I'm going to search around a few sites for peoples opinions on the top 10 iPhone games. From there I'm going to pick a few out, play test them and see exactly what makes them so good and where they might fall short on.
- Angry Birds.
- Doodle Jump.
- Real Racing.
- Plants vs Zombies.
- Spider - The Secret of Bryce Manor.
- Meteor Blitz.
- Toki Tori.
- Final Fantasy.
- Call of Duty: World at War Zombies.
- All-in-1 Gamebox.
- Touch Grind.
- Galcon.
- Field Runners.
- Line Rider iRide.
- Uno.
- Rolando.
- Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D.
- SimCity.
- Touch Hockey.
- Trism.
- Doodle Jump.
- Tetris.
- Angry Birds.
- Plants vs Zombies.
- Assassins Creed: Altair's Chronicles.
- Peggle.
- The Sims 3.
- Rolando 2.
- Zen Bound.
- Doom Classic.
Out of the three sites there's a few games mentioned more than once; Angry Birds, Rolando, Doodle Jump and Plants vs Zombies. They seem to be some of the most popular, I'm going to try them out.
Angry Birds
In Angry Birds, players are required to take control of a group of birds. The storyline details that a group of evil pigs have come and stole eggs from them and you have to destroy the pigs in order to retrieve them. They've taken shelter in a variety of buildings made from wood, stone and glass that you use a primitive slingshot to fling the birds into the structures to destroy it. You use your finger to hold down and drag the bird in the direction you choose to fire. Points are scored for each pig you defeat as well as for the amount of damage you do to the structure. Bonus points are then rewarded for the amount of birds you don't use after all the pigs are gone.
Visuals: Visually Angry Birds is bright and colourful. It's pleasant to look at and the characters are well designed. The background of each level doesn't change which gets a bit unoriginal to look at and the enemies don't change appearance, just their size.
Gameplay: At first the game can be a bit tedious but after a while you become utterly hooked. It's quite challenging but each level requires a different strategy to complete. The variety of different birds you can use with various abilities gives a break from monotonous gameplay.
Sounds: I can't stress enough how irritating the sounds are on this game. The background noises sound like there is a river running, crickets chirping and other birds singing but this is highly overpowered by a horrible continuous squawking sound coming from the birds you use to fire.
Overall: I give this game an 8/10. It does get frustratingly repetitive after a while but they have had special additional levels added that you can unlock which are more specific to the storyline and a Halloween themed version of the game also.
In Angry Birds, players are required to take control of a group of birds. The storyline details that a group of evil pigs have come and stole eggs from them and you have to destroy the pigs in order to retrieve them. They've taken shelter in a variety of buildings made from wood, stone and glass that you use a primitive slingshot to fling the birds into the structures to destroy it. You use your finger to hold down and drag the bird in the direction you choose to fire. Points are scored for each pig you defeat as well as for the amount of damage you do to the structure. Bonus points are then rewarded for the amount of birds you don't use after all the pigs are gone.
Visuals: Visually Angry Birds is bright and colourful. It's pleasant to look at and the characters are well designed. The background of each level doesn't change which gets a bit unoriginal to look at and the enemies don't change appearance, just their size.
Gameplay: At first the game can be a bit tedious but after a while you become utterly hooked. It's quite challenging but each level requires a different strategy to complete. The variety of different birds you can use with various abilities gives a break from monotonous gameplay.
Sounds: I can't stress enough how irritating the sounds are on this game. The background noises sound like there is a river running, crickets chirping and other birds singing but this is highly overpowered by a horrible continuous squawking sound coming from the birds you use to fire.
Overall: I give this game an 8/10. It does get frustratingly repetitive after a while but they have had special additional levels added that you can unlock which are more specific to the storyline and a Halloween themed version of the game also.
Plants vs Zombies
In Plants vs Zombies you play as a home owner trying to fight off waves of zombies. You do this by planting flowers in your front garden that fire at the zombies and slowly destroy them. As you plant a flower you need to collect the suns that drop from the top of the screen to unlock another flower to plant. If the zombies get to the flower they will destroy them and carry on walking to your house.
Visuals: The mixtures between the zombies and plants in this game are great. Especially when it comes to the comical value of the zombies with cones and buckets on their heads. The colours are bright and cheerful and assets are well designed. The environment is delightful and very homely which is perfect as it's set in a neighbourhood. I love how when you complete a level you unlock new plants with special abilities, from a cactus to a sunflower and even a walnut, that do lots of different things to repel the zombie hordes.
Gameplay: The gameplay is addictive needless to say. I started playing it and only realised an hour and a half later I was still playing. The difficulty isn't very hard, it's easy to complete with the right strategy but things get tense when more and more zombies start rushing towards you. You need to be able to think on your toes!
Sounds: The sounds are really cool. Unlike angry birds there's a wide variety of noises happening so you aren't focused on one in particular. The zombies make quite 'cute' noises. The way they are designed it suggests to me this game was intended for all ages as there is no blood or gore, just chewing noises as they eat the plants and a few groans here and there.
Overall: I LOVE it! There's always something new happening as you keep going up in levels which keeps you properly involved and paying attention to new things happening whether there's a different form of zombie about to attack you or a new plant ability you can use to defend your house from it. 10/10.
Doodle Jump
The aim of Doodle Jump is to guide a four-legged creature up an endless amount of platforms by using the tilt screen function on the iPhone. Each platform you use to move up by grants you points. If you fall, that's game over. You can get short boosts from various objects such as propeller hats and jet packs. There are also monsters and UFO's that the character has to shoot or jump on to eliminate, or just avoid it altogether. There is no end completion of the game, just an end if you let yourself fall. It's all about the high score.
Visual: The whole game is laid out on simulated graph paper; in fact it's like something we drew back in school when we were bored out of our minds. It's very simplistic. As you climb, you'll also notice hash marks along the side of the screen that shows the top altitudes of other players around the world. This is quite a good way to keep track of the competition.
Gameplay: I'd suggest this game to be played with one hand while trying to waste some time. It got really boring and pointless after about five minutes. Once you've seen the first couple of jumps, you've seen it all.
Sounds: There are a few comical sound effects, but that's all. I guess it's kept plain and simple to match the game itself.
Overall: I really dislike this game because I find it so boring. The animation and characters are cute but the gameplay is just too monotonous for me to cope with. Overall I'd give this game a 4/10.
Conclusion
From these results I've concluded that variety in gameplay is a must to keep people interested. As much as something can be addictive when it's simple, I find new additions as you level, keeps the attention there. Visually things need to be bright and well presented, for a younger audience especially. 'Cute' noises and sound effects, funny characters and strange and wacky story lines are a must.
