"If there is an app for that"

Take the City Back from Evil Rodent Gangs in Beat Street

November 17, 2017 by RSS Feed

Beat Street (Free) by Lucky Kat Studios is a retro beat 'em up arcade game that plays a nice homage to games of the '90s. If you enjoyed games like Dan the Man, then you will like what Beat Street has to offer.

When I get stressed out, I usually feel like punching something, like a wall. But you know, that would end up hurting me and probably damaging property, which ends up being annoying to fix, so I take it out in video games instead. While I much prefer to relax with puzzles, sometimes I just need to tap into my destructive side, and what better way than with a beat 'em up type of game? That's why Beat Street is a fun option to have.

Free

Dan The Man

Halfbrick

Visually, Beat Street is beautiful with the retro pixel art style that is reminiscent of classics from the '90s era. I have fond memories of games like Mike Tyson's Punch Out!, and this game is rather reminiscent of it for me. Despite the pixel art, Beat Street is packed with detailed environments and colorful characters that all stand out from each other. The game makes use of a bright and vibrant color palette that will hit you with a sense of better times. Animations are smooth and fluid with no issues of lag or choppiness on my iPhone 8 Plus. To top off this sentimental love letter, Beat Street has an upbeat and quirky chiptune soundtrack that wraps it all up nicely. Plus, the sound effects when you punch things in the face is downright fun.

In Beat Street, players are greeted with a map that shows the city. You take on the role of a young boy who has been given the task of cleaning up the city from the evil gangs that have been taking over. To move on to the next stage, the current one must be completed first. Up to three stars can be earned, depending on the difficulty level you choose. The goal is simple: clear out all waves of enemies on each stage using your awesome martial art skills. A boss, which is usually tougher than the rest of the goons and has a special attack, appears at the end. Everything is pretty straightforward, but the game still proves to be a fun challenge in terms of combat.

The controls are simple and clearly designed for touch screens. To move your character freely around the environment, just drag your thumb around. The game is a side-scroller, so when you reach the edge of the screen, you move on to the next sector. To do a basic attack, just tap on the screen — doing consecutive hits results in combos, which fills up your combo meter for an ultimate attack. Walking up to an enemy allows you to grab them, where you can then proceed with regular taps to perform hits while they're in your grasp. Swiping horizontally while you're grabbing them has you throw them. You can do a quick flick for a dash, but it uses combo points. Finally, you can flick upwards to do a jump kick attack, but be careful, as this one depletes your combo meter as well. You can also tap-and-hold to perform a charged attack.

Every now and then, you may find a weapon on the ground, such as a baseball bat. You can pick up an item by running over to it and tapping the screen. The item gets equipped on your hero and you can dish out more damage with it in your attacks. But keep an eye on how long you've had it — they don't last forever.

Once your combo meter is full, a button appears in the bottom left corner that lets you do an ultimate attack. This is a powerful flurry of hits that can take out most small foes and deal a hefty amount of damage to bosses, so make sure to use them at the right time. You can collect different scrolls that let you do different kinds of attacks, and collect tokens to upgrade your hero.

When you complete stages, you can get a plethora of rewards. These can include enemy figures that provide you with benefits in battle, and character tokens to upgrade, evolve, and unlock new heroes. The other characters that you can play as have their own play style and ultimate attacks, which can drastically change the gameplay. The more you play, the more variety you get.

After you clear the sixth level, you also gain access to the shop. Here, you'll find many useful items, and the offerings change every couple of hours. You'll need gold coins or green gems (premium currency) to get anything here, so save up!

Since Beat Street is a free game, there are ads every so often and an energy system. If you're low on coins and want to get something, you can watch ads to get more. It's pretty generous with the amount of coins you get, so it's not too bad. However, if you're looking for an ad-free experience, it doesn't appear to have an option for that. All of the in-app purchases are for getting more gems, which you can also exchange for coins.

A '90s inspired beat em up that is refined for mobile with one touch controls.

The Good

Beat Street is a fun little brawler for killing some time. The game's cute pixel art aesthetic brings back memories of my youth, and the chiptunes are excellent. The controls work well for touch screens and being able to play with just one hand is another bonus. The levels are challenging to play through, and the difficulty picks up at a nice, gradual pace. Even if you go back and replay levels with new moves or characters, the variety in play styles keeps things fresh and interesting. And while the game is freemium, I don't feel pushed into buying any IAPs, and the game is fairly generous with acquiring coins. There's also an online two player co-op mode that's sure to be a blast.

The Bad

While there's a lot of good things going on in Beat Street, it does feel a bit repetitive after a while. You end up having to tap the screen furiously trying to get long combos, and it gets tiring. I also am not a fan of how there's no way to remove the ads in the game, because this should always be an option.

The verdict

Overall, Beat Street is a fun little game that is perfect for taking out the day's frustrations in. I'm taken back to my childhood with the fantastic pixel art graphics (like other Lucky Kat games), and the music and sounds are fun to listen to as you play. The controls work out well, and being able to play with just one hand is especially nice. The levels are challenging and there is plenty of stuff to unlock to keep the game fresh and interesting.

I recommend checking out Beat Street if you're in the mood for some street brawling action. You can find Beat Street on the App Store as a universal download on the iPhone and iPad for free with in-app purchases.

8.8

OVERALL

Replayability 9

Graphics 9

Gameplay 9

Game Controls 8.5

Sound/Music 8.5

FREE

Beat Street

Lucky Kat Studios

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 11/17/2017

November 17, 2017 by RSS Feed

Tiggly Chef Subtraction: 1st Grade Math Game , Animal Math Preschool Math Games for Kids Math App , Unfold: Stories and more

iPhone:

Unfold: Stories ( $0.99 → Free ) Moonlab Unfold allows you to tell stories with your content. It includes 25 minimalist templates that can be filled with photos and videos. Some templates also include text fields with adjustable font sizes. You’re able to preview your story at any time, and reorder the pages before exporting them.

iPad:

Tiggly Chef Subtraction: 1st Grade Math Game ( $2.99 → Free ) Tiggly Tiggly Chef Subtraction will encourage your child to follow instructions and think flexibly. In each experiment your child is presented with a subtraction problem. How they get to the answer is entirely up to them. They’re able to drag and drop ingredients one by one into the equation or take collections. The game includes three labs with 30 flavors, 24 dishes, and 12 fun reactions from the chef himself.

Universal:

Animal Math Preschool Math Games for Kids Math App ( $4.99 → Free ) Eggroll Games LLC Your little ones get to explore the farm with Lily and the cute animals. Each of the eight sections stars a cute farm animal, and your child must help them complete the task at hand. Games range from counting and classifying objects to comparing shapes and naming colors. A professional narrator will guide your child along the way and provide positive reinforcement.

Softball Bound ( $3.99 → Free ) AllTeamz, LLC Softball Bound taps into the largest directly of youth sports teams in the country. You’re able to browse through the list of universities alphabetically, search for something specific, or filter results by division, conference, or state. Each listing is loaded with information including address, website, coach name and contact info, and overall stats regarding the university. Softball Bound includes over 1,200 listings and all NCAA D1, D2, and D3 universities.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Take Flight in a Paper Plane in Highwind

November 16, 2017 by RSS Feed

Highwind ($0.99) by Selva Interactive is a unique shooter that involves paper airplanes, and a lot of them. If you enjoy shooters such as Danmaku Unlimited 3 and AKA TO BLUE, but want a touch of minimalism, then Highwind is one to check out.

Life gets hectic (it definitely has been for me the past few days), so there's nothing better than sitting down to unwind and relax. Usually for me, this involves puzzle games of some sort, but every now and then I need something different. If it's not puzzles, it's probably an arcade game that involves shooting things up. I'm a big fan of bullet hell shooters, but when I saw Highwind, I was intrigued by the style. It's definitely a game that is different and unlike anything you've played before, which is never a bad thing.

$4.99

Danmaku Unlimited 3 - Bullet Hell Shooter

Sunny Tam

$7.99

AKA TO BLUE

TANOSHIMASU CO.,LTD.

Free

KAMI 2

State of Play Games Ltd

Visually, Highwind has a simple and clean aesthetic that works well. Since the focus in Highwind is on paper planes, the graphics feature a paper origami style look and texture that is basic but pops out thanks to the color and shading. It's reminiscent of games like KAMI 2, which is lovely. Highwind's color palette is a great mix of bold and vibrant hues with subtler, muted tones, so everything contrasts nicely. Animations are buttery smooth and fluid on my iPhone 8 Plus, with no lag or choppiness in frame rate. There's also an upbeat and soothing atmospheric soundtrack that I found rather relaxing. The sound effects are fun and sci-fi style. The developers did an excellent job with Highwind's visual and audio design.

In Highwind, while there are levels, players have to start from the beginning on each run. This part is a little annoying, as I wish that there was a way to just select the stage you want to start from. Still, it's fun to watch your progression over time. The game is also randomly generated each time, so the enemy waves are different on your plays. The goal is straightforward: defeat all of the enemy ships in each wave, while avoiding other obstacles in order to move on to the next stage. While it sounds easy enough, the game's unique mechanics make things much more complicated than they seem on the surface.

The controls are simple but take some time to master. Your paper plane ship is centered on the screen and remains stationary. However, the background appears to shift to give you that sense of movement for your ship. You cannot manually move your ship around. When you tap on the left side of the screen, it will activate your shields to block incoming enemy attacks. Tapping the right side of the screen lets you shoot your plane's weapon, and a long-press does a charge attack.

To set Highwind apart from other games is the fact that you have a limited resource for your shields and bullets. There are gauges on the left and right sides of the screen to tell you how much charge you have for your shield and weapon. If they're completely depleted, those functions won't work. Fortunately, they replenish rather quickly, but still need time to do so. The key is to manage your resources wisely between defending yourself and attacking. You also can only take three hits before you die, and it's game over.

Another thing about Highwind that makes it challenging is the fact that sometimes you can't reach the enemy ships. There are special items that will spread your bullets out when they hit them, causing you to hit enemy ships that are moving in at an angle. Some enemies also fire bullets that can be deflected with your shield, so it's all about timing.

Once you clear a wave, there will be a mini-game of sorts before you move on to the next round. These mini games are usually obstacle avoidance courses, and you'll want to do as best as you can. As you play, you earn coins for defeating enemies, and if you get hit by an attack or run into an obstacle, you lose some coins.

After the mini-game, you're awarded with an opportunity to upgrade your plane. You can choose to upgrade your shields, ammo, or health. These upgrades cost 100 or 200 coins each. If you don't have that much, and took some hits prior, you can also heal for 60 coins.

Once you've taken too much damage, then it's game over. You get points awarded for your performance, and these accumulate over time to unlock rewards. These rewards include new planes, and each plane has their own strengths and weaknesses. You can see the stats for each plane on the Plane Select screen, where each stat is color coded (blue shields, yellow ammo, and green health). There are also additional game modes that vary the gameplay mechanics; there are a total of five different variations.

Highwind is a beautiful arcade shooter that is unlike anything you've played before.

The Good

Highwind is a unique shooter that truly is unlike anything you've tried before. The game has a gorgeous origami-like style and the sounds are special and distinctive. While there's only one game mode, the randomly generated enemy waves and unlockable style variations keep everything fresh and interesting. It does take some time to get used to the controls, since your ship doesn't move, but this is what makes Highwind stand out in the App Store.

The Bad

While Highwind has a lot of interesting aspects going for it, the "dodging" aspect of the game is a bit boring. You basically just need to get your shields up in time to deflect enemy attacks, and well, it's not the most exciting thing ever. I'm not sure how this part of the game can be improved, but it would help if there were slight tweaks.

The verdict

Highwind is an interesting and fresh take on the arcade shooter genre. The minimalist art style and music are soothing, the controls work out well, and the gameplay mechanics bring a real challenge to the game. I like that there are plenty of unlockables that you can obtain in the game, and there's a lot of replay value with the randomly generated stages. I just wish dodging attacks was a tad more fun.

I recommend Highwind to anyone who is a fan of arcade shooters and wants to play something different. You can find Highwind on the App Store as a universal download for the iPhone and iPad for $0.99.

9.2

OVERALL

Sound/Music 10

Replayability 9

Graphics 9.5

Gameplay 9

Game Controls 8.5

$0.99

Highwind

Selva Interactive

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 11/16/2017

November 16, 2017 by RSS Feed

Learn Spanish: MosaLingua , Cardinal Land - Jigsaw & Tangram Puzzle Blend , Gymster+ Workouts & IIFYM Diet and more

Universal:

Learn Spanish: MosaLingua ( $4.99 → Free ) MosaCrea Limited MosaLingua will help you memorize thousands of Spanish vocabulary words, key phrases, and conjugations in no time. All it takes is five minutes each day for two months and you will have memorized 600 words and key phrases. Nothing to it, right? The app utilizes a flashcard system with audio pronunciations by native Spanish speakers. MosaLingua includes more than 3,000 flash cards, 14 categories, more than 100 subcategories, and the ability to unlock fun bonus content.

Cardinal Land - Jigsaw & Tangram Puzzle Blend ( $4.99 → Free ) Petro Shmigelskyi Cardinal Land is not only fun, it’s informative. Your job is to fill in the animal silhouette using colorful pieces. Just drag and drop to place, and tap to rotate. If a piece is in its correct position, it will snap into place. Move quickly in order to earn a perfect rating. After each puzzle has been completed, you’ll receive a surprising fact about the animal. The game includes more than 80 puzzles.

Gymster+ Workouts & IIFYM Diet ( $0.99 → Free ) Mark Runza Gymster is a fitness app, weight tracker, and recipe generator all rolled into one. The workouts can be narrowed down by the equipment you have and the muscles you want to work. Each workout includes a demonstration animation and the ability to record reps and weights. Each day you’re able to record your weight and track your progress in chart form right on the dashboard. Gymster also includes more than 200 IIFYM recipes to spark your imagination.

PhotoTangler - Best Collage Maker to Blend Photos ( $2.99 → Free ) Solid Eight Studios LLC PhotoTangler doesn’t require any professional photo editing experience to achieve great results. Simply import related photos or take new ones from within the app. You’re able to crop photos down if necessary. PhotoTangler will automatically apply a fade, which can be adjusted in a variety of ways. Layer as many photos as you like before finishing off your work of art with a background color and text.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 11/15/2017

November 15, 2017 by RSS Feed

Jungle Jam - Child Friendly! , Lenny - funny random faces , AR Ruler & Tape Measure and more

iPhone:

AR Ruler & Tape Measure ( $2.99 → Free ) Linebreak LLC AR Ruler allows you to measure anything, anytime. Point your iPhone’s camera at any object and AR Ruler will automatically calculate its measurements. It works on everything from doors and windows to picture frames and furniture. Measurements can be saved and labeled for future use.

Universal:

Jungle Jam - Child Friendly! ( $2.99 → Free ) Eggroll Games LLC Jungle Jam is completely free of buttons, menus, and in-app purchases, so your young child can mash away on the xylophone without any interruptions. The app also includes a fully interactive environment, allowing your child to activate a variety of animations by tapping all over the screen.

Lenny - funny random faces ( $0.99 → Free ) Kuba Reinhard Lenny has a face for everything. It’s a third-party keyboard, so you’ll have to make sure to add it through the Settings app. But after that, you’re able to randomly generate faces for your chatty friends or create your own by spinning three different wheels. Lenny includes about 5,000 face combinations to create, Apple Watch support, and an iMessage sticker pack.

Reminders Widget ( $1.99 → Free ) Crater Tech LLC Reminders Widget enhances the way you use reminders. It taps into the native Reminders app in order to pull any entries you’ve already created. You can then access all due or overdue reminders from a convenient Today widget. The widget also allows you to create new reminders, sort reminders, scroll through groups, and complete reminders.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free