andrewbares
Game Review: Bubble Pong
This simple FREE ball bouncing game is more addicting and fun than one would think!
Overall Score: 4/5
Enjoyable gameplay, excellent leaderboards, and good presentation makes Bubble Pong worth trying.
Gameplay: 5/5
At first, this game seems really basic and not that exciting… You bounce a ball using a paddle… Once you play the first 5 levels, you realize it’s the total opposite of that! There are so many different gameplay changers in the game that it’s always exciting. Bubble Pong also features the best online leaderboard system I’ve ever seen! As you’re playing, the game instantly shows you stepping up through the weekly, monthly, and all-time leaderboards, so you feel like you’re actually making progress! Every leaderboard system should be like this!
Presentation: 4/5
The visuals are vivid and interesting, and the music fits the style of the game quite well. There’s a decent amount of visual variation between levels too.
Lasting Value: 4/5
With the awesome leaderboard system, you could find yourself playing this game for awhile! Plus, there are plenty of levels to keep you entertained.
Title: Bubble Pong
Price: FREE
Publisher: OmegaDot
Game Review: Old School Racer Classic
This is an awesome dirt bike physics game available for FREE or $0.99!
Overall Score: 4/5
Gameplay and presentation are great, but the lasting value is a little weak. Nevertheless, it’s worth playing!
Gameplay: 5/5
These little dirt bike obstacle games are always fun to play, and Old School Racer Classic is no exception. The variety in the game is excellent! Each level has new challenges, and you’ll find yourself always having a blast. The controls work well, and overall the gameplay is perfect.
Presentation: 4/5
This game is about simple and classic visuals, and it nails the look. The music and sound effects are also good.
Lasting Value: 3/5
While this game is a blast to play, the levels take about 1 hour to complete, which isn’t too much lasting value. You can, however, go back and compete for gold medals. Nevertheless, it could use more levels!
Title: Old School Racer Classic Free
Price: FREE or $0.99
Publisher: Riddlersoft
Game Review: Hearts Deluxe
Hearts Deluxe is a great FREE hearts game worth downloading!
Overall Score: 4/5
Quick gameplay, pleasant visuals, and good sound effects make this a quality single-player hearts game.
Gameplay: 5/5
Classic card games are always fun to play once in awhile, and Hearts Deluxe makes it possible to play Hearts anytime, quickly and elegantly. There are two difficulty modes, and three different gameplay settings, and all of the classic rules are intact. The controls are fast and work well, and you can even learn how to play by simply reading the included instructions. It’s simple and perfect!
Presentation: 4/5
Hearts Deluxe has great visuals and good sound effects, and is very fast and fluid. There is also a Mango-enabled version coming out soon! (NoDo version is released first, in order to support users on NoDo).
Lasting Value: 4/5
Although a multiplayer mode would be a great addition, Hearts Deluxe is still enjoyable for a decent amount of time since matches last slightly longer than a typical Solitare game. With the three different gameplay settings, you can also get extra lasting value, and the game features a statistics tracker so you can see how many games you win or lose.
Hearts Deluxe
Price: FREE
Publisher: Random Salad Games LLS
Game Review – Battlewagon
This game is an odd mix of Angry Birds and some other elements… but doesn’t have many fun elements.
Overall Score: 3/5
I would recommend avoiding this game. The controls are terrible and the gameplay is uninteresting.
Gameplay: 2/5
The developers must have not even played their own game, because the controls are a disaster. Pinch to zoom is reversed for some insane reason. Also, you can’t pan around to see what you’re shooting after you click the play button. The gameplay itself is pretty boring. There aren’t many challenging aspects to the game, and not much skill is involved. You usually can randomly pick things to add to your wagon and be fine.
Presentation: 3/5
The visuals are average and the sound effects are decent, but the controls make the presentation feel pretty clunky. Also, the game lacks music which is disappointing.
Lasting Value: 3/5
You can get around 4 hours of lasting value from Battlewagon, which is pretty good. However, the gameplay isn’t interesting enough to make me want to play the game.
Title: Battlewagon
Price: $0.99
Publisher: Ironsun Studios
Game Review: Line Birds
Line Birds is a fun Helicopter/Cave style game with beautiful visuals.
Overall Score: 4/5
With its fantastic presentation and fun gameplay, Line Birds is worth checking out.
Gameplay: 4/5
Line Birds is essentially like any other Helicopter/Cave game you’ve played. You navigate your bird horizontally through an obstacle field of branches by holding the screen to fly up or releasing the screen to drop down. There are some different gameplay elements like powerups, collecting seeds to use powerups, and avoiding incoming airplanes, but it’s essentially the same game many people know and love. There are four different difficulty options, which change the speed of the game accordingly, and there are a number of different birds, each with their own individual powerup. Overall, it’s quite fun, and addicting!
Presentation: 5/5
The visuals in the game are fantastic, and the sound/music is excellent! Helicopter/Cave style games are usually very basic… Line Birds is extremely polished, and dare I say, sort of cute!
Lasting Value: 4/5
With the four different difficulty levels, and the unlockable birds, Line Birds has more lasting value than your typical Helicopter/Cave game. It also is very addicting, which keeps you playing for awhile! To be better, the online leaderboards would need a “Daily” or “Weekly” section, so that it would be possible to compete with people.
Title: Line Birds
Price: $0.99
Publisher: Djinnworks
Game Review: Gerbil Physics
Gerbil Physics is just average and nothing special. I would say pass on this game.
Overall Score: 3/5
The gameplay has great variety, but simply isn’t that incredible or fun. The lasting value is weak at about 2 hours.
Gameplay: 3/5
The one thing Gerbil Physics does well is variety. Every level is quite unique, especially as you get to the end of the game. However, that doesn’t mean the game is fun. I found myself slightly bored with the game. Implode! is nearly identical and more enjoyable. The game has a good score multiplier system, but it lacks the magic touch that makes games fun. iBlast Moki is also somewhat similar and is more fun in my opinion.
Presentation: 3/5
The visuals are only decent (Angry Birds looks cleaner and crisper for example), and the music is very repetitive (plays the same song over and over again). Thus, the presentation is just average.
Lasting Value: 3/5
Completing the game will last about 2 hours, which isn’t that much. You can replay levels to get all gold or the star on each level, but overall the game simply needs more levels to be competitive.
Title: Gerbil Physics
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
App Review: Baconit
What is Baconit? It’s simply the best Reddit app for Windows Phone available. It also looks far better than the actual Reddit website! Oh and there’s no ads in the app!
Baconit is loaded with all the features you could need in a Reddit app. Viewing subreddits is breeze. Commenting or replying to comments is a snap. Upvoting/downvoting is one touch away. Searching Reddit is intuitive. Looking at your account’s stats is possible right from the live tile. It has everything!
Plus, the app is an example of what all Windows Phone apps should be like: Fast and elegant. The simple Metro interface looks perfect, and the speed of the app makes it feel as if it is a native experience.
Are there any negatives? Not really. The only complaint I could find is that things can be slightly difficult for people who are new to both Reddit and Baconit (like I was). However, you learn quickly and the app itself is nearly as intuitive as Windows Phone! I highly recommend everyone at least try Baconit, since it is a perfect example of what a great Windows Phone app looks like.
Title: Baconit
Price: FREE (or donate for $1.99)
Publisher: Quinn
Game Review: Retro Hero
After some updates, Retro Hero is finally a game worth trying and buying!
Overall Score: 4/5
Retro Hero is surprisingly addicting and enjoyable to play! If anything, the lasting value is a little weak, that’s all!
Gameplay: 5/5
There’s something addicting and engaging about this game… it’s tough to describe, but once you start playing the game it truly pulls you in. Just like Mario, it is simple yet extremely fun. You go around collecting coins and avoiding (or shooting) enemies while unlocking gates to complete each level. There is a decent amount of skill required since you have to conserve ammo. Also, the variation of enemies and levels is great. And finally, there’s special things you can unlock like breaking a stone container with a bomb or unlocking a treasure chest, which keep you interested in the game.
Presentation: 5/5
The visuals are styled to resemble classic arcade games and work well. The music is outstanding and fits perfectly with the game. I actually sat around and enjoyed the music for awhile! Every few levels have different music too, so it’s not always the same boring song.
Lasting Value: 3/5
The game itself is relatively short to complete (45 minutes maybe). Unlocking all the treasure chests and competing in the online leaderboards adds a little extra gameplay. However, a time-trial mode would be fun, and the game simply needs more levels in order to be more competitive in terms of lasting value.
Title: Retro Hero
Price: $1.29
Publisher: TryTek
Review: iOS 5.1 vs WP 7.5
For one week, I purchased an iPhone 4S and used it as my primary device, in order to see how Windows Phone compares to its main competitor. Some things were far better on Windows Phone, and some things were far better on iOS. Here is what I found:
Interface – Winner: Windows Phone
Windows Phone hands down has a far more intuitive and easy to use interface. I actually expected the iPhone to be ahead of the game here, since Apple is always known for making things simple and dumbed down, but most of the iPhone’s features are incredibly hidden and impossible to discover without reading instructions.
I was convinced that the iPhone had NO background media controls for current playing music, since the controls are hidden in places where a common user would never look. To skip a song from the lock screen, you have to press the home key twice. To skip a song while using the phone, you have to double-tap the home key and then swipe left on the multitasking pane. If it took me forever to find out about these, I can imagine average users truly struggling.
Also, the iPhone’s stolen version of swiping left to view pictures from the camera is completely unintuitive, since NOTHING tells you that it is possible. Windows Phone, on the other hand, gives you visual clues everywhere. The interface of Windows Phone is unmatched in terms of ease of use and being intuitive.
Apps – Winner: iPhone
There are simply more apps on iOS than there are Windows Phone, and most of the popular ones (PayPal, Photosynth, Wells Fargo, Draw Something) are on iOS and not on Windows Phone. Also, the multitasking in iOS is far faster and better controlled. Apps will almost always open instantly from the home screen since they simply resume the version stored in RAM instead of restarting like in Windows Phone. Continue reading
Nokia enticing developers with cash and prizes!
If you live in one of Nokia’s selected cities (in the United States & Canada) and are a software developer, you can earn “cash, devices, and prizes” for attending and writing some apps on Windows Phone starting May 10th!
To sign up, go to Nokia’s The Code Warrior website and enter your email address. Then, visit the Eventbrite site to register your attendance to one of the events! The cities are:
- Houston, TX – 5/10/2012
- Columbus, OH – 5/12/2012
- Atlanta, GA – 5/15/2012
- Chicago, IL – 5/17/2012
- Sunnyvale, CA – 5/19/2012
- San Diego, CA – 6/2/2012
- New York, NY – 6/5/2012
- Vancouver, BC – 6/5/2012
- Boston, MA – 6/7/2012
- Miami, FL – 6/7/2012
- Dallas, TX – 6/12/2012
- Chevy Chase, MD – 6/12/2012
- Toronto, ON – 6/12/2012
If this Nokia event is anything like previous Microsoft events I attended, you don’t need much coding experience at all. As prizes, I expect them to be giving away Windows Phones and maybe even Xbox Kinects, as Microsoft has previously done with their developer events.
Microsoft and Nokia have been heavily promoting developers to write for Windows Phone 7 through various prizes and events. Keep reading WMPoweruser to hear about the latest events!
Via Neowin.net
Rumor: Lumia 900 coming to T-Mobile this summer
With all the news about the Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T, Windows Phone fans on other carriers may feel a little left out.
That feeling could soon be over, since it seems the Lumia 900 will be coming to T-Mobile this summer of 2012!
I was in my local T-Mobile store talking with one of the store employees about their Windows Phone selection, and he confidently told me without interrogation that the “Lumia 900 will be coming to T-Mobile this summer.”
This confirms a previous rumor back in January 2012, which stated that AT&T only has a 45 day exclusivity period on the Nokia Lumia 900, and that the Lumia 900 coming to other carriers may even have a 12 MP camera instead of the current 8 MP camera.
Plus, the previous rumor stated that Verizon would “probably” be getting the Lumia 900, and Sprint will “possibly” join in on the action too!
Game Review: iStunt 2
If you have a newer Windows Phone, I highly recommend this awesome action/arcade snowboarding game!
Overall Score: 4/5
Outstanding gameplay and excellent lasting value. iStunt 2 is now one of my favorite games. However, the frame rate on older Windows Phones suffers.
Gameplay: 5/5
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had an absolute blast playing iStunt 2! This title stands out as one of the better mobile games I’ve played. The controls work perfectly, the variation in gameplay is excellent, and collecting the stars in each level is exciting and challenging. Some levels are fast paced, some are slower and more precise, some are upside-down, some involve tons of flipping….. it’s simply a blast no matter what!
Presentation: 3/5
Unfortunately, iStunt 2′s frame rate suffers on older phones like the HTC Radar. If you have a newer 1.4 GHz processor Windows Phone, I’d recommend this game. Otherwise, be warned that on some intense levels the frame rate will stutter. It’s playable, but it ruins the experience at times, since the game is so fast paced. Otherwise, the music is great and the visuals are excellent.
Lasting Value: 5/5
Playing all the levels will probably take 3 hours, but then the game has great replay value. You can replay levels to try and collect all 10 stars (which requires some skill and knowledge about the tracks), try to get all the achievements, or compete for the highest points score among your friends (by doing flips and tricks in the game).
Title: iStunt 2
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Miniclip
App Review: Fildo – Free Music Downloader!
Fildo allows you to search various MP3 download sites and stream or download songs instantly, and then sort them into playlists. One cool feature is that when you stream a song, the lyrics instantly show up so you can sing along.
Also, the app is Mango enabled and plays music in the background without an issue. And the selection of songs seems to be great; I had no trouble finding the songs I was looking for.
The best thing about Fildo is that you don’t have to manually go to various websites… you simply search for the track and the app combines all the results in a user-friendly list that is faster and better than any other app I’ve seen yet!
However, the interface in Fildo can be frustrating and laggy. The advertisement in the app blocks the UI thread and often causes the app to lag for about 2 seconds. Also, the UI design is very basic, with the home screen still containing the word “Menu” instead of something more personalized to the app. Overall, the UI doesn’t feel very polished or professional, and your downloaded song collection could use some organization via artists, albums, etc instead of being one cluttered list.
And the app also lacks a Now Playing screen, so you can’t tell which songs are next in your current playing list. And what’s really frustrating is that you can’t use the great lyrics feature for songs you downloaded! Also, if you start a download and then leave the app, the download will become corrupted instead of downloading in the background, and you’ll have to manually delete/redownload the song.
Overall, Fildo has an excellent selection of music and it certainly functions as a free source of music, but the user interface can be frustrating at times.
Nevertheless, Fildo seems like the best free music app I could find on the Marketplace right now. Download Fildo for FREE!
Scan QR Codes, UPC, EAN, Code 39/128 or ITF barcodes on your Windows Phone 7 to find best prices online.
Enjoy slots? Blackjack? Video Poker? Play Crazy Casino FREE!
#1 FREE Solitaire on WP7
If your a fan of Pong then you will love this game. Heavenly Skies. Save the universe! Are you ready?
A rewarding mix of match 3 and tetris gameplay
Free, Live Tile support for Word Of The Day and so much more. Why NOT try it out?
Set up reminders with only two taps. Supports also text reminders and voice reminders.
Download the best puzzle game in WP7 Marketplace for FREE!
Are you a good Alchemist ?
Use your brain to discover Atomic Energy, Chuck Norris, Angry Birds and 1400 more !
Fun puzzle game with over 150 levels!
Fully featured, beautifully designed WP7 YouTube app.
u.n.i MEGA PACK (FREE), the ultimate addictive top GAMES bundle for Windows Phone 7! 7+ and growing!
Highly addictive word game designed for adrenaline junkies. Practice locally, but then are you fast enough to compete online?
The smartest Google reader app.
Air Soccer Fever - Realtime Online Multiplayer casual soccer game for FREE
Beat the Story Mode. When your done Bring your skill online. Rank up by winning online matches. Have 1 on 1's with anyone! Global Online Multiplayer!
Newest devices leaks, online charts and ultimate performance benchmark for every Windows Phone.
Every day, get great app deals from Windows Phone developers pushed to you!
Quick Tiles, a fully featured live tile editor for Windows Phone.
Great sports app for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL. Pin scores/games to live tile on your home screen.
MobileFax gives you the opportunity to send fax pages from your mobile phone anytime, anywhere !
WP7 Exclusive version of Hanging with Friends
Fabulously fun, lovable, crazy! Bubble Pong Championship
A remake of the classic snake game. The snake wants to grow so don't wait and help her!
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