration.

Needless to say, this isn’t your average hair-trigger, ‘300 actions-per-minute or bust’ sort of RTS. Forethought is mandatory here. To make matters more interesting, you’ll be able to utilize a certain amount of units at a time, something that can spell life or death. If you throw everything you own into a frontal assault, you may find your home base decimated even as you watch on helplessly. Mistakes aren’t easily forgiven here.

There’s a fairly decent variety of units and buildings, by the way, one augmented by a considerable amount of available upgrades. With more than 10 hours of expected game time, gorgeous aesthetics and half-decent voice acting, Total War Battles: Shogun should represent one of the pinnacles of the iOS-based real-time strategy genre, right? Maybe.

As I’ve mentioned early on, Total War Battles: Shogun is not without its flaws. To be fair, they aren’t big flaws but they’re certainly the sort that can niggle. Units don’t come with health bars and buildings will not provide information about their structural integrity in an easy accessible fashion. There is nary a number to be found; you won’t ever get to figure out precisely how much of a defense boost your monks provide. These issues aren’t exactly game changers but if you’re the sort who likes their statistics, you might find yourself bristling at your inability to accurately calculate the likelihood of a win.

As for the multiplayer, I haven’t had the chance to get someone to sit down to poke at it with me. Unsurprisingly, Total War Battles: Shogun only supports 1vs1 same-device multiplayer, something that is generally best played on the iPad as opposed to its more diminutive cousins.

Still, if you’re willing to overlook the aforementioned issues, Total War Battles: Shogun is a refreshing change from the App Store’s barrage of angry avians, physics-based puzzler and match-3 games.

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Need more CCG action in your life? Great! You and Ubisoft are on level. Earlier this morning, the publisher finally popped the lid off of Might & Magic Duel of Champions, a free-to-play card game set in the Might & Magic universe.

Ubisoft didn’t divulge hard mechanical details in today’s announcement materials for whatever reason, but it has confirmed the following about the game: (a) Duel of Champions will have collectible cards, (b) players will fight each other with these cards, and (c) users will also be able to buy these cards. So, yeah… this sure is card game.

More information will be coming to the game’s official web site, and apparently a beta is open right now in France. We’re doing our best to dig up some more substantial details so stick with us. If the Assassin’s Creed card game proved anything, it’s that Ubisoft knows how to fund decent tabletop experiences.

[images via PocketGamer]

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A long time ago, in July of 2010 to be exact, a little iPhone game by the name of Prisoner 84 [ $2.99 ] from Hidden Games had me sleeping with a nightlight. See, Prisoner 84 is a 3rd person survival horror game, and despite being on the tiny screen of my phone, it managed to pack in one of the most creepy experiences that I’ve had on any platform.

Now, I don’t want to oversell anything here. At face value, Prisoner 84 is a fairly basic, slow-paced 3rd person action game. It can be completed in just a couple of hours (or longer if you really explore), the various puzzles in the game are pretty straightforward, and the graphics aren’t really anything to write home about.

However, don’t let any of that turn you off. Prisoner 84 absolutely nails one aspect of horror games, and arguably the most important one: atmosphere. Footsteps echo in the otherwise dead silent halls of the cellblock setting. Soft murmurs and growls suddenly sound off in the distance. Gruesome scenes of violence hint that there’s something out there responsible and those who came before you weren’t so lucky. It can be downright chilling.

I could go on and on about how much I love the mood of Prisoner 84, but you can just read all about it in our original review. Really, what I’m more interested in talking about is the substantial update that has just hit this nearly two-year old game. Prisoner 84 launched in 2010, and aside from a maintenance and bug fix update that hit shortly after release, it’s been untouched since. That’s why I was completely blown away to see an update waiting for me in iTunes just the other day.

The game is now Universal and runs at Retina resolution on the iPhone 4 models and the new iPad. Also, on iPads and 4th generation devices additional graphical flourishes and more detailed character models have been included. The original release of Prisoner 84 sported some really blocky characters, and post-update things have really been improved.

It also looks fantastic in Retina resolution, though there are plenty of low-res textures you’ll run into that remind you you’re playing an older game. Still, from where Prisoner 84 was at originally, the difference is night and day thanks to these improvements. (Trailer is from the old version, FYI).

Rounding out the update is multitasking support, an improved user interface, and various gameplay tweaks – all welcome additions. I love when developers spring new updates on their customers, even if a game is years old, and if you missed out on Prisoner 84 before then now would be a great time to check it out. Just keep in mind that it is very slow-paced, and because it’s an older game it’s not quite as cutting edge visually. But if you can appreciate a moody atmosphere that will creep your pants off, then Prisoner 84 is among the best on the App Store.

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The Call of Duty: Elite companion app is still coming to tablets, and this version might be better than the one currently on phones. In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, product director Noah Heller confirmed that Beachhead Studios is still actively developing a tablet app. He also noted that it’ll be more than a port of the phone version of Elite.

“We’re working on a tablet application right now,” he told the Guardian. “I can’t tell you that much about it, but I can tell you it’s a totally, customized app for the tablet, not a simple port.” Heller said that while the Elite web site works just fine on tablets, it wants to make the most out of real estate and landscape these things offer.

If you look beyond the boilerplate response, it seems to suggest that the major thing the phone app doesn’t support, heat maps, are go. This was neither confirmed or denied by Heller when asked directly about a possible inclusion.

Regardless, we’re still stoked about getting Elite on our iPads. The phone app is good, as is the web site, but Elite in general always seemed like it’d be a better fit for 10-inch screens. Here’s to hoping it comes out soon-ish.

[via The Guardian, via VG247]

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Linux Tycoon, in case you’ve never heard of it, bills itself as “the world’s premiere Linux Distribution Building Simulation Game.” It’s got similar gameplay to the many other Tycoon-style games out there, with one gloriously nerdy twist. In Linux Tycoon, you’re not building railroads, managing hospitals, or anything like that, you’re trying to build the world’s greatest Linux distro.

You’ll analyze and select the software packages included in your distro, fix bugs, and manage both your volunteers and paid staff while trying to keep the file size of your distro reasonable… And much more. There’s even an online component, which will turn Linux Tycoon into the world’s first MMOLDBSG, or, for those of you playing along at home, that’s a “Massively Multiplayer Online Linux Distro Building Simulation Game.”

If all goes as planned, Linux Tycoon will be submitted to the App Store for approval sometime next week, and released as soon as Apple gives the thumbs up. Pricing is yet to be announced, but it sounds like it’ll be in line with what you’d expect.

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Let’s face it, kids: If you are going to become a giant, fire-breathing monster and take over a city by way of stomping on it, you want to do it right. In style. So if I play a videogame that puts me in the role of said monster, I have one rule — I want to have fun. Glorious, building stomping, people eating fun.

That’s why the original Rampage was such a bounding success. When I saw screens of Monster Takedown [$0.99], I thought I was looking at the same kind of thing. You get to be a big octopus or monster with too many eyeballs or whatever and fend off flying helicopters and incoming bombs. The art looked crisp and cute, and I thought if the gameplay hit the mark, we could have a winner on our hands here. Could. Maybe.

Unfortunately, I can’t report that, because Monster Takedown is pretty boring despite its good looks (and oh, haven’t we all fallen for that formula a few times).  It goes with a very pared down approach, which goes something like this: pick a monster out of five, find yourself splayed over a city doing basically nothing, and wait with a glazed look while helicopters and bombs fly in to attack you. You can’t even move, which really takes the fun out of being eighty feet tall with giant eyeballs stalks.

Seriously though, the lack of movement wouldn’t have bugged me that much had there been something more exciting going on. The helicopters and other flying stuff can be taken out with the touch of a finger, and that can get more complex as you go, although it’s nothing to complain to your friends about.

But the killer is when a nuke flies in from above, which you are supposed to be able to swipe away. I say supposed because no matter how much I swiped or in how many directions, I had trouble getting the game to be responsive when it came to this. It did happen a few times (try a quick left to right swipe), but considering that if that bomb touches your monster, you instantly die — well, let’s just say this little snag took quite a bit of the fun out of things.

You do start each level with one Slow power and one Bomb power, and you can guess what they do by their names. And that’s about all I have to tell you. Oh, except you can post your scores to Facebook and Twitter as well as the Game Center leaderboards, but I’m guessing you already figured that out.

Monster Takedown is completely mediocre, but I think what hurts here is that the look is so cute and you can really see they could have done a lot more with just a little bit of effort. Ah well, there’s always next time. For now, save your dollar, or put it towards a better game.

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Since he started making games for iOS, indie developer Jeff Minter of Llamasoft has really been cranking them out. The guy has been making games — and, rather unique games, I might add — for over 30 years, but I don’t believe he’s ever dished out one after another faster than he’s doing for Apple’s platform. And that’s really good news for iOS gamers because all of his iOS titles are rather well done and worth playing. His latest title, Five A Day [link], which just landed in the App Store, comes close on the heels of Gridrunner for iOS, his excellent remake of his original 1982 VIC-20 game and one of the best shooters on the platform.

When we first reported that Minter was developing for iOS, about two and a half years ago, we mentioned a Time Pilot-style game that he was working on, set to be his first iOS release. Well, time passed, Minotaur Rescue arrived, and we never saw anything else about that supposed first iOS release. That is to say, not until now.

Five A Day is a shooter (with bananas), but it’s equally an ethereal experience of sorts. It’s a kind of spacey, zen sort of thing. It’s a little hard to describe, so I’ll let the author.

…it should’ve just progressed into a good old banana-oriented shooter as originally intended but by accident it sort of went all New Age and ambient. While still actually retaining the characteristic of actually being any good, of course. It didn’t just turn into a useless ageing hippy of a game that lies around smoking weed and listening to Steve Hillage and burbling on about auras and crystals without ever doing anything useful. Redolent it may be of joss sticks and wind chimes but it’s still jolly good fun and will kick your arse quite handily on the higher levels, just you wait and see.

But what turned the game all auras and wind chimes? Apparently, it’s largely due to the in-game audio which, Minter indicates, lead the way in shaping the game during its development.

It started relatively slowly at first, with just fluffy clouds and the addition of a rainbow trail behind the spaceship. Then I needed some audio and headed out to a site called Freesound, where you can download snippets of stuff and use them in your projects. You can search by keyword so I put in “Space”, and that was it, game was doomed from that point on. All manner of floaty synth sustains, whale noises, chimes and gongs, page after page of them. Once I started putting one or two of them into the game, the game more or less began to shape itself. By the time I got to the first shower of bananas and enumeration of the first end of level bonus the audio was already heading firmly in the direction of “epic New Age”, and that’s how it ended up.

So, there it is. Every Minter game I can think of is rather “out there,” but this one is just a little moreso, perhaps (if you can imagine it).

We’ve got the vibe covered, now for the gameplay. Five A Day puts you in control of a craft soaring through the clouds, forever shooting. The sky is full of baddies that resemble familiar, pixellated villains of video games’ past. Some of these baddies are in possession of fruit. You want the fruit, and you need to destroy said baddies to collect it. There are also rainbow-bejumpered minotaurs floating about. Collecting either of these places them in tow and increases your shield power (which enemy fire drains) and, in the case of the latter, results in a Death Blossom-style weapons discharge that is bad for those around you.

As you progress, other elements come into play as well, such as bosses, sky-mines, homing missiles, and the like. A goal of the game is to finish each round with at least one piece of fruit in tow, as five such completions in a row result in a bonus life for your having been the healthy lad and getting your five-a-day (of fruits and veggies). And the whole thing is set not to a frantic, pumping audio beat-track, but to the whispers and tinkles of a holistic astral massage parlor. It’s an interesting — and fairly odd — scenario.

Your ship can be controlled via touch, by drawing circles anywhere on the screen in indication of how you want to maneuver, as well as via tilt-control. As with most iOS Llamasoft titles, the iCade control unit is also supported. Our gameplay video demonstrates iCade and touch controls. Being a universal app, Five A Day plays nice with both iPhone and iPad.

I’ve been having a lot of fun over the past few days with Five A Day, as I have with every one of Minter’s iOS releases. (The guy’s catalog is outstanding and should be investigated by everyone reading this.) That said, the overall feel and pacing of the game — a bit more relaxed than the typical shooter out there — combined with the ethereal audio stylings deliver an experience that might come across as a bit of an oddity to the typical gamer as compared to most of his other iOS releases, or certainly most other shooters out there. I would recommend Five A Day to any like-minded gamer, but it’s definitely a different sort of shooter experience.

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Assuming my math is correct and the curators of the Wikipedia listing are on the ball, including the various compilations there have been 23 different Deer Hunter titles. When you reach ten entries in a series, you’ve got to really start thinking outside the box to come up with new things to keep the lineage fresh. When you hit 20, you’ve got to get really crazy, and when you hit 24 (again, assuming the Wikipedians are doing their job) you apparently have to implement X-Ray mode.

Check it out in the trailer:

As far as I can tell, the killer new feature of the “Reloaded” game is the ability to flip down your X-Ray specs and aim directly for the brain, heart, or lungs of your prey. Hunting games have always been sort of borderline when it comes to grotesque brutality, especially in recent installments as point systems have been implemented, rewarding the player for a flawless stream of headshots fired upon a group of deer wandering through the woods, but this… This is something else. It almost seems over the line, even for this hardcore veteran of the worst shock sites the Internet has to offer.

Deer Hunter Reloaded should be available soon as a free to play title, featuring sixteen upgradeable weapons ranging from rifles to shotguns and even handguns for your brain-blasting pleasure. You’ll also be able to tweak out your avatar with all sorts of different hunter swag.

What do you guys think about this? X-Ray mode seems a little over the top, right? Or am I just being uncharacteristically sensitive about this?

[via Pocket Gamer]

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Way back in the summer of 2010 (wow, where does the time go?), I was very pleasantly surprised with Oyatsukai’s Final Freeway [Free], an homage to Sega’s classic OutRun arcade racer. You could tell straightaway that there was plenty of love put into Final Freeway by somebody who absolutely adored the source material, and unsurprisingly this love translated into fun gameplay for those craving an on-the-go OutRun-alike.

While we praised Final Freeway in our review, it was missing a couple of core components that make an OutRun game, well, OutRunny. First was a lack of branching paths when you reached the end of a track segment, which normally would allow you to choose your own path to the end of the race. Instead Final Freeway was just a straight shot through its 6 environments.

The second big thing that was missing was the ability to crash and flip your ride. Sure, this is just a visual thing that doesn’t really affect gameplay, but it can’t truly feel like an OutRun game unless you can barrel into a tree at 160mph, flip your vehicle through the air several times while the passengers are ejected, and have both the car and the people come out completely unscathed. Also, where was the pretty blonde riding shotgun? Maybe she was there, but since the car wasn’t a convertible in Final Freeway, I’ll never know for sure (these things matter).

So there you have it, Final Freeway was an awesome OutRun clone with a few minor flaws. Fast forward to earlier this month, and Oyatsukai has taken all the feedback from the original Final Freeway and put it into the sequel, Final Freeway 2R [99¢], which truly is the OutRun game we’ve been waiting for. All the things we felt were missing from the first game? Those are in Final Freeway 2R, and it even does a couple of neat new things that really differentiates itself from OutRun while still retaining the feel of that series.

The first big thing in Final Freeway 2R is that there are now 13 different environments to race through in total. Each complete game has you racing through 5 of them, with a branching path at the end of each that lets you pick which route to take. It’s super OutRunny! Also, the graphics look a lot better this time around, with more detailed sprite work and a greater draw distance. The sense of speed in Final Freeway 2R is just ridiculous, and puts most other racers to shame. All the while it runs at a rock-solid framerate.

Of course, you can also now flip your ride in Final Freeway 2R, which as I’ve explained is incredibly crucial to the experience. You get a convertible faux Ferrari this time too, so you can actually see your blonde lady friend sitting in the passenger seat. In a cool twist over the original, you can now choose from 3 different drivers in Final Freeway 2R, each with their own set of stats. One of these drivers actually is the blonde cutie, and when you pick her one of the other fellas ends up riding shotgun. Equality!

One other interesting change from OutRun is now you actually have a rival of sorts shadowing you through each environment as you race towards the end goal. If you manage to reach the end of a track segment before he does you’ll get an additional bonus. It’s not integral to the overall experience, but it does add a nice bit of extra motivation to actually have an opponent to race against rather than merely trying to beat the clock.

Overall, Final Freeway 2R is a huge improvement over the original, and I just can’t believe how hooked I’ve been on it since it came out. It’s just pure, simplistic, fast-paced, arcade racing fun. If you’re not really an original OutRun fan but are curious if this sort of gameplay is your thing, then for today only you can grab the first Final Freeway for free to see how it grabs you. If you like that, then just know that Final Freeway 2R improves on everything from the first and will set you back just a buck.

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