Price: $9.99

Publisher: EA Mobile

Reviewer: Josh Cox

Tiger Tiger Woods Y’all! If you aren’t familiar with Electronic Arts’ (EA) golf series, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, (TWPT) then get out from under that rock. They have had games for Playstation 1 and 2, Xbox and Xbox 360, mobile devices, and many other platforms. Needless to say their most popular platforms are the console versions for Playstation and Xbox. But I’m not here to talk about those (even though I’ve owned four different versions of TWPT for both consoles) I’m here to tell you about the new TWPT 12 for the iPad.

I’ll be honest with you. This is one bad mamma jamma. I love this game. It’s better than the first version I bought for Playstation 1.  If you are a golf fan, the actual sport not just the video games, than you will love everything about this game. It is a borderline simulation game. It’s very realistic. There are many things you can do to affect the flight of the ball. You can change swing styles, ball rotation and change your backswing.

The graphics are very crisp. It’s amazing how far technology has come but to progressively see the difference in a game series year after year is quite amazing. Last year’s TWPT was a good game (I tested it for iPhone) but the new one is better in every way: graphics, audio, and gameplay. EA even added interactive play through Facebook, where you can play a hole with a closest to the pin challenge. And if that wasn’t enough you can play instantly head to head via WiFi.

Like all sports videogames the commentary gets pretty old after a while. You can only hear, “Ya he’s in the long stuff,” so many times. Turn it off and listen to some music. Right now iTunes is showing a lot of reviews that say they experienced crashing. I have played probably close to ten hours and can’t remember mine crashing. So I don’t know what to tell you about that.

I’m not going to get into the details about the graphics and the audio. This is an EA game so expect high quality. However, with quality also comes cost. The iPhone, non-high def version will run you $4.99. The iPad HD version is a hefty but worth it $9.99.

I say it’s worth it because there are days and days of gameplay available. There are four game modes, head to head, Tiger Challenges (mini games to earn money), PGA Tour (where you play against some of the best names in golf) and quick play that lets you get on the course and start swinging.

Overall Value for it’s $9.99 price point

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

Price: $9.99

Publisher: Glu Mobile

The first time I ever played a Deer Hunter game it was on a PC back in the late 90’s. I’m not joking either. It was over ten years ago and believe it or not that version has more gameplay options than this iPad version.

If you have ever played a hunting game, especially one of the many deer focused games then you already have a really good idea how this one goes as well. There are three changeable attributes for each hunting excursion; location, difficulty, and weapon.

There are four locations to choose from including American Midwest, Northern Europe, Western Russia, and finally Northern Mexico.  Each location has different scenic graphics. For example the American Midwest is green forest, while Mexico is rocky desert. The difficulty options include Rookie, Scout, Veteran, and Master. Each difficulty has a certain amount of points that must be earned to progress to the next. Last, but certainly not least, the funniest part of the game – the weapons. You’ll be able to kill digital creatures using a bolt-action rifle, a compound bow, an AK-47 and yes, even a blowgun. As you progress through the game and achieve certain goals (i.e. all head shots) you unlock these weapons and can use them during hunting trips.

The hunting trips are very basic. Each trip starts with a GPS screen where you slide your finger around stirring up game. When tracks appear all you do is slide over to it and you go directly into the hunting mode. Hunting mode is the 3D hunting view we are all familiar with.  You slide your finger around to aim the crosshairs and tap the screen to shoot. Each location seems to have the same types of animals with the exception of big horn sheep that I only saw in Mexico.

There are other things like equipment that are unlockable, things like binoculars, scent blocker, laser sight, and a call just to name a few.  The disappointing thing about these things is that you don’t actually use them while hunting.  Instead they are automatically used when unlocked.  I find this pretty lame.  Most of this equipment is available in other hunting games for actual use during hunting.

The graphics are unfortunately similar to the graphics of the late 90’s version. They are pixilated and dated. The audio is basic with music during menus and only gun sound effects during the hunting mode.

Deer Hunter 3D is going for $9.99 right now in the App Store. I can’t justify paying that price for this game. If it was $2.99, it would be worth it. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of gameplay to be had in this game, but there are quite a few hunting games out there for less than half of that price that stack up just as well.

Overall Value for it’s $9.99 price point

Overall: Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Price: $9.99

Publisher: Activision

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Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 may be 10 years old but it is still as fresh today as it was then. I remember playing this game with a joy pad on my PC for literally hours at a time. Every last thing has been reproduced in this iPhone/iPod Touch version from the graphics down to the same Punk/Ska/Rap music that was used upon initial release. Suffice to say, this all leads to one conclusion. It’s good.

Activision didn’t do anything fancy when they reproduced Tony Hawk 2 for the App Store…except for making it feel perfect. The controls’ timing is fantastic. Despite the difficulty of doing a 580,720 McTwist/ random skater jargon, everything feels perfect. In other games that try to mimic the controls of a hyperactive console or PC game like this on an iDevice, things feel delayed and the controls don’t work at all. This game sets the new standard for controls on a virtual screen. They have simply made all of the on screen buttons on the right side and the directional controls on the left feel exactly like a gamepad. In other words, this game feels like it was made for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

The graphics have held up over the years as well and feel like a great fit on an iDevice of any type. Sure they aren’t up to 2010 standards for a skate game on a PS3 or XBox 360but they sure look nice and smooth on my iPhone 3GS. In fact, I never had a single slowdown in the many hours of play time I spent with this one. The sound fairs a little worse. The soundtrack was never very good on this game, at least for my ears, and it hasn’t improved. That being said, you can turn it off if you would like.

The PC game had tons of ways of earning money and having fun on each level. Fortunately, that has stayed the same as well. You can unlock separate hidden sections of each level if you know where to look and each level has a unique way of earning new money. One military based level asks you to collect eagle wings scattered throughout the level while a school based level has you ring school bells. Each area is drastically different from the next leading to a tremendous amount of replay value. Unfortunately there are no achievements built into any social networking platform like Open Feint. Instead it uses old school single player achievements and high scores. Nevertheless, they are handled better than most games handle rewards.

Money that is earned can be used to unlock new boards, new levels and even experience points. The experience points allow you to take a character of your choice and level them to a master level skateboarder. This multifaceted earning system fits perfectly into the career mode and makes things a lot of fun as you progress.

While this game is a bit pricey, it is without a doubt worth it. The smooth controls, the great graphics and overall fantastic gameplay fit perfectly on an iPhone or iPod Touch. It is worth mentioning that if you are looking for multiplayer mode, you need to look elsewhere. That being said, playing with (or by) yourself has never been so fun.

Overall Value for it’s $9.99 price point

Overall Value: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Price: $9.99

Publisher: Capcom

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The Street Fighter series has made its first appearance on the App Store with Street Fighter 4 being released earlier this week.  It brings to the table all of the things you likely loved and/or hated about the series in the first place.  The old characters are all here including Ken, Ryu, Guile and Blanka.  The special combo moves are back as well including the phrases that go along with them.  That’s right; Ken’s “Ha-dou-ken!” and Guile’s “Sonic Boom” can be heard once again.  But for whatever reason, the magic behind the series just isn’t quite there for me.

Upon starting the game you have two different modes to choose from.  The first being Solo play while the other is Versus mode.  In Versus mode you have the ability to play head to head with another person using Bluetooth.  Solo mode is divided into several different categories.  In tournament play, you pick a character and fight your way through the A-list Street Fighter characters.  In dojo, you learn how to fight and use some of the special moves within the game.  The other 2 modes, free sparring and the training room, give you areas to practice your new found skills.

The tournament mode is the one I will focus on here because it is really the one the Street Fighter series in known for.  I started off playing with Ryu, who is a total badass.  I knew a few of the special combo moves and began fighting my way through the ladder of competitors.  Most of the controls within the fight are pretty well done considering you are playing on an iDevice.  However, when it comes to blocking a kick or a punch, or especially the dreaded special combo move, the controls can feel a bit sticky.  This game was really made for an arcade style controller and you can tell, but I think Capcom has mapped out the buttons as cleanly as possible.

The graphics within the game are nicely done.  They have certainly been upgraded since the last time I played a lot of Street Fighter during the SNES era.  However, I had hoped there may be some 3D thrown into the game but this is strictly a 2D game.  When you or the computer does a special combo move a cutscene is used and the camera zooms in very close on the character doing the combo.  Overall, this is a nice effect but it makes it hard for you to prepare to block for the move since you aren’t sure when the cutscene will disappear and you will be given back control of your character.

The sound within the game is really a mixed bag.  The music is fantastic; a nice techno beat that is played while in the menus.  I only wish it was carried over into the gameplay.  Instead we are left with awful one-liners from the characters after a win or a loss.  Playing as Ryu I must have heard 50 times (after literally every single round-not a whole battle, every round), “I still don’t have what it takes, I must train harder”.  What the hell?  Is this a Sega Genesis?  Do you only have a 4 Megabyte cartridge to work with?  You can play games on an iPhone/iPod touch that have all of the quality of a PSP game yet this game gives you the exact same line every single battle over and over again?  Yuck.

Overall, the game was a bit of a disappointment.  I guess I went in hoping that Street Fighter IV would not only let me relive the nostalgia of my youth (which it does), but also improve its gameplay since then in every other way.  It didn’t really do that.  This is a decent fighting game but some of the timing feels off and the controls feel a little stiff.  Still, when it comes to the iPhone or iPod Touch, you would be hard pressed to find a better straight up fighting game.  And it does have nostalgia going for it.  But for me, it’s not enough.  At its current $10 price tag. I would pass.

Overall Value for it’s $9.99 price point

Overall Value: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars