The latest game from Bumpy Road creator Simogo has hit the App Store, and as fans of the developer might expect, it’s another high-quality offering. It’s called Beat Sneak Bandit, and it mixes the conventions of rhythm games and puzzlers with stealth action. The result is this week’s leading game, followed by four other high-quality titles you should check out. Read about all of them below.
Beat Sneak Bandit (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Simogo’s last effort, Bumpy Road, is a critical darling and a popular title among lots of iOS users. Beat Sneak Bandit is likely destined for the same treatment. Beat Sneak Bandit elegantly combines rhythm games (in which players tap along to the beat of the music playing in the game), with puzzle gameplay and stealth action. You’ll need to tap to the beat to make the Beat Sneak Bandit character takes his sneaky steps, and time your way through the game’s obstacles and traps. It’s a really clever take on App Store games, has a great art style and musical selection, and is easy to play while remaining challenging.
League of Evil 2 (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
The original League of Evil is among my favorite games in the iTunes App Store, and its sequel lives up to the bar the first game set. League of Evil 2 takes the same stellar side-scrolling platformer action seen in the first title – as well as its phenomenal touch controls – and brings another 100 levels with new obstacles and updated graphics. League of Evil 2 also adds a bit of story to the series with some comic book-style cut scenes. The result is a great update to the original and more of the gameplay that made the first title so awesome. It’s well worth a dollar.
Tweet Land (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Tweet Land has an absolutely brilliant premise for a mobile game: scan Twitter for keywords, use those keywords to influence the game. At its simplest, Tweet Land is just a driving game in which you avoid obstacles and crash other cars in an attempt to survive to the end of each level. But as the game scans Twitter for its keywords, new things start to pop into existence like exploding terrorist cars, meteor strikes, health packs, power-ups and car wrecks. Each new level ups the challenge with more weird stuff, making the game feel just the right amount of frustratingly random and difficult, while still a lot of fun.
Beat Hazard Ultra (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Another title that adds music-based gameplay to a genre that doesn’t usually include it is Beat Hazard Ultra. The game is technically a top-down shooter not unlike titles such as Tilt to Live! or Silverfish, with players dodging enemies while blasting away at them with the goal of staying alive as long as possible. With Beat Hazard Ultra, however, the speed of the game is dictated by whatever music you choose to play it to. Using tracks from Internet radio or your device’s iTunes library, the tempo and energy of the songs you pick determine how many enemies you fight, how fast they come and how quickly your ship’s guns can shoot. It’s an interesting way to mix things up, especially when coupled with Beat Hazard Ultra’s already challenging gameplay.
SpongeBob’s Super Bouncy Fun Time (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
It might be yet another take on the Angry Birds-style “shoot an object at stationary objects to score points” formula, but that doesn’t mean Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob-branded physics title isn’t worth a look, especially for fans. For one, it includes the voice of the titular main character, as well as a bit of a goofy take on the cartoon’s art style, both of which make it endearing. But in terms of gameplay, SpongeBob successfully riffs on the tried-and-true formula of the genre, giving players challenging levels to defeat and power-ups that can be purchased with coins earned in each stage. The game has some 100 levels in which SpongeBob and his buddy Patrick capture jellyfish by shooting them with a bubble gun, and all of them are addictive in the same way as some of the best titles in the genre.
