iPhone Reviews 2.0

iTunes Link

Pro Surfing (Wildcard) is a surfing game by Traction Games. $1.99

Being a surfer myself I have been looking for a long time for a game that satisfies my surfing urges when I can't be in the water. While Pro Surfing isn't the most realistic surfing game I have played it takes you inside the wave, giving the best surfing experience possible. The other games I have played have you looking at the wave and the surfer, this game puts you directly behind the surfer, experiencing all the rush of being in the barrel of a wave. This game as I said doesn't give a realistic experience of surfing, mainly because unless you are a surfer it would be boring and you wouldn't understand it. This game lets you get massive air and do some sweet tricks, something missing from the other surfing games.

Pro Surfing has some great graphics which have brought a more realistic feel to the game than others such as Bobble Surfer. The wave looks as good as it can for a game like this, with it continuously moving. The surfer's look quite realistic and very impressive seeing no other surfing games have come even close to this. The animations are super smooth f0r this game and I encountered no lag during gameplay. The only thing I can think of possibly improving in the graphics department are more customizable characters with different boards, outfits etc. and clearer loading screens. The load screens have tips on them, but it seems quite blurry and would look more professional if they improved them a little bit. Apart from that I'm happy with the graphics of this game.

The controls of Pro Surfing have been simplified to make it easy for the average gamer to pick up and play. To start surfing you have to tilt your device as shown on the screen, this then allows you to start surfing. From there you have to tilt you device left and right to move. Riding up and down the wave allows you to gain speed to get out of the barrel and to do bigger tricks. To do tricks all you have to do is tilt your way off the wave and then press any one of the 4 buttons on the left of the screen. Tilting while in the air also gives you more points. The button on the right side of the screen lets you slow down, getting into the barrel to gain points and hopefully get a barrel blowout for some extreme speed. The controls are easy and work well for a game like this, making for a fun time that is easy to learn, but takes a long time to master.

The aim of surfing is to surf for so long and try and get a high score, hopefully getting a 10/10. In Pro Surfing you have to do this twice, to try and beat your opponent to progress to the next round of the competition. There are four competitions that you have to compete in to be the best surfer in the world, and these are on four very different waves. These must be won in competition before you can surf them in the free surf mode. In my first run through the competition I won 3 out of the 4 locations, meaning I have to do the whole thing again to unlock the wave I missed. I find this quite annoying and would like an option to do certain contests after the competition is completed once. The other thing which could be improved is an in-app leaderboard so you don't have to go to safari to submit your scores each time. Apart from that the surfing mechanism in this game is very good, making the game have some sort of feel like the real thing. The game physics don't let you do anything really extreme, except for the huge airs but that's the fun factor of surfing games. I gave this to my non-surfing friend to play and they were addicted to how fun this is, before asking me why I can't do any of this in real life.

Pro Surfing (Wildcard) is the best surfing game by far I have played on the iDevice, and nearly any other device except Kelly Slater Pro Surfer. The experience is fun for all players, experienced surfers or not. Definitely one of the better games I have played that aren't well known on the App Store, even though it should be. There is now a lite version to test the waters as such with, but it should be enough to convince you to buy this game for a respectable price of $1.99.

Gameplay- 9/10
Graphics- 8/10
Sound- 5.5/10
Overall- 7/10

I would recommend this game if you enjoyed- Bobble Surfer

Tell me what you think about this review at Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/iPhone_Reviews next up is NBA Live

Thanks- iPhone_Reviews

Play EA Mobile’s iPhone/iPod touch game and build an empire from the ground up!
Use your savviest business strategies to Buy, Sell, Trade & Manage big-name real estate.
Cruise around the interactive board with animated tokens and 3D dice as you collect popular properties for profit!
Play through 3 levels and save games in progress for non-stop FUN!
And for the first time ever, MONOPOLY is 3.0 ready. Listen to & control music from your iTunes library without interrupting your game!

*** MONOPOLY is 3.0 ready! *** For the first time ever, LISTEN TO & CONTROL music from your iTunes® library without interrupting your game!

>GET DOWN TO BUSINESS─ Use your savviest business strategies to Buy, Sell, Trade & Manage big-name properties and stay ahead of the competition

>HAVE FUN WHILE YOU MAKE MONEY─ Cruise around the interactive board with animated tokens and 3D dice as you collect popular properties for PROFIT

>HANDS ON EXCITEMENT─ Shake your iPhone to roll the dice. Tap the screen to Buy, Trade, and Upgrade your properties with Houses & Hotels

> FEELING COMPETITIVE?─Play with up to 4 friends on the same network with WiFi & Pass ‘n Play and up to 2 people with Bluetooth Multiplayer

>ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES─ Play through 3 levels of difficulty and save games in progress for non-stop FUN

LINE 'EM UP WITH CONNECT 4!
Play the popular checker-dropping iPhone/iPod touch game for hours of fun!
Listen to & control music from your iTunes Library while you play.
Go solo with Single Player and connect 4 in Classic, Challenge & Advanced Modes.
Play against friends with Bluetooth, WiFi, or Pass 'n Play.
Build up your high score and unlock 25 achievements for smart plays.
Block & counter your opponent’s moves and check out new cut scenes, slow motion gameplay, and cool special effects!

LINE ‘EM UP! - Play the timeless, world popular row-making game for hours of addictive FUN!

GO SOLO WITH SINGLE PLAYER - Test your row-making talent in Classic, Challenge, and Advanced Modes with all-new Powerchips, Max Score & PopOut!

PLAY AGAINST FAMILY & FRIENDS - Go head-to-head with the competition using Bluetooth, WiFi, or Pass 'N Play Multiplayer!

STAY AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION - Build up your high score & unlock 25 achievements for smart plays. Block & counter your opponent’s moves and be the first to get 4 tokens in a row to win!

EYE CANDY - Check out new cut scenes, slow motion gameplay, and cool special effects like exploding chips!

Prepare your strategy and lead your troops to victory!
Use touch screen controls to place your ships, map your co-ordinates and fire at the enemy.
Destroy all the enemy ships to win.
Play new and fun modes including the quick-fire Salvo and heavy duty Super Weapons where you can use an arsenal of powerful weapons to defeat your opponent.
Use WiFi and Bluetooth multiplayer to take on friends and prove you are the ultimate naval tactician!

• Different ways to play – Classic, Salvo and Super Weapons Modes
• Local two player Wifi and Bluetooth multiplayer

iTunes Link

Derek Jeter Real Baseball is a baseball game by Gameloft. $0.99

[A modified post from TheAppEra]

This game is the latest in Gameloft's Real Sports series, this time featuring one of the best known baseballer's today, Derek Jeter. Having a big name like Jeter on their game, I was hoping for actual MLB teams and players

Sadly, they haven't been able to get the rights to the names (MLB World Series 2009 is the only game to date with the rights to the teams, no players). Go Yankees? Or does this game tank?

With no MLB teams to convince you to buy this game what does Gameloft put on the plate to convince you to buy the game exactly? What about some quite realistic graphics and a baseball experience that is more true to the actual game than anything else on the App Store.

This game is fun to play, with easy to use controls that look great in one of the awesome looking baseball stadiums. If you have had enough with playing the addictive arcade baseball games like Baseball Superstars 2010 and Homerun Race 3D and want a real baseball experience, this is certainly the perfect game for you!

As I said before the graphics in this game are freaking sweet! This is by far the most realistic sports game in Gameloft's list and that's saying a lot when they have games like Real Soccer 2010 and NFL 2010.

The characters in this game look so real and detailed that at times it's almost like you are watching the real thing. This game has got everything in the game right down to the crinkles in the players outfits. The players are very close if not better to the footballers we see in Electronic Art's Madden 10. That's how impressive they are.

The animation is quite smooth for a game with graphics as good as they are. I encountered hardly any lag and the game ran smoothly if you had reset your iDevice within the last day or so. The fielding, pitching and batting animations all replicated real baseball extremely well and also managed to keep up with the pace of true baseball. This isn't something other games have been able to do so far and it's great to see someone 'get it right'.

Derek Jeter Real Baseball uses controls similar to MLB WS 2009 but they have been slightly improved to make the game easier. When batting, all you have to do is swing the bat by tapping on the screen, without the need to aim at the ball. This is a smart move on Gameloft's behalf because the ball is coming a lot faster than any other baseball games.

Pitching is pretty standard with it involving selecting a type of pitch, tilting your device and tapping to select that spot of the pitch. Next comes up to power meters that require you to try and stop it at the required spot to get perfect power and accuracy. It takes a bit of practice but you can generally get at least perfect accuracy all the time.

For the first time you can control fielding. This basically lets you run to pick up the ball and decide what base to throw it to. While it's not all that spectacular it adds for a bit more excitement and action in the game.

For those who have absolutely no idea how to play baseball, the aim is to get more runs than your opponent in 9 innings. In Derek Jeter however, we can be impatient little gamers and play with either 3, 6 0r 9 innings in a game. There are a few games modes to choose from including quick play, season mode, playoffs and home run contest. Again you can play these in a variety of difficulty modes with easy, medium or hard.

Quick Play lets you choose a team to play with and against and is for fun. This probably won't be used much as you are better off playing Season mode. This allows you to play a number of different games in a season to hopefully win your way to the playoffs. You can choose any team to play out of the made up teams and players (Excluding Derek Jeter playing for New York of course). Lastly is the Home Run Contest which gives you three rounds to get as many home runs as possible before getting out 10 times. This is alright but gets a bit boring and dry to the end of the 3rd round. Winning it gives you a sweet trophy however.

The game is incredibly good at acting like a real baseball match. The pitching is fast paced and was a real shock when I first played the game, as all other games I have played have quite a slow pitch. This makes for more quick decisions on whether to hit or miss and makes the game much more exciting. Even on easy I found batting a nice challenge. Pitching is fairly simple but depicts a real baseball match yet again very well. Even small detail like the ball being thrown back to the pitcher is put into the game.

Really, this is the baseballers game. Those purists who want the true simulation experience will love this game to bits, providing everything I can think of in a baseball game. It is a shame that they couldn't get the naming rights to the game but the game content makes up for it. Gameloft have certainly hit a winner with this game, and I don't see how it can't be a very successful game.

Derek Jeter Real Baseball easily commands top spot in the category of baseball games, especially simulation games. For $4.99 (insanely priced at) $0.99, I find this game to be a great pick up and a well earned change from the arcade baseball games we are used to seeing. Baseball and sport fans in general won't be disappointed with this game. Seriously, just pick this up and get a homer already.

Gameplay- 9/10
Graphics- 10/10
Sound- 7.5/10
Overall- 8.5/10

I would recommend this game if you enjoyed- MLB World Series 2009

Tell me what you think about this review at Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/iPhone_Reviews next up is Pro Surfing Wildcard

Thanks- iPhone_Reviews

And the last game of IUGO's Triple Threat is a physics based game that reminds me of iBlast Moki. Looks like fun and a great challenge. Check it out below!

This game is a blast! You are tasked to carefully plant limited dynamite bundles in order to demo obsolete structures. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG! Implode! is a classic “easy to learn, hard to master” casual game that will pull you in and won’t let go. Features include:

• 60 dynamite levels

• Reactive UI, touch and drag control options

• Fun chalkboard theme and clean graphics

• Two different types of bombs (traditional bombs and blast bombs)

• Varying structure shapes for ongoing challenge

• Submit score online (online score is the sum of all levels’ high scores)

• Grading system for high scores adding replayability to each level

• 3 Difficulties; Casual, Veteran, and Expert

• In-level help system: Learn as you play!

• IUGO VIP: Sandbox cheat gives you more bombs and you never fail! (high scores disabled with this feature)

• Watch buildings tumble with real physics!

The second of IUGO's Triple Threat is a game called Cliffed, which I thought was a sequel to Shaky Summit but it's a totally new concept. Check it out below!

Challenge your friends to the most addictive race to the bottom! IUGO presents its latest sensation in casual gaming with this frantic 2D scrolling racer. WARNING: This game will get your heart and fingers racing!

Features:

• 10 unique and playful characters to choose from

• Pick up and play! Great for all ages

• Endless game play

• Online multiplayer! Race up to 8 players in real time over 3G and wireless networks

• Local and global leaderboards

• IUGO’s new VIP program: Tell your friends, earn points and unlock an exclusive mystery character sooner

• Stylized, clean graphics

• IUGO’s signature quality and polish

Boom! IUGO has come with some juicy information about a Triple Threat of Games (I suppose a foursome if you included A.D.D) that are all pending review with Apple. Check out what they have in store for the coming weeks. Starting with a SCARE!

Just when you thought it was safe…ZA! is back! Lovers of zombies and tower defense-style games combined have a second chance to tear into more zombies with more weapons and in more locations than ever before.

IUGO built upon what you loved best about the original Zombie Attack! game making it bigger, better and bloodier! Your mission: play as a survivor from the ultimate Zombie Apocalypse, protect your shack and stay alive. Kill zombies, earn points and cash to upgrade your weapons and bolster your fire power. Easy tilt and touch-screen controls make ZA! 2 an instant iPhone-exclusive favorite.

Features:

• 7 turrets (3 new, including the Pulsewave)

• New upgrades to super turrets

• 4 maps of varying sizes including Backyard and Trailer Park

• Hordes of challenges, 5 for each map

• 6 zombie types (4 new, including the Hound and Cheerleader)

• Instantaneous save when quitting the app

• Online high scores list for each map, local lists for challenges and personal records

• Automatic iPod music support (Just play your music and start the game)

• 3.0 USERS!! Additional iPod music playback option

• IUGO high-quality and polish

iTunes Link

Rock Band is a music game by Electronic Arts. $9.99

[This is a modified post from TheAppEra]

ROCK BAND is the latest phenomenon to grace the AppStore. We have had many music tapping games in our time, but nothing this HUGE has landed on our palms previously.

$9.99 for 22 songs (around $0.45 per track plus DLC)... is this the complete package we have been waiting for?

I think I can safely say that I have enough experience to review this title, with this being the 13th music tapping game I have on this device. What I was expecting in this game was what I expected from all the other games I have played. That is either notes that coincide with the beat or guitar.

ROCK BAND however takes the complete band experience letting you play songs tapping to different instruments: Guitar, Bass, Drums or even Vocals. I think this is a brilliant idea and love the fact I can play the same song in four totally different ways.

Tap Tap Revenge 3 has the awesome themes for songs while Guitar Rock Tour 2 has the live performance like Guitar Hero. Having no exposure with Rock Band left me not knowing what to expect. What we get is some pretty sweet looking repeated animations of a rock show.

These aren't real and instead seem to be hand drawn animations. These look awesome in my opinion and switch between the rock show experience and the various instruments as they happen in the song.

Since they don't have the most extreme graphics compared to other music games, EA was able to tune this game run extremely smoothly.

I would just have to assume that people reading this have had some exposure with ANY music arcade game on ANY platform. If not, it's really simple: you tap the music beats as they descend from the top of the screen. These beats are usually synchronized with the actual music itself.

There are three main modes: Quick Play (you get to choose your own song right away), World Tour (5 different venues performing a 5 song-set per venue) and Multiplayer mode (rock on with your friends and their devices using Bluetooth connection).

After choosing which mode you'd like to play, the game asks you which song you'd like to play, the instrument you want to use and the difficulty in which that song gets played. After that, you're ready to rock and roll!

Lastly, if you ever get tired of the 22 pre-downloaded and selected songs, more music are available through DLC which runs you $0.99 a pop.

Let me get this out the door and say ROCK BAND DOES NOT SUCK! Most review sites are yapping about EA Mobile not using players' voice for vocal mode. They went on and on about it, but did they ever ask EA why? Without being totally pompous (ha!), we did and here's what they have to say verbatim:

We designed the game to best benefit all potential players. At this time, the iPod touch does not have a microphone built in, so whether being played on the iPhone or iPod touch, on the go or at home, the touch screen vocal interface maximizes the experience overall, allowing users to play Rock Band anywhere and, more importantly, join a multiplayer band regardless of which device they own.

The reasoning makes perfect sense to us, but a future addition of an option of such a mode would be welcomed.

Some other suggestions include: animated loading screens and avoid loading screens as much as possible. Right now even going in and out of pauses transitions with the winged timer. Another would be FULL ONLINE multiplayer of course.

ROCK BAND iPhone is a fantastic game, and our platform should be honored to be graced with such a delight. Though obviously the absence of physical instruments construe the "vision" somehow, this is heck more than a "respectable" job for a portable ROCK BAND. The game screams ROCK BAND from design down to music distortions.

If EA Mobile keeps going at it and maybe (just maybe!) somehow innovates the game with full online MP, the results would be earth shattering...

Gameplay- 9.5/10
Graphics- 9/10
Sound- 10/10
Overall- 9.5/10

I would recommend this game if you enjoyed- Guitar Rock Tour 2

Tell me what you think about this review at Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/iPhone_Reviews next up is Derek Jeter: Real Baseball

Thanks- iPhone_Reviews