Android – Iphone – Applications

Above is a video of a drunk guy named Larry who wanted more beer at the market, but he ran into some trouble on his quest. The dramatic music makes the video even more entertaining. However a lot of people commenting on the video don’t see it as being very funny because it is unknown what Larry might have done shortly after. Some people are worried that he got in a car or if he was taken to a hospital. What are your thoughts on the video?

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, Application, OS

It’s rare that I come across an app or game so bad that it’s nearly unusable…but Real Foosball is simply horrid. The controls are horrible, the physics are weak, and the game as a whole just needs to be avoided. Enough said. Read on if you must, but the bottom line is that Real Foosball feels like an unfinished, barely functional prototype.

I absolutely love Foosball in real life, so I was excited to try Real Foosball. Instead, I was greeted by a maddeningly confusing, muddled mess. “Real” Foosball is anything but realistic. Let’s begin with the touch control scheme, which works by moving your finger over the rods. When using touch controls, the rods move too quickly, jerk around, and often snap back to their original positions when you let go; meanwhile, the animations flicker confusingly.

The other control option is motion controls, which suffers from an opposite problem: it’s excruciatingly slow. On top of that, there isn’t any calibration option, so you’ll need to tilt your iPhone at ridiculous angles (often losing sight of the screen!) in order to play with motion controls.

The game, of course, works like any normal Foosball game; you can set the number of goals necessary to win, and then it’s a simple battle to see who scores the goals first. Here’s a hint: given the control scheme, it will probably be the computer. There’s no original twist, no gimmicks, no added features to try and make the game more exciting or long-lasting.

Graphics and audio are merely mediocre; the menus in particular show a lack of attention to detail, and the fonts and colors used for the text just scream “I’m unfinished.” And as if I needed more evidence of the developers’ carelessness, there’s no save or auto-resume function. Accidentally hit the home button? Congratulations: you’re back to the start page with no records of your game. Not that it really matters; after all, there aren’t even local leaderboards or a records page, so who cares if you were doing well?

Under normal circumstances, an app like this wouldn’t even warrant a review. But, hey, might as well warn you folks, right? Do you wallets a favor, and stay away from Real Foosball. Sometimes I wonder if Apple’s review team will ever stop blocking things like Google Voice and get rid of games like this instead.

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, Apple, Game, Google, Iphone, OS

I’ve had a few days now to play through a preview version of Garters & Ghouls, the first original IP that Namco have created for the iPhone. It’s great to see one the the giants of the video game industry developing new games on such a new platform as the iPhone.

The story of Garters & Ghouls is very fitting for the Halloween season. You have been brought back from the dead to fight the Thrum (think multi-species zombies). The game is a dual stick shooter with various weapons and enemies to hunt down. Your goal is to clear each level by destroying the portals and the evil creatures that come from them. You do this through 25 different levels set in many different scenes including graveyards, churches, and various carnival-like areas. There are of course power-ups that can be bought with gold collected from the dead Thurm.

The game itself, while a little rough around the edges still, has done something that most games of this genre haven’t, it’s held my attention. I’m not sure what that says about the game or me, but it has interested me. Could be the garter belts.

Garters & Ghouls is expected to launch right around Halloween. We’ll let you know as soon as it has launched.

Hit the jump for more screen shots.

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, Game, Iphone, OS

Smashing pumpkins! Crack O’ Lantern has nothing to do with the band… smashing pumpkins, as in smashing them against a wall, is the object of this game.

It’s raining pumpkins (hallelujah) and your job is to (a) crack them on the ground, and then (b) smash them into little bits by tossing them against the wall. You gotta crack them first, though, and throwing uncracked pumpkins at the wall is an exercise in futility. When you see a special flaming red pumpkin, though, you can just wall-smash that one right away. Every pumpkin you successfully smash will fill your time meter, and when it’s filled all the way you get to advance to the next round.

The one big catch in this game is that any pumpkin that gets destroyed by any other method will get you zero points. Things start off simple enough, but as you progress through the levels there will be new obstacles thrown in such as spiky things and flying metal blades, and these obstacles make your smashing job a whole lot harder.

I like that Artisan Dream came up with a fairly original idea for a Halloween game. I mean, how many Halloween memory matches do we really need? With so many apps crowding the App Store originality is rare, so I have to applaud the effort put into Crack O’ Lantern.

But is the game fun? Eh… the gameplay actually feels a bit clunky for my tastes. It works exactly the way it’s supposed to, but the motion of cracking and then smashing just doesn’t do a lot for me. Am I crazy, or is this just yet another game that I suck at and therefore don’t want to play anymore? I dunno, you tell me! The game’s only a buck, so give it a try if you’re up for something new or need to keep the kids in check before Beg Strangers For Candy Day finally arrives.

iTunes Link – Crack O’ Lantern
Version 1.0
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS3.1.2

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: 3G, App, Apple, Game, Iphone, ITunes, OS

Last chance at Halloween C@rds! If you get this app, you should also grab C@rds Master which is now free.

iTunes Link – Halloween C@rds

On deck: CompareMe – Shopping Utility (Finance)

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, Apple, Free, Iphone, ITunes, OS