Halfbrick Studios, makers of mobile staples Jetpack Joyride and Fruit Ninja, have brought their latest game, Fish Out of Water, exclusively to iOS.

Is Fish Out of Water another must-have game for the Australian developer or is it a painful reminder that Halfbrick is the same developer that brought us Raskulls?

In Fish Out of Water, your goal is to skip fish as far across the ocean surface as possible. Each of the fish (or mammals) has different characteristics in relation to how you toss them, their ability to skip across the surface of the water, and how well they maintain momentum once airborne. After three turns, the number of skips and the distance thrown is added up and you’re given a score by a panel of judge crabs. The premise is silly, which is a Halfbrick tradition, and it works well overall.

Fish Out of Water has all the makings of a great mobile game. The art direction is full of bright colors and cute characters. The controls are simple and intuitive. A game session can easily be completed in mere minutes, if not less. There are even competitive leagues that have been all the rage since Pocket Planes that bring people together for a co-operative community experience.

Each fish has its own characteristics. This one skips particularly well.

However, Fish Out of Water just doesn’t feel right. Unlike Jetpack Joyride and countless other apps, there is no sense of progression. There are no carrots dangling aside from the storyboards that add little to nothing to the game. Your time spent with Fish Out of Water is purely because you want to play Fish Out of Water.

It’s strange, almost foreign at this point, to think that this game is the same at the start as it is when you finish it. Yes, you level up by completing these mission objectives and get gems that award you minor gameplay boosts, but the game never changes. Tackling just one objective at a time also makes the mechanics somewhat clunky when compared to the countless others that use the three-at-a-time standard set by Jetpack Joyride. From the moment you open the app until you decide you’ve had enough, what you see is what you get. And what you get here is a simplistic game where you throw fish across the surface of the ocean for giggles.

This was literally within my first fifteen tries, though I’ve yet to get a perfect 10.

That’s not to say there isn’t some variety here. The weather changes hourly, from calm waters of a sunny day to the rising waves of stormy seas, changing the way the sea animals skip and the criteria for which they are judged. It just isn’t enough to help Fish Out of Water rise above what it is.

Once you learn how to navigate the waters, how to use your boost properly for each fish, and how to appeal to all the judges, it’s not too difficult to replicate the results with regularity. Fish Out of Water is a shallow experience in a world that you would expect some sort of depth and an uncommon misstep for Halfbrick. Fish Out of Water is a fun game, no doubt, but it gets old quick.

(Fish Out of Water is available in the App Store for ninety-nine cents. It features GameCenter achievements and supports widescreen displays. In-app purchases are available but entirely unnecessary for the experience. Players looking to compete in League Play will need to sign in with either a Facebook or Google account. Version 1.0 was used for the purpose of this review.)

Rovio’s latest game, The Croods, is a vast departure from anything they’ve done in the past.

Off the top of my head, here’s a list of things that differ:

• It’s based upon a franchise that Rovio does not own.
• It’s free-to-play.
• It’s a social game.
• It has no physics engine as far as I can tell.

Rovio is out of their element in this foray. With tons of other town-builders available in the App Store, can Rovio make the Croods stand out from the rest?

The Croods is your basic town builder, though wrapped up in Dreamworks latest animated movie motif. It looks great, though it does stay zoomed in a bit more than I like, and sounds very good overall. There is an obvious difference in presentation when moving from the computer-generated models of the movie to the sprites you see here, but the designs are faithful enough.

I haven’t seen the movie. Is there a reason they’re living up so high?

You have your common themes of gathering resources and decorating your space as you see fit. The game teaches you the ropes of how to capture animals, tame them, and then feed them to gather new resources. These resources, in turn, can be used to feed other animals or your cave-wife, Ugga, can cook them up in a soup.

The game’s biggest flaw is Gran’s chores that are virtually essential to leveling. The difference between experience you earn from your resource animals and the experience you earn from completing these missions is just too great. Freedom is unintentionally eroded by the game’s structure. There were times I felt penalized for decorating the way I wanted only to have to build an identical structure less than a day later to complete a mission objective. In turn, I just stopped decorating the village altogether.

The game needs to zoom out more. You don’t have much to see, though.

The Croods doesn’t just hold your hand, it squeezes it tight, steps on your toes, and tells you that you will never truly be free.

With all that’s wrong, I’ve yet to even mention the secondary currency, the Crystals. The only way to get certain animals, which are required for achievements that you may or may not care about, is to build traps that require crystals. The only way to upgrade your raspberry bush, the base ingredient from which all other resources come, is to use crystals. While these and the standard timer-negation mechanic are the only times that the Croods asks for your money, it’s a pretty big deal for people who don’t have a lot of time to play or that don’t want to stay in the app and watch timers count down. The fact that the minimum purchase is $4.99 doesn’t curry the game any favors with me.

There’s quite literally nothing to do in the Croods. You come back, you feed your animals, and you leave. There is no interaction. There is no challenge. It is the equivalent of having a pet rock and the world is every bit as interesting. There is nothing to keep you in the game other than the desire to gather raspberries because you don’t want to keep coming back into the game every six minutes to collect them.

Grug’s traps are cute but not enough to forgive the game’s banal mechanics.

The cherry on top of all of this horrible experience is that the Croods requires an internet connection at all times. I was shocked when the game abruptly cut out between Wi-Fi stations when I was riding the subway into work. I don’t see people hacking this game to get ahead, but the suits at Rovio must disagree with me.

Rovio is a one-trick pony. The Croods is every bit as simple as the common caveman and just another example of their inability to make a compelling game that doesn’t involve flinging birds at makeshift castles. They have made a game so generic and, dare I say, crude that I can’t imagine anyone but the youngest fans of the movie finding anything less than unbearable.

(The Croods requires a Rovio account for saving. It is available for free in the App Store and on Google Play. The Croods Version 1.0.4 was used for the purpose of this review.)

If not, here’s the cliff notes: Vlambeer puts out Radical Fishing on a Flash site and decides, at some point, that they would re-create the game for iOS. The game gets cloned by another developer (Gamenauts) and released as Ninja Fishing. It goes on to sell well regardless of its state as a blatant clone, because it was out first.

It’s a damn shame, though hardly the first or last time we’d see it in the App Store, but it brings us up to speed.

Ridiculous Fishing is the next in the line of  disposable games that line the App Store. It has an excellent art direction, with everything in the game composed of triangles that make the world look like a tangram come to life, and a decent soundtrack. Tilt controls take the place of the original game’s mouse input and feel tight and responsive. It’s even picked up some pedigree along the way with the likes of Chris Gage (of Spelltower fame) and Greg Wohlwend (most recently Hundreds) joining Vlambeer in the effort. There is definitely a great foundation already in place.

Ridiculous Fishing takes place in three different sections. The first section has you descending into the depths of the sea, avoiding the aquatic life below for as long as you can. Once contact is made, the game mechanics (and music) reverse in the second phase of the game. As you ascend, your job is to hook as many fish as you can while Billy, the fisherman, reels in the line. Once the haul reaches the surface, it’s onto phase three: the firing phase. You’ll tap (or drag, depending upon your weapon of choice) to kill these sea creatures dead so they can’t swim away. This, along with the massive number of critters you can get on your line, is what makes the game “ridiculous”.

Shotguns: A fisherman’s best friend

These animals, 66 in all, each come with their own stats and properties. Some are elusive and only come out at certain times or while you have particular items equipped while others are available only after completing the story section of the game. You get cash for each fish you kill along the way. The deeper you go, the more expensive the fish tend to be. You’ll also encounter jellyfish, which should be avoided if possible as they reduce your money, and are more of a nuisance than anything else. Once in the air, some animals, like the hard-shelled clam, may take extra effort to kill with their higher armor ratings. It does offer a change of pace and you may find yourself avoiding some of the nuisance fish just as much as the jellyfish.

The cash you get for your kills will buy Billy longer fishing lines, better guns, and power-ups like the chainsaw that lets you slice through fish on your way down or a toaster attachment that nukes every fish on screen and allows for a second chance. It, along with the different fishing locations, adds a sense of progress that can keep you motivated and playing. It’s also terrific to see a fully-contained game devoid of in-app purchases, especially when it’d be so easy for them to adjust these rates to entice the player to part with a few more bucks.

However, I experienced a very serious case of déjà vu as I played Ridiculous Fishing. I couldn’t shake this feeling that I was playing a mash-up of Journey Escape and the can shooting section of Hogan’s Alley. There’s more going on here than in either of those games, really, but they are massively dated titles. Then, as I progressed and completed the story section of the game in a matter of hours, I felt the similarities in progress between Ridiculous Fishing and Jumping Finn Turbo, a game that epitomizes the state of disposable mobile gaming.

Ridiculous Fishing is fun, no doubt, but I feel like this is a game that people just wanted to love too much. It’s a true underdog tale that makes Ridiculous Fishing instantly more interesting and likeable than it has any business being. It doesn’t change the way I view the game, though, especially when compared to the glut of equally playable titles out there for less.

While there are many modern touches and loads of humor and heart, Ridiculous Fishing just feels archaic to me. The game expects players to look at it as more than the sum of its parts, but I was unable to do that. Ridiculous Fishing was a game that was fun for a weekend that just went stale far quicker than I expected.

(Ridiculous Fishing is a universal app that supports widescreen displays. It is available in the App Store for $2.99 and features GameCenter achievements and leaderboards. Ridiculous Fishing version 1.01 was used for this review.)

A lot of people are going to be comparing Real Racing 3 to its predecessor, Real Racing 2. Not having played any racing simulation seriously since Forza Motorsport 2, I can assure you that I am not that guy.

What I do know, however, is that Real Racing 2 was a paid app. Real Racing 3 is a free-to-play game, and that comes with the free-to-play annoyances. There are a lot of questions lingering around this transition.

Is Real Racing 3 the real deal, or is it a raw deal?

Real Racing 3, by Firemonkeys and Electronic Arts, is one of the most beautiful games you’re going to find on a mobile device. If you were one of the people who took the news of Infinity Blade: Dungeons being shelved badly, turn that frown upside-down, stop reading, and download Real Racing 3 this instant.

There just is not getting around how absolutely gorgeous Real Racing 3 is. The car models look amazing, with smooth anti-aliasing and outstanding reflection effects in free-camera mode, and look every bit as terrific in motion. The tracks are well-detailed, perhaps more than necessary considering how quickly they speed past, and are likely as good as you’ll see on most console racers. There are a few graphical oddities, such as the sparsely-populated grandstands, but I’m willing to bet most people will never notice.

Does anyone else see a simpleminded monster face here, or is it just me?

Little details, however, do stick out for those who are paying attention. For instance, tire marks were left in the dirt where I had went off track from a previous lap. Then there’s the driver inside the car that moves, regardless of which camera angle you are using. These are the little touches that stand out for me, where the developer is going for total immersion.

The accelerometer-based controls are tight and responsive, a must in a game like this, and make things go smoothly. Braking is as simple as touching the screen, and the game has assistance options in place to make this as casual as racing simulations can be. Players looking for a little more control can choose to turn off the braking assistance, and there are many different control options to satisfy all manner of player. It’s simple and makes the game as inviting as possible.

The racing itself is excellent and there are over 900 events in all. These events are restricted t0 cars of similar racing builds, meaning you’ll never see a Automobili Lamborghini up against a Ford Focus. This, in turn, bloats that “over 900 events” number. There’s certainly a lot of variety in these races, but it really adds up to getting 40 different fruit baskets. They’re all pretty much the same, they’re just packaged differently.

Though they’re mostly repeated, there’s no denying these models look terrific.

There are, of course, free-to-play annoyances. Four out of the forty-six cars in Real Racing 3 require the secondary Gold currency, which will lead some down the path of pay-to-win gaming. The McLaren MP4-12C, one of the four aforementioned “Gold” cars can be purchased if you’re willing to scrimp and save. The other three, however, will be a constant thorn in the side of casual fans everywhere.

This then leads to one divisive issue. Your opponents in the game are all based upon actual player data, referred to as Time Shifted Multiplayer (TSM). While TSM is a great idea, and the game claims to select data for a challenge, it also means that these players will continue to have a distinct advantage. The quick fix, in theory at least, is to then take the game offline to play against AI opponents. Due to the balance in most of the car classes, there shouldn’t be too many events that are affected by this. In other words, while annoying, it doesn’t undo all the good that the game does.

There is a good chance this car will make you want to rage quit… unless you own it.

Then there are the upgrade and repair timers that make the game noticeably cumbersome in the early going. There is forced downtime anytime you need to perform upkeep, ranging from simple oil changes to more complicated engine maintenance. Ignoring the maintenance degrades your vehicle’s performance, in turn lessening your chance to win, and is not advised. You then need to decide between waiting or ponying up some Gold to speed the game along. The workaround is to buy another car and move to another event, but there’s a good chance you’re not going to have the cash to spare for the first few days. There are, of course, affordable in-app purchases that can soften that blow and make the game more enjoyable.

Gold comes into play in other areas, such as some top-tier car upgrades and car customization, but it’s not too much of a rarity. The game is fairly generous, doling out a few gold every time you level up and for event milestones such as 25% completion in a race class, and selective players shouldn’t have trouble staying ahead of the curve. There is, of course, the possibility that this levels off over time to create a long-term problem, but I have had nothing but smooth sailing in the short-term.

So, is Real Racing 3 the real deal? Undoubtedly, it is. It’s the first racing simulation to grab me in years, and I’m mad at myself for having to type this up when I know my repair timers have all expired and I could be earning cash right now.

Real Racing 3 is the best game I’ve played all year and likely an early contender for game of the year. With beautiful graphics, tight controls that welcome even novice racing fans, and the free price of admission, Real Racing 3 is sure to become a staple for mobile gamers everywhere and any racing fan worth their salt needs to have it on their mobile device.

(Real Racing 3 is available in both the App Store and on Google Play. The $1.99 “Starter Pack” was purchased for use in this review. Real Racing 3 features achievements and Game Center integration. This review is based upon Real Racing 3 version 1.0.2 and was tested on an iPhone 5. There were five second load times, on average, though results may vary from device-to-device.)

Pixel People, by Lambda Mu, tries hard to separate itself in the App Store’s crowded free-to-play casual space. So hard, in fact, that it has inspired the first review haiku, or “reviewiku.”

One more town builder,
Splicing genes is the gimmick,
Is it worth playing?

Pixel People is yet another town builder with an interesting gimmick that skew more towards the hardcore gamer out there. You are tasked with creating and re-colonizing a world in outer space. You’ll take some job DNA and splice it with other job DNA to make a new clone. It’s this science fiction slant, apparently set in a post-apocalyptic world, that will have regular gamers take notice.

There are 150 jobs available in all, and each new clone opens the door to creating all-new jobs. Each clone you splice together comes with the kind of tongue-in-cheek, punny name you’d expect from Garbage Pail Kids. You’ll notice, if you create a second or third clone, that the people at Lambda Mu went the full nine and created more based upon the clone’s sex. Neither the names nor the flavor text are funny, but they are charming regardless of their inherent cheesiness.

Many of the jobs you unlock come with new buildings. These buildings take between one and four spaces on the grid, and can only be manned by specific jobs. These buildings, in turn, occasionally have effects that open up new customization, cosmetic upgrades, or abilities for the player. While most are throwaway abilities, a few like the Bank’s cash-doubling ability, are invaluable. Unfortunately, “Double Time”, the most useful ability in the game, is tied to an in-app purchase. However, at ninety-nine cents, it’s fair to deem that the price of admission.

Once manned, these buildings need to be tapped to activate. The biggest challenge Pixel People provides is space management. You’ll need to save up your coins to expand your reach.

Pixel People tricks you early with such non-threatening timers that you simply feel like this is the way things will be. But, like all good things, it comes to an end. With each building, with each resident, with each expansion, the timers increase. Little by little, you’ll feel the fairness erode until you’re left with day-long timers and nothing to do. While you weren’t paying attention, Lambda Mu erected a pay wall. If you want to feel the satisfaction knowing what your next job unlocks, you could always pay to speed things up. But that, then, is an exercise in futility as you instantly hit another pay wall.

Pixel People is actually quite generous with its secondary currency, Utopium. There are numerous ways to earn Utopium, but most of them require you to stay within the game. The best route is to simply fill your town with trees and farm your maximum of 25 Utopium a day, but the rewards are random and each tree takes up valuable space that might be better used trying raising your colony’s spirit to lower initial timers and reduce expansion costs.

While you wait, hearts appear over the residents’ houses every thirty or forty seconds. You’ll tap and hold them for about ten seconds to build a heart meter at the top. Once full, you’ll be rewarded with a “Surprise.” Occasionally, you’ll get some Utopium. Most of the time, you’ll get a small amount of coins or a collectable animal that can then appear in your town. It’s not exactly thrilling stuff, but it does fill the gaps while you wait.

Now, you may have read this and noticed there’s a lot of things going on. There’s something to be said about the satisfaction you get when you discover a new job or finally buy that expansion that you’ve been saving up to buy. However, that satisfaction gets spaced further and further apart as you go along.

You start to notice little flaws as the armor cracks. The painfully short production timers mean you’ll need to check your town often if you’re to expand. Animals feel tacked on and provide the only signs of life on what should be a bustling town. Nothing is animated aside from properties under construction. Even things like the lack of landscape orientation and inability to turn properties for a better fit began to get under my skin.

With no missions or mini-games to distract you, you realize you were never having fun at all. The only thing that kept you playing was the compulsion to unlock everything. Once you have that epiphany, you’re left with either continuing down that path or cutting your losses.

Pixel People looks fine and sounds good, but the only reason it stands out is its gimmick and setting. Mechanically, it does little to differentiate itself from its contemporaries. It is a good idea and manages to be charming, for certain, but is nothing more than the sum of its mundane parts.

Oh, the irony,
Set in space, this game proves that
bright stars burn out fast.

(Pixel People is available for free in the App Store and features iCloud saves, GameCenter integration, and support for widescreen displays. The “Double Time” in-app purchase was used for the review.)

eBoy FixPix drops you immediately into gameplay; no title screen, just the first messed-up level. Tilting reveals that some kind of image has been sliced up, and you intuit that you must find just the right position of your device until you’ve restored order. It may sound lame, but it grows on you very quickly.

The game stays fresh due to a strange sense of artistic humor. Images are oddly enjoyable, keeping you curious about the next level. Sometimes the art itself is strange, and sometimes the choice of slicing makes an otherwise straightforward picture look like something completely incoherent, weird, or just plain funny. The art is even presented from different perspectives, helping to keep things fresh. As a bonus, most levels will have extra content viewable via extreme tilting, content that won’t even be part of the restored image. All of this leads to a feeling somewhere between WarioWare and Where’s Waldo?.

The game comes with 175 levels, which is a great value, although you may have trouble putting it down and not blowing through the whole game in a few hours.

eBoy FixPix is a simple concept that holds your attention due to its quirky visuals. Unless you’re turned off by bizarreness, I’d definitely recommend snagging this title.

Oh, and yes, you will look like a tool, but it’s worth it.

You see, like Super Meat Boy before it, Super Hexagon has that blend of perfect control and steep difficulty that rewards players for their prowess in a way that few games ever do. I never felt like the game was being cheap. There are no leaps of faith or spike traps to be found here. When I died, I knew it was my own fault and not some scripted death.

You play and you learn. You start to notice patterns. You start to react better. You focus better. You move without thinking.

Super Hexagon, beyond a shadow of doubt, is the best proof of concept for conditioning one could ask for. It is merciless from the moment you begin and never relents. It’s not a question of when you fail, as you will surely meet your demise within a matter of seconds. It’s a question of how many times will you fail before you begin to understand it.

It seems so simple in theory. Touch the screen to move left or right and avoid hitting walls. If you break it down further to “don’t get hit,” you’ve been doing this in basically every game you’ve ever played. You start it up, the walls close in, and you have your first moment of panic. You turn too far or you freeze dead in your tracks knowing that death is inevitable. You play, again and again, and make slight progress. You don’t know whether this is real progress or luck, but you’re surviving a little bit longer.

Then, just as you think you’re getting the hang of it around the ten second mark, the speed increases, the tunnel shifts directions, and the colors change. Suddenly, you lose focus and crash once more. You fail, again and again, until things just click together.

The whole point of the game, which is never revealed or explained, is to survive the game mode for one minute’s time.

From the start, there are three levels of difficulty: Hexagon, Hexagoner, and Hexagonest. These modes are labeled hard, harder, and hardest, respectively. It sounds like a joke, and surely it is very tongue-in-cheek, but it’s also not kidding around. Just in case I haven’t made it abundantly clear, Super Hexagon is incredibly difficult.

That is, in turn, what makes Super Hexagon incredibly addictive. Each time you play, it’s as if you learn something new. Sometimes, when a new tunnel sequence is introduced, you react properly and survive. Other times, though, you have no idea what is happening and die time and again. Eventually, you figure out what must be done and survive regularly. However, sometimes, your brain simply becomes overwhelmed with information and seems to give up the ghost.

New to the game? Play on Hexagonest a few times. It’ll make Hexagon easier.

The atmosphere in Super Hexagon is terrific. The few select voice samples sound detached and otherworldly, which is exactly what is needed for the proper effect, and fit well. Each difficulty level has different tunes by Chipzel with beats that match the action on screen. Not since Rez have I played a game that synced so well rhythmically. I wouldn’t go as far as to toss “synesthesia” about when discussing Super Hexagon, but there’s no denying that the music adds to the immersion.

I wondered if my love for Super Hexagon was the equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome for games. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that this is what I grew up doing. I grew up in the arcades, and people like me who remember a time where games were built entirely around the concept of taking your quarters as quickly as possible will be the ones who really appreciate Super Hexagon. Difficult games are comfort food for me, a reminder of why I fell in love with the entirety of gaming in the first place, and Super Hexagon feels like home.

(Super Hexagon is universal, features GameCenter leaderboards, Achievements, and supports widescreen displays. It is available in the App Store and on Google Play. Super Hexagon Version 1.2 was used for this review.)

Ghostbusters seems like such a simple formula to get right, but we’ve seen it done horribly throughout the years. While there are a few bright spots, particularly 2009′s Ghostbusters: The Video Game, this is a license that has not done right with the fans for decades. Would Beeline turn Ghostbusters into yet another town builder?

Breathe a sigh of relief, Ghostbusters buffs, for this is not another social game. As of a matter of fact, this may be the first Ghostbusters game that could survive without the license.

Ghostbusters starts out with Peter Venkman’s study on the effects of negative reinforcement on ESP ability scene from the movie. This sets up the villain of the game, at least in the early going, and sets the player on the path. Afterwards, you take control of a squad of no name Ghostbusters, including Egon’s half-step-niece, and are sent along your way. Your team of three must take on the ghosts wreaking havoc on the streets of New York.

Combat is simple and fun, though controls can be a bit spotty when crowded.

Characters have one of three classes in the game. Wranglers, equipped with the Slime Blower from Ghostbusters II, are your basic melee tanks with high defense to soak damage. Blasters, equipped with your standard Proton Pack, are your damage dealers with high attack and range and medium defense. Finally, Scientists, equipped with a non-canon M.E.D. Gun, are your healers. I always felt like the Medigun from Team Fortress 2 resembled a Proton Pack, and now here is a Ghostbusters game using it.

In battle, your squad has to take on waves of apparitions by drawing lines from the Ghostbuster to the target. Each Ghostbuster has abilities that can be used with a cooldown. The combat plays similarly to Battleheart, so players familiar with that game will feel instantly at home. Once a ghost’s hit points are whittled down, you can send out a trap by tapping. Things can get hectic, especially as enemies fill the screen, but Ghostbusting is a lot of fun.

When you’re stuck in-game, and can’t get through, who you gonna call? D.A. Crew!

What isn’t fun, however, is the built-in pay walls. There are numerous instances of Beeline tinkling that tip jar. The most obvious is that you cannot get a fourth party member with regular cash until you’ve reached the sixth floor of the haunted tower. While I have no trouble beating “Hard” missions, the boss battles on Floor 4 and Floor 5 were daunting. That fourth Ghostbuster, my pick of a character from the movie, could be had for five dollars. Every time I failed, Winston was kind enough to offer me a boost in exchange for some Power Cores.

While you’re busy busting, you’ll also be able to conduct research on ghosts in Tobin’s Spirit Guide. This research unlocks new items in the shop, but it also takes time. Of course, again, you can reduce those timers using “Power Cores.” The game goes through the trouble of showing you just how to do it, too, before handing you just enough to get you hooked on expediting your research. That said, I haven’t used a Power Core outside of the tutorial, yet.

Players can choose mission difficulty with higher rewards for higher difficulties.

Add an energy system on top of all of that in a game where you will have to grind for enough Ectoplasm, and you can see it clearly in the design. You get 100 energy, with each regular job taking 20 energy, and you’ll get just a few minutes before the fun stops. However, the energy meter regenerates in about an hour, so it’s awfully generous compared to a lot of games in the free-to-play world.

The merit of a free-to-play game is just how much fun you can have for free. While there were definitely frustrating moments, as I was slimed time and again on a couple of the tower floors, changing up character abilities and simple resilience were enough to get me through to the next part of the game. While I cannot guarantee later stages will be so kind, I know three days in that I’m having a lot of fun with the game.

Once put into containment units, ghosts can be researched for new shop items.

Ghostbusters just oozes love for the license. The cartoon graphics look great, better than any of the animated series themselves, and get the effects right. The Ghostbusters theme, sans lyrics, is present at the menu and ambient music is taken directly from the movies. Little licensing touches are present throughout and, while the humor could use a little work in places, this just feels like Ghostbusters should. Playing Ghostbusters made me want to watch the movies again, perhaps the best measuring stick for a licensed game, and remember a time when I wished I could be a Ghostbuster.

I’m a fan of the series and admit that it’s hard to remain unbiased. However, I also know how many awful Ghostbusters games I’ve slogged through over the years. Ghostbusters is a very good game that unfortunately has all the trappings of the free-to-play world we live in, but it’s something that fans of the series will absolutely love. This may be the best Ghostbusters game to date.

 (Ghostbusters features retina display graphics, but has no GameCenter integration. The game was played up to Floor 7 without using IAP for reviewing purposes and will continue to be played over the course of the year. One mission objective, upgrading the M.E.D. Wand, appears to be bugged and would not complete. Ghostbusters version 1.0.1 was used in this review.)

I tell you this, as I start this critique, because it’s hard to gauge what expectations I had for Temple Run 2. I like to believe I came in a skeptic needing his mind changed. However, admittedly, I could have just as easily came into the game with low expectations. Regardless, I know I expected more of the same.

Temple Run 2 brings the same core mechanics you found in the original Temple Run and Temple Run: Brave. You still tilt to move and swipe to act. While there is still a meter that fills for collecting coins, it now sets to activate a power-up of your choice. This little change adds a personal touch that caters to play styles. While I think the Boost is clearly the best, there will be players out there who disagree or simply prefer having a coin magnet at their disposal.

The terrain is different this go around as well. Now, paths raise, lower, and twist in parts. You still have moments where, logically, you’ve taken three turns in the same direction and question why you didn’t see an intersection a couple hundred meters back, but that is the nature of the procedurally-generated beast.

Perhaps looking to make the link between Temple Run and Indiana Jones less transparent, Imangi Studios added mine carts and zip lines to the mix. While the zip line isn’t particularly engaging, the cart rides add a different feel while being very much the same. However, instead of swiping to turn, you’ll need to tilt. Paths often curve, meaning you’ll need to pay close attention if you want to live, but it definitely adds to the game. Variety is the spice of life, they say, and it certainly feels like it added something sorely missing from the original.

Everything about Temple Run 2 feels better, honestly. The demonic monkey has changed into a menacing gorilla, far more viable a threat when you think about it, and brings a sense of urgency that the first just did not have. Tongue-in-cheek though the game may be, the high-pitched monkey shrieks did not get me on edge the way the vicious roar does.

The game moves smoothly, even on older devices, while being graphically superior to the games before it. Gone are the awful, bright golden bricks of Temple Run and deep fog of Temple Run: Brave. In their place are more realistic colors and textures, with short winding paths and rising hills, that look great in motion. Though there are a few noticeable moments where polygons just pop up out of nowhere, most often at an intersection, it does nothing to deter from how pretty the game is. I can’t put my finger on it, honestly, but movement just feels more organic. Even the sense of speed, which still gets ridiculous when you consider these people are running most of the time, feels better.

Run after run, you try to outrun the idol gorilla. You collect coins to unlock new characters and upgrade abilities. You get better and better at what you do. You accomplish your mission objectives to unlock rewards and increase your score multiplier. You do it again and again and, while monotonous over extended gaming sessions, it feels great in short bursts.

That said, there are problems that arise. Sliding while tilting, for instance, can cause you to trip almost at random. Some turns lead to an almost instant death, especially at higher speeds, when jumping over one death trap causes you to jump into another. And, while boosts will normally cause you to be invincible for a short period of time, I’ve had a couple of deaths where the “bridge” over gaps didn’t spawn fast enough.

It’s reasonable to believe that these kinks will be worked out over time, such is the nature of mobile gaming when millions of eyes are on your game and thousands of upset gamers are on your case, but in its current state there are improvements that could be made.

The addition of a second currency in Gems may turn off some players. I understand the addition, but it also makes you wonder if the top players on the leaderboard are great players or just people with deep pockets. The less you think about Temple Run 2 being a pay-to-win game, the happier you’ll be with it. It does sully the integrity of the only real carrot dangling for players who have unlocked everything, but for the millions of players out there who aren’t concerned with being the best, this won’t change the game a bit for them. I’m sure some casual players will appreciate a second, third, or fourth chance to resurrect in a game where one misstep ruins an otherwise great run.

Overall, I’m a fan of Temple Run 2 and, seeing as it’s been downloaded tens of millions of times across both iOS and Android, there’s a good chance you’re only reading this to see if I agree with your opinion on the game. There’s no denying that Imangi Studios has refined their formula, which has been borrowed numerous times over the last year by games like Agent Dash and Pitfall, and made Temple Run 2 their best in the series, yet.

(Temple Run 2 is available for free in the App Store and Google Play. Temple Run 2 on iOS is universal, features GameCenter achievements, and supports widescreen displays.  A missing UI glitch was encountered during the course of gameplay but was easily fixed by re-starting the app.)

Every indie storefront deserves its own celebrated stick shooter; Xbox Live has Geometry Wars and the PSN has Super Stardust HD. The Wii U eShop has Nano Assault Neo, and while it’s not exactly up to the same standard as the other two, it does succeed in what it sets out to do: Make you dodge bullets and kick all manner of parasitic ass.

Visually, Nano Assault Neo looks great, both on your GamePad and on your TV. The way the stages rotate beneath your ship as you traverse and purge infected cells can be mind-bending at times. The music that pumps in the background as you blast your enemies away is exciting, too. Sadly, all this slick presentation serves as gift-wrap for a game that, at its core, is largely unimaginative.

Stick shooters aren’t terribly deep to begin with, but Nano Assault Neo feels shallow even by established standards. Between the lackluster power-ups and the overarching sense of laziness in the game’s play modes and design, there’s not much to get excited about here. The game difficulty spikes in a few places, too, making the journey from beginning to end an inconsistent experience.

Despite all that, Nano Assault Neo is still solid in all the right places; it’s fun to play, simple to learn, and the controls are tight. What the game lacks in imagination, it makes up for with visual and musical prowess. Two player co-op is made a little more interesting by having the GamePad’s second screen, and you can completely switch the game over to the GamePad, which is handy for those times when someone wants to watch TV.

It would have been nice to see the GamePad’s touch screen implemented a little better, though. Aside from adjusting the position of your cannons, there’s not much else you can do with it. Some more stages would have been appreciated, too, as the game feels mighty short after you’ve finished blazing through it in just a couple hours.

With a little more beef and a little more innovation, Nano Assault Neo could have been something great. Instead, it’s something familiar with little to offer beyond the essentials. Still, Nano Assault Neo is sure to keep you entertained during its flashy tenure, however brief that may be.

Nano Assault Neo is available for Wii U from the Nintendo eShop for $9.99

So here it is. Another Mario game. Riding hot off the heels of the last one with barely a span of three months separating them, Mario Bros. U may be arriving at a time when fans are coming down with a mean case of Mario fatigue. And that’s a shame, really, because Mario Bros. U is one of the coolest iterations in the series’ entire history, and probably the best reason to own a Wii U at the moment.

It’s a great family game. It’s a great multiplayer game in general. The chaos that ensues from having two or more players on screen at once is… well, let’s just say that it’s many things. It’s exciting. It’s hilarious. It’s full of apologies, curses, and high fives. It’s a cooperative twist to the traditional Mario formula, and the experience is augmented in totally new ways by the Wii U’s GamePad controller.

In single-player mode, the GamePad isn’t terribly special – it acts more or less like a traditional controller. In multiplayer, however, it becomes a tremendous support tool, allowing someone to play a more passive role by placing platforms to catch falling allies, or creating unnatural stairways to out-of-the-way places.

But that’s not all. Stages present a ton of unique opportunities for the GamePad player to interact in helpful ways – you can illuminate darkened areas with your finger tip, or smash frozen enemies and crumble skeletons by tapping on them. The amount of stuff you can do with the GamePad in this respect is staggering, and its inclusion is the most innovative turn for the series in many years.

Click map for full version

Mario Bros. U brings us back to the sort of singular map presentation we haven’t seen since Super Mario World, and in many ways reminds me more of that game than any other. Yoshi is back in traditional form, along with a new ensemble of baby Yoshis, with each color exhibiting its own special power. Seeing these old familiars revamped in HD is a real treat – Mario Bros. U utilizes just about every bit of Mario lore out there, and serves as a terrific homage to the series as a whole.

Of course, it’s a Mario game, so if you’ve ever played one before then don’t expect many surprises in Mario Bros. U. Many ideas and aesthetics are completely recycled, (oh, look, a desert world!) as are the plot (rescue the princess) and boss battles (yup. Bowser’s kids). Even much of the music is ripped from previous New Super Mario games. I’m guessing you already suspected as much, though, and if you’re a fan of the series, then you might very well prefer this kind of continuation.

So, while the Mario experience has never played or looked better than it does with Mario Bros. U, it’s still very familiar stuff. The mechanics introduced by the GamePad breathe some fresh air into this series’ sails, but it may not be enough for the folks who’ve grown bored with Nintendo’s predictable “New” Super Mario Bros. formula.

For the people who wouldn’t have it any other way, though, New Super Mario Bros. U is the finest game the series has ever produced, and delivers more of that solid gameplay you’ve come to know, love, and rightly expect.

See New Super Mario Bros. U in action:

BUYER BEWARE – New Super Mario Bros. U is not currently compatible with the Wii U Pro Controller – multiplayer requires at least one Wiimote.

But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Little Amazon, developed by Ctools Studio and published by BulkyPix, does a lot of things right. The catchy little song, for instance, instantly drills its way into your brain. While many endless runners have committed to pixel art, it’s hard not to notice just how nicely animated Little Amazon is. The running animation and slight blur of Lily’s hair when she jumps just looks great. Even Lily’s helper, a little spirit named Splash that absorbs one hit, owes more to Sonic the Hedgehog’s bubbles than your regular runner.

The new rumble in the jungle: Meteor versus Meteor.

The world you run through, a procedurally-generated jungle composed of manually crafted map segments, looks terrific. It’s been a long time since I’ve so much as thought about parallax scrolling, but the three background layers found in Little Amazon move so seamlessly that it’s hard to ignore. The cloud and cavern segments you unlock are not as beautiful, but they provide a nice change-of-pace. You’re not going to have a lot of time to admire how good the game looks in motion, anyhow, as you evade all the baddies and bramble scattered throughout.

While not visually impressive in stills, it certainly impresses in motion.

The core gameplay itself is fairly basic. You’ll collect coins and death, which is conveniently colored black and purple, for as long as you can. The coins, in turn, go into three different upgradeable skills: Powers, Jumps, and Skills. Powers are the magic spells that are mapped to the left button, Jumps are jumping skills tied to the right button, and Skills are passive abilities that help Lily in various ways. There are also one-time-purchase Talents that add a static passive ability or unlock new areas.

Missions, now a staple of the endless runner genre, also make an appearance here. They are very basic and dare not stray far from the Jetpack Joyride formula, even using the same “high five” terminology. A few of the missions, such as “Travel X meters without paying attention to the coins” aren’t particularly clear. Regardless, the coin rewards they bring are a definite blessing in the early going.

Don’t let the coins scare you off. Like the best free-to-play endless runners, it gets easier as you progress. There are Collectable Sun Coins to be found strewn throughout the jungle. When five are collected, you get a hefty coin reward. Both the appearance rate of these collectables and the reward they give can be upgraded. Though in-app purchases are by no means necessary to enjoy Little Amazon, I suggest buying at least the ninety-nine cent package to remove ads. The advertisements aren’t invasive by any means, but the 20,000 coins you get can then be put into raising the collectable appearance rate and reward, giving you a nice jump start to your game. You may as well kill two birds with one stone.

Check out the Super Mario Bros. homage. Jump off the clouds and collect coins.

Finally, there’s the story progression. It’s strange, in a way, how things go. Cutscenes open up after traveling a set number of meters in the game. The progress is independent of your numerous failures. This addition could, and perhaps should, be adopted by other games in the genre. However, while a noteworthy change, it is not implemented well. Story-wise, I had finished the game within a few hours and hadn’t even noticed. It wasn’t until I unlocked subsequent cutscenes, which contained no dialogue whatsoever, that I realized it. If there were a more compelling story in place, it could be a really good motivator. As is, it falls a bit flat.

There are a few problems, though. Little Amazon has a few bugs that are a little too easy to run into. For instance, I’ve been able to replicate a disappearing graphic layer bug when moving from the jungle to either the clouds or the cavern. While that’s not a real problem when you move to the clouds (just let Lily fall and you’ll harmlessly return to the jungle), it is a game ending glitch in the cavern where spikes abound. I have also gotten stuck in a one-space pit with no recourse but to restart my run. For people who may be interested in ascending the leaderboards, this could spell tragedy.

While Little Amazon will surely get overlooked by many gamers who look towards Joe Danger or Time Surfer for their action thrills, there is a lot of gaming goodness well worth a look. Little Amazon can stand tall with the big boys as another entertaining endless runner for anyone who just hasn’t had their fill.

(Little Amazon is universal and chock-full of Apple-exclusive goodness and features GameCenter leaderboards and achievements, iCloud save sync, and AppleTV AirPlay-compatibility. The game was tested on both an iPhone 4 and iPhone 5.)

I am not a brony. Well, not enough of one, anyway. I’ll admit to rather liking the new cartoon series and its mixture of mythological beasts and cutesy horses. But My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic did not turn me into some guy who’s suddenly dreaming of technicolor horses, unicorns, and pegasi frolicking about with tramp stamps.

Actually, all it really did is re-instill the distaste I have for Gameloft as a developer.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is your standard town-building game. The premise, straight from the premiere episode of the cartoon, has Twilight Sparkle on a quest to save Ponyville from eternal darkness. From here, you’ll get a tutorial mission and a couple of experience levels to stimulate the part of your brain that loves progress. After that, you’re mostly on your own to figure out how to spend your cash.

Looks pretty normal, but what lies behind is devious.

The tutorial actually does a horrible job, forcing you to spend 1,000 Bits to get 2x the points in the first minigame. It makes it seem as though Bits are easy to come by when they are not. Not knowing this actually set me back in the early going. It also tempts you speed up crafting by feeding a Gem to Spike, the baby dragon. It’s no coincidence, of course, that you can buy both Bits and Gems, is it? How’s that old saying go? Teach a man to buy a fish, right?

You’ll spend the Bits you scrimped and saved to bring new ponies to Equestria and build cash-earning shops. It is an absolute struggle to get ahead early on. Each shop needs at least one pony to work. While any pony can work in the low level slot, you’ll need ponies with stars to work in the second shop slot. If you want to add a third pony, which will add a Bit bonus every time you collect, they’ll need even more stars.

My Little Pony may introduce a new concept to your child: monotony.

To earn these stars, you’ll have to work through two awful minigames that also cost Bits to play. I’ll admit that I had a slight bit of fun at first when I had just a handful of ponies to work with. However, as my town grew, so did my contempt for these minigames. These games were culled from moments within the first ten episodes of the cartoon. There surely must be more that would be worth adding, if only for the sake of variety, from later episodes. After earning enough points in these minigames, you’ll unlock the Star game.

The Star game is actually a lot of fun, but its 45 seconds are all too brief. Gameloft basically took Jetpack Joyride’s first few hundred meters, added a turbo boost from knocking out white clouds, and called it a day.

This minigame is the most fun you’ll have in the game. It’s not that fun.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic appears faithful to the cartoon, though even I can notice small differences in colors and design. Fluttershy and Apple Jack don’t look quite right, though I can’t quite put my finger on it, and I’m sure fans will notice a lot more inconsistencies. Considering these are main characters, it seems like an awful shame. Each of the main ponies, though, is voiced by the original cast. There’s not a whole lot of voice work, mind you, but it’s a nice touch. We probably have The Simpsons: Tapped Out to thank for that, though.

Then we get to the real problem. The costs for some of these ponies is insane. While I know every free-to-play has a few luxury items, My Little Pony goes overboard. Rainbow Dash, the last of the main ponies to unlock, costs about ten dollars. If that cost seems high to you, know that it was much higher before the latest version. You can enjoy the game without getting every pony, I know. But the 950 Gems (about $70) to bring Princess Celestia is absolutely insane, even if she drops Elements of Harmony and is a five star pony from the get-go.

I grew bored and played with some hacks. Breaking a game is how I break the habit.

Even design choices, which may or may not be intentional, seem dubious when Gems are involved. On three occasions, as I was gathering Bits from a shop, I accidentally spent Gems to speed up production. With no prompts, it seems like an intentional choice to nickel and dime a player. There’s simply no reason I need to be tapping all around my town, is there, aside from making a boring game into a click fest. Nothing says fun like needless taps, am I right? I am far more coordinated than a child, or so I like to believe, and I would bet many children wouldn’t even realize they used a Gem. When there are paid elements involved, you simply have to have some sort of verification prompt in place. Not doing so is just inviting distrust.

My Little Pony is very cute. It’s fun to watch the ponies socialize.

Then there are the annoying Parasprites and natural growths to deal with. Any area of your land that is not housing a building or decoration is vulnerable to these annoyances. Parasprites require different Elements of Harmony, which randomly drop when you collect from shops, to remove. Rocks and trees require Bits. One simple rock can stand between you and progress. Of course, once you pay the absurd amount to remove the growths, you’ll have a timer tick-tocking away.

Finally, the social elements in place just don’t work well. You’ll need to connect to friends via Facebook or Gameloft Live. Neither option works particularly well making the social Heart currency difficult to collect. It’s a clunky experience when there are games out there using GameCenter perfectly well. However, this is a cross-platform game, so I understand it’s the nature of the beast.

That said, I ran My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on my Google Nexus 7 and was astounded at just how poorly it performed. When scrolling through town, Android users can expect lag and a general lack of responsiveness. There’s no way this Tegra 3-powered tablet is less powerful than an iPhone 4, so why exactly are Android users getting such a lousy version of the game?

If Tiny Tower and Happy Street represent how social building games can be fair and fun, My Little Pony represents all that makes social gaming an aberration that simply needs to die. Between the questionable design, tedious gameplay, and distasteful in-app purchase system, it’s impossible to recommend My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic to anyone.

(My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is available for free in the App Store and Google Play Store. It features Retina display graphics and is optimized for widescreen displays, but it lacks GameCenter support. While both Android and iOS versions were played for this review, the score represents just the iOS version. Version 1.0.1 was used in this review.)

Even the story remains simple, as told through a few comic-style storyboards. The Ice King has kidnapped Princess Bubblegum, again. Finn, the great hero that he is, has to spring into action. But how should he there? His partner, Jake the Dog, has the idea to kick him in the butt as hard as he can to launch Finn towards the Ice King’s Castle. Sounds like as good a plan as any.

You’ll start off with just Jake and Finn. Each game has the same pattern, as you try to keep Jake from falling while fighting off penguins. Jake has a rechargeable air-kick for a short boost and can save a run once per game by bouncing Jake off his magical belly. It doesn’t go particularly well in the early going, as you’ll fly a few hundred miles your first time through. Each run earns you stars, though, that you’ll use to buy or level up skills. There are ten skills in all, and each will help extend your run.

The birds are the best elevator skill, as the others have negatives. Birds are all upside.

The skills vary, though each row is remarkably similar. The top row are based upon Jake’s kicking powers. The second row skills are boosts that accelerate Finn and slow his descent. The final row are lift-skills that will stop Finn from falling AND raise him up. The elevator skills require more input, but they also have the additional bonus of invulnerability that will come in handy. Each skill brings something new to the table and enables you to get further in the game.

Expect to see Finn eat a lot of dirt in the early going.

There really is nothing quite like palpable progress. While many games out there adopt systems where progress is minimal at best, Jumping Finn Turbo’s easy-to-feel progress system feels like a breath of fresh air. Of course, like a breath of fresh air, it doesn’t last long.

After you reach Ice King’s Castle and save Princess Bubblegum, which will take most players about an hour and a half, the only thing left to do is beat your old scores and finish leveling up any skills you haven’t already maxed out. Once that is done, what’s to keep you coming back for more? Basically, unless you’re into chasing leaderboards, there’s not a lot to do afterwards. Also, due to the frantic tapping after 90,000 miles, it’s possible to accidentally restart your game with as little as two misplaced taps. It’s only happened to me once, but that’s one time more than acceptable considering I was twelve minutes into a run.

However, what do you gauge such a game against? It’s fun, no doubt about it, but it also lasts a few hours at best for all but the most obsessive gamer. This is disposable, bite-sized gaming. But should we really hold that against the game? When put into real world terms, two dollars might get you a cheap hot dog and a handful of fries. However, in the world of mobile gaming, two dollars seems like twice what you should pay.

The sad truth is that, after games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope have provided insane levels of bang for your buck, this is the measuring stick of which we compare all other games. That is not the failing of the game, but how we, like Pavlov’s dog, have been conditioned and now only salivate when we see a game is ninety-nine cents and packed to the gills with content.

Jumping Finn Turbo merges the modern gaming trope of progress with the “one more game” play of classic quarter munchers to form a rewarding and addictive experience. Fans of the show will surely find Jumping Finn Turbo a great game to pass the time, whether they be children or adults.

(Jumping Finn Turbo was tested on both an iPhone 4 and iPhone 5. It is a universal app that features GameCenter achievements and leaderboards. This review is based upon Version 1.01. Fade to Slack fought the urge to use “mathematical” in the review more than once.)

There are a lot of Pokemon wannabes in the mobile space right now. From the dragon-based take of Dragon Island Blue’s to definitely Pokemon minus the overworld take of Little Masters, there’s just a lot of options for people who miss catching ‘em all.

At the head of the pack, though, is Kairosoft’s Beastie Bay.

Growth spurts are a stroke of luck.

Calling it a Pokemon wannabe, however, is a slight misnomer. Yes, you collect and battle monsters while traveling around the world, but Beastie Bay doesn’t do it nearly as well. If that were all the game was, then it’d be easy enough to enjoy and discard after use. Core Pokemon elements, such as collecting gym badges and evolving your monsters, are missing. There’s next to no exploration to be found. Even the elements, perhaps especially the elements, have been gutted with just a literal handful in place, now.

So why do I keep coming back to this silly game? Well, in that gaping Snorlax-sized hole is Kairosoft’s kooky brand of simulation, nearly a genre in and of itself, with town-building and monster collecting merely another theme. Your goal is to take this little unpopulated island and turn it into the world’s greatest tourist attraction.

You and your monsters will need to work and scavenge for food and wood if you are to survive and expand. After unlocking a few areas, you’ll gain access to a research facility. There, your brilliant engineer (and chimpanzee sidekick), Chimpan Z, will help you unlock all sorts of new facilities, from common farms to river-spanning bridges. You’ll need to contribute some of that valuable wood to help him hasten his studies. You’ll spend a lot of time in these menus early on.

Placement is key, especially early on, as you won’t be able to move building around until much later in the game. Monsters aren’t living in tiny balls here; they live in actual houses that you need to build and place strategically. Almost every building can be upgraded if they meet the proper requisites, such as being surrounded by natural elements or having a high energy supply, to increase their effectiveness. It’s a lot to take in and the game gives you no hints.

A Tale of Two Games: It was the battle times, it was the building times…

A lot of discoveries in Beastie Bay come from happy accidents. Unless you’re willing to part with your precious gold medals for a few clues or slight advantages, there’s a good chance you’ll realize you’ve been playing the game wrong. The replay value of Beastie Bay then becomes “can I do better than before using this knowledge?”

That’s not to say that the game is wrong, nor is it tinkling a change cup every chance it gets. Beastie Bay is that rare breed of free-to-play where every purchase is very much an option. Even the ads seem unobtrusive.

Progress can be slow to come at times. Sometimes, especially early in the game, you’ll need to wait on your citizens to gather necessary materials before going out in the world. Other times, you’ll be waiting for research to finish or monsters to heal. It can bring the fun to a halt, but by around year four there’s a good chance you’ll have more than you really need.

See the world via raft or hot-air balloon.

You will grind out monster levels until you can face the next dungeon or unlock the next island. There, you may find new monsters. It’s very similar in that regard to finding a new route in Pokemon, though the travel and dungeon exploration has been streamlined. However, all tamed beasts revert to level one and need to be raised from scratch. Later, the School unlocks to help you raise them without taking them to battle.

After freeing an island from its monster menace, you’ll be able to invest in its infrastructure. Doing so will improve your island in various ways, but the end results mostly increase the amount of gold you get from tourism. There’s not a lot to do with gold, though, aside from gathering it and eventually wasting it on items you don’t really need. Sure, there’s the 15,000 gold “Capture Boss Creature” license, but that’s about it.

There are a lot of elements at play in Beastie Bay. It’s interesting, in a way, that it’s hard to tell which theme is really the core experience. Is this a town-building simulation or a monster battler? You spend a lot of time alternating between both, really, and it’s hard to pick which one is more entertaining.

Frankly, the beauty of Beastie Bay to me is that neither element would be particularly entertaining alone, but when combined make something truly unique. While it’s obviously an unlike comparison, Beastie Bay is better than the sum of its parts and ends up an entertaining balance of two differing styles in the same way that ActRaisers was before it.

(Beastie Bay is available for free with ad-support in the Google Play Market. Ads can be removed via in-app purchase for $3.99. Gold Medals can be purchased, as well, but are unnecessary to the gameplay experience.)