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: $2.99

Publisher: Fallen Tree Games

I’m embarrassed to say that there is a game on my iPhone that has sat there for months.  Literally.  I received it to review and it got accidentally thrown into a folder never to be seen again.  Until now.  Not only is that game worth playing but quite frankly, it’s fantastic.  I present to you, Quell.  An unbelievably relaxing puzzle game that is soothing, yet increasingly difficult.  Like any good puzzle game the gameplay mechanics are easy to learn but hard to master.  If I would have played this game right away, it would have easily been my favorite puzzle game of 2010.

The presentation including the sound, art and especially the music are top notch.  Diving further into the music specifically, it is seriously fantastic.  Like some of the best mood altering music I have ever heard in a game.  It immediately sets the tone of the game to a slow, rainy day where you are staying indoors and relaxing by a fire.  It is seriously impressive.

The actual mechanics of the puzzles are fantastic as well.  Your job is to slide a rain drop through obstacles throughout a given level.  The main crux of the issue is that you have to collect several pearls on each level and the game counts how many moves it takes to reach them.  Your job is to do it in as few moves as possible.  The game saves a record of how many moves each level takes and offers quite a few awards or achievements for meeting movement goals.  There are also a ton of levels in the game and you should easily get a few hours of enjoyment out of Quell.

There are a few objects that can slow you down from meeting your goal.  As the levels become more difficult, bushes will crop up in your path after crossing a path just once sometimes causing you to have to restart the game because choosing the wrong path made the puzzle impossible to beat.  Don’t worry though, if that happens, a friendly message pops up and lets you know.  If you are ever truly stuck, the awards you earned in previous stages can be used to unlock the entire level and move on.  I recommend not doing that.  ‘Cheating’ in Quell would only be cheating yourself. 

In summary, this game is relaxing, yet difficult enough, to cause you to think through each move.  The entire presentation is top notch.  I only wish I had seen this title earlier so I could tell you all about it.  Now that I have, get in a comfortable chair, load up the App Store and download Quell for $2.99.  You’ll be glad you did.

Overall Value for it’s $2.99 price point

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

Price: $.99

Publisher: GAMEVIL

Reviewer: Cody Sharp

Baseball Superstars II Pro ups the ante on an already strong iOS series.  Though the game is incredibly similar to the previous iterations by GAMEVIL, it adds just enough additional features, content and modes to be worth the money regardless if you have the previous versions.  If you have yet to buy any game in the series, this purchase should be a no brainer for any sports fan.

As with the previous titles, you are given many modes to play in including; Season Mode, My League (which is a story mode that lasts about 10 game years), Exhibition, Home Run Derby, and a Mission Mode.  Nearly all of the modes allow you to earn G Points which give you the ability to buy items or increase your player’s ability in the My League mode.  Part RPG, part baseball sim; My League is the real meat of the game and will make you return again and again.  Season mode even allows you to sign the players you have created in the My League mode. The integration between all of the modes is really outstanding and gives you a reason to play them all.

The graphics are not much different from previous iterations and overall they are just so-so.  I would like to see a pretty large improvement in the next version of the series in this area.  After all, this is the 4th game and not much has changed here.  The music within the menus is upbeat and easy to like.  However, the sounds within the game get incredibly tiring and hearing the same strike, ball and out announcements continuously makes it an easy decision to turn them off.

If you are looking for a game that has pick up and play ability, this one also has it in spades.  Uniquely, it also has the ability to suck you in for hours at a time.  Not many games can combine both of those qualities and I believe that is why it is such a fun title.  A word of warning – While veterans of the series will immediately recognize the game and how to play, new users may find the controls a bit tough to get used to at first.  My advice, stick with it.  You’ll be glad you did.

Overall Value for it’s $.99 price point

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

Price: $.99

Publisher: Gutenberg Nieto

Reviewer: Nick Alfonse

Grab the sunscreen, pull on your swimming gear, and strap on your best pair of flippers, because Gutenberg Neto is taking iPhone gamers on an all new underwater adventure. Join our aquatic friend as he swims through the sea, avoiding enemies and obstacles to survive as long as possible in this fast paced side scrolling title. Pleasantly cartoony, easy on the eyes, and simple to play, The Fish Dies in the End cuts the fat and serves up a game which is almost exactly what its name implies.

I’d be lying if I said the little guy didn’t remind me of the iconic fish from Disney’s Finding Nemo, although he’s without the exotic clown fish markings and signature Pixar animation. With a goofy grin and a pair of brilliant sea green eyes, he attempts to navigate through treacherous waters with spiky coral, electrifying jelly fish, and razor sharp sea urchins. As gamers progress, frowny faced sea rays and bloodthirsty piranhas come flying across the screen, topped off with the feeding frenzy of sharks that’re really capable of ruining your day. The longer he survives, the higher the score climbs, but with only three lives, it takes a soft touch and nimble timing to make it past more than one or two shark attacks.

The Fish Dies in the End is completely 2D, with a softly colored aquatic background and floating bubbles running across the foreground of the action. Each of the enemies is surprisingly angry at the little goldfish, as advertised by their glowing red eyes, gnashing teeth, and disdainful scowls pasted upon their faces. When colliding with one of these testy foes, our underdog hero winces in pain, blinking with invincibility for about a second before returning to the fray. The action really heats up during the shark attacks, as the screen fades to an ominous dark reddish hue as a wave of the ferocious hunters come screaming at you from nearly every direction.

A cutesy, bubbly background song provides the music for menus and gameplay, accentuated by a handful of effects. Tapping to swim evokes a quick splashing sound, while taking damage from one of the hostile starfish or sea urchins is marked by a little smacking effect. As the background colors change for an upcoming shark attack, the music shifts into overdrive for a few moments, quickly changing back to the original song (provided you survive the wave of predators).

If you’re pining for a simplistic control system, look no further, as The Fish Dies in the End is all centered on one tap, and one tap only. Press to swim upward, release to float back down. The real challenge though is learning how often and long to tap to effectively dart between attackers, especially the sharks, who move faster than anything else on screen.

This isn’t super flashy, complicated, or thrilling, but simply an entertaining, quick mobile game which achieves exactly what it sets out to do. Swim through the obstacles, rack up points, and fight your way through shark feeding frenzies, but rest assured that this fish will die in the end, no matter what.

Overall Value for it’s $.99 price point

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