Flight Frenzy Deluxe

Flight Control knockoffs seems to be becoming a dime a dozen. That shouldn't be surprising given that the original iPhone version of the game has netted developer Firemint over 2 million in gross sales (obviously the Apple AppStore gets some of that). Unfortunately they have chosen not to support the Android platform so far and with a giant hit game on the Android only selling 10,000 copies I'm not sure I blame them, but I digress. My current favorite Flight Control clone on the Android continues to be Heli Rescue, but that deviates from the original recipe. Flight Frenzy Deluxe stays true to that recipe and does it better.

A central selling point for this game is that it only costs half of a UK pound or about US $0.85. That's right... 85 cents for an AWESOME game. This is probably the biggest steal in the Android Market! But $0.85 for junk is money not well spent... fortunately this game is fantastic! Like its predecessor you'll be landing planes, but the bright, beautiful graphics and the precision at which this game tracks your line drawing is unparalleled. I had no problem dragging planes to their respective landing strips and the game illuminates valid landing strips once you start dragging making it an engaging process with little room for error. The game gets hard pretty fast and that's good, too. I always hated having to spend 5 minutes ramping up in Flight Control.

The graphics are nice and sharp and the game includes four different maps. The game's maps are beautiful and feature animation such as a spinning radar towers and the different levels feature different kinds of planes such as stealth bombers (on the second map, pictured). The musical soundtrack is nice and the audio cues are perfect so... Good graphics? Check! Good audio? Check! Good controls? Check! Fun to play? Check!

If I had to note deficiencies I'd list two, but I'm beiing ulta nitpicky. First, I don't get the one screeen tutorial? It could just have easily been incorporated into the loading screen. Drag and land planes on their runways. There, now you don't need to read it. Second, the planes fly under the clouds and disappear leading me to temporarily lose track of them and in some situations that really makes the game difficult... such as if a plane flys under a cloud as it enters the screen. Not impossible... just difficult.

But once again at the pocket change these guys are charging for this title they deserve to sell a million copies of this game. Go buy it if you have the money... and if you don't I'm sure you can muster it up by searching your couch cushions, outside on the ground, ...etc. 5/5 stars!

Mini Plane

Congratulations are in order... for me! This is my 100th post here at MeAndMyDroid.com. I always wondered if I could manage a blog after several failed attempts to write on a regular basis that usually culminated around day 3. Alas, hopefully this is just the start...

As for today's game... Mini Plane takes the old SFCave and slaps some pretty graphics, power ups, and a fuel tank on it along with a price tag. I like this style of game if only for the reason that it fits a touch screen device perfectly with its simplicity of control... touch to go up, release to go down, and tap at a constant pace to stay level (which can be pretty hard to do). In the original there were some basic obstacles to avoid. Mini Plane has buildings and other planes / helicopters you can collide with. Interestingly enough the very top of the screen is a safe haven so you can just hold down on the screen and so long as no enemies occupy the top row you're safe... until you run out of fuel. Fuel is the interesting twist in this variant... you are forced to surface for air now and again and pick up a fuel package. Otherwise, you die!

The game's parallax scrolling is pretty... certainly far, far superior to the bland graphics in SFCave. The game's audio is nothing to write home about (as can be experienced in the video below). And, as has become standard, the game has online leader boards so that I can feel embarrassed by the guy that has scored almost 90 times more points than I have.

At 2 euros (about $2.80 US) I have to question whether this game is worth a purchase with similar, yet inferior, offerings in the Android Market like the original SFCave and Throttle Copter. Once again it depends on how much you are into this type of game. If you're a big fan then you won't be disappointed, but if you're more or less indifferent then you'll probably be just as satisfied with either of the two, free aforementioned titles. As for the game itself I give it 4/5 stars.

Raging Thunder 2

I'm a fan of Polarbit as an Android game publisher and I loved the original Raging Thunder. It was among my first Android games that really showed that my phone was just as capable as my old iPod Touch given the right development talent. The upgrade, Raging Thunder 2, was recently released so needless to say it was a must download for me. In writing this it occurs to me that this is the first time I've reviewed a sequel on MeAndMyDroid.com. So how does it stack up?

Let me be clear... this game is an improvement over the original arcade style racer. But I have a hard time telling those that are anything less than die hard fans of the original to buy this if they own Raging Thunder. I think your money would be better spent on a different game... perhaps a different Polarbit title.

The graphics in Raging Thunder 2 are superb. The game itself is bigger and on top of that it downloads another pile of data to your SD card. It also adds more physics such as knocking those orange traffic cones out of the way as you run into them. And it doesn't have some of the slow background fill in problems that the original had... such fill in issues are at a minimum here as I only saw one. Furthermore, sliding against a wall or crashing into an opponent yields a plasma like 'explosion' (as visible in the screenshot). But the game itself doesn't really seem to have changed much... game play modes, power-ups, ...etc are all still here.

What has changed is the intensity. Switching back to Raging Thunder made me feel like grandma was driving me to the airport whereas I could feel my heart accelerate when playing the sequel. That feeling may be the biggest draw to this game... aside from cosmetics it really was the biggest difference.

I'm not a huge fan of racing games in general. I can appreciate the quality of this title, but I need something more... I need it to be a cat and mouse chase or a stunt race or, to deviate from racing altogether, a demolition derby. I guess that's the kind of change I was hoping for in a sequel.

One big annoyance with this title on my Droid is that I've been trained that the home button gets me out of any app and back to the home screen. I was surprised that if I do that during game play that I return to the home screen, but the game continues to play its music and reloading the game resumes my place. I guess some might consider that a feature... I found it to be a pain as I would have to reload the app and then go backwards through its menus to force it to do a clean exit.

Do you own the original and want to take that next step in intensity? If so then this game will not be wasted on you. And if you don't own the original this game will be a stunning addition to your collection of Android games. This is a five star title, but I just wish it could have had more substance. Want to see more? Check out the following video:

Pobs

Pobs is a strategy game that is billed as mixing Checkers and Reversi. That's a pretty accurate description of this interesting little game... and it's free. At that price you can't afford to not download it.

The game is simple... on a hexagonal board you have tokens and so does your opponent. A move can be one of two choices... a) add a new piece to the board in an empty space that is adjacent to any of your existing pieces or b) use an existing piece and jump over a possibly occupied space to another empty space. In either case all opposing pieces adjacent to your newly captured space become yours. And so it flows back and forth until the board is full.

The AI seems strong and the game offers a variety of modes such as a Quick Play mode. The game also sports three difficulty levels. One of the more interesting aspects of this game is that there are different board configurations (aka levels) that add to the challenge. You might even be playing against more than one AI opponent on a given board.

My only irritant with the game is the annoying plink sound it uses universally when selecting a menu item or making a game move. I feel like the author auditioned a variety of possible noises and went the most obnoxious one he found. After hearing it twice you'll want to mute this game.

But all in all this game is a lot of fun to play and a solid challenge. It placed in the ADC2 competition and at a list price of $0 it's a title you can't afford to ignore. Take a look at the following video if you'd like to see the game in action, but for an unknown reason they've dubbed over the game's exciting plink sound...

Press Release: New Android Game Delivers 3D Graphics, Cash Prizes

Here's a news bit that arrived in my email this morning. Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I really haven't seen any new games that struck my eye. I have a few forthcoming reviews in the queue, though. Now, back to the news story:


MADISON, WI - March 4, 2010 - Today Door-6 unveils Vacuum, a fast-paced competition on the Android platform. The game blends classic arcade action with a dynamic 3D environment. Players must navigate a perilous, asteroid-filled obstacle course, competing for the top score and cash prizes. In this successor to the acclaimed, "Atmosphere: The Training Mission", a finalist in Google's Android Developer Challenge 21 , your phone becomes the joystick of an agile spaceship maneuvering to collect targets along the course.

Vacuum will be released into the Android Market by March 20th, and the first round of competition will begin April 1st. The details of the contest, and its prize amounts, will be announced soon.

Today, attached to this press release, you will find a fully functioning media-only preview of Vacuum. Any feedback you provide will be appreciated, so use the feedback button on the main screen of the game to let the team know what you think.

Vacuum is the latest release from game development studio Door-6. Founded in 2009 and based in Madison, Wisconsin, Door-6 focuses on delivering premium software to smartphone users. Development began initially on Google’s Android mobile operating system, but has grown to include others. Look for the great mobile games of tomorrow to come from Door-6.

Click here for the YouTube video