Pros: Disclaimer: This is a review of the 2011 Remake of the 1996 Windows game Death Rally. Going into this game, I had very little knowledge...

Cons: With a game like this, you expect, in fact NEED a multiplayer. That was one of the best elements of Twisted Metal, racing, humiliating,...

Pros: Disclaimer: This is a review of the 2011 Remake of the 1996 Windows game Death Rally.

Going into this game, I had very little knowledge and less so understanding of what to expect. Remedy Entertainment has developed one of my favorite games series (albeit it is a series made up of two games) of all time, Max Payne, and recently developed the critically acclaimed Alan Wake. Little did I know, that Death Rally was Remedy Entertainments first foray into gaming. I had neither played or even heard of this title before buying this game, but after hearing good things, as well as finding out the developer behind the game I had to give it a shot

First of all, I love it. If I were to put this into simple terms, it's like twisted metal from a top down perspective. Yes it's not as complex as the classic but honestly what do you expect from a game that is played a screen smaller than the palm of your hand has requires you to control your vehicle by covering the precious real estate with your big sweaty fingers.

That's the real beauty of this game. No it's not the amazingly crisp graphics (fantastic lighting and particle effects and a top notch visual style), but rather this aforementioned "beauty" is how fluid this game feels in play. Given the technological limitations, all hardcore iOS games must ultimately overcome these barriers in order to truly succeed. This is of course a rarity, as some games are either too complex or are rife with design flaws. For example the Resident Evil 4 port plays like complete junk: the character is clunky, aiming is unresponsive, and the game is not optimized for the iOS. All in all it feels like a dumbed down port. Death rally on the other hand feels like it was built from the ground up for the iOS. The graphics are grungy and dirty just like the nonexistant premise leads up to. Explosions look great. Best of all your car feels like an extension of your mind. The cars turn with ferocity and drift better than you expect. Death Rally controls so well that the only excuse for a lost race is the driver. aka YOU.

Death Rally also has a simple but good upgrade system that keeps you wanting to play more just for the next bump up. The diversity of weapons and car types feels complete.

Also as a bonus, each race a specific boss that takes the form of different video game icons: Duke Nukem, John Gore, and even real life people like Geoff Keighley

Cons: With a game like this, you expect, in fact NEED a multiplayer. That was one of the best elements of Twisted Metal, racing, humiliating, and destroying your friends. After beating the singleplayer and getting all of the upgrades there really isn't much incentive to continue playing. As such I hope there is an update in the future with more content and a multiplayer element. Remedy Entertainment if you're reading this review. ADD MULTIPLAYER

Pros: Yes this game is the undisputed boxing champion And yes it's better than it's predecessors. The Fight Night series has seen a...

Cons: The interface tries to be as minimalist as possible giving you the bare minimum of information, but sometimes you need just a little more...

Pros: Yes this game is the undisputed boxing champion
And yes it's better than it's predecessors.

The Fight Night series has seen a incremental tweaks in changes over the past few iterations. In the past, boxing games were relegated to the joystick and button faces to cover all of the necessary actions. However this playing style felt detached and a little broken at times, not giving the correct amount of feeling to each hit. One could spam the upper cut if they wanted to making for the oddest looking fights.

Then came Fight Night 2004, with the introduction of Total Punch Control, the meteoric leap to a more realistic take on punching. You now replicated the punch movements with the right joy stick. You can no longer spam the more powerful concussion inducing moves, you had to labor for it. Instead of ferociously alternating a b a b, you now had to pull the right stick back and swing around to the top, pull back and swing around to the top. Incredible idea in theory, but this sort of realism ultimately had it's flaws. Mostly because of the iffy boundary in between a roundhouse and an uppercut, where literally centimeters mattered in execution. And this can make or break a fight

The guys at EA made tweaks to the fighting system over the past few iterations, only to scrap it for Champions, in favor of their newly christened Full Spectrum control, where directional movements on the stick correspond to jab, hook, and upper cut. In essence they decided to forgo the realism they once sought after in favor of high energy fun. And it works. This game leads to fast and flashy fights with big hits and bigger moments. Yes I definitely miss the effort it took to lay a proper hit, but this is significantly more fun.

Yes the controls are a go, and the gameplay which has been minutely tweaked over the last 4 iterations to make for a great playing game.

Also the new single player mode, which plays on every sport movie underdog story arch that gets you to feel for the character and despise those assholes that represent all the stereotypes that we hate. But in the end, it feels sufficiently worth the ride, taking us to a satisfying conclusion. A first for a boxing game, and completely worth it

Finally online play is awesome, with the introduction of gyms and training rooms, allowing for a more social take on the online competition realm

Cons: The interface tries to be as minimalist as possible giving you the bare minimum of information, but sometimes you need just a little more information to fully understand the situation of the fight. There has a been a significant percentage of fights, where on the surface I felt like I was definitely winning, but some underground algorithm was plotting my downfall. I could be paranoid, but I would like there to be just a little more information on how the fight's going.

I also wish they didn't give up on the Total Punch Control. Yes the game is more fun, but more fun doesn't always mean better play (think of NHL Hitz vs. NHL 2011)

Pros: FINALLY! A true sequel to the paradigm breaking game that found it's first home on the original iPhone. Don't get me wrong, angry birds...

Cons: See my review for Angry Birds Seasons, because the cons still remain. If you're not into the repetitive gameplay with little narrative and...

Pros: FINALLY! A true sequel to the paradigm breaking game that found it's first home on the original iPhone. Don't get me wrong, angry birds isn't paradigm breaking on the gameplay front, in fact Angry Birds (from my own limited understanding) finds it heritage in the flash games such as Crush the Castle. What it did do better than it's predecessor is create a fun and quirky world where green pig heads find a way to perpetually steal these inconceivably poorly unprotected eggs protected by these cute but incompetent band of birds. However it's paradigm breaking merely because you pay a flat fee of 99 cents, and you get a game that pays for itself in new content over extended periods of time. Angry birds has led to this becoming the norm for mobile gaming, the expectation, and no other game has yet to beat Angry Birds in value, especially the original.

BUt what has been the largest complaint of Angry birds as a series is it's repetitive nature. If you're not a fan of playing repetitive games that have change in form but not in gameplay, essentially, if you didn't like the first Angry birds, you may not have a sudden change of heart.
However for those fans of Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio, is a true sequel, changing the game just enough to satisfy the avid fan, while keeping the perpetually updated ever expanding level selection.

As you can guess, Angry Birds has synergized with the up coming moving Rio, which has that lopez tonight dude or something. IRREGARDLESS! Rio has not lead to any sacrifices made on the AB end, but rather expanded the gameplay to involve new enemies with different characteristics. There 6 new worlds in this game, each with the basic angry birds gameplay plus new enemies each with their own personalities (like monkeys that grip on to the sides of buildings, and can realign themselves after falling) , and a final boss/mission. This is something completely uncharacteristic to a game that is based on the addictive nature of it's deceptively simple levels. But it works.

Ultimately, if you liked Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons, then you'll love Angry Birds Rio. However it does not stray far enough from the concept laid out by it's predecessor to bring in new fans. What I can say is that current and future fans will be pleased for sure

Cons: See my review for Angry Birds Seasons, because the cons still remain. If you're not into the repetitive gameplay with little narrative and little purpose besides filling your boring commutes to work or your time spent in lines with a little bit of frustration and gratification. This series is one of those hate it or love it titles, and that has not changed with the current iteration. Hate it or love it, give it a shot if you haven't. You may be pleasantly surprised

Pros: DISCLAIMER: This is a review of the iOS port of the DS reboot of the legendary NES/Famicom RPG. When you see the Final Fantasy insignia,...

Cons: This is purely a matter of personal aesthetics, but I'm a fan of the original sprite characters and drawings, and would have greatly...

Pros: DISCLAIMER: This is a review of the iOS port of the DS reboot of the legendary NES/Famicom RPG.

When you see the Final Fantasy insignia, there are certain expectations that come to mind: fantastical stories, out of the box twists, incredibly deep turn-based combat driven by melee and magic. We also think of franchise that peaked at 7, and has yet to reach that point in the countless iterations after. However none of these expectations really matters, because we're going back in history to it's ancestors.

Despite being a prior iteration, Final Fantasy is not plagued with the issues of most series, repetitiveness. Every new game attempts to change the game, and if not make countless modifications to the formula. Luckily, FFIII's contribution to the series are completely timeless: job system. There are around 30 different jobs for your character to grow into, and often times more fun to switch jobs to see how the gameplay reacts. This is not a testament to the boredom of the game, because it truly isn't, but more to the depth and diversity of the jobs.

Single player is usual FF fair, with young protagonists who unbeknownst to their supple minds, are "chosen" for a grandiose destiny to save the world. The game's story is well paced for a RPG, which means that it's dependent on the frequency at which you play, the power of your memory, and ability to stay on course without getting lost in some forest.

The game control exceptionally well, mainly due to the lack of complex controls. The digital joystick is responsive, and is not intrusive enough to take you out of the experience by covering important sites.

But most importantly, this game is 15 dollars, in comparison to the full price that many payed in 2006 for the DS version, and to my unlearned eye there is very little separating the two besides the secondary screen. The touch mechanism completely makes up for this deficiency and I can say that this game is a must have for those looking for a quality RPG on your handheld.

Cons: This is purely a matter of personal aesthetics, but I'm a fan of the original sprite characters and drawings, and would have greatly preferred them over the DS version's updated look. With the sprites, there was more character in less character, their **********, kindness, awesomeness came from your imagination. Now the characters look like moving dolls from a children's anime show. This may be liked be many but call me old school dagnamit. I want my sprites back

Random fights occur WAYYYY too frequently. They happen so often that even if you're standing still you'll suddenly be attacked. Weren't random occurrences dependent on steps taken? I guess not here

They really have to fix the save system. It is way too easy to either get stuck in an area due to not saving, or the exact opposite, where you don't need to save quite so often but do so out of fear of the latter. We are in the age of relinquished save frustration. It's a luxury yes, but to not be able to save in a city or a town is ridiculous. Yes you can quicksave, but if your thumb slips and press new game instead of quicksave, you can't go back and reuse that quicksave. FRUSTRATION.

Overall, love the game, worth the high price tag for an iOS game. Get on it.

Pros: Disclaimer: This is a review for the NBA Jam port for iOS which came out 2/10/11 On to the review! There's a whole lot to love in this...

Cons: The in app purchases are a little annoying. I'd much rather have it all in single purchase than have to deal with these micro...

Pros: Disclaimer: This is a review for the NBA Jam port for iOS which came out 2/10/11

On to the review! There's a whole lot to love in this stupendous port of a stupendous game. Before I go any further, I was that kid that instead of playing arcade classics like street fighter and time crisis, I would go straight to spending all my little earned coins on the NBA Hangtime machine. A couple years later, they moved on to the NBA Showtime / NFL BLITZ machine and that' when I lost it. Two of the best arcade sports games of ALL TIME, in ONE MACHINE?? NO WAY!

Basically the phone has the same great gameplay that historic series has passed down onto it's current generation kin. The NBA Jam on the Wii is a stellar game, albeit the motion controls take me out of the game. When I first booted this game on the iPhone the tutorial taught me about one gesture control move that requires you to shake the phone to juke, and I was afraid that this would lead to a similar lack of finesse and control that other motion controls have brought to this game. Luckily, after experimenting with the new "gesture controls" which is merely sliding your thumb to do certain actions (and in my opinion gives you much greater control) they had a thumb gesture that brings about the same action as shaking your phone/ipod/ipad furiously. Good job EA!

The gameplay is good as ever, and the unlockable class players is a great bonus. If you love coin pop arcade mayhem, and you love basketball, you'll love this game.

And what's make this game of course the great announcer. The best congratulations to hard days work is the immortal "BOOM SHAKALAKA" while you get the inevitable sense of demoralization when he says "Not really boom shakalaka more like kumbaya"

Cons: The in app purchases are a little annoying. I'd much rather have it all in single purchase than have to deal with these micro transactions.

Also the computer AI can be frustratingly difficult on higher levels. They happen to know when exactly to shove you at the end of your juke, or when to block your shot.

Another minor annoyance is the floating joy stick. the joystick uses the first point at which your thumb hits the screen as a pivot. However there are some odd times when the pivot shifts leaving you moving at just the wrong angle to pick up the lose ball.

Lastly, the 1.0 version of this game is still a little buggy. There are occasions in which the background is replaced with gradient white to grey rectangles. There were other times where players and objects would phase into their basic white blocks, for instance once I broke the back board and the entire basic reverted to a combination of white rectangles where the hoop sprites would have been.

Overall these are minor gripes that don't set you back all too far. Just enjoy this wonderful game and relish in the moment the announcer first screams "His fingertips are on FIRE"

Pros: Note: this is a review for Dead Space for the iOS, which had a coinciding release with Dead Space 2. This is NOT for the console game which...

Cons: However to compensate for the smaller experience, there are some definite cons. I will admit that I’m sure most of what’s preventing...

Pros: Note: this is a review for Dead Space for the iOS, which had a coinciding release with Dead Space 2. This is NOT for the console game which came out in 2008.

For a device that’s primary purpose is to either play you phat tunes or to transfer audio waves over cellular towers, it is astounding that such an experience can exist on this mobile device. Dead Space keeps the gameplay of it’s console predecessor, while creating a new narrative that deepens the Dead Space mythos.

I have to thank the developers for not copping out with a dumbed down verison of the original Dead Space, but rather they spent their time creating a new and interesting narrative that shows a different side of the same phenomena. However I commend them for creating a well-sized narrative for a smaller experience.

As for the gameplay, if you love the Dead Space appendage splitting gameplay, then you’ll find it here in spades. All of the weapon favorites from the original game are found here, along with the same gut busting, arm splicing, baby breaking, necromorph killing as the original. As the phone has both small real estate for controls, as well as gameplay, as they both share the same screen, the developers did a great job at making you feel like you have full control.

Cons: However to compensate for the smaller experience, there are some definite cons. I will admit that I’m sure most of what’s preventing Dead Space from fixing these issues is mostly hardware limitations. Also, know that since Dead Space is porting the console experience down to the phone, it is impossible to not draw comparisons between the two. Just know that this game is stellar and is a must buy

Due to the smaller experience, this game has very predictable pacing. Expect to have the occasional shock scare, making it so you fear what’s around the next corner, but much of the game has you trekking to a location, finding that they somehow lock all the doors with a few necromorphs with you, requiring you to fight your way through these beasts after which, the doors magically unlock. Then onto the next room.

Also, this is mostly a criticism not of the game but of the experience on a 3.6” screen. You don’t get that true shock factor, that scare factor as it’s difficult to really pull you into such a small screen. IF anything find someone with an iPad, get them to download the game and then knock yourself out. If you’re not a fan of playing on such a small surface area, this game won’t change that sentiment.