It's the Free-App Hero!

Apple's App Store is indeed thriving with tons of free, freeware. lite and freemium apps, that are there to rob you of your most sacred free time and in the later cases of your money. What's more, many new ones are released each and every day, whereas more than a few are, well, quite frankly shit. Enter Free-App Hero; the app that monitors, rates and selects the best free apps available. And, yes, you can actually trust the thing, for the man responsible for Free-App Hero is none other than legendary game journalist Rev. Stuart Campbell of Retro Gamer, Edge, Amiga Format, PC Gamer, PC Zone, Sega Power and Your Sinclair fame. You can find out more about this fantastic app here or even try it's pretty amazing and actually freeware Cheapskate Edition.

It's PongVaders Max!

The excellent and quite demented co-op game that calls itself PongVaders Max has gotten itself updated and now also supports iPads, while featuring some brand new bosses by the game's artists (that would be auntie pixelante). The game is available for free for both iPhone and iPad. Grab it. You'll thank me.

Pokémon Mini emulator

The Pokémon mini was the smallest and possibly quirkiest handheld console Nintendo ever released. Now, as the thing is a relatively expensive rarity, the best way to see what the fuss was all about would be grabbing the pretty excellent and suitably freeware pokemini emulator. It runs perfectly on the Wiz, but their are also ports for the PSP and Nintendo DS. 

BallFallDown Deluxe (iPad)

I don't have an iPad (let alone an iPad 2), but BallFallDown Deluxe does sound like a most brilliant idea: an open ended-digital toy with smart physics and an Incredible Machine mentality for less than a dollar (while it's on sale). Have a look at the trailer:

Tiny Wings - a tiny review

If you own an iPhone, chances are you have either downloaded or -at the very least- heard of Tiny Wings. It has after all been topping charts worldwide for quite some time now, and seems to be evolving into a gaming phenomenon that might just reach Angry Birds proportions. Then again, it is deeply inspired by the success of Angry Birds, what with its feathered protagonist, cute graphics and simple, derivative gameplay. 

Is it any good though? Well, chances are the people that enjoy simple -simplistic even- easy to learn, easy to master games will probably love it and be willing to spend $0.99 to grab a copy. Its one button mechanics, Mordillo-esque graphics, randomized -well, in a most basic fashion- levels, polished feel and decent sounds make for a rather appealing if shallow offering. Just tap the screen to slide down the hills or hasten the tiny wings' bird descent and try to pick up speed. Oh, and do try to reach each level's end before the sun rises. That's all really.

Also that's why I simply just can't get into the game. Granted, it's all very relaxing and cute, but after a while, and I do mean after 10 or so minutes, everything gets quite boring. All you'll need to master it are those few minutes. Tiny Wings is, in a nutshell, far too shallow, far too monotonous and far too easy for me to enjoy, let alone keep me glued to the screen... You can still find out more about it and grab a copy here. Then again the iPhone has so many brilliant, original games, I'd advise against downloading Tiny Wings.

Game Gear games on the 3DS

Apparently, Sega plans to release some of its classic Game Gear games for the Virtual Console of the 3DS, bringing some mostly overlook handheld classics to the modern gaming masses. The first games to hit the service will include Sonic and Tales 2, Sonic Drift 2, the brilliant GG Shinobi and Columns. Hopefully, we'll see some Lynx games there too.

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Z coming to iPhone/iPad

Z by the Bitmap Brothers was a truly unique, incredibly fast-paced, humorous, smart and utterly unique RTS game released in 1996. I loved it, as did most major PC gaming mags of the time, and always wondered why its brilliant game-mechanics haven't influenced more games. Oh, well... You can find out more about Z and even grab its 90s demo right here.

The important news though is that, following the recent -successful- wave of 16-bit remakes, Z will soon be coming to both the iPhone and the iPad. And yes, it does look better and tastier than ever. Here's the trailer:

MONSTA!

If it weren't for the excellent Indie Game News hub, I wouldn't be bringing happy news to the (not that massive apparently) Palm OS crowds. I happily am though, and you should all rejoice and stick to your classic devices as MONSTA has just been made available for free. You can grab it here. Oh, and in case you were wondering, MONSTA is some sort of a turn-based strategy/puzzle game with lovely pixel-art graphics, that seems more than enjoyable. 

The 3DS Eurogamer review

Despite enjoying most of Nintendo's handhelds so far -and I'm old enough to remember the exciting Game Boy launch- I have so far been decidedly cold towards the 3DS. It looks overpriced and far too gimicky for my tastes, though admittedly it does seem that one has to experience the thing and its 3D effect to be sure. Interestingly this 3DS review by the excellent and rather wise people over at Eurogamer has both confirmed my fears and actually intrigued me regarding the thing.

The 3DS, you see, does indeed drain its batteries as fast as a Lynx and is actually more expensive than any other handheld console (the games are also far too pricey themselves), but -with Nintendo behind it- the handheld has seemingly some brilliant new ideas embedded in its rather bulky self. The 3D camera, the augmented reality games and an unashamedly silly and toy-ish outlook could probably make up for any shortcoming, though truth be said it will all boil down to games. Oh, and no, I won't be getting on myself just yet... 

The Pandora (video) Review

The Pandora handheld is a beautiful mini-computer, that effortlessly doubles as the most powerful open-source gaming handheld around. Oh, and importantly the thing comes with a full keyboard that will allow you to properly enjoy your text-adventures, while its dual analog sticks make modern arcade gaming a breeze. You can find out more about the Pandora and even discover a way to grab one over at www.openpandora.org.

For a detailed review of the thing you should first take a look at the following excellent video (originally found here) and then move on to its just-published second part.