Final Fantasy Tactics Battles Way Into App Store
$15.99 is way less than we had to pay for it when it released for PlayStation back in the day, but maybe that’s cold comfort with stock markets falling around the world. Hey, look on the bright side — as an iFanzine reader, you still have a chance to win this mammoth Strategy RPG absolutely free if you put your Twitter and Facebook accounts to work! There’s just one day left in our Final Fantasy Tactics giveaway contest, so be sure to enter if you have a US App Store account and haven’t started hitting that “Tweet” button like crazy already. As things stand at approximately 700 Tweets, we’ll give away two copies. Can you help us push it to 900 Tweets and beyond, so we’ll give away three, or even four?
Lollapalooza Isn’t the Only Palooza in Town This Weekend…
That’s right, iDevice owners have yet another reason to get down and party! I hope you’re sitting for this. One @Doomfan, iOS gamer extraordinaire, just couldn’t stand iOS being shown up this weekend so he had to organize the hippest party this side of Chicago! Just how hip is it, you ask? How does over one hundred promo codes sound!? Together with iPhoneGamerUK and AppsJP, iFanzine will be joining the iOSAPPALOOZA (say it three times fast!), featuring a lineup of awesome indie devs: Cascadia Games, Pixeleap, Appy Entertainment, Big Bad Brush, BansheeSoft, Aztlan Games, Brendan Wood, Canupa, Tribase Studios, and Small Gaming! Holy smokes!! We’ll have more details on this one-of-a-kind extravaganza up soon.
Jojopet TV’s Top Free Games Series
The eye of Jojopet sees all, and does a good job of finding the most interesting free games on the App Store! Check out his Youtube channel every few days for the lowdown on what’s cool and free right now. Some of the (still free) games recently featured include: Zombie Crisis 3D 2: HUNTER, Egg v. Chicken, Daisy’s Day Out, Meon, A Mad Squirrel, Lucky Rabbit, Robot Runner, Dungeon Treasure, The Flight of Flo Flo (Holy schnikes, the devs are having a $1000 contest!), Dance With the Dead, Goro’s Way, and Mask of Ninja: Run. Now, that is what we call “sight beyond sight”!
One More Reason to Go Goo-Goo-Ga-Ga Over Magnetic BabyÂ
Bravery’s been busily updating Magnetic Baby ever since we found out just how irresistible its gravitational pull is. The latest update adds an OpenFeint-enabled “Challenge Mode”; now, in addition to recording videos of your performance, you can really show off by letting other players know your best times and directly daring them to beat your scores. Word on the grapevine has it that players should keep an eye out for extra levels in the near future too!
Shake Spears! Hits Harder With First Update
Shake Spears! hit just the right spot for Sean when he reviewed the iPhone and iPod Touch version awhile back, and we started an eager wait for multiplayer after we saddled up for a good chat with the developers. Now, now, don’t stamp those impatient hooves too hard yet, multiplayer hasn’t arrived. When we fired up the August 2 update and started a fresh playthrough, what we did pick up on were some pretty significant enemy AI tweaks, or what we think are AI tweaks. Either that or our jousting lances are getting rusty, because we’re having a much more difficult time landing critical hits on enemies now — which translates into fewer rewards and resources for the player to upgrade with, and therefore a much tighter challenge. HD version owners, in particular, are encouraged to check out the latest update since difficulty seemed pretty lax there from what we had seen of it second-hand.
Speaking of Alawar and HD…
Alawar were just in touch to let us know that Enchanted Cavern HD (and a Lite) hit the App Store today. The Alawar press release describes it as “a classic match-3 game with stunning graphics, mind-bending challenges and exhilarating gameplay.” The original version already landed on iPhone and iPod Touch last year, and we’re told that Match-3 fans lacking an iPad will have a spiffy new Retina version to play with by the time September rolls around.
Air Chix Soars A Little Higher
One of the things Ru asked for in his Air Chix review was some enemies. And if there’s anything we’ve learned about iOS developers, it’s that they aim to please! We were notified this week that Air Chix has become a little more challenging with the addition of Mighty Pumas, who presumably like to snack on little chicklings with goggles.
Double Dragon Gets Interface Update, Goes on Sale
Speaking of fulfilled wishes, Sean will no doubt be glad to see that Bow Mobile has addressed one of the sticking points he found with their iOS rendition of Double Dragon — the giant UI parked over one third of the screen. Now the player can make it partially transparent, so beat ’em up fans will have an easier time kicking the tar out of all those goons. Not to mention, at half the sale price!
Quietus Didn’t Kill Players Enough, Needs Sequel to Finish the Job
You might recall that we labeled Quietus the most challenging retro platformer on iOS awhile back. For those of you who haven’t experienced it, let’s put it this way: the player starts out as a skeleton, and things go from bad to worse in short order. Developer Connor Ullmann recently announced via his blog that he wants to revisit the hellish world of Quietus and is seeking sponsors to help him accomplish that. Will Quietus II come to iOS just like the first? Challenge seekers will no doubt hold out hope for the day when they can get back to dying every ten seconds on a touchscreen!
Are you an iOS videogame developer or publisher with a cool update, video, or other news that you want to get out to the masses? iFanzine probably has an eye on you already, but don’t hesitate to get in touch via our Twitter feed or Contact page. We want to fill our iFriday Roundups with all your beautiful stuff!