Good Game Get! Groove Coaster
Taito’s has a tiny masterpiece on their hands with Groove Coaster. This iOS gem is an on rails rhythm game that feels like a baby Rez with a dash of Elite Beat Agents. Simply describing it with comparable titles is a bit unfair for the game, so I’ll elaborate.
The game has two control inputs as far as I know - one being tap, and the other being hold. Cicular icons appear for you to tap as your avatar moves over them on the rail and they are positioned to be in time with the music, (which is fabulously obscure) and when you tap them you get points. Even cooler, Groove Coaster supports an added feature called Ad-Libbing which lets you find secret rhythmic icons to tap for more points in each level. Each level is fairly short, clocking in at less than three minutes most times. The other great thing is that you can earn experience which levels you up.
You will automatically earn power ups from three classes, avatar, item, and skin. Avatar changes the way you looks and certain game rules such as how you rack up points, and an item can makes things like the hidden Ad-Lib icons visible to you. Skins of course can change the way the level looks.
The coaster part of the title is cool too as it really does feel as if each level is a roller coaster. One thing that pushes that idea is when the game zooms out a level you’ve finished so that you can see the coaster as a whole. It’s neat.
As of writing this the game is 67% off at $0.99 (launch special) which is an absolute steal for a title of this quality.
A truly serious contender for my favorite iPhone titles of this year. Absolutely exactly what I look for in a game.
Magic.
- Kyle
Good Game Get! Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
I haven’t played the original game and I know that this isn’t even made by the same team, but something shines about this budget title.
It’s the multiplayer.
The game uses pure split-screen couch co-op that is exactly the same as the single player campaign, which can be a rare things these days. EDF: IA also succeeds at having fun and engaging gameplay along with a pretty robust class and leveling up system.
While all this may sound generic and while I may not have too much to really say about the game - what is most important to me is the fact that I can play it with my girlfriend.
We love games and we love playing them together, and the trend from couch multiplayer to single player online gaming is unfortunately here to stay. I don’t really play online games though, and would much rather be playing with someone on the couch next to me, and that may sound purist or whatever but man if that isn’t how I feel.
Words of advice for the game; don’t pay more than thirty dollars for it, and don’t play it alone.
- Kyle
Good Game Get! Bumpy Road
An iOS side scrolling/score-chaser at it’s core, Simogo’s Bumpy Road is a beautiful and wonderfully executed platformer with a heart and fantastic music. It’s simply controlled by one finger which you move along a musical xylophone-esque road to manipulate a couple in a car. You can make them speed up, slow down, and jump, by simply moving your finger along the bottom of the screen.
You collect score multipliers and cute memories that drive the simple but adorable story along, and that’s pretty much it, but it’s re-playability lies in it’s unique gameplay and “just one more try” addictiveness.
To put it straight forward, Bumpy Road is one of those touch screen games that helps solidify that pure touch screen gaming is relevant.
- Kyle
GOOD GAME GET! FINAL FANTASY XIII
To be frank - I haven’t beat Final Fantasy XIII yet, but I’ve played enough to recommend it for one reason alone.
Final Fantasy XIII is simple.
Yes it’s incredibly linear, yes the battle system is based on switching character classes more than actually fighting, yep you shop at the save point, yes you don’t have any NPCs to really talk to, and yes the characters mean nothing to me.
Yet I find the game aesthetically beautiful in it’s design, and it’s flow. It has the perfect pacing and is somehow engrossing despite it’s inability to appropriately tell a story with made-up words I could care less about.
It’s magic is found in it’s design - it really feels like an on-rails RPG and I’m finding out more and more that I really don’t care about exploration, hidden things, side-quests, and whatever. It’s a path > battle > cut scene > path > battle > battle > path > save point > cut scene > battle formula but it’s just enough for me.
All the negative stuff you’ve heard about Final Fantasy XIII is what makes it such a great game to me.
Final Fantasy XIII is the minimalist’s Final Fantasy, and how perfect that is.
- Kyle
Good Game Get! League of Evil
Platforming using exclusively touch screen controls has been a mixed bag for me, and mostly I haven’t liked it. League of Evil is truly one of the only games on the iPhone that does it perfectly, or at least the best it can on a touch screen.
League of Evil is about this dude who is rad, who has been appointed by some dudes to kill some evil scientist dudes while staying alive and killing other dudes along the way.
We’re talking like chopping off their big ol’ scientist “i’m smarter than you” head to complete a level. It’s awesome, and a pretty satisfying way to reach a goal.
Gratification.
I buy and try a lot of iPhone apps and games, and sometimes they don’t keep my attention for very long, but League of Evil has done a phenomenal job of keeping me coming back. It has short difficult levels with insta-death that is very similar to Super Meat Boy, but unlike Team Meat and their childish hatred of the App Store, Ravenous Games have embraced iOS and really perfected smart and tight platforming controls on the device.
Plus it’s only 99¢ and I feel kind of guilty only paying that little for it. It’s that good.
- Kyle