Arcade
Bounty Arms – Platforming That Could’ve Been On Console, But its Tablet-riffic
When given this game to preview (yes, it’s not out yet), I didn’t really know what to expect out of it; I hadn’t heard of one of the company’s behind this game (Open-Reset), nor had this title even been on my radar of games I had been anticipating. Open-Reset’s website doesn’t even have much on this title either, just some rendering they had done for the likes of Doom 3 and other various imagery and video. As a reviewer, there’s always a sense of fear when getting a new IP, especially when it wasn’t a buzzed game, as you’re never quite sure what you could be getting, though the other company behind this game, Kerosene, did give us the wonderful game, Bladeslinger. Boy, was I glad to discover 5 minutes in, I didn’t have much to worry about. While we were given a beta version of the game, we were told this is pretty close to what the final build will be. If the beta was this good, I’m stoked to see what the final game will bring us.
Quick Review: Fighting Tiger Liberal – Proof Google Could Stand To Use a Review Process
I was commenting with a colleague the other day about the lack of fighting games on the Google Play store. I spent some time perusing the various titles that came up under that search parameter; Fighting Tiger – Liberal being one of them. This game isn’t a fighter per se in the sense of your Mortal Kombat or Tekken, this is more of a 3D version of Streets of Rage or your traditional brawler. That confused me a bit that it would come up under fighters, but what the heck, why not give it a whirl, I thought.
Quick Review: Punch Quest – Packs a Knockout Punch
Punch Quest, an Android game brought by Noodlecake Studios in the Play Store, is hands-down one of the better fighting games you could find. It is technically an endless runner / brawler which feature fairly easy and responsive controls. Tap on your left thumb on the bottom left corner for the uppercut button and tap on your right thumb on the opposite side for the dash punch button. Throw straight punches or haymakers to conquer the dungeons filled with monsters like skeletons, ghosts, ogres, Cyclops and other little bosses which are more difficult to take down than the usual enemies.
Bad Piggies – ‘Bad’ Is a Bit Harsh, More Like ‘Just Okay’ Piggies
No game exists in a vacuum, but this commonly-used phrase is especially true for Bad Piggies. It’s tough to put aside a studio’s previous work and look at a game for what it is, especially when Rovio, the creators of the Angry Birds series, have turned the enemies of their ridiculously popular franchise into player’s avatar in this new 
game. The shared characters and art style make it impossible to play the new title without comparing and contrasting it against it’s older sibling. I say this because Rovio has done a great job creating distinct gameplay in Bad Piggies, but it’s the type of fun that will appeal to exactly the same crowd that Angry Birds did without satisfying everyone who loved that series so much.
Bad Piggies is a physics-based puzzle game, but the mechanical similarities to Angry Birds pretty much stop there. In this game, the little, green squealers are trying to that get to a specific point of each level. They don’t take a real active role in this process, so you must turn the random pile of items they give you (cart wheels, umbrellas, balloons, bellows, etc.) into a vehicle they can ride across the finish line. Most of these objects are automated parts of your creation, but some, like makeshift rockets and fans, must be manually activated and deactivated after you’ve assembled your creation and hit ‘go.’
Quick Review: They Need to be Fed 2 – Gravitational Force Pulls You In
Great games need more recognition as the Play Store is flooded with a plethora of apps. They Need To Be Fed 2, a sequel to the original Android game They Need To Be Fed which received plenty of praise, is a unique platformer with new elements. You play on a 360 degree gravity environment with seven worlds to explore in over 50 levels. The monster plants are hungry and as the title suggests, they need to be fed.
Quick Review: Knife That Guy – Perfect Time Killer
With great power comes with great responsibility. As the holder of a knife on a dance floor, you will feel powerful as you have the control as to who will be stabbed. Knife That Guy is the first Android game from the indie developer, Flyover Games. It offers an ideal balance of fun and challenging gameplay. The premise of the game is to knife the guy with a little red triangle indicator hovering above his head. It is your duty to pay attention to the other guys on the floor and hit only the marked guy. If you are able to hit the target, your health bar will increase while if you hit innocent people, your health will diminish. When you end up draining your life, you end up stabbing yourself. As you progress with every kill, more people will join in on the dance floor and you will run around at a faster rate which makes it more difficult to take down That Guy.
Gunslugs – Platformer on a Rampage
Don’t let the size of this Android game fool you. Yeah, Gunslugs may be little but it is packed with non-stop action thanks to Orange Pixel, the same team that brought Meganoid, INC:The Beginning and Stardash.
Gunslugs is a retro 2D platformer action game which features vintage pixelated graphics that are easy on the eyes, nice thumb-thumping soundtrack (sounds like playing on an arcade or your old console game), with objectives and achievements for you to conquer. You are greeted with a simple menu system and you start off the game by choosing a male or female character, Johnny Rumble or Gun Chick. The characters are some action heroes formed together with a common goal of saving the world and taking down the bad Black Duck Army. As you progress, you will be able to unlock other characters named Sly Rocko, Scarlett Sonya or Willis Kiyay.
Quick Review: Mr. AahH – Swing and a Miss
If done right, a very minimalist game can be one of the best on mobile devices. Sometimes, I want to plop down on the couch with a deep RPG for a few hours, yes, but a great thirty seconds of gameplay here and there can be just as good. Mr. AahH, like so many others, is not enjoyable during short spurts or long sessions, despite the simple nature of the game.
A game of Mr. AahH consists of exactly one control input performing one action in one environment. The little stick man grabs a string that comes from the top of the screen, jumps of the pillar he stands atop, swings to the left, and releases the rope when you touch the screen. He then lands somewhere on the next pillar, if you’ve picked the right moment to tap, and points are added to your score based off of the proximity of his landing to the center of the pillar. If he lands right in the middle, the screen flashes, “JUST,” in giant pink letters, signaling the most exciting thing that ever happens before continuing as normal.
Battleheart: What if Castle Crashers and Starcraft Had a Baby?
There are just some games that will not work on a touchscreen. There is either too much going on, or the precision needed is just too much for touch buttons to work well enough to be enjoyable. Castle Crashers, it could be argued, is one of those games. Hardcore Beat-em-ups require some split second movements and the idea of your character sitting still and taking hits because your thumb fell off of the virtual stick it can’t even feel, isn’t appealing.
Rather than try to pigeon hole a similar experience onto touchscreen controls, Battleheart takes everything that we loved about Castle Crashers (minus the co-op) and gives it a brand new feel and a few extra levels of depth by giving it a control scheme that is designed from the ground up for touchscreens. In doing so developer Mika Mobile has made a game that is completely unique and a ton of fun. It is a bit like if you mixed Castle Crashers with an RTS and threw in a few extra RPG elements to round it all out. The result is addicting and captivating.
Quick Look: Madman Drop – Wiggle Your Way to Freedom
Madman Drop is a unique endless falling Android game where you assist a crazy dude escape from his safe haven – the asylum. How’d you know he’s from a psychiatric ward? Well, he’s still in a straightjacket and doesn’t mind dropping head on a deep cave. Call the doctor quick as bones will be crushed, necks will be damaged in your patient’s quest for freedom.
This fun physics game will let you control a silly madman trapped in a straightjacket and wants his freedom. Its gameplay is very simple with just one touch of control. Just tap on the bottom of the screen for your player to stretch his legs or curl. As you fall, one of your objectives is to collect coins which can be used to buy power-ups and unlock some characters.
