The iTunes App Store is about to go into its holiday freeze, which will mean no new apps until the New Year. Fortunately, you’ll still be able to download some great titles, and we’ve got a crop of this weeks’ freshest games to take you through the holidays. A 3-D arcade flyer with some great graphics called Sleepy Jack leads the charge, followed by a new third-person shooter called M.U.S.E. with lots of stuff to blow up in it. LostWinds, a platformer with swiping controls and mechanics that let you control the winds, is up next, and finally, we’ve got a port of the classic side-scrolling action title, Mega Man X.
Sleepy Jack (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Guide Sleepy Jack through his various dreams in the aptly titled Sleepy Jack. In each dream sequence, you don a jetpack and fly through a twisting round tunnel, using either touch, slide or accelerometer controls to guide Jack around the edges in a big circle. The idea is to pick up Z’s to keep Jack slumbering and earn points, blast enemies with a ray gun, and get through each level as quickly as possible in order to grab the best scores.
Sleepy Jack includes a total of 50 levels to play through – 10 of which are bonus – through which your goals are always to fly expertly and shoot down bad guys (though the shooting is secondary). With some quality, cute 3-D graphics and Game Center support to give you achievements to earn and leaderboards to climb, there’s plenty to do in Jack’s dreams.
M.U.S.E. (iPhone, iPad) $5.99
Expanding the App Store’s crop of high-end shooters is M.U.S.E., a third-person shooter in which you play a rough soldier with a painful past and a penchant for blasting evil cyborgs. As you run around in M.U.S.E., you’ll make use of various weapons to take down enemies as you navigate using touch controls and duck behind cover to keep yourself safe.
M.U.S.E. packs high-end 3-D graphics and a lot of destructible environments, meaning there are many things you can blow up to great effect. It will also have you earning upgrades to make your character more powerful and resilient, and brings Game Center support to supply achievements and leaderboards on which you can challenge your friends.
LostWinds (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Originally conceived as a game for Nintendo’s Wii console, LostWinds is a platforming game in which you also control the power of the wind to help your main character navigate the game’s challenges. You’ll tap the screen to send protagonist Toku on his way, then swipe to use gusts of wind to throw him through the air, help him land big jumps and protect him from danger.
LostWinds is a mix of platforming, puzzle-solving and combat, and you’ll use touch controls to manipulate the wind every step of the way. It also features a Snapshot mode that lets you add game characters to your own photos, and Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards.
Mega Man X (iPhone, iPad) $4.99
A reboot of the Capcom 16-bit classic, Mega Man X has some great old-school graphics and all the Mega Man action you remember. You play as X, a robot sent to fight other evil robots, in a side-scrolling action game that’s all about jumping over pits and blasting enemies with your trusty Buster Cannon.
Mega Man X has been optimized for touch controls on the iPhone and iPad, and includes three difficulty modes for you to choose from as you play it. It also includes Game Center support, adding achievements and leaderboards as well as special challenges you can complete throughout the game.
