RoboCop
It basically went without saying that a summer blockbuster revamp of a classic film would also be accompanied by a mobile tie-in game, and yet it was still a surprise to many — however — when Glu Game’s RoboCop (our review) actually turned out to be enjoyable. Playing out in a manner highly similar to Time Crisis, RoboCop is challenged to pass a series of training exercises — focusing on duck-and-cover tactics — all in order to prove his thug-blasting mettle to Omnicorp. Successful demonstrations will earn more research funding for the team working on the RoboCop project, which will — in turn — enable them to further upgrade both RoboCop’s personal systems and available weapon payloads.
Whether or not you actually liked the recent cinematic remake, this game still managed to be a valid — as well as impressive looking — use of the overall license (such that even classical fans should be pleased) and even contained tight controls up to the task at hand. The only real downside to Glu’s RoboCop would have be the heavy amount of grinding that players must perform in the latter areas (assuming they don’t wish to IAP their way through), which could become a major turn-off for those whom heavily detest grinding. Thankfully — however — RoboCop’s back half actually is feasibly winnable from a free perspective, unlike games such as Rule the Kingdom (our review), a fact to which I can personally attest (since I’ve already finished the entire thug-blasting adventure myself).
Furthermore, seeing as how the game is readily available for the low-low price of absolutely free, there’s really nothing to lose here (especially if you’re a fan of officer Alex J. Murphy) by at least giving Glu’s RoboCop a proper look.
Toast Time
Everyone is desperately counting on Terry — an anthropomorphic piece of toast — to save breakfast for everyone, meaning it’s high time for him to careen about as he valiantly attempts to keep the advancing no-good baddies from reaching the sacred alarm clock. Thankfully the smiling Terry happens to have access to the various tools of doughy demise needed to win this bout of wheat-filled warfare: the baguette landmine, the bagel shotgun blast, the breadcrumb machinegun, the bread pudding nuke, and much more. Perhaps this premise doesn’t exactly make much sense, but that doesn’t really stop Force of Habit’s Toast Time (our review) — which can best be likened to arcade classics such as Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Kids, and Parasol Stars — from being an absolute blast to play.
The game’s simple — yet fiendishly challenging — action is controlled by having players tap in the direction they wish for Terry to unleash his full fury, which in turn sends him flying back in the opposite direction (because everyone knows that dough kicks hard). The end result — thanks to each stage having a wildly unique layout — is a mix of action and puzzle solving; with players trying to quickly move Terry to where he’s needed, all while simultaneously blasting every last baddie around (at least until the timer runs out). Successfully triumphing in the name of breakfast defense not only unlocks more stages, but additionally expands the wardrobe of costumes-bits with which Terry can be dressed up (finally realizing everyone’s long unanswered prayers for a toast fashion simulator).
Between the game’s demented action — ultra retro pixelated graphics — and a complete lack of IAPs, Force of Habit’s Toast Time will make a fine addition to anyone’s gaming breakfast routine (but will furthermore be just as enjoyable during lunch and dinner also).
Top Tank
Josh Langley recently decided to see what would happen if he mixed the concept of an endless runner with the trajectory based game play of titles such as Worms and Scorched Earth, the end result — known as Top Tank (our review) — turned out to be quite good. Players — taking control of a tank, which moves slowly forward across a randomized landscape — have but one vital objective to worry about: successfully blasting every last enemy construct in their way, all while aiming to fully obliterate their earlier high score. This is achieved by holding the screen, which prompts the tank’s turret to begin moving up and down — as well as ordering the tank to hit the brakes — after which releasing the screen will command the player’s tank to both fire and recommence its forward motion.
Properly lining up shots against enemies that don’t stop when you do — and furthermore may be protected by hilly terrain — is quite the challenge already; but to truly be the best tank commander, you’ll have to also smash your opposition with an unyielding finesse. Hitting multiple enemies in a row will cause a score multiplier to increase — whereas missing targets makes it go back down — leading to skill being greatly rewarded, and players get another 2x bonus just for hitting enemies when they’re extremely far away. Although firing pell-mell might prove beneficial when dealing with an oncoming wall of enemies, at least in terms of pure survival, Top Tank’s focus on Risk-Vs-Reward based scoring ensures that a short skillful run is far more profitable than a longer sloppy effort.
The end result is a simple to play — yet utterly addicting — game of endless trajectory based shell-lobbing action, which should greatly appeal to fans of other trajectory based classical experiences (such as Worms and/or Scorched Earth).
Turret Alert
Do you remember back when it used to be a foregone conclusion that children’s video games should be genuinely hard, a time period when no one would have ever questioned the logic of Capcom’s Duck Tales being brutal? The people at Nelvana certainly remember those days, and it was for this reason they decided that Turret Alert (our review) — based on the show: Oh No! It’s an Alien Invasion! — should be old school hard. The end result is a game that bears many similarities with various classical light gun arcade titles — such as Virtua Cop, Confidential Mission, or House of the Dead — wherein players must blast everything in sight, especially incoming enemy projectiles.
This can either be accomplished via directly tapping the enemies — whom admittedly look a lot like the Minions from Despicable Me — or via first dragging your finger across multiple targets before releasing, causing them all to be wiped out in a glorious combo. Although the second method is certainly worth far more than shooting every Brainling individually, players whom get too greedy with the size of their combo may inadvertently have an enemy’s projectile reach them long before their selected hero’s gun can stop it. This immediately creates a Risk-Vs-Reward precedent wherein merely surviving is easy — at least early on — yet truly excelling in Turret Alert can otherwise become maddeningly difficult, especially when you begin factoring in things such as coins and bombs.
If Nate — and his S.W.E.E.T. band of freedom fighters — are ever going to fully stem the evil machinations of Briiian, then they’re going to need the resources with which to upgrade their wacky weaponry (including gems such as the mighty meatball launcher). To do this players will need to collect every last coin that shows up, a feat that is accomplished via dragging your finger over these coins whenever they appear (which generally happens either upon blasting Brainlings, as well as after popping balloons). However, the catch is that players will immediately take damage if they should ever move their finger over a bomb — which sometimes occur naturally, yet can also drop from popped balloons — a fact that greatly complicates combo-making and coin-grabbing alike.
If you were ever hoping for a mobile exclusive game, that properly paid homage to the light gun classics of yore — all with a bright and colorful kid safe theme, that furthermore contained no IAPs what-so-ever — then Turret Alert is one app you really shouldn’t miss!