Ed. Note: Welcome to the second half of Elliot’s iPad Video Game Review Round-up: iPhone Edition. This time Elliot will again be looking at some iPhone games and how well they play when scaled up to the iPad. Next time, we’ll be back to native iPad games.
Chaos Rings
($9.99 – US App Store link – UK link)
If you were to write down a list of generic Square Enix RPG elements, you would end up with Chaos Rings as the result. Random, quasi-turn based battles with experience points and leveling, bland characters that have amnesia, dull puzzles and a big bad that stepped out of a crazy goth fashion catalog. Still, it’s a well put together package even with its lack of surprises, and blowing the app up on the iPad screen makes you appreciate the detail present in the graphics. Sadly the game is still rather expensive, so unless you already possess this or have a very long bus journey to fill, you may want to save your money for more inventive fare.
Hook Champ
($2.99 – US App Store link – UK link)
Remember the ninja rope from Worms? Bet you would love a whole game of that with some Indiana Jones flavor and humor thrown in! Hook Champ is a game where you use a grappling hook to go right towards an exit while a demon tries to eat you. The pixel art graphics look great on the larger screen and the game is still great fun, but enlarging it has had the small side effect of putting the various buttons too far apart for comfort. This can lead to a lot of unintended deaths and frustration when your little dude falls into lava within grasping distance of the ending.
Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered
($2.99 – US App Store link – UK link)
If you recognize the name of this game, odds are you remember it from playing it on the PC years ago and have already bought it again. For those who do not know, Beneath a Steel Sky is one of those old-time point and click adventure games where you combine items and people to make your way through various puzzles. In this case, the main character Foster is kidnapped and taken to a city controlled by an omnipresent commuter called LINC, and you must strive to escape. This version includes a hint system, some updated graphics, and all the voice work from the original.
Blowing it up onto the iPad screen actually helps the game, as it makes interaction with items, especially those close together, much easier. A word of warning, however: this game, like many from its genre, suffers from rather inscrutable puzzle design and so you may find yourself using the hint system quite a lot, especially toward the end.
