.tiff: Catching up with my iPod Touch - Too many games to play

I've had my iPod Touch long enough at this point to fall into Apple's tricksty trap of seeing an interesting game and instantly buying it. Prices in the iTunes gallery are always reasonable enough not to think twice about it, so I've been having my fun. Since I haven't posted in a while, here's a mini summary of iPhone games I'm playing. I'll follow up later with a list of the ones I'm looking forward to.

Above-iphone-ipod-touch-game

ABOVE

Above caught my eye on app.itize.us (which is a really special site for finding iPhone/iPod Touch gems) with its beautifully hand-drawn graphics. It's a simple platformer developed by Axolot games, in which you guide a young running salary man into the clouds by jumping from platform to platform. The gameplay isn't entirely captivating (in other words, it kind of gets old fast) but the richly drawn backgrounds and the catchy music are something to marvel at and enjoy.

Hit the jump for more!

DOODLE JUMP

Since this game is doing very well in the App store (something like 4 million downloads across the globe?) I'm sure you all have heard of Doodle Jump. It's another clever little platformer in which you guide a little buddy up and up and up by tilting the iPhone left and right. I wasn't sure about the graphics at first, but after playing the game a few times they started to charm me. Very addictive, so beware.

APPLE AND MONSTER

Another game that I spotted per app.itize.us' recommendation. If the adorable pixel graphics didn't convince you already, Apple and Monster is a cute entertaining game by Poppy to try. Monster throws Apple (the girl) straight up into the air, and as she falls back down you must draw lines across her path to propel her upwards as long as possible.

FRUIT NINJA

Ever since I was little I've always been keen to visual illustrations of foods, particularly fruits. Obviously I have The Very Hungry Caterpillar to blame. Anyway, Fruit Ninja is simple and delicious. Mangoes, watermelons, and other fruits are thrown at you while you swipe at them to cut them in half. The idea is to slice as many fruits as you can before messing up three times or hitting a bomb tossed into the mix. Play this game enough and you'll want to slice fruit in RL and eat it. I'm not joking. Also, I generally aim a stink-eye to any game that's still using the whole Ninja (or Pirate, or Zombie) thing as a theme, but Fruit Ninja is the one exception to the that stink-eye.

COOKING MAMA

Given the whole love for illustrated foods thing, I can't help but totally buy into the whole Cooking Mama franchise. The iPhone version is barely different than the DS or Wii versions aside from a few interactions. Overall, there weren't enough recipes to make this purchase worthwhile, so if you already have the DS and Wii version don't bother.

SUPER SEARCH 60

A fun little game by KLICKTOCK, Super Search 60 gives you 60 seconds to seek out objects in a cluttered array. I love the graphics and the sound effects in this game, and it's free! Nice little time waster game.

LILT LINE

Like dubstep? Get Lilt Line. Choose from a set of songs and then rhythmically tap to the beat while guiding a moving line up and down through tunnels without touching the edges to complete a level. Neat, minimalistic design aesthetic. Awesome headphones are mandatory, as you'll want to catch all the big bass lines in your ears with this game.

AND FINALLY...

BABYLONIAN TWINS

This game got a bit of attention when it came out since it's been in development for 16-years (originally it was planned for the Amiga). Babylonian Twins is a classic platformer in which you play as two twin Princes trying to save their kingdom. Each prince has a different ability, but you can only play with one Prince at a time so there's some gameplay tricks invested in that mechanism. The game has a very traditional feel to it as a platformer and I'm actually pretty impressed at how well the d-pad controls work on the iPod Touch. I haven't played too much of this but I hope some of the gameplay gets more colorful once I get the boys out of the initial prison levels.

That's it! I also have Angry Birds, Skullpogo, Auditorium and 1112 to try out. Any other suggestions?

Oh, and also, Steph has an iPad and I've played a few things on it, so I'll probably be posting a summary of those reviews as well!

Comments

My favorite iPhone games are: Rolando, Frotz (also available on iPad now), Peggle and Orbital. For iPad, I've enjoyed RealRacing HD, Geometry Wars Touch, Labyrinth 2 HD and The Pinball HD. A little pricier than iPhone games, but the polish and experience are worth it!

Posted by: Brad Choate | May 04, 2010 at 01:54 PM

Thanks Brad! The only game I've really played a lot of on the iPad is Mirrors Edge HD. I highly recommend it. Even though it's pricey, it's totally worth it!

Posted by: .tiff | May 04, 2010 at 02:00 PM