AppReviewToday- AppReviews

Skullgirls (Free) by LINE Corporation is a mobile port of the original Skullgirls fighting game that came out five years ago. If you enjoyed games like Injustice 2 but want something a bit more unique than just DC characters, then Skullgirls will be right up your alley.

When I’m under a bit of stress, I like to take out my frustrations in the form of video games, for the most part. It’s just easy to watch my troubles go away for a short while in the form of explosions and punches and other fun things that I can’t do in reality. And while I’m definitely not a pro at fighting games, I like to play them just because it’s fun to virtually beat up your foes in a flurry of attacks, and it seems fighters are getting quite popular lately from Injustice 2 and now Skullgirls. To be honest, while I’ve heard of Skullgirls before, I never actually looked into what it was until now. I saw that it was released on iOS last night, and I had to give it a shot because the gorgeous artwork just called out to me, plus hey, fighters are fun (even if you’re not great at them).

Visually, Skullgirls is stunningly beautiful. The entire game carries a hand-drawn anime-like art style that is incredibly detailed and amazing to look at, with everything rendered in 2-D against spectacular backdrops. In fact, the art style kind of reminds me of The World Ends With You, which is not a bad thing at all. Each character in the game (playable or not) has a unique and distinctive appearance that makes them truly stand out on their own, and they have smooth and fluid movement animations in battle, as well as bouncy and bubbly idle animations. The character portraits are drawn nicely, and the color palette in the game ranges from dark and gloomy tones to bold and vibrant hues, so the contrast is done well. The game runs smoothly on my iPhone 7 and I had no performance issues, although the game did crash once while I was still doing background game data downloading, but nothing after that was done. Skullgirls has a rather upbeat and jazzy soundtrack in the background that is delightful to listen to, and it adds another layer of depth to the somewhat steampunk theme. There are also fun sound effects as you engage in battle, and each character has voiced dialogue that you can hear in fights, which only adds to the fun. As someone who has not played Skullgirls before, I’m thoroughly impressed with the visual and audio design of this mobile version.

Even if you played the original Skullgirls game, there’s plenty of reason to play this mobile version as well. At the moment, there are several game modes that are available to all players: Story, Prize Fights, Daily Events, and Training. The developers also note that there will be more game modes coming in the future, so keep your eyes peeled.

The Story Mode is the core of the game, and where you will probably spend most of your time on. This mode will teach you the basics of the game (great for newbies) and also reveal the plot, in which you must find the mysterious Skullgirl before she destroys New Meridian. For those who don’t know, Skullgirls revolves around the “Skull Heart,” which is a powerful artifact with the ability to grant wishes to women. But if the wisher has an impure soul, she is transformed into the “Skullgirl,” which is a monster bent on destruction. Throughout the Story Mode, players will encounter various NPCs as well as play specific fighters that are crucial to the storyline.

Prize Fights are where you can compete against other players to win prizes, which are more fighters for your roster. These battles will be 3v3, so you will want to compose your team to expose the enemy’s weaknesses. Daily Events feature one specific fighter each day, and have different challenges that await you with the opportunity to earn special moves and Blockbuster attacks for that specific character, so you will want to take advantage of them if there’s a main fighter you want to power up. There’s also a training mode if you want to practice with specific characters and hone your technique in real fights.

The controls in Skullgirls mobile are pretty straightforward and intuitive for what it’s worth. To do a basic attack, just tap on the screen. You can do a combo attack by tapping in quick succession. Swipe right to do a dash attack, and swipe left to evade. Swiping down lets you do a low attack, and an upwards swipe lets you get the foe in the air and then you can juggle them with combos. If you swipe up with two fingers, you’ll perform a grab. You can do a charge attack by doing a tap-and-hold on the screen, but be warned — these take a while to charge up and leave you vulnerable, so timing is critical. To block, just tap-and-hold with two fingers on the screen.

Additionally, you’ll have some buttons in the lower left corner of the screen — the button on the outer part lets you perform your Blockbuster move, but only if the gauge is charged (do attacks and blocks to fill it). The other button lets you do your character’s special move, which are stronger attacks that can also have abilities, such as inflicting bleed (damage over time) or break through the enemy’s armor. If you’re a newbie to fighting games in general, there is also a Fight Assist option, which changes the game into a more turn-based strategy fight.

Skullgirls is based on tag team fights for the most part, though some story missions involve only one-on-one battles. To change out the current fighter, just tap on the portrait of the one you want to bring in. When you win a battle, your fighters will gain experience points, even if they may have fallen during the fight. When they have enough experience points to level up, that means you can go into their character detail page and expand their capabilities through the skill tree, as long as you have enough skill points.

You can also get character skills as prizes, and these can be equipped on fighters to gain more options in battle. If you have the gold coin for it, everything can also be upgraded, and fighters can be powered-up by sacrificing unnecessary fighters if you don’t feel like leveling them up the traditional way. While the game’s meat and potatoes is the fighting aspect, there are a lot of RPG elements thrown into the mix, which just add another layer of depth and strategy to everything. Plus, each fighter has an element, and the elements are strong and weak against another, just like rock-paper-scissors. If you have played games like Fire Emblem, then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

When you start out in Skullgirls, you’ll only have a limited selection of fighters to choose from. However, if you have enough Theonite (blue crystal premium currency), you can head to the shop and spend it for Relics, which let you obtain new fighters for your collection. These are completely random, so if you get a duplicate fighter, it’s good fodder for powering up another one.

Even though I was not too familiar with Skullgirls before this week, I think I’m now a fan. The artwork is downright amazing, and I love the voice acting for these lively characters. The music is also catchy and pleasant, and I’m not that big of a jazz fan to begin with. While I still prefer physical buttons for my fighting games, I think Skullgirls did well with the touch screen controls, because they’re not too bad and everything is responsive. The story is interesting and I like that there are multiple game modes so you can always find something entertaining if you need a break from a particular mode. While I don’t think I’ll be using the Fight Assist mode, it’s nice that the option is there for those who usually don’t play fighting games, which make this title truly a “fighting game for everyone.”

I recommend giving Skullgirls a download if you want an awesome mobile fighting game, or if you were already a fan of the Skullgirls. You can find Skullgirls on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free. There are in-app purchases.

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

No Stick Shooter ($1.99) by Happy Robot Games is a retro arcade shooter that will take you back to the days of Missile Command. If you liked old-school arcade games like , but want something more challenging, then you will love what No Stick Shooter has to offer.

When I was a kid growing up, I remember having an old Windows PC with classic games already installed on it, such as Asteroids, Tempest, and Missile Command. I would spend hours on these types of games, because what else was I going to do with my time? Because of this, I grew a love for arcade games because they would prove to be challenging and I liked to see if I could beat my own previous score each and every time. With the iPhone and the introduction of the App Store almost a decade ago, I have been on the lookout for great new arcade games that I could take with me wherever I go, and one of my favorite genres of arcade games are shooters. But let’s face it — dual stick shooters are fun and all, but the concept gets a bit tiring after a while, and even I need a break from them every now and then. So when I saw No Stick Shooter on the App Store, I was intrigued by the idea of a Geometry Wars-like game that does not follow the standard formula of two virtual joysticks for controls. If you’re seeking a challenge, then No Stick Shooter doesn’t disappoint.

Visually, No Stick Shooter has an aesthetic style that strongly reminds me of Geometry Wars, and that’s because of the various geometric shapes that are used for the enemy ships that fast approach you. The game takes place in space, so you have a rich galactic backdrop that has vivid hues of blue, red, and even green, that are mixed in to a gradient coloring with pitch black darkness. The bright neon lines and shapes that make up the enemies that you’ll be facing off against contrast nicely with the dark backdrop, and there are plenty of nice particle effects when it comes to the explosions that you’ll be seeing on screen. Your ship sits alone at the bottom of the screen, in all of its bright white light glory. The icons that dictate the type of weapon you are equipped with are easy to recognize from a glance, and even when things get hectic in the game, at least all of the chaos looks beautiful. There is a adrenaline-pumping EDM soundtrack that is rather fitting for the pace of the game, and the sound effects are fun to hear.

Since No Stick Shooter is an arcade shooter at its core, it is level based and players must progress through the stages in a linear order. At the moment, the game has 30 levels of increasing difficulty, and there are three boss fights to go through, so there will be a boss after every 10 stages. While the main objective of each level is to get rid of all of the enemies before you die, there are also three side goals on each that you can see before you start. These missions involve getting a certain number of points, not taking any hits, and more. While 30 stages may not seem like a lot at first, the game is relatively hard and some stages will definitely take more than one attempt to complete. Plus, if you are a completionist, or just like to chase after high scores, then there is a lot of replay value in No Stick Shooter.

The controls in No Stick Shooter are what set it apart from other arcade shooters, which are usually dual stick. Instead, you control a stationary turret at the bottom of the screen that is protected by a few shields that are able to withstand a few hits if need be, but will have to recharge once the current supply is depleted. Your turret is unable to move around freely, so you are stuck at the bottom. However, you can tap anywhere to shoot, which also serves as your aiming mechanism. While you can shoot as often as you’d like, keep in mind that your turret only has a limited amount of energy, and if you fire off too many rounds in quick succession, your energy runs low. While you can still attack while low on energy, the damage you deal will be decreased significantly, so you have to manage your resources wisely in order to be successful. As you play, you’ll gain new weapon types, and you can switch between the weapons at any time by tapping on the one you want in the left sidebar. Some weapons, like the Lightning, require you to long-press on the screen in order to be effective.

If you want to do well in No Stick Shooter, then you’ll have to observe and learn the various behaviors of each enemy, as well as master the strengths and weaknesses of your weapons. And with the limited energy supply of your turret, your timing and precision matters. While your shields can protect you from a certain number of hits, once it is depleted, you do have to fend off enemy attacks long enough for it to recharge, which gets a little tricky once things get more hectic.

I’ve only just started playing No Stick Shooter recently, and despite the high difficulty of the game, I am finding it to be rather enjoyable. I love the retro aesthetic design, because it reminds me a lot of Geometry Wars, which happens to be one of my favorite dual-stick shooter arcade games. As a fan of EDM in general, I found the soundtrack to be delightful, and the sound effects and numerous explosions on screen are quite satisfying. And while the main objective is pretty straightforward, I like having the other three goals on each stage to keep things interesting, and it just means more replay value. I kind of wish that the game did offer different difficulty levels for players to choose from though, because it’s fairly difficult and definitely not something I’d recommend for casual players who may get frustrated easily.

If you’re looking for a challenging arcade shooter, then I recommend giving No Stick Shooter a try for yourself. You can find No Stick Shooter on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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