Games

Jun

[Just Released] Kairosoft Gives The Green Flag To Grand Prix Story; Rev Up Those Engines!

Posted by Matt Demers in Games, News

In a perfect addition to this lazy Hump Day, Japanese developer Kairosoft just dropped their newest entry into the Android simulation game genre, titled Grand Prix Story.

This marks the third entry into the "______ Story" series by the company, following their highly-successful Game Dev Story and the follow-up, Hot Springs Story. In Grand Prix, you take on the role of race team manager, developing and customizing cars, entering teams into races, and cultivating a stable of elite motorsport drivers.

Kairosoft's always intrigued me with their titles because I love the "behind-the-scenes" aspects of running a certain business. While Grand Prix probably won't be the most realistic racing management sim on the market, it will probably be one of the most addictive, given the company's track record.

Jun

[Review] Age Of Zombies Achieves Impossible: Comes With Virtual Joysticks That Don't Inspire Suicide

Posted by Matt Demers in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Call me a stickler, but I think games should play well before looking pretty. I think they should be functional, polished and most of all, not frustrating. This seems to elude most developers who insist on using on-screen joysticks for their products, as more often than not they're a buggy, non-responsive mess.

From having poorly-defined boundaries to not reacting to multi-touch well, the system seems to be a bit flawed.

However, Halfbrick studios (the developers of the wildly-successful Fruit Ninja) have finally managed to code some joysticks that work straight out of the box, no tweaking required. Their newest game, Age of Zombies, relies quite heavily on them, so I'm both glad and relieved that they've decided to make sure people can actually play their game before they've released it to the wild.

Jun

[Hands On] Happy Vikings Is A Mix Of Pleasant Puzzle Mechanics, But Does It Shine By Its Own Merits?

Posted by Matt Demers in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Sometimes, you have to go with what works. It's no secret that some mechanics are tried-and-true, and will allow you to please gamers while adding in your own twists. Sometimes, though, it's evident when a game borrows a bit too much and doesn't give enough back.

Happy Vikings mixes gameplay from a number of different classic puzzle titles, including a lifting-and-matching mechanic from an NES game called Wario's Woods. Instead of just flipping tiles with a cursor, you actually have a sprite in the puzzle area which you can use to manipulate tiles. This is the titular "happy Viking." Our Viking (let's call him "Olaf") can lift and push treasure, booze, and food to form shapes beginning with three tiles.

Jun

[Hands On] Mr. Mixit Turns Memory Matching On Its Head With A Surprisingly Good Soundtrack

Posted by Matt Demers in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Mr. Mixit puts a spin on the classic "memory match" formula by adding a turntable motif and some decent tunes. As Mr. Mixit, you drag shapes down from the monitors behind you to the turntable game area. After choosing two you think will match, you spin the turntables and try to get the image to overlap.

Doing this quickly gives you multipliers to score, which forms the core gameplay of Mr. Mixit; scores are saved in a "top 10" format as opposed to using online leaderboards, like OpenFeint. As levels progress, more symbol possibilities are added, and the multiplier meter decreases at a faster rate.

Jun

34 Best New Android Apps From The Last 2 Weeks (5/20/11 - 6/2/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

This is part 2 of this week's roundup, featuring applications. For part 1 with games and live wallpapers, see 25 Best New Android Games And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (5/19/11 – 6/1/11)

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here:

Apps

LBE Privacy Guard

Android Police coverage: [New App] LBE Privacy Guard Is Like Windows’ UAC For Rooted Android Devices

This app looks like a more sophisticated implementation of the fine-rained permission control that was added to CyanogenMod last month and both praised and criticized by many.

Jun

[Review] Nano Panda Shrinks Down the Science-Based Physics Fun

Posted by Matt Demers in Applications, Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Let's say you've got a problem of a scientific nature: you've got a group of rogue atoms wreaking havoc in your petri dish, and you need to get rid of them. They've managed to convert certain structures into deadly traps, and are content to just hang around like a college grad who just won't move out. Who do you send in to fix this problem?

If you answered "Pandas", I'd like you to get your head checked. But first, check out this game.

Nano Panda comes at us from developer Unit9 Apps, who've put together a fun little puzzling game that's managed to capture a certain...

Jun

25 Best New Android Games And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (5/19/11 - 6/1/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android games and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here:

Plants vs Zombies

Android Police coverage: PopCap’s Plants Vs Zombies Finally Reaches Android – Free Download Today On The Amazon Appstore

Plants vs Zombies needs no introduction - PopCap's infamous (from the PC world) and highly anticipated game is now on Android.

May

[Updated: Now With Video] SHADOWGUN Is The First Android Game Optimized For Quad-Core Devices, Looks Ridiculously Awesome

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Games, News

Android has really grown quickly in the realm of mobile gaming, especially with the influx of Tegra 2 phones and tablets. Keeping that momentum going, Madfinger (creator of Samurai 2) is currently working a new game optimized for Tegra devices called SHADOWGUN. There will be two version of this game - one for Tegra 2 devices, and one that takes advantage of NVIDIA's next-gen Tegra 3 processor, the quad-core Kal-El.

Update: Now with video (thanks, Nick!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L12sZP22UbI

SHADOWGUN is a tactical combat game, but I don't think I can explain it any better than this:

Authored with the Unity development platform, SHADOWGUN combines tactical combat with third person harrowing action, ushering in a new visual standard for handheld gaming.

May

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Play Tegra Zone Games On Non-Tegra Devices With Chainfire3D

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, Development, News

Yesterday, we told you about the OpenGL video driver Chainfire3D. At the time, there was a common question: what can you really do with this? Some crafty XDA users have set out to prove exactly what you can do using CF3D, and here at AP, we all think it's nothing short of awesome.

In the past, we've highlighted several games specifically for Tegra devices, and we felt the backlash from users that wanted these games but lacked the proper hardware (read: no Tegra). Now, however, it is possible to play Tegra-specific games on non-Tegra devices, thanks to the CPU emulation and a few plugins in CF3D.

May

[New In The Market] Robotek Brings Lasers, Explosions, and Risk-Based Mayhem To The Palm Of Your Hand

Posted by Matt Demers in Applications, Games, News

Just in case you thought today would be devoid of some kind of fun, developer Hexage decided to release its latest game, Robotek. You play as the last human holdout on a robot-conquered Earth, slowly working from one base to take liberate nodes, countries, continents, and eventually the planet back from your oppressors. Combat plays out in a strategic, turn-based style, but there's a bit of a twist to it.

You fight your robot enemies by spinning a virtual slot machine from which you gain bonuses, drone units and special attacks based on the outcome. This mechanic adds a bit of unpredictability to the game while still allowing you to plan your next move: the first tumbler moves slow enough that you can choose where it lands, but the second and third are more of a crapshoot.