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Flipping Legend (Free) by Noodlecake Studios Inc and Hiding Spot Games is a fast-paced arcade infinite runner game that takes you on one heck of a flipping hack-n-slash adventure. If you liked other frantic arcade games, such as Penarium, then you will love what Flipping Legend has to offer.

When I have time to spare throughout the day, one of my favorite ways to pass the time is by picking up some kind of arcade game that is fast-paced and lets me chase down high scores, because I know I can always do better than before. Plus, practicing just makes me better, you know? I’ve gone through many arcade games that fit the bill on the App Store, but I don’t think I’ve come across any that have quite the pizazz as Flipping Legend does. Of course, with Flipping Legend coming from Noodlecake Studios, the fine folks who created the Super Stickman Golf series, it’s no surprise that this is a highly addictive title, and it’s a wonder that it wasn’t done before.

App Feels Like

$6.99

Minecraft: Pocket Edition

Mojang AB

$1.99

Penarium

Team17 Software, Limited

Visually, Flipping Legend is beautiful and features a charming voxel-style style that is similar to what you would find in Minecraft. However, despite the similarities, Flipping Legend carries more of a retro aesthetic than other games that use the same style, such as Art of Gravity. If you grew up with classic NES games, then you will feel right at home with Flipping Legend. The color palette in Flipping Legend packs in a lot of vibrant shades and even dark, gloomy tones, depending on the area that you are in. To make things feel a bit more real, there’s also a dreamlike blur that shows up in the back (near the top of the screen since it scrolls vertically) that makes it harder to see what is coming up, which just adds to the challenge. Animations are buttery smooth and fluid, with no lag issues on my iPhone 7. The game also has a fun and rocking soundtrack that should delight fans of the genre, and the music is an important part of the game because you’ll want to move along to the beat. Mastering Flipping Legend involves knowing the songs and moving in sync with the rhythm, but this is much easier said than done. Overall, Flipping Legend is a beautiful combination of modern retro aesthetics and amazing music.

Since Flipping Legend is an arcade game, this is definitely a high score chaser and there’s only one mode, which one can think of as an infinite runner style. But to keep things different, Flipping Legend has a bit of an RPG element mixed in, since you get skill points for your characters once they gain enough experience to level up. Experience points are earned for each enemy that you manage to kill during a run, and your score is determined by how far you managed to get, the gold you collect, and your total kills. However, unlike other infinite runner type games, Flipping Legend requires you to master your reflexes and be in tune with the environment through rhythm, as you will be flipping diagonally along a checkerboard-like track, avoiding spike traps and other hazards while killing enemies on squares you land on and collecting items along the way. Plus, your health drains over time, and unless you find a heart, the only way to keep your health up is to kill enemies, since each kill replenishes health. There are several different areas to go through, and once you reach a new area at least five times, you unlock a checkpoint portal to start there, though it will cost some gold coins each time.

Think of Crypt of the NecroDancer, except in an infinite runner style game. While it sounds simple enough at first, as you enter new areas, the challenge and difficulty ramps up fairly significantly.

The controls in Flipping Legend are super simple and intuitive, as it is made specifically for touch screens. To change your lane and move one space ahead diagonally, just tap on the left or right half of the screen. Once your action bar at the bottom fills up, you can perform a backflip by tapping on the orange button the left of the gauge. If your action bar is completely full, that means you are able to perform your character’s secondary skill, which varies from character to character. The Archer, for example, has the skill “Focus,” which lets her automatically target one nearby enemy, and then she will automatically target more foes as she moves a certain number of spaces. To be great at the game, players must learn to go along with the rhythm of the music and environment, and always be alert and ready.

At the moment, Flipping Legend has eight playable characters for players, though only the first three are available from the get-go, which are Ninja, Archer, and Warlock. However, you have to unlock them first by paying 1600 gold each, so you pretty much start off with one until you have enough coin to get another. The other five characters will have to be unlocked by completing challenges, such as getting a kill streak of 50 (consecutive kills), smashing 250 gravestones in the graveyard area, leveling any character to 10, and more. I like these challenges, because they give me a reason to keep coming back to the game, and it helps keep the game fresh and interesting, since you’re always striving to complete a goal.

You get experience points after each run, with the amount earned dependent on how many kills you made and how far you get. When you level up, you get a skill point that can be used for that character’s skill tree to unlock and enhance their abilities. These upgrades include things like recovering more health with each kill, starting off with a shield, holding multiple shields at once, special attacks covering more distance, and more. But be warned — you do need gold, as well as skill points, to get any improvements.

Every now and then, players will be able to get a free chest with a random prize inside, which is selected by a spin. The chest can contain things like experience boost for 10 minutes, various skins for characters you have (some are even rare and legendary), and even lots of gold. The game is fairly generous with these free chests, and all you have to do is watch one ad to unlock it. Honestly, it’s not that bad. Though if you want more chests and goodies, there are some in-app purchases available, including ad removal.

Flipping Legend is an amazing and addictive little arcade game that is perfect for passing some time. The voxel graphics are incredibly well done and will bring a sense of nostalgia to anyone who grew up with classic pixelated games. The music in Flipping Legend is also upbeat, quirky, and fun to listen to, and it helps put you into a rhythm when it comes to the movement. There’s a lot of replay value found in the game, since more characters need to be unlocked by completing challenges, and each hero can even be improved through their skill trees. The game provides an ample amount of challenge for players, and having the option to start at a later area for a small cost is nice to have.

While Flipping Legend is overall a great little arcade game, the gameplay can feel a bit repetitive after a while, so it’s best enjoyed in small bursts throughout the day, at least for me. It can also be a bit frustrating, since you do die a lot, so be prepared for that.

I downloaded Flipping Legend as soon as it was available on the App Store, and I have had a hard time putting it down, honestly. I love voxel graphics, and Flipping Legend has done them beautifully. The music is pretty catchy as well, and I like how it is an integral part of the gameplay. Controls are simple to pick up, but getting the rhythm perfectly will take some time. There is a lot of goals to accomplish that keep the game feeling fresh, and the difficulty of the game means there’s plenty of reason to keep coming back as you try and beat your previous best score. Overall, Flipping Legend is a fantastic high score chaser that is worth a download.

I recommend giving Flipping Legend a try if you are in the mood for a infinite arcade high score chaser. Flipping Legend is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free. There are in-app purchases.

9.2

OVERALL

Game Controls 10

Replayability 9

Graphics 9

Sound/Music 9

Gameplay 9

FREE

Flipping Legend

Noodlecake Studios Inc

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Art of Gravity ($0.99) by Michal Pawlowski is a physics-based puzzle game that features plenty of abstract voxel graphics and destruction through the natural use of gravity. If you liked other games like Smash Hit, then Art of Gravity is a perfect fit.

When I need to relax, I always turn to video games of some kind to take my mind off of the harsh effects of reality sometimes. Whether it’s solving puzzles or blowing stuff up and causing mayhem, it’s the best way to unwind. I’ve gone through dozens of genres of games, but for some reason, puzzles are always going to be my go-to. This is probably because I like to keep my mind busy and occupied while also relaxing, and puzzle games offer the best of both worlds. While it feels like I’ve gone through every possible puzzle game there is on the App Store since my time here at AppAdvice, I am always on the lookout for new ones that breath new life into the genre, and I believe Art of Gravity is one of those games.

App Feels Like

Free

Smash Hit

Mediocre AB

$6.99

Minecraft: Pocket Edition

Mojang AB

Visually, Art of Gravity is beautifully abstract, just as it was intended to be. If you are a big fan of how the graphics are in Minecraft, then you will love Art of Gravity’s visuals. The game is fully rendered in 3-D with blocky objects that eventually break down into even smaller blocks, and the sphere that you’ll be working with is also rather jagged and blocky, which only completes the theme. The background features vibrant, somewhat muted colors that contrast nicely with the blocks in the foreground, and the particle effects when large blocks get smashed are hypnotic and mesmerizing. All animations are smooth and fluid with no lag on my iPhone 7. There’s a rather subtle ambient soundtrack that plays in the background, but it’s definitely not too noticeable. The sound effects of the blocks breaking and falling apart are much more noticeable than the music, and it’s fairly delightful to listen to them crumble. While the premise is pretty simple (blocky objects being destroyed), I still think the developer did an excellent job with creating a captivating abstract experience.

Like many other puzzle games, Art of Gravity is level-based, and players must clear each stage before they are able to move on to the next one. However, the game does not hold your hand at all — there are no explanations of what to do, nor are there any tutorials. Instead, players must figure out how to play the game on their own, which I like, because it’s more rewarding when you find out a game mechanic without help. The goal of the game is simple enough: destroy all of the abstract objects on the level through the use of a ball and the physics of gravity. It starts out easy, but as you discover more objects like reflective balls and glass barriers, things get a bit more tricky.

The controls in the game are easy to understand and rather intuitive. While Art of Gravity does not explain what each special block does, there is a brief tutorial in the beginning that shows you the controls. Essentially, in each stage you have a certain number of balls available at your disposal, which is shown in the upper right corner. As more ball types are added, you just tap on which ball you want to use this turn. To launch a ball at a block, just tap-and-drag from the block you want to attempt to destroy. When you do this, you get to see the x and y-axis on that particular block, and you drag your finger towards the side that you want the ball to come in from.

Usually, one regular ball will be enough to get rid of the standard white blocks, but more obstacles are introduced as you progress in the game. For example, the red blocks are more sturdy, so a regular ball won’t have enough momentum to break anything past the red block, unless you take advantage of the cloning green blocks, which “reflect” the ball on the opposite side. Then there are even blue balls that will disintegrate anything that it touches, and occasionally there are switches that you can toggle to lower or raise the blue glass barriers. These are just a sample of what I’ve discovered so far in the game, but the gradual pace of new game elements being added helps to keep the gameplay fresh and interesting.

Art of Gravity is definitely an abstract physics-based puzzle game, but it does everything well. The graphics in it look great, and watching blocks break into lots of itty bitty pieces is just satisfying, especially when you combine it with the collapsing sound effects. The controls work well and let you direct the point of impact for the best solution, and there is no penalties, so you can play the game at your own pace. All-in-all, this is just a good relaxing puzzle game to sit down with after a long day.

While it’s a great game, that isn’t to say that Art of Gravity isn’t without some flaws. If you like to replay certain stages, you have to go back in the levels one-by-one, because there is no level select screen that gives you an overview of what you’ve already completed. So if you have finished a lot of puzzles, then going back can be cumbersome. I also wish that there was a faster way to restart a puzzle, because at the moment, you would have to go into the pause menu to get to the restart button, whereas there’s an always present “undo” button on the stage — having an always present restart button would be helpful as well.

Overall, Art of Gravity is a gem for any physics-based puzzle game fan’s collection. The game not only looks good with the voxel-style graphics, but it has soothing music and realistic sound effects that just add a layer of depth to the game. Controls are simple enough, and not having the game tell you how everything works is a selling point, because it’s so much more rewarding that way once you figure something out. The flaws I’ve mentioned are something that the developer should think about optimizing in future updates, but this is still a solid game that deserves a spot on your device.

I recommend grabbing Art of Gravity if you are in the mood for a soothing physics-based puzzle game about gravity and destruction. You can find Art of Gravity on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $0.99.

8.0

OVERALL

Gameplay 9

Game Controls 8

Graphics 8

Sound/Music 8

Replayability 7

$0.99

Art Of Gravity

Michal Pawlowski

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews