Our Rating: 8.3/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.2
Developer: Mediatonic [iTunes Link]
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Size: 6.7MB

Must Eat Birds is a new game with a phenomenal pick up and play paradigm.  The goal of the game is to defend your picnic from birds but launching cartoon monsters at them through a slingshot.  In either Mission or Challenge mode this sounds incredibly stupid but it’s really incredibly good fun.  Mediatonic did a great job on the theme of the app, I was expecting some awful stuff when I read the game description but the first impression and beyond really got to me.

The mission mode contains 18 levels, most of which will leave you incredibly frustrating and you’ll receive the “oh-so-close” addictiveness.  An average level will take several tries and there’s enough gameplay material to have you playing for days.  Unfortunately you don’t get any skip levels which means quite a few will throw away this game instantly, and I can’t blame them, although cheating it does restrict the gameplay to the players who just can’t beat certain levels.

Gameplay is a little bleak, pretty much you’re tapping and sliding, there’s a lot of angles and strategy.  The rules go a little beyond just hitting birds.  If you want to earn some serious points you’ll need to take advantage of the multipliers, the moment one of your monsters has missed it’s target(s) you lose your multipliers.  This makes the gameplay very challenging, especially in some of the missions which limits the number of monster ammo you have.

Challenge mode is very freestyle but also very trivial, the goal is just to score as many points as possible before losing all four lives.  Unfortunately it’s a tad pointless as playing in mission mode is pretty much the same thing but more rewarding.  The graphics in Must Eat Birds are probably some of the greatest rendered cartoon graphics I’ve seen on the iPhone.  Everything is smooth and colourful, the game is meant for Japanese viewers as well which means there’s some Japanese text around the game but it actually fuels the theme.  Some people however may not like it (would recommend a Japanese or English option in settings).

All in all Must.Eat.Birds is a great game that’s considerably addicting and perfect to play anywhere.  I’d highly recommend picking this one up – only a buck.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.5/10 – Pick up and play with lots of concepts.

Enjoyment: 7.2/10 – I did enjoy it quite a bit but it’s no Trism.

Graphics: 8.6/10 – Great cartoon graphics.

Sound: 8/10 – Not very annoying and really fits the theme.

Technology: 9/10 – No stability problems or glitches.  Open Feint support.

Replay Value: 8.7/10 – Addicting and 18 different missions.

Overall Rating: 8.3/10

Further Improvements:

• Even more missions
• More gameplay modes.

More screenshots of Must.Eat.Birds. on our Flickr Page.

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Our Rating: 7.5/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.21
Developer: Wim Haanstra [iTunes Link]
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3/5
Size: 2.5MB

You’re going to need a large amount of music on your iPhone for this app.  MusIQ is a trivia app that pulls music from your library and plays small segments of random songs.  Your goal is to select the correct song corresponding the what’s playing, before the time runs out.  The amount of time left also corresponds to the amount of points you’ll receive for choosing the correct song. Based on the round mode, an incorrect answer will either end the game or defect your points from rising.  MusIQ has a local score board, and if logged on to the Open Feint system, a global high score board, and even achievements.

MusIQ is a highly enjoyable game to kill loads of time and can be very addicting. It’s unfortunately flawed by some serious stability problems and an annoyingly glitchy menu.  The Open Feint integration is really cool, it allows you to send comments to friends and the developer, track high scores, and personal achievements.  MusIQ has a bunch of achievements for you to strive for, some which can be quite challenging!

Overall MusIQ has a beautiful but glitchy interface, and amazingly addictive gameplay that the whole team at iPhone App Reviewer has enjoyed, we’re looking forward to anything else the developer comes out with.  For only a buck, MusIQ is a great deal for any music lover.  What’s next for MusIQ on our devices? Well we’re gonna sync hundreds of classic music pieces and have one frustrating challenge.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8/10 – Simple but effective, an awesome concept.

Enjoyment: 8.6/10 – Really enjoyed this one.

Graphics: 7/10 – A very aesthetically appealing interface.

Sound: 8.2/10 – Plays your iPod music perfectly directly from the library (requires 3.0 firmware)

Technology: 6/10 – Due to all the stability problems and glitches I’d give it a 0 but the whole game’s concept is built on using some cool features of the 3.0 Firmware – and the Open Feint Support is cool.

Replay Value: 7.5/10 – Really addicting and even has personal achievements.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Further Improvements:

• New gameplay modes
• Multiplayer modes
• Fix glitches and stability

More screenshots of MusIQ on iPhone App Reviewer’s Flickr Page.

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Our Rating: 8/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.0.0
Developer: Artificial Life, Inc. [iTunes Link]
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 4/5
Size: 34.2MB

iSink U is an intuitive and interactive battleship style game. It takes the classic game and puts a whole new spin on how things work, adding new features and cool weapons to make things just that much more exciting. From the loading screen you’ll get a sense of where this game is going to take you.

Once you choose your game you get to choose a map to play on. This doesn’t overly affect gameplay but offers a cool twist on normal gameplay. Once in gameplay you get to place you ships, this can be a little hard since the control system is really touchy and hard to use. The shooting menu is kind of touchy too and doesn’t always like to work (thats for me anyways) sometimes i find myself tapping 10 times before it realizes I’m tapping.

Now that being said this is a great game, and I would highly suggest for any Battleship fans out there. This offers some cool new features and an intriguing experience for newbies and veterans alike. At the least it’ll keep you amused for a few hours and will keep you coming back when all your other apps get boring.

I mean overall this app destroys other apps in the same genre *cough*ibattleships*cough* so it’s AOK in my books!

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8/10 – Very fun and intriguing, but the touch issue set me off

Enjoyment: 8/10 – I like blowing things up .. pretty simple there

Graphics: 8/10 – Great graphics, simple lines and colours, works perfectly

Sound: 8/10 – Cool effects, fit the game well.

Technology: 6/10 – Touch based, sensitivity drove me insane, hence low rating.

Replay Value: 8/10 – Great game, keeps you coming back when you need something not boring.

Overall Rating: 8/10

How to sink your opponents battleship:

-Fix the sensitivity issue with the tapping, or is it just my phone?
-An update with further maps woudl be really cool, or maybe the ability to upgrade ships .. newer cooler weaponry..

More screenshots on iPhone App Reviewer’s Flickr Page.

Thanks for listening,

-thetraynor

Folow me on Twitter @thetraynor

Wanna talk bad about me? Email Me

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Our Rating: 7.5/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.0
Developer: Readdle [iTunes Link]
Price as of Review: $0.99 (On Sale)
Current iTunes Rating: 2.5/5
Size: 3.8MB

Penetrator is a flight obstacle avoidance game similar to the iPhone hit iCopter [iTunes Link].  The goal is to get as far through the tunnel as possible without hitting the boundaries of the tunnel or obstacles in between.  To control your vehicle simply tap the screen to fly upwards (gravity pulls your plane down towards the boundaries).  Along the way you’ll encounter many power ups that will benefit or destroy you. Penetrator contains three difficulty levels (two and three needing to be unlocked) so this app provides an addicting challenge.

The game itself is pretty small – there isn’t much to do, in fact without the addictive gameplay many would probably delete this application the day after purchasing.  The app is extremely quick to load and gives you a great pick up and play paradigm.  This allows you to just get right in the game, an since a game can take mere minutes – even seconds, fueling your addiction.  To motivate you, there’s a local high score board – which unfortunately is only local, no online mode to compete against others.  Given that this app has been created by the programming gods at Readdle, an online high score board should probably be implemented soon.  No guarantees of course.

Penetrator’s graphics provide a perfect arcade style, it sets the theme for a ship going through some sort of tunnel.  Everything is at the perfect resolution and is really detailed.  Each level will provide a refreshing new background (was excited about the new stuff that came in Level 2 when I finally beat Level 1).  There isn’t much sound in Penetrator, a few sound effects and no background music.  You’re able to double tap the home button to play your own music without the app crashing so it’s still acceptable.

All in all, if you’re a fan of iCopter you’ll definitely like Penetrator for a refreshing new change that’s a little more challenging than the iCopter series.  $0.99 is the perfect price but unfortunately this is only a sale selling point, I wouldn’t pay much more for it.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8/10 – Short. Sweet. Awesome.

Enjoyment: 7/10 – Can’t complain – awesome pick up and play game.

Graphics: 8/10 – Sets a great theme.

Sound: 6/10 – Nothing annoying, unfortunately lacking.

Technology: 8.5/10 – No stability problems or glitches.  Online scoreboard would be nice.

Replay Value: 7.6/10 – Fairly addicting.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Further Improvements:

• Online leaderboard
• More levels
• More power-ups
• New gameplay modes

More screenshots of Penetrator on iPhone App Reviewer’s Flickr Page.

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Our Rating: 8.4/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.0.2
Developer: SkyZone Entertainment [iTunes Link]
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Size: 6.7MB
Lite Version: [iTunes Link]

Extreme Hangman adds a creative twist to hangman. It is played on a virtual chalk board and there are many situations your stick-figure may find itself in. From the classic hangman situation, being hung from a noose, to getting your brains eaten by zombies, Extreme Hangman will keep your attention with the variety of creative animations. You get six false choices and two hints before your stick-person dies. From actors to supermarket, there’s a category for everyone. With a variety of categories and ranging difficulties, Extreme Hangman is great for the novice or veteran player.

What I like most about Extreme Hangman is the creative situations your stick-person is put in. Instead of just enjoying guessing the word, I now also have fun seeing how my stick-person will react to my guess. The graphics are smooth and flawless. The local multiplayer is great for playing with a friend, but the word you choose must be at least five letters long. The options allow you to greatly customize the game. You can choose which animation you want to use or just change the difficulty. Extreme Hangman is extremely fun and addicting, even losing is fun!

Even though Extreme Hangman is a great game, it isn’t perfect. The sound fits the game but is very annoying. The online feature is a good idea, if it can be fixed. I tried it a few times with a friend and out of the many times we tried, we only got into the game once, and got disconnected within a minute. Those are really the only two things I can complain about with Extreme Hangman.

Overall, Extreme Hangman had me from the beginning. With the addicting gameplay, and creative animations, Extreme Hangman is one of my favourite apps. Hangman is a common game that has been remade countless times. I can honestly say that this is one of the best, if not the best hangman app out there. If you like hangman, you’ll love Extreme Hangman!

Overall Ratings:

Gameplay: 9.5/10 – Very addicting and impressive

Enjoyment: 9.5/10 – Even losing is fun!

Graphics: 9/10 – Smooth with very creative animations.

Sound: 5/10 – Fits the animations but VERY annoying.

Technology: 8/10 – Only uses touch controls but very effectively.

Replay Value: 9.5/10 – Never gets boring.

Final Ratings: 8.4/10

Further Improvements:

• Fix the online mode glitches.
• Choose less annoying music!
• Continue to increase words and categories

Until next time,

-Mike.

More screenshots on iPhone App Reviewer’s Flickr Page.

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Our Rating: 7.8/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.1
Developer: FDG Entertainment [iTunes Link]
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Size: 6.2MB
Lite Version: [iTunes Link]

Parachute Panic is another game that’s showing the iPhone’s huge potential for great “cell phone,” gaming.  Like almost every true iPhone hit (and trust me, Parachute Panic has been a hit on the App Store) the gameplay is incredibly simple.  The key is addictiveness.  The goal of Parachute Panic is to play god with stick figures and guide them to the safety of your steamboats.  To do this simply swipe across the screen to blow wind around.  You’ll need quick timing and fast reflexes to bring all your men onto the boats.

You’ll face challenges along the way such as thunderclouds and alien spaceships that will try to abduct your stick figures.  You only have five lives, once a stick figure has been killed in any way (dropping to his death in the ocean, getting abducted, get struck by lightning) you lose a life.  This can happen quite quickly.  The gameplay is very challenging (on either difficulty level) and my high score is a mere 62 (anybody who’s beaten this can insult my skills in the comments).

The theme of the app is unique – all the graphics look like they were drawn on paper and scanned – the water is actually just blue lines.  However the end effect is quite nice and the user interface is smooth.  The statistics area like to remind you how many times you’ve killed off one of your stick figures via each death method.  Unfortunately there is no global high score board which in my opinion takes out a lot of the replay value – unless you’re addicted (ok you probably are), there’s no motivation to keep playing.

All in all, Parachute Panic is a great app for a buck, the gameplay follows the ideal iPhone paradigm.  Unfortunately the features are a little limited but we can abide by that for only a dollar.  You can check out the lite version for your final opinion on this app.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.2/10 – Although not very complex it’s the simplicity that makes it awesome.

Enjoyment: 9/10 – Not much to say here, it’s just fun!

Graphics: 8/10 – The theme has a nice effect.

Sound: 5/10 – The effects are great but the background and narration are very annoying.  Luckily you can turn just those off in the settings.

Technology: 8.2/10 – Very stable and I haven’t found a glitch.  Touch controls are very responsive.  Unfortunately no accelerometer control.

Replay Value: 8/10 – Many have found this game very addicting – it’s solid over one million copies.

Overall Rating: 7.8/10

Further Improvements:

• Global high score board
• A “hard” difficulty level
• Accelerometer usage

More screenshots on our iPhone App Reviewer Flickr Page.

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Our Rating: 8.9/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.2
Developer: FDG Entertainment
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Lite Version: [iTunes Link]

Kryzer is a full blown 360 degree arcade game in which you control a spaceship fighting against enemy entities.  Although this isn’t a remake of any classic game, Kryzer really brings back the old arcade gaming experience.  The object of the game is to hunt down enemies by shooting at them, all you have to do is control your proximity to and from the inner circle.  Seem easy?  Bring it on; you’ll need some awesome reflexes to get in the high scores on this bad boy.  The game will continue to speed up (and change colour to notify you) and more enemies of different types will appear.  Every level you’ll also get a snake boss which can be a tricky thing to beat.

Due to the repetitiveness of the game, a few users might quickly forget about Kryzer and move on, the other 95% of it’s audience, will put it on the first page of their iPhone and be immensely addicted to it.   With it’s smooth and sleek graphics and very stable gameplay, you’ll be quite addicted.  I’ve found it to be the perfect pick up and play game, even though a game could very well last for hours (ok you’d have to be pretty good), the average game would be around 10 minutes, you can exit the app at any time and then pick it back up at any time with your progress saved.

The sound effects really move along our arcade paradigm we’ve got going here, they can get slightly annoying like most arcade game’s sound.  However the gameplay will really overcompensate and create a delightful ambiance for your addicted mind.  I really haven’t found anything I don’t like about this app.  Maybe a storyline or additions to the app throughout the game would be nice, and that’s really what stopping from getting this classic a 10/10.

So if you’re an arcade freak or just like a good addicting game, pick Kryzer up.  For a mere dollar this is one of the best values I’ve seen.  If you’re not sure about it, there is a lite version.  Enjoy!

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.2/10 – Simple but immensely immersive.

Enjoyment: 9.5/10 – There was a point where this was definitely my favourite app.

Graphics: 8/10 – With any app, they could be better; I really like the style of Radial 50 with the cool background graphics.  Maybe Kryzer could implement this.

Sound: 7/10 – It’s an arcade game – not good not bad.  Really adds to the gameplay though.

Technology: 8/10 – Even though it just uses two touch buttons to control it, it’s the stability and sleek user interface that brings this rating up.

Replay Value: 9.7/10 – This is one of the most addicting apps I’ve played since Trism or Phaze.

Overall Rating: 8.9
Note the average rating is actually 8.4 but we’ve given it a half bonus point cause it deserves it.

Further Improvements: (Note to the developer!)

• Different sound effects
• Better backgrounds then just the plain ones now
• Storyline or some reward to get throughout the game

More screenshots on Flickr.

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Our Rating: 7.4/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.0
Developer: Vito Technology Inc.
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 5/5
Size: 4.4MB

Vito Technologies have brought another classic flash browser game to the iPhone.  Neurologists have been fascinated with reflexes, reaction time, and the science behind it.  This game doesn’t have any science, but is the perfect pick up and play style game, and is a humorous satire of recent events (swine flu, note, iPhone App Reviewer does not think swine flu is funny).  The object of the game is to control a pig with your finger and use your reflex skillz to avoid the swine viruses.

It’s a classic avoid-the-dot addicting gameplay that’s been on Internet flash games for years.  Unfortunately this style of game is limited in gameplay, and the developer didn’t add much.  Mind you the theme is creative and the high score board packs an interesting new feature, you can watch recordings of other’s high score play sessions.    The game’s stability is quite astounding (well, not much resources are needed for this game) and I haven’t found a single glitch.

All in all Swine Time is a greatly developed, poorly thought, but immensely addictive game.  Definitely something one should pick up for an awesome pick up and play game.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 6/10 – Not much to it at all.

Enjoyment: 9.2/10 – …although highly enjoyable

Graphics: 8/10 – Can’t complain, there isn’t much to it.

Sound: 4/10 – The only sound effects are the ambulance retrieving your dead pig.

Technology: 8.8/10  – No stability issues, flawless touch control.

Replay Value: 8/10 – Really addicting however no monumental value

Overall Rating: 7.4/10

Further Improvements:

• Further develop gameplay
• Add missions
• More sound effects, background music
• Local leaderboard
• Additional game themes

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Our Rating: 7.9/10 – Thumbs Up [Screenshots]

Version Reviewed:  1.12
Developer: Donut Games
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: N/A
Size: 2.4MB
Lite Version: [iTunes Link]

Monkey Flight is the simplest of pick up and play games available for the iPhone. Monkey Flight is a simple game where the controller has to launch a monkey into flight with a palm tree in order to collect an array of fruits and coconuts to gain points. The game can be played in 3 modes; Arcade, Challenges and Lite Play. The latter of which is the version available for free download to try out the game.

Now lets talk about the ‘Challenges’ mode in Monkey Flight. There’s 20 levels available for play (as of right now, keep your fingers crossed for more!). Each level has 3 goals to reach, though you only have to reach the lowest of the three to move onto the next. Now though there are some amusing levels that are going to keep you locked in for hours and hours playing, there’s the less amusing beat it in 2 seconds levels that make you wonder why your still playing.

Arcade mode on Monkey Flight offers you another amusing way of play; who can beat the top score? You’re given three monkey’s to send into flight down one of the longest maps in the game. I found this mode of Monkey Flight to be less amusing than the challenges but at the same time the challenges offer something different. The simplicity of the control system and game play make this game one of the best games I’ve played to date.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8/10 – Amusing and time consuming, always gets your attention

Enjoyment: 7/10 – Hard to lose interest, until you beat all the levels…

Graphics: 8/10 – Small, but very distinguished

Sound: 9/10 – Fits the game perfectly

Technology: 6/10 – only uses touch controls, but uses them to the max, no need for more

Replay Value: 7/10 – lower rating ONLY because after the 20 levels are done (can be accomplished within 2 – 3 hours total play) you don’t really have anything to come back to.

Overall Rating: 7.9/10

Monkey Flight is a great game and a great way to kill some time when your bored, but it needs to be beefed up a bit (though the step up from the lite version is significant) before I think it’s capable of a 10/10.

-thetraynor

The Ugly Truth, what needs to change:

• Theres only 20 levels, I beat them all in 1 day
• The banana boost came to me by surprise (after you launch your monkey, tap the screen up to 2 times per monkey for a boost)
• There’s two many easy levels spread throughout the hard ones, they need to progress better

Follow me on twitter @thetraynor

More screenshots here.

Other Reviews on Monkey Flight for iPhone and iPod Touch:

• Review on iGadgetJunkie
• Review on AppBite

Why does iPhone App Reviewer link to other reviewing sites?  Because if you’re not 100% satisfied with the quality of our review, then we encourage you to go elsewhere.  The point of iPhone App Reviewer is to give you an honest, open opinion of the application.

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Our Rating: 7.2/10 [Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.2
Developer: Tiger Shark Games
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5

Soldier Ants is a concept that’s been done numerous times on Internet flash games; the concept will live on throughout gaming forever, probably.  Soldier Ants is a 2D game where you face off against computer or human ant army opponents.  Armed with several cartoon ants and a large variety of weapons you’ll go around the poorly rendered maps battling it out.  Game modes are customizable allowing for probably about a week of gameplay before getting completely bored out of your mind.

The gameplay of Soldier Ants is what makes it outstanding as a game, and really, about the only thing that makes it worth buying.  With tons of weapons ranging from close range to long range and explosive to subtle there is fun to be around here.  Although the graphics aren’t much on the eyes, nothing beats torching your opponent to the ground with acid or a flamethrower.  Gameplay is on a turn by turn basis – [here is when I'd normally say "Soldier Ants has a just-one-more-turn addiction to it" but I'm afraid it doesn't make the cut].  Between the weapon drops and explosions the map will dynamically change, similar to the sort of deteriorating map effect found in iShoot [iTunes Link].

Although the gameplay sounds nice, it’s bogged down by poor graphics, horribly inaccurate controls, and a deplorable amount of stability.  One of your ants may be able to jetpack across the map but I’m afraid you won’t be able to.  If you’re a fan of 2D platform team vs. team style games, you should check out Soldier Ants at a relatively fair price of $0.99.  There’s a lite version available for free here [iTunes Link].  All in all, if you can get past the immense amount of severe annoyances, Soldier Ants does well for a quick pick up and play game.  Otherwise, stay away.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.7/10 – Lots to the gameplay, variety of weapons.

Enjoyment: 6.5/10 – Needs a lot of improvements before I can seriously enjoy this game.

Graphics: 6.5/10 – Very colourful but the graphics look like they were done very lazily and on a much lower resolution then the iPhone’s 320×480

Sound: 8/10 – Nothing to complain about here.

Technology: 6/10 – No use of the accelerometer, touch controls are hella buggy.

Replay Value: 7/10 – Because of the many gameplay modes and customization per game this can be fun to come back to, but not for very long.

Overall Rating: 7.2/10 -

Further Improvements: (Note to the developer)

• Fix unresponsive touch controls
• Fix misc. glitches
• Wi-fi multiplayer mode
• Bring graphics up to the capability of the iPhone
• What about some accelerometer madness?

More screenshots here.

Other Reviews on Soldier Ants for iPhone and iPod Touch:

• Soldier Ants Review by iPhoneApps-Review

Why does iPhone App Reviewer link to other reviewing sites?  Because if you’re not 100% satisfied with the quality of our review, then we encourage you to go elsewhere.  The point of iPhone App Reviewer is to give you an honest, open opinion of the application.

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