8 Bit Horse: iOS

Showing posts with label iOS. Show all posts

Contra 4

A game by WayForward for DS, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2007.

Contra 4 is a run and gun shooter that serves as a nostalgia-driven revisit of the NES Contra, while also acting as a direct sequel to Contra III: The Alien Wars on SNES. The game takes place in 2638, two years after the eponymous Alien Wars where Red Falcon was finally defeated by the descendants of the original game’s heroes. (Red Falcon was the primary antagonist in all three canonical Contra games to this point.) But after a short period of peace, the world is once again thrown into chaos when an alien being known as Black Viper descends upon Earth. All seems lost until strange readings are detected near New Zealand on a fictional cluster of islands known as the Galuga Archipelago.

You play as one of four heroes – or two heroes in local 2P co-op – although the differences between them are only cosmetic. You may select one of the heroes from the first two games, Bill Rizer or Lance Bean, or one of the heroes from Contra 3, Mad Dog or Scorpion. By competing objectives in the game’s optional Challenge Mode (which is unlocked when you complete the main game on any difficulty), you can also unlock Probotector from the PAL iterations of the early Contra games, as well as several other heroes from the Contra series, including Lucia, Sheena Etranzi, Jimbo, and Sully.

2007, Android, DS, iOS, Konami, WayForward

GRIS

A game by Nomada Studio for PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2018.

GRIS is an adventure game featuring light platforming and puzzle elements. The game stars the eponymous Gris, a young woman who must overcome pain and grief as her peaceful world suddenly crumbles around her. The game’s wordless story is told mostly through symbolism and begins with Gris waking up in the cracked palm of a giant statue of a woman… one of many such damaged statues she encounters on her journey, many appearing in poses of lament. She begins to sing but quickly becomes unable to find her voice. She slumps to the ground and the statue cracks into pieces, sending her tumbling into the world below.

Once on solid ground, Gris can only move slowly to the left or right, and performing any action causes her to drop to her knees, after which she pulls herself slowly to her feet. The ground beneath her is represented by a thin pencil line, and everything has been drained of color. Gris wears a long grey dress that flows around her as she moves (and makes her visible even when the camera pulls back), and her blue hair stands out as the only bit of color in the world around her.

2018, Android, Devolver Digital, iOS, Mac, Nomada Studio, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox X/S

Arcane Golf

A game by FromLefcourt for PC, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2018.

Arcane Golf is a physics-based miniature golf game set in a medieval fantasy world. The game features 200 single-screen courses divided across four themed areas – Dank Dungeon, Water Temple, Forest Ruins, and Arcane Lair – each with unique level elements and obstacles. Lessons learned in earlier casual levels are slowly built upon to create more complex spatial puzzle challenges later in the game where expert play and quick reflexes are required.

The player is greeted by a mysterious dry-witted wizard who offers advice on completing levels. This character appears frequently in the early going to tutorialize basic gameplay mechanics, and he pops up as new elements are introduced, making less frequent appearances as the game goes on.

2018, Android, Clickteam, FromLefcourt, iOS, PC, thatgregperkins

Summer Catchers

A game by FaceIT for PC, Mac, Switch, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2019.

Summer Catchers is a lighthearted endless runner-esque road trip game featuring a girl named Chu on a journey to find summer. She grew up in the north where it snows all the time and realizes that she has never seen a beach nor experienced summertime, and so she sets out to find it. As she travels the world, she encounters a colorful cast of characters who help to guide her in the right direction – after she helps them with tasks of their own – and she makes many friends along the way.

Chu’s journey takes her across eight themed areas, from the snowy tundra to windswept plains to lava-filled tunnels to the sandy dunes of a desert. She discovers that there is much more to the world than she ever expected as she meets mysterious creatures and sees strange things off in the distance, and she even faces off against giant bosses, all while puttering along in her handmade vehicle.

2019, Android, FaceIT, iOS, Mac, Noodlecake Studios, PC, Switch

Witcheye

A game by Moon Kid for PC, Switch, iOS, and Android, originally released on mobile in 2019, and released on computers and consoles in 2020.

Witcheye is a retro-style actioner set in a colorful world that is filled with cute but deadly creatures. The wizard Senexis has hired a brave knight to help him gather up the ingredients he needs to create a potion. But rather than embarking on some grand quest to retrieve these items, the knight is instead tasked with stealing them from a witch named Mabel. The wizard promises to reward the knight with great power should he complete his mission.

Meanwhile, Mabel is in her witchey lair, minding her own business, when she decides to whip up a potion of her own. But when she turns her back to the cauldron to gather up the ingredients, the knight sneaks in and opens a huge sack. As Mabel tosses the ingredients (and gems) nonchalantly over her shoulder, the knight catches them in his bag and then runs away. Angry, the witch transforms herself into a giant floating eyeball and gives chase. The player takes on the role of this floating eyeball on a journey through more than 50 levels spread across six themed environments.

2019, 2020, Android, Devolver Digital, iOS, Moon Kid, PC, Switch

Whipseey and The Lost Atlas

A game by Daniel A. Ramirez for PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and iOS, originally released in 2019.

Whipseey and The Lost Atlas is a cute and colorful platformer starring Alex, a boy who is pulled into another world by way of a mysterious book. Once in this world, Alex finds his body transformed, shrinking him down into a cutesy pink creampuffy creature named Whipseey. Fortunately, the distressed Whipseey immediately meets a princess who hands him a pink whip and sends him out to complete his quest… which apparently has something to do with a lost atlas, but that’s not actually clear in the wordless and minimal story.

Whipseey and The Lost Atlas hangs its hat on the nostalgia invited by its bright and colorful world, adorable character designs, and whimsical soundtrack, as the player travels across five themed lands. Whipseey has a high variable jump and is able to use his whip to attack enemies (of course), and holding the JUMP button while falling allows him to spin the whip over his head like a helicopter, slowing his descent. In a few areas, there are floating rings which may be grappled, allowing him to swing through the air and cross gaps.

2019, Blowfish Studios, Daniel A. Ramirez, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One

Shantae and the Seven Sirens

A game by WayForward for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and iOS, with the first episode originally released on Apple Arcade in 2019, and the full version originally released on other platforms in 2020.

Shantae and the Seven Sirens is the fifth in a series of colorful platformers reaching back to the original self-titled game on the Game Boy Color in 2002. After an eight year hiatus, the series returned with Shantae: Risky's Revenge, followed by Shantae and the Pirate's Curse and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. All of these games star Shantae, a plucky purple-haired half-genie whose parents disappeared when she was a baby.

In her adventures, Shantae demonstrates that she is always willing to jump in and help people in need, which she accomplishes primarily through her ability to transform into various animals with different abilities (although she loses these powers temporarily, as explored in Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse). The selection of animal transformations changes from game to game, although some animals have carried over into future installments. For instance, transforming into a monkey has traditionally allowed Shantae to climb walls, and despite the monkey appearing in the opening cutscene and Shantae mentioning her monkey transformation during an early conversation, all of her animal transformations in this outing are entirely new.

2019, 2020, iOS, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, WayForward, Xbox One

Snake Core

A game by Orangepixel for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2020.

Snake Core is a modern take on the classic Snake formula where players control a lengthy string of soldiers rather than a slithering reptile. The game is set in the same universe and era as the developer’s Gunslugs series, taking place after the Gunslugs have defeated an evil army and defended Earth from alien attack. During this time – and using a bit of alien technology – scientists develop a device called the Omega Gate, which is capable of transporting people and objects over great distances. The Gunslugs train a new military outfit called the Snake Core, which then uses the Omega Gate to teleport to hostile alien worlds and bring the fight to them.

Like Snake, you’re really only controlling the head, while the rest of the body follows along the same route. Crossing over your own path or running into a wall spells instant death, but it’s a bit silly here, since you’re not controlling a single creature but rather a line of (presumably) independently-thinking soldiers. So when the lead soldier walks into a wall and dies, so too do the rest of the soldiers in the line, laughably exploding into blood and skulls as they are mysteriously shredded by bumping into a solid object.

2020, Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Orangepixel, PC

Terra Lander / Terra Lander II - Rockslide Rescue / Terra Lander Remastered / Terra Lander Redux

Games by DM Media. Terra Lander is a game for PC, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2015. Terra Lander Remastered / Redux is a game for PC, PS4, and Switch, originally released in 2019. Terra Lander II is a game for PC, PS4, and Switch, originally released in 2020.

Terra Lander is a short series of gravity-based spaceship games where you must manage fuel resources while navigating planetoids, avoiding projectiles, destroying enemy cannons, and safely landing the ship before your fuel – or the timer – runs out. In the second game, the player must also rescue humanoids trapped below the surface, and use a tractor beam to deal with rockslides. Borrowing mechanics and aesthetics from the classics of the genre – including Lunar Lander, Gravitar, Thrust, and Oids – these games are presented in a vector graphics style.

Unlike most genre entries, the player does not control the rotation of the ship, which removes one of the finer nuances of environmental navigation. Instead, the ship sits upright at all times and the player is free to thrust in any direction. In the first game, exhaust is emitted from each side of the ship as the player navigates, but in the second game, the engine thrust only appears from below.

2015, 2019, 2020, Android, DM Media, Funbox Media, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch

Hades

A game by Supergiant Games for PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, and iOS, originally released in 2020.

Hades is a roguelike actioner where you take on the role of Zagreus, the prince of the underworld and son of Lord Hades. Zagreus is attempting to escape the underworld, despite his father’s insistence that such an act is impossible. Still, Zagreus does not relent in his attempts and takes joy in defying his father and witnessing his displeasure. Each time he is killed, he returns once more to the House of Hades, rising up from a pool of blood and standing in a line of souls awaiting their meeting with the god of the dead.

Along the way, Zagreus makes many friends, all of whom are pivotal figures in the Greek pantheon. Some of these folks, like Achilles and Nix, hang about the House of Hades, while others like Sisyphus and Charon wander the underworld, and still others communicate with Zagreus from upon Mount Olympus, offering gifts to aid him in combat. By furthering conversations with these individuals – and offering them gifts – Zagreus slowly begins to learn more about the world around him, and about his own origins.

2020, iOS, Mac, PC, PS4, PS5, Supergiant Games, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox X/S

Heroine Anthem Zero

A game by WindThunder Studio for PC, Mac, PS4, Switch, and iOS, originally released in 2016.

Heroine Anthem Zero is an action-adventure broken into multiple episodes, with the first being released under several names on different platforms, appearing as Heroine Anthem Zero, Heroine Anthem Zero: Episode 1, and Heroine Anthem Zero -Sacrifice-, with the second episode being called Heroine Anthem Zero: Episode 2 and Heroine Anthem Zero 2 -Scars of Memories-. The game is part of the Heroine Anthem franchise which got its start in with Heroine Anthem: The Elect of Wassernixe and Heroine Anthem II The Angel of Sarem, which only saw release in Asian regions. There are references to the original games, but the new game is meant to stand on its own.

The story begins after the world’s most recent cataclysm, as the world rises and falls in inverse proportion to the greed of mankind. This time around, the world is built around the World Tree Terasyr, which gives rise to Fae folk, who live together in harmony with humans and anthropomorphic animals. But years of prosperity have caused mankind’s greed to rise once again, and a pestilence is spreading through the land. You play the role of Wanin, a Forest Keeper, and his faerie companion Mormolia, as they press into the dark reaches of Longhorn Woods to turn the tide of evil away from the civilization they are sworn to protect.

2016, iOS, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, WindThunder Studio, Winking Entertainment

Dark Void Zero

A game by Other Ocean Interactive for PC, DS, and iOS, originally released in 2010.

Dark Void Zero is level-based open world actioner starring Rusty, a test pilot, fighter, and close friend of Nikola Tesla. Using advanced weaponry, a jetpack, and the insights of Tesla, Rusty explores the Valley of Doom, a science lab, and the so-called Inner Sanctum, wiping out aliens – and collecting gobs of keycards – on a mission to save humanity. The game is done up in a chunky 8-bit style with a reduced color palette and chiptune soundtrack.

Dark Void Zero was initially pitched by Capcom as a lost project, originating from 1987 when the NES was king, and Capcom had seen success on the platform with Commando and Ghosts ‘N Goblins, and was just about to release the first entry in the Mega Man series. The game was said to incorporate the multidirectional shooting of Section Z, along with a new piece of hardware that would allow for increased numbers of sprites on the screen without flicker or slowdown (hey, they could have used that in the Mega Man series!), along with a special dual-screen version to be released on the PlayChoice-10.

Of course, this was all poppycock.

2010, Capcom, DS, iOS, Other Ocean Interactive, PC

Reventure

A game by Pixelatto for PC, Switch, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2019.

Reventure - originally titled Lonk’s Adventure - is a humorous open-world platformer that plays on a number of video gaming tropes and borrows design elements from The Legend of Zelda, as evidenced by the game’s original title. The entire experience is based around the fact that the game offers 100 individual endings and encourages players to experiment extensively to find them all. On its surface, this sounds like one big gimmick (which, to be fair, it is), but there's actually quite a lot of strategy involved in reaching many of these endings.

Things start out in a straightforward manner reminiscent of many classic video games: Evil forces have abducted the fair princess, and you – a lone adventurer – have been chosen by the king to rescue her and bring peace back to the land… except this is no ordinary adventure. In fact, you might walk out your front door, trip over a rock, and faceplant before you ever set foot in the castle, thus ending your adventure and achieving one of the 100 endings.

2019, Android, iOS, PC, Pixelatto, Switch

Tiny Dangerous Dungeons

A game by Adventure Islands for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android, originally released on browsers in 2013, on mobile in 2015, and computers in 2019.

Tiny Dangerous Dungeons is a bite-sized metroidvania with visuals inspired by the greenscale classics of the Game Boy era. The game marks the return of Timmy, a treasure hunter who originally appeared in the developer’s first game, Dangerous Dungeons, and also Super Dangerous Dungeons and Dangerous Christmas. The game is somewhat expanded over its original browser-based release, offering a time trial mode, a new area, and hidden health upgrades.

Timmy begins the game with a very high variable jump and no other abilities. He has no weapons and cannot stomp enemies to defeat them, so he must avoid all enemy contact in the early going. The entire game takes place within a set of ruins, with enemies taking the form of bats, spiders, hopping and non-hopping frogs, and the occasional arrow-firing face-in-the-wall (because video games).

2019, Adventure Islands, Android, iOS, Mac, PC

Dead Cells

A game by Motion Twin for PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2018.

Dead Cells is a roguelike actioner with metroidvania elements which stars a glob of sludge that is excreted into a room that contains a headless body. The nameless bit of muck rolls over to the body and transforms to become its head, imbuing it with life. Each death destroys the player’s current body, resulting in the vomitus mass respawning and reanimating another headless corpse, as the surrounding dungeon layouts are rearranged, per roguelike conventions.

The player is given little context for his actions. On rare occasions, the player finds a room that allows him to investigate and learn a few small details about what happened there (with an occasional reward for doing so), but this does not form into a larger narrative. Beyond these special rooms, the player encounters a few NPC’s that offer quips but are otherwise in place to serve specific gameplay functions. The protagonist expresses himself solely with exaggerated gestures.

2018, Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Motion Twin, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One

Moonlighter

A game by Digital Sun for PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and iOS, originally released in 2018.

In Moonlighter, a strange set of dungeons is discovered, eventually prompting the construction of a small town called Rynoka, which becomes home to adventurers and merchants. But the four dungeons soon claim many lives and they are sealed off to prevent further calamity. You take on the role of Will, a merchant working in a shop called the Moonlighter, which has been hit hard by the sudden lack of trade. Will takes it upon himself to venture into the ever-changing dungeons in search of fortune and glory… and the chance at unlocking a sealed fifth door that has yet to be opened.

The game is an action-adventure that mixes in equal parts shopkeeping and inventory management. By day, Will runs the Moonlighter, and by night, he moonlights (see what they did there?) as an adventurer, diving into dungeons and recovering mysterious artifacts that he can sell in his store. What’s more, these artifacts are the key to upgrading his weapons and equipment, allowing him to dive into more dangerous areas of the dungeons, take on more powerful enemies, and recover better materials.

11 Bit Studios, 2018, Digital Sun, iOS, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One

Minit

A game by Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio, and Dominik Johann for PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, and Android originally released in 2018.

Minit is an open world action adventure that is played out in 60 second increments. You take on the role of a plucky duck-faced (or perhaps just big-lipped) fellow as he travels through a 1-bit black and white world. Early in his adventure… like a few seconds in, he discovers a sword lying on the beach. As it turns out, the sword is cursed, and picking it up causes a 60-second countdown timer to appear, which begins ticking downward. In the last few seconds, a countdown alarm sounds, and when time runs out, the player character lets out a gasp and drops dead.

Fortunately, this is not the end for our hero, as he awakens back in his home, but he still has the cursed sword in his possession, and he still has only 60 seconds to live. He sets out once more, and with sword in hand, he is now able to do things that he couldn’t do before, such as kill wandering crabs and cut through shrubberies that formerly blocked his path. He is able to attack in four directions.

2018, Android, Devolver Digital, Dominik Johann, iOS, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio, Kitty Calis, Linux, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One

Necrosphere / Necrosphere Deluxe

A game by Cat Nigiri for PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, Vita, Xbox One, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2017, with the Deluxe version released in 2019.

In Necrosphere, you play the role Terry Cooper, some sort of agent who is killed during an ambush, and his spirit (or whatever) passes into the Necrosphere. Fortunately, his partners in the real world manage to survive have somehow found a way to slip little helpful notes into the Necrosphere to aid him on his quest… which is to find an exit and return to the Normalsphere. In order to do this, he’ll need to complete some tough platforming challenges and earn powerups that allow him to explore additional routes, metroidvania style.

According to Terry's still-living friends, the Necrosphere is the size of Earth, and he’ll have an eternity to explore and find the exit, which is rumored to have been permanently sealed. Fortunately, the game world is considerably less than the size of an entire planet, and level designs are somewhat straightforward, so the player won’t spend much time wandering aimlessly.

2017, Android, Cat Nigiri, iOS, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Vita, Xbox One

Ninja Smasher

A game by Q-Cumber Factory for 3DS, PC, and iOS, originally released for mobile in 2014, with an updated version released in 2016.

Ninja Smasher is an open world ninja action game with a simple premise: a bad guy has kidnapped the princess, and you must fight to rescue her. The kidnapping takes place during a playable introduction, which also acts as a tutorial, explaining the basic controls and movement abilities. The ninja fights his way toward the princess and eventually comes face-to-face with the red mustachioed goon who has taken her prisoner… but unfortunately, the baddie’s magic is too much for the squat martial artist, who is literally blown out of the castle gates.

With the gates locked and no way to open them, the ninja sets off on an adventure to grow his strength and learn new abilities to help him take the princess back. At the outset, the player is free to move to the left or the right, although the path to the left dead-ends at a cave that appears to require additional abilities to navigate. Moving to the right, the player eventually encounters a cave that leads to a standalone dungeon area, and completing this earns him the ability to double jump, opening up much of the world for exploration.

2014, 2016, 3DS, iOS, PC, PUMO, Q-Cumber Factory

RunGunJumpGun / ATOMIK: RunGunJumpGun

A game by ThirtyThree Games for PC, Mac, Switch, iOS, and Android, originally released in 2016.

Few game titles are as accurately descriptive as RunGunJumpGun (a.k.a. ATOMIK: RunGunJumpGun), a game that is comprised solely of running and gunning and jumping (and gunning). You play the role of a scavenger who has come to the Extax solar system to hunt for precious resources known as Atomiks. The Extax System’s sun is expanding and swallowing up the planets, and the remaining citizens have gone into a full-on apoca-panic, with numerous conspiracy theories being floated that the sun’s expansion is not natural… maybe it has something to do with the planet’s warlords, or the scavenger himself, or maybe the scavenger is their only hope for survival.

RunGunJumpGun is an auto-scrolling game with only two buttons for control, but it is a far cry from the glut of uninspired auto-runners that hit the market following the success of Canabalt. RunGunJumpGun manages to do a lot with its basic configuration, continuously opening up new obstacles and new types of challenges across 120 short levels, most of which last around 10 or 20 seconds.

2016, Android, Gambitious Digital Entertainment, iOS, Mac, PC, Switch, ThirtyThree Games