Thursday’s game infusion starts with Fruit Ninja creator Halfbrick’s latest, Jetpack Joyride, which is exactly as awesome as it sounds. Following that, we’ve got Crimson: Steam Pirates, a turn-based pirate-themed strategy title for the iPad. Tiny Invaders is something of a railroad simulator, only instead of controlling trains and switching tracks, you’ll be infecting humans with alien viruses in order to control their brains. Wrapping things up is Pocket RPG iPhone Edition, a smaller-screen port of the popular iPad fantasy game.
Jetpack Joyride (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
It seems Halfbrick has done it again. The latest in its series of games featuring protagonist Barry Steakfries, Jetpack Joyride (formerly known as Machine Gun Jetpack) is incredibly simple and yet bursting at the seams with content. It joins the slew of endless running games in the App Store and has but one control: touch the screen to make Barry fire his machine gun jetpack and fly into the air, dodging objects as he picks up speed and runs from left to right on the screen.
But there’s a whole lot more going on here than just an endless running title. There are all kinds of upgrades Barry can pick up, and the game is packed with “missions,” or challenges to complete that earn players coins that can also be collected during each run in the game. All those coins can then be spent on upgrades both aesthetic and useful, like new power-ups, extra lives and all kinds of other things. For a buck, Jetpack Joyride sets a new standard for content in a running game as well as in 99-cent apps in general.
Crimson: Steam Pirates (iPad) Free
Command a fleet of pirate galleons and airships in Crimson: Steam Pirates, a steam-punk, turn-based strategy game. You’ll command various crew members on your ships and more than 12 different kinds of vehicles as you attempt to anticipate your enemies’ moves and destroy their fleets before they destroy you.
Crimson: Steam Pirates packs eight “voyages,” to work through that tell a pirate story in the game’s single player mode. It also includes two multiplayer scenarios that are played using the “pass-and-play” method with friend in the room with you.
Tiny Invaders (iPhone, iPad) $3.99
Microscopic alien invaders have landed on Earth, and they’re taking over the world one human at a time. To spread the alien infection to other humans, you need to take over your victims’ bodies. Tiny Invaders’ gameplay resembles a train simulator, in which your evil alien germs will travel through the humans’ blood streams, collecting orbs to take them over. Your job is to switch the different ‘tracks’ the germs travel on to get them where they need to go, and fast.
Tiny Invaders includes 60 different levels, through which you’ll battle immune systems and move as fast as you can to score points. It also includes Game Center integration, which lets you track your scores on its online leaderboards against players all over the world.
Pocket RPG iPhone Edition $0.99
The popular iPad fantasy role-playing game has finally made its way to the iPhone, offering some 3-D two-stick shooter action as you crawl through dungeons, destroy monsters and collect loot. The game starts with players choosing one of three characters – the sword-fighting blade master, bow-shooting dark ranger or magically-endowed battle mage – and using their specific abilities against hordes of enemies.
Through the course of the game, you’ll build your characters’ strengths and abilities while taking on new quests and meeting other characters. It’s pretty standard role-playing action that fans of the genre will enjoy. Pocket RPG has been well-received on the iPad, and the iPhone version seems like it will do equally as well. Snag it now while it’s on sale for a third of the usual asking price.
Download the free Appolicious iPhone app
