Gamers who remember the Long Long Ago will get a kick out of today’s leading Fresh Game, Monkey Labour, which successfully emulates the old Tiger Electronics I played in my youth. For a casual game with some very old-school handheld ideas behind it, but with modern additions like achievements and online leaderboards, look no further. Read all about it, as well as another monkey-themed handheld game, in today’s Fresh Games.
Monkey Labour (iPhone) $1.99
Remember those old Tiger Electronics games from the early 1990s, or the Game and Watch-style games from even earlier? That’s what Monkey Labour works to emulate, and if you loved those classic, low-animation titles from a simpler time in gaming, you’ll dig this retro title.
Despite it’s throwback look, Monkey Labour includes Game Center support for leaderboards and achievements, but still works with simple controls and concepts for the sort of addictive fun casual games epitomize. You play as a robot whose job is to toss coal (or something) into a fire, but in order to really succeed, you want to get the flames burning high enough to set your monkey boss on fire. Sure, it makes no sense, but then, what old game ever did? But they were fun, as is Monkey Labour — which is the important part.
Monkey Island Tales 1 HD (iPhone, iPad) $6.99
The first of five episodes in an ongoing story, Monkey Island Tales 1 a port of the PC title of the same name and features a point-and-click exploration style as players guide main character Guybrush Threepwood through an adventure to take on the dread pirate LeChuck.
You’ll find a lot of humor in this game, which is primarily about its story. If you’re a fan of the title on the PC, you won’t see much new here, but adventure fans who haven’t experienced what the Monkey Island games have to offer should give Monkey Island Tales a shot.
ZapZap Bleat Bleat (iPhone) $0.99
There are mutant sheep running around Papa Cletus’ farm, and since you’re taking on the role of Papa Cletus in this scenario, it’s your job to stop them. To do that, you have to use Cletus’ laser weapons, which he has on-hand just like he has mutant sheep to deal with. Solving each of the game’s puzzles means positioning mirrors around a grid so that Cletus can fire one shot and have his laser take out all the sheep in a given level in one blast.
There are about 100 levels in the game, so it’ll keep you busy for a while. ZapZap Bleat Bleat includes OpenFeint support for achievements and leaderboards, and weapons in the game are upgradeable to give you something to think about other than incinerating evil sheep.
