16. Pocket Legends for iPad
Most iPhone OS MMOs are dreary text-based affairs, so it's nice to see Spacetime Studios creating something a bit more ambitious with
Pocket Legends, providing us with an iPad-specific 3D world populated by the usual motley collection of fantasy characters. As always with MMOs, the game demands you invest plenty of time to get anything out of it.
17. Solitaire Ace
After a few hands of Klondike, we actually ended up preferring this free app to several of the iPad solitaire apps with hefty price tags.
Solitaire Ace might be simple (no undo, only one theme, just three solitaire variations), but it's fast and responsive, with intuitive controls and extremely clear cards.
18. Tap Blaster HD
Tap Blaster HD currently comes off like a demo - it's silent, and it's not terribly polished. However, in two-player mode Tap Blaster HD is a lot of fun. Ultimately, it's Pong, but you fire up to three projectiles at your opponent, in 'first to five' matches. There's also a reasonable single-player mode.
19. Tap Tap Radiation
The Tap Tap rhythm-action games are popular, but they're also a little staid.
Tap Tap Radiation takes the game off the rails, with hit zones meandering around the screen, occasionally snapping into new formations. The result is a much more exciting and fun game that will excite long-time Tap Tap fans and newcomers alike.
20. 10 Pin Shuffle (Bowling) Lite (universal)
We're big fans of
10 Pin Shuffle, a universal app that combines ten-pin bowling and shuffleboard. Of that title's three game modes, the best one is included here in
10 Pin Shuffle Lite, for free. Called 10 Pin Poker, it adds a card game to the mix. Get a spare or strike and you're given one or two cards, respectively. At the end of the tenth frame, whoever has the best hand wins.
21. Pilgrim's Punch-Out (universal)
Become a 1980s NES-style Scott Pilgrim in
Pilgrim's Punch-Out, a movie tie-in that isn't at all a massive rip-off of (sorry, tribute to) Nintendo classic
Punch-Out!! Decent controls enable you to fight your way to glory, and although the game's over pretty quickly, there's always a high-score to beat.
22. Fowlplay HD
If you ever wanted to poop on someone's head from above,
Fowlplay HD is the game for you. Taking on the role of a pigeon that should really cut back on fibre, you zoom around a stylised forest that appears to be populated by refugees from Minigore. Aim your deposits at their heads, avoid the trees, and grab any power-ups that come your way.
23. Tetari (universal)
Tetari is a lovely puzzle game which plays a little like a claustrophobic
Tetris. Using familiar pentomino pieces, your aim is to clear coloured squares from the board through making solid lines, which vanish. Higher levels start with more 'debris', forcing you to think hard about where to lay each and every piece.
24. Choice of the Dragon (universal)
It might look like it's been repeatedly beaten with an ugly stick, but luckily the magic of
Choice of the Dragon is in its witty prose. Playing as a multiple-choice text adventure, akin to an extremely stripped-back RPG, this game is an amusing romp that perhaps lacks replay value, but you'll enjoy it while it lasts.
25. Lux Touch (universal)
There are several Lux games on the App Store, but the original is now free and works very nicely on the iPad. Essentially, this is
Risk, and while the computer AI isn't terribly bright,
Lux Touch should nonetheless keep fans of the original board game quiet for a short while.
26. New York 3D Rollercoaster Rush HD Free
Six of the full game's 40 tracks are on offer here, in
New York 3D Rollercoaster Rush HD Free, a simple arcade title. Tilt your iPad to control the coaster's speed, aiming to keep it on the track, and take risks to ensure the crazy riders have a great time (and, presumably, give the health-and-safety guy a heart attack).
27. iLifeGame (universal)
John Horton Conway's famous
Game of Life cellular automaton exists for practically every platform, and this simple iOS version,
iLifeGame, gets things right with clear graphics, the ability to draw your own starting points, and a small collection of predefined patterns.
28. Pukk HD
Given that it's another
Pong clone,
Pukk HD isn't the best game to play if you've no friends, because the single-player mode is extremely dull. However, with another player, it becomes an exciting battle of digital tennis - and it looks a lot nicer than Tap Blaster HD, too.
29. SLS AMG HD
Yes, this is ultimately a car advert, but then so is
You Cruise - and that's one of the best iPhone racing games.
SLS AMG HD isn't in the same league, but there's plenty of fun to be had flinging your car at breakneck speeds down tunnels, avoiding obstacles and driving on the ceiling in a manner not entirely dissimilar to Atari classic
S.T.U.N. Runner.
30. MixxMuse Arcade HD
Part
Looptastic, part
Tap Tap Radiation, this DJ game provides four levels that are a taster for Pulsar's other MixxMuse titles. However, there's enough entertainment in
MixxMuse Arcade HD to engage music fans for a few hours, dragging mix components in time to the beat and dealing with the frantic tap-based minigame.
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