Review: BIT.TRIP RUN! (iPad)

Review by Max S. 

Imagine running through an odd, magical world where monocle-wearing hills with eyes sitting on clouds (they are referred to as “Cloud Titans”) watch you as you jump, slide, and kick your way through joyously rhythmic level after level. Sound familiar so far? It should - that's BIT.TRIP at its finest. But then, suddenly, everything stops working. The music continues playing as the rest of the game grinds to halt and in no time at all you are dead and are forced to restart the level. That is not the platformer of the year I love.

Enter BIT.TRIP RUN! on iOS, the quasi-remake of Runner2, a fantastic console and PC title that released earlier this year. Not a whole lot has changed gameplay-wise in the move to mobile, but everything from the menus to the controls have been adapted to fit the touch screen interface of the iPhone and iPad. Other mobile additions include not-entirely unwelcome in-app purchases in the form of extra levels, silly costumes, and virtual gold, and iOS-specific leaderboards and achievements.

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Review: Rhino Rush Stampede (iPhone)

Review by Andrew M. 

Mobile games all aim to be addictive. They are designed so that if you sit down on the train or lounge or whatever, you can just whip out your device and play a game for five minutes. But the secret to a good iPhone game is to get to you come back over and over or sink hours into something that you should be able to get your fix of in five minutes or less. It's bad for productivity, but it's the glorious reality of Rhino Rush Stampede. It’s so addictive and wonderfully so.

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Review: Animal Dungeon: Call For Rescue (iPhone)

Review by Andrew M. 

When a game is created with a great cause like Animal Dungeon: Call For Rescue, which was made in conjunction with the World Wildlife Federation, there should be great praise for the collaboration. Anything that creates awareness about wildlife preservation and endangered species deserves to be noticed. If only the game that was beneath that noble concept was worth playing. As hard as I tried to find something positive to talk about, there is almost nothing but the WWF link that makes this game redeemable in any way.

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Review: Kid Tripp (iPhone)

Some gaming enthusiasts might criticise the App Store as being a collection of watered-down versions of arcade titles and console games that we’ve come to know and love. And there is some truth to this argument. For every original game or quality port that makes its way onto iOS devices, there are tons of games that simply attempt to cash in on the aesthetics and mechanics laid down by much better titles (just Google Search “iOS Mario Clone” and see what I mean).

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