iPhone Free Games Guide - Part 1
January 6th, 2009Although my iPhone will always play second fiddle to the Xbox 360 as a gaming platform, the sexy mobile device does however provide a convenient distraction that whittles away the time when I’m not in the comfort of my own home. The majority of games available are undeniably still in there infancy, but there are certainly signs of improvement with games such as Rolando that wouldn’t seem too out of place if it appeared on the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. I am however still holding my breath, waiting for that standout title that blows me away and convinces me that the iPhone really could be a serious gaming platform.
There are an obscene number of so-called-games on the application store. Quantity rather than quality seems to be the driving marketing strategy as developers fall over themselves in a rush to get a piece of the gaming pie, and there are certainly plenty of free games to try out. The question is, even through they’re free, are any of them worth downloading?
Well to help you decide I’ve been trying out quite a few free games recently. Most of which have been picked from the “Top 25 Free” application list, but a few of the others I’ve heard about on the grapevine. In the first part of the guide I’ll be checking out Crazy Penguin Catapult Lite, PAC-MAN Lite, Touch Hockey, and Labyrinth Lite Edition.
Crazy Penguin Catapult Lite
You can probably guess, just from the title, what this game is about. But just to avoid ambiguity this game involves firing penguins from a catapult so that they can dive bomb polar bears – which for the record are naturally evil and have resorted to capturing penguins rather than eating them, but for what ever reason nobody knows.
The main campaign game finds you wandering from stage to stage on an overhead map, with each stage generally consisting of two elements. The first part is to launch your squad of penguins into the air using said catapult – usually through a narrow gap – so they can proceed to the next part, hopefully without suffering too many casualties if you timed things correctly. The second part sees the now flying penguins zooming across the screen whereby you have to time where and when to dive bomb the polar bears below. A successful strike will knock the bear from the screen and a set number of bears are required to be removed to be victorious. That is more or less the entire game, although each stage does get progressively more difficult by placing bears behind ice fortifications that need to be destroyed first.
So the game looks fine; with cute penguins and gleefully evil looking polar bears, and it has an annoyingly jovial music track. However, no matter how good the presentation is the game is severely let down by the one dimensional gameplay and I just didn’t find it remotely enjoyable. This is the “Lite” version of the game, and perhaps there’s more to see in the retail version that costs £2.99, but on the evidence I doubt I’ll ever find out.
Rating: 
PAC-MAN Lite
The greedy little fella gets everywhere doesn’t he? Well, the classics never really get old and there’s not much more to be said, we all know who and what Pac-Man is by now surely. This “Lite” version offers just the one level though and when the maze is complete it’s game over, but it may at least persuade you to buy the full version.
I’m pleased that Namco decided to incorporate a variety of control methods and the game allows you to either use the accelerometers, a virtual D-Pad, or just swipe the touch screen to control the little yellow pill gobbling freak, but in reality the D-Pad and accelerometer controls don’t really work that well.
Rating: 
Touch Hockey
Touch Hockey is basically Air Hockey on the iPhone. It can be played against the AI or with two players on one iPhone , or wirelessly – apparently. The gameplay and controls really couldn’t be simpler as the player uses a finger to move the mallet around the screen and to strike the puck with the aim of being the first to score either five, seven, nine or eleven goals against the opponent depending on the customisable settings.
The touch-screen controls aren’t perfect - I personally think that it would have been better to place the mallet directly below the finger rather than offset it slightly in front which causes issues when near the back edge of the screen, and in addition the mallet tends to lag behind when you move your finger too fast, but on the whole they’re okay.
I didn’t find the game that much fun when playing against the AI, but fortunately Touch Hockey redeems itself somewhat in multiplayer and surprisingly turns out to be engagingly good when played against a friend.
Rating:
Labyrinth Lite Edition
Labyrinth replicates those games of yesteryear whereby the sole aim was to manoeuvre a metal ball through a wooden maze from start to finish as quick as possible. That’s it really. It is however quite entertaining to play given its simplicity. This “Lite” version gives you ten mazes to navigate and uses the accelerometers on the iPhone to accurately control this skillful little game of hand-eye coordination.
It looks like a wooden game, it sounds like a wooden game, but it works; and it makes great use of the accelerometers – which are surprisingly sensitive. Labyrinth Lite Edition provides a pleasant change of pace to most games that are available, and basically delivers what it set out to emulate.
Rating: 
