Jan Zdarsa Earlier, here on the blog, I presented you with my announcement of the best free games and applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch for 2008 in the articles "The best free games for free"And"The best free apps for free". And as you probably correctly guessed, the time has come for the continuation of this series - today I will present it to you the best paid games for iPhone and iPod Touch of 2008.
I originally thought I would have a hard time filling this category. I thought to myself that I didn't buy that many games and then I also thought to myself that the ones I did buy weren't worth much. But in the end I'm more had trouble picking just 10 games, which I wanted to present here. But let's get down to it.
10. newtonica2 ($0.99 - iTunes) – You probably haven't heard of this space duck. This game became a hit in Japan and I have to say it got me too. If it weren't for my unfriendly app selection menu, I probably would have pushed this iPhone game a bit higher. This is a rather unconventional puzzle where you click on a planet to create a pressure wave and thereby move your duckling in space. Although the theme is quite light, this puzzle is no joke. It is necessary to often send several pressure waves in a row with the right timing or possibly with the right reflection from other planets and thus get the duckling home. A must for puzzle lovers, at this price it's a great buy.
9. i Love Katamari ($7.99 - iTunes) – If you don't know Katamari, I recommend reading it full review of this iPhone game. In short, in Love Katamari you become a little prince whose task is to push a Katamari ball. Her ability is to glue any object she comes across to herself - candies, pencils, watering cans, trash cans, cars and I could go on. If the game had more levels, it would definitely deserve more. Unfortunately, it doesn't have one and it's too short.
8. Orions: Legend of Wizards ($4.99 - iTunes) – This iPhone game probably won't appeal to everyone, but I had to put it here. Orions will especially appeal to fans of the card game Magic: The Gathering, of which I am one. You build cities, buy or win cards with fighters and spells and use them to defeat your opponent. Orions is definitely one of the best strategies on the iPhone, but for someone new to M:TG, for example, the rules might seem too complicated. But if the initial difficulty doesn't deter you, you'll love this iPhone game.
7. Real Soccer 2009 ($5.99 - iTunes) – What kind of man would I be if I didn't like football? Well, I prefer hockey, but Real Soccer is the best sports game on iPhone for me. It appeared relatively soon after the opening of the Appstore, but it still belongs to the Appstore treasures. If you enjoy sports games, you will definitely not go wrong with Real Soccer.
6. Monopoly Here & Now (The World Edition) ($4.99 - iTunes) – Monopoly is a well-known board game (similar to the game Bets and Races), which was described in more detail by my contributor Rilwen in the excellent article "Monopoly - the board game has conquered the iPhone". So far, Electronic Arts' iPhone games are doing relatively well, which surprises me. If you like this type of games, I can fully recommend Monopoly.
5. Cro-Mag Rally ($1.99 - iTunes) – I resisted this game for a long time and tried racing games like Asphalt4, until finally I couldn't resist and tried our Cro-Mag too. In terms of gameplay, I would compare it to the good old Wacky Wheels, it provided me with hours of great fun and I didn't care about the controls, but it fit perfectly in my hand, which cannot be said about other racing games. I won't go into detail, it's the number one iPhone racing game for me.
4. Tiki Towers ($1.99 - iTunes) – These monkeys started running around on iPhone screens at a time when one game hit after another was being released, so they were easy to miss. Fortunately, I didn't miss this perfect game. Maybe, like me, you are a bit prone to physics games and will like monkeys as much as I do. Your task is to build "towers", or bridges, using bamboo poles. You have a limited number for each round. After building, you release the monkeys, who have to get home through your building and, ideally, collect all the bananas in the process. But as the monkeys swing, it creates pressure on your creation and you must not let it collapse before the monkeys jump over it. Potato Medal!
3. Sally`s Salon ($1.99 - iTunes) – Although I wanted to include more in my TOP 10 paid iPhone games Diner Dash, so a copy of it finally appeared here. But Diner Dash was really too difficult (for some it might be an advantage, it's really a challenge!) and Sally`s Salon got me more with its gameplay (on the other hand, it's too easy). In this game, you become the owner of a hair salon and the goal is to serve all customers so that they leave you completely satisfied. You can read more in the review "Sally`s Salon – another “Dash” game". This is the second game from RealNetworks (Tiki Towers also comes from them) to be in the TOP5 in my ranking. I have to watch out for these developers!
2. Fieldrunners ($4.99 - iTunes) – There have been a lot of so-called Tower Defense strategies on the iPhone, and although I enjoyed 7Cities for a while, I have to say that the real king is only Fieldrunners. I don't know what it is, but Fieldrunners attracts me more than others, I like to play them again and again after a while. Graphic Design? Gameplay? Quality? Everything at the highest possible level. In addition, the developers are preparing another big update, with which they are taking their time, but they want to bring us real quality, which is only good. If you are not sure if this type of game would be fun for you, give it a try TapDefense, which is free.
1. Roland ($9.99 - iTunes) – Fanfare please, we have a winner! Roland, what? That was obvious, boring, he was lured by the hype surrounding this iPhone game.. I know, I know. In short, no one could escape Roland, there was so much talk about him... But the graphics are excellent, the theme is original, the controls are superb, and the gameplay makes this game stand out. In short, I apologize to all those who might disagree with me, but Rolando deserves it, as evidenced by the many awards Rolando has won. This game should not be missed by any iPhone owner.
So we should. This is my list of the best iPhone games of 2008. A rather interesting finding is that 9 of the top 10 games are played in landscape mode. But at the beginning I talked about that a lot of games didn't fit in my list. Well, I would like to mention at least some of them here.
- Simcity (iTunes) – a well-known building strategy. I originally thought it had to be in my TOP10, but eventually backed off. Although I admire EA for handling something like Simcity only on the tiny touch screen of an iPhone, in the end I think this game really belongs on the big monitors of our computers. The second reason that led me to not include it in the best games of 2008 is the bugs in the game that have not been fixed until now. In short, the game is not finished.
- X-Plane 9 (iTunes) – flight simulator for iPhone. Absolutely incredible what can be created on an iPhone. Perfect for hanging out in front of friends, but in the long run it lacks playability for me. But I can fully recommend it to fans of flying.
- Frenzy (iTunes) – If this game didn't cost so much, it would definitely be in the TOP10. But at $4.99 it doesn't belong there. A perfectly made game for practicing reflexes, but with a poorly set price. The gameplay is great, it really fits the iPhone, but the price kills it.
- An enigma (iTunes) – A must for puzzle and physics lovers. This game has been talked about a lot in the past year and I can recommend it to everyone.
- Chimps Ahoy! (iTunes) – Such an Arkanoid that uses multitouch in the sense that you control not only one platform, but two. So the game must be played with two thumbs. Once you get used to the controls, it will bring you a lot of fun.
Of course, I couldn't manage to try all the quantum of games that appeared on the Appstore last year. Therefore, I invite you, my readers, to they recommended others and other games to other readers. Ideally, add a reason why you like the game so much. I will certainly be happy if many more game tips appear under the article and you scold me for not being in the TOP10! :)
Other parts of the "Appstore: 2008 in Review" series
Rolando is also number one for me, it's just a shame that it was so short :-(
This time, unlike the free games, I don't agree with the ranking so much. Rolando, Fieldrunners and Tiki Towers should be owned by every iPhone user, no question about it. I agree (as a M:tG fan) with Orions - it's probably the coolest iPhone game ever, RF2009 is a must for football fans. And now for the games that are woefully missing:
UP THERE ($0.99 - $1.99, it wants to follow the current prices) - the most addictive thing that will keep you coming back and improving the score, beautiful animations and great music
DROPSHIP ($0.99 – $1.99) – another great thing from the creators of Roland, once you master the controls there is no going back ;-)
SCOOPS (until 20.1/0.99 for $XNUMX) – similar principle to Up There
SNAIL MAIL ($1.99) – racing arcade with the best controls on the iPhone
GALCON ($4.99) – the higher price is compensated by a lot of fun brought by the online multiplayer mode; I recommend trying the Lite version with one of the singleplayer modes
BLACKBEARD'S ASSAULT ($0.99) – a more action-packed variation on Zuma with a pirate theme, very fun, just a little short; try the Lite version
DIZZY BEE 1&2 (both $2.99) - great Roland competitor, great use of iPhone, lasts you longer and is much cheaper - just a clear buy; try the Lite version
I forgot about the space shoot-em-up action SPACE NINJA ($3.99) - the best available on the appstore in the genre. More games just by telegraph - they all have lite versions so you can make the picture yourself: Mouse About, Subway Shuffle, Hydrotilt, MotionX Poker Quest, Labyrinth, Mines In Space. I can guarantee you a lot of fun for a long time with all of them (I play them on my iPhone even months after installation).
So closer to the more classic concept à la Zuma is the recently released game Bonsai Blast. I didn't play it then, but it has quite positive reviews, especially among those who didn't like Blackbeard's Assault.
Another thing about Up There... The connection with Scoops mainly lies in the fact that the game itself lasts only a few minutes and constantly forces you to achieve better results. It will sound silly, but with a combination of completely hand-drawn animation, touching music (that's the key :)) and balloon physics, the game must capture everyone's heart :) Anyway, I recommend visiting the blog of its creator, Veiled Games, full of interesting insights. Personally, I think that this brand will play a big role in the future in the field of iPhone games.
Well, I know that a hundred people have a hundred tastes, but I can't help but write that the game Cro-Mag Rally disappointed me completely... the graphics and gameplay are fine (even if some of the tracks are quite difficult to play), but only 9 poor tracks and a couple of cars or wheelies it's quite small, that's why after about an hour I got tired of the game and I didn't go back to it anymore... in my opinion, it's incomparable to the asphalt4 game after all the pages, I would personally place it in the top 10, even if it could be faulted with a couple of things, but so far it's about the gameplay, the number of tracks, the choice of cars or motorcycles, and also the possibilities of their tuning, for me the asphalt4 game is clearly the top seductive game on the iphone....
what about Hero of Sparta? this title should definitely make it to the top ten...