Tag Archives: iphone 5

Jun 5 2014

Now Playing: Battleheart Legacy for iPhone and iPad

Ever played a game where you wanted to be the character who had a little bit of everything? Say, a spellcasting ninja master? Or a knight able to summon the undead? Or perhaps, a humble bard, purveyor of tale and song, yet able to take down long range enemies with a handy bow and arrow? Or do you want to have it all? Hero classes such as barbarian, knight, rogue, ranger, monk, witch, wizard, etc. are farmiliar archetypes in RPGs (role playing games) and are easily defined by the strengths and limitations of their powers and abilities… but in Battleheart Legacy, you can have it all.

battleheart on appSIZED

the original Battleheart

If you played the original Battleheart back in 2011, it was groundbreaking and original. What made it unique was that you could control four (4) of them at once simply by drawing lines from point A to point B, and activating a set of special powers and skills for each one. In Battleheart, you can freely experiment with with the party type system and develop your heroes’ skills, boost their stats with weapons and equipment to get these guys to work seamlessly together. Battleheart, in its own way, changed how we should design and play games on a touchscreen device. While there are many copycats, Battleheart remains unparalleled.

Now, in Battleheart Legacy, you are now a solo player and party-based combat is not used in this game. With Legacy employing a gameplay mechanic different from Battleheart, does it live up to the awesomeness of the original?

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Feb 27 2014

Now Playing: Bug Heroes 2 for iPhone and iPad

Did you play the original Bug Heroes game? I did. Years later, Bug Heroes 2 ($0.99/Universal) is Foursaken media’s latest addition to their lineup, following Bug Heroes Quest.

I must admit that while I played the first game extensively, the unlockable characters via in-app purchase threw me off. It didn’t help that I sucked at the game and it seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I just didn’t have powerful enough characters to use.

As for Bug Heroes 2, there are significant improvements and more problems compared to the original. It’s still the same game as the original – you control an arsenal of fighting bugs (spiders, ants, etc.) and use them to fend of waves of aggressive enemies who are out to steal your food stash (a.k.a. your base). This time, however, you have two (2) heroes to control. These heroes are obtained randomly (slot machine style), and more heroes require a certain number of stars to unlock further.

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Feb 18 2013

Myth Defense (Light Forces) in Review: Too Damn Hard!

As I’ve said many times, tower defense games are a dime a dozen in the App Store and it takes a lot for one to stand out.

Myth Defense – Light Forces sounded intriguing enough when I first checked it out. Unlike most games, it offers extensive customizability of its towers and offers a skill tree of sorts where you can choose what kind of upgraded towers you want, say whether you want it launch arrows or fireballs. You can also boost tower performance by combining various runes and enlisting the aid of dwarves, elves, etc. to create more powerful towers.

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Dec 16 2012

iOS Weekend Alert: Angry Birds and Diner Dash Games Go on Sale!

angry birds and diner dash go on sale appSIZED

As Christmas approaches, more and more sales are popping up. Notably, Rovio (of Angry Birds fame) and Playfirst (of the hit Diner Dash series) have put up their hugely popular games on sale for a limited time. If you have only a few dollars left in your account, here are appSIZED’s picks for you:

1) Angry Birds Space HD ($0.99/iPad only) – I am not a fan of Angry Birds at all, but I loved what Rovio did with this installment. The laws of physics are at work in outer space, making gameplay more challenging and fun. It’s still the best looking AB game in my opinion.

2) Angry Birds Star Wars HD ($0.99/iPad only) – I like Angry Birds Space more but this is Rovio’s latest game so getting it on sale so new is a great deal to me. Also, if you are a Star Wars fan, an avian Hans Solo should be fun to look at.

3) Cooking Dash Deluxe ($0.99/Universal) – I am probably one of the few who prefer Cooking Dash over the original Diner Dash franchise. Buy it because it’s universal so you can enjoy it anywhere. Unfortunately it’s not optimized for the taller iPhone/iPod screen and you do have to pay for additional levels on top of the standard 50 – not to mention . Again this is a small price to pay for Dash addiction.

4) Bad Piggies HD or Angry Birds Seasons HD ($0.99/iPad only) – I haven’t tried out Bad Piggies yet but it looks promising, and offers a different type of gameplay from the standard Angry Birds fare. Take note however, that Bad Piggies HD has in-app purchases for additional maps. On the other hand, Angry Birds Seasons HD only offers a single in-app purchase for unlimited use of the might eagle (to solve levels) and it’s the kind of game to make you feel a little festive all throughout the year.

5) Wedding Dash Deluxe ($0.99/Universal) – Frantic gameplay and some wedding day drama make up this unique time management offering from Playfirst. Having played Wedding Dash 4-Ever and its tiny people on my iPad, Wedding Dash Deluxe is a welcome alternative.

H(app)y shopping! 🙂

ghostbusters_paranormalblast_appSIZED4
Dec 15 2012

iOS App Review: Ghostbusters Paranormal Blast


ghostbusters_paranormalblast_appSIZED2
For kids of my generation, Ghostbusters is an important part of growing up. You have these four funny guys (Egon, Peter, Winston and Ray) banding together to rid the city of ghosts, the scientific way. I learned about ectoplasm and the ways of Slimer, and my sisters and I named our very first hamsters after Egon and Jeanine (the wisecracking secretary).

To give you an idea of what Ghostbusters is about, check out the movie trailer below:

A cartoon series and several movies and later, Ghostbusters is all but forgotten. Not to us who grew up watching them, and not to XMG Studio whose developers have come up with a way to keep the Ghostbusters alive through Ghostbusters Paranormal Blast.

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Nov 2 2012

iOS App Review: Roads of Rome 2

In time for the imminent release of Roads of Rome 3 HD, Roads of Rome 2 is on sale for a limited time. If you have Roads of Rome HD (which we loved) or have come across the Roads of Rome 2 sale alert, you are probably wondering if you should shell out a few more dollars. Should you?

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Sep 29 2012

Review: Super Monsters Ate My Condo for the iPhone and iPad

You know by now how much I love the original Monsters Ate My Condo (MAMC) – I have devoted an in-depth review and even a strategy, tips and tricks article to it. Now, nearly a year later, Adult Games and Pik Pok have come out with a sequel Super Monsters Ate My Condo (Super MAMC).

MAMC is all about keeping the monsters happy and preventing the “condos” or tiles from falling, Jenga/Uno Stacko style. With a dancing unicorn, a baby-like crab, a businessman turned green monster and a yellow space dog breathing down your neck, it’s easy to tell that MAMC draws its inspiration and irreverence from crazy Japanese gameshows, making it instantly likable and addictive. With “Super” in front, you’d have very high expectations of a sequel to an already fantastic original.

In a nutshell, Super MAMC retains most of the elements of the original except that the default game mode is Timed (2 minutes). In Super MAMC, you gradually progress in the game simultaneous with the tutorial, slowly unlocking more condos and special combos by fulfilling various level objectives all within two minutes, after which you get to spin the Monster Wheel to earn extra coins and power ups or boosts.

Meeting the original gang of monsters and basically going through the sequel to one of my all-time favorite games, the inevitable question is: is the sequel as good as or even better than the original?

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