Chitika

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

20 Android Games on February 2013

1. Jetpack Joyride: The Incredibly Fun Way To Lose A Day

Jetpack Joyride: The Incredibly Fun Way To Lose A Day
In a lot of ways a game like Jetpack Joyride is like the high-grade sleeping pills doctors give some insomniacs:  no matter where I am, no matter what I’m doing, if I start playing I need to make sure I’m in a comfortable place. Why? Because I’m probably not going to be going anywhere for a few hours once I get going.

Jetpack Joyride Halfbrick Studios   
Arcade & Action Free Download

2. Dead Crossing: Maybe the Zombies Would Like It.

Dead Crossing: Maybe the Zombies Would Like It.

In the name of disclosure, I’ll go ahead and admit zombie games have to try a little harder to impress me, no matter what the genre. This wasn’t always the case. I’m not trying to go all hipster with the zombie thing and say I was into it way before it blew up… but I was totally way into it before it blew up. My mom was cool enough to rent me a VHS copy of Dawn of the Dead after months of begging when I was a kid (read: close to when it was actually released – I’m that old), and it was over from there.

Dead Crossing FT Games
Arcade & Action Free Download


3. The Highly Polished Sheen of League of Evil

The Highly Polished Sheen of League of Evil
I really resent the fact that video game villains in games like League of Evil are the only people capable of raising armies.


League of Evil Noodlecake Studios Inc 
Arcade & Action $ 0.99 Download
 

4. Beat Hazard Ultra – Very Near Perfection

Beat Hazard Ultra – Very Near Perfection

I spent quite a bit of time deciding whether I was qualified to write this article or not. Even when I’m only reviewing a mobile game, I always have to question my objectivity when simply reading the description makes me squeal – literally squeal, like a Beiberite catching a glimpse of the singer after waiting hours in an alley for the privilege - and scramble to download it so I can start playing now.


Beat Hazard Ultra Cold Beam Games Ltd  
Arcade & Action $ 4.49 Download
 

5. Temple Run 2 – Just Run-Of-The-Mill

Temple Run 2 – Just Run-Of-The-Mill

Though the supply of endless runners in the Google Play store seems only slightly less infinite than the action the genre promises, I often find myself excited over the discovery of a new game in this category nonetheless. I’m not really into bragging about high scores or honing my skills for near-perfect timing, but I have been intrigued enough by the high speed fun of some of these games to spend hours and hours using all manner of vehicle to traverse a variety of randomly generated terrain. Temple Run 2, the follow-up to one of the most popular on-rails platformers, is filled with fire, zip-lines, minecarts, crumbling architecture and a very angry monkey creature, but it doesn’t do anything that hooks me in, despite the quality of the iteration.
Temple Run 2 Imangi Studios  
Arcade & Action Free Download
 

6. Sprinkle – a gushing review

Sprinkle – a gushing review

Have you ever fantasized about being a little blue fireman tackling blazing wildfires with an over-sized truck? Well now’s your chance.


Sprinkle Mediocre  
Brain & Puzzle $ 1.99 Download
 

7. Line Runner 2: The Story of Meh

Line Runner 2: The Story of Meh

Line Runner 2 is one of those games that just screams “almost.” In some cases, this is an okay thing: The graphics, for instance, are almost good for the platform. In others – namely the gameplay, which sits somewhere between almost  fun and a few shades worse than that – it’s a dealbreaker.


Line Runner 2 (Free) Djinnworks e.U.  
Arcade & Action Free Download

8. Penny-Arcade’s On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3

Penny-Arcade’s On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3

1994 was a simpler time, or perhaps its just that everyone’s childhood seems like a “simpler time,” but this sentiment is undoubtedly true in the world of video games. For one, Controllers were simple, four buttons, a D-Pad and a new innovative thing invented by Nintendo that everyone called “shoulder buttons.” Graphics were rudimentary compared to today’s games, but like reading a good book, our imaginations filled in the rest.


Penny Arcade's Rain-Slick 3 TinkerHouse Games  
Arcade & Action $ 2.99 Download

9. Star Traders RPG – Redefining the Genre

Star Traders RPG – Redefining the Genre

The term Role Playing Game has been applied to pretty much every interactive experience with even an iota of strategy and customization, and more recently even to games that have no story and no real character depth. Thankfully games like Star Traders RPG exist, which are single handedly able to rejuvenate a genre flooded with generic ‘tap to level up’ games and provide a deep, immersive, open, customizable experience that is capable of hundreds of hours of entertainment.


Star Traders RPG Elite Cory Trese  
Arcade & Action $ 2.99 Download

10. Rise of the Blobs – Not The Fast-paced Puzzle Game You’re Looking For

Rise of the Blobs – Not The Fast-paced Puzzle Game You’re Looking For

When I find a new puzzle game I like, I tend to get obsessed. Every loose minute of my day found between working on other tasks is spent on the short-term goal of the new puzzle. When I discovered Rise of the Blobs, the part of my brain that used to purr when I’d clear out yet another line of blocks in Tetris started to giggle in excitement. Getting rid of a rising tide of colored blobs by dropping similarly-colored fruit on them should scratch that itch, right? Though the game touts a unique and goofy premise in the endless puzzle genre, the frenetic fruit dropping isn’t as rewarding as I’d hoped.



Rise of the Blobs Robot Invader 
Brain & Puzzle Free Download

11. Review: Little Commanders WWII TD — Solid, but Unimaginative.

Review: Little Commanders WWII TD — Solid, but Unimaginative.

The Tower Defense genre is incredibly crowded on the Google Play marketplace. Little Commander: WWII TD is another in a long list of Free2Play tower defense games that fails to innovate in any meaningful way and is further hampered by a distinct lack of progression. Despite these significant flaws, Little Commander does provide some value by providing a solid, if unimaginative, tower defense experience combined with a non intrusive pay system that is completely optional.


Little Commander - WWII TD Cat Studio HK  
Casual Free Download

12. Fieldrunners HD: Simple Tower Defense that your wallet will love

Fieldrunners HD: Simple Tower Defense that your wallet will love

You can search through the Google Play marketplace and find a zillion different tower defense games, but not all are created equal.  If you peruse through your games you currently own, you may just realize you may have multiple tower defense games in your collection.  That being the case, Fieldrunners, on face value, may appear to be just another tower defense game; plop some turrets and guns, don’t let the baddies get past you,  rinse, repeat.  To some extent, those same ideas apply to Fieldrunners. You are setting up various guns and weapons to prevent enemies from getting to their final destination.  So why would you want to download yet another boring old tower defense game?


Fieldrunners HD Subatomic Studios, LLC  
Arcade & Action $ 2.99 Download

13. Puzzle and Dragons: Pokemon Meets Bejeweled

Puzzle and Dragons: Pokemon Meets Bejeweled

There are a lot of variations of the same simple idea, and then there are unique ways to combine those simple ideas into something even better.  Imagine if you will, a game where the worlds of Digimon / Pokemon meet those of Bejeweled; creature collecting and battling meets match 3 jewels style games.  Intrigued by this idea?  Then Puzzle and Dragons will be your kind of game.  While it has gathered some steam in Asia, Puzzle and Dragons has yet to catch on in North America.  Surprising, given the popularity of both genres this game combines.


Puzzle & Dragons GungHoOnlineEntertainment  
Brain & Puzzle Free Download
 

14. Dungelot – A Lot More Than Meets the Eye

Dungelot – A Lot More Than Meets the Eye

There’s a lot going on in Dungelot- a lot more than I initially saw, anyway. The promise of a roguelike-Minesweeper hybrid gave me a certain expectation and, at first, I was not ready to give up my ideas of what this mix of puzzle and RPG should look like. I was initially disappointed with Red Winter Software’s puzzler of a  dungeon crawler, but revealing its tactical depth eventually won me over.


Dungelot Red Winter Software  
Arcade & Action $ 0.99 Download

15. Rescue Roby HD: This Robot Is Not a Clone (Or a Bird)

Rescue Roby HD: This Robot Is Not a Clone (Or a Bird)

In the world of game development, aping popular titles is standard practice. Unless a dev outright copies their source of inspiration, nobody bats an eye, especially in the mobile market.


Rescue Roby HD Runaway Studios Inc.  
Arcade & Action $ 0.99 Download

16. Dungeon Quest: You Beta Beware

Dungeon Quest: You Beta Beware

Is it fair to review a game that’s still in beta? Most of the core game mechanics will be in place by the time a title reaches beta, and if the devs have any plans to significantly change the graphical appearance, they’d really better get a move on. We can be pretty sure that what we’re looking at is an approximation of the final appearance. The beta release is traditionally a near complete product, with only a few bugs that need ironing out, some nicer menus and perhaps issues of gameplay balance to be addressed. Overall you should be able to get a good idea of what the final product is going to be (I spent hours in the Tribes:Ascend Beta and forgot it wasn’t even a full release). That said, publishers and game designers themselves want their baby to be seen in the best possible light, without those niggling unfinished elements, skewing the player’s perception of what the game should really be, and it might be that last minute tweak that really pushes the game up a level to greatness. On the other hand if the game is released for download, with a IAPs and intrusive ads in place, doesn’t it warrant being held against the same standard as one that is fully featured? If the game’s out there and is making money from the end user, shouldn’t it be considered more than just a beta but a legitimate release?


Dungeon Quest Shiny Box, LLC  
Arcade & Action Free Download

17. No Zombies Allowed, I’m Too Busy To Fight.

No Zombies Allowed, I’m Too Busy To Fight.

Given the whole zombie thing, perhaps it’s appropriate that No Zombies Allowed features what could best be described as a shotgun spread-style approach to gameplay. Overwrought first lines aside, however, it’s probably best put another way: This is a game that, for all its potential, tries to do way too much.


No Zombies Allowed Booyah, Inc. 
Arcade & Action Free Download

18. Review: Duncan and Katy Short but Definitely Not Sweet

Review: Duncan and Katy Short but Definitely Not Sweet

Once in a while a game comes along that goes beyond being “just” bad. When a game’s flaws are deeper than just a lack of execution, and a complete lack of pride, professionalism and artistic vision combine to make a truly horrendous game, it actually gives you the feeling of being swindled out of your hard earned cash. “Duncan and Katy” is such a game. That it manages to make you feel so ripped off, despite the game’s 99cent price point, is in some twisted way its greatest achievement. The game’s best feature, and I’m not being factitious for effect here, is that it is incredibly short. So short in fact that I would have felt even more ripped off when it ended if it were not for the joyful release I felt knowing that finishing the game meant I could do something else, anything else, other than play that god forsaken game for a second longer. There are no redeeming features that can be pointed to, even its best feature, the game’s graphics, are mediocre at best and are constricted to extremely small levels. Its boss battles, the only moment of variety, wouldn’t have been out of place as a mini boss in a mediocre Nintendo 64 platformer. There is simply no reason to purchase this game.


Duncan and Katy Francisco David Moreno Pérez  
Arcade & Action $ 0.99 Download

19. Royal Revolt – King of its Genre, Whichever That Is

Royal Revolt – King of its Genre, Whichever That Is
Everyone knows the Google Play Store is packed to the rafters with tower defense games. The genre is well suited to the mobile platform, providing intense action with controls perfectly suited for setting up a battlefield and watching the struggle play out. When the role of the player is flipped, though, and the stronghold must be attacked, do touch controls still reign supreme? The sub-genre of reverse tower defense is not yet established enough to say, but developer Flaregames clearly wants to set precedent and steal the crown with Royal Revolt. The thing is, this game’s got a secret- It’s not really even about towers. Though I’m not sure it actually fits into the reverse tower defense category, it’s good enough to stand out no matter what other Android games you’d group it with.



Royal Revolt! flaregames  
Arcade & Action Free Download

20. Zen Pinball THD – Xbox Live/ PSN favorite Makes it Way on Your Tablet

Zen Pinball THD – Xbox Live/ PSN favorite Makes it Way on Your Tablet


I’ll fully admit, if there is a Pinball machine anywhere in my vicinity, I’m going to play it. I’ve been that way since I was tall enough to see a Pinball table in order to play it.  Even when my wife and I go to the Minnesota State Fair, I always reserve about $5 – $10 to play Pinball in the arcade. Naturally, when Zen Studios put out their Pinball game back in 2007 for Xbox live, I was instantly on it.  Zen Studios did not disappoint either, fully exploring the possibilities with console Pinball machines that allowed for moving 3D models, amazing unique artwork,  superb physics and the best game play ever from a console based Pinball game.


Zen Pinball HD Zen Studios  
Arcade & Action Free Download

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