Price: $1.99

Publisher: Widget Revolt

Ice Tales HD is a retro action puzzler game where you play as Pendleton, a penguin that has been wrongfully placed in the middle of nowhere. You job is to keep Pendleton alive and get him home by collecting various objects but more importantly, by avoiding certain objects.

Each level consists of a map of ice blocks that create a mini maze. The ways the maps are built make controlling the penguin a bit difficult. You control Pendleton by swiping across the screen.  The faster you can flick the faster he moves. You can also make him jump by tapping the screen; this will come in handy when trying to get around obstacles.  Overall the controls take a bit of getting used to and could have been a little less twitchy.

Each level has one goal, to collect as many starfish as possible. Along with starfish each level has a fish bucket (we all know penguins love to eat fish) that will give you tons of points once you get to it, but get to it quickly because seagulls will show up and cause problems. So far things sound pretty easy going in the life of Pendleton, right? Well not so fast. Pendleton isn’t the only one after the starfish. Crabs, seals, bears, and squids are all out to get Pendleton so beware.

The retro-ness of the game really comes out in the graphics and audio. Right away you notice the graphics being a little…dated. But hey, that’s retro! Right? And then I heard the in game audio and WOW it blew me away. I actually started loudly laughing in public. It is very retro. The beeps and bloops really create a great feel for the retro game.

Aesthetically speaking this game is definitely a blast from the past but in my opinion, a good retro game needs to have a bit of a modern twist built in. Unfortunately, that twist seems to be missing in Ice Tales HD and it’s not very different from 8-bit games twenty years ago. That’s not to say it isn’t fun.  Just that there’s nothing unique about it that helps it stand out.

Overall Value for it’s $1.99 price point

Overall: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Price: $1.99

Publisher: Frogames

Reviewed by: Cody Sharp

To say that TITUS is unusual may do it a disservice.  Sometimes the very adjective, unusual, leads to negativity.  No such thoughts should occur when loading up TITUS.  Instead it is a uniquely refreshing game in a genre that is all too often, underrepresented in the App Store.  For that alone, I say well done Christophe Canon, who developed the game.

The game revolves around the title character, TITUS.  Set in a fictional, seemingly Eastern European country, your task is compete with a number of politicians, getting elected by overcoming obstacles (whether that means playing fair or fighting dirty).  Each opponent has a connection to you in some way and a small cut scene introduces your next political foe.  Overall, the presentation is top notch and has a great artistry to it.

In politics, playing fair or dirty is the name of the game but even the nicest player is still trying to win the election.  That means sending out campaign ads, doing political speeches and the like.  The back handed politicians in the making can start rumors and buy their way into the local media.  All in all, it is likely a more realistic depiction of politics than most people would like.

Each of the actions you can take requires you performing a mini game.  Sending out campaigns ads for example, require that you perform a Doodle Jump type mini game that allows you to deliver your message to your constituent’s doorsteps.  Another mini game revolves around you trying to complete your campaign speech while those in the crowd hurl rotten tomatoes at your face.  It is a cute take on the world of politics and the diversity of the mini games is generally good.

All of the actions above require money and to earn money you need to do fundraising.  Each fundraising event also requires to play a mini game.  This fundraising mini game does have the tendency to get old rather quickly as you will need to do a lot of it to be successful.  I would love to see additional fundraising methods added in a future update.

All in all, I have never played a game like this on the App Store. TITUS is an easy game to pick up and play.  The game gives you about 10 opponents in total but once you make your way through, there is very little reason to play again.  Of course, for only two bucks, those 10 opponents will certainly test your political vigor and towards the end, become increasingly difficult.  One thing is not difficult, recommending this game to anyone.  TITUS is mobile gaming at its best.

Overall Value for it’s $1.99 price point

Overall: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Price: $1.99

Publisher: TappyTaps s.r.o.

Using the basic concept of table tennis, Paddle Pong HD is the newest way to quench your competitive thirst. First and foremost, it’s is much more like real life table tennis than the old version of Pong. Yes, the game is set up the same way but Paddle Pong HD adds a twist to the classic style game. What’s the twist you ask? Well, it’s just that, a twist. You can turn and twist your paddle.  By doing so you can more easily direct the ball and score on your opponent.

To make gameplay even more spontaneous and fun the developers added four bonus items that can be obtained and used during each game. The four items include: a bottle, that will make the ball randomly change directions, an apple, that will make your paddle larger, a saw, that will shrink your opponents paddle, and a blue stick figure with fire hair, this bonus item with drastically speed up the ball and increase gameplay. A tip: you lose all of the bonus items each time a ball is lost, so use them wisely.

The cartoony graphics, not to sound dude-ish, really ties the game together. They give the game its own personality and keep it fresh even though this really isn’t a revolutionary game. The audio also plays a big part in the freshness of the game. The visuals matched with the audio really keep this game fun and interesting. Without those, this would just be table tennis.

The controls, due to the turnable paddle, take a few games to get use to. You can go the old fashion way and use one finger to slide the paddle back and forth or to get the full effect of the game, including the paddle twist, you can use two fingers and learn the twist. Once you master the two finger gaming, I’m sure you will prefer it.

Overall, this game takes an old idea and does a good job to freshen it up a bit for the iPad.  Besides single player action, you’ll be able to locally play against a friend insuring the difficulty is high enough for players looking for more of a challenge.  Paddle Pong HD will run you $1.99.

Overall Value for it’s $1.99 price point

Overall: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Price: $1.99

Publisher:  Pan Vision and Tactile Entertainment

A pirate, a ninja, a zombie, and a panda walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and says, “Hey! Where’s the angry bird?” If you’ve heard of Angry Birds, but not of PvNvZvP, Pirates vs. Ninja vs. Zombies vs. Panda, then you haven’t been paying attention. PvNvZvP is the very similar but (in my opinion) the more challenging, adult version of Angry Birds. When I first played Angry Birds I flew (pun intended) through the levels and was done with the game in a few days. The only replay value I got was going back and getting more stars and finding the hidden eggs. Yes, Angry Birds is still a very good game and worth every penny, but it doesn’t offer the same challenge that PvNvZvP offers.

First of all, PvNvZvP is a character fest. There are so many little characters- way to many to name, but for reviewing purposing I’ll mention a few. There are pirates that cause fires, there are pirates that explode and shoot little balls, and there are pandas that fart three times so you can maneuver them around obstacles. This is only naming a few. There are a lot more.

The levels start out fairly easy but quickly get difficult as you progress through the game. To draw another comparison to Angry Birds (I promise – I won’t mention that game by name again), the levels are set up the same. You shoot your characters from one side of the screen aiming at your targets. There are slight differences in the game controls between the two games. To shoot in PvNvZvP you tap on the cannon and drag your finger towards the targets.  The farther you drag the more powerful the shot. I like this format of control. I feel that it gives the user more accuracy and versatility compared to that other game.

The visuals are great. Since the screen has to be zoomed out most of the game so the user can see what they are shooting at, it is very important to have very crisp and clear graphics. This game is superb in that matter. Even when fully zoomed out you can clearly make out each and every aspect of the game. My favorite aspect of the graphics is the fact that the characters are extremely comical.  The farting pandas for example, even when they aren’t being used, they sit at the bottom of the screen farting and making funny noises. Most characters do this in some matter. The devil is in the details and this game has details in spades.

At $.99 for the iPhone and $1.99 for the iPad, this game is a steal. You will get hours and hours of fun gameplay. And in my opinion, PvNvZvP is more enjoyable for the older crowd than that fowl game.

Overall Value for it’s $1.99 price point

Overall: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars