Two control methods are available: slider and tilt. I could not get the hang of tilt, and as my general preference is touch I stuck to those instead. The slider lets you control the worm in direction relative to the current movement. There is a gas button letting the worm accelareta beneath the surface, and above it turns into a spit button letting out phlegm blasts. The controls work quite well straight from the start. Attacking several victims in a row to make some combos is cool, and covers the surface in blood. For each level there is a set number of humans to devour before progressing to a harder level of challenge. There are 24 levels in total, and I have yet to complete it all. Much like old school arcade games Super Mega Worm forces you to start all over when the game ends. To me this is a bit of a bore, as the first levels are so slow.

The 8-bit presentation is excellent making the game a must for anyone into retro graphics, and old school chiptune music. Smoothly animated humans run with prams from the perils from beneath. The ever growing worm looks menacing even though it is only 8-bit. You can play your own music, but the 8-bit soundtrack is catchy and I really enjoyed it more than most of my own music collection.

There is a lack of content in the current version of Super Mega Worm. Replaying the game from the slow start is quite boring to me after dying in a frantic level of difficulty. There is no real variation to the gameplay even though you gain new abilities as you reach higher levels. Furthermore there are no online leaderboard or achievements yet either. Much is promised for future updates, but I can only rate the game I have in front of me. Still it is really enjoyable to chase humans, and if you want to add some more challenge you can turn on tremor mode blacking out the surface until the worm exits the soil.

I can definitely recommend Super Mega Worm to the old school gamer not bothered by restarting the game. The brilliant presentation, and music alone can be enough to warrant a great time for a lot of people. It is a good game, and with updates I think it will turn into a great game.

Final Rating

Super Mega Worm $2.99
Version: 1.1
Seller: Deceased Pixel LLC
Tested on an iPhone 4.

Super Mega Worm review is a post from: TouchGen

Click here to visit our podcast page on iTunes to download it, or here to subscribe directly. If you would prefer to download the mp3 to your desktop, you can do so here!

Full list of games covered in this episode:

Epic Citadel
Spider Man
Rimelands
Norser
Knights Rush
CaveRun
Rednecks Vs Aliens
Super Mega Worm
Entombed
Puzzle Agent
Aqua Globs HD
Yin and Yang
Mirror’s Edge
Womb Wizards

TouchGen Unleashed Podcast - Episode 62 is a post from: TouchGen

So how does Puzzle Agent fare in comparison to Telltale’s other efforts? Admirably, and I will even say that it is much funnier than any of the Telltale games I have played to date. The game is ultimately a spin on the Professor Layton style of adventure set in the small town of Scoggins (home to the Scoggins Eraser Factory), meaning it is an adventure through a zany world in which the denizens provide the player with puzzles at nearly every opportunity.

If you find that Puzzle Agent’s sense of humor meshes well with your own, you are in for a treat. I was completely hooked by the awkward tension between the main character and his surroundings, as well as the understated strangeness about many elements of the environment. Towards the beginning of the game you meet a cagey old man, I found that everything about him- his appearance, voice acting, and attitude, so perfectly represented the cliche that Telltale was going for that I couldn’t help but laugh. If just looking at the characters tickled my funny bone, you can imagine what effect their greater role in the story and dialogue had on me.

I can’t say that the game will be funny for everyone, but I certainly found myself laughing out loud on multiple occasions. The humor plays a major role in my appreciation of Puzzle Agent, because without it you are left with a much lesser game.

The actual “this is a game” part of Puzzle Agent boils down to, unsurprisingly, a series of puzzles. While some of the puzzles are challenging, and many are mildly entertaining, they fail to live up to the standard set by the game’s comedic aspects. The game even repeats most puzzle types, so by the end you feel as if you are solving the same old puzzle. I found the most annoying to be the puzzles in which you must piece something together by dragging its parts together, and when the correct parts get close enough they will auto-lock onto one another. One can solve these puzzles almost by accident, and once they are solved you still must go through several presses to submit your answer and see if it was correct- even though by its very nature you know you have already solved the puzzle perfectly.

How can I enjoy a game so much that clearly has some issues with the first word in its title? Puzzle Agent’s well crafted story, hilarious characters, and spot-on dialogue manage to trump its biggest flaws. Since the puzzles are brief, and for the most part mentally engaging, I found it easy enough to cruise through them to get to the great parts of the game.

Puzzle Agent is a short ride, clocking in at around three hours to complete, but it is well worth your attention. The game is available on the App store for $4.99 (iPhone) and $6.99 (iPad). The iPad version benefits from the higher resolution, but otherwise you are getting the same hilarious experience on both platforms.

Final Score:

This game was reviewed on an iPad & iPod Touch 2g

Puzzle Agent Review (iPhone & iPad) is a post from: TouchGen

Mirrors Edge is a high seed side scrolling platformer. You play as Faith, who is a free runner trying to fight the power, and you do so by running. Kind of a odd premise, but whatever, there have been weirder games so I’ll let it slide. In the game you generally run from point a to point b while trying not to die.

What makes the game interesting is that it’s based on momentum, so rather then stopping and planing your next jump, you just keep moving. This keeps you on your toes as stopping can often mean death, either from a helicopter shooting at you, or the fact that you won’t have enough speed to make your next jump. This style of platforming makes for some really awesome moments where you are just like, “how the hell did I pull that off.”

The game indicates where you need to go by making objects red. So if you are running left there may be a red box you need to jump over, followed by a red zip line. This is great for keeping you on track, and making sure you don’t accidentally run the wrong way in a level. It also let’s you clearly see objects that need to be avoided and/or interacted with.

The control scheme used in Mirrors Edge is nothing short of genius. The whole game is played with nothing but swipes. For example, swipe left, and Faith will run to the left, swipe up, and Faith will jump, down and she will slide, and so on. It is implemented so well that I can honestly say that there was not a single situation where I messed something up because of the controls. There are not many games on a touch screen platform that I can say that about, especially not one that is this fast paced. I give EA a ton of respect for not coping out and using an on screen joystick and a jump button. They really came out with something that works for the platform.

A major problem with the console mirrors edge was the combat. Fortunately, they kept combat to a minimum in this version, and there are no guns. You simply take your opponent out using one of Faith’s various take downs and keep running. In a momentum based platformer nothing would be worse then having to stop and fight, and the developers realized this, and developed the game accordingly.

There is a good amount of game to be had in Mirrors Edge. The main campaign took me a couple hours to beat, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. What keeps me coming back to the game is the speed runs. These are all the levels in the game, with time goals. They are all rated on a 3 star scale, and earning 3 stars is incredibly challenging. Of course there is online leader boards to compare your speed runs to other players around the world.

There is also same device multiplayer, which works shockingly well. You simply set the device on the table and you and a friend each man one part of the screen. There are 2 multiplayer modes. The first is a race from point a to point b. The real fun is that you can use Faith’s attacks to take your friend down while racing. The other mode is a collection mode, where you each have to try to pick up items around the map and whomever has the most when time runs out wins. Of course, if you take your opponent out, you steal one of his items.

The graphics are insane in Mirrors Edge. It’s on a 2d plane but with 3d graphics. There is something about the color pallette used in the game that is incredibly pleasing to the eyes. I could stare at the levels all day and my eyes would thank me. Adding in high definition on the iPad screen definitely doesn’t hurt the look of the game either.

The sound is up there for the best I have heard on any idevice. It has great music that is incredibly catchy and sound effects that really add to feel of the game. There is enough variety in the music of the various levels to make it not at all repetitive.

The only negative of Mirrors Edge is the story. They kind of shoehorned the story in with text between each level. I would have rather not a had a story at all. If they were going to put a story in the game they should have gone with a comic book style or short cut scenes. I really don’t want to spend 10 minutes before each level reading about why I’m playing that level.

I honestly can’t recommend Mirrors Edge enough, if you have an iPad it in an absolute must own game. The only thing that keeps the game from being a 5 is that the campaign is short for the high price tag, and the story is weakly implemented.

Mirror’s Edge for iPad is out now for $12.99

UPDATE: Mirror’s Edge is also now available for iPhone for £2.99 (US version to come), including retina display support. Get it now on the

Mirror’s Edge - Review is a post from: TouchGen

We posted a head-to-head of the game running on both Nintendo DS, PSP and iPhone and were surprised by how well the iPhone version stacked up (falling somewhere between both the DS and PSP version) which you can see below. We didn’t actually review the game (not sure why), but I will be posting a review for the iPad version shortly after the release next week.

Chinatown Wars HD will be available on September 9th for $9.99 from the App Store.

GTA: China Town Wars hits iPad September 9th is a post from: TouchGen

Probably the most notable part of Apple’s iPod/iTunes/iOS keynote was the surprise graphics demo from Epic Games’ first dive into iDevice gaming. You might have seen the video, but why not try it yourself? The demo, titled “Epic Citadel” is now available for free as an 82MB download on iTunes. The app uses a version of the Unreal III engine, which will be made available to other developers to use.

It’s impressive as hell. It’s still kind of hard to believe the quality of visuals on a mobile phone, but it’s real. Sure, the shadows seem baked on for the most part, and there’s a bit of a framerate drop when you view the large vista, but this thing was slapped together in a mere 4 weeks! Just think what 6 months to a year of development will produce!

Epic Citadel - iPhone (free)

Epic Citadel - iPad (free)

Epic have released more info about the Unreal Engine 3 for iOS:

‘Epic Citadel,’ world’s First UE3-Powered iOS App, Now Available on App Store

CARY, N.C. – September 1, 2010 – Epic Games, Inc. today announced its “Epic Citadel” App is now available from the App Store. The app showcases the technical capabilities of Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine 3 on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. In “Epic Citadel,” players navigate a fictional castle realm using simple controls and the innovative Multi-Touch user interface. “Epic Citadel” also features stunning visuals and special effects, with an environment inspired by “Project Sword,” Epic’s newest game.

“Project Sword” is the codename of the all-new action role-playing adventure game exclusively for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch developed by Epic’s critically acclaimed studio, Chair Entertainment, creators of the Xbox LIVE Arcade games of the year “Undertow” and “Shadow Complex.” Scheduled for release later this year, “Project Sword” will bring unrivaled visual fidelity and a highly accessible gameplay experience to the iOS platform.

“This is a testament to the sheer power of iOS devices as up until now, Unreal Engine 3 has typically been used to create high-end gaming experiences on game consoles and computers,” said Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps. “And we’re not just keeping it to ourselves. We’re putting Unreal Engine 3 technology into the hands of game developers all over the world, and we can’t wait to see the apps they make next.”

A small team of Epic’s programmers, artists and testers created “Epic Citadel” in just eight weeks of development time. Unreal Engine 3 is scalable yet packed with the same tools hundreds of thousands of users work with to create games, simulations and animated content. Features include:

• Amazing visuals. “Epic Citadel” pushes the envelope for stunning visuals on iOS devices. Through the latest advances in Unreal Engine 3 technology, the application delivers unrivaled graphics and special effects that immerse players in the kingdom’s grounds.

• Bump offset mapping. Also known as parallax mapping or relief mapping, bump offset mapping enhances the visual appearance of stone walls and rocks providing intricate textures.

•  Normal mapped architecture. Brings stunning detail to bricks and ground surfaces within the environment.

• Texture blending with painted weight maps. Refines nuances on roads and terrain, making them rich and lifelike.

• Global illumination. Unreal Engine 3’s built-in global illumination system, Unreal Lightmass, provides realistic lighting and shadows with minimal development resources.

• Dynamic specular lighting with texture masks. Helps create authentic cobblestone roads and vivid reflective marble surfaces, while lens flares and light coronas add dramatic emphasis when panning across light sources.

• Real-time reflections and animation. Environment mapping enables real-time reflections on objects such as the statue inside the cathedral. Dynamic movements of trees and banners are made possible through the use of vertex deformation and skeletal animation.

• Free tools. Epic’s Unreal Development Kit (UDK), available for free download at www.udk.com/download, ships with the same tools and technologies used to create Epic Citadel.

Download Epic’s Keynote Tech Demo is a post from: TouchGen

The main gaming element was the reveal of Game Center the out-of-the-box social gaming network. Steve teased it back at the lunch of iOS4, but it’s been quiet on the game center for a while now. Unfortunately it wasn’t featured for long (a few minutes) but we did get to see how matchmaking works, and as you can expect with Apple it was pretty seamless, allowing you to matchup with friends, and send and accept game invites. Developers should have no problem in adding multi-player features to their games without worrying which of the many current gaming networks (openfeint, plus+ etc) they must support.

I have to say I’m not a fan of the visual style of Game Center at all. Ok, I wasn’t expecting something ripping off Xbox Live, but what they have designed doesn’t fit well with the modern day gamer. I think they’ve tried to be clever, but what they have done is give it an old fashioned look that would be more suited to a Cribbage tournament at a retirement village…. Yuck! Game Center will be released as part as of a free update to iOS4.1 next week.

The surprise for gaming was the unveil of Project Sword from Epic Games. Epic are responsible for Unreal Tournament and, more importantly, the Unreal Engine. Using this graphics engine, Epic have been able to create some hugely impressive gaming worlds, and all running in real-time on iDevices (most probably iPhone 4, the new iPod Touch and iPad only).

Check out this in-game screen shot (courtesy of Engadget):

The game is an RPG that lets you partake in one-on-one battles online using Game Center. We couldn’t see how the controls worked for fighting, but it seems to be as simple as dragging fighting moves from a character menu, onto your foe in a turn based style much like Pokemon.

That was it for gaming, the rest was all about the new iPod Nano’s, iTunes 10 and Apple TV. Other notable announcements for iPod Touch fans out there was the expected news that the iPod Touch will be updated to iPhone 4 specs, and now includes the A4 processor, retina display and gyroscopic control which all enhance the gaming experience.

Apple Event - September 1st is a post from: TouchGen

Available with Swedish text, but still voice acting in English.

Mushroom Age is a hidden object game with loads of different puzzles. The hidden object aspect of the game either wants you to find a set of different objects or a number of the same object for example bugs. Zoom in and out is done by pinching in and out. There are sparkling effects around objects that can be moved or opened. A lot of objects can be picked up, and added to the inventory on top of the screen. These can then be either combined with other inventory objects or with objects on the playing area. Keys are used in this manner, and it gives the game a point and click adventure vibe. A hint button is shown in the upper right corner, and can be used without penalty. It takes quite a while to recharge, and isn’t too helpful if you have several objects left to find. It is quite easy to find most objects yourself, as they are most often placed in a realistic manner.

There are a plethora of different puzzles, and most of them are really nicely executed. A pipes game connecting pipes to get electricity to all nodes, a laser directing game using mirrors, and a ball bouncing to clear other balls game rank among the best. These could be fleshed out to standalone $0.99 games. The memory game involving massage points was a pain to complete, but still added a bit of variation. There is sadly a rather glaring factual error in the timeline game where you have to place different historical episodes in chronological order. Thanks to the hint button it could be completed anyway, but hopefully this will be corrected in a future update.

The presentation is magnificent, and graphically it is one of the best games for the iPhone at the moment. Clarity, depth and brightness make it really enjoyable. The different characters are nicely drawn, and the limited use of expressions make them come to life in a manner totally suiting the quirky story. The voice acting is also top notch for fauna, carnivore and historical philosophers. Vera and Tom are kind of annoying in how calm and collected they always sound. The music is fine, and you can play your own instead and keep the voices.

The game took me about four hours to complete, and all puzzles are manageable by the average gamer. This is perhaps the only flaw to the game, but it is a common problem with hidden object games. If you stick to it, you will complete it. Even if you use the hint button all the time the game can probably be completed within five hours. Facebook integration shows up at certain achievements, and this will probably please quite a few gamers.

Mushroom Age is the best hidden object game available today, and it gets my total recommendation. It is a highly entertaining journey through time and space. And you get to befriend both a dinosaur and a caveman.  To me this is a game best enjoyed on a small screen, but it definately looks amazing on the iPad using the HD version.

Final Rating

Mushroom Age $2.99
Version: 1.0
Seller: G5 Entertainment AB
Tested on an iPhone 3G and iPhone 4.
Mushroom Age Lite

Mushroom Age HD is available for iPad at $4.99

Mushroom Age review is a post from: TouchGen

PixelSkin, available in black, purple and pink. $24.95

The PixelSkin is a silicone case offering great protection, and rubberized grip. It is really bulky, and placed on top of any of the other cases it looks humongous. The silicone is rigid around the edges, but if when nudged it looses the grip. There is zero risk of the phone accidentally falling out of the case due to the silicone hugging it on the front. It is soft, and definitely feels good to hold onto when playing games or walking about surfing the internet. The rugged rubber dirties, and collects dust in the crevices quite easily. To me this makes it look cheap, and it needs to be cleaned regularly to feel fresh. The vibrant pink, and purple add a bit of fun whereas the black feels somewhat like a lite version of the ToughSkin design. If you prefer a silicone case the PixelSkin is definitely one of the better out there.

PixelSkin HD, available in black, purple, pink and blue. $29.95

Ok, it took me a while to stomach the HD moniker. It has been abused in so many different contexts during the past couple of years. Once I had the case in my hand my intial impression got turned on the head. A couple of seconds later the PixelSkin HD was installed on my iPhone 4, and it blew me away completely. It hugs the iPhone 4 completely, and becomes a part of it. So far it is the best fit I have ever seen in a one piece case ever, and only the Speck CandyShell can offer it a run for that title. Made from flexible but not silicone soft TPU plastic the case is almost as sturdy as a hard case when installed. The only negative I can point out is that the volume buttons, and silent button could be somewhat more responsive. The material absorbs some of the force used demanding more power to press them. The back of the case looks a bit like the windows on a skyscraper with matte squares surrounded by shiny lines. Especially in sunlight the case shines as it is moved. Light, sturdy and good looking. Extremely easy to have in a pocket, and extract it.

GeoMetric, available in DeathRock Black…hell yeah! $29.95

This is one of the most anticipated cases so far adding something new and fresh to the world of phone protection. The combination of form, and function is excellent. Made from flexible TPU plastic the GeoMetric comes with geometrical triangular patterns on the back. These aren’t just for show, but also for touch. The back of the case is uneven, and handles like an uneven table when placed on a hard surface. Of course this makes it harder to use it on a table, but at other times it enhances the function. When using the phone in portrait mode there is a perfect triangular formation adding grip to the phone. When playing games in landscape mode the formations also helps in keeping your hands in a good place. I simply adore this case, but it has got an issue that bothers me. The fit around the edge of the screen isn’t perfect, and the case tends to feel loose and clicks into place. Being made from the same material as the PixelSkin HD above I think it is a shame that the same level of fit couldn’t be achieved. The buttons feel great though, and definitely feel like proper buttons with great responsiveness. Even after extensive use the pattern hasn’t been scratched at all. If you are looking for one of the coolest cases out there definitely consider getting a GeoMetric.

Speck PixelSkin, PixelSkin HD and GeoMetric iPhone 4 review is a post from: TouchGen

Enemies approach from the left, and you place towers to stop them. Your towers are also attacked forcing you to replace them as they are destroyed. Each tower is also upgradeable making them more powerful. As the game is set in the Star Wars universe the towers come as soldiers, laser turrets and X-Wing launchers. The enemies consist of walkers, Tie Fighters and Storm Troopers. As you slay the enemies they leave money in shape of wrenches that you have to pick up to be able to build new units. This adds a bit of action to the game as the money fades, and disappears over time if not picked up. This also adds a bit of frustration as you have to pan around the map if you have a front killing enemies off the screen.

The game comes with different levels of difficulty, but is generally too easy no matter if you play on easy or hard. It is hard the first wave as you have to quickly decide where to put your first line of defence. Other than that it is all about reinforcing your lines, and pick up the dropped money. I found that if I entrench the basic machine gun soldier there was no need for the more powerful units. This eliminates the strategic aspect of the game turning it into a bland experience of tapping to upgrade, tapping to build and tapping to collect.
The presentation is murky, and doesn’t showcase the Star Wars license at it’s best at all. Sure if pinched in you can see the individual units from the movies but they all look the same with the same sparse limited animations. Explosions look good though, and as walkers fall in fiery flames there is a hint of satisfaction. Music and sound effects that we all know and love, but I rather watch the movies instead as the story in Battle for Hoth is more or less non existent.

15 maps, 2 game modes and OpenFeint integration don’t help the game from being bland and boring. There are too many well made tower defence games on the App Store featuring the most important thing, gameplay, for Battle for Hoth to be even close to worth getting. If you are a fan of Star Wars try the lite version. If you are a fan of strategic tower defence games don’t try the lite version.

Final Rating

Star Wars: Battle for Hoth $2.99
Version: 1.0.0
Seller: THQ, Inc.
Star Wars: Battle for Hoth Lite
Tested on an iPhone 4.

Star Wars: Battle for Hoth review is a post from: TouchGen