app of the week
Tyrian
High Concept: A top-down shoot-em-up (shmup) in the style of the old-school 8-bit era brought to the iPhone with solid controls, high framerate, and reasonably good graphics.
Pros: High framerate, no painfully visible clipping/sprite issues, very solid and snappy controls (see below). The game itself is an excellent iteration of the genre with tons of fun and useful powerups that demand repeated playing to enjoy. Secret levels, pickups, versatile enemies, regenerating shields a la Halo, and just enough challenge to make a fun time. In many ways, looking back, Tyrian was ahead of its time.
Ultra-Pro: With most games where you control the position of your avatar using your finger, your finger itself gets in the way, which not only makes the game much more difficult but instantly snaps you out of any immersion you've been able to manage. Exceptional care has been taken to prevent this with Tyrian; your avatar goes a little bit above your finger so you always have a good view of your ship.
Cons: After purchasing the $0.99 game, the first time you try to play, you have to download an assets pack to your iPhone that cannot be included due to licensing issues or something like that. This is annoying, but done in as user-friendly a way given the constraint.
Additionally, navigating the menus is a bit annoying--some of them are "clickable" using your finger; others you are forced to use on-screen up-down arrows to navigate. Ugh.
Tyrian: A-
High Concept: A top-down shoot-em-up (shmup) in the style of the old-school 8-bit era brought to the iPhone with solid controls, high framerate, and reasonably good graphics.
Pros: High framerate, no painfully visible clipping/sprite issues, very solid and snappy controls (see below). The game itself is an excellent iteration of the genre with tons of fun and useful powerups that demand repeated playing to enjoy. Secret levels, pickups, versatile enemies, regenerating shields a la Halo, and just enough challenge to make a fun time. In many ways, looking back, Tyrian was ahead of its time.
Ultra-Pro: With most games where you control the position of your avatar using your finger, your finger itself gets in the way, which not only makes the game much more difficult but instantly snaps you out of any immersion you've been able to manage. Exceptional care has been taken to prevent this with Tyrian; your avatar goes a little bit above your finger so you always have a good view of your ship.
Cons: After purchasing the $0.99 game, the first time you try to play, you have to download an assets pack to your iPhone that cannot be included due to licensing issues or something like that. This is annoying, but done in as user-friendly a way given the constraint.
Additionally, navigating the menus is a bit annoying--some of them are "clickable" using your finger; others you are forced to use on-screen up-down arrows to navigate. Ugh.
Tyrian: A-