Price: $4.99

Publisher: Out Of The Park Development

Reviewer: Josh Cox

Fans of baseball, rejoice!  A baseball game has finally arrived for the iPhone that doesn’t take just quick flicks of a finger to be successful but instead rewards thinking on your feet and making good decisions in the role of a GM or Manager of a major league club.  iOOTP is built on the same simulation engine of the world’s best selling baseball simulation, Out Of The Park baseball (OOTP).

What is involved in being successful in iOOTP?  Well success comes in different forms depending on what you are looking for.  You can manage each and every game if you’d like to, following along with the play by play and strategically stealing a base or bringing in the closer.  Or perhaps you would rather sim a week at a time and make moves from behind the scenes, trading for the players that will help you get to the pennant.  Whichever way you decide to control the game, you will be able to play using this year’s rosters, start a fictional league and work from an initial draft or even start in one of three historical seasons (that use real stats, teams and players from the past).

The interface within the game offers an absolute ton of information about your players and the controls make it easy to get from one screen to the next.  You can pull up a player by simply clicking his name from the roster, depth chart or rotation and slide your way to the exact information you are looking for.  If you have ever played Football Manager for the iPhone, this will feel very familiar.  The screens are simply laid out in the most simplistic, yet informative way possible.

Each day news reports are created from around your league to show you what’s going on.  Whether it be a weekly award or a major injury, seeing what is going on in the league during a given day is pretty easy.  One of the things missing from the initial release is an ongoing history for each player in your league.  The developers of the game have already mentioned that the information is being tracked and may be released in a future update.  This would be greatly appreciated as it would add further to the feeling of immersion within the league.

As far as the sim results for the 2011 season, be ready to get excited.  The standings looked spot on for 2011 after replaying it multiple times.  Unfortunately my Cubbies finished middle of the pack during the first season.  During the offseason I was able to make some key acquisitions, including picking up Mr. Albert Pujols, which turned the subsequent year around and helped my Cubbies easily make it to the playoffs.  There is no limit on the number of seasons you can play so that means seeing exactly how a player like Bryce Harper develops, year after year and his final career stats.

There is really no other iPhone baseball game that is like iOOTP.  With its realistic stats, great interface and unbelievable detail – it is sure to please anyone interested in the numbers of baseball or the strategy of managing a team.  There isn’t a single fantasy league baseball player that shouldn’t take the leap and buy this game.  After all, it is tailored to your exact interests.  Pony up the $4.99 and jump into the 2011 season today.

Overall Ratings for $4.99 Price:

Overall Value: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Price: $4.99

Publisher: G5 Entertainment

Dive headfirst into a Romanian castle shrouded in wonder and mystery with the inquisitive and determined protagonist, Nelly, in G5 Entertainment’s latest title, Treasure Seekers II: The Enchanted Canvases. An amped up version of traditional hidden puzzle games, G5 takes this to the next level with a constantly developing storyline, hordes of puzzles, and a number of unique minigames. Sounds pretty enticing, right?

The second installment of Treasure Seekers dumps gamers right back into action, as Nelly’s overzealous brother, Tom has taken off on an adventure to find the Philosophers’ Stone. Of course, silly old Tom is now lost somewhere amongst the puzzles and possibly in grave danger, so Nelly strikes out into the castle to retrieve her lost sibling. Each canvas lays out a new scenario where players meet unique characters such as ghost pirates or genies that require your assistance. Whether you’re relighting an old lighthouse or scuba diving to recover lost sea treasure, Treasure Seekers II keeps gamers guessing as they try to outsmart minigames and unravel a number of tricky quandaries.

Everything from top to bottom in this game seems to have an enchanted, rustic feel to it, from the menus right on through to the individual puzzles. There isn’t a ton of animation and movement, which allows Treasure Seekers II to focus on creating highly appealing interactive backdrops which serve as the basis for most of the gameplay. While tapping around and searching for the next clue, fish and birds flutter by as clouds drift through the sky and the flames from a fire shoot up the chimney. Each canvas is completely different, creating a new visual treat for players as they progress through the content while trying to rescue Tom.

Coupled with the already attractive visual landscape is a diverse soundtrack which ebbs and flows with each of the different levels. Far better than some of the more repetitious audio featured by many other mobile titles, G5 did their best to transport people right into one of the magical canvases with a lush soundscape. Smaller accent effects signal correctly discovering a clue or necessary tool, such as a chime or metallic ping. The characters don’t speak, but the dialogue is kept concise enough to prevent Treasure Seekers II from turning into a reading exercise.

Being a hidden puzzle title, you can bet no one will be giving themselves a migraine over figuring out the controls with this one. Most of the game is done by simply tapping or dragging objects on the correct location, and zooming in or out works the same way it does on your iPhone. The only minor inconvenience is during one or two of the minigames where some areas are just too small to press without touching the wrong item, creating some unnecessary repetition.

With boatloads of constantly evolving and changing content, as well as a pleasing auditory and visual experience, Treasure Seekers II is a solid pick, especially for fans of the genre. The $4.99 price tag might turn a few people off, but it’s pretty easy to tell the difference between this and a $0.99 app, especially with the length of the story. Don’t wait too long, Tom needs your help!

Overall Value for it’s $4.99 price point

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

Price: $4.99

Publisher: Full Fat

I am a golfer so I thoroughly enjoy golf games for my iPad and iPhone, however since I like to play them so much I have quite a few of them and have found that many golf games created for iDevices are not on par for the course, if you will. I was going to say “subpar” but that would mean, in golf terminology, that the game would be better than normal.

So anyway, I got Flick Golf right before a business trip so I have had a fair amount of travel time reserved just for this game. First of all, I knew nothing about this game before firing it up for the first time on my iPad and to be honest, my initial reaction was disappointment. I was frustrated because I expected a full-blown golf game with courses that consisted of actual tee boxes and greens. The best way I can explain this game is that you are target shooting and the hole is your target.

Let me back up a little. When the game starts you are given two choices, Quickshot and World Tour. I immediately went for World Tour.

The next screen gives you four choices; however you have to unlock all of them except the first one. So, I started with the beginner’s course.

Right away you notice that the graphics are fantastic! The grass, the course, the water – it all looks amazing. Even beautiful clouds slowly float across the sky. You can tell a lot of time went into the visual design of the game.

However, once I started playing I realized this is not really a golf game. It’s more of a driving range game. You don’t get to pick the club you use, no matter how far away you are. All you do is flick the ball. Then once the ball is in the air, you flick the ball to control where it goes. You can even control the ball after it bounces, all the way up until it rolls.

Each course consists of one hole with three different tee boxes. You get nine total hits, three from each spot. The real challenge for this game is the wind and the score you have to obtain to unlock the next course. Every time you move farther from the hole the wind increases.  In the last course the wind will get as high as 30 mph and the score need to complete the game is almost unreachable. You will need multiple hole in ones in a row.

Don’t get me wrong, I had fun playing this game and you likely will too if you take it for what it is.  Just don’t go in expecting a full blown golfing experience.  If you are into golf games and don’t really know much about golf and just want to hit some hole in ones, then this is the game for you.  If you want a golf simulator, keep looking.

Overall Value for it’s $4.99 price point

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

Price: $4.99

Publisher: Gamevil

Am I embarrassed that over the last week I have played Baseball Superstars 2011 for 8 hours? A little. Regardless, I had a heck of a lot of fun. If you aren’t familiar with the Baseball Superstars series and you are a fan of baseball, you have been missing out. The past 2 iterations of the series were a fantastic time waster filled with fun. This version improves the series in almost every way for a mere $5. You owe it to Gamevil and to yourself to pick up this title and start having fun.

The game offers a ton of modes including Season mode, My League and a HR mode. It also includes a ton of missions you can complete that allow you to earn G (money that can be used to buy special items). The mode that will really take up a ton of your time is My League. In this mode you will journey through a career starting as a rookie and ending as a hopeful Hall of Fame player. Each year you are given goals, able to build relationships, and upgrade your player in a variety of ways. It’s an RPG game built into an arcade baseball game and it is so much fun.

On the field action takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you are coming from Konami’s Power Pros series (a great series in its own right). The action is incredibly fast paced and the pitchers have some wicked pitches at their disposal. However, if you hang in there you will be rewarded.

The sound within the game has been upgraded over year’s past as well as the graphics. The graphics really pop on the iPhone 4′s retina display. You’ll also notice that this year there are multiple stadiums, new teams and tons of new relationships you can work on throughout your avatar’s season. In short, you will be pleased if you are upgrading from Baseball Superstars 2010.

The season mode has also seen some notable improvements in the latest iteration. Story modes continue here as well and you now have the ability to train your team during the season. Several other, seemingly minor additions, make the season mode much more enjoyable than years past including the ability to trade players and customize your roster.

While Baseball Superstars 2011 certainly doesn’t recreate the wheel, it has added some new spokes. Regardless of what kind of gamer you are, if you have any interest in sports you will find this game simply delightful. Now that we are towards the end of the year, I can definitively say this one is one of the forerunners for iPhone Gamer Blog’s Game of the Year – no doubt about it.