Crimson Steam Pirates is made by Bungie, and it’s a ton of fun. That’s all you need to know about this week’s top iPad game. It’s ship vs. ship on the high seas, and you’ll need to carefully steer your hardy, steampunk-enhanced craft from point to point, objective to objective, and battle to battle to win the day. DrawRace 2 HD brings fresh, finger-frenzied racing to your tablet, while MEGASTUNT Mayhem Pro puts “bullet time” tricky fun into monster truck rallies. Finally, Asteroid 2012 adds a first-person space shooter perspective on this beloved retro classic. It all adding up to an explosion of fun to kick off September.
Crimson: Steam Pirates (Free)
Bungie has been making quality games for years. Their first entry into the iOS universe lives up to every expectation, and then some. Crimson: Steam Pirates delivers some of the best graphics, gameplay and immersive storytelling of 2011, and it’s a ton of fun to boot. Ringing up for nary a penny, this app delivers eight full, free levels, which end with a gentle plea for $1.99 to grab the next saga, which you’ll want to do immediately. Along the way you’ll earn new ships, upgrades, and more, while facing a plethora of bases, submarines, flying zeppelins, and of course, ships of all kinds. Be careful to examine how far and wide your ship can deliver its ordinance before you commit to each new move. You’ll want to anticipate the moves of you foes and keep your firing solution trained on the right parts of the game field to maximize your attacks. My favorite? Boarding enemy ships results in you leaving crew behind to pilot the captured foe, joining your attack forces going forward. With its “pass-and-play” multiplayer, this title steams full speed ahead to the top of my list of favorite turn-based strategy games of the year.
DrawRace 2 HD ($2.99)
With more than 180 challenges and 36 tracks to master, DrawRace 2 HD packs far more than $3 worth of content into this must-have puzzle driving game. That’s right, I said puzzle driving game. You’ll need to carefully draw a path for your vehicle to follow, not just to get it around the track, but to respond to the physics of the car. How quickly you swipe the path on your screen will dictate the speed of your vehicle, and as you watch the car make its moves, you can also tap the turbo button to speed things up during the animations. The key here is to choose the right kind of car to match each track, bringing a much-needed level of complexity to the mix. The pass-and-play multiplayer is a hoot, while the built-in Game Center ghost racer challenges will have you taunting your friends from half a world away. Puzzle game fans will love the complexity of the app, while racing pros will need to slow down their expectations a bit to enjoy this fresh take on their favorite genre.
MEGASTUNT Mayhem Pro ($2.99)
Now you and yours can revel in the sheer madness and mayhem of monster truck stunts every day of the week with MEGASTUNT Mayhem Pro. For less than the cost of one kid’s ticket to the local dirt track arena, you’ll be popping wheelies, jumping through flaming hoops, doing donuts, and generally getting crazy with monster-sized vehicles all day long. My one gripe? For all its graphical richness, there’s little sense of dirt flying or digging into the track. Given the state of iOS graphics to date, this could have been handled better. Still, there’s lots to enjoy about this in-your-face stunt app. Be sure to check your objectives before each performance, and match your moves to the stated objectives to earn max dollars. You’ll need every penny to pimp-out your ride, increasing your speed, nitro boost levels, and more.
Asteroid 2012 ($0.99)
I was immediately sucked into this updated classic, despite the fact that it locks your iPad to use just one orientation. Like the original, you’re unceremoniously placed in a space fighter, and given the task of clearing the area of asteroids. This time around, you’re looking over the shoulder of your little craft, and tilt your iPad this way and that to steer in 3D space. The pacing of the gameplay is definitely slower than the original, which is good. The relaxed atmosphere and general fun of flying vibe goes a long way in this dollar menu must-have. You’ll gently fly from point to point, blasting away at the floating rocks, for hours to come. On a recent flight I wiled away more than hour blasting away, and had a lot of fun to boot.
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