AeroDrift [Seven Only] - $2.99

Side-Scrolling Racers seem to really have taken off over the last year or so. Bike Baron, DynaStunts, Flip Riders, Speed Blazers, Dream Track Nation, Pocket Trucks, Mad Skills and many others have definitely taken advantage of this. Another title that’s really stood out and offered up some fantastic developer support as well as an immense amount of challenge and replay value is jAggy Race. Released September of last year, jAggy Race has gone through a couple of updates, but none have been as huge as the most recent Version 2.0. jAggy Race is now AeroDrift and also contains quite a few new features, levels, characters and even gameplay options. Developed by SevenOnly, AeroDrift incorporates quite a bit of platforming in with it’s great level design, awesome gravity/physics system and hardcore reflex testing challenging gameplay. 

Originally, jAggy Race included 5 tutorial levels, 15 official levels spread across 3 worlds, each including an extra bonus level. With the AeroDrift update, the game now contains an extra bonus level for the tutorial levels, which has been re-named, making it another world instead of tutorial stages and 2 more worlds with an added 12 levels, bringing the total number of stages up to 36 across 6 worlds. Also, instead of just having jAggy as a racer, you’re able to choose between 8 total racers, each having their own unique look and kart, though no special stats are assigned to them. 

The controls are great, and once you get use to them, they fit the game exceptionally well. You’re given buttons for forward and backwards movement, one in each corner of the lower part of the screen. If you press both it acts as a break, which can also be used in the air. Above both of the movement buttons is a jump button. There is locked jumping height, but that does not really have an effect on the gameplay, especially once you learn how to successfully use the break in mid-air. There is a setting in the options menu which lets you set the transparency of the controls as well, but they are not adjustable. Along with the buttons, you’re able to tilt your device to rotate your racer. This is extremely helpful when using the gravity/physics of the game to slingshot your racer around corners, or when trying to land at a specific angle in order to keep up your speed after a jump. The tilt controls are only accessible in the Pro Mode, which you can enable in the Options Menu. If you do not select Pro Mode, your racer will rotate automatically, and there will be no tilt controls active.

Throughout each track, you’ll be able to whip around corners, using the game’s physics engine to help get to finish line quicker. You’ll also come across lasers which require you to make some pretty tight turns and jumps, as well as saws that both stay in place and move and barriers which you’ll need to jump over, or hit and bounce off of in order to reach other sections of the track. The twists and turns will challenge your reflexes, making you utilize all of the control inputs, and some jumps even make you land and keep racing, but in reverse. Timing is everything, and learning when the best times are to break, jump, and accelerate will be needed in order to complete the stages quickly.

Each stage has a possible 3 star ranking which is time based. There are also 2 sheep medals which you’ll be able to try and grab, one for hitting all of the sheep in a stage and completing the race before time runs out, which is a red sheep medal, and another for missing all of the sheep in a stage and completing the race with a 3 star time, which is the green sheep medal. With the placement of the sheep throughout the levels, both sheep medals provide an insane challenge. This does, however, help add immensely to the replay value, which is already insanely high because of the GameCenter leaderboards and achievements.

Right now, there are 23 leaderboards, one for each of the 23 original stages, each for best time. Unfortunately, there are no boards, and no room in GameCenter for all of the newer stages, and unless Seven Only wants to add a total time board for each of the 2 new worlds, I don’t think we’ll see them add to it. However, the leaderboards that are there, like other games that have boards for separate levels, Mikey Shorts immediately pops into mind, adds a crazy amount of replay value, giving gamers the opportunity to perfect their times and move up the leaderboards a tenth of a second at a time. On top of the 23 boards, there’s also a whopping 52 achievements, most of which will take quite a bit of playing and replaying in order to unlock. The developers have added more leaderboards and achievements, but unfortunately they aren't available due to an issue with GameCenter.

Graphically, AeroDrift is fantastic. You’re able to pick between two view types, Easy Camera, which shows a larger portion of the levels, and looks at the track in more of a 2D fashion. When Easy Camera is not enabled, you will still have a view from the side, but also slightly behind your racer, giving the game a 2.5D view. Both have their own advantages and view-distance, so there is no real perk to viewing the game one way over the other. The environments are very well crafted, with great backgrounds and color pallets distinguishing each world from the others.

Seven Only has done a fantastic job creating one of the most complex and challenging side-scrolling platform racers available for the iOS. Priced at $2.99, but currently on sale for $0.99, and being Universal with GameCenter scoreboard tracking supporting data transferring, it’s definitely a title you should pick up if you’re a fan of these types of racers. Even if you’re not really a racing fanatic, AeroDrift includes some very interesting gameplay that could very well make you a fan of the genre. AeroDrift is a game that all iOS gamers should grab, and will always remain on my devices, being one of my personal favorites on the platform.

**Note; thank you to Seven Only for contacting me, and posting here on the review, about some mis-information regarding the sheep medals, GameCenter boards+achievements and saved data. This review has been revised.

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Super Monsters Ate My Condo [PikPok + Adult Swim] - $0.99

One of my, and many others, favorite iOS game, Monsters Ate My Condo, just received a sort of sequel, titled Super Monsters Ate My Condo, done by PikPok, the same team that brought us the original. However, feelings are mixed when it comes to the Super version. Some people think it should have been an update to the original, others, plain out free, as it’s treated like a freemium title, while others love it and it’s timed gameplay. Hopefully, we’ll be able to help you decide whether or not to pick this one up.

Diving right on in, Super MAMC displays quite a few differences from the original, and while the core gameplay is the same, these differences do make it a completely new experience. Personally, I don’t think it would have worked as an update to the original. Scores would need to be reset, gameplay would be strange going back and forth, and the addition of the power-up/coin system just doesn’t fit in next to the original. 

The first thing you might notice? SMAMC contains a shop. Here, you’ll be able to purchase a coin doubler, coins, and 3 hats for each of the 4 monsters found in the game. Each hat does the same thing, adds a +3 multiplier to that monsters scoring system, and this is stackable, meaning that if you purchase two hats, the multiplier goes up to +6. The coin doubler is priced at $1.99, and there’s packs of coins set at $1.99 (20,000), $2.99 (50,000), $4.99 (130,000), $9.99 (300,000) and $24.99 (1,000,000). Sadly, these coins are also used to purchase boosters before every game which can drastically alter your score, with the more powerful boosters costing upwards of 2,000-3,000 coins. That’s not to say that you can’t score big without them, just that you’d probably be able to score even bigger if you had used them, leaving the top scores on the board for those that either grind for coins, or purchase them through IAPs, which, in an insanely high-scoring game like MAMC, is really a big no-no. 

The second big thing you’ll notice. The 2 minute time-limit. SMAMC has one gameplay mode, and it’s timed. Now, I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, in fact, I love that games are a lot shorter now. Chances are, if you really got into the original, games could last upwards of 1 or 2 hours depending on how careless/quick you got flicking condos left and right. With SMAMC, that frantic, action packed gameplay is all stuffed into one 2 minute game. You are able to extend this with the Time Booster, at the end of the game on the item wheel, and by matching clocks, all of which we’ll get to in a sec, but basically, each game will be between 2 and 5 (if you’re lucky) minutes. 

Now, the boosters. There are 10 boosters total which will be unlocked in packs of 3, with the last one unlocked by itself, as you complete sets of objectives and level up. The first 3 are; Double Start, which activates the green monster’s power for the first 30 seconds of a game, Boost Start, which makes the yellow monster’s 10x score multiplier active for the first 20 seconds of a game and Extra Time, which adds 30 seconds to the clock. Next, you’ll unlock Starting Cat, which starts you off with a cat condo somewhere in the beginning of the tower, Slow Chain, which gives you twice as long to make matches and build a chain and Multiplier +10, which, you guessed it, starts you off with an added 10 points on your beginning multiplier. The last 4 boosts are some of the most powerful in the game; Mega Boost, which activates the yellow monster’s power up (x10 multiplier) for the first 15 seconds of every Mega Zone (3 diamonds matched) you enter. Double Good gives you 2x the Piggy Banks, Clocks and Multipliers for the first 30 seconds of a game. We’ll get more into the banks and clocks next. The last power-up you’ll unlock is the Starting Dog. This power-up is the most expensive, but boosts upgrades like Cats, and can be fed to a monster when you want to activate two monster’s powers at once. 

You’re able to select 3 boosters before every game, and once you either complete the game, or once your tower crumbles. Whether it takes you 3 seconds or the full 2 minutes (or longer), the boosters are gone at the end of the game, and you’ll need to purchase them again in the next game if you want to use them. 

The new condos are all great. I have to admit that I didn’t expect them to have such a drastic effect on gameplay, but they really do. Each new condo can be removed by matching condos around it, with them either in the center, or on the edges of the match. First off, there’s two new pink condos. One is a pig, which is a Piggy Bank, giving you one coin for each condo in the match, while the other is a Clock, adding on one second for each condo that‘s in the match, or you can feed the clock to a monster to add 1 second to your timer. If you manage to match up 3 Banks or Clocks, or a mix of both, you’ll earn a Multiplier Condo. This multiplier condo adds a multiplier of 1 for each condo that you match around it, or can be fed to a monster to add 1 to your multiplier. There’s also Nukes, starting with a timer set at 10, if you don’t destroy these before they hit 0, they’ll blow up your whole tower, and result in a game over. Acid condos are also included, starting with a counter at 5, they count down to 0 and, if not destroyed by then, melt the condo under them. Once they melt a condo, the timer sets back at 5, and counts down again. These can eat through a whole tower if you let them. Both the Nuke and Acid condos timers can be reset if you power up the red monster. 

Another addition to the game is the ability to match condos between Bronze, Silver and Gold condos, no matter how long it’s been since they were created. In the original MAMC, you could only do this for a short period of time after the Bronze, Silver or Gold condos were created and appeared slightly transparent. In Super MAMC, you are ALWAYS able to have one of them in between condos, and make a match. This allows for some seriously large matches, especially once you throw in all the new and original (red, green, yellow, blue, concrete, bombs, cats, diamonds) condos found throughout the game. 

At the end of each game, you’re able to spin a wheel which can get you an additional 15 or 30 seconds of gameplay (if this is won, you will not spin again after those 15/30 seconds), extra coins (which are also doubled by the coin doubler), a random free booster your next game, 2X coins your next game, or nothing at all. If you win a free booster or 2X coins, you must play a game after that for it to be active. If you exit the game and restart it later, the free boost or 2X coins will no longer be available/active. 

The last addition is the inclusion of Events. For a heafty price (10,000 coins) you can play one game in Oriental Mode which increases the speed of everything, gives you a 10x multiplier along with a +5 multiplier for every 5 condos and bad condos count down quicker, all set in an oriental theme. Getting this option is random, and you never know when it'll pop up. If you don't have 10,000 coins, you won't be able to experience it, but it can definitely have a huge impact on your final score if you do. 

With the introduction of the coin/booster system, Super Monsters Ate My Condo really does feel more like a freemium game that pushes gamers towards purchasing more coins via IAP in order to score big, which, let’s face it, is what MAMC is all about. It’s incredibly sad to see such an outstanding developer like PikPok take this direction, but hopefully their next game won’t follow suit. For $0.99, it’s definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of the original, and would like to see what new condos and boosters can add to the gameplay. There is a certain amount of strategy in choose which boosters to play with, depending on how you play the game, and yes, there is a set of boosters here for everyone. Being Universal and including seamless iCloud support make Super MAMC even easier to recommend, but it’s still very hard to look past the fact that gamers can basically purchase their way onto the leaderboards. If the Time-Limit Mode in the original and lite versions of MAMC is something you enjoy quite a bit, Super MAMC will probably be right up your ally. But if having extremely expensive permanent boosters which you could turn on or off, and a separate leaderboard for gamers who don’t use boosters were included in this sequel, it would have been a must own game for everyone. 

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Inferno+ [Radiangames] - $2.99

Radiangames has definitely made a huge splash in the AppStore with their previous releases of Super Crossfire, Fireball SE, and Ballistic SE. Earlier this week, their newest release, Inferno+, hit the AppStore, and as you might have expected, it’s one hell of a game. 

Originally released on XBOX Live like their previous titles, this enhanced version of Inferno includes 40 levels, multiple upgrades, 3 difficulty levels along with a special New Game+ difficulty, 20 Game Center achievements, Retina Support for the new iPad and iCloud saving. 

Unlike Radiangames past releases, Inferno+ is not a high-score chasing game. Instead, it’s centered around exploration, blasting away hoards of enemies and upgrading your ship. Granted, Super Crossfire, Fireball and Ballistic were all about blasting away enemies and upgrading your ship, but none of them included the exploration aspect, and considering this is the first title by Radiangames that includes exploration as a main gameplay aspect, they’ve done a fantastic job building Inferno+ around it. 

While you’re blasting enemies, you’ll be searching around each of the levels trying to find all of the orbs, keys, bombs, and hidden areas. The orbs are used to unlock upgrades and purchase items like extra drones which follow close behind you, and help destroy the enemies, bombs, which take out screens full of enemies, and keys, which unlock areas of the levels that are behind impassable boarders. 

You will need to collect all of the bombs you can because there are some enemies which require a bomb to take them out. There are also black holes which can only be dealt with either by completely avoiding them, or blowing them up. There’s also a shield power which you can upgrade with electricity, allowing for you to damage enemies while using your shield. In the later levels, switching between your shot and shield will be a maneuver you’ll need to get comfortable with in order to get through the game. 

Adding to the excitement and overall feel of progression, every 10 levels will take you to a boss battle. These boss battles can get very hectic, and are some of the most exciting sections of the entire game. It is kind of upsetting that you can’t go back and replay previously beaten levels, because these boss battles would get loads and loads of gameplay out of me.

There are also hidden areas which are behind the levels walls. In order to find these, you’ll need to either drag against the walls, or fire your shots directly at them. Your shots go through the holes in the walls, which can also be used to your advantage, as the enemies can not go through the holes in the walls. There are some holes which only open up after you reach a certain area of the level, and some which will close behind you after you’ve entered them, letting you only go through them once. 

Also hidden throughout the game are special bonus levels. These can usually only be found by using extra keys picked up throughout the game, or purchased from the shop area. These bonus levels give you 30 seconds to make your way through a level, picking up as many orbs and bombs as you can. 

The graphics in Inferno+ are very similar to Ballistic and Fireball, with loads of circular enemies, each distinguishable by their colors. The levels are also designed with neon boarders, and the animations for explosions are also very similar to those found in Fireball and Ballistic, only not as extravagant. The controls allow for a static and dynamic control stick as well as switching the move and fire arrangement. There are also sensitivity settings and you can set the joysticks and bomb and shield buttons anywhere on the screen, which is a fantastic addition. On top of this, you can also use the Joypad application and use another device as your controller. 

Even though there’s no scoring system, and no GameCenter leaderboard, I think Inferno+ might just be my favorite game from Radiangames. If there was a scoring system alongside the gameplay, Inferno+ would blow Radiangames previous titles, as well as loads of other dual stick space shooters, out of the water. But the game centering around exploration and upgrades kind of makes up for the lack of a scoring system. With Inferno+ being priced at $2.99, being Universal, and developed by Radiangames, who are fantastic with player feedback, and with supporting their releases, it’s hard not to support a development team as responsive as they are. If you’re a fan of dual-stick shooters or exploration games, Inferno+ will be right up your ally. If you’ve already purchased Radiangames previous releases, you’ll pretty much know what you can expect with Inferno+, but if you’re new to Radiangames, this would be a fantastic title to get to know them with. Chances are, it’ll wind up on my top 10 games of 2012 list, and never leave my devices. 

You can also download the soundtrack from Radiangame's Bandcamp page

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