henry yeh

The iPhone has been hailed as the next-big-thing in gaming by Apple, but has often been derided as nothing more than a casual gaming platform by its detractors.  Here are 10 iPhone games (plus a few bonus ones) that show that mobile gaming on an iPhone can appeal to core gamers.  With Wii-like motion controls and a Nintendo DS-like touch screen, the iPhone is capable more input methods than most consoles, and the multi-touch interface can emulate a gamepad when needed.  This genre-spanning list includes everything from RTS, FPS/TPS action games, platform, puzzle, to RPGs.  Keep in mind that all these games will work with the iPod touch as well.

Fieldrunners
Publisher: Subatomic Studios (http://www.subatomicstudios.com/)

Fieldrunners has been widely hailed as the best iPhone game so far.  It belongs to the Tower Defense subgenre of RTS games.  Right now, there are only two maps, but they both can provide hours of fun when fighting off hordes of oncoming enemies.  The sound effects and graphics are top notch, and the gameplay suits itself very well to the iPhone’s multi-touch screen.

Hero of Sparta
Publisher: Gameloft

Think of this as God of War for the iPhone.  Unlike the previously God of War-like game, Kroll, this one actually provides fun and entertaining gameplay.  Like God of War, you take control of a lone warrior fighting against monsters and villains in an environment that’s inspired by ancient Rome.  You control the hero through a virtual d-pad interface that overlays nicely on the iPhone’s screen.

I Love Katamari
Publisher: Namco

Katamari Damacy, the PS2 forerunner to this great game has been hailed as pure-happiness.  In this game, you take control of the Prince of all Cosmos and his sticky katamari-ball in order to roll up and collect all items around him.  This entry into the Katamari franchise shows that the iPhone is every bit as capable of quirky Japanese-style games as the Playstation and PSP.  In fact, this version takes advantage of the iPhone’s motion sensing gyroscopes to provide play mechanics that are even superior to the port on Sony’s portable.  When Apple boldly proclaimed that the iPhone provides a real console-like experience, this is perhaps the first game where a direct comparison can be made.  In this case, the iPhone version is clearly better than the PSP version.

SimCity
Publisher: Electronic Arts

The classic city building franchise comes to the iPhone.  This version seems to be based on the classic SimCity 3000, which is by no means a bad thing.  This game includes all the elements that made SimCity such a beloved classic on other platforms including cartoony advisors and natural disasters.  Electronic Arts clearly understands the iPhone’s hardware, as the interface has been perfectly tuned for the iPhone’s 320×480 multi-touch screen.  You can pinch to resize the map just as you would a website in mobile Safari!

Brother In Arms: Hour of Heroes
Publisher: Gameloft

Brother in Arms: Hour of Heroes is a Third-Person Shooter (TPS) that plays far better than most portable FPS/TPS games because of the advantages of the iPhone’s multi-touch screen.  The storyline is forgettable as another WW2 shooter, but the action is intense and the controls are tight.  For anyone that’s familiar with Metroid Prime Hunters on the Nintendo DS, the controls should be immediately familiar.  You control movement through a virtual d-pad on the left of the screen, and shooting/action with a virtual button on the right.  The main display serves as a platform for a “mouse-look” style interface.  This game is tough, but shows off the graphical capabilities of the iPhone and is a blast to play.

Metal Gear Solid Touch
Publisher: Konami

Solid Snake comes to the iPhone in this version of the venerable Tactical Espionage Action series.  Unlike the main Metal Gear or Metal Gear Solid series, this version lacks the stealthy sequences and focuses on the action.  Get ready for frantic shooting and killer graphics when this game launches later this year.

Crystal Defenders (Final Fantasy Tactics)
Publisher: Square Enix

Square Enix comes to the iPhone with Crystal Defenders, which is essential Final Fantasy Tactics in all-but-name.  This take on the classic series doesn’t feature state of the art graphics, but features a very deep and involving strategy game with classic Final Fantasy characters such as chochobos and magis.  A free lite version is available before you decide to take the plunge.

Rolando
Publisher: ngmoco:)

Though this title bares a superficial resemblance to the PSP’s Patapon, this title is far superior.  This is a cute platform game where all of the iPhone’s input methods come into play, including touching and tilting.  You guide the cute little Rolando character from point A to point B, while avoiding various obstacles that stand in it’s path.

Tetris Touch:
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Tetris Touch from Electronic Arts is not ‘Tris (the free Tetris-clone available from the App Store).  No, this game is far superior and controls better than most implementations of Tetris.  Though some may consider this classic puzzle game to be casual fare, keep in mind that this game single-handedly made the Game Boy the best-selling console ever.  Speaking of the Nintendo Game Boy, this game includes a remixed version of the Nintendo classic’s A-mode theme.  The graphics are great, controls superb, and music catchy.  There’s probably no better time-waster on the iPhone than Tetris.

Bomberman Touch: The Legend of the Mystic Bomb
Publisher: Hudson Soft

Hudson Soft has been entering the iPhone market in a big way with a plethora of fun games.  Bomberman Touch stands out, however, as it’s best attempt to bring it’s classic franchise to the iPhone’s multi-touch screen.  Bomberman has always been a great party game, but this version unfortunately does not support any kind of multiplayer or online play.  It does, however, try to make up for it by including an adventure mode that creates a fun-story driven, pseudo-RPG experience.  The interface is made up of a virtual d-pad and a bomb button, and it works suprisingly well considering the fast past action that the Bomberman name always brings.

Honorable Mentions

Kroll
Publisher: Digital Legends Entertainment

Though gameplay is sorely lacking, Kroll was the iPhone’s first graphical tour-de-force and also it’s first attempt at a God of War clone.  The graphics are nice enough, but the gameplay was oversimplified for the iPhone’s interface, and it pales in comparison to the newer Hero of Sparta.

Aurora Feint/Aurora Feint 2
Publisher: Aurora Feint

Half Puzzle Quest, half MMO, Aurora Feint and it’s sequel Aurora Feint 2 bring the addictiveness of Bejeweled together with the social nature of World of Warcraft.  The developers bill this game as an asynchronous massive multiplayer online role playing game.  Though the original never delivered on the MMO promises, it’s free and a good way to get a trial before deciding to spring for the sequel.

Vay
Publisher: SoMoGa

Fans of old-school Japanese RPGs should feel at home with this Sega CD port.  The graphics and sound are superb considering this game originally came out in 1994 for the then-state-of-the-art Sega CD system.  The controls, however, are a bit fidgety, but the storyline should reward any player patient enough to finish this game.

Cro-Mag Rally
Publisher: Pangea Software

Superior in controls, graphics, and presentation to Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D, Cro-Mag Rally was overshadowed by it’s big name competitor at launch.  Unlike Crash, however, this game boasts a playable frame-rate and spectacular 3D graphics.  For anyone that’s looking for a Mario Kart-style game on the iPhone, you should start with this.

Super Monkey Ball
Publisher: Sega

There’s not much to be said that has not already been said about the iPhone’s most popular launch title.  Though the twitchy controls at launch contributed to considerable negative feedback, much of this has been fixed by the 1.02 release.  The game is basically the same as the Nintendo DS version (graphically speaking), but the control is much more intuitive due to the motion sensing capabilities of the system.