As the days of summer are almost over, let us give thanks that eventually the drought of video games will soon be over. Pretty soon we’ll all be back to our Gears of Wars, our Resistances, and, of course, our Batmen/Batmans. But aside from looking on Steam for daily deals to see what your computer may play, what should you do in the meantime? For me it’s mostly been sobbing, but every once in awhile I gather the strength the bust out my iPod Touch and play some games on that platform that don’t actually suck. Sans some obvious choices, here are a few of note:
Groove Coaster
Feel The Rhythm, Feel The Rhyme!
Taito’s been on a role as of late with the iOS platform. Their last game, Space Invaders Infinity Gene, along with having an awesome name, was a great shooter that actually ended up on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Groove Coaster is a bit simpler than that, but much more rewarding. In the vein of Amplitude and Gitaroo Man and other weird music games that came out before we had plastic instruments, Groove Coaster has the avatar of your choosing (each with different bonuses, including a Space Invader that makes it easier to get better ratings) ride a line down a music track. Little blips on the line tell you when to tap or swipe, and that creates the music for the level. It sounds easy, and it would be if not for the creative track design and camerawork. The tracks will loop around and your avatar will travel so fast that the cinematic camera won’t always be showing you the best time to tap, making you go on your instincts along with the beat. Groove Coaster is great fun and a perfect fit for iOS.
Shibuya
Despite The Appearance, It's Not A Colorblind Test
A great puzzle game which can maybe be described as Tetris Attack in reverse, Shibuya is an odd game, to be sure, but one that can be learned as quickly as one gets addicted to it. Blank blocks fall to the bottom of the screen, while an icon on the right shows you what color you currently have at your disposal (similar to the “next piece” icon in Tetris). You then pick which block you want to color before it hits the bottom. As is the case with every game of this nature, you want to match colors together, form chains, all that fun stuff. Shibuya also has an amazing soundtrack which has been my nighttime music of choice for months, leaving me all plur for the night.
100 Rogues
These Skeletons Be Mad Soft
“Roguelike” – a turn based RPG in which you die a lot, and your death is permanent. If you’re familiar with the genre, you know this. If you don’t, that sounds unsound. It takes some getting used to, but once you accept your death (as is the case with life), things become easier. You become very attached to your little character who has run up and down countless staircases and fought many a giant freaking bat, and become fearful of when that stupid wizard you ran away from will catch up to you before you have a chance to eat that meat you found on the ground to get back some health.