Overview

In case its incredible graphics and game depth aren’t enough to impress you, Real Soccer 2009’s shockingly comprehensive controls will have you mesmerized and hooked in minutes. Stepovers, through balls, one-twos and spin moves aren’t supposed to be possible in a cell phone game, but this app does it all, and in a fun and flexible format. It’s a must-have for soccer fans.

Gameplay

A two-button virtual pad may seem limiting, but this game’s creative use of tapping and dragging allows for an amazing amount of control.

From lob passes and conservative tackles to fake shots and Marseille roulettes (couldn’t they just call it a spin move?) the in-game possibilities are stunning.

Real Soccer (as opposed to fake soccer) also offers a variety of game modes and options.

Users can play a quick exhibition match with European club teams, go for the Premiership title in league play or take on the world in an international cup tournament. There is even a penalty kick shootout mini-game and also a training mode to brush up on the controls.

The length, difficulty, place and time of matches are all flexible (although there are only 12 locations to choose from) as are team jerseys, formations, lineups and substitutions.

Unfortunately there is no multiplayer option at the moment (although it is set to be included in the next app update) and, although the game has real player names, the club teams and logos don’t seem to be licensed for most leagues, which isn’t a big deal since the players and team colors are the same, but seeing “Man. Red” instead of Manchester United, or “London” instead of Arsenal, was odd.

And no, you can’t play with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Review

Real Soccer is amazing. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect, but it’s darn close. Its graphical beauty and variety of gameplay options have made it the early standard-bearer in iPhone sports games and the app is so well done that it’s genuinely difficult to put down.

I’ll admit, I had no idea what a Marseille roulette was, but as soon as I started tracing circles on my screen I fell in love with the move. And it was so easy to do, a testament to the game’s intuitive controls.

The flexibility of the app was also impressive, although the maximum game duration is capped at 15 minutes, so don’t plan on any 90-minute iPhone nail-biters. Also, while users can elect to play in the snow, no frozen-tundra-style snow storms seem to materialize during the game (although the grass does appear to be whiter than normal). But snow or no snow, who cares?! A 3D soccer game that lets you do a “flip flap” (that’s a juke move, for those of us not in-the-know) is worthy of being snow-less!

Real Soccer 2009’s graphics, controls and variety of game modes will leave you in an astounded stupor. It’s a great game that is likely to improve with updates, including the upcoming addition of WiFi multiplayer mode, and is definitely worth your money. If you’re a soccer fan, you shouldn’t be depriving yourself of this fun-filled title.

Gameloft, esteemed mobile gaming company and the creators of Asphalt 4: Elite Racing, are one of the more underrated developers of the current gaming landscape. Specialising in games catering to the handheld and arcade markets, it’s fair to say Gameloft have a respectful experience in this popular division. The Asphalt franchise has seen considerable success since its inception, with its unique brand of racing inspired by likes of Need for Speed, Burnout and even Project Gotham Racing. While elements of the game are similar to these titles, it still manages to stand out, and establish itself as an extremely competent videogame, making full use of the iPhone and iPod Touch’s utterly fantastic touch-screen interface.

With a total lack of buttons, you’d be forgiven for thinking a racing game wouldn’t work on Apple’s little machine. Thankfully, Gameloft has proven this isn’t the case, with three control schemes that all work well. The first control scheme, and arguably the most precise and reliable, uses the touch-screen. By pressing your fingers on the right and left of the screen you can steer your vehicle, with turbo and the brakes a quick button press away. Acceleration is automatic for all control schemes, a wise decision on Gameloft’s part, to avoid player frustration. For the second configuration, you need to tilt the machine to manoeuvre round bends, with a forward tilt enabling turbo. Sometimes the sensitivity becomes an issue, and you can be forever accidentally activating turbo, but it’s a decent alternative to the default that many players will utilise. The final and perhaps weakest control scheme places a steering wheel at the bottom left of the screen. By placing your finger over it you steer the car as you slide your fingers left and right. It’s another decent alternative, just a little awkward.

Upon entering the main game, the interface is initially confusing, with the ability to race just a click away. You get the option to change the track and mode from one screen, whether to play WiFi multiplayer on another, and finally a screen for car selection. Once you learn all the ins and outs of the menu interface, and read up on the help section, you’ll be pleased with how things are laid out, as it lends well to pick-up-and-play gameplay, exactly what iPhone games are made for.

You get five race modes to indulge in. There’s Duel, which is simply a two-lap race against one other car, and Cop Chase, where you assume the role of the police and need to take down the leading car. Less race orientated is Beat Em ‘All, which is similar to Burnout’s road rage mode, where you need to destroy your opponents cars, this time before you finish three laps – lack of crash damage detracts somewhat from the experience, but this is iPod not PlayStation. Cash attack is a mode where you need to make as much money as possible by smashing up scenery, clearing jumps and collecting cash icons, and finally you have the standard race mode, ironically one of the better games thanks to its no-nonsense, ‘we all know and love it’ status. This plethora of modes is certainly welcome, although dependant on whether you enjoy novelty, you may wish there was less arcade smashing and higher-octane racing, or vice-versa.

The racing gameplay, thanks to the tight and innovative controls, is a lot of fun. Pedestrian cars are out and about and don’t frustrate too often, adding an air of authenticity and the feel of a living, breathing world. When you cause too much havoc the police become on your tail and you need to shrug them off or ram them to get back on track. When you race particularly flashy, utilising the most of your turbo, the news team ride by in a helicopter, which is a neat touch that doesn’t clutter the screen as you’d expect, instead heightening the action. The opponent cars all drive intelligently, and put up quite a fight, yet at the same time the difficulty is well-balanced, affording you a more enjoyable ride. It’s arguably a little too easy sometimes, but that comes down to the skill of the player - it just so happens that this player is extremely adept and skilful.

Over forty cars and a few motorbikes can be eventually bought, and each is completely licensed and recreated with finesse. Included in the mix are the Ferrari Scuderia, Lotus Elise, Ford GT and the Italian beauty that is the Bugatti Veyron. You can tune every car with new parts; however this part of the game feels slightly pointless, if only for the fact the advantage to customising your ride isn’t massive. It sometimes feels like a chore, especially having to apply the same upgrades to newly purchased cars, but petrol heads should reap the benefits. Because the money you get after the completion of events is significantly larger than the price of each vehicle, there’s no grinding to be had, and newly unlocked cars can be bought with ease - whether this is a bad thing is entirely subjective.

The visuals, and more importantly the tracks, is what makes Asphalt 4: Elite Racing stand out, and the lure of new courses needing to be unlocked is always high. With just under ten tracks, all with four events, this game will keep you busy. The locales range from Shanghai to Dubai, from Hawaii to Rome, and from New York to Las Vegas. The day courses are incredibly scenic, and instead of the same four buildings or sea views cropping up every corner, you get little shanty towns, to palaces, to waterfalls. Each course has been expertly crafted, and there’s always something interesting to see as you drive round them. The night courses boast fluorescent hues and sparkling lights, while the day courses contain coliseums, the Brooklyn Bridge, and sweeping tunnels, amongst other memorable monuments. You’ll enjoy the sight-seeing on offer in this game, and the fact everything is presented through fantastic visuals and the very best production values the iPhone and iPod Touch can offer, is impressive. Gameloft need applauding for the marvellous aesthetic they’ve created here. Sound is decent, with cute snippets of dialogue, predictable engine whirls and police sirens along with a harmless soundtrack. With a game like this, however, audio takes a backseat.

When you ask yourself whether it’s worth a purchase, the answer couldn’t be simpler. For a pocket money price you’re getting an extremely solid racer, one that ticks lots of boxes. Asphalt 4: Elite Racing is a great racing game, and possibly the best out on Apple’s handheld sensation. The tracks are the real star, with a fantastic range of interesting, replay-friendly locations, and thanks to the controls, you can enjoy them as they were intended. Just like the roads you’ll race on, this game is slick.

My first thought when I played Cartoon Wars was that it’s amazing how much blood a stick figure can generate. The stick figure in question is one of the many that make up the black and white cartoon tribe. They’ve joined their stick hands and are up in arms against the colored cartoon tribe which has been oppressing them for ages.

You will have to fight and help the black and white tribe conquer the enemy’s castle.. The method to do this is to produce units of stick figures by tapping on the icon buttons at the bottom of the screen. You have your own castle too, and a giant bow at the top; you can adjust the angle of the bow and shoot arrows with the help of a button at the bottom right of the screen.

An interesting feature is a ‘mana booster’ that stands behind your castle. I personally think the mana figure here looks something like the Statue of Liberty, but this supernatural force sure helps in the big fight. The more mana you upgrade, the more its production is.

Since this is the cartoon world, be assured that you will be facing a lot of imaginative and colorful enemies with all sorts of powers. But as you dissolve each enemy in a puddle of blood, your coins count increases. Use them to armor yourself with more than 30 types of units, and different kinds of upgrades.

The levels are unlimited, so Cartoon Wars makes for a long gameplay. The numerous upgrades along the way keep you busy making battle decisions, except when you hit a roadblock after level 31 cos you have bought just about every unit and upgrade. BLUE could perhaps get busy creating more of them?

The units produce really fast like rabbits (bad pun, I know), so no problem there, but it is difficult to control the aim of the bow. Cartoon Wars would also be a lot cooler if it could be played in multi-player mode, maybe with the two tribes against each other.

There are quite a few spelling and grammar errors, so that’s something to be taken care of too. Even with all this glitches, Cartoon Wars is a fun game with an interesting storyline. Where else do you find lil cartoon stick figures with mana in them?

The Best Comment gets a PROMO CODE of this Game.

Sally’s Spa ($1.99, download) is an enjoyable and surprisingly detailed business simulator that puts you in charge of running a spa. While the subject matter is clearly aimed at girls, the game is challenging and fun enough that some dudes might like it too. Overall, Sally’s Spa is a well-designed game that adds new challenges and bonuses from beginning to end, creating hours of engrossing gameplay. I found it addictive and rate it 7.6 out of 10, recommended.

If you’ve ever dreamed of giving manicures and plucking eyebrows for a living, then Sally’s Spa is probably the perfect game for you. But even those who don’t have beautician dreams can find it challenging and, perhaps for men, somewhat educational. The object of the game is to manage your time and efforts in order to satisfy customers who enter the spa, as your revenue is tied to putting a smile on customers’ faces.

To do that, customers can’t wait too long for their next steam bath, facial, massage, etc, before losing patience. The game is based around earning (or losing) hearts that measure customer happiness. Apply the right kind of bubble bath and you’ll earn a heart. Ignore a customer too long and eventually they’ll get fed up and storm out of the spa.

To take care of a customer, you either drag them to the next station with your finger or tap on them to apply the treatments. Some of the stations have secondary tasks, such as choosing the right type of bubble bath or applying the right kind of hot stone for the heat massages.

After you successfully navigate the customers through the various spa treatments, they pay for your services based on how satisfied they are, which is visualized via a row of red hearts attached to each customer. You can also earn bonus cash by selling beauty products that customers purchase while waiting. To pass to the next level, you must meet the minimum revenue for each level.

Probably the funnest part of the game is buying upgrades to your spa. You can purchase workers who will control certain stations such as the steam baths or massage tables, freeing up your time to take care of other services. You can also purchase helpful items like scented candles that will soothe customers and make them more patient and herbal teas that will have the customers feeling a little bit more groovy about sitting in your spa.

As the game progresses and you become more successful, you travel to spas across the globe where new treatments are introduced, including fingernail trimming, eyebrow clipping, and foot massages.

My only complaint with Sally’s Spa is that it takes too long before the game becomes difficult. Perhaps it’s my familiarity with time management games (see my review of the similar Hell’s Kitchen), but I was about 2 hours into the game before I lost my first customer.

Conclusion
Sally’s Spa is a whimsical business simulator that is impressive in its detail and polished design. New challenges and bonuses provide hours of gameplay, making the game a value at lower prices (currently $1.99). We give it a recommended rating of 7.6 out of 10.