Touch Arcade

Maybe with a fully featured story, a world map, and multiple paths to pursue, Combo Queen could have been a really cool action-RPG hybrid. Instead it's a rather limited rhythm title that isn't going to appeal to everyone -- especially if you don't have the patience to painstakingly learn the ins and outs of the system.

If you gobbled up Battle Academy, its sequel, and Pike And Shot, you'll find another excellent serving here. I think this game also offers a strong experience for strategy fans who love the serious designs of Slitherine titles but are looking for something a little less serious thematically from their usual fare. Those who burnt out on previous titles using this engine might want to avoid Hell: Fight For Gilrand, however. The window dressing might be different, but mechanically this doesn't venture far from the blueprint, however excellent said blueprint may be.

Blokshot Revolution is one of those brilliant titles that finds a central mechanic that feels good and runs all the way home with it. It's exciting, tense, and has a great learning curve that keeps it fresh well beyond what you might expect from its somewhat simple premise. It takes skill, quick thinking, and a keen eye to win, and I love that your inevitable losses never feel unfair.

The game ends up being a roller coaster ride that starts fun, becomes frustrating, then gets enjoyable again until it cedes to tedium, taking one last-minute hairpin turn into frustration depending on your party build. Then you can do it all again with a different batch, if you want, but the road to success is going to be very similar, whether your team can follow it or not. As something you pick up and play now and then, Pixel Heroes isn't a bad choice.

AG Drive is the epitome of a "good" game to me. The riskiest decision was perhaps admitting this should be a paid game and not a free-to-play game, and it's better for it. Otherwise, this hits a lot of the checkmarks that a futuristic racing game should hit, and it's a lot of fun because of it. It's not innovative, but that's not bad.

I highly recommend Magic Touch. It's something I'd recommend to casual players, as just tracing glyphs is simple enough for anyone to get into without needing to be intimidated by old-school platformer mechanics.

And that's what Tempo is: pointless. It aspires only for pointlessness and reaches those shallow goals. ...Even if you're not good at first-person shooters, you have to learn somehow! Please, do something besides play Tempo! Again, not because Tempo as a product is bad, but it's a stupid game that should not exist.

It plays nicely, and even offers up Game Center leaderboards for each and every level to give you plenty of competition to chew on. It's not going to rock your socks off with its style or innovation, but for those who enjoy playing with balls, iO has plenty to show you.

The presentation is fantastic and the gameplay just works on a pure level. I think that's just about the best thing any rhythm game can aspire to, and makes for what is easily one of the best games in the genre on mobiles.

It has the standard array of features: singleplayer, multiplayer, customizable controls with external gamepad options. But with the addition of online multiplayer along with a game that's deep but accessible, I highly recommend checking this out. Get your feet wet, and then prepare for a beating.