Tag Archives: app store

App review: Nash Smasher!

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Nash Smasher! is a fun, funny story that’s also surprisingly effective as a lesson in social skills for youngsters. The book is written by Bill Doyle of television’s Sesame Workshop, who has some experience communicating lessons to young children in an entertaining fashion — and knows how to keep adults interested simultaneously. In this case, that’s done via the story’s interactive elements, which are full of surprises and really make the book app something that’s fun for families.

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App review: Grimm’s Rapunzel – 3D Interactive Pop-up Book

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Grimm’s Rapunzel – 3D Interactive Pop-up Book is a superb interactive version of the classic story that features all of the bells and whistles you would expect. Users can have the story read aloud to them (with them choosing the pace of the page turns), read it themselves, or watch the story in autoplay fashion. The pop-up elements not only let children explore the pages at their own pace, but also offer tasks to complete, such as planting and watering seeds to grow flowers or picking flowers. Young children will love the story, which is less frightening that many other Grimm fairy tales.

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App review: Spirits for iPad

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There’s something downright charming about Spirits for iPad that’s hard to describe. Maybe it’s the unique and gorgeous hand-painted levels. Maybe it’s the cute, whimsical spirits floating in the air. Or, maybe, it’s the soundtrack — that sticks with you long after you play. Whatever it is, this is an app that takes the Lemmings formula (guide a series of creatures who follow in each other’s footprints) and alters it just enough that it seems unique. The game won the Best Aesthetics award at IndieCade — an international juried festival of independent video games — and it’s sure to win your heart too.

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App review: Mad Chad

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The first few levels of Mad Chad will probably make you smile — as a brief diversion from the day to day. By the time you get halfway through the game, though, you’ll likely be bored, as it hasn’t changed at all from what you started playing. The repetitive elements get old and you quickly realize there’s no real point in collecting the coins you encounter on virtually every level, as they don’t offer any real benefit. This is an average side-scrolling game app, but there are better options available.

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App review: Let’s Golf! HD

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There aren’t a lot of golf gaming options on the iPhone or iPad yet — and Let’s Golf is one of the better ones. It’s good, but not great, and often seems to lift elements directly from Sony’s popular Hot Shots series, rather than taking any chances of its own. It offers plenty of options, though, and will keep casual fans of the greens happy. If you’ve got the iPod/iPhone version of the game, there’s no reason to upgrade, but if not, you won’t regret the $5 spent here.

Read more at Common Sense Media

App review: Rage HD

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Rage HD is definitely not an app for children, but it is, hands down, the best looking app on the iPad (and iPhone — as a separate version of the same game is also available for other Apple iDevices). Id’s graphics engine was built for the current generation of consoles, and the fact it transitions so smoothly to Apple’s products is a technological achievement. The game itself is a standard “on rails” shooter — where the player only has to worry about aiming, not walking. That prevents you from exploring, which is a bit frustrating, but you’re so busy trying to stay alive that the point quickly becomes moot. While extraordinarily violent, the game also shows a sense of humor, with the Mutant Bash TV host interjecting comments from time to time. It’s not something you want your children to play, but adults who enjoy action games will likely have fun.

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App Review: Scene It? Harry Potter HD

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Even if you’ve seen all of the Harry Potter films and have a good knowledge of the series’ mythology, you’re bound to stumble across some head-scratchers in Scene It? Harry Potter HD. The app is a fun trivia challenge that will likely make you want to watch the films or read the books again and illustrates just how vibrant and rich a world J. K. Rowling has created. The use of local multiplayer is a fun one, as playing in the same room increases the intensity of playing against someone (versus an anonymous online interaction). The app’s in-your-face marketing of other products, though, along with occasional lock-up problems during film clips detracts from the fun — and starts to make the $4.99 price tag seem a bit high.

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App Review: Talking Rex the Dinosaur

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There’s really nothing in Talking Rex the Dinosaur that Outfit7 hasn’t done in any of its six other “Talking Friends” apps. The main purpose of the series is for an animated on-screen character to repeat what you say to it in an altered voice. It’s a fun diversion, with a few features thrown in on the side — like feeding your dino a steak or playing a bit of catch with it — but it’s a one-trick pony that eventually does get old (generally much faster for adults than for kids). Still, the fierce T. Rex is bound to catch the eye of young dinosaur enthusiasts. The intensity of the animations might be a bit too much for the very young ones, though.

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App Review: Jack and the Beanstalk 3D

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Jack and the Beanstalk 3D is a fresh take on a classic children’s tale, with bells and whistles aplenty. And what it does, it does quite well. The animations are beautiful. The control given to users over how fast or slow those animations run is engaging. And the background music, from Richard M. Sherman (composer of “It’s a Small World”), is charming. We only wish that the story itself was given a little more prominence and the learning potential of the app was better exploited.

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App Review: Ragdoll Blaster 2 HD

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With more than 200 levels, Ragdoll Blaster 2 HD never gets old. What players may not realize is that much like Angry Birds,  the longer they play, the more they learn about physics. There’s an undeniable visceral fun in shooting the ragdoll dummies out of a cannon, but the player’s focus quickly shifts to puzzle solving and how to hit the target — and the app never gives you an easy way out. The setup for the app is simple, but mastering it takes a long while, which are the key ingredients in a fun game.

Read more at Common Sense Media