Rayman Jungle Run: Bite-sized review

It's hard to do platforming right on iOS. Touchscreen controls tend to make the intricate movements necessary for the genre difficult, rendering most attempts frustrating and imprecise. Rayman has successfully boiled down the core of the genre into a game that can be played with a single finger tap, yet feels no less interesting or challenging as a result. This is a magnificent use of a limited control scheme, and, especially considering the gorgeous art style, should quickly become a go to example for what gaming on iOS can do. Its relatively limited length will likely leave you wanting more, but this is mostly because what's there is so good. You won't see me complaining for the price. Don't be fooled by the relatively simple beginning. There is challenge in store for the platforming aficionado if you stick it out to the end. By mixing a little bit of Canabalt with proper console Rayman level design and art style, Ubisoft has created an iOS platformer worthy of its console brethren. My only criticism is that, as a new iPhone 5 owner, I'd love to see it support my new larger screen. I'm simply spoiled by my new toy though. Buy and enjoy.

The Great iOS Game Search: On A Tilt

I am simply convinced that Apple’s iOS platform has a lot of potential for great gaming experiences. The powerful hardware, responsive touchscreens, and gorgeous displays of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch are brimming with possibility. Unfortunately, the App Store is filled with shovelware and games that don’t do the OS justice. As such, I have decided to go on a search to find those digital diamonds in the rough that are not only great games, but are designed for the platform as well. 

On a Tilt perfectly exemplifies the difference between a good and a great game, only it winds up on the wrong side of the fence than the one it was probably aiming for.

The iOS App Store is filled with terrific titles that sell for next to nothing, yet manage to squeeze admirable amounts of creativity and fun out of simple ideas. On the surface, On a Tilt sounds like it might fit right in. The game presents you with four bars on screen, two horizontal and two vertical. In each bar is a tiny strip that is controlled by tilting the device. As each pair of bars (one vertical, one horizontal) is on an opposite axis from the other, you must twist your device (and your brain) in crazy ways so that the strips in your control line up with green target areas. 

This does make for a certain amount of fun, but On a Tilt never manages to overcome the feeling that you’re playing around with a hidden programmer’s tool rather than a full game.

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The Great iOS Game Search: Tiny Wings

I am simply convinced that Apple’s iOS platform has a lot of potential for great gaming experiences. The powerful hardware, responsive touchscreens, and gorgeous displays of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch are brimming with possibility. Unfortunately, the App Store is filled with shovelware and games that don’t do the OS justice. As such, I have decided to go on a search to find those digital diamonds in the rough that are not only great games, but are designed for the platform as well. 

Tiny Wings

Developer: Andreas Illiger

Current Price: $0.99

Platforms: iPhone/iPod Touch

I firmly believe that there is a place for games on iOS that attempt to challenge dedicated handhelds like the PSP and DS in terms of depth and quality. Why not aim for such lofty goals, after all?

Even I must admit, however, that the games that most often feel “right” for the platform, those that capture my attention and bring a smile to my face and leave me thinking to myself “Yes, this is what mobile gaming is all about” are those games that embrace the simplicity of the device. They find ways to build mechanics around minimalism while including enough depth to retain challenge and ensure practice is needed to master the game.

These games often require only one input, touching, tapping, or holding the screen at a certain time, but can have an addictive quality than can rival their more complex console brethren. They come in bite sizes with prices to match, costing as little as a dollar and are perfectly suited to gaming on a mobile device, able to give you a satisfying experience in just minutes.

They may be small, they may be disposable, but the best of the iOS crop is densely packed with creativity. It’s simply delightful to see how much experimentation is being done with graphics and gameplay in this sector and how much success it is bringing some developers. I’ve felt on more than one occasion that more creative thought has been put into a game I bought for $0.99 and thought would be a throwaway experience than a game I bought for $60 in a retail store.

Tiny Wings is one of these delightful little surprises. I bought it on a whim, having never heard of it before, after a writer I follow on Twitter recommended it. I didn’t even know what to expect, but for $0.99 I took the gamble and bought it sight unseen. When was the last time you did that with a console game?

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Best of the Decade: Infinity Blade

Infinity Blade

Platform: iOS (iPhone and iPad)

Release Date: December 9, 2010

Publisher: N/A

Developer: Chair Entertainment, Epic Games

Let me admit right off the bat that this entry is more ceremonial than any other I’ve allowed myself to make so far. I picked Geometry Wars with a similar goal, to celebrate what the game represented as much as the game itself, but Infinity Blade is an even stronger case of this.

I’ve been avoiding picks like this on purpose. Adding items like these to a list is kind of cheap and, for whatever little it’s worth, I didn’t want to devalue my list with cheating entries like concepts, entire series of games, and that sort of thing.

That said, even though this is a last-minute entry and clearly hasn’t had the time to mature like others on this list, I truly feel it is deserving of its spot. Let me explain. 

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