iPhone Gaming Thread

[geneshifter]

I thought I'd kick off a thread about iPhone gaming since the 2.0 update. I recently got a new 3G iphone and I am loving the App Store. So far, here's some of the games I like:

Labyrinth: $6.99 - I love this game since it works so well with the accelerometer. Lots of levels to download, too.

Trism: $4.99 - Again, love it. Has achievements, some of which are very hard to get. Doesn't always pickup the right place to move but it is a great game for the price.

Breaktouch 3D: $2.99 - better than the free Break game with the cylindrical 3-D game play. Flick the screen left/right to move the paddle. Needs power ups and I think I read somewhere they are coming.

Tile Sudoku: $4.99 - little expensive for a sudoku game but I like the UI personally. Works very well. You can click on the square and then a number to insert or click and drag the number tile to the square. Good game.

I also got On-Core Wordfind which my wife loves. I hope to try out Scrabble and I must get the Bejeweled 2 as well. Lots of good games for this thing when I'm bored or traveling.

P.S. With the memory management problems causing system crashes/reboots, make sure to hold down the home button for 6 seconds until the app is closed out and you return to the home screen. This will kill the app out of the main memory and has eliminated my reboots.

[Chadt74]

I read an interesting artical about the IPhone where it has more power than the PSP, touch screen like the DS, WiFi which could make the Iphone an interesting platform for gaming. Just a bump as I want to keep an eye on this thread as I'm keeping an eye on the Iphone.

[Steve W]

The games will work on the iPod Touch too, which is what I've been waiting for. But I've heard too many stories of iPhones being bricked with the 2.0 update (not iPods, though) and assorted problems with iTunes 7.7 screwing things up and crashing a lot. I'm holding out for a little bit, until they squash the bugs. There's also a lot of complaints from people that their apps keep constantly crashing. They need to work on it a little more before I upgrade.

I have Crash Nitro Kart for my GameCube (which is pretty good), for my Nokia N-Gage QD (which is a lousy port), and hopefully it'll be the first thing I pick up when I upgrade my iPod to accept iTunes apps. There's one or two other things that look promising, too. And as a whole lot of industry pundits have already stated, within a few months there's going to be a hell of a lot more apps available, many of them games.

[kaedesdisciple]

I have the upgrade on my touch, but I haven't bought any apps yet. Everything I've downloaded so far has been free. However, I am concerned that it has been crashing more since the update than it had before the update (and I had it jailbroken then!). I'm on the fence as to whether or not I'm going to jailbreak it again as I do miss some of the apps I had before I made the switch, but to be able to download the New York Times on my ipod every morning is a real asset.

[shertz]

Dont forget emulation on the iPhone too ;-)

http://www.iphone-emulation.com/

[boatofcar]

I bought Texas Hold-em for $5. The game has a slick UI, multiple tables, and online play. It's great.

[kaedesdisciple]

Two words: Aurora Feint.

A simple mechanic puzzle game with RPG like elements that can change the way the game goes each time you play it? AND it's free? Count me in.

I've been losing some time and some serious battery power to this little gem. It's a very fun game so far, but be warned, your iphone/ipod will get VERY hot as you play it as it seems quite resource-intensive.

Rumor has it this game was developed in only 10 weeks' time. I must say if that is true, then the level of polish on this game is very impressive for only 10 weeks.

[geneshifter]

Two words: Aurora Feint.

A simple mechanic puzzle game with RPG like elements that can change the way the game goes each time you play it? AND it's free? Count me in.

I've been losing some time and some serious battery power to this little gem. It's a very fun game so far, but be warned, your iphone/ipod will get VERY hot as you play it as it seems quite resource-intensive.

Rumor has it this game was developed in only 10 weeks' time. I must say if that is true, then the level of polish on this game is very impressive for only 10 weeks.

Yeah, I've noticed the thing gets warm after playing games. Not hot like a laptop but definitely warm.

I'm gonna get MotionX Poker. I just saw a video of that game and it looks fun. Has anyone tried Super Monkey Ball yet?

[GM80]

Sega says it's "about as powerful as the Dreamcast." That assessment was unexpected.

[mnkysuit]

I bought Super Monkey Ball a little while back and have been toying around with on my way to class every now and then. The controls are a little hard to get used to but the game looks amazing.

While I think the potential for gaming on the iPhone/iPod touch is there, I just don't see myself sitting down and seriously playing it like for long periods of time.

Anyone pick up Crash yet?

[squirrelnut]

The problem with the touch/phone is that when an item does too much all at once, it never quite works out. Plus they need to have a killer game that everyone has got to have. Then again, apple could just buy some character and make it be the ZOMG of the year.

[ianoid]

I'm waiting for some good rpg action on iphone but for now I'm making do with these amusing bs games. I haven't got much but here are a few comments.

Labyrinth - get the free lite version at least to impress your friends or yourself with the accelerometer.

DiZzy Bee - lame it didn't more obviously tell me about the free lite version since it's not as great as the reviews would have you think. It's like locoroco meets labyrinth. I doubt I'll get my $3 worth but maybe I can get my kids into it.



I'll try to add more later as far as reviews go.

I can't say enough good things about iPhone. It's not totally perfect but web access, map access, gps and phone all integrated are kick ass. With the user base and the hardware potential, iPhone has the potential to be the next big gaming platform too.

[Steve W]

I just noticed... There's an updated version of the old Working Designs Sega CD game Vay for the iPhone/iPod Touch! Sweet!

[diskoboy]

BUMP!!

I was about to start a thread on this... Glad I searched it, first! I find it hard to believe there are no iPhone/Touch gamers, here...

Lately, I have become cracked out on Meteor Blitz - it's the iPhone/iPod Touch's version of Super Stardust HD.

For all you Zelda fans out there, I highly recommend Zenonia.

[kaedesdisciple]

Flight Control is addictive, fun and stressful all at the same time. Well worth a pick-up.

[BydoEmpire]

I just got my ipod Touch last weekend, so this a great thread for me. What I've really been enjoying:

Dungeon Scroll - D&D dungeon crawler-themed word game. Assemble words in a Scrabble-like fashion to do damage to your opponents.

Arkanoid - a wonderful version of the game. It looks, sounds and plays great.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene - a crazy version of SI with a cool art style. They take the black & white arcade original graphics and go nuts with it.

myQuest - basically a "choose your own adventure" book with little bits of rpg-light combat thrown in. Pretty simple, but enjoyable nonetheless.

[Steve W]

All I ever play on mine anymore is Sentinel 2. It's a tower defense game, which was a genre I wasn't familiar with before I tried the demo for the first Sentinel game. Bought the first one, loved it, and got the second the moment I heard it had come out. It's like touch screen heroin. I've got heaps of other games and apps, but I always come back to this one.

[Flack]

I'll have to try that one. I've been playing GeoDefense non-stop which I guess is also a tower defense game. I'll try yours if you'll try mine!

[b0ub0u]

For any fan of the Advance Wars series on GBA and DS, I would HIGHLY suggest Mecha Wars for the iphone.

I also have Super Monkey Ball, Geo Defense, Geo Defense Swarm, Flight Control, Metal Gear Solid Touch and Final Fantasy Crystal Defenders.

[c0ldb33r]

I want an ipod touch solely for gaming, not for video or music.

Is an 8GB version big enough?

[dsullo]

yes i have an 8 gig , most games take up little space.

My favorites right now are
angry birds
sword and poker
skeeball
nova
ravensword

the amount of games and apps are mind boggling. and i love that alot f good titles are just 99 cents

[c0ldb33r]

...i love that alot f good titles are just 99 cents
yeah that's why I want one.

You say that most stuff takes up little space, are there any A-1 games that take up a lot of space (0.5-1 GB?). I guess I'm comparing it to XBLA stuff, which is getting quite space-hungry.

[boatofcar]

The Catan port is amazingly good. I still play Flight Control all the time too.

[Flack]

I found a really good game the other day ... Finger Physics.

It's kind of hard to tell what's going on in this video, but basically there are three or four different types on levels. In one type, you have to get the egg into the basket (kind of like The Incredible Machine). In another type, you have to build a solid structure using all the pieces you are given. In a third, you have to build a tall structure and balance a star above a certain point. As the game goes along you get many different pieces. At first you just get blocks. Later you get ice blocks (ones that you can "pop"), magnets (the red and blue pieces in the video) and so on. It's really fun and I've been playing it for several days. I don't think I've been stuck on a level for more than about five minutes, so it's constantly changing things up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUxq0m6Q6YY

[Flack]

yeah that's why I want one.

You say that most stuff takes up little space, are there any A-1 games that take up a lot of space (0.5-1 GB?). I guess I'm comparing it to XBLA stuff, which is getting quite space-hungry.

I think the biggest game I've seen was around 150 meg (I'm sure there are larger ones). The biggest app I have is a GPS program that was like 800 meg. Most of the games I have are less than 5 meg and many of them are around a meg. 8 gig is a lot if you don't fill it up with music, and you can keep the install files after you download them so you can reinstall things if you need to delete them and make room for something else.

[c0ldb33r]

My thoughts on ipod touch games so far:
1. Doom - too hard to control - too expensive - thumbs down
2. wolf 3d classic - too hard to control - price is okay - thumbs down
3. Shopping Cart Hero - cheap and awesome!
4. peggle - it's peggle - you know what to expect
5. flight control - fun, cheap and hard
6. GD Swarm - fun cheap and hard
7. Battle Bears - Really fun and FREE (for now)
8. Buster RED - a vertical shooter - fun and FREE (for now)
9. Doodlejump - surprisingly fun and cheap
10. zenonia - looks good, but I haven't really played it yet.
-

[davidbrit2]

My thoughts on ipod touch games so far:
1. Doom - too hard to control - too expensive - thumbs down
2. wolf 3d classic - too hard to control - price is okay - thumbs down


I think they both control quite well, personally. For Doom, I put the move/strafe stick in the lower left corner, the turning stick in the lower right, and the fire button in the upper right. It requires three fingers to play, but it's very fluid - it's easier to shoot on the go than with Nova's controls. Apparently they're doing Quake next. Hopefully they don't change the formula too much - they'll have to work in look up/down and jump, at the very least.

[c0ldb33r]

For Doom I found it a little easier to tilt the ipod left/right for strafe, but I still find it touch.

[98redM6]

I don't do very much gaming on my iphone anymore but Eliminate is a good game.

1) FPS
2) Decent Controls
3) Online gameplay
4) Private gameplay, invite friends
5) Free

You'll come to find out that the app is free and gameplay is free to an extent. If you want to keep playing this game and advance fast, you'll have to purchase energy from them to earn credits. Credits allow you to buy gear (weapons, armor, attributes, etc.) and advance by level.

I don't mind their system because you can keep playing without energy although you won't earn credits. I'd give it a solid 4.5 out of 5.

[p_b]

Canabalt - Amazing, a bit on the expensive side though.
Sword and Poker - Interesting take on an RPG, recommended.
Run! - Simple but fun, recommended.
Mega Man II - the controls ruin this version. Not recommended.
Words with Friends - Scrabble on the IPhone, brilliant.
Chess with Friends - Chess on the IPhone, brilliant.
Minigore - Mindless shooting fun.