Breaking news! Stop the Internet presses! Temple Run finally has an official sequel! That’s right, after a seemingly endless onslaught of clones, the developers of the original returned with an official Temple Run 2, our top game of the week. We’ve also got a cool new platformer from League of Evil creators Ravenous Games, an interesting castle defense/action role playing game, a bizarre and chaotic take on old school Final Fantasy, and a chaotic game with a Zen setting. Here are this week’s top iPhone games!
Temple Run 2 (Free)
No, your eyes do not deceive you. Yes, this is an official release and not some fake clone that will be pulled from the iTunes App Store any second by Apple. The original Temple Run, while a great game, was starting to get a bit tiresome as other developers were doing more to expand on the formula. But Imangi Studios is back to show everyone how it’s done, with new obstacles, lanes that curve, zip lines, new power-ups, and a whole new temple up in the mountains instead of a swampy jungle. Plus, a singular and monstrous gorilla creature will shake your adventurer like a Polaroid picture if he catches him. It’s a gorgeous looking game that builds on the original in the best ways possible, but you’ve probably stopped reading to download it by now, so I’ll stop writing!
Heroes and Castles ($1.99)
This is an interesting new title from Forsaken Media. Essentially, it’s a castle defense game that’s played like an action RPG title. You actually roam the battlefield in front of your castle and fight while summoning armies to fight at your side and deciding what kind of defenses are deployed. There are three different heroes to choose from, loads of enemies straight out of classic fantasy tropes, and even two player cooperative multiplayer. I love the App Store for experimental game ideas like this, and I hope this one stays good throughout. Speaking of experimental…
Final Fantasy All The Bravest ($3.99)
Square Enix decided to end 2012 with a port of their legendary Final Fantasy IV. They may have ended 2012 with a classic, but they’re opening 2013 with a fresh new idea. All The Bravest is the craziest Final Fantasy game I’ve ever seen. You have dozens of heroes on the screen at any time, and simply swipe enemies to watch all the dozens of your heroes spring into action. The chaos is very interesting to behold, and as you progress better equipment and heroes will be unlocked. The aesthetics are all retro pixel art, with an amalgam of old enemies and hero characters reappearing. Honestly, most Final Fantasy fans will find this game to be a betrayal, lacking all the strategy that made the originals great. It’s pretty mindless, but mindless can be entertaining.
Zen Training ($0.99)
Let’s move on from that crazy and chaotic game to something a bit more… Zen. Zen Training doesn’t sound like much from the title, but since it was published by Forest Moon Games, you might want to take a second look. Essentially it’s a puzzle title with rhythm dynamics. You just have to match the stones falling from a Japanese Zen garden tree to the colored stones on the ground. Despite the setting of and name of the game, it’s actually more twitch gameplay than relaxing. It’s a simple game that can get quite hectic when all is said and done, with nice 3-D visuals and an appropriate soundtrack.
Infestor ($0.99)
The touch screen platformer gurus over at Ravenous Games have returned to the genre they know best. Infestor is a fascinating little puzzle platformer, in which you play as a green parasite creature that must infest and take over the bodies of various creatures or enemies to use their own abilities to progress. The levels are smartly designed, and the fantastic League of Evil pixel art and chip tunes soundtrack have returned as well. It’s a little short at the moment, but this is a brilliant title that you shouldn’t miss downloading.
