This review is for the universal app ‘OmniBlaster’ – a space themed tilt and fire game with levels increasing in difficulty. The game has a robust feel to it with an interesting twist.
The twist is that you can’t just blast your way through the levels willy-nilly like similar scrolling screen shoot ’em up games, as there are power up objects that you don’t want to blow up in the form of coloured astroids. You have to use controlled firing to tactically clear your way through the mission levels.
Near the end of each level you go head-to-head with various mother ships. There is a hanger for selecting ship types, an OpenFeint linked in-game scoreboard and several firing options, blaster firing or torpedoes. The asteroid power ups can recharge your shields, make them invincible, give you super torpedoes and even armour piercing blasters. This game gets more challenging as you progress onto more advanced levels, such as bigger and tougher mother ships, as well as more grey asteroids to avoid. In all, a fun, likeable  arcade style game that is easy to pick up and play.
This review is for ‘6 Pack Promise’ by Sports Performance, currently priced at $3.99. The app has 56 complete workout plans with over 100 exercises included. This app was put together by Jeff Cavaliere who is a pro celebrity trainer with an impressive track record.
He was a sports fitness trainer for the N.Y. Mets as well as training many other top sports athletes and celebrities. There is also a suggested meal plan which you can generate at random or follow to the letter. There is a ‘Master Vault’ of all the exercises included and a random workout generator. This is the only fitness trainer I follow personally as he focuses on muscle confusion exercises and puts emphasis on the importance of recovery time.
Jeff Cavaliere is the creator of the excellent AthleanX 90 day fitness program which I am personally following right now. I spent quite some time searching for what in my opinion was the best workout program on the Internet for muscle confusion and this is the guy that won hands down in my personal opinion. Here is the link to the full AthleanX program . . . AthleanX Fitness Program . . . please note that I am not in any way affiliated with AthleanX. In all an excellent app and a sure way to a six pack if you follow the correct meal plans and diet.
This review is for ‘Index Card’ for the iPad by DenVog which is currently priced at $4.99. The app is a cork board productivity app aimed at organising projects, such as storyboarding and a whole host of other project planning possibilities.
You can divide your index cards into project groups and within your project group you can arrange cards into stacks. Index Card allows you to add additional information on to the back of each card and also to colour code cards. You can view your project as note cards or as a list view. You can easily back up your work by sending it in RTF format to your email address or to your drop box and even upload it to be part of Scrivener. You can drag and drop cards to arrange them in any order as well as having the ability to add and delete cards, making amendments to any project a cinch. What I love about this app is that it is simple to use and has a range of possibilities from high level projects, such as planning a movie, or more basic tasks such as a ‘To do’ list.
This review is for ‘Space Conquest’ by M.Y Delvelopers. The game is a universal app, currently priced at under $1. The gameplay has a nice retro 80s feel to it with neon graphics.
Missions are themed upon the Solar System with Mercury being the first level, right up to the most advanced level of Pluto. When you start the game you are given one of the standard ships, but as you clear levels you can upgrade to more advanced ships, such as fighter ships.
There are asteroids in the game which you can shoot to split or outrun to avoid. Each level has 5 waves and you have to eliminate these waves in order to unlock the next level. You can test a new ship by pressing and holding to see the ship fire. You can also add ships as your wingmen in the game, with the added option to order them to defend you or to go on attack mode.
This review is for ‘Crowded Garden HD’ for the iPad, by Elbow Room Apps, priced at 99 cents. The game has beautiful graphics and sound and has a nice feel to it.
Children especially will love this game and it could make a great adult party game, with players using their nose instead of their hands. The levels get progressively harder, right up to the hardest level, level 15. If you clear a level without hitting any butterflies a white flower appears on the level’s icon. There is a single or two player mode. The graphics are very smooth, such as the butterfly wing movement transitions for example. This game is cute and easy to understand how to play, even for very young children.
I don’t have any children to test it out on, I only have two dogs and I doubt if they’ve got the paw dexterity needed – they’d be more interested in chewing my iPad up. There are varied backgrounds on levels and the app is Facebook and Twitter enabled. A very relaxing game playing on the easier levels and very challenging on the more difficult levels. Check out level 15 in the review, it goes nuts 🙂
This review is for Sid Meier’s Pirates, available on the iPad for $4.99. In the game your family falls into debt and is taken into slavery. You must take to the high seas and rescue your family whilst battling with various ships and plundering ports.
There are treasure maps in the game for treasure hunting, as well as many different ships available to plunder and steal. You can upgrade your ship and recruit crew members. In the game you must keep your crew happy or else they will start to plan a mutiny. There are special objects to acquire that upgrade your charm and wit, as well as your duelling skills. You can also charm the governor’s daughter in ports as well as dancing with her. In the end you choose a wife and retire as either a rich or poor landlubber, depending on how well your career as a pirate fairs. The game has cut scenes with impressive graphics as well as main missions and optional side missions. This game has been chosen for the featured section as it provides hours of game play and is replayable. Excellent value for money. I have played it twice all the way through and will no doubt be playing it again.
This review is for the HD version on the iPad, however, this app is available on the iPhone under the name ‘Paradise Island: Exotic’ also. The object of the game is to build up a resort on an island.
You collect money from each of the buildings that you build to buy other structures. There are different achievement levels in the game. To reach a new achievement level you have to gain experience points. In this game I’m currently at about level 23 which has taken me about 5 months.
The game is relaxing and not stressful, so it’s great for just chilling out and slowly building the island bit by bit. The developers regularly update this app with new features and special offers. The game keeps on running even when you quit the game, so that the next morning you have a stack of virtual money to collect. There are many awards to achieve in the game, such as a certain amount of buildings that you need to upgrade or how many road sections you build etc. Best of all it’s free!
This is a review of my own app ‘PowerPenguins’, so I asked ‘Crazy Mike’ to do an independent review for me, as it seemed a bit odd doing a review for my own app.
There is also a ‘PowerPenguins Lite’ version for free with 6 taster levels. This is not just a ‘knock the structure down’ game, although there are fun ‘knock down’ levels included. There are also many interactive objects in the game, such as magnets, lasers, guns, TNT, balloons, moving tyres, falling trees and switches. The crazy storyline to the game is that aliens have chosen to invade the world and start by invading Antarctica with a plan for harvesting penguins to use as penguin burgers. However, they fail to realise that there is an elite penguin special forces unit in place in Antarctica – the ‘PowerPenguins’. In this game you join the PowerPenguins in their fight against the invaders.
Following them from country to country as the aliens flee in fear from these cute but fearless warriors. There are many beautiful backgrounds used in the game. On average, a background is used only twice in the game, 3 times at the most. The game has beautiful particle effects such as snow, rain, bubbles, falling leaves and lightning. There are hilarious cut scenes – about 2 cut scenes per country (each country has 10 levels). In this game you don’t have to wait for the last physics object to stop moving like in some other ‘knock the structure down’ type games, as soon as you eliminate the last alien you can move on to the next level. This game is not easy! I have deliberately made this game more of a challenge than other similar games. Are you up for the PowerPenguins challenge?
Andre’s Review Of PowerPenguins . . .
Launching penguins and going into unknown territory has never been more fun than with PowerPenguins. PowerPenguins is my new favorite game and will defiantly maintain the crown for a long time.
The gameâ??s concept is very original and pushes the user to keep trying, even through the most difficult levels. The main objective is for the user to sling the penguins available to destroy the aliens on the map. Its two dimensional view makes it very easy to follow up on what is happening. What makes PowerPenguins unique from the other games is the level of control and planning throughout the game. People usually compare this game to Angry Birds, but PowerPenguins has a totally different feel, theme, and gameplay style overall.
During gameplay, the user has to account for objects throughout the map. The user also might get to a point where trial and error is necessary to find out how to win a level. The beauty of this game is that the levels get extremely challenging but are not imposable to pass. Be warned, PowerPenguins is extremely addictive and you might find yourself playing it all day. Also note that with experience your gameplay style will start to change and will fit the game better. For newcomers, it might be a habit to use full power. With time, you will slowly start to realize that using less power might be more convenient and flexible.
The game features six level groups which are all showcased as countries. For each group of levels or country there are ten levels. Thus, there are 60 levels throughout the app. You wonâ??t be getting bored for a very long time.
To conclude, I would like to say that this is the best application I have ever played. The mixture of creative ideas and simplicity is amazing.I recommend this game because there is nothing like it!
This review is for Garageband on the iPad, however, this app is universal and works on the iPhone and iPod Touch. You can create music loops and songs using Garageband, even if you can’t play an instrument.
There are options for amateurs and advanced options for professionals and musicians. This is my all time favourite app. I you asked me what app would I have if I could only ever have 1 app on my iPad/iPhone . . . I would answer “Garageband” for sure. I use this app for my background music on my apps.
The music loop I put together, shown at the end of this review took me only 30 minutes, using the mini-loops provided and just by mix and matching which sounds go well together and I am certainly not a musician. You can even plug your guitar in and experiment with a range of amps and effects that would otherwise cost a fortune to buy.
You can make music on the go and you even have the option to then upload your creation to Garageband on the Mac to further tweak and perfect it. It is fun too. Garageband is priced at $4.99 at the time of this review and for me it’s well worth the money. To be honest, if I had to pay $20 for this app it would still be worth it as it saves me a lot of money in the long run, where I would otherwise have to employ a musician to do my background sound loops. Even if you don’t use this app for anything practical, it’s so much fun just messing around with this app. In all, a fantastic app.
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