While the overall concept of Kaloki Adventure was first proven with the Xbox 360 version, the translation to iPhone is both rewarding and at the same time, disappointing. The game is well made, strategically speaking. You play through 14 levels attempting to manage your resources and money to build a better space station and keep your intergalactic customers happy. Managing energy resources, intelligence resources and building trading posts and lemonade stands will keep you hopping as you try to work through each level successfully. There are also six bonus scenarios with the promise of more to come. 

The gameplay in Kaloki Adventure is well suited to this type of game and makes a good mobile title. The user interface consists of nothing more than watching your information windows and adjusting things accordingly by simply tapping to access the building and management tools. As your money grows, you must continue to expand until meeting the objectives for each level.

While Kaloki Adventure is an optimum tycoon/resource management game and is available for a decent price, the stability that was supposed to be addressed in the recent update remains a problem as far as I can see. While some users complained that the auto-save feature doesn’t work – and it didn’t for me– the manual save option caused my game to spontaneously close and then restart the level I had just completed. Regardless, it seems clear that the developer, NinjaBee,  is intent on standing behind their release and so I am hopeful that the stability issues will be resolved. Once this is the case, Kaloki Adventure should prove a worthwhile addition to the games available for iPhone. In the mean time, you can always check out Kaloki Free, which provides users with limited levels and brief ads.

• app_name: Kaloki Adventure
• rating: 8/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | The Kaloki Universe is Brought to iPhone With Kaloki Adventure | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

The Sims

As ever, your goal is to sensibly and reliably raise the quality of life for yourself and your surroundings. You do everything from feeding yourself, paving roads, to building a library and, yes, procreating. You can manage your characters’ lives in a saintly way, or let them run autonomously, and perhaps devilishly kicking over a garbage can. On a day off, take them fishing or shopping for clothes.

You can manipulate the lives of your Sims using touch and accelerometer controls while exploring the 3D neighborhood.

As with other Sims titles – and they’re on every platform imaginable – you can customize your Sims’ looks, personalities and life styles. Give them green eyes. Cover their heads in blond curls or have your Sims sport a Mohawk haircut. You can make them neurotic, witty or outgoing (my Sim is both shy and an idiot).

The graphics and game-play time of the Sims franchise is well established and The Sims 3 for iPhone and iPod touch is no different. There are endless hours of entertainment packed into the handheld version (and desktop and console platforms too, of course).

Not unlike SimCity, this game is memory intensive. Restart your device before playing and hope the game doesn’t crash at an inopportune time.

What’s remarkable is how EA has been able to shoehorn a game of this complexity into an iPhone and iPod touch app. The navigation is excellent – intuitive and easy to follow.

Oddly, The Sims 3’s navigation reminds me of Slingmedia’s SlingPlayer for iPhone app, which is complex in another way but with a user interface that does a remarkable job with a complex application.

• app_name: The Sims 3
• rating: 8/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | The Sims 3 Continues Living La Vida Loca | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

World Cup Ping Pong

The World Cup Ping Pong app from Skyworks is an excellent simulation of playing real ping pong. Just like the real game, you do not need athletic ability to excel at World Cup Ping Pong, just good hand-eye coordination.

One of the best features of World Cup Ping Pong is that you have a choice of paddles with varying power and spin. The spin is realistic and a most effective tool for beating your opponent.

World Cup Ping Pong offers four different ways to play. In Practice Mode, you play against the iPhone, who also kicks ping pong butt. You play the iPhone in Tournament Mode, too, where I always seem to get eliminated in the first round. In Head-to-Head Mode, you can play against a friend, with each of you taking one side of the iPhone ping pong table. World Cup Ping Pong’s Arcade Mode is equivalent to hitting the ping pong ball off the garage door, with a few targets to make it challenging.

World Cup Ping Pong is hard – for those of you who did not go through a phase of playing ping pong like it was going out of style. Truth be told, I keep losing when I play against the iPhone. I’m human, so I make mistakes.  iPhones are less fallible. One tip: to move your paddle quickly, make sure both the surface of the iPhone screen and your fingers are squeaky clean.

I have only two complaints about World Cup Ping Pong: sometimes you hit the ball over the net but your opponent gets the point. I think it is because you are hitting the net, but there is no indication from World Cup Ping Pong. If you are playing fast enough, it is easy to miss the little details and I would love to know exactly how I screwed up.

My other issue with World Cup Ping Pong is what the heck is a Service Break and why do we need to take one every few points? It breaks my stride and makes me crazy. Skyworks, please get rid of the Service Break in future updates.

Maybe I won my gym class ping pong tournament in 1988 not because I was that good, but because everyone else was worse than me. With World Cup Ping Pong, I aim to see just how good of a ping pong player I can be. World Cup Ping Pong is currently on sale for 99 cents.

• app_name: World Cup Ping Pong
• rating: 9/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Kick Some Butt with World Cup Ping Pong | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Bowman can succinctly be described as a game that pits two archers against each other to the very end. Archers are randomly placed on a two-dimensional plane to start the battle. Because it’s not immediately clear where you need to fire initially, finding the spot of your opposition requires a bit of a trial and error approach. The first archer to lace the other one with enough arrows to register a kill, wins. Though the majority of attacks register the same, attacking an archer in the body and head does more damage. At the end of a battle, you’re taken to the main menu where you can do it all over again (against the CPU or a friend on the same iPhone).

Shooting arrows in Bowman is straightforward. Touching the screen readies your archer to fire. By pulling back and angling up or down with your finger, you have unlimited options to fire with the trajectory and strength you want to. Upon lifting your finger, your arrow gets fired off. As a cool and helpful measure, you get a numerical value that corresponds to the precise angle you’re shooting at making it painless to replicate your approach. You will not have any issues with the control here.

The presentation found in Bowman closely mirrors the stylish and minimalist treatment applied to the original game. Backgrounds use a nice looking orange to blue gradient along with some subtle design touches like rocks and shrubs on the ground. Archers are black silhouettes and drops of blood come out of them when hit by arrows. You will not see anything here that comes close to taxing the iPhone’s hardware, but it looks good enough.

Though Bowman is a port, it includes a well done additional mode that’s a good time waster. Bird Hunting is a timed mode that fills the sky with a bunch birds that need to be shot down. With a sky full of birds to shoot, it’s easily my favorite mode of the game.

If Bowman has an Achilles heel, it would have to be that there’s no online functionality, (e.g.  leaderboards, Facebook Connect, local or Wi-Fi multi-player etc.) gameplay variety, and the record keeping for the two gameplay modes are lackluster. Some of these shortcomings will be addressed with a new update (and a higher price point…) soon, so if you’re remotely interested, you may want to grab this now while it’s still a buck. Bowman’s a good game that’s only going to get better once Lentrica Software realizes its full vision.

• app_name: Bowman
• rating: 7/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Bowman Is An Enjoyable Work In Progress | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Pet Pals, created by Sparebytes.com, is a really cute, highly interactive virtual pet application. Players can have three pets at a time — choose from a dog, a cat, a bunny, a penguin or even a pet rock (in case you couldn’t guess, the rock is the easiest pet to care for), give them names and get ready to start taking care of your new virtual friend.

Pet Pals pets have an assortment of needs — food, hygiene, grooming, health, etc. In order to keep your pet happy and healthy, you must provide them with a good diet, give them toys to play with, keep their area clean and just generally keep track of their needs and try to do what they want. The store has a ton of different foods, toys and hygiene products, ranging from simple things like a bowl of kibble and a tennis ball to fancier items like ice cream sundaes and electric guitars.

In order to shop at the Pet Pals store, of course, you’ll need money. There are several ways to earn money. First of all, as you train your pet, there are various milestones and achievements along the way, and most of those will result in some kind of cash bonus. (There’s a list here.) Throughout play, also, little messages will pop up on your screen. “Dublin [my virtual pup] wants to play with the log,” for instance. You’ll have a set amount of time to get him the log from the shop, and if you do it in time, you’ll get a cash reward and improve his happiness. (That being said, sometimes the item a pet wants is more expensive than the reward. Can’t win ‘em all!)

However, if you’re not achieving quite as fast as you’d like, Pet Pals also offers three mini-games in which you can earn cash. One is called Highs & Lows — there’s a number onscreen and you must guess if the number your pet is thinking of is higher or lower. There’s also Sledding, which is self-explanatory, and Slots, which is also exactly what the name implies. While none of these mini-games are super enthralling, they’re fun enough that earning money to care for your pet never feels like a chore.

The graphics and animation are really cute throughout Pet Pals, and the stability for me has been excellent.

While it seems difficult to actually kill your pets (I’m not sure if they even can die in Pet Pals and I certainly wasn’t going to try to kill my pup), if you ignore them for a day or two, you’ll definitely be greeted by a dirty, unhappy critter when you finally get around to checking on them. If you prefer something more low-maintenance, you may want to check out iFluff, but if you prefer a virtual pet that’s more interactive, Pet Pals is a lot of fun.

• app_name: Pet Pals
• rating: 9/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Pet Pals: Plenty of Bark For Your Bucks | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Probably the first thing you need to know about Bike or Die 2 – Physics Bike Simulator by Chillingo (other than that, obviously, it’s nothing like Paperboy) is that it’s hard! It’s entirely possible my fine motor skills just aren’t up to par, but wow, Bike or Die 2 gets tough, and it does so fairly quickly. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is probably up to individual users. It certainly should add to the replay value, but it can also get frustrating. I actually thought I was missing something when I played a particular level 30+ times without beating it; then I did a bit of looking around online and realized no, it’s supposed to be this tough!

Luckily, Bike or Die 2 – Physics Bike Simulator begins with several introductory levels that feature tips, tricks and hints, as well as a “ghost bike” to help players see exactly what they need to do to clear the level. In order to clear a given level in Bike or Die 2, players must collect all the flags on that course and/or make it to the finish line. The trouble is that your bike is…a little delicate, we’ll say, so a wrong landing, too much speed, or just about anything can easily result in taking a spill to the ground, which results in your poor rider’s blood spattering all over the place. Ouch!

Despite my personal difficulties, Bike or Die 2 has a lot to offer. There are over 2500 levels (that’s right, two zeros; not a typo!), exciting gameplay and an online Hall of Fame where players can watch videos of top games. The graphics are well-done, the music feels just right…there’s an awful lot to like about Bike or Die 2, and it’s the sort of game that no matter how tough a level may be, you find yourself trying again and again to make it through.

There’s a free lite version of Bike or Die 2 that you might want to check out before spending $7 on the full version. Also, here’s a demo video that gives a decent idea of what gameplay is like:

• app_name: Bike or Die 2
• rating: 8/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Bike or Die 2: The Answer is Bike AND Die, it Appears | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

I’ll admit, I haven’t had much experience in turn based strategy games in the vein of what’s found here, but I’m always up for trying something new. So with that disclosure of my perspective, here are my two cents.

The premise of Lux DLx is easy to grasp. In basic terms, your goal is to defeat opposing armies to grab the areas that they occupy. When you occupy all areas of the map/battlefield, you win the game. Armies —from two to six, depending on your preference — are equally split up all over the map at the beginning of the game.

This turn-based game requires you to position the territories you already own and fill them with troops. After you’ve allocated your troops, you have options to attack other armies or stockpile troops in preparation for a big assault later on. Battles are determined by which area has the most troops. For example, if an army occupying an area with 8 soldiers attacks an area with 7 soldiers, the army with 8 soldiers would win. Lux DLX gets really crazy with five or six armies going at it, so you may want to limit your initial games to a smaller group of armies until you’re confident you get what’s going on. Lux DLX has five maps that are pre-installed, but there are dozens of additional maps that are free for download straight through the application.

Gameplay is generally smooth and the help section does a good job of laying out the basics. Touching an area selects your army, and sliding onto an area occupied by another army triggers an attack. A handy little window provides particulars giving a view of what army is controlling the map/battlefield. I experienced some lag and hang ups when trying to select my units, but the issues were few and far in between.

Multiplayer action is available in Lux DLX, but only via the same iPhone. It works okay, but it’s no substitute for real multiplayer action via Wi-Fi. For an application priced at $8, it’s a glaring omission that will hopefully be addressed in further updates.

The graphics and sound in Lux DLX are merely adequate when compared to other games on the iPhone. The maps are colorful and interesting, but the sound effects and animations are rather basic. That being said, this isn’t the kind of game that sinks or swims based on bells and whistles; it’s all about the gameplay.

In addition to adding more robust multiplayer functionality, there is one other thing that this game is noticeably lacking from my perspective. Some type of campaign-oriented mode would be a welcome addition. While playing maps on a one-off basis is satisfying, it would be great to tackle maps while getting absorbed in an interesting story providing context for the warfare.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with Lux DLX. There are countless ways to approach conquering the battlefield, and I can see fans of strategy oriented games losing many hours of their lives playing through the wide variety of maps that are available. If $8 seems a little steep to you (I get it, we’re in a recession…), feel free to check out Sillysoft’s free Lux Touch as it’ll give you a small taste for what you’ll see in Lux DLX.

• app_name: Lux DLX
• rating: 7/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Lux DLX: Risk Lovers Can Battle On to Dominate | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Virtual Villagers 2: The Lost Children is rather complex, and I highly recommend turning on the tutorial tips when you begin playing (you’ll be asked if you want them when you start the game). The tutorial period is relatively brief, but informative, and trust me, you’ll want to be informed. While the Virtual Villagers is fun, not everything is completely intuitive, so the tutorial should get you off to a decent start.

The game controls are pretty easy — you simply drag and drop villagers where you want them to go. As the Virtual Villagers 2 progresses, there are more options for actions. Adults can learn to build, heal, farm, cook and a plethora of other activities. While children don’t work, they are the only ones who can spot and collect various little baubles and special items around the island, so everyone in Virtual Villagers 2 has something to contribute.

One of the interesting features of Virtual Villagers 2: The Lost Children is that the game is in “real-time”; even when you don’t have the game open on your iPhone/iPod touch, your little villagers are still living life, eating, working, etc. So while you don’t have to have the game open 24/7, you probably will want to check in at least somewhat frequently so that you don’t open the game one day to find that all of your little minions have died of starvation!

Overall, I think Virtual Villagers 2: The Lost Children is a pretty impressive game. The graphics are terrific and it seems as if it’s the sort of game that will provide many hours of entertainment. However, it’s not without its faults, and the biggest problem is that 95% of the time, it crashes when I open it. Usually if I re-open it a second time it’ll work, and once the game is running I haven’t had any crashes, but the crash upon opening it gets old, quickly. With any luck, this bug will be resolved soon and it won’t be an issue any longer.

While there’s no free or “lite” version of Virtual Villagers 2: The Lost Children for iPhone, there are PC and Mac trial versions available at the Last Day of Work website.

Watch a demonstration:

If you’re looking to play god without all the responsibility of work and “real life” then try Pocket God, a similarly-themed app that puts you in control over a group of islanders.

• app_name: Virtual Villagers 2: The Lost Children
• rating: 7/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Virtual Villagers 2: The Lost Children | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Ride along with the wee aliens in this 3D platform game and help them navigate over obstacles such as cereal boxes, books, bookshelves and other obstacles to collect a variety of stuff ranging from cherries to clothes pins.

I’m not sure to what purpose, say, a golf ball is to a tiny alien, but there you have it. I also found the banjo-plucking, country-music soundtrack a bit odd but I admit that it’s engaging.

Space Bikers has three modes: play, quick race and mini-games. You need to complete the play mode before the other modes will unlock.

The physics of Space Bikers are good, although they’re a bit soft for me (not as responsive as I would like). The riders bounce around, slide and fold up like rag dolls when they fall and their vehicles are like that too. I encountered one bug: The rider was able to travel along a shelf with one wheel on top of a shelf and rider and the rest of bike hanging underneath.

You can control your speed to vary the vehicle’s trajectory over jumps and the angle at which it lands. Land with the nose down and you’ll do a face plant; land with the nose too far up and the vehicle will fall back on top of you.

Space Bikers has buttons to control the vehicle’s direction, speed, braking and pitch as you navigate up and over obstacles. You also have the option of using the accelerometer to control the vehicle’s pitch instead of buttons and I found motion control was far easier. One nice feature: You can move the buttons around the screen to place them wherever you might find them more intuitive.

Last, the graphics in Space Bikers are a mixed bag. Some objects are well rendered, others are a bit blocky, but overall, it’s not bad looking.

Chillingo has put an introductory price of $0.99 on Space Bikers, which makes it a very good value compared to similarly price 3D platformers. The regular price is $2.99, which will probably come with the next update, which will include a fourth rider and additional levels.

Check Space Bikers out on YouTube:

• app_name: Space Bikers
• rating: 8/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Tiny Space Bikers Ride to Rebuild their Space Ship | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!

Having played both the DS version and now the iPhone one, I can say it is essentially the same game on both. Cooking Mama translates well to the iPhone, though I personally prefer the DS version for the use of the stylus over the touch interface of the iPhone. However, Cooking Mama on the iPhone takes advantage of touch, shake, and tilt, which does add some differences and makes certain tasks, such as melting butter in a pan, more realistic.

To give a brief overview of Cooking Mama, users choose from available recipes and follow a recipe step by step by executing certain cooking tasks such as chopping, slicing, stirring, and frying. Depending on how well you follow the recipe and execute the tasks, Mama, a friendly, anime-style gal in an apron and bandanna, will award you one of three medals — bronze, silver, or gold. If you are successful at each recipe, a new recipe will become unlocked.

The iPhone version of Cooking Mama features two modes of play — Let’s Cook and Cooking Contest. The former mode is the basic game of completing and unlocking recipes and the latter is a mode where you can practice individual cooking tasks previously completed in Let’s Cook mode and try to beat your best records.

While Cooking Mama for the iPhone achieves the same basic game play, displays the same cartoon graphics, and uses a touch interface similar to the DS, the iPhone version is much shorter. There are only 15 recipes available, which is far less than the original, but a few of them are new for iPhone. Perhaps a future update will install additional recipes, which would definitely enhance replay value.

I would recommend this app only if you’ve played Cooking Mama before, but don’t already own it for a different platform, or if you’ve never tried it and are looking for some good cooking mini-games. After all, it’s a pretty hefty price for such a short-lived game, but Cooking Mama is still a fair bit of fun.

• app_name: Cooking Mama
• rating: 8/10

© AppCraver, 2009. | Cooking Mama Comes to iPhone | Get our iPhone Reviews on Facebook & Twitter!