7 replies to this topic

[tremoloman2006]

I recently got a new iPhone 4s from my work and was wondering what games were worth checking out?

There are so many titles I don't even know where to begin looking!
I'm realling looking for good pinball sims and anything that would satisify a retro gamer.

Thanks in advance,
Trem

[toptenmaterial]

I have been an iOS user for a while now on the 3GS. While these little handheld Macs are wonderful multimedia devices, they sure suck ass at gaming due solely to the touch screen controls. However, there is hope...

A few games were designed with the touch screen in mind, or coincidentally work well with it. I have had a lot of success with iFighter, a classic shooter that takes place in WWII. What a gorgeous game! The visuals are breath taking. But most importantly, the controls work!

5 Minutes to Kill Yourself is a nice bit of mindless fun. It is available in two different versions, Wedding and Reloaded. I recommend Reloaded.

There is a Space Invaders reboot that's really good; the art style is just awesome.

Civilization Revolution works well on iOS.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and III are also on there, but don't hold a candle to their console/handheld versions. There is a series of GTA-like games called GangStar on there though (no relation to the awesome rap group).

Namco has a free compilation, and Pole Position ain't bad.

[NE146]

Plants vs. Zombies is a good game that works perfectly with touch controls.

[MagitekAngel]

As far as Retro goes, I'll still recommend Guardian Saga: basically a Dragon Quest I clone complete with 8-bit style graphics, no party members other than the hero, and some stiff challenge.

[bomberpunk]

Among Us. one of the oldest games i downloaded and i still play it more than any other.
Pac Man Battle Royale. 4 player pac-mayhem.
Double Dragon. best entry in the franchise since Double Dragon Advance.
Temple Run. just downloaded this and i am hooked.
Star Trigon. this rare Namco title is one-button of fun.
Shinro. It's like Sudoko + Minesweeper.
most titles by Donut Games are quite fun.

[Cynicaster]

toptenmaterial, on Sun Jan 8, 2012 10:26 PM, said:

While these little handheld Macs are wonderful multimedia devices, they sure suck ass at gaming due solely to the touch screen controls.

100% agreed. It's a shame because some of the games look fantastic, but touchscreen d-pads absolutely blow. Even if you manage to "get used to it", it's still second rate compared to real controls.

What this means is that you might want to resist the urge to buy classics just so you can have them "on the go", unless you have an extremely high threshold of pain for garbage controls.

There is one game that uses "swipe" controls that I actually like, called Forget.Me.Not. It's a great little maze game with very retro-inspired graphics and sound effects. I think it gets by on the touch controls because the pace isn't too fast.

As mentioned, games that are designed with the touch/tilt controls in mind seem to work out much better.

I recently got a free game called FlipShip, which rocks. You control your ship on the playfield by tilting the device, almost like if you had a marble on a plate. You have ships of two different colors that you switch by tapping the screen, and you can only kill enemies of the same color. The ship automatically fires for you when an enemy of the right color is in range. Very addictive once you get the hang of the controls, and amazing for being free.

[Chuck D. Head]

Like Bomberpunk sez, Donut games really knows what works, game play wise, on the touchscreen. As far as true retro games go, Meteors Lite is a very nice little representation of Asteroids with nice faux vector graphics and great controls. Unfortunately, game from Core Coders Ltd, is no longer on the App Store (there is a game by that name, but totally different thing)

[Metal Jesus]

Every couple months I post a video with gameplay of games I think are worth owning on the iPhone and iPad. Most of the games I show are Universal apps and work on both.