AppReviewToday- All

Futurama: Game of Drones (Free) by wooga is the highly anticipated mobile game for the Futurama television series, which ended several years ago, much to the disdain of fans. Futurama: Game of Drones is a match-four puzzle game (everyone was expecting a town-building sim like Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff) so it will appeal to both fans of Futurama as well as the matching game genre.

I grew up on “The Simpsons” as a kid, but as time passed and the show remained on air, it got a bit tiresome and old, though I still loved Matt Groening’s work. So when “Futurama” first hit the air, I fell in love. It was the familiar art style, futuristic setting, quirky characters, and plots that kept me coming back every week for a new episode. When Fox first cancelled the show, I became pretty upset about it, and missed being able to tune in to the show every week. In recent years, “Futurama” ended up on Comedy Central, and I was able to get my fix once again, despite the newer seasons never being quite as good as the original classic seasons (same goes for “The Simpsons”). Then the series finally ended on Comedy Central, and I haven’t been able to get my fix of one of my favorite shows since. So naturally, once Futurama: Game of Drones became available worldwide last night, I had to get my hands on it — Futurama lives!

The visuals in Game of Drones retains the classic style of the cartoon series, and I’m rather pleased about it, as it almost feels like the show never ended. In fact, the level selection screen is reminiscent of the show’s opening intro, so fans will feel right at home. The graphics are colorful and flashy, with smooth animations and the famous opening theme music playing in the background. And if you missed Professor Farnsworth himself, don’t worry — you’ll hear plenty of one-liners from him, and other characters, as you play, including the all-time favorite of “Good news, everyone!”

Like typical matching puzzle games, Game of Drones has players going through levels one-by-one, and meeting certain objectives before they’re able to move on to the next stage. It’s a bit like Candy Crush, as the objectives involve clearing out a specific number of certain colored drones, getting rid of toxic waste, destroying boxes, and more. To make things challenging, you’re restricted on the number of moves for each level as well, which is indicated in the top left corner. Players earn up to three stars on each stage, depending on the threshold of points obtained once completing the goals.

Since this is a match-four instead of a match-three, players have to think a bit more carefully about their moves before making them. Also, since the levels are all in oddly shaped grids, players have more freedom when it comes to moving them around. To move a piece, it must be swapped with any adjacent piece, and as long as it ends up in a group of at least four like-colored drone pieces, then it will get cleared out. There are also special drones that can be made if you match at least five or more pieces, such as line-clearing drones, explosive drones, and color-detonating drones.

To make the game more exciting, there are even some enemy drones that will be sent you way, and you’ll have to do battle with them through battle drones, featuring everyone’s favorite shiny and vulgar beer-guzzling and cigar-smoking robot. When these battle levels come around, both sides take turns to make matches, and can attack the other by matching the silver battle drones. Once you get into the other chapters of the game, you’ll gain access to special power-ups provided by your favorite characters, such as Fry’s drone eliminating laser gun thing. Eventually, you’ll also be able to obtain boosters to start levels with, giving you an advantage.

I’ve only started playing Futurama: Game of Drones, but so far I’m loving every minute of it. The game looks great, I like seeing all of the familiar characters and hearing their quirky bits of dialogue, and the gameplay itself is fairly challenging due to the match-four concept and oddly shaped grids. The different objectives keep the game fresh, and there’s high replay value here. And while there is an energy system in place, you’re fortunate enough to not lose a heart for each play — you only lose one if you fail a stage, which is how every free-to-play game with an energy system should be (I’m looking at you, Pokemon Shuffle). There are in-app purchases in Game of Drones, but they are optional and not necessary to enjoy the game.

I highly recommend checking out Futurama: Game of Drones if you’re a fan of matching puzzles and love Futurama and need your fix. You can get Futurama: Game of Drones on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free with optional in-app purchases.

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

Love You To Bits ($3.99) by Alike Studio is a cute point-and-click adventure puzzle that tells the story of a young space explorer who sets out on a journey to collect the pieces of his robot girlfriend that got blown up in a fatal accident. If you enjoy games that tug at your heartstrings, such as Stay, Mum, then you will like what Love You to Bits has to offer.

I’m sure it’s been said before, but one of the biggest dreams of any person is probably to go in space. Yeah, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to achieve that in my lifetime, but one can always continue dreaming, right? And hey, we still have video games that can make the dream feel a bit more obtainable, so there’s that. Oh, and love is a great feeling, though it can bring you a lot of pain too, but it’s essential to our lives. When you put all of these together (puzzles, space travel, and love), you can get quite a concoction of a game, especially on mobile. That’s just what Love You To Bits is, and it’s executed extremely well.

The visuals in Love You To Bits is stunningly beautiful and looks great on Retina screens. The graphics appear as a cartoon-like style, but if you look closely enough, it also has a bit of a paper craft aesthetic to it due to the subtle textures. The colors in the game range from soft and muted to bright and vivid, depending on the locale that you’re in. Regardless, though, the colors are vibrant and rich, making the graphics pop out on the screen. Animations are smooth and fluid, and the whimsical, piano-heavy soundtrack is a delight to the ears, especially if you’re using headphones. Overall, Alike Studio has done an excellent job in terms of looks and sound in Love You To Bits.

In Love You To Bits, players are first greeted with a scene that introduces Kosmo, a clumsy, rookie space explorer who is traveling the universe with his robot girlfriend, Nova. However, their time is cut short when an accident occurs on the ship, resulting in the loss of Nova as her robotic body gets blown up into pieces and scattered throughout the universe. Now, Kosmo sets out on a journey to explore various planets one-by-one, solving puzzles and discovering new life as he collects her bits piece-by-piece, with the end goal of rebuilding her so that they can be back together once more. Yes — cue those feelings and teardrops, everyone!

Each planet that Kosmo will encounter acts as a level, with one piece of Nova that is scattered somewhere on the stage. Your goal is to retrieve the piece to reveal the portal that takes you to the next planet, and repeat the process until Nova is rebuilt. However, this is easier said than done sometimes, because the puzzles that the game throws at you can take some brainpower to solve. And if you’re a fan of Monument Valley, then you’ll feel right at home because some of the levels feature some tricky optical illusions. Each puzzle will take a few minutes to solve, though you can’t really get stuck on a stage since the events happen pretty chronologically. You’ll have to collect items to use on other objects, activate switches, and more on your journey for rebuilding your love.

As mentioned from the start, Love You To Bits is a point-and-click adventure, so moving is done by tapping the spot that you want Kosmo to move to. It’s simple enough, though Kosmo does move a bit slower than I’d like. When you come across something that Kosmo can interact with, whether it’s picking up an object, using something in your stash, or activating levers and pushing buttons, a bubble pops up above Kosmo with a hand icon. Tap on it to interact with the object. Like other point-and-click adventures, it will take a bit of trial-and-error and time to figure out everything to solve a puzzle. Fortunately, there is no time limit or points to worry about in the game, so you can play at your own pace. Additionally, there are other hidden items that you can find as you explore the vast universe for your robotic love, so make sure to check out everything there is on a level. These special items will reveal the touching past of Kosmo and Nova, in case you weren’t done riding the feel train already.

I’ve only just started Love You To Bits, but I’m already in love with it. The visuals are adorable, the ambient soundtrack is a joy to listen to as you play, the controls are simple enough, and the puzzles are fun and challenging. Plus, with the developer already promising more levels in the future (with no in-app purchases), there is plenty of reason to keep coming back to this adorable point-and-click puzzle adventure.

I highly recommend checking out Love You To Bits if you like cute stories and love a good point-and-click adventure with challenging puzzles. You can get Love You To Bits on the App Store as a universal download for the iPhone and iPad for just $3.99.

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