App Review: 3D Bookshelf by Ideal Binary

While we don’t review a lot of ebook apps around here (mostly games and utilities) we did have a change to examine and test drive 3D bookshelf by Ideal Binary. 3D Bookshelf is, like every other classical ebook reader, just that - an ebook reader for the common classic books like A Christmas Carol, Sheflock Holmes, Frankenstein and many others. However, 3D Bookshelf has taken the iPhone-ebook reader a step beyond many of the other classic book reader clones by adding a cool 3D interface.

As mentioned, the developers for 3D Bookshelf have built in several 3D animations. These cool animations include page turns and zooming in and out of the book and pages. 3D Bookshelf also has book scrolling just like that of cover flow in the iPod, allowing you to browse the many classic books that it has. Included with the animations are appropriate sounds (page turning) to add to the realistic experience.

While within a book you can add any number of bookmarks, a necessary function of any ebook reader app. Also, while reading, you have immediate access to the book’s table of contents to easily jump around from chapter to chapter. The app however, lacks font resizing and landscape reading for those that don’t like to read in portrait mode or who would like a smaller (or bigger) font.

3D Bookshelf is a decent and fun classic ebook reader for the iPhone. The interface is excellent and the app offers a great, wide selection of classic books that are right at your fingertips. We can easily recommend 3D Bookshelf for the classic book lovers out there that will appreciate the small animations added to enhance the reading experience.

What we liked: Cool 3D interface, decent classic book selection.
What we didn’t like: Needs more books?

[itunes-link]

App Review: Colorbind by Nonverbal

One of our favorite genres of apps around here are puzzle games. Colorbind is a rather simple puzzle game with a twist of weaving color strips that intertwine with each other with the primary goal to connect corresponding colored dots.

Perhaps Colorbind’s simplicity is also its strength. There’s something rather intriguing about raveling color strips around the screen over and under each other and over dots. Each level gets harder with either more dots to connect or another color strip to intertwine with.

There are three levels and each level has a set of puzzles that you must solve before moving on to harder level puzzles. However, at any given time there are seven puzzles that are unlocked. So, if you are on puzzle two under easy then puzzles two through eight are available. As you solve levels there are various achievements to earn as well.

We’re enjoying Colorbind and we’re having fun with it. Puzzles start off easy and gradually get more challenging and addicting. The game is well done and is an easy recommendation to anyone that likes puzzle games.

What we liked: Fun and interesting puzzles, progressively harder puzzles, lots of puzzles, clever puzzle game.
What we didn’t like: most puzzle games are .99 and this one is 1.99, lack of rules or definition provided (you’re left to figure it out), rather simple graphics and gameplay.

Developer Website: http://nonverbal.ch

App Review: Project 72 by Dogtown Studios

I was browsing the App Store the other day (nothing new here) when I came across Project 72 (developed in 72 hours, hence the name) in the New/Featured section so I decided to give it a go. It had a few reviews on it, not much, so I kinda knew that I was taking a chance with my dollar purchase but hey, what’s a buck, right? The game installed in mere moments and I was ready to blast off (you pilot a rocket).

The whole premise of Project 72 is incredibly simple: stay alive as long as you can as you steer your rocket around asteroids and planets while trying to gather fuel and other power ups. That’s it, you just steer and hang on tight! The rocket goes faster and faster and there are more and more obstacles to avoid. Some power ups give you the ability to shoot and destroy obstacles (very important) while others just simply keep you alive (fuel). If you run out of fuel, well, you’re dead - game over. If you hit an astroid or two it will quickly take away from your life and it’ll be game over as well.

Each game lasts only a few minutes. At least, that was the case for me. Even less for my 5yo since his reaction time was soooo much slower (hey, they’re still developing, right?). Controls are simple. Tilt your device left or right to steer and touch the screen when you’d like to blast an asteroid. It doesn’t get much easier than that, really.

For the simplicity of this game it does have some minor addicting component to it. However, be warned that once you’ve played for a few minutes you’ve pretty much seen the entire game. It doesn’t change or progress beyond getting faster and the powerups you collect - hence the very short game duration. For a dollar that this costs then it may be worth a try, especially if anything I’ve mentioned above sounds appealing. Recommended for those with interest in space ship / flying games.

What we liked: Simple game play, short games for times when you don’t have a lot of time, nice graphics, easy controls.
What we didn’t like: Not enough change to keep interest, once played the game will lose interest from casual gamers, replayability/stickiness.

Developer Website: www.dogtownstudios.com

App Review: Angry Birds by ClickGamer

There’s something addicting about launching various bird types from a slingshot in an attempt to hit some green pigs. That is exactly what Angry Birds by ClickGamer is all about. The whole premise is that the green pigs have stolen their eggs (hence, they’re angry) so now it’s revenge time - but with your help.

Angry Birds consists of two worlds and more levels than most other puzzle or physics games in the App Store - more than enough to keep you busy for hours. The complexity of each level increases steadily but so does the capabilities of the angry birds that you propel at them. At first, you just launch a red bird that has not special powers, but later on you get a blue bird that when you tap the screen (while in flight) the bird splits into three. Then there’s the bomb bird, he’s black, which when you touch the screen he blows up. He’ll also blow up after he’s hit the ground. This guy is probably the most effective bird to launch (and the most fun) since he does the most damage to the pigs’ side.

As previously mentioned, the object here is to launch birds and the green pigs. If you hit a pig he pops, he’ll also pop when the surrounding debris hits him. You progress to the next level once all of the green pigs have been eliminated. You may need to get creative to ensure you can pop all the pigs before running out of birds to sling at them though. Also, you can restart any level at any time and as many times as it takes to pass it.

Angry Birds is a great, fun physics game similar to Ragdoll Blaster. We’ve been enjoying it for several days now and I find myself addicted to it. My 5yo son also really enjoys it and giggles and laughs as he plays it. If you’re a fan of physics style games (like Ragdoll Blaster) then this one is a must. Highly recommended.

What We Liked: Fun and addicting physics style game, price is right.
What We Didn’t Like: Some levels will take you many, many tries to clear it - this can get a little old and boring.

App Review: Guerrilla Bob by Chillingo

From the same producers as Minigore, Chillingo has delivered another dual joystick, top down shooter - Guerrilla Bob. We’ve been a big fan of Minigore when it came out last year so when Chillingo released this game, which is very similar, we were eager to take a look. Guerrilla Bob, with enhanced graphics and story mode gameplay makes for a fun and enjoyable iPhone gaming experience, even if you beat the game in less than an hour.

The first thing you will notice when you install Guerrilla Bob is that the 3D graphics are awesome. You are presented with a rich, 3D world of what looks like some Mexican village (complete with clothes lines!). There is a path down the center for you to follow and walk along and as you do you will encounter various enemies. Some enemies hide behind bunkers while others will come charging right at you, so you have to be on your toes. You can also go exploring, to some extent, behind the small-town buildings where you will likely find power-ups, health restores, other weapons and even more enemies. However, you’ll want to explore as much as you can because there’s almost always some type of power-up to help you out.

As previously mentioned, controls are via two virtual joysticks. One for moving Guerrilla Bob (you) and the other for controlling your chosen weapon. The dual joystick games are great since you can walk in one direction while shooting in another - a much needed feature when getting chased by one of the many super-enemies at the end of each level. Also, if you missed it, you can collect three different weapons: machine gun, rocket launcher and flame thrower. Each of these has it’s own advantage in different scenarios such as the flame thrower for close fighting, the rocket launcher for hitting enemies in bunkers (you can’t hit them with the machine gun) or the machine gun for well, just mowing them down!

Each level ends with a larger, harder to beat enemy that you must defeat in order to progress. However no worries since you start the game with a whopping 10 lives and there are more lives that you can collect if you’re looking for them. If you beat the last level then you unlock endurance mode where it’s pretty much just an onslaught of enemies. There’s even a surprise at the end of the last level, which is significantly harder to beat than all of the others (so save those lives).

I really like Guerrilla Bob. As mentioned, the graphics are great and the controls are good and the gameplay if fun and addicting. Our only complaint is that the game is pretty easy to beat but yet the price seems a little high ($2.99). I was able to beat all of the levels in less than an hour of total gameplay, so it’s pretty fast. However, that aside it is very fun and if you’re a fan of Minigore or some of the other top-down shooters then we highly recommend you checkout Guerrilla Bob.

What we liked: Excellent Graphics, dual joystick controls.
What we didn’t like: Relatively short overall game to beat, sometimes seemed difficult to aim.

App Review: Warheads by Pangea Software

From the makers of Enigmo, Enigmo 2, Cro-Mag Rally and many more great iPhone games Pangea has released Warheads to the iTunes App Store.  Warheads is a missile defense style game that we’ve been playing for the past couple of days and have been enjoying it.

As in most missile defense style games you must defend your base from incoming missiles by shooting them out of the sky.  You do this by touching the sky and your missile launcher will launch a missile to that location and explode.  It’s the explosion of your missile that will destroy the inbound warheads.  Warheads also has some slow falling bombs that are tied to parachutes, you must also take these out by hitting them with one of your SAM’s before they touch down as they pack a pretty big punch.

In one game you defend four base stations or sectors for which you rotate through on each wave of attacks.  As the waves progress, the attacks become harder and harder to defend against as they send more and more missiles, warheads or drop bombs faster and faster.  Furthermore, some of the incoming missiles start to seperate and turn into multiple missiles, making them that much harder to destroy before falling onto your base that you’re trying to defend.

Graphics are great with Warheads.  The entire UI feels very fluid like and the explosions of warheads (and you) are very well done.  Controls are simple, just touch the screen (sky) where you want one of your defensive missiles to strike and hopefully take out one or more incoming missiles or warheads.

Warheads is a fun game that keeps you rather panicked as you try, very quickly, to destroy the incoming missiles.  The games are usually kinda short (about 5 to 10 minutes) which is perfect for a mobile device and for when you have a few minutes to kill.  We recommend Warheads to anyone that likes shooter style games or missile defense style games or even for people looking for something that will give them some excitement for a short period of time.

What we liked: Fun and exciting game play, great graphics, simple controls, not a long duration game.
What we didn’t like: Some incoming missiles come in at an angle from the side of the screen - unless you are always watching that area these nearly always result in you losing one of your missile turrets.

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App Review: Trenches by Thunder Game Works

I’m a huge fan of tower defense style games as well as line drawing games and Trenches takes both of these and combines them, similarly to Boom Brigade (which we also enjoyed).  I’ve been playing Trenches for a few days now and have been liking it, so here’s my findings.

The object of Trenches is to advance across the battlefield killing all of your enemy as you go.  If you make it to the enemy line and have completely anhialated them as you’ve gone then you win the round.  Of course, your enemy fires on you (it is a war game, afterall!) and so you must continue to make soldiers and add them to the field.

There are varioius types of weapons you can build, and depending on the weapon chosen will dictate also how many soldiers come with that round of building.  For example, if you select just the rifle with bayonette then you will get three soldiers all carrying rifles.  However, if you select the grenade launcher then you will only get one soldier carrying that weapon.  On each build cycle, you must have sufficient gold to make the chosen weapon and you can only build one at a time, requiring you to wait to build the next round of weapons.

When I first started to play Trenches I had a hard time figuring it out, however that didn’t last long.  The whole premise is actually pretty easy once you get it figured out.  Controls are simple, as you can imagine with most line drawing style games. However, the one aspect that got me is that you must scroll the battlefield since it is wider than the screen.  This is easy and if you’re paying attention to the onscreen helps that popup then you wont have any trouble (swipe the sky left or right to scroll the battlefield).  If you are playing a campaign, then you’ll need to advance many levels before getting access to all guns and weapons, however if you are playing skirmish then it’s pretty much do or die.

Trenches is Open Feint enabled which allows you to share your scores with friends and also rank against other Trenches players.  You can also pause your game and come back to it later, which is a must have in mobile games.

I’ve enjoyed my time with Trenches and we recommend it to anyone that likes line-drawing or even tower defense style games.

What we liked: Decent graphics, fun game play.
What we didn’t like: If the enemy uses the missile on you, you’re dead - all of your soldiers are toast (ok, not really a ‘don’t like’ aspect of the game but it was frustrating to get all my guys blown up!!!!).

App Review: Metal Gear Solid Touch by Konami Digital Entertainment

Metal Gear Solid Touch is the iPhone version of the PlayStation game Metal Gear Solid by Konami. Since I’ve never played MGS for anything other than the iPhone, I’ll be focusing on that version in this review.

I’ve spent some good time playing this game however, unfortunately, my iPhone’s battery started to die and I took it to Apple on Friday and they restored the firmware and erased all of my screen shots. So, since they want me to use the phone without restoring my backup (they think the firmware is corrupt which is causing poor battery) I’m having to start fresh and have lost all of my app data. I’m OK with firmware restores but I really do wish that there was a better way to get app data synced back to my phone somehow. Loosing app data for several apps and games that I’m in the middle of testing for review is a real pain. Oh, and so far, the battery isn’t any better…

Metal Gear Solid Touch is a first person shooter game based on the console game. When you first launch the app you are given the story (you play in story mode) and you are given your first orders. Since you are a soldier, your missions are typically to take out the enemy. To play, you sit behind a bunker and when the enemy is visible you jump out and shoot them. The first few levels are pretty straight forward, shooting various other soldiers, then the enemy gets more advanced and levels get harder as distant snipers, helicopters and other artillery are brought out to be used against you.

When an enemy soldier appears they have a “timer” that counts down until they shoot at you. If you don’t hit them before they fire, and you’re not behind the bunker, then they will shoot you. You can sustain about 10 hits before you’re dead so be careful. Once the enemies “timer” runs out then usual disappear, only to return a shot while later to take another shot. Distant enemies are harder to hit, and you must use a sniper rifle to get them.

One thing about MGST that you will notice is the simplicity in the controls. To aim, you simply touch anywhere on the screen and drag your finger. Once you’ve got an enemy in your crosshairs you simply tap the screen to fire. If you are not touching the screen in any way then your soldier automatically ducks behind the bunker. So, siting tight to dodge some incoming is as easy as simply not touching anything.

There is no walking around in MGST. In fact, the screen is pretty much static with the exception of the movement of your soldier as he jumps up to aim or fire and the appearance of the enemy in the battlefield in front of you. Once you’ve met the mission requirements, like killing 18 enemy soldiers, then you return to the story and progress to the next level. During the story mode there are some pretty cool images to help with the story.

In all I have been pretty pleased with this game. I’m a big fan of FPS style games and so this one does fit well into that genre. I worry a bit that many will find that the game has limited replay appeal, however if you are a fan of FPS games then you should enjoy this one. Recommended for shooter die-hards for sure. Current pricing on this game makes it difficult to recommend to everyone.

What we liked: Simple controls, good FPS game similar to Shooter.
What we didn’t like: Price, limited replayability.

App Review: Voices by Tap Tap Tap

If you’re looking for an app to show off your fancy new iPhone to your friends then add Voices by TapTapTap to your lineup.  While not overly exciting, Voices is definitely entertaining and is a lot more fun when there’s more than one person around.

If you haven’t guessed yet, Voices takes your voice and alteres it into one of 17 different sounding voices. So, now’s your chance to be Darth Vader (”dark side” voice) and say those famous words: “Luke, I am your father!” Or if you grew up listenning to the Chipmunks then now you can be just like them too. There’s also a fan alteration (who hasn’t spoke into a fan?), canyon (gives you an echo) and even reverse.

The app is extremely well polished. The interface is beautiful and when you go to record your voice for transformation there’s even the sound of a throat clearing before you speak.  Your recordings are saved, if you choose to keep them, for later playback.

Truth be told there’s really not much more to say about this app.  Transformations worked well, although some of them could be a little better done.  One complaint is that it doesn’t have a lot of replay appeal.  Once we messed with it for a bit trying all the transformations then what more is there to do?  I will say, however, that my 5 year old thinks its great - so this may be a better target audience then you and your buddies. Another complaint I have with Voices is that you can’t record your voice, then hear or try the same recording on all of the transformations.  In other words, you record once and it’s good only for the transformation that you recorded it under.  (To clarify, if you select Cyborg, then it comes up with the mic, you then speak into the device and touch the stop button when done.  The app then transforms it into the cyborg sound and you can choose to save it then).

Don’t get your hopes up too high and Voices will not let you down.  I was slightly disappointed in the quality of the transformations however, if you can get past this and see it for what it is (entertaining) then I can recommend it.

What we liked: The idea is great, interface is awesome.
What we didn’t like: Some transformations need help, limited replay appeal, inability to record your voice once and transform it into any of the different styles.

App Review: Jet Car Stunts by True Axis

Alright, all you car lovin’, stunt crazed, speed fanatics take note and listen up: Jet Car Stunts is awesome! Seriously though, I can’t put this game down! I’m finding myself reaching for my iPhone more often just to get a few minutes of stunt action in. It’s crazy! This game is not only one of the funnest car games I’ve played lately, it’s highly addictive and leaves you wanting more and coming back to get it. Now, for the actual review portion of this post:

Jet Car Stunts has two different game modes: time trials and platforming. The two objectives are quite different and each offers it’s own set of challenges. If you choose platforming, the objective of the game is to jump from platform to platform, doing various (car) tricks as you go all while keeping your retry count and time down. Your main object here is just simply to stay alive (ie: don’t fall off the track) and complete the course. The courses for platforming are quite a bit more difficult than the tracks for time trials. If you choose time trials, the whole objective is to do five laps of the track as fast as possible and to beat the clock.

Jet Car Stunts is Open Feint enabled so your high scores (or low) are automatically posted for all to see (can be disabled). Taking a quick glance at the timings posted on the leaderboards tells you that you’ll need to practice a lot in order to really compete at a global scale. However, this isn’t really a huge interest for me. Simply playing the game in either mode provides a lot of entertainment value and playability in and of itself.

Jet Car Stunts has multiple levels in each mode. Each level is unlocked by completed all of the courses in the previous level. So, to move on to intermediate in the time trials, you must score at least a bronze in three of the four various courses in the easy set. Same goes for platforming, in order to move on you must complete four out of five courses for that level. Be warned though, tracks get tough quickly. Just moving into the intermediate group and you quickly realize that you need to be an expert stunt car driver to complete them.

Controling the Jet Car is done via virtual buttons (jet, forward, reverse, brakes) and tilting the device (accelerometer) left or right to steer. If you happen to be flying through the air (quite common in this game) and you see you’re about to overshoot your track or landing spot, touching the brake will bring out the flaps (air brakes!) to help slow you down. Touching the jet button will ignite the jet engine and propel you faster and faster. Be careful though, as you’re accelerating using the jet engine you are quickly burning through jet fuel. Once the jet fuel is gone you have to wait until you pass through a checkpoint before getting more.

In all, we’ve been having a lot of fun with this game and so with that, it’s an easy recommendation. If you like car games of any kind then check out Jet Car Stunts, it’s pure iPhone game fun!

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