Cell & Love is a magical game that confirms every hope for the App Store becoming fertile ground for incredible new gameplay ideas that would never gain traction elsewhere. Sometimes it’s too easy to heap hyperbole on a fresh concept just because it does something unexpected. But Cell & Love deserves its superlatives. This is one of the best games you can buy for your iPhone.

Cell & Love is a fresh new puzzler where the player has to put together cells according to 4 simple rules. I fear my gameplay description doesn’t do it justice. There is an intangible to Cell & Love. Perhaps its best described as the sensation of discovery because at some point, Cell & Love moves out of the “game” category and becomes an experience, kind of like Flower on the PS3. Since it makes you think quite a lot, it can be also considered as a kind of Brain Training for the Indies.

The mechanics behind the game may be simple, but that doesn’t mean the puzzles don’t offer up an incredible level of challenge. Cell & Love rewards your progress with new evolutions of your monsters, all of them are really funny, with its own name, it’s similar to collect Pokemons.

Cell & Love offers up a tremendous level of challenge in an “easy to learn but impossible to master” puzzler. If you’re a fan of genuinely challenging puzzle games that are about more than falling blocks, Cell & Love is $1.99 well spent.

This game is exactly what I love about the iPhone. A small time developer has a great simple idea, executes it extremely well and can put it out for me to consume and enjoy. I can’t recommend this indie style puzzle enough, it’s the first game I’ve reviewed that I think is a must buy. It’s too bad this game isn’t in the top 100 of games sold on the appstore, because it definitely should be.

Rating:

• Price: $1.99 (get it)
• Version: 1.1
• Official Site: Hi, How Are You

Looking back, it’s kind of hard to fathom that it’s been five years since on a sunny December day in a Edinburgh flat I was given The Late Great Daniel Johnston by my still-new girlfriend for my birthday. On receiving it, I remember a rush of surprise with a hint of confusion, not just at getting a nice and unexpected gift, but that I had no idea who this “Daniel Johnston” fellow was — and yet many of the musical acts that I respected, such as Beck and Eels, had banded together to record a tribute album for him.

It only really got more confusing when I put on the first disc, Daniel Johnston’s own music, and was confronted with scrappy recordings of what sounded like a squeaky voiced teen tunelessly whining about his need for love.

Johnston’s music is utterly strange when you have no idea what to expect. but quickly his music — charming and affecting in its honesty — became a sweet reminder of those odd rushes of emotion that you feel when you’re early in a relationship and still feeling things out; getting to know each other, the new highs, the pain of being apart.  All those raw, untameable emotions that you don’t know what to do with.

So that’s what Johnston’s music represents to me, and so it’s kind of crazy to think it’s been five years and I’m still with that wonderful person who gave me that CD, and that his music still gives me that electric feeling I had on a sunny December day in an Edinburgh flat.

Since then, of course, lots of time has passed, and Johnston has risen slowly in prominence, perhaps mostly thanks to The Devil and Daniel Johnston, a film that covers his life and which I saw at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. It’s a moving film — both for fans of his music and those new to it — and in fact, though at the time I received that CD I maybe felt a little embarrassed at not knowing who he was, now I’m practically proud to have been introduced to him so early! (Thanks, Kate.)

I guess it’s in result to this prominence and the fact that there’s a definite captive market of Johnston fans out there that it makes, er, a kind of sense to create a Daniel Johnston iPhone/iPod touch game. There’s a guaranteed audience, which is more than you can say for most games on the App Store.

Named after Johnston’s famous “unfinished” album (the cover of which is the image on the oft-quoted Kurt Cobain t-shirt, most recently seen in Guitar Hero 5) I can’t help but find Hi, How Are You utterly bizarre. Johnston’s songs and art may be simplistic, but they’re absolutely full of ideas, as odd and conflicting as they may be; ideas relating to love, fame, depression, meaning. All the big concepts that we all struggle with.  While it’s probably asking a bit much to expect a game that deals with all of that, I’d like to think it’s acceptable to expect more than a puzzle game.

But let’s get out there with what it gets right. The 3D art does a wonderful job of being faithful to Johnston’s drawings, far more than I could ever have expected. It’s a shame, actually, that the actual Daniel Johnston art used is relegated to little animations that wouldn’t pass muster on a flash website.

The gameplay is perfectly serviceable. You play one of Johnston’s characters, Jeramiah, as he goes through various transformations on his quest for true love (in the face of Satan’s opposition) and you do this by walking Jeremiah around to colour in mazes. It’s your basic maze game (think, er, Make Trax/Crush Roller, if that’s not too obscure) that just happens to be in 3D, have a coat of Daniel Johnston paint and a dash of sliding block puzzle.

But it’s playable, the controls are fine (well, I tend to stick to the virtual control stick, but you might like tilting better) and it’s certainly not a terrible example of a $1.99 game on the iPhone/iPod touch.

But is that really enough? Games based on musical artists are legendary for not really getting to the core of what makes a band or musician great or special, be it Journey (which does benefit from a sweet version of Don’t Stop Believin’) or Revolution X (though, admittedly, there’s nothing great or special about Aerosmith).  And while we’re on the subject, isn’t The Beatles: Rock Band is another example of lazy “let’s just stick this band into an existing genre” no matter what extra gubbins they put in? (Do you remember the original conference call, where it was going to be really special, and they wouldn’t even discuss the idea it could just be a re-skinned version of Rock Band?)

It might seem like I’m digressing as I’m talking about a game that costs a couple of bucks, but consider this. If you had no idea who Daniel Johnston was, like I once did, and picked this game up because it costs the same as buying a couple of Johnston tracks but seems to offer more value, you really wouldn’t end up with any concept of Johnston’s music at all. Most of the levels are over before you’ve even really heard the Johnston that soundtracks them, and for someone who is very much popular because of his music, that makes the game feel rather redundant.

Shouldn’t the game really have been built around his music? Or at least in tandem with showing off his art? Right now it feels like an afterthought, and that Daniel Johnston is a “skin” for an otherwise unremarkable if competent puzzle game.

I feel lucky to know Daniel Johnston’s music, and that I was introduced to it in such a wonderful way that means it will always be special to me. So perhaps it’s for this reason that I find it sad that his music and art is being used for a something that isn’t special or unique at all, and it reminds me that gaming may be a wonderful new art form, but developers so rarely get what it can offer, especially in tandem with great music and art. Hi, How Are You really could offer thoughts on love, fame, depression, meaning; it could be another sweet reminder of the emotions of an early relationship.

Instead, it’s a maze game with a dash of sliding block puzzle.

Rating:

• Price: $4.99 (Get it)
• Version: 1.0
• Official Site: Taito

I like Arkanoid. It’s simple fun in short bursts, and the addition of power-ups and enemy characters keeps the formula fresh and appealing for long-term play.

The last few entries in Taito’s Arkanoid franchise have been underwhelming, though. The series never received the drastic reinvention that Space Invaders did with titles like Space Invaders Extreme and Space Invaders Infinity Gene, and the most recent sequels, Arkanoid DS and Arkanoid Live, were each disappointing in their own ways.

Arkanoid for the iPhone, however, might just be my favorite Arkanoid title since 1997’s Arkanoid Returns. It totally nails the core gameplay, and brings the series back to its roots while introducing just enough modern complexity to improve the experience.

It’s great to finally be able to play Arkanoid in its native vertical format, for one thing. Arkanoid DS tried to simulate a tall playfield by splitting the action between two screens, but the result only created greater distance between the ball and the bricks, making for a slower game. Other ports have tried to adapt the gameplay to a horizontal format, with mixed results. Here, it’s simply a matter of flipping your iPhone sideways to get an arcade-accurate experience.
Arkanoid’s control scheme also works much better here than in previous ports. Nothing can fully duplicate the original arcade version’s dial controller, but iPhone Arkanoid’s slide-based input comes very close. Tracking the ball’s movements comes naturally, and moving the Vaus paddle to any point on the screen quickly becomes an intuitive process.

iPhone Arkanoid’s best feature is its smooth difficulty curve. It’s remarkable that a difficulty curve exists at all — Arkanoid DS was an easy game from start to finish, while Arkanoid Live became extremely difficult, very quickly. Arkanoid for iPhone includes a branching level progression, allowing players to choose their own difficulty. It works marvelously, and I’m glad to see that Taito managed to create a balanced difficulty curve in an Arkanoid game after its recent missteps.

The iPhone version of Arkanoid only has a few small problems. Control issues are rare, but they’re frustrating when they pop up. Arkanoid’s slide-based control scheme allows players to move the Vaus left and right by touching and sliding across any point on a control bar at the bottom of the screen. The problem is that the slider mechanism doesn’t recenter the paddle when you lift your thumb and touch another part of the bar.

Press your thumb a little bit too far to the right of the slider, for instance, and you’ll run out of slide space before you can move the Vaus to the far right of the screen. It’s frustrating to lose a ball in the lower corners simply because your thumb ran out of available movement space.

iPhone Arkanoid’s presentation is also a little weak. The music is strangely subdued, especially in comparison to Arkanoid DS’s maybe-too-hyper soundtrack, and the animated backgrounds are often distracting. Thankfully, Taito included the option to disable the animated backdrops and replace them with still images.

Aside from these minor issues, the iPhone version of Arkanoid avoids many of the problems that sucked the fun out its less-successful sequels, and manages to duplicate the original arcade experience better than any port in recent memory. Arkanoid for iPhone remains a solid, fun experience throughout, and with more than 100 levels included, it’s very much worth a purchase.

You play as Pylo, a dragon with fire-breathing ability that can be further upgraded whenever you collect a red gem. Any jewels you collect also allows you to use special powers that can either reveal secrets in a stage, heal Pylo, or even hurt enemies in a myriad of ways.

The biggest letdown of this project is the use of sound effects from other commercial releases, although if you can let that slide then there’s some fun to be had here by fans of platform games. (source: PixelProspector)

Take a look at this review! Very interesting and a great app to discover! By Matt Sawyers on 9/04/2009

Pros:

-Intuitive Interface

-Search for planets, constellations, etc. & view details

-Current location or search for another area.

-3GS users can utilize the compass/tilt feature, other users do not have access to the compass feature.

-Zoom in & out, tap to select object in sky

-Night view (red tint)

-View the sky for a specific time of day

Cons:

-When viewing details about some items, text is too long to fit in box (text gets cut off)

-The sound the app makes when “typing” out the object’s details is a little annoying.

-Not all objects show a label when highlighted by the green circle (does show up in details)

4.5/5

Star Walk is the best Star gazing application I have come across for the iPhone. Many of the features found within the application cannot be found in any others! This is one of the best developed and executed applications I have seen to hit the app store.

When the app opens, it will take a moment to load. I noticed that the app states on the loading page “The Universe – Yours to Discover” This is an awesome statement and very true to the app.

The user interface is very easy to navigate. When you get into the application, the app will automatically detect your location and arrange the sky as it is currently for you. You can use your finger to pan around the sky.

For 3GS users, tap on the screen once, then lift the iPhone up over your head & “peer through the viewfinder”. I could keep going on about this feature, but again, this is one of the best features of the app. Other iPhone/iTouch users can do the same however, you can only tilt vertically.

Tap on any object in the sky to select it and see its name.

I however, ran into a few instances where the name did not show up until I viewed the full details. To view the details, you simply tap on the “i” in the top left-hand corner.

Tap on it again to leave the details view. Most of the buttons that take you out of the full sky view, when tapped again, will take you back. However, the “w” button in the details view will take you to Wikipedia to view details on the Internet. This is a nice addition if you have the Internet access.

The clock in the top right-hand corner allows you to change the time of day/date to view the sky. I found it kind of fun to slide the slider so that it continued to rotate so I could view the sky as an “elapsed time” sort-of view. However, when doing this I also found it was a bit difficult to stop unless I tapped on the “now” button. Also if you have selected an object, the sky will “rotate” around it when you change the time/date.

In the bottom-left-hand corner you have a search. And finally, in the bottom right-hand corner, tap the button to make 3 more appear, the bottom one, allows you to change On/Off settings – Night Mode, Constellations, & Sounds.

You also have the ability to brighten of dim the sky (not brightness). You literally can make the smaller stars not appear or have them all appear according to your location. The middle button finds your current location or lets you view the sky from a different location.

And the last one allows you to access & modify bookmarks.

There are also some other neat things I found in the app:

I found that the sun creates a flare on you “window.” It changes direction & angle as the sun revolves around you in the app. Also the sun literally dims in brightness and the flare disappears when another object comes in front it it. Another thing is the Moon. In the above screenshot you can see the moon and as it moves past the sun you can actually see the shadow move across it. These little details show that a lot of thought went into this app by the developers & designers.

Overall this is an outstanding application, while it does seem to have a few minor issues this is a fairly solid app. The one thing I’d really like to see would be – in the full sky view, the sky would constantly be in motion when you aren’t customizing the time/date. This way, 30 minutes later while you are still in the app, the sky is literally “tracking” with you.

I highly recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in Astronomy or star gazing. At $4.99 this is an awesome app, if you have an iPhone 3GS, then it’s a steal!

[$4.99 - iTunes Link]

The development studio Mutant Games is revealing some details about its first game Cell&Love: The Fun of Fusion! It is a puzzle game with a new gameplay based on merging cells. The game objective is to clear the screen following four cell fusion rules. Cell&Love is also a graphic and colorful experience!

Have you ever asked yourself how cells join between them? Cell&Love is a good way to answer this question by using colors, sizes and your monstrous new friend! Indeed, in Cell & Love, gamers have to help a little monster to raise his ultimate evolution stage solving 100 levels of puzzle, by joining cells with fingers.

With more than eight hours of thinking entertainment and creative graphics, Cell&Love will appear as a new kind of puzzle for the modern gamers! Cell&Love will be released on the App Store in November at only $1.99!

Other Mutant Games projects are Colors Rain and A Sweet Punishment, if you wish to know more, visit the official website: www.mutant-games.com and follow Mutant Games on Twitter and Facebook!

1. US – Photoshop.com Mobile (photography)
It is a free download and has been designed to offer mainstream users with easy-to-use, on-the-go photo-editing tools. Photoshop.com Mobile enables users to crop, rotate, flip or add special effect filters to their images using gesture-based editing. Photo saturation, tint, exposure, and vibrancy can also be enhanced before photos are uploaded to the 2GB provided of free online photo storage available at photoshop.com (sign-up required). The application is only available in the US and Canada App Stores.

2. Germany – Real Racing GTI (games)
Real Racing GTI is a fast-paced racing application designed by Firemint in collaboration with car manufacturer Volkswagen to celebrate the upcoming release of the 2010 model GTI. The accelerometer-controlled racing game puts players in the driver’s seat of the new GTI. Depending on the choice of game mode, players can race against opponents or try to beat the clock. Great graphics and “real-feel” racing make Real Racing GTI one of the best free racing games in the app store.

3. France – SNCF Direct (travel)
SNCF Direct is an application designed by the French national railway company, SNCF. Users can use the application to look up train schedules in over 600 stations located in France. Real-time arrival and departure times are also provided and users can stay informed with up-to-the-minute notifications about delays and impending train departures. A geo-location feature enables users to pinpoint the closest station to them. A map view provides users with directions to the station from their current location. Travellers can also use the application to find out information about station opening times and to view a list of amenities located within the station.

4. UK – Fling (free) (games)
Fling is a strategy-based puzzle game where users have to plan their gameplay to pass to the next level. In each level cute, furry characters are positioned on the grass-covered game board. Players slide their finger over a character to “fling” it into an adjacent character, pushing it off the edge of the board. To win the game and move onto the next level all but one character must be eliminated from the board. Players can choose from three game modes: free play, arcade or challenge.

5. Canada – Fling (free) (games)
6. Australia -Fling (free) (games)
7. Japan – Real Racing GTI (games)
8. Italy – Real Racing GTI (games)

9. Switzerland – Inhale Helium Here (light) (entertainment)
“Inhale Helium Here” transforms your iPhone into a “helium balloon.” Users “suck” on their microphone to inhale helium from the balloon on screen. As the air is inhaled, the displayed balloon gets smaller. The user then speaks into the phone’s microphone. The application records the user’s voice before playing it back as a warped, high-pitched helium-sounding version.

10. Russia – Real Racing GTI (games)

Reference:
http://cut.io/nopA
http://cut.io/kqIX

The Doom Classic is now available for the iPhone. The game includes the original three episodes as well as Episode Four, Thy Flesh Consumed, spread across 36 levels of non-stop carnage and action.

Also in DOOM Classic, multiplayer action is reborn! With a wireless connection, battle up to four players in Deathmatch mode, or work together cooperatively and fight back against the demons of Hell.

Game Features:
* Play the legendary first person shooter, DOOM, with an iPhone or iPod Touch;
* Fight through 36 missions in four action-packed episodes: Knee-Deep in the Dead, Shores of Hell, Inferno and Thy Flesh Consumed;
* Experience DOOM multiplayer on your mobile device, including Deathmatch and Cooperative play for up to four players via wireless internet;
* Choose from three different control types and customize the interface to suit your style;
* Explore the depths of Mars while utilizing the top down map to help your journey and save your game on the fly.

The Doom Classic is available at The App Store for $6.99.

Reference:
http://cut.io/ilVW

The app allows users to photograph a movie poster to receive related video content or wallpaper images for a cellphone screen. In the future, the company reckons that the bonus content could be linked to location, established via GPS. This could mean special offers from local stores or cinemas.

The new Disney App will also offer innovative features including “Click2Life” which allows iPhone users to snap a picture of a Disney image on a television or poster to receive special content such as animated images or product offers.

Available for free download via the iTunes App Store, Disney.com requires iPhone OS 3.0 and an iPhone for the picture-taking feature.

Reference:
http://cut.io/dvw6