Virtual City HD manages to take the best 
aspects of the Sim City franchise and strip those out for a portable gaming audience. The game is challenging, but not impossible — and gives players the choice between playing a task-driven game or building a city in any manner they choose. The game looks great, and developers have clearly taken pains to optimize the app for the iPad’s larger screen. The larger screen makes it easier to control the game, particularly when there’s a lot happening at once — but it comes at a higher cost than the iPhone version, which is virtually the same.
Tag Archives: common sense
App review: Word Solitaire: Aurora
Word Solitaire: Aurora will quickly become a 
favorite title of word-game fans. The game takes the familiar concept of solitaire and transforms it into something new and unique. The campaign mode will keep you occupied for hours, and the global mode (updated daily) is a wonderful (and child-safe) way to test your skills against a diverse group of players. Word Solitaire: Aurora probably isn’t suited for young ones who are just learning to spell, but for those who can, it proves to be a delightfully entertaining diversion that just might teach them something without them realizing it.
Read more at Common Sense Media
App review: Sheeple Chase
Sheeple Chase could be a really fun game for kids and 
parents — if it weren’t so mind-bogglingly difficult. With bright graphics and very basic controls, you might expect a slightly challenging, but fun, racer. Instead, though, this app quickly veers into something that will confound even core gamers. The only way to win is to lose time and again until you’ve memorized the course and perfect your timing on when to turn and accelerate. The game’s many puns are hit and miss the first time — but after you’ve seen them several times, they quickly lose their appeal. Ultimately, this is an app that shows promise, but is hampered by its lack of focus on how to please its targeted audience.
Read more at Common Sense Media
App review: Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time
Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time should 
have a lot going for it — well-known characters, familiar enemies, a dynamic universe. This app, though, stumbles by making the characters mere shadows of their onscreen selves, especially in making Amy Pond a helpless stereotype. It’s disheartnening when, faced with moving an obstacle, she says things such as “I can’t push a block. And even if I could, it would be unladylike.” The game’s puzzles are challenging enough without being overly difficult. And the music, taken from the TV show, adds to the ambiance — though reading the text instead of hearing the actor’s voices does detract from the experience. Diehard fans of the show might be happy to have a Doctor Who game on their iDevice, but casual fans and newcomers will wonder what all the fuss is about.
App review: Tap Tap Revenge 4
Judged solely on the gameplay elements, Tap Tap 
Revenge 4 is a wonderful app. The familiar tap-the-screen-in-time-with-the-music style of play doesn’t get old, and the developers have picked a good selection of songs as a starter pack. Unfortunately, other elements, such as out of control commercialism and a chat room that resembles the wild west make it entirely inappropriate for young players. Ads are plastered everywhere, and the game regularly tries to convince players to buy additional songs. Chat rooms, meanwhile, are self-moderated — and offensive actions generally aren’t reported, since so many people are doing the same thing. That’s sad, because online gameplay is actually a lot of fun, letting you compare your skills to others.
Read more at Common Sense Media
App review: TRON: Legacy
TRON: Legacy focuses on the right things — Light 
Cycles and Recognizers — but suffers from poor controls and apparent game bugs that cripple the title. Driving and racing Light Cycles can be a breathtaking experience, but because the controls are slow to respond to your actions, it’s akin to a drunk driver hopping onto a motorcycle. You’ll wobble across the road and bump into walls regularly. The game’s shooting sections — using those Recognizers — are fun, but again stumble, since you’re not able to control the vehicles as precisely as you would like to. The game’s multiplayer option is one of its stronger elements, as playing against a live opponent is more fun than challenging the app. And visually, the game is quite impressive. With more polishing, this is a title that could have life long after the movie is gathering dust in your DVD collection.
App review: Nash Smasher!
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.
Read more at Common Sense Media
App review: Grimm’s Rapunzel – 3D Interactive Pop-up Book
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.
Read more at Common Sense Media
App review: Science Quiz ?
Despite its funny name, Science Quiz ? is a good basic 
science teaching tool for grade school kids. It’s a good looking game as well. Developers have taken the time to put a little polish on what is often a dull interface. Questions are written with younger users in mind — although a few might aim a bit lower than necessary. It’s an eclectic mix of questions, ranging from identifying which animals are omnivores to whether a doctor wears a white coat or white pants. The game also makes good use of sound to keep kids playing. They won’t get a big head start on their SATs with this, but kids may learn a thing or two as they play.
App review: Chopper 2
There’s a lot to like about Chopper 2, which makes it 
all the more frustrating that the game has such a steep learning curve. It’s well-polished, has a very clean interface, and offers a wide variety of missions and environments. (All totaled, there are 36 missions in 12 areas ranging from city rooftops to deserts.) It’s not only fun, it’s a great way to show off what the iPad can do, as the gameplay can be outputted to a TV and it can be integrated with the iPhone as well (the iPhone becomes your controller). In many ways, Chopper 2 blazes new trails for developers…
Chris Morris: Journalist 