Best games for the iPhone
Now that the iPad is out, many developers are vamping up their games for a larger scale — but for those who like the compact size and convenience of the iPhone, there's even more to choose from.
Robot Unicorn Attack
Now that the iPad is out, many developers are vamping up their games for a larger scale — but for those who like the compact size and convenience of the iPhone, there's even more to choose from.
AU$3.99What is it that makes Robot Unicorn Attack so compelling? Is it the flamboyantly rainbow palette? The maddening soundtrack consisting of "Always" by Erasure in infinite loop? The tears of the robot unicorn when you fall to your inevitable fiery demise? We may never know!
Bejeweled 2
Rock Band International
The port of Rock Band to iPhone is, for the most part, quite smooth. There are four different ways you can play (drums, bass, guitar or vocals), with three difficulty levels, so while the track listing is small (with only a limited number of new tracks to buy), there's plenty of play there — especially with the Bluetooth multiplayer mode.
N.O.V.A
First-person shooters, regarded as the genre for hardcore gamers, would not, one would suppose, be particularly good on an iPhone. N.O.V.A blows that supposition right out of the water, with a cool single-player campaign, fun sci-fi story and frantic 1-4 player deathmatch mode, all using on-screen touch controls.
Doodle God
Doodle God takes the idea that the creator of the universe is a mad scientist cackling away while randomly combining elements to see what he comes up with and puts you square in the driver's seat. Combine the wrong ingredients and it could all go belly-up; get it right and watch your world flourish.
PAC-MAN
If you don't know what PAC-MAN is, then this game is fun, but it probably won't mean a lot to you. If, however, you remember standing waiting your turn at the arcade with a coin clutched in your grubby paw, PAC-MAN for the iPhone dishes up a serving of sweet, sweet nostalgia with its ghost-dodgin' and fruit-munchin'.
Space Ace
Anyone familiar with the history of gaming will appreciate Space Ace, a near-perfect port of the 1984 arcade game. It's notable more for the high quality of the visuals, animated by the renowned Don Bluth Studios, than its gameplay, but it's worth it on the strength of the storytelling alone.
Myst
Quite a number of the best games for the iPhone, we're discovering, are ports of older games taking advantage of better technology than was available at the time of its release. One such is the widely acclaimed point-and-click fantasy adventure Myst, in which the player explores beautiful environments to unravel a mystery.
Tetris
Tetris is possibly the most well-known and -loved electronic puzzle game since the dawn of videogaming, and it has been ported to many devices the world over. The iPhone version takes a little getting used to, but after that, it will feel like you've never been lining up those tetrominoes any other way.
Flight Control
As an air traffic controller, your job is to land planes, jets and helicopters safely, getting more complicated the further the game progresses, taking into account the direction of the runway, wind speed and direction, and other aircraft in the sky. Easy-to-see graphics make this a pleasure to play.
Robert Rodriguez presents Predators
Words With Friends
Who doesn't like Scrabble? That's what Words With Friends is, a portable Scrabble that you can keep in your pocket and play online wherever and whenever you might be. You can have up to 20 games on the go at once, but unless you're some sort of Scrabble machine, we probably wouldn't recommend it.