Reviews

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

[Video] Wirefly Reviews The HTC EVO 3D

Posted by David Ruddock in EVO 3D (Shooter), Phone Reviews, Reviews, Videos

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

We're big fans of Wirefly over here at Android Police, and frankly, we're always a bit covetous when the online retailer gets their hands on a new piece of kit before everyone else. Still, we watched this review longingly, as it demonstrates many of the changes in Sense 3.0, benchmarks, and some of the built-in games on the 3D. It's over 12 minutes long, so, pull up a chair:

Jun

[Review] X-Men: The Arcade Game - Classic Arcade Nostalgia, Bad Translations Included

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

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

X-Men: The Arcade Game is a throwback to the days before X-Men: The Animated Series. That show, known for it's amazing title track and some pretty laughable moments, gave us the "traditional" X-Men lineup most of us know today. However, before that aired, there was a one-off pilot called X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men. In it, Wolverine had an Australian accent.

It was pretty horrible.

Pryde of the X-Men served as X-Men: The Arcade Game's inspiration; inside, you play as the X-Men that were present in the cartoon, and face the villains they faced, as well. The original game stood out in arcades for a few reasons: it was a two-monitor, six-player cabinet, much larger than most other games, and actually quite fun to play.

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

[Accessory Review] Your Android Phone/Tablet + SuperTooth Disco = The Boombox, Evolved

Posted by David Ruddock in Other Reviews, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Did you used to have a boombox? Don't you miss the freedom it gave you to enjoy your music at high volumes, headphone-free and cordless any place, any time? Sure, earbuds and noise-cancelling headphones are a lot more portable (and polite to everyone around you), but when you weren't concerned with drowning out all ambient sound or disturbing others, the boombox really was just... better. And it had so many great uses: In the kitchen. Outside. During household chores. By the pool. At the beach. The boombox made ambient music an option everywhere you went.

Unfortunately, boomboxes (good ones, at least) were big, heavy, ate through expensive disposable batteries, and were limited to physical media playback.

Jun

[Boot Animation Roundup Part 5] Come See The Amazing Gingergut Man

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, Bootscreen Animation Series, News, Other Reviews, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Welcome back to another lovely edition of our Boot Animation Roundup! We've been scouring the net for the past couple of weeks looking for the coolest boot animations that we could find, and here's what we came up with: a hungry Android, the guts of a Gingerbread man, a new take on a classic, some TRON-esque lovin', and a little somethin' somethin' for all the gamers out there.

Don’t know how to change your boot animation? Take a look at our primer on the matter.

Don’t forget to take a look at the last four editions of this roundup: Vol. 1, Vol.

Jun

[Review] Sonos Controller For Android And Sonos S5 Wireless Speaker System: So-So Performance In A Svelte Package

Posted by Brian O'Toole in App Reviews, Applications, Devices By Manufacturer, Other Reviews, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Introduction

Sonos is a company well-known in the tech industry for their line of wireless speaker systems, designed to let you sling music around your house without the hassle of complex setup processes or routing wires through ceilings and walls. To mark the launch of their Sonos Controller for Android application, Sonos generously loaned me a full multi-room system consisting of two Sonos S5 speaker units and a wireless ZoneBridge router. Given the buzz surrounding Sonos's products, it seemed best to review the system as a whole, viewing the application and hardware as a complete set. Read on to see how it all stacked up.

Jun

[Review] Apparatus Wows Us With Little Big Planet-Like Gameplay And Creativity

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

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Apparatus will remind players of Playstation game Little Big Planet. The objective: get the silver ball into the blue bucket. You're given a number of pieces to play around with, like boards to fasten to each other or weights to create catapults. Pieces can be placed on one of three layers, allowing fasteners to work their magic.

Fastening pieces comes in one of two varieties: nails are "hard" connectors, giving a rigid connection. Screws, however, allow pieces to rotate independently of what they're connected to. Combining screws, circular plates and the game's engine capabilities, you can make pistons, engines and whatever else your mind comes up with.

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.