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: 7.9/10 – 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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Version Reviewed: 1.1
Developer: Nimblebit (Ian Marsh)
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5

A lot of iPhone users will probably recognize Sky Burger from somewhere…like Scoops [iTunes Link] – [Review]!  In fact Sky Burger is a knock off of the popular, immensely addictive game (which we gave a great review) Scoops.  It’s even from the same iPhone phenom Ian Marsh.  Anyways, in Sky Burger you must stack a burger to the skies (or just to the top of the bun) by tilting your iPhone (see our post on accelerometers work).  Along the way you will earn tips and achievements. Unlike Scoops, Sky Burger is quite advanced this way, including online leaderboards and tons of statistics.

Luckily, Sky Burger maintains the same the highly addictive gameplay that any Nimblebit game I’ve played has.  The user interface at first glance looks pretty ugly and dull but once you start playing the game you’re warmly welcomed to a nicely rendered cartoon graphics set.  The different aspects of Sky Burger keeps it interesting for a while but unless you get severly addicted to this game you won’t find yourself coming back much.

All in all, Sky Burger is a cool app but nothing new to the iPhone world.  Luckily it is well developed and hosts a wide array of features. If you’re a fan of scoops, definitely check this out.  Just remember, in a digital world, where you can earn $7/minute flipping burgers, any application can be good.  Anyways, I just got promoted to Burgurista and am off to bed with Sky Burger.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 7.9/10 – Although fully loaded with features, the basic gameplay gets stale

Enjoyment: 7.5/10 – There’s a bit of a drag to it

Graphics: 8/10 – Good but what’s with the main menu and a few other parts?

Sound: 7/10 – Doesn’t interefere with iPod music but still has background music (though it’s pretty annoying)

Technology: 9/10 – Tilt and touch controls, only crashed once, fairly stable.

Replay Value: 8.5/10 – Famous for being highly addictive!

Overall Rating: 8/10

Further Improvements: (Note to the developer!)

• Multiple background music options
• Small update to graphics

More screenshots here

Other Reviews on Sky Burger for iPhone and iPod Touch:

• Sky Burger Review on Mac World
• Sky Burger Review on 148apps
• Sky Burger Review on iPhone Games Network
• Sky Burger Review on Finger Gaming

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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Sheepstacker: I dare you to put this game away.

Version Reviewed: 1.1.1
Developer: Tiny Tim Games
Price as of Review: $1.99
Current iTunes Rating: 4/5

Ok, so this review’s tagline might be exaggerating a little, nonetheless Sheepstacker is a refreshing new game for the iPhone.  Sheepstacker’s gameplay is exactly what the title depicts, you must stack digital sheep until the cows come home (I promise that will be the only corny barnyard joke).  Sheepstacker comes with three different gameplay modes, achievements and a fully colourful user interface.  Although all along the same theme, the unique gameplay modes each provide a refreshing twist to the game.  Sheepstacker requires you to use precise timing to stack the sheep without them tipping over and/or falling off.  The game forces you to use touch and tilt controls and precise thinking.

As you play bonus points and multiplyers can be awarded for stacking the sheep more accuratly.  Not to mention, the farther you go the more achievements you receive!  The game can be quite addicting if you find it fun, some people I’ve demoed the app to don’t like the whole barnyard theme although the gameplay is still fun.

The game almost never crashes or glitches and you can clearly tell the developer put time into making the application.  Although the user interface is not quite modern, and the graphics look a little outdated, the navigation tactics are solid.  The high score menu has a bunch of different categories which can motivate you to play “just that little bit longer,” to see how good at the game you really are.

Although technically a 2D game all the graphics are rendered in 3D and are little edgy but are pleasent on the eyes.  This would be the perfect game for parents to entertain a small child, or even themselves!  It really speaks out to the pick up and play audience.  Plus the games very fitting sound effects do not interfere with your music.  Sheepstacker has a lite version so try it out, you won’t regret it.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.6/10 – Many gameplay modes, one solid theme.  Entertainment on the iPhone in an amazing form

Enjoyment: 8.6/10 – Pretty fun, almost everybody I demoed to thoroughly enjoyed it

Graphics: 7/10 – A little edgy but still good

Sound: 8.2/10 – Near perfect sound effects, does not interfere with iPod Music.

Technology: 8.5/10 – Uses almost everything, very stable game too

Replay Value: 7.5/10 – If you do get addicted, you’ll be hooked and cornered.

Overall Rating: 8.1/10

Recommended For:

• Small children
• Fans of Scoops, Sky Burger, and other tilt/stacking games (check out the master of stacking games, Ian Marsh)

Further Improvements: (Note to the developer)

• Just a tiny graphics improvement
• Online leaderboard
• More settings

More screenshots here

Other Reviews on Sheepstacker for iPhone and iPod Touch:

• Sheepstacker Review on App Beacon
• Sheepstacker Review on The Portable Gamer
• Sheepstacker Review on All About iPhone

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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