RACEOFF: A SIDE BY SIDE REVIEW; MAD SKILLS BMX vs. MOTOCROSS [TURBORILLA] - $0.99

Two games enter, one game leaves; or takes home the checkered flag; or gets your download or something like that..
Turborilla has just released a new entry to their 'Mad Skills' line up with 'Mad Skills BMX'. In playing this awesome new kid on the block racer, I couldn't help but compare with their previously released 'Mad Skills Motocross' title, and thought I would size them up against one another.
To be honest, I am not going to pick a 'winner' out of the two; just provide some similarities and differences, and pros/cons between the two as they are both two of my favorite games on my iPad and iPhone, as this genre has always been one to pique my interest out of all the craziness of titles that make up the AppStore.

 

Controls
Let's get the big one out of the way, the controls. Mad Skills MotoX provided buttons for throttle/brakes, an un-realistic 'jump' button (one of which, I almost never used and still faired quite well on each Division), and most importantly, buttons for lean. There were also options in MotoX for Tilt to lean, and configurable throttle button locations (left/right) and a exclusive option to move the entire control scheme to the center.
In BMX, you still have the option to move the pedaling from either the right/left side. The first thing I noticed was the 'Tilt to Lean' on/off radio buttons. When off, I guess I'm kinda 'slow' to pick it up, but the tilting was done by swiping in the direction you wanted to tilt. This was quite difficult to master, but by the time I was mid-way through the 'Intermediate' division, I had it nailed. You just have to swipe gently/forcefully to get the lean desired.

BMX does not have buttons for anything as it is entirely swiping. My first thought was, well, I didn't get it, considering how masterful their previous buttons worked on MotoX. The more I played with BMX's swiping method, the more it jived, and it works...awesome. The key is to not only swipe for the intended outcome, but hold your finger on the screen at the end of the swipe. You swipe down to gain speed on downslopes and to crank wheelies through whoops, swipe up to jump, and contrastingly down to come down quick once airborne. One essential thing for me was to really utilize that down swipe to gain speed on whoops and downslopes. Both games allow you to throwdown back/front flips, but with BMX, you do so by swiping sideways as opposed to hitting the lean buttons on MotoX.
Both BMX and MotoX have very different control schemes, and for their respective games, work perfect.

Graphics/Animations
BMX puts you on one of the bevy to choose from bmx bikes and has you pedaling and flipping through some of the more spot on physics I have come across on the genre. The realism is out of this world and the retina graphics support that feel as they are as lush and gorgeous as they come. Mad Skills MotoX has seen its share of updates, thankfully, and the graphics are not quite as gorgeous as found in BMX, but they are still top notch. When considering wipeouts, MotoX provides ragdoll crunching animations, where in BMX, the riders are a little more stiff. I see the BMX animations as being more realistic, but the MotoX crashes are probably more fun to admire.

Difficulty/Tracks/Bikes
Turborilla has perfected the ability to allow you to get good with their game progressively, and the difficulty curve is among the best I have seen in any games. In MotoX, there are five(5) divisions, with Division 5 being the easiest. The welcomed option found in MotoX is that they included both an 'Amateur' and 'Pro' difficulty settings, for all divisions, with the former designed for casual players, and the Pro settings for a little more challenge. In MotoX, your competitor could always be seen taking a nasty wipeout allowing you to crank past them with ease and take home the checkered flag. Not so in BMX. The Difficulty in BMX is stiff. Not overly stiff. This time, Turborilla labeled their divisions more accordingly with the first division titled 'Novice' and the last being 'Pro'. BMX however, does not include the option as found in MotoX, for amateur or PRO. This had me replaying some tracks several times over, as to progress to the next Division, you have to take at least 4 wins in your current division.

Another thing to note is that in MotoX, a separate 'Time attack' mode exists allowing you to race your previous time, and also includes a 'Replay' option in this mode so you can watch your race.
Both games also include the Reset button at the top of the screen, which immediately sends you back to the starting gate.

The tracks in both BMX and MotoX are superb, and ramp up in perfect correlation with your current division and stage/level in the division. The Tracks seemed longer in MotoX than in BMX, and even appear to take longer to complete, but maybe that is because that is true to life. BMX tracks are not long whereas MotoX tracks are the opposite. The obstacles you encounter are sick, and only getting more badass as you progress. What I found best about BMX's tracks was that there was not one perfect sequence to crank out through the jumps, as in MotoX I was typically hitting the same jumps or rolling over them similarly as I did on the first lap. BMX gave me more freedom to decide what I wanted to roll over, and what I wanted to huck off.
BMX comes with 40 tracks, with no options (currently of course) to purchase additional ones, whereas MotoX currently has 52 tracks in the game, 20+ free downloadable tracks, and a lot of purchase-able really cool and funky tracks as well, that are well worth the extra .99cents to unlock.
One thing I immediately noticed was that in MotoX your point of view/camera angle is a lot further out than as found in BMX, allowing you to see what's coming up a lot easier than in BMX as in BMX the camera is slightly more zoomed in.

Turborilla does a fantastic job in providing us with cool bikes to choose from, even if we have to pay for some of them. MotoX has 28 bikes, with 6 of them to choose for free, and the rest unlockable at .99cents each. BMX has 10 bikes, with 5 of them to choose for free. One of the funniest out of both games, was 'The Hound'  in BMX which looks like a dude in a Dog suit with an overgrown head. Too funny.

Both games are Universal, and are priced at a buck. Personally, I found the BMX to be slightly more difficult, and therefore more of a challenge and more engaging. The swipe controls take a bit to get used to, but really, it flows perfectly after only a few races. Turborilla has noted in their app description 'Tons of Updates to Come', (ie. GC achievements) and judging by the fact they updated MotoX just a few days ago, I know they have a lot of great things in store for us
Weighing all the things I noted, do yourself a favor; if you don't have MotoX yet, just buy them both! They play differently enough that you will be entertained by either for quite some time. I have had Mad Skill Motocross on both my devices since its release as it is just mad fun, and I know without question that BMX will remain as well.

Check out this Hilariously original Mad Skills BMX trailer below.

Mad Skills BMX Download

Mad Skills Motocross Download

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DMBX 2 - MOUNTAIN BIKE AND BMX - [RANDERLINE GMBH] - $1.99

3...2...1...Crank!! Oh man, those were the days. Growing up on both bmx and motocross 2-wheeled madness, when I saw the new DMBX2 hit the AppStore I was probably one of the first to hit the buy/install button. This is the second installment by Randerline gmbh and a very worthy upgrade.

'DMBX2 Mountain Bike and BMX' is a Universal, iCloud supported downhill racing game that has a equally entertaining trick challenge aspect as well. The graphics are gorgeous, the sense of speed is pretty good, and the crash animations are comical to behold (once you get past the fact you just wiped out of course) as they are spot on with your rider curling up in a ball as opposed to the typical ragdoll. The racing animations, and opponents expressions (i.e. the winner raising their hands as they cross finish line) are agreeable as well.

The contest comes with 3 types of challenges; time, race, and tricks. Each level also includes a training option as well, allowing you to pre-run the track, which is something that is true to life and a nice addition. The time challenges are just that, you against the clock. The races are pretty hectic with you taking your starting positions with a strong line-up, men and women, and all gunning it for the checkered flag after the proverbial countdown. The last type of adventure is the trick challenge. A variety of tricks are included, from the pretty commonly simple no-hander, to the sick 'superman'. The best part is that you can throw these moves out during the races and time challenges; when you are hovering in the air on a time challenge, even though it is all about time, it was pretty easy to throw out a slick move as immediately upon leaving earth the trick button set appears. The trick combos that you can put together are pretty awesome. Beating one type of challenge in a level will unlock the next level/stage.

DMBX2 includes 3 'worlds'; Highlands, Canyons, and the Mountains. The cool part is that these are not unlocked in a specific order allowing the rider to access any area as they desire. Each world has 4 levels, and each level contains all challenges. Add that up, and it is a somewhat limited 12 levels, but the replayability comes in beating your time and bettering your last point scores. The tracks definitely get more badass as you progress as the jumps get slammer, corners tighter, and the racers more aggressive. There is also a replay option, with a highly navigable interface, providing the speedster with the options to check out that sick trick you just barely and luckily landed. Another worthy extension is the ability to listen to your own playlist as you compete.

The interface is hit or miss depending on your platform. On the iPhone, tilt steering prevails, and you only need to depress the right side of the screen to crank, with the left side trick popup's. I enjoyed my time with this title on the iPhone, but I originally bought this game with the intention of playing it on the iPad. The same tilt steering options are included for the iPad, but there is also a fixed and floating joystick selection. Here's the problem with either; The fixed joystick find it's center in the far upper right of the screen, right under the time and trick displays. Quite odd. This would be the best option for the iPad if it weren't so strangely placed. That leaves you with the next option, the floating joystick. Once again, it's center is meant to be in the upper right as that is where it immediately appears, but you can depress the lower right (seems most natural placement for me) and the joystick will work there. The issue with this is that once you huck off a jump, you then need to start to re-pedal and that requires the user to take their thumb off of the screen, depress again, and then push forward. When you are in a race, milliseconds matter, so once again, this is not the best option. Keep in mind that this joystick also controls your steering. So, this is why I found myself enjoying this title on the iphone much more and was disappointed with the control scheme on the intentionally bought to be played on iPad.

If you are looking for a downhill mountain bike racing game with gorgeous graphics, sickbird tricks, and realistic animations, you may find what you are looking for in DMBX 2. If you plan to play on an iPhone, all the better, but if you plan to play on an iPad and are opposed to tilt, you may find yourself frustrated with the current control schemes. Hopefully, the developer will fix this thorn and players on all devices can enjoy this entertaining Downhill mounting biking and BMX diversion.

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Flick Tennis: College Wars HD- 3.99 (Rolocule)

The App Store has dozens of tennis related games, but I've yet to find that one tennis game that gives me a console feel experience. Well look no further Flick Tennis: College Wars HD [$3.99(iPad Only)] by Rolocule is the best tennis game I believe for the iPad. I'm no tennis buff, but I've played many tennis games on multiple consoles and iOS devices and this has to be the closest you'll get to a tennis console experience on an iOS device to date.  This game utilizes the iPad's big screen magnificently. The game combines tennis and a comic book adventure together. You get to play the role as a tennis prodigy who has to fight for his survival and become the best college tennis player. Throughout the 11 episodes, the story starts to evolve more. Once you begin an episode the comic book story appears. After reading it you're led into a match against an opponent who you must beat to complete the episode. The opponents get more difficult as you progress throughout each episode. Your opponents level type varies between beginner, amateur, and

professional. They also have certain types that they're better at. The different player types range from Defensive Baseliner, Aggressive Baseliner, Volleyer, and All Court Player. By now your probably wondering how the controls work in the game. Well the only control you need is your finger. All you have to do is swipe your finger to guide the ball. Different gestures can change how you hit the ball. For a basic ground stroke you use 1 finger to swipe up. To perform a slice you use 2 fingers and swipe up. Doing a drop hit all you have to do is swipe down with 1 finger. The last way to hit the ball is performing a lob by swiping down with two fingers. You can also move your player by tapping on the area of the screen that you want him to move to. If your not in the mood to play through the episodes then you can always create an exhibition match. You can customize the match type, how many sets, opponent difficulty, etc. At any time you can save any of your matches to come back to and play later. If you have a friend over you can start a head to head multiplayer match. This allows two

people to play the game at the same time (see image to the left). The bad part about it is no online multiplayer. So if you're by yourself you'll have to stick to creating an exhibition match. That's the only downer to the game. Hopefully GameCenter support will come with online multiplayer to go with it. One last thing, there's also a $1.99 in-app purchase to unlock all the episodes in the game at once. It's not required, but if you'd like to unlock all the episodes without beating them one by one you can do so. With all that said this was definitely one of the best tennis experiences that I've ever had on an iDevice. Overall the game has stunning visuals and is definitely worth every penny. My final rating is 5 out of 5 stars. If you have an iPad then this game is worth a look at. You can download Flick Tennis: College Wars HD [$3.99] for iPad here.

Gameplay: 

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DMBX- Mountain Biking -1.99 (randerline gmbh)

I don't know much about biking, but I've played multiple bike games on the App Store. It's hard to find that one biking game that gives you the ability to perform multiple tricks with simple controls and provides an overall great user experience. I believe that DMBX- Mountain Biking [$1.99(UNIVERSAL)] by randerline gmbh is that one game! I've never been able to find that one biking game that feels complete to me until this one popped up in the App Store. In this game you'll find 2 different modes, Quickplay and Career. In Quickplay your goal is to beat the given time limit to reach the finish line. Career Mode contains 10 different levels to play through. Each level has 3 different challenges to complete. The first challenge is Time. In the

time challenge your goal is to beat the given time limit to reach the finish line, just like the Quickplay mode. The second challenge is to collect the coins in the level. Collecting more and more coins allows you to acquire faster bikes and unlock brand new characters that have their own individual tricks and special abilities. The last challenge is the scoring. The more tricks performed here equals a bigger score. If you haven't played a Randerline game before then the controls might take a couple go-arounds to get use to. Your best bet is to NOT skip the tutorial in the beginning to learn all the basics in the game. Once you get the controls down the game will be a complete breeze. You'll have the time of your life soaring in the air doing tricks. I've only come across one

problem so far in the game. When I crashed the gameplay area turned completely black while the time clock still ran. All I had to do was restart the level. So far it hasn't happened to me again *knocks on wood*. I also feel that the game is missing two things that I would love to see implemented. A free play mode where you could freely ride and do tricks would be great and online multiplayer would be a beautiful addition. Overall this is a very well done game with captivating 3D environments and a great appeal to people of all ages. My final rating is 4 out of 5 stars. DMBX- Mountain Biking for $1.99 is a great price for a game with Universal support.

Trailer:

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Stickman BMX- 0.99

Have you ever heard of Stickman Skater? Sure you have! Well Stickman BMX [$0.99] is the sequel to the hit game Stickman Skater starring Stickson. If you have ever played the first game before and have wanted a sequel then this will most definitely live up to your expectations and more. There's 60 levels to play (4 level packs with 15 levels in each one). In each level you can earn 3 badges that you can receive after finishing each level. The first badge is No slam, that is when you don't crash at all. You get 5 lives per level. If you lose a life then you restart at your last checkpoint. If you lose all 5 lives then you have to replay the entire level all over again. The second badge is All Tokens, that is when you collect all the tokens in the air. The final badge is High Score, that is when you collect all the stars in the level. The controls in the game are pretty simple and very easy to get use to. To move the bike you have to keep tapping on the left side of the screen to put the bike in motion. To preform a random trick or jump all you have to do is tap on the button on the right side of the screen. If you're more of an advanced stickman player then you can change the right button in the options mode to manually do specific tricks yourself. Stickman

BMX also has multiple IAPs that you can purchase to enhance your experience. I know exactly what's going through your mind, "UGH. An IAP that I'll have to buy in a paid app". Here's the thing, you don't have to buy anything at all. All of this is optional if you just want to do more in the game. There's an option to change your ride into a skateboard if you'd prefer to play that way. There's another one called Race The Ace. This one is pretty nifty. In Race The Ace you get 30 all new tracks to play while racing the computer to the finish line. Now there's just one last IAP. The last IAP is if you'd like to unlock all the levels at once without playing each one separately trying to unlock them one at a time. With that all said, Stick

man BMX is a very well done sequel to the original. Every time you play a level you'll find different routes that you can go through to help you earn certain badges. My final rating is 7.5/10. With well designed levels and a sleek interface this is a must buy for any gamer. If you loved the original then you should definitely pick this one up. If you've never heard of the Stickman series before, but love challenging games with obstacles and tricks then this one is for you. If you're still not sure about the game then you can always try Stickman BMX Free [FREE] or just go download the full version Stickman BMX [$0.99] for a mere $0.99.

Trailer:

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Twirdie-0.99

Twitter is one of the fastest ways to tell the world that you are eating a bagel and also the fastest way you can see that your friends don't care.  In the app market no one has dared to make a game that harness' the power of Twitter except for the developers at Simple Machine. They decided to step out of the box and make a one-of-a-kind experience that combines two things, Golf and Twitter.  Twirdie is the result of this combination and is probably the only way to put those two things together successfully. 

The gameplay is simple and complex at the same time. At the bottom of the screen there is a text box where you type any word you can think of.  Once you do that the game checks Twitter for how many times that word has been used in a Tweet within the last 30 seconds.  Then your ball moves a certain distance according to how many times the word showed up in Tweets. To win a course you must get your ball to the end using the phrases and words you type in.  This brings a lot of strategy to the game because you are forced to think "Whats popular today?" or "People will probably be talking about lunch." If you enter a extremely popular topic that has enough tweets to push you past the goal then you have to restart from where you where before you typed it in.  The downside of this game is the fact that you can never be sure whether or not a word is popular.  Now this isn't all that bad but winning a game successfully under par depends a whole lot on luck.

There are only nine courses but its tough to beat a course under par so it will take you a while to beat all the courses.  After that there isn't much to keep you playing as there are no other modes but its fun to go back and play them again to see what is popular and rack your brain for what would be a good word to choose. It is not necessary to have a Twitter account to play or have any knowledge of golf at all.

 

Overall this is a quirky game that successfully utilizes a new and unique mechanic in a fun way.  It is definitely worth checking out if you have a obsession with Twitter,Golf, or having fun.

Link:http://itunes.apple.com/app/twirdie/id440559593?mt=8

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Flick Golf Extreme! - 2.99

Flick Golf Extreme! (by Full Fat) [$2.99] is the amazing sequel to the original Flick Golf [$0.99]. The theme of the original Flick Golf was just a normal golf setting. Now, with Flick Golf Extreme! you get to flick a golf ball out of a helicopter and over a canyon! Who wouldn't want the thrill of that? The game comes with 5 beautiful environments to play in, with simple controls. Just flick the ball where ever you want it to go to. While it's in the air you can swipe across the screen to move the ball. After it hits the ground, you can change the direction of where the ball's going before it bounces 3 times.

The game comes with three different modes: Quickshot, World Tour, and 5 Ball Challenge. In Quickshot mode your goal is to score as many points as possible within the given time limit. The target moves around, while the wind level increases gradually. You can achieve more time by getting extremely good shots. During the World Tour mode, you get nine shots on the course to score as many points as possible. After three shots the target moves farther away, while the wind increases. In the 5 Ball Challenge mode you get 5 balls to score as many points as you possibly can. Every ball that you get in the hole, you get to keep and flick again. These three modes definitely add to replay value of the game. The modes are fantastic, I would just like to see more levels (environments) added to the game in the near future. The thing that intrigues me most about the game is the stunning graphics. Everything just looks so amazing! I'm glad I've gotten the opportunity to play in these different environments in a game, because I highly doubt you'd ever catch me hitting a golf ball over a canyon someday.

  

If your not a major golf fan (like me) I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy this game. I truly have enjoyed it. If your looking for a new game that's easy to pick up and play then I recommend that you go check it out or you can go download the original Flick Golf if you're not sure, which is on sale at the moment for $0.99. Overall, the game has very simple controls, gorgeous 3D environments, and replay ability, that'll have you addicted to this little game for a while. My final rating is 8/10. A HD version for iPad is suppose to becoming soon according to Full Fat's twitter. Flick Golf Extreme! [$2.99] is out now with GameCenter support for iPhone and iPod Touch.

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