With a completely original plot, this week’s review, Timeloop.

Basically, the plot is that you are a robot janitor who’s stuck in a lab that’s running out of oxygen. Luckily, there’s a time machine that can bring you back into time while still being in the same place (you can be in two places at once). To put all of this in simpler words, it’s a redesigned obstacle course. Controls are simple, tap on a place to move Nik (robot janitor) and tap on tools to use them. Tap the orange button in the corner or shake your device to activate the time loop. I personally love puzzle games because of the brainpower you need to solve them (figures, I have so much brainpower ). This game was enjoyable to play but once I got along to the harder levels, it started becoming annoying. The problem? Time limit. Time limits stop you from putting real thought into a puzzle. Sure it’s a real challenge but there should be an option to turn time limit off for beginners. Controls are pretty good, graphics are above average, game keeps you entertained (if you like puzzles), the only flaw keeping this game from being almost perfect is the timer. The game is definitely worth 99 cents for the game play you get out of it.

My overall rating? 9 out of 10 stars!

Well, since I have totally lost hope in the upcoming jailbreak for the iPhone 3GS 3.1.3, I am now in charge of the App Review department, and the next app is, “The Dog.” This app is what you think it is, you start off from a choice of five dogs, Beagle, Yorkshire Terrier, Boxer, Labrador, and a German Shepherd, in my case, a Boxer. The dog variety is not so great, and I’m hoping they’ll add more choices in the next update, but hey, you never know what’s in the next update. You start off with the basics, training the dog, buying food, and how to take it for a walk. One thing that is really confusing is the white backround, I mean, everything is white! You have a floating couch in the middle of NO WHERE! That’s one big thing that they should change, but probably won’t happen. The Dog, in my opinion, is not so entertaining, well, I’m a guy, maybe some 8 year old girls will enjoy it, but not some dude. I’ll say one thing though, walking the dog is pretty fun. The graphics in this game are great, but they’re also a bit choppy. In “The Dog,” I have learned a few ways to treat a dog, which I think was helpful in some way. My opinion is that I think this game can have a bit more variety, all I do is feed my dog, take him for a walk, put him to bed, and then it’s all over again, but sometimes there’s a twist. Since I’m an ex-owner of a cat, I’m not a fan of dogs, I’m just waiting for “The Cat.” This app sells for $4.99 in the App store.

My Overall Rating? 7.4 out of 10 stars!

A classic, yet if you were born in 1996 and after, you wouldn’t of heard about it. This week’s review, Crystal Maze.

Basically, it’s a 90’s TV show made into a game. Yet it’s a very unique TV show. The concept is that a team (consisting of men and women) must be locked in a maze facing a bunch of challenges. Each challenge has a time limit and a time crystal. At the final round, the contestants are put into a crystal dome to catch tickets. There are gold and silver. Gold is equal to a ticket and silver deducts one. If you can get 100 gold tickets you get a prize. The time crystals in the earlier rounds are used for the ticket catching round. When the time limit is up in a challenge, a contestant in your team is locked into the room, preventing two more hands from grabbing TICKETS! So an easier way of saying this: Complete challenges before the time limit while getting a crystal. Then walk into a dome and catch golden tickets. There are four types of challenges in four different categories. Aztec, Medieval, Industrial, and Futuristic. Each has its designated time limit and way of getting through. Sometimes though, you can be locked in before reaching the time limit. An example of that is if you lose too many lives or make to many mistakes. In the video game form, Aztec is basically like Labyrinth. Get the ball past a maze of holes (falling through a hole makes you lose a life) to reach the time crystal before the time limit goes up. Medieval is like a logic test. Multiple choice, with 3 questions. Get two wrong you lose. Get two right you escape. Get three right you can escape with the time crystal. Industrial is a circuit connect. Place circuits to connect them from a battery to a powered chamber releasing the crystal. Futuristic is based on timing. You have a crane and you have to pick up Plutonium rods from a conveyor belt. The crane can be moved. Once 12 rods are picked up, the crystal appears in a rod. Pick that up before time runs out. Alright, enough explanation, time for the pros and cons.

Pros:

1. The gaming is quite varied providing a completely new experience every round.

2. The concept is really creative.

3. It comes with a soundboard

Cons:

1. The game is a bit buggy. Not enough to mess the game up though.

2. Some of the games are changed up a bit but I think more games should be added to one section or it gets boring after a while.

3. It’s close to impossible to get 100 gold tickets unless you have all 4 crystals with no one locked in.

4. Some games are too quickly beat. Add a difficulty mode to heat things up. Maybe you get to change the time limit, number of lives and difficulty.

It’s a great game really. There’s a lot of potential but there just isn’t enough games (even though all 4 are addicting). Once you beat it, you don’t really play it again. Add more games and a difficulty mode and this game would definitely be worth $2.99. For now, I would say it’s worth $1.99.

My overall rating? 7.8 stars out of 10 stars!

As you know I updated my 3GS to 3.1.3, which updates the bootloader, modem firmware, etc, thus, having no jailbreak for about a month. *smacks self.* So here’s my APPSTORE application review, because I have no other choice. (Not really). iDroid Mini is the Android web browser, for the iPhone. I’m still wondering what the HELL was going through Apples mind when they approved something BETTER than something the iPhone comes with, I mean really, it’s two times faster than the Safari browser, and I timed them both to go to iPwnAge.com, and the time Safari took was 6 seconds, and the time iDroid Mini took was 3 seconds, you can clearly tell the difference. iDroid Mini lacks one thing, which is history. I mean, I can go back, but I really wanna see my history. I’m actually glad I found a Safari replacement. No offense to Apple, but that’s the worst browser known to man. One feature about iDroid Mini that I LOOOOOVVVVEEE is that you can turn off landscape mode! I can now surf the web in bed!! You can also preview tabs, while you’re doing something else, just like that preview feature in Windows Vista & 7. One really annoying thing about this though, is that you can’t save a browsing feature. If I get a notification, and quit the app, then you will return to find everything lost. Boohoo. I am, looking forward to the next update. They always update it when an Android update is released. This application is currently FREE. That’s right F.R.E.E; but only until the 21st! Then it will return to it’s original price of 99 cents.

My overall rating? 8 out of 10 stars!

Since I was idiotic enough to update my 3GS to 3.1.3, without paying attention, I’m stuck with stock firmware for the next couple of weeks, or months (Beats himself), so for the time being, I’m doing AppStore utilities, because STEVEN IS FORCING ME TO I have no other choice. RedLaser is basically a barcode scanner, and to admit it, it is pretty darn accurate. Actually, it doesn’t scan THE barcode, but it scans the numbers at the bottom, which it always gets right. RedLaser is the perfect thing to take to the supermarket, if you’re too shy to go up to the lady and ask her to scan it, pull out your iPhone and KAPOW! Scan away, but it never tells you the sale price, so don’t expect the sale price. I spent 3 hours scanning my bathroom drawer, and then my kitchen, and it was pretty darn good, I still have my basement to go, and then, I’ll have most of my house scanned. One thing I REALLY like about this app is that it shows you where the product is available closest to you, which is really awesome. Here’s an example, I scanned an Axe can, and it gave me the correct price, and the correct kind, “Instinct.” This application sells for $1.99 on the Appstore.





My overall rating? 9.6 out of 10 stars!

Thanks to our EAR, Chris, we have found a game similar to Cube Runner yet the design and graphics are boosted up. Platform is also redesigned. This week’s review, Boost 3D.

Basically, the concept is to glide around inside a tunnel without hitting any obstacles. Controls are simple enough, tilt right and left to the direction you want to go. Eventually, the landscape changes and the cylinder turns inside out. There are cubes scattered all around the cylinder just like Cube Runner. The tunnel is separated into lines. Each line is white, when it changes to colors (blue, green, orange, purple etc.) it indicates that a cube will come up on that line, serving as a warning. There are also boost pads to speed you up. If you just went through a boost pad, it allows you to hit an obstacle without losing. Boost is a great game with an outstanding concept, however, I think they could expand a lot more. Sure the game is already addicting with its amazing graphics and stability but just like Cube Runner, it does get boring after a while. Maybe add more obstacles, items, make the track more sophisticated, add more tracks, and even a level editor. It’s the perfect game if you’re one who likes simple games where the object is to reach a high score but I don’t think $1.99 is worth the gameplay you’re getting out of it. One extreme pro is the graphics, I will NEVER get tired of the amazing graphics this game provides.

My overall rating? 8 out of 10 stars!

A classic game, yet redesigned for even more possibilities, this week’s app review, Arachnadoodle.

Thanks to the Devs of Arachnadoodle, I was able to get the app for free but after playing for 15 minutes, it would have been worth it to buy the app too. The basic concept of the game is like Peggle, you bounce around trying to hit all the pegs. With Arachnadoodle, you are a spider, jumping around pins creating webs to trap flies in them. This is what makes this game so much more fun and creative. Instead of the boring “hit all the red pegs”, you create webs by jumping through the pins. You start from the ground and attempt to connect as many pins as you can, reinforcing your web. Just like Peggle (where you hit all the red pegs), once you go through all the new pins at least once, it stops. While bouncing through, it shows you a pie chart of how reinforced your web is. There are various items such as the angle-changer (changes the direction you’re going in to another one), the bouncer (you bounce off of it), spiders that will stun you or blow parts of your web away, furniture that you can cling to and a lot more. Once you have run out of bounces or have connected every pin at least once, the flies will fly through your web and see if it holds. Graphics are great, quality is also good. Concept is outstanding. I only give a few recommendations on making the tutorial in the help section a bit more detailed, making difficulty options and if possible, a level editor.

My overall rating? 9.5 out of 10 stars!

After much restoring, rejailbreaking, and rebooting, I have finally fixed the WiFi/USB Connection problem on my iPhone. Which means it’s time for an APP REVIEW! This week’s app, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.

As we all might know, Grand Theft Auto is one of the most violent RPG games ever made. Now this super ultra violent game is finally on the iPhone. Within 3 days of it’s release it has reached number 4 on the Top 25 App list. If you have never heard of GTA (which I doubt), the concept of the game is to run around the streets and rob and beat people. This version, Chinatown Wars, actually has a plot, where you are Huang Lee, attempting to deliver a sword to your uncle. First thing about this game? It crashes once in a while but not so bad that you can’t play the game. Graphics aren’t so great, but the game play is pretty good. Barely lags, basic movements function well, the radar is the only thing that doesn’t respond to touch as well. I like how this game takes forever to finish because I personally like games that take a long time to complete. One flaw of this game is that you can’t save during missions which is extremely annoying especially for iPhone users. Let’s say you are at the brink of finishing up a mission and you receive a call, you will have to start it all over again. Another problem with it is that there’s a lot of unnecessary swearing. These are really the only flaws of this game. If you have an iPod, this game is absolutely perfect for you (unless you are extremely against swearing).

My overall rating? 9 out of 10 stars (iPod) and 8 out of 10 stars (iPhone)

Once again, Chris has done it. From now on, I proclaim Chris, the Expert App Recommender. Or as I like to call, EAR. That’s what I will call him from now on Now, on with the review.

So, as you can see, there is the word “stunts” in this app so clearly there will be stunts. Now, the basic format is that you are in an obstacle course with many obstacles (obviously) and you are a car trying to get to the goal (a triangle). Note that you have to drive right through the goal, if you don’t it doesn’t count. There are four controls: Accelerate, decelerate, brakes, and afterburner. Accelerate, well, accelerates your car, decelerate does the opposite, brake acts for three uses, brakes, air brakes (when you air brake basically you gain more control when spinning out of control and slow down), and helping you turn better. If you ever played Mario Kart they call it “drifting”, the brakes are sort of like drifting but if you hold it TOO long you stop moving. Afterburner, it’s the spotlight of the game, basically it’s the control that speeds you up, keeps you in the air, it’s the reason you need brakes. The main reason for afterburner is to speed up or stay in the air but I’ve found other uses. For one, if you somehow turn your car until it faces upwards, you levitate (but you fall down eventually due to loss of jet fuel). Of course the Devs don’t want you to always be able to speed up so if you use afterburner too much (hold it too long) you crash, spin out of control or go so fast that once you go up a ramp you fly into the air and you can’t land. You also get to retry anytime. One thing that I really liked about this game was that it let you cut through the course. what I mean by that is, some driving games make you start over if you find a way to skip parts of the course but this game let’s you cut right through. I actually found a way to cut from the beginning of the game to the end but they stopped that unfortunately. Still they let you cut a pretty long distance. You can also of course do stunts but they don’t really count it. There are two modes, Normal and Casual. Casual gives you unlimited jet fuel and makes you crash less easily. Normal gives you limited jet fuel but you refuel when reaching check points and they apply physics to the game a lot more so it’s easier to crash. Normal also let’s you post high scores and has the level pack Impossible. You get medals based on how many times you tried and sometimes the time it took you to get to the end. The only con I see here is that you get a headache from playing too long (I played for 3 hours straight).

Overall, this game’s concept, stability, graphics, sounds, make it the BEST app I’ve ever reviewed before.

My overall rating? 9.99 out of 10 stars!

Apparently I’m in debt to Chris twice now because his Appvent Post gave me an idea, one that will surely tire me out and require much coffee to complete. Also note that I won’t be posting for about until after New Year’s (which is also David’s birthday) because this task has cracked me in half. Well, remember Chris’ post on Appvent? Free app everyday until Christmas? That’s right, I’m reviewing every single one and picking the best out of them all. Consider yourself lucky because Appvent is giving these out for free and because I’m usually lazier than DAVID. Yes it is possible to be lazier than David Ok, let’s start.