A little arcade fun: Belowscape
We are now at the point where there are lots and lots of games for the iPhone, most of them taking the form of miniscule games that could easily be small flash games on the web. Obviously games with higher production values and longer playtimes get a lot more attention, but there is a certain joy to these 99 cent mini games that allow for quick bites of playtime.
Belowscape ($0.99, App Store) is game for those times when you do not want a story, online scoreboards or a new fangled concept, but simply want to shoot stuff.
Belowscape has you, a glowing blue arrow, pitted against other colourful flowing polygons that float around the screen, which you shoot. It's simple, and that's the best thing about it. You can download the game and be playing it within 3 seconds.
The game's control scheme is the Geometry Wars standard of move with one action and shoot with another, this time with the moving assigned to the tilt of the phone and the shooting with just tapping in the direction you'd like to shoot.
In a clever move, you do not need to hold down constantly on the screen, but your ship shoots an endless barrage of bullets in the last direction you tapped. I've always had great troubles with co-ordinating this sort of control scheme, so I was very relieved to finally see it implemented in a way which was actually very easy for me to control.
The waves of enemies start very slowly at first, but within a few minutes the screen is filled with shapes intent on ending your little polygonal life. The developers could do themselves a favour by ramping up the intensity of the game earlier on - there's no real way to jump straight into a more hectic game.
Of course there are (local) scoreboards, and some sound effects, which could do with a little tweaking for a bit more oomph, and the developers should certainly consider allowing users to listen to their own music if they're not going to provide any in-game.
That's just polish, however, because at the core of it, Belowscape is a very fun game that needs no great investment of your time or thought, and aims to provide fulfilling, if simple, fun.
Belowscape ($0.99, App Store) is game for those times when you do not want a story, online scoreboards or a new fangled concept, but simply want to shoot stuff.
Belowscape has you, a glowing blue arrow, pitted against other colourful flowing polygons that float around the screen, which you shoot. It's simple, and that's the best thing about it. You can download the game and be playing it within 3 seconds.
The game's control scheme is the Geometry Wars standard of move with one action and shoot with another, this time with the moving assigned to the tilt of the phone and the shooting with just tapping in the direction you'd like to shoot.
In a clever move, you do not need to hold down constantly on the screen, but your ship shoots an endless barrage of bullets in the last direction you tapped. I've always had great troubles with co-ordinating this sort of control scheme, so I was very relieved to finally see it implemented in a way which was actually very easy for me to control.
The waves of enemies start very slowly at first, but within a few minutes the screen is filled with shapes intent on ending your little polygonal life. The developers could do themselves a favour by ramping up the intensity of the game earlier on - there's no real way to jump straight into a more hectic game.
Of course there are (local) scoreboards, and some sound effects, which could do with a little tweaking for a bit more oomph, and the developers should certainly consider allowing users to listen to their own music if they're not going to provide any in-game.
That's just polish, however, because at the core of it, Belowscape is a very fun game that needs no great investment of your time or thought, and aims to provide fulfilling, if simple, fun.