iPad App Review: “Manos,” The Hands of Fate

(Available in the iTunes App Store for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later. Price: $1.99)

Ever since my cousin introduced me to Mystery Science Theater 3000 one December evening, I have been a fan of the show. Over the years, I’ve seen almost all of the films they have reviewed, with some that were downright hilarious…and others that were downright painful.

Several films that the group on the Satellite of Love endured, received a second life due to their appearance. One that gained notoriety due to the show, was Manos: The Hands of Fate. The story followed a small family attempting to find The Valley Lodge, and instead, end up at a strange house overseen by a shaky, large-legged fellow named Torgo. Though Torgo advises the family to go away, the father of the family claims they should stay the night, much to Torgo’s claims that “The Master will not approve.”

Many have taken fandom of the strange film to heart,  but one of the most impressive from a pop-culture standpoint, has been the 8-bit inspired game created by FreakZone Games. Unlike the film that seems to plod along at a slow and boring pace, there’s more than enough to keep you wide awake as you attempt to make it through the game.

Taking on the role of the family patriarch in the film named Mike, it’s up to you to make it through the game’s eight levels, armed with jumping skills, and a handy revolver. You can also find shotguns throughout the game, but I guarantee that you won’t have one in your possession for very long.

What makes this 8-bit game so much fun, is that its developers remembered numerous 8-bit games from the 1980’s that were film adaptations and thought: “Wow! They really put alot of stuff in those games that weren’t in those movies!”

I myself have memories of such games, notably Back to the Future and The Goonies II. Yes, The Goonies never got a movie sequel, but a Nintendo game sequel that for some reason, turned Kerri Green’s character Andy into a mermaid, which Mikey and his friends need to find in a mind-numbing series of caverns. You encounter everything a frozen cavern, lob molotov cocktails around (I’m not making that up!), and find several strange persons that make one wonder just what they are doing in the nearby caverns of Astoria, Oregon.

The developers of Manos took all that they experienced, and poured those memories into this game. There’s enough of the film’s ‘plot’ throughout, along with numerous situation and character references. However, the film would make for a very boring video game, so they’ve spiced it up with plenty of annoying obstacles, and several cameos from other films that appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

A few choice cameos from those films include:

Hobgoblins!

Ro-Man, aka The Robot Monster

Remember when you played 8-bit games as a kid, and some levels or bosses would be so frustrating, that you’d throw a fit? Yelling out loud, pounding on the controller, wondering why after 48 tries you still couldn’t beat that specific boss? Well, Manos recreates those feelings and much, much more! This ain’t a cake walk, folks. If you want to make it through the Valley Lodge, you’re gonna suffer in a way that only old-school 8-bit can provide. I swear, by the end of the game, you’ll never want to look at another couple in a car drinking and necking again.

However, several of the levels give one the ability to level-up their health with some hidden ‘crystal hands’ laying around. If you collect them all, you’re treated to a special ending…if you can last that long.

The creators of the game also have a little fun with the design of some levels. Several allow you to go left and right, while others will have you at the mercy of the game as the screen moves along, and you try to keep up. The designers even have fun with one level, whose stylings look eerily similar to a game released in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

If there’s one fly in the ointment for this i-based games, it’s in the controls. I played my copy on an iPad2, and found my left thumb fumbling a few times attempting to hit the directional arrows.  I can only wonder what these controls are like on an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Some may even find sheer terror in the fact that the game has no save or password feature. Better shut yourself off from the kids, your girlfriend, or that home  improvement project that’s almost finished. My first play-through took about 60 minutes, but after playing it several times, I was able to make it through the game in 20 minutes.

When it comes to making purchases on Apple’s Appstore, I’m still somewhat of a cheapskate. However, I have to say I don’t regret the $1.99 that I dropped on this game. It really is a fun little time-waster, and I was more than happy to support such a whimsical homage to one of television’s greatest series, and one of the biggest ‘stinkburgers’ of a film they had to sit through. I’ve made sure not to reveal too much, as some areas will have you laughing out loud, and others going: “…WHAT THE-!?”

iPad App Review: Fix-It Felix, Jr.

“Fix-It Felix, Jr” is the 8-bit inspired game that plays into Walt Disney Pictures’ fall 2012 release, “Wreck-It Ralph” (Ralph is shown here on the title screen).

(Available in the iTunes App Store for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Price: Free)

After seeing the latest preview for Wreck-It Ralph, many of us have felt that Walt Disney Pictures’ upcoming fall release is to video game players, what Who Framed Roger Rabbit was to people who had grown up with animated characters.

Though the film is titled Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph himself is the bad guy of an 8-bit game called Fix-It Felix, Jr. In the game, Ralph scales the facade of Niceland Apartments, angrily pounding on the building with his massive fists. This causes brickwork to rain down, smashing the glass on several windows. It is then up to the game player (in the role of Fix-It Felix, Jr), to repair the damage Ralph has done.

Each time you finish a level, Ralph goes up 5 more floors, and Felix pursues him. However, along with dodging the bricks Ralph dislodges, you’ll also need to deal with ducks flying by. The higher up you go, the faster Ralph moves about knocking out bricks, and more ducks fly by to hinder your progress. Each level also has a time-clock that you have to abide by. Word is there are a total of 10 levels, but as of this posting, I’ve only gotten as far as Level 9 (whether the game ends as it does in the trailers for Wreck-It Ralph, I do not know).

Felix gets to work, trying to steer clear of falling bricks, and flying ducks.

Felix starts out with 3 lives, but over the course of the game, the tenants of Niceland Apartments will show their appreciation for Felix’s help, and assist him. This involves leaving a pie cooling on their windowsills. When Felix eats it, his hat will flash, and he’ll gain an extra life, and invulnerability for 5-7 seconds.

The touch-screen controls.

The game is set up in a locked vertical position, with directional buttons and an ‘action’ button at the bottom to control Felix. The controls can get a little cumbersome as the amount of obstacles start piling up in the later levels. my hand/eye coordination kept slipping on the directional controls, but then again, that could just be me in my ‘old age.’

The designers of Fix-It Felix, Jr have created a wonderful homage to the games of the 1980′s. The game app was developed by Frima Studios, and seems to combine traits of such arcade classics as Donkey Kong, and Rampage. Though it does not follow exactly what we’ve seen in the film’s previews (or the playable game on the film’s website), it put me in mind of some games that were ported over from arcade machines to home video game consoles (you seldom got everything exactly as you got in the arcade). Even so, I do wish I had one of those iCade cabinets in order to play the game properly with joystick and push-button controls.

The image above is a version of “Fix-It Felix, Jr,” which is seen on the official “Wreck-It Ralph” website (http://disney.go.com/wreck-it-ralph).

Another version of Felix can be found on the official Wreck-It Ralph website. The game graphics and style look a little different than the iPad app variation. The controls are the same (directional controls and one ‘action’ button), but the game play is set for a horizontal screen, and Felix does not have to deal with ducks getting in the way of his repairs. This variation reminded me of the game graphics I used to see on my old Apple IIgs back in the day (anyone else’s family have one of those besides mine?).

One little detail I love is that this game is called Fix-It Felix, Jr, which means it’s a sequel. One has to wonder if this game series in this alternate world went the way of Donkey Kong (who found himself  in several different iterations of games, including Donkey Kong Math). Of course, Mario started as an adversary to Donkey Kong before getting his own earth-shattering title. Could this be what was in store for the character of Wreck-It Ralph?

The film Wreck-It Ralph also intends to send us into the realm of many different games, from a Call of Duty/Halo space action quest and a candyland-inspired racing game. Imagery of these games in the film previews puts them moreso in the realm of PS3/XBOX graphics, so I doubt their well-rendered imagery will appear on the iPad. Even so, Fix-It Felix, Jr is an enjoyably retro way to spend a little time gaming away. Plus, it’s not everyday that the game you’re playing has such a distinct connection to the film its related to.

One of the most talked-about scenes from the upcoming film’s previews, was this one, in which Ralph goes to a group therapy session for bad guys in the gaming world.

iPad App Review: Jaws Revenge

(Available in the iTunes App Store for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later. Price: $1.99) 

When one mentions Jaws, the first image that comes to mind for alot of people, is a giant shark.

When Fuse Powered Inc released their Jaws app for the iPod/iPhone and iPad previously, it focused moreso on the human element of the first film, where you attempted to save beachgoers, and take down the giant shark terrorizing the citizens and tourists of Amity Island.

Naturally, when it’s man-vs-shark, the game can’t end there. That brings us to Jaws Revenge. Sure, there’s a few of us who want to be the good guy and rescue our fellow man, but what about those days where you’ve had a bad day at the office? Your brain is ready to throb right out through your ears, and that nervous tic has creeped back into your eye? You got to blow off some steam, so what do you do? Take on the role of the most famous Great White Shark in history, and start chowing down!

Munch down in the depths, or spring into the air to take down birds or other yummy treats above the water line.

That’s pretty much all you do in Jaws Revenge: chomp down on people, boats (including The Orca!), flying craft, and even belly-flop across decks and aircraft carriers, gobbling down humans like you were at a buffet line.

Along with the familiar Amity Island locale, you can also unlock 3 other levels as you upgrade your shark. While the other two locales are in modern times, the fourth one puts you in the time of pirates, zeppelins, and primitive flying machines.

Jaws Revenge also gives you a choice to play various levels to earn shark tooth coins to upgrade your shark. Along with these levels, you can also ‘free swim,’ earning extra coins, and collecting license plates. Once you collect them all, they will form a familiar message.

Some of the license plates you can eat/collect.

The shark that you see in these images are the bigger-n-badder version you get after you’ve completed the upgrade into a Mega Shark. Originally, your shark will be slightly smaller in size. However, this doesn’t mean one can’t have some fun. The more that you chomp down on things, you then start building up your ‘Frenzy’ meter. Once the meter maxes out and you activate ‘Frenzy Mode,’ the screen takes on a reddish-tint for a limited amount of time, and you gain a little more power and a greater leaping height. At this height, you can reach shark tooth coins high on the screen, and take out high-altitude aerial vehicles.

Originally, I downloaded Jaws Revenge when the app Universal Movie Tycoon failed to function properly. I didn’t know that Fuse worked on both of these apps, but where Tycoon failed in my eyes, Revenge is all the more sweeter.

When it worked properly, Tycoon would push the player into a corner, where you were trapped into spending your own money to get upgrades or extra items. With Jaws Revenge, the player can earn shark tooth coins in two methods:

1) Use your wallet to buy packs of coins

Or…

2) Watch trailers, take part in deals, or use social media to earn coins.

This game strikes a very nice balance, where if you’re willing to drop down some money from your wallet, you can easily get your Mega Shark in a matter of seconds. However, if you’ve got plenty of time over 7 days or less, you can play plenty of levels and free-play rounds, and ‘earn’ your Mega Shark. When I experienced this in game form, I really wished that Tycoon could get this kind of earnings feature. This game’s ability to make me feel comfortable playing/earning more coins, easily allowed me to open up my wallet and buy a few things from the store.

The good and the bad regarding gameplay for Revenge, is that once you’ve gone through all the levels, and collected all the license plates from the free play levels…that’s it. The game serves as little more than a stress reliever. Then again, that’s not a bad thing.

Jaws Revenge isn’t the greatest game for the iPad or iPhone, but it’s a good game, and if you have no qualms about computerized sharks dismembering humans and animals, or bringing down airplanes and other man-made craft, you just might enjoy yourself. I know I did.

We don’t think Chief Brody’s gonna make it home this time.