Our Rating: 7.9/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.20
Developer: Handmark, Inc [iTunes Link]
Price as of Review: $4.99
Current iTunes Rating: 4/5
Size: 4.8MB
Lite Version: [iTunes Link]

Platypus is a uniquely themed arcade shooter which will bring back a lot of nostalgia for folks who played the hundreds of similar games in the time of the Nintendo 64.  The goal of Platypus is to gain as many points by shooting up enemies with one of several weapons (power-ups are available throughout each stage). There’s a huge amount of stages and levels to go through, beating all of them would take several hours being a skilled player.  Although you only get four lives, you’re able to continue where you left off, just with your points reset.

Like all classic arcade shooters the high score board is your main motivation to playing – although Platypus is very enjoyable, it’s not really the addictive paradigm and therefore you’ll probably put it away once beat.  Unfortunately there’s no global high scores and the only competition is yourself, friends who you let use your device and the pre-ranked entries.  However the four total stages should be more than enough to keep you entertained for that five dollars worth of time.

The graphics are very unique, the theme is well, it’s clay.  Everything was basically drawn from clay.  Although it doesn’t look modern or extremely detailed it gives a nice effect and really sets the theme.  The graphics in all are satisfactory, keeping them at a low level leaves room for game stability, and with the huge amount of objects (bullets, enemies, particles, etc) on the screen at the same time, stability is key.  Handmark Inc has done a great job on the control interface, you can control via touch or accelerometer and both allow you to set sensitivity and calibration.  Nifty eh?

All in all if you’re into arcade shooters, Platypus is for you, it definitely does not disappoint.  It’s quite entertaining while it lasts, and it’s an excellent game to show to friends as you can show them so many aspects of your awesome new iPhone.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.9/10 – Lots of stages, enough to last quite a while.  Tons of different enemies and powerups.

Enjoyment: 7/10 – It’s a pretty nifty game and will keep you entertained no doubt – how long is the question.

Graphics: 7.5/10 – The theme isn’t the best but they executed it well.

Sound: 8/10 – For those who love nostalgia, you’ll love the sound effects, for those who don’t you can turn it off.

Technology: 8.2/10 – Ability to control via accelerometer and touch, both can be customized to your personal standards.

Replay Value: 7.8/10  – Lots of levels available but the only real motivation is the local-only high score board.

Overall Rating: 7.9/10

Further Improvements:

• Global high score board
• Different themes – a lot of people will be pulled away from buying this due to the current clay style graphics.
• Different ships and more guns!

More screenshots on iPhone App Reviewer’s Flickr Page!

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Our Rating: 8.5/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.00.00
Developer: Handmark Inc
Price as of Review: $4.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Lite Version: [iTunes Link]

Phaze is [*sigh* yes, another one] racing game, yet probably one of the most addicting ones I’ve ever played on the iPhone.  The setting is different than most, we take a step into the future, racing with jet powered hover cars going at high speeds.  The game requires great reflex skills as all the tracks have bends and turns – failure to dodge these will result in loss of health.  Once you run out of health your vehicle will explode and you’ll definitely fall behind.

Phaze has several different maps and tons of vehicles – each with their own statistics, unfortunately you aren’t able to customize or buy additional parts for any of them.  Either way though there’s so many new things to unlock, you can play this game for days (trust me, it’s pretty darn addicting).  You can play in quick play mode to practice and beat your lap times or you can test your skills (and unlock new vehicles/maps) by playing Championship mode.  On four different difficulty levels the competition can get fierce, always dropping bombs and launching missiles.

The user interface is a simple menu, absolutely nothing fancy, just allows you to get into the game.  Although something like a cover flow mode to browse through available vehicles would be cool.  The controls are all based on the accelerometer, no touch controls are available.  Luckily you can calibrate and set the sensitivity of the accelerometer to your personal needs.  There are some unfortunate glitches and annoyances, in earlier versions even some stability issues.  Most have been fixed and you just need to figure out a comfortable spot to play.  The graphics set the perfect theme and don’t wear down the app’s performance; the sound is just as good.

All in all Phaze is a phenomenal racing game, probably the most addicting racing game I’ve played on the iPhone.  After getting past a few annoyances, $4.99 is a great price and all racing lovers should pick this one up.  Bravo, Handmark Inc.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.9/10 – Great racing Artificial Intelligence, power-ups during racing, and to top it off – unlockable vehicles and maps

Enjoyment: 9.5/10 – Absolutely – could hardly put it down.

Graphics: 8/10  – Double S – Suitable and Satisfactory

Sound: 8.1/10 – Bursting sound effects that enhance the racing experience.

Technology: 6.5/10  – A lot of annoyances, able to set accelerometers sensitivity but the relative angle has some serious problems.

Replay Value: 9.8/10 – Seriously addicting and for bonuses you can go through all the championships on four difficulty levels.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

More screenshots here.

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• Westward
• Personality
• The Fast and Furious: Pink Slip
• aMAZEing

Westward [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $4.99
Category: Games
Developer: Handmark
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Version Reviewed: 1.05

Synopsis: A very large game themed in the wild west in which you must control characters around a map to create settlements and battle.  Although I’m a fan of similar games like Civilization for PC, and other multi-unit strategy games, Westward bored me to tears to say the least.  There’s a whole multitude of controls and lots to do, and the graphics are quite nice for a mobile game yet still, it feels like a drag to play.

The Good:

• Quite large, lots of stuff to do
• Great starting tutorial
• Very stable
• Feels like a game you’d find on a real gaming system

The Bad:

• Huge drag to play
• I could hardly get past the tutorial before I was bored
• A few annoyances in the controls

Conclusion: If you want to give a game like this a try go for it, but I’m going to note that the five dollar price tag is quite steep.

Final Rating: 5.5/10

Personality [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $1.99
Category: Lifestyle
Developer: Signal Patterns
Current iTunes Rating: 2.5/5
Version Reviewed: 1.1

Synopsis:  Personality is an application that thoroughly tests your personality and gives hard studied results.  Not only is it a one-time test that you will only even use once and pass on, it’s also a whole resource on personality tests and psychology.  Besides the test it features a science page and a results page which explains all the different traits with text and video.

The Good:

• Tons of features, this isn’t one of those lifestyle apps that you’ll just use once
• A great science page
• One of the best personality tests I’ve ever seen (not just on the iPhone)
• Clean user interface
• In-app video’s rather than exiting to YouTube or Safari

The Bad:

• Unable to email results to others or yourself (or any other export way)

Conclusion: This is a fun app that is simply a steal for $1.99.  It’s great fun and quite accurate.

Final Rating: 8.9/10

Fast and Furious: Pink Slip [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $2.99
Category: Games
Developer: I-play
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Version Reviewed: 0.1.3

Synopsis: Yet another racing game for the iPhone, this one with the movie trademark attached to it.  Fast and Furious Pink Slip  is a very challenging racing game with great graphics and a unique feel to it.  There are multiple gameplay modes including a multiplayer session although some of the modes are quite useless.

The Good:

• Pretty good graphics
• Multiplayer mode
• Several different cars

The Bad:

• No real tutorial
• The “Quick Race” mode is actually called a Drag Race in which you do not control the cars steering, just it’s shifter

Conclusion: A decent racing game with a satisfactory price of $2.99.  They’re better racing games available though…

Final Rating: 7/10

aMAZEing [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $0.99
Category: Games
Developer: f-gap
Current iTunes Rating: 2.5/5
Version Reviewed: 1.2

Synopsis: aMAZEing is a maze solving game in a pure 3D environment.  Similar to Windows 98’s 3D maze screensaver but you get to control the point of view.  The objective is to find the amount of gems that you specify at the start in a maze (you choose size).

The Good:

• Able to slightly customize the maze at the start of the game
• Greatly demonstrates how the iPhone can be used to real platform gaming! (Tip of the hat to the developer!)
• Awesome control scheme

The Bad:

• Get’s boring fast
• Only one objective

Synopsis:  This is the start to what could be a very great game, in the mean time, search elsewhere…

Final Rating: 5/10

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Deluxeware Darts: A quality darts application, no joke.

Version Reviewed: 1.0
Developer: Handmark
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 2.5/5

I have never liked darts in any form of video game, ever.  It’s just not realistic and you just can’t get the control scheme correct, it’s pretty much impossible as computers have not perfected a real physics environment.  However, Deluxeware Darts (and I’m not getting paid to say this) I thoroughly enjoyed, it’s nowhere near real darts but they did make the control scheme and gameplay environment suitable for mobile devices and just playing darts virtually in general.  Anyways, starting with our usual synopsis of the app…  Deluxeware Darts is a colourful variant of darts, it allows five different gameplay modes and you can play by yourself, with another human player or even against three levels of AI.

You get three darts a round, each of which you must flick (touch controlled not accelerometer).  Each game is pretty similar, they’re listed as follows; Fast 500, 301 Game, 501 Game, Clock Game, and Cricket Game.  Although pretty similar each game has a differet playing scheme that everybody will enjoy differently (my personal favourite is Clock Game).  I’m not a darts fanatic but I have been told by some people that I’ve let play the game on my iPod Touch for a bit that some of the rules are a tad off.  Nonetheless it’s a great app.

The user interface is simple and very friendly.  Deluxeware Darts have decent graphics, nothing spectacular but nowhere near ugly.  The control scheme is perfect for mobile gaming and is especially easy to just pick up and play.  Sound effects are mild, they’re pretty subtle and don’t affect gameplay much at all.  In conclusion, check out this game, at the price of a buck, there’s nothing quite like it.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.8/10 – With five different styles of play and multiple ways of interacting, this is a great darts variant

Enjoyment: 9.1/10 – I thoroughly enjoyed this game, totally addicted.  I gave it the extra 0.1 just because this game has tingled my interest

Graphics: 7/10 – Moderate, easy on the eyes but nothing spectacular

Sound: 6.5/10 – Nothing to hear here folks…

Technology: 8/10 – Very smooth running game, the touch controllers are foolproof

Replay Value: 8.9/10 – Totally addicted but it does defect eventually

Overall Rating: 8.1/10

Recommended For:

• The darts fan who is seeking a mobile playground for their hobby
• Casual gaming fanatics
• Someone looking for lots of bang for the buck

Further Improvements: (note to the developer!)

• Check over rules, make sure everything’s down pat
• Improve graphics, make it look really realistic

More screenshots here

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