Did I miss the talk on Labyrinth 2? I just got it and I am just loooooving it. Fantastically wonderful game, it is.
Wesnoth just updated for me, to 1.2.
Also, I feel like I owe it to my childhood to play the Voltron game. It actually looks pretty good, too.
Did someone already mention “Beat It!”? I think someone might have, but I can’t be bothered to search the thread from my iPhone. Anyway, it’s awesome. You have to map out increasingly complex beat loops it plays for you, using a simple little grid interface with a row for each instrument. There’s probably a more direct explanation someone familiar with sound editting could offer, but it’s kind of like mapping the drum pattern for Rock Band by ear. I don’t know that I’m selling it well, so just go look at the delicious pixel-art that accompanies it. It’s beautiful, even better looking than Taxi-Ball.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beat-it/id335583964?mt=8
$2.99
Oooh, someone try this and report back!
-Tom
Sorry, not for $3, I already have Dark Nova and Galaxy on Fire to scratch this particular itch. Silly, I know, but I’d happily review it for $1.
Hi Brian, if you don’t mind me soliciting, it sounds like you’d be the perfect player. If you want to PM me, I’ll send you a promo code - I still have a few left (gotta submit the update and respawn my codes!!1!).
I also kept a modest design diary which might clarify some of the differences between Rogueship and similar games.
Couldn’t resist at this price… but should have. Apologies if I offend people’s nostalgic sentiments (I never played the original), but Sword of Fargoal is a horribly primitive game that’s frankly not worth any money. There are no character classes, no statistics other than experience, health & gold, no equipment other than spells and potions, and monsters spawn randomly in the fog of war immediately outside the player’s view. The simplest roguelike on the PC is a million times for advanced. To top it off, the game reuses ancient 8-bit sound effects that are primitive even by C64 standards.
I’m not offended at all, but you were obviously expecting something different. As an implementation of the original, the iPhone version is excellent. They clearly went for a retro vibe, hence the C64 sound effects (it’s a long time since I played the original, but I reckon they were pretty faithful) and the lack of animation. No, what made this game special was its diluted Rogue dynamic, distilling the explore/fight/reward mechanic down to its appealing elements without all the baggage that later rogue-likes introduced. Now I know a lot of people love this, but most roguelikes are fairly impenetrable unless you devote a lot of time to it.
There’s also a big nostalgia component, I’ll admit. I’d probably pay 10 bucks for an iPhone version of 3D Monster Maze or Mazogs, but that’s me. I think Sword of Fargoal is a great iPhone game, not too complex but compelling enough that I’ve played it most nights since I bought it a few weeks back. Still haven’t found the bloody sword though.
Incidentally, the monsters don’t spawn randomly: apart from the ones that are found on a fresh level, new ones only enter the level from the stairs or the holes in the roof. This can be important on the lower levels when you’re running scared and trying to find the temple.
I picked up Doom Resurrection this morning and am finding it to be very enjoyable. I like how they put movement on rails and let me control where I’m looking and shooting. It’s a great compromise for the iPod Touch controls.
Do not think for a minute that I’m ignoring this.
Oh, and incidentally, EDGE is back on the AppStore in some countries. Apparently US/UK are coming back soon. Finally bought this game after trying the lite version out, slightly tricksy controls but it scratches the retro gaming itch.
[EDIT] Ha! I knew it. 69,070 duuude. My hands were sweating so much I couldn’t drag anything across the screen anymore, so it degenerated into frantic tapping!
Just one geeky correction: not all of the extra complexity was added in later games, more complex roguelikes had already existed on PDP-11 and Unix platforms before Sword of Fargoal was created. But Wikipedia says that SoF was really an independent creation based on a PET game called Gammaquest, rather than a deliberate simplification of Rogue or Hack.
Incidentally, the monsters don’t spawn randomly: apart from the ones that are found on a fresh level, new ones only enter the level from the stairs or the holes in the roof. This can be important on the lower levels when you’re running scared and trying to find the temple.
Okay, that mechanic at least is better than I thought.
nixon66
1752
So two hours after I got into bed to go to sleep and more than a few rounds later, I finally turned off my phone from playing Defender Chronicles. Damn that little tower defense game is addicting!
nlanza
1753
I finally got the hang of the 1.1 gameplay and managed to vault ahead of Tom with 55,330. Woo.
I guess pushing up into the 60s is the next goal.
I still don’t really know what the ring-of-colors powerup that isn’t the “blow up everything on screen” one does, tho’.
Any recommendations for the best Texas Hold 'Em? I’ve got the World Series of Poker demo and am curious about the competition before I plunk down. I’ve got some long flights coming up, and a little Texas Hold 'Em can kill a few hours like nothing else.
Also, I searched the thread for feedback on Dexter, and the impressions seem pretty split. I don’t expect it to be the best game I ever played, but how well does it stack up against the “worth six bucks” standard? Worth grabbing, or should I hold out for a price drop?
I’m surprised at how quickly my sense of relative expense has scaled to the average price of the format. I’ll go pretty deep into the “maybe” pile when I see a console game for $19 or $29 up here, but I’m holding off on The Secret of Monkey Island (one of my all-time favourite titles) because $7.99 “feels” a little steep for an iPhone game and I’m holding off for a sale. However, I’ll still drop a buck on something I’ve never played based just on a recommendation here because hey, it’s just a buck.
WarrenM
1755
spatzi
1756
You know what six months of itouch gaming has done for me? Convinced me to spend $1700 on a top of the line PC and get back into PC gaming. I miss the big screen immersion. Last 2 months, I look at these games on my itouch, debate to start playing one, then read the news instread. I have the same idea that James Cameron had about watching movies on the thing. It’s just not right.
flyinj
1757
You know, you can do both.
As a matter of fact, I’d never consider telling someone to get an iPhone if they wanted to game. The point of the iPhone is to have awesome games that you can play anywhere that supplement your other outlets.
Vlork
1758
Well, looks like GeoSpark has managed to draw me back out of lurking, if only to brag - my current GeoSpark high score is 139,880 :) My OpenFeint username is “BTL”, if anyone wants to add me.
DaveLong
1759
3GS only really doesn’t make me happy.
Hugin
1760
Well, I am really struggling with Red Conquest. I hate the UI, I feel like every time I click on the screen I have 40 options, none of which is what I actually wanted my units to do. And I HAAAATE the narrative bits. Just shut up umbrella guy. And hoodie people. SHUT. UP.
The tutorial should simply be scrapped and redone, IMO. There’s just a ton of stuff that’s explained poorly, if at all.
