'Go Home Dinosaurs' for iPad Review - Dino-MITE Tower Defense

While tower defense is one of those genres that I can't seem to get enough of, even I have to admit that it's high-time for some innovation. Enter Go Home Dinosaurs?[$4.99 (HD)], the latest title from Fire Hose Games and a TD game that looks to carve its own niche.

While a first glance might lead one to believe its primarily for kids, beneath the playful, cartoony exterior lies a game that expertly combines tower defense with puzzle elements, making it?one of my current favorites of the genre.

Apparently the love for BBQ is so great it extends across time periods and species. As such, Dinosaurs puts you in command of an army of gophers that must guard their delectable BBQ pit against an onslaught of hungry dinosaurs.

When it comes to basic tower defense gameplay, Go Home Dinosaurs plays similar to many other titles. Dinosaurs run down a pre-set path towards the BBQ pit with two pieces of dynamite acting as last-second defenses against impending BBQ devouring. Meanwhile, players place a variety of gopher-manned weapons around the path in an attempt to drive the dinos towards extinction. A coin system rounds out the gameplay, allowing players to earn currency in-game (no IAPs) and purchase supplemental towers with limited, but powerful effects.

Where Go Home Dinosaurs differs from other TD games is in actual tower placement and in the ability to directly control a movable attacking gopher.

While tower placement is important in each level of Dinosaurs, players will spend the majority of their time using their gopher to collect coconuts (which act as the currency needed to place towers) and place them in a good position to attack the oncoming dinos. The gopher isn't a slouch in terms of damage dealing either, meaning players will need to balance collecting coconuts with keeping him constantly attacking.

It's a fun twist to the gameplay that adds some continual, fast-paced action to an otherwise passive genre.

Taking a page from classic puzzlers like Tetris, tower placement is the other aspect that Go Home Dinosaurs mixes up. Each tower has a specific "shape" that takes up a certain amount of spaces in a certain formation on the gridded play field.

Players quickly learn that towers can't be placed indiscriminately without forethought. In addition, the level design will naturally prevent certain towers from being effective, forcing players to develop a well-rounded approach to using all the towers. This actually brings some challenge to later levels, a concept that I welcome whole heartedly in TD.

In this regard, Go Home Dinosaurs almost becomes a TD/puzzle hybrid. Considering players can only bring a certain number of towers into a level, part of the challenge becomes figuring out which towers to bring and in which formations to place them.

There's also the fact that your gopher also has to be part of the equation. Do you place your towers at the entrance and risk blocking any effective spots for your gopher to attack from? Or, do you focus on saving up coconuts for powerful towers while using your gopher as the primary damage dealer until you can get them set up?

These are just a couple of many questions and scenarios that will pop up, and showcase some of the depth that Dinosaurs offers beyond standard tower defense titles.

There are a few annoyances with Go Home Dinosaurs, mainly its iPad-only status, some minor control issues when placing towers (i.e. tap and dragging a specific tower will occasionally select another tower in my inventory), and slow-down on non-iPad 4 hardware. However, these are relatively minor in comparison to the many positives the game offers.

In the end, Go Home Dinosaurs is a well-executed tower defense title with enough additions to the genre to make it worth checking out. Suffice to say, I hope other developers take note when trying to differentiate and improve upon tower defense.

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'Frozen Synapse' Review - A Brilliant Tactics Game Comes to the iPad

Few recent tactical strategy games have received such a large amount of attention as Frozen Synapse [$6.99 (HD)]. It has been praised for both its art style and excellent strategy gameplay. Starting on PC and Mac it has now found its way to iOS. While initially overwhelming with a busy interface and lengthy tutorial, Frozen Synapse is able to find a totally appropriate home on iOS.

In Frozen Synapse you take on the role of a tactician. Your task is direct a team of soldiers second by second. They can be ordered to move behind cover, fire a weapon, and many other options. Once all players have decided on the directions for their teams, the actions are carried out simultaneously. It calls to mind the X-wing Miniatures game as your success is based upon the ability to read the other player. Will they take cover or launch an offensive? In some modes of the game you are also locked into seeing only those enemies in your line of sight, which can be challenging. Beware, your sci-fi soldiers are very fragile and a single misstep can mean instant death. Matches usually last only a few rounds as players bluff and bait each other.

There are a myriad of ways to enjoy this title whether alone or with others. There is a fully functional AI in the game which can allow for quick matches. This little buddy is no pushover; you will die often. It is no wonder the developers recommend this mode as the best teacher after finishing the tutorial. The game also features an excellent campaign mode with a story spanning several levels. These range from straightforward skirmishes to ?more complex missions of capture or defense. It is the gameplay that stands out, but the story certainly has its strong points.

Frozen Synapse really shines when playing with others. The online play features a separate login and a full blown PC-esque lobby. There are always plenty of people online and games can be completed live or in an asynchronous fashion. You can play with friends, complete strangers, or participate in tournaments. It really is a full fledged online system, the likes of which is rarely seen on iOS. This version also features Hotseat mode which is great for mobile as you can pass the iPad around a room and play with your friends in one location. If you find online play too insular or intimidating, this is an excellent way to play with friends on your terms.

This game comes packed with many hours of content- The campaign will take you some time to complete and then there are untold hours of play both online and off. There are dozens of maps, different unit types, several game modes, and on and on. I was impressed by the amount of things to do. Frozen Synapse is an exercise in complex simplicity. On the service the controls are simple taps and turns, but to really succeed it will require practice. This process can be terribly rewarding, and even games you struggle in will end quickly.

It is this hidden complexity that provides some challenges for this app. The number of choices available to you at any moment make the interface large and somewhat confusing. To really succeed at the game you will have to learn all of these options and know when best to ask them. For a new player they can look downright baffling and it would be great to see a more interactive tutorial that guides a player through step by step. This UI difficulty is paired with the games overall menu system which has a decidedly PC feeling. There are cases of strange pop-up issues and overlays that seem traditional reserved to the wild world of PC gaming. While the gameplay fits perfectly on iOS, the surrounding menus seem to miss the boat.

Frozen Synapse succeeds at bringing a beloved PC game to iOS. It is fiercely faithful in bringing the whole experience to mobile which has its own pros (tons of content, great online experience) and cons (archaic menu system, hard to manage UI). This is a great strategy title which is enjoyable on many levels. There is complexity there if you want it or you can stay on the surface and have a great tactical experience.

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'Dark Avenger' Review - All Action, No Substance

With the recent announcement that Diablo would be making its way to consoles, gamers have been looking for something to satisfy their hack-and-slash needs on their iOS device. Gameloft recently released the fourth installment of their dungeon crawler, Dungeon Hunter 4, and less than two weeks after, Gamevil has come out with their first foray into dungeon crawlers with Dark Avenger?[Free]

Dark Avenger is all action with little in the way of overall substance. As of this review, there is only one playable class, the Templar, with a second class “coming soon”, the Ranger. Despite having only one type of character at the moment, the game gives you three save game slots. You're tasked with killing bad things from bad places because... well, it's a game without a story. Perhaps because some evil convenience store clerk looked at your grandma the wrong way and now you're exacting sweet revenge.

Delving into the game proper is as easy as choosing your character and selecting your mode. Single player consists of progressing through multiple levels, all within the same basic environment. The virtual joystick is dead simple to use; one joystick on your left controls movement and direction, while the icon on your right controls attacks. Tap it once for a basic attack, tap it up to three times for a combo attack.

The combo attack will come in handy, because you’ll be relentlessly assaulted on all sides. Luckily, your hero is capable of switching direction mid-attack, so those ghoulies sneaking up behind you while you’re already fighting? Just aim toward them and hack! Slash! They’re dead.

The game begins easy enough, pitting you against frail-looking skeletons and crawling torsos, but gradually increases in difficulty. As you slash your way through, you build up a rage bar that when full gives your attacks a glowing, flashy look that results in increased damage for a short period. Failure to continue attacking enemies will slowly deplete your rage bar, but unless you’re traversing to a diffrent area, you probably won’t have the chance to let it drain out.

Rounding out the usual hack-and-slash pieces are your ability to use health and magic potions. Throughout the game, you’ll also be able to unlock up to three special abilities that will decimate whatever is in front of you.

In your quest to fight for whatever reason it is you’re fighting (there isn’t much of a story to go with the game, in case that wasn't clear), you’ll come across bosses who, obviously, will need a beatdown. The majority of these fights consists of you going after them repeatedly; there’s no real strategy per se.

Single player consists of two modes; normal and time attack. The only difference between the two is time attack gives you a limited amount of time to kill everything, while giving slightly better rewards (20% more xp, 10% more coins, etc.)

Multiplayer is where the game lives on, as if you only play single player you’ll be done with it in three or four hours, if that. There are two modes to this; Infinity Tower and Deathmatch.

Infinity Tower is basically a gauntlet. There are an infinite number of dungeons supplied with an infinite number of enemies, and you keep going until you finally succumb to death. There is a leaderboard that charts your score and stats, and compares you worldwide to other gamers.

Deathmatch pits you one-on-one against other players for rewards and fame. I’ve had difficulty playing this mode, as more often than not I’m greeted with an error saying it can’t connect to the server. I’m sure that, like most iOS games, this bug will be fixed in a future update.

If you're looking for some like-minded players to fight with because, like me, you don't always like random matchmaking, feel free to check out our forum and find some frenemies.

Dark Avenger has two IAPs; gold and gems. Gold can be accrued through the normal course of gameplay, by earning rewards in multiplayer and slaying enemies in single player. It is then used to purchase items, potions, skills and upgrades.

Gems are the premium currency, and are used to unlock the best items and equipment. Despite this, neither IAP makes you feel like it's necessary to purchase something to win the game, and you’ll do just fine without by just grinding it out. Gamevil has also chosen not to harass you constantly to buy gold and gems, and in a straight playthrough of one hour I wasn’t asked once to buy anything, unless I had tapped on an item that I didn’t have enough currency for and was asked if I wanted to purchase more.

Despite the multiplayer options, Dark Avenger seems lifeless and relegated to a passing game as opposed to one you'll find on your device a year from now, when you remark "oh right, so awesome, that's why I still have it." ?There is no storyline, the graphics are far from eye-popping, and there is no substance. You have one goal and one goal only: get from A to B while killing everything in between.

Perhaps with updates, Gamevil will add more to Dark Avenger, and bring it up to a competitive level. It’s worthwhile to try because it’s different enough and free, but unless you’re playing on the subway or are bored at work and have nothing better to do, it won’t last you long.

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'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rooftop Run' Review - Turtle-Tapping Fun

The opening to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rooftop Run [$1.99], an endless runner based on Nickelodeon's reboot of the popular '90s cartoon, is almost as awesome as the game itself. We open on a shot of our four heroes in a half-shell lounging around the sewer den playing video games. A very young and spunky April O'Neil comes bursting into the room, shouting at the love-struck mutant teenagers to turn on the news, which shows alien invaders descending on New York City.

Boggled at the nerve of the alien riffraff, the heroes rush up to the surface, spout a lot of talk about kicking some alien butt--and immediately set off running when the alien ship swoops in from above and gives chase. My heroes.

Humorous as it may be to see those turtle tough guys turn tail, I'm glad they did, because the resulting adventure makes for one of the more creative runners on the App Store. After choosing a turtle, your hero sets off at a dash, leaving you to tap the screen to leap gaps between buildings and ninja-kick Foot soldiers and aliens in your path. As you run, you'll need to collect green orbs to keep the glowing meter at the top of the screen from draining. Should it deplete, the ship beams you up and, one presumes, the crew dines on turtle soup.

The controls are as responsive as they are intuitive, and that's good, since flubbed jumps and getting cold-cocked makes you stumble, giving the alien ship time to gain ground. Jump from the lip of a rooftop, however, and you'll hit the ground running. The same goes for attacking. Tap the screen when your turtle brushes shoulders with a Foot and you'll perform a strike that clobbers the bad guy and boosts you forward. Spiky traps, pits, and enemy soldiers appear in increasing quantities as you run along. Tap without missing a beat and your chosen turtle will vault smoothly along, providing excellent visual feedback.

Those ooze orbs you gulp down along the way do more than increase your speed. Collecting enough orbs to fill your speed meter triggers Turtle Time, a combat mini-game where you tap the screen to put the hurtin' on Foot soldiers. The novelty wears off once you realize you're participating in a glorified quick time event, but it switches up the usual runner formula nicely.

As expertly as plucking all the bells of a target dummy without making a sound, you pick the pocket of every Foot soldier you clobber, earning coins you can use to buy gear, costumes, and weapons. You can also save up thousands upon thousands of coins to unlock extra characters--including the other Ninja Turtles. Yes, after a few rounds running with my homeboy Raphael, I went back to the sewer only to find that Master Splinter had changed the locks. All four turtles are available when the game begins, but the three you left behind cost over 3,000 coins each when you return to the lair.

Even my longest runs only netted around 200 coins, but some of the more expert players in our forums are racking up earnings in the thousands of coins, so your mileage may vary. There's a grind here for sure, but it's not insurmountable by any means. Completing three Turtle Times in a row opens up a boss fight, and KO'ing these heavy hitters earns you tons of coins, but decking out a single turtle with tricked-out gear such as slower energy loss and cyber weapons requires a hefty time investment.

Offering all four Hero Turtles (I just dropped a culture bomb) only to lock away three of them when your back's turned is irritating, but far from a deal breaker. TMNT Rooftop Run makes for a rollicking good time, especially if you enjoy runners but crave a recipe with some spice.

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'Crabitron' for iPad Review - Space Crabs Are Even More Fun With a Friend

If your haven't seen Crabitron [$2.99 (HD)] in action, you owe it to yourself to check out this TA Plays. Two Lives Left's Crabitron is fast, funny, endless but kept remarkably fresh with boss fights and classic game parodies, and has spot-on controls that make it one of the most iPad-native games I've played.

In hindsight, a game that takes advantage of the multi-touch screen by asking you to use your fingertips like chopsticks makes perfect sense, and the kaiju (giant monster) theme really suits that mechanic. If the original Rampage captured something about the potential (and limitations) of the arcade technology of it's day, Crabitron does the same thing for the iPad, very much including the Mini.

It also, and seemingly unintentionally, sports really good single-device cooperative play.

Most of the games that offer single-device multiplayer on the iPad are turn based. There are a few with simultaneous competitive play, like Shufflepuck Cantina [Free / $2.99] and the HD version of Fruit Ninja [$2.99 (HD)], but only where the controls can be kept to separate parts of the screen, to avoid input confusion.

By default, one of the challenges of playing Crabitron is trying to use both claws effectively at the same time. It's hard to do anything fancier than having one claw mirror the other. But share your tablet with a friend, and the challenges change. Now you can each focus on your own claw, but you have to worry about what that other claw is doing. This can lead to almost Spaceteam [Free] levels of confused shouting. Even the fact that the claws can get tangled due to input confusion if they're pressed together feels more like a feature than a flaw.

Perhaps best of all, players of widely varying skill can play together. This is the only videogame I've found that I can play with my toddler without one of us quickly getting frustrated or bored. It's amazing, really. So far, my high score for the game is from a run I started with him, played a little by myself, continued with my spouse, and then finished alone.

The biggest problem with Crabitron's co-op potential is that it doesn't mesh well with the game's coin-based upgrade system. You can upgrade each arm separately, but upgrades are costly, permanent, and irreversible. Thankfully, there's no IAP grubbing: you can buy a coin doubler or a tripler, that's it.

It feels like he devs were preparing for the possibility of needing to release Crabitron as a freemium game, but took the risk of charging Happy Meal prices instead, something they deserve credit for.

Regardless, it would be a lot more fun (especially in co-op mode) if you could choose different claws or abilities for each game. Fixed-upgrade systems, with their roots in RPG character customization, tend to feel really player-specific.

To be fair, I don't think I'm playing Crabitron "as intended," it just happens to be a heck of a lot of fun this way, a bit like the tricycle that became cooler when you figured out you could ride it backwards downhill. Just don't hold Two Lives Left responsible if you injure yourself. Whether or not you've got a friend (or toddler) to play Crabitron with in this unintentional co-op mode, you really need to check the game out as Crabitron is a perfect example of how to intelligently craft a game for the iPad that really could only exist on the iPad.

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