Tag Archives: ipod touch

App review: Tap Tap Revenge 4

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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

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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.

Read more at Common Sense Media

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.

Read more at Common Sense Media


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.

Read more at Common Sense Media


App review: FIFA 11

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FIFA 11 is about as authentic a soccer experience as you’re going to find, short of stepping onto the pitch yourself. It’s a loving tribute to the game of soccer (or “football” as it’s called outside of America) and the enthusiasm can carry through to the player. The game is visually gorgeous, but its controls are average at best and can cause a fair bit of frustration.

Read more at Common Sense Media

App review: Food Fight! – An Interactive Book by Glenn Melenhorst

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Food Fight! – An Interactive Book by Glenn Melenhorst has some charming elements, but ultimately doesn’t stand up to the best interactive book apps — especially with its $1.99 price tag. The story’s message that vegetables can actually be tasty and shouldn’t be avoided simply because they are vegetables is laudable, particularly with the obesity epidemic, but the app’s interactive elements are just so-so, generally made up of brief sound effects and minor animations. Being able to zoom in on the story’s pictures is nice, but serves little purpose other than to better search for hidden stars, which unlock a less than impressive locked page at the end of the book. The app is fun, but it is not great when compared to some of the other excellent storybooks available in the iTunes store.

Read more at Common Sense Media


App Review: PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit

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Loud Crow Interactive hits one out of the park with their first app. PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit is one of the best children’s book adaptations we’ve seen. The reading interactive elements are stellar — but what makes the app really stand out is its detailed use of sound and movement with the pop-up elements. Every image is filled with several interactive elements that will enthrall children and adults. Flick the leaves falling from trees in the artwork and they’ll come floating out into the book. Touch Peter or his siblings and they’ll giggle with delight. The narration and music, meanwhile, are soothing and bring Beatrix Potter’s classic tale to life. It takes the children’s book app to a new level – and is worth every penny of its higher-than-other-book-apps price tag.

Read more at Common Sense Media

Tech Tussles: Apple vs. The World

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Apple might be one of the most dominant players in the entertainment and technology worlds, but to climb to that pinnacle, it adopted a business model that would make most strategists wince.

Rather than choosing one sector to conquer, the house that Steve Jobs built opted to fight a multi-front war. What’s amazing is that Apple has won so often on so many battlegrounds.

Read more at Daily Variety

App review: Super Mega Worm

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Super Mega Worm doesn’t take itself the least bit seriously — and that’s what makes it so fun. The deliberately archaic graphics and the ripped-from-a-cheesy-1950s-horror-film premise add to the kitsch factor. While technically violent — in that you’re killing tiny people – it doesn’t seem realistic. If you like the idea of being a super-ravenous, all powerful bad guy, this is the app for you.

Read more at Common Sense Media


App Review: Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus

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Shooters are hard to pull off on the iPhone, but Gameloft has done a terrific job with Modern Combat 2. The graphics are sharp (especially for folks using an iDevice with a Retina screen). The action is tense and well-paced. And the missions are varied. There is, however, a fair bit of predictability — particularly for players who have put in some time with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, from which this app borrows quite liberally. It is, however, a realistic portrayal of violence and isn’t something that is meant for kids.

Read more at Common Sense Media