Android – Iphone – Applications

It seems like a no-brainer to have a text based fighting game on a mobile device. People are always trying to get faster and faster at texting, and what better way than to fight an enemy on the way. Even better, with texting as the main form of control, nobody can complain about an odd fighting game control scheme. It’s brilliant!

As a fighting game though, the need for speed is compounded on the fact that you have an opponent fighting against you. Still, the focus on the game, in my opinion, should still be on getting faster and faster at texting. In this sense, TXT Fighter is a bit of a mixed bag. It will make you a faster texter if you keep plugging away at it, but it has some issues that seemed confusing to me, and I’m definitely a more grizzled iOS gamer than most.

The basis of text fighter is simple. There is a punch word to type that does little damage, a kick that does a bit more damage, and a special button that does a whole bunch of damage, but is only activated once you build up enough special attack points. These are the obvious attacks, there are others that you are supposed to discover on your own. While you are in your battle, the less accurate you are in your typing, the less damage you’ll do.

Slow and steady, in this case, does not win the race. Even on the normal difficulty you have to type fairly fast to keep up. Fast enough in fact that there is little opportunity to figure out these special moves that are so elusive. With not much animation or difficulty diversity, the game really depends on a wide array of words to spell, and this is where the game falls short. Even after playing for 10-15 minutes, you’ll see the same words over an over again. It’s not a real disaster, but I would like to see a much larger word bank in the future.

For a text fighting game, TXT Fighter does a pretty good job at keeping the interest up. The graphics and sounds are entertaining, and the fighting elements work alright, but it’s definitely not perfect. The fighting diversity (power moves) need to be more obvious, and the word bank needs to be larger for me to say that it’s a must buy.

[ TXT Fighter Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by pietro842 \\ tags: Application, chillingo, Game, Games, iphone apps and games, price, race, text speed

In a very brief space of time, Office² has become the best productivity app I own. This means that on some days I can deal with all my business needs by working from my iPhone, not needing to go near a PC. High praise indeed.

Office² offers the ability to view, create and edit Word documents (both .doc and .docx) and Excel (XLS) documents from your iOS device. Even more useful, it integrates with Google Docs, DropBox and MobileMe iDisk amongst others. As someone who spends much of their life tethered to a Google Docs document, I find this hugely useful.

You can do almost anything you could want with a document. You can add font effects such as bold or italics, insert tables or pictures and align text however you want. There’s even a spellcheck function. All these functions are extraordinarily simple to get to as well, with nothing feeling awkward. The only restriction, really, is the speed at which you can type on the iOS device’s virtual keyboard. In addition, Office² does offer external keyboard support – making it all the simpler.

Plus you can use Office² as a form of USB stick too considering you can use it to view many other file formats such as PDF. You can also mount Office² as a drive on your PC so you can transfer files easily via iTunes.

It’s ridiculously useful, simply put. At the most basic level, it means that I can spend a while checking my e-mail via the mail app, then load up the various attachments without having to wait until I get to a PC to check them out. But then it also means I can spend time while commuting editing files, for example, thus saving me time later in the day. Or I can relax and catch up on some documents I fancy reading.

It might feel a little pricey at $5.99, but the amount of time it could potentially save you is worth its weight in gold. It’s just so darn useful that you’ll be using it on a daily basis.

[ Office² Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by nimajuni \\ tags: $5.99, become-the-best, business, device-reviewed, google-docs, iphone apps and games, office², overall-rating, review

Hunting games are just one of those staples of the iOS platform that have been around since the inception of game development on the device.  Though it is easy to assume that the primary consumer of said titles might have a noticeable twang to their voice or a close resemblance to a spouse, several developers (including Activision) have already catered to this unorthodox audience.  Electronic Arts has decided that they can no longer allow this lucrative business to remain untouched either, recently releasing High Caliber Hunting as their answer to the popular Deer Hunter brand.  Is this another shameless regurgitation, championed by the EA of old, or are we looking at the birth of something new and special?

If you are not much for reading long pages of contextual dialog, you are in luck.  High Caliber Hunting lacks heavily in the plotline department.  All you need to know is that you are wearing camo, hiding in a bush somewhere, and looking to plant Bambi in a pre-mature grave.  The closest you will get to progressing through the game is selecting the different hunting regions that you can unlock through gameplay, consisting of broad sweeping locations such as Texas, Alaska, Canada, and Iowa.

Where the game lacks in the linear structure department, it makes up for in solid variety of environments.  Players will find themselves traversing through the plains of Texas, the wintery wonderland of “The Great White North,” or whatever the hell Iowa has to offer (cornfields, perhaps?).  Accordingly, the wildlife also shifts dramatically depending upon your setting, but that will never change their behaviors of walking from left to right across the screen, looking for some unseen foliage to consume.

The biggest issue with High Caliber Hunting is the one dimensional gameplay.  Everything is see Thumper, shoot Thumper, with little to change up the formula.  This is perfectly sufficient to support the title through several short play sessions, but eventually you find yourself craving more.  Whether it be more weapons, more mobility, or even more game types, everything feels more piecemeal than what you might expect to find in a full product.  That is why it should come as no surprise that from the launch day, that additional downloadable content has been available.  Sadly, this isn’t just a side effect of the publisher, any more, it is becoming the norm.

It would be a crime to deprive hunting fans of a game like High Caliber Hunting, but if you are on the fence, you may be better served placing your deer blind elsewhere and waiting for another target to trot along.

[ High Caliber Hunting Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by husain \\ tags: Application, caliber-hunting, from-the-launch, Game, inception, Iphone, iphone apps and games, overall-rating, price, publisher, rating, replay-value, review, texas, unorthodox

Shadow Guardian is a great looking game. No doubt about it, this is one of the best looking titles from the already pretty Gameloft lineup. While it may not come that close to the Unreal Tech displayed elsewhere, Shadow Guardian is an achievement in its own right. Unfortunately for this game, looks aren’t everything. Mechanics and control keep this title from retaining its entertainment value throughout.

The visually striking environments are well done and varied. Console gamers may find a lot of similarities between the look and feel of this game and many third person adventure titles released for the PSOne. Although the spaces are awkward to explore, looking around the massive tombs and arid deserts is amazing on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Toss all of that out the window once combat comes into play. The combat from cover is, honestly, pretty good. Ducking behind objects is snappy and the targeting system is simple and approachable (simply tap a button to lock on to enemies). But once players have to move and shoot the game becomes nearly unplayable. I had to drop the difficulty a bit during several of the later encounters in order to have any chance of surviving. The blame for those moments falls squarely on the awkward nature of moving and shooting on a small and, at times, unresponsive space.

The same can be said for quick movement. If you try to get through spaces on foot quickly, you’re going to run into trouble. The camera often drifts to all the wrong places and you’ll be hard pressed to get it just right whenever you need it. Between that and the basic combat, this title can be extremely frustrating.

However, there are some major points for praise outside of the game’s graphical appeal. The platforming and climbing mechanics, although very easy, are great. As climbing sections start, you’ll often find yourself excited and wanting more. The pitfalls and breaks are incredibly predictable, but the paths are just challenging enough to be fun.

Finally, the story and voice acting are both pure cheese. I can’t tell if this was an execution of kitsch or camp here, but the plot and dialogue will leave you chuckling. If these subtle jokes were done in the spirit of irony, then Gameloft needs to be applauded. If for nothing else, the story is amusing.

Great graphics, strong platforming mechanics and a mostly flawed (though sometimes smooth) combat system make Shadow Guardian a tough game to rate. For $6.99, iOS gamers will be able to take home a lot of value and a relatively rewarding experience. Don’t go in expecting perfection and this game can be great.

[ Shadow Guardian Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by me \\ tags: $6.99, Application, device-reviewed, Game, Games, guardian, Iphone, iphone apps and games, iphone-or-ipod, overall-rating, price, replay-value, shadow guardian

How high can you fling the moon? That’s the premise behind A Moon for the Sky, a whimsical, casual game from Bulkypix. While there’s nothing groundbreaking here (in fact, it strongly reminds me of one of my oldest favorites, Skybound), A Moon for the Sky is a solid casual title nonetheless.

The basic principle of “climb higher” is different from games like Doodle Jump in that this time, you’re drawing the platforms as you go. Dragging across the screen with your finger creates a temporary, trampoline-like platform. The goal is to bounce the moon ever-upward, collecting stars as you go. Along the way, there are spaceships and air vents that send you rocketing upward or drifting sideways, powerups that help or hinder, and floating barriers that must be avoided; the list goes on.

The graphics are upbeat and cartoony and the sound effects, while not spectacular, do their job. The game comes with both an endless mode and an 18-level “Adventure” mode that gets progressively more difficult. Adventure mode is really the heart of the game; each level challenges you to beat a certain time limit, and the levels benefit from being planned rather than generated. Doing well on an Adventure level lets you unlock more goodies.

A Moon of the Sky isn’t perfect; for example, there’s Game Center integration but trying to load the leaderboards crashed the app for me. Worst of are the grammatical and spelling issues. “Medails” instead of “medals,” and many bizarrely worded sentences left me confused and irritated. Additionally, endless mode is much rougher than the main Adventure mode, with its own annoying quirks.

Despite those minor problems, A Moon for the Sky is a solid, casual title. Imperfect as it is, it’s still a lot of fun. Check it out for $0.99 on the App Store.

[ A Moon for the Sky Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by tanloc2t \\ tags: $0.99, adventure, Games, iphone apps and games, leaderboards, moon, platforms, price, rating, replay-value