Mortal Kombat X - Mobile Edition

[Moral Kombat X (mobile), NetherRealm Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment, 2015]

The Violentest Game Ever Comes to Your Apple and Android Device

That's right, the title that brought us the E for everyone, E10+, T for teen, and M for mature game rating system has finally come to your mobile device of choice, and not in a throwback nod to the original 1992 version, but in the form of a massive 1.1 Gigabyte, state-of-the-art addition to the wildly popular console title of the same name. Although it requires a hefty bit of free memory to download, it's worth every penny. By that I don't mean to insult the game. That was my witty way of saying, "It's FREE!" That's right, for once a game that isn't made for 6-year-olds that involves colored, avian balls or talking cats. This one is for the Mature gaming audience, down to the inclusion of the ever-controversial Fatalities. If you haven't had the pleasure of witnessing the brutal, match-ending murders that take place in this title, let me be the first to tell you that they maybe the most violent thing I've ever seen in a video game to date including the multitude of Calls of Duty, Auto Theft of the Grandest Kind, and their ultra-violent cousins in the gaming universe. 

First, a Little History

Not only is Mortal Kombat singly responsible for the ratings system we now have on all games, but it was the proud owner of the highest opening weekend sales for a short time following the release of Mortal Kombat II. Not only that, but it signalled a shift in financial paradigms. The debut weekend sales of $50 million marked the first time that a video game surpassed Hollywood movies in opening weekend sales. In the summer of 1994, it topped every last Hollywood blockbuster from that year including Mask, True Lies, Forrest Gump, and Lion King. Considering the acceptably arguable statement that this list includes both Jim Carrie's and Arnold Schwarzenegger's best films as well as the best thing Disney has done in decades, then top it off with a six-time Academy Award winning film that garnered Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director awards, among others. 

MKII didn't just beat a bunch of humps. That list makes up one of the best ever in combined quality of summer blockbusters. Go ahead, tell me you'd rather see Avengers 2, Furious 7, Jurassic World, and the remake of Poltergeist for the first time instead of getting a second chance at reliving your first viewing of that list from 1994, but be prepared to be called a stinking liar. Fair warning. 

MKII didn't just create a new set of laws about what kids could and couldn't play with it's murderous violence, it was THE pioneer in a change in the way investors look at our top two forms of entertainment. What had been seen as the purvey of sad loners and prepubescents busted onto the scene with blood-dripping savagery, proving that this was an art form that would not be ignored. Yes, I believe games, especially the really good ones, to be a form of art on par with film, television, literature, comics, photography, painting, and any other traditional and/or non-traditional undertakings that require great creativity to produce. The trend that was started in 1994 by the most violent video game created up to that time has continued and the gap in revenues between games and movies has only grown since that time. 

Pop culture they may be, but I challenge you to play Valiant Hearts and not cry at the touching emotion found within, or Contrast and not spend the next several days contemplating the possibilities of the multiverse and all the variations to existence that title implies. My old man might argue with me, but he doesn't believe that Hip Hip is an art form, either. My immediate retort is, if rhyme isn't an artform, then what was Shakespeare doing penning those 34 plays and 154 sonnets that are nearly all about sex, violence, war, and murder? His answer is always Gangsta Rap. My answer is Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, and pretty much the entire Ninja Tune catalog. He doesn't know I'm speaking English. The saddest part about that is that we're all inevitably going to turn into our parents. Argh. Oh well, enough losing the plot, let's get back to the game!

 

I Used to Know Every Fatality in the Game

I even knew the Babalities and other alternative endings. However, that was in 1994-96 or so. Along with the free mobile versions of Mortal Kombat X, I also purchased the Xbox One version, but I've spent twice as much time playing the iPad version as I have on the console one. One of the big reasons for that, I suspect, is that I have forgotten the vast majority of special moves and Fatalities. Luckily, that doesn't matter in the mobile version. Anybody can pick up this game and be decent at it. You don't have to spend hours memorizing controller combinations then practicing them in two-player mode against nobody. The control scheme for the mobile title is exactly what all successful mobile title control schemes are: simple. You tap the screen with one finger to attack and hold down two fingers to block. That's pretty much it. There are occasional prompts to swipe the screen for extra moves as seen above 

and successful attacks build your special attack meter, which appears on the bottom left as seen below. 

So It's Easy to Play, What's the Game About?

What is any fighting game about? Kicking arse and leaving the dead in your wake! Like all previous Mortal Kombat Games, they attempt to put some unintelligible plotline together about Elder Gods, invading demons, some evil God, and some sort of tournament for the future of "Earth Realm." It falls as flat on my 2015 ears as it did on my 1994 pair, but it doesn't really matter. If you're playing Mortal Kombat for the plotline, then I'm afraid it's you who have lost the plot, seriously and to an unrecoverable point. 

Force + Form

The gameplay itself takes on a singular form with several small variations. Basically, you pick a team of three fighters and they face off against three others. The fighting character can one of the two remaining ones if they have sustained too much damage or you just want to switch it up. There are three tiers of character: bronze, silver, and gold. Their attack, health, and recovery levels increase significantly with each jump in the corresponding metal's worth. You can also purchase increases in these statistical categories for individual characters using "Koins" (See what they did there? :-) or by earning equipment through battle. The equipment can be moved from character to character, but the statistical category increases can not so choose wisely, unlike this poor Nazi sympathizer. 

There are usually two main types of gameplay with a special offering going on now for a limited time. The first is Battle Mode. Here you move from tower to tower taking on (usually) six groups of opponents that contain three fighters each. There are 33 such towers and you must beat every group in each of them to beat the game. The second is Faction Wars. This takes you online to fight against other real players' teams. While it's not a true online multiplayer in the same sense as Call of Duty or Elder Scrolls Online where you are facing off against other players live in real time, it brings an interesting aspect to the gameplay in that you never really know who you're going to face. Sometimes you get three bronze level characters who belong to a level 4 player. Other times it's two golds and a silver that have been carefully crafted by a level 35 opponent. Although I would prefer live face-offs against real opponents, I'm not sure that mobile platforms are up to that challenge yet, at least with a game of this size and graphic superiority. I'm afraid it would cause lag of unbearable proportions that would make the game mode unplayable.

Whatever the developers' reasoning, they have mostly made up for the lack of true online battles with the addition of factions. You join a particular faction at the beginning of every week. Depending on how many points you get for your faction and how well the team does throughout the week, you will get a certain set of rewards. If your team comes in last, guess what? Sucky rewards. First place, though, and it's rare equipment and statistical increases out the wazoo, not to mention the money. 

Finally, there are the limited time Character Challenge Towers. This week completion of the challenge will land you Raiden, my personal favorite character in the MK series. You have to complete five increasingly difficult towers in order to earn the elusive character types, and keep your eye on that clock, because if you haven't completed every last one before it runs out then you're S.O.L. 

Summ Fun, Huh?

I had initially planned to review the console version of Mortal Kombat X, but while in the Play Store looking for a companion app, I discovered this free game and decided to give it a try, especially considering I haven't discussed a mobile game for some time now and there are considerably more readers with smartphones out there than next-gen consoles. I was afraid I would quickly lose interest and long for the console game, but that hasn't happened. If anything, it's a relief to not be forced into re-learning special moves and Fatalities combinations that I used to know by heart but have long since forgotten. Don't get me wrong, the console version is far and away the best fighting game I've played in years. That said, NetherRealm Studios did a fantastic job in creating this game and not trying to push the control scheme past the abilities of the platform to handle. There's nothing I hate more than trying to play a game on my phone or tablet where the controller is drawn onto the screen. My thumbs continually slip off their appointed areas and it's nearly impossible to control them with any semblance of dexterity. So, if you're looking for a mobile app that is high on action, graphics, and gameplay options, give Mortal Kombat X a try (unless you're too young). Even if you haven't played an MK title since high school, you should be able to pick it up quickly and easily, and you'll have a lot more fun than flinging around a flock of angry pigeons in the process. 

The Math

Baseline Assessment: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 for vastly exceeding my expectations and making a really solid mobile version that could very easily have turned out to be nothing more than a piss-poor carbon copy of the actual game.

Penalties: -1 I almost feel bad for taking a point away for this, but if you're going to call it "Fight Online" then you should supply an online opponent, not a team of Avatars that someone else created. That said, I don't know the logistics of online match play on mobile platforms, especially for a game of this size and memory requirements. I'd like to give them a pass, but I've got to take off for something. 

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10. Well worth your time and attention.

See here for our scoring system. 

Desert Fox by Shenandoah Games for iOS

New Wrinkles to a Winning Formula

I missed out on the 1970s/1980s heyday of board wargaming, but I was big into the 1990s video game translations--Panzer General II being my personal favorite. Sadly, these and other turn-based strategy games faded with the rise of the RTS. But though I appreciate the frenetic action of Starcraft and C&C, I never stopped loving this slower, more genteel breed of strategy game.

As with isometric RPGs and point-and-click adventure games, iOS has stimulated a resurgence of interest in the faded genres of yesterday. In 2012, specialist studio Shenandoah Games released Battle of the Bulge, a small-scale but deep wargame set on a classic board divided into pieces (though not hexagonal, as in the classic model). The game let you play out several scenarios related to the historical battle, and even choose the general you would face (the A.I. for which would then pursue a strategy in line with their historical predilections). Games were relatively short, but never seemed to play out the same way. And it came chock full of history lessons! It was, in a word, awesome.

Desert Fox: The Battle of El Alamein is the third installment in the Crisis in Command series, after The Battle of the Bulge and 2013's Drive on Moscow: War in the Snow--and it may be the best one yet. The game puts you in the midst of the Western Desert Campaign of 1942, in which Axis forces (under the command of the eponymous "Desert Fox," General Erwin Rommel) attempted to drive the Commonwealth forces out of Egypt to clear a path to Persia and its oil fields. Historically speaking, the campaign featured a whole bunch of German advances until the stalemate at the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1-27, 1942) slowed Rommel down. Then new British commander Lt. General Bernard Montgomery ended Hitler's oil dreams permanently at the Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23 - November 11, 1942). It was the first major victory for the Allies since the start of the war. 

Desert Fox is built on the same engine and features the same general gameplay dynamics as earlier entries in the series. You take the role of Axis or Allied commander, and either face off against a historical opponent or a friend. Each side has a limited number of days, divided into a discrete number of turns, to achieve specific goals, most of which involve either capturing a set number of vital points on the board or getting units past the enemy defenses (while maintaining supply lines). Each player moves units on one hexagon per turn--a departure from the normal way of things in a lot of wargames (where players move all available units in each turn), but which lends the battles a gratifying chess-like feeling. There are different units--infantry, armor, APC, etc.--all with different advantages and disadvantages. And there are serious terrain effects, ranging from armor bonuses gained while defending cities to roads that facilitate breakouts. The elegance of this formula is what made The Battle of the Bulge such an inviting and addictive experience.

Though the core gameplay returns in tact, Desert Fox nevertheless adds a few new wrinkles that keep things fresh. Now you have to contend with--or receive protection from--landmines and barbed wire. Even if you wipe out enemy units on a given space, you won't be able to advance until you clear the mines and wire, and only certain units (i.e. infantry or mechanized infantry) can do that.

There are also significantly altered supply dynamics. In the first two entries in the series, units were supplied as long as they sat on an unbroken chain of friendly territories. But now any unit can go out of supply after taking action (or retreating after being attacked). Each side has a limited amount of supply they can airdrop in, and unsurprisingly, the Axis has less supply to go around, while also having to contend with bombing runs on supply lines. But the Axis get a more complex array of units, allowing for tactical approaches not available to the Commonwealth. There are the standard armor and infantry, plus mechanized infantry, super fast recon and flak, which can negate Commonwealth air power and help keep units in supply.

Desert Fox gives you three different scenarios of progressive complexity: Ruweisat Ridge, a fast-paced battle where the Axis attempt to seize strategic sites (which garner victory points); Second Alamein, where the Commonwealth tries to shove the Axis back into Libya; and The Campaign, a massive, longer-term and more open-ended scenario than the others. It's advisable, after completing the tutorials, to learn each one well before progressing to the next. (Here are some additional tips if you need them.)

Finally, Shenandoah made some neat decisions with the menu system that really top off the experience nicely. Keeping track of things is super easy, and you always have access to historical information on the events portrayed in the game. Everything is nicely presented and intuitive, and the tutorials are among the best I've ever encountered in a strategy game. My only real complaint is that it would be fun to have an additional mode where each side has to deploy its units at the start.

In the end, Desert Fox presents a balanced, challenging and deep strategy experience. And it manages to present something that can appeal to both hardened wargamers and genre neophytes. While I'd still recommend the latter to check out The Battle of the Bulge first, it's not necessary to enjoy Desert Fox.


The Math

Baseline Assessment: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 for managing to make a wargame that is simultaneously deep and accessible; +1 for the supreme elegance of the game design. 

Penalties: -1 for where's that deploy-ever-unit-myself mode?

Nerd Coefficient: 9/10. "Very high quality/standout in its category."


***

POSTED BY: The G--purveyor of nerdliness, genre fanatic and Nerds of a
Feather founder/administrator (2012).

Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time

mobile fun for free!

Finally, the sequel to the wildly popular mobile favorite Plants vs. Zombies has come out. I think this solidifies PopCap as THE makers of the best mobile games available. Between Bejeweled, Peggle, and PvZ, they've made some of my favorite mobile titles and they definitely have more depth and better programming than 98% of the mobile games out there. While I've enjoyed Hill Climb Racer, Angry Birds, and Army of Darkness, no single developer has come up with as many quality games as PopCap. 

levels

There are three main levels in the game. The first is Ancient Egypt. Here the zombies are also mummies. If you're unfamiliar, you have to protect the home base, in this case a pyramid, from the oncoming undead. You choose the plants you're going to use in order to do so, then do your best to keep the mummy/zombies from making it into your pyramid to eat your brain. Each section has ten levels, starting with the Ancient Egyptian plane. Once you've completed the ten levels, you have to go back and win ten stars to move on to the next level, Pirate Bay, by re-playing enough of the first ten levels to win stars. Once you've collected ten stars, you can use a stargate to transport through time and space to the next plane and fight zombie pirates. 

The second level is Pirate Bay. As you can see, the zombies in this group of levels is made up of pirates (Didn't see that one coming, did you?). Unlike the previous levels, the planting grid isn't complete. There are planks that allow zombies to walk up to your plants. They also attack by swinging from ropes or being shot out of cannons across the water areas. They are easily repelled using something akin to jumping beans. These plants are shown here second to the bottom on the left with a cost of 50 sun points. They're very handy when repelling water-crossing enemies, but they quickly fall asleep after doing so and are extremely easy to eat. 

Finally, there's the Wild West group of levels. Along with upgraded plants that you earn along the way, these levels have train tracks that allow to you move a single, or sometimes multiple plants up and down the screen. This allows you to take care of different levels of zombie outlaws as they come along instead of being stuck in a single grid square watching those darn undead walk right past your three-headed pod shooter. This level also brings with it a new slew of enemies, including one old timer who clearly worked in a mine in his living years. This piece of maddening programming genius jumps the entire board, then returns to eat your precious plants from behind. I know he's why they created the two-headed plant, but the plant was  generally just so ineffective that I essentially chalked his kills up as a loss and shot the bastard from behind after he started to move back to their side of the board. 

the perfect segue

That's the perfect lead-in to discuss the various characters in this mobile masterpiece. First, we'll start with the plants. 

the plants

The plants are your friends. These are all that is stopping those blood-thirsty undead from chowing down on your medulla oblongata. Each has a special form of attack and their own advantages and disadvantages. They start out at a low price and you are able to open up more as you go along. For example, the first of the three plants above costs 150 sun points (you either collect these as they fall from the sky or make your own using sunflowers) and can punch zombies both in front and behind. However, he is limited to the single blocks on either side. The next plant fires boomerangs, or at least what appear to be boomerangs. It costs 175 sun points and doesn't pack much punch, but his attacks can reach enemies completely across the board. Finally, the coconut cannon is a whopping 400 sun points, but his attack will wipe just about anything it hits on the board. 

This next crop of plants was probably the most useful. The first is a fire breathing cousin of the venus flytrap. His fireballs spread three blocks wide and traveled two blocks ahead, giving his damaging flames a wide swath of destruction. The second is an artistic rendering of the pod shooters. These came in four forms. The first shoots a single pod, the second two, the third three, and the fourth fires a single pod in both directions, in front and behind. The third plant is obviously a corn cob. He fires a randomly selected piece of corn or pad of butter. The butter was particularly useful as it causes the zombies to pause for a brief moment until all of the butter has melted from their faces. It cost 100 sun points. The fire breather was 150. The pod shooters cost 100 points per pod, so the double-shooter cost 200, the triple shooter 300, and so forth. There are other plants available including a land mine and the aforementioned sunflower, but this gives you a general idea of what's out there. 

the zombies

Just like the plants, the zombies come in many forms. The first pictured above is the standard mummy, easy to kill and fairly slow on the approach. The one pictured next was the bane of my existence in the Ancient Egyptian levels. He uses his wand to suck up sun points as they fall from the sky or are created by your sunflowers. He starts sucking sun as soon as he steps on the board so it was necessary to have a long distance weapon like the pod shooter or corn cob to take him out quickly before he could steal too many of your precious sun points (which were used to buy more flowers). The next two come from the Pirate Bay level. The first wasn't so annoying on his own, but he was able to send out his pet parrot to eat your plants without so much as a "thank you." Again, it is useful to have a long distance plant to take this annoying fellow out as quickly as possible before his bird could do too much damage to the carefully constructed plant formation you have been creating. Although the punching plant (as I called it) is able to destroy the bird, not much else can stop it from chowing down on your sunflowers or other vital plant friends. Finally, there's the standard pirate zombie. He is the Pirate Bay equivalent to the first mummy. Slow and fairly weak, although when attacking in groups he and his cohorts could be quite annoying. 

The Wild West zombies presents its own set of issues, but I think Pirate Bay was probably my favorite level. At one point, cannons come out and fire midget zombies at your side of the map. Those little guys made the funniest noise and, although they were extremely annoying, they were also a source of never-ending laughter for yours truly. 

special gameplay

Not only were there the standard levels described above, but you could access special areas by collecting (or buying) keys. These would open up entirely new areas of the maps that had levels with specific requirements. For example, one level chooses which of the plants you could use by bringing them up a conveyer belt system on the left-hand side of the screen. You are normally allowed to pick six plants for each level, but in these special levels you had to take what you were given. Sometimes this proved to be quite useful, while others it gave the gamer a challenge that bordered on headache. 

  

The player moves from level to level via stargates. You can clearly see the star here that took you from Ancient Egypt to Pirate Bay. While I wouldn't exactly call it replay-ability, you were pretty much forced to go back and replay levels in order to earn stars and open the stargates. I found this mildly annoying at points because certain requirements were laid down before a level was begun. If you failed to meet these requirements (kill 15 zombies in 30 seconds or only use 12 plants), you failed to earn the subsequent star. While I don't necessarily care for linear games, being forced to go back and replay nearly every level in order to progress was a bit of an annoyance. If there was one drawback to the game, this was it. I would have preferred to have the game move in a linear fashion and offer bonuses for replaying certain levels. Don't get me wrong, you were richly rewarded for completing the levels while following the requirements. Still, forced replay isn't really my cup of tea. I like to have the option to replay a particularly fun level rather than being forced to do so in order to progress. However, it is what it is and I managed to amass enough stars to make it through all three levels without paying for the pleasure. 

closing arguments

PopCap has done it again. They managed to create a game that is fun for all ages, addictive, and original. If you are looking for the next gaming app to add to your handheld device or iPad, this is it. While they didn't really break any new ground as there are a plethora of tower defense games out there (the format seems to work well on controller-less devices), this is definitely one of the best. If you're as tired of Angry Birds as I am and Peggle is wearing thin after your thousandth hour, give this one a look. It's free both in the iTunes store and on Android phones, so you won't blow your load on a game that doesn't turn out to be all that you'd hoped. Instead, they operate on the much maligned pay-to-play system where the game is beatable without spending money, but there are plenty of opportunities for you to make it easier on yourself by dropping a buck or two on keys, stars, or special plants. I refuse to take part in this game structure for the most part, just on general principle. That said, there were lots of times I REALLY wanted to throw a few bucks at it in order to make the game easier. However, it isn't necessary to complete the game and you can play it successfully either way. All in all, Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time was a joy to play and just challenging enough to keep me coming back. I highly recommend you give it a shot and see if it's up your alley. 

the math

Objective Score: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 for the leveling system that kept me coming back for more. It makes you want to keep playing to open up new and more powerful flowers with which to dispatch the undead.

Penalties: -1 for forced replay of completed levels. Once I've beaten a level I'm ready to move on. I don't want to have to go back and beat the same level again, this time with more stipulations on how I finish the task. 

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10. Well worth your time and attention. 

Peggle

Feed My Addictive Nature! IT MUST BE FED!!!

Peggle is one of those cute little games that sneaks up and grabs you, and only then do you realize that cute little bunny has a death grip. Pop Cap is the maker of another of my favorite puzzle games that was reviewed here a few months ago called Bejeweled Blitz. This one may actually have it beat in terms of outright addictive gameplay. I got a Smash Burger for dinner tonight, brought it home, and before I knew it I'd let the burger get cold while I played twenty more minutes of Peggle. It's that fun!

Peggle is like a mix between pinball and heroin. You try to shoot a limited number of silver balls and clear the board of all the red pegs. Green pegs trigger the super power of whichever Peggle Master's levels you happen to be playing. Blue pegs just get in the way. And how is it like heroin, you ask? Once you start, it's incredibly difficult to stop (or so I hear, I've never actually tried heroin). For example, Tula the Tulip's special power is that all of the red pegs near the green one turn into tulips. The entire game is full of creative tricks like that, which make it all the more demanding that you play through to the end to try them all. 

Once You Pop, You Can't Stop

The ball is shot out of the cannon at the top of the screen. It then proceeds to bounce around somewhat like Plinko from The Price Is Right. You can win extra balls by landing yours in the ball bucket that moves back and forth at the bottom of the screen. This is a rare feat, but when you get some of the blue pegs cleared out of the way it helps to try and time your shot so that the bucket is going under it when you fire. At least you have a better chance at a free turn that you do if you completely ignore it as I did for the first few levels. When you get that final red peg, it plays the climax of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, and I can't think of anything more fitting. It goes right along with the endorphin dump you get and vocalizes your feelings exactly. More games should use classical music. I remember a war game on the 3DO that played Ride of the Valkyries during the helicopter fighting sequence. It was perfect!

You start each level with ten silver pinballs. Match that against twenty-five red balls, many of them spinning and gyrating, and you can see how this is not just an easy kid's game. While it may appear so on the outside, the gameplay is definitely challenging enough for the hardened gamer if they can get past its' cutesy exterior. Believe me, as a fairly adept gamer myself, I got as frustrated with Peggle at times as I did getting headshot by the same camping sniper in Call of Duty three times in a row. It could be aggravating, but you just need that one lucky shot to clear a level. When you finally do, it's as pleasing as sneaking up on that same sniper and spraying him in the back. Mmm, mmm...good! 

The Peggle Masters

There are ten Peggle Masters in the game, and each brings with them a special power for their five rounds. The Masters in the order in which they appear in the game are:

1. Bjorn Unicorn - His power is called Super Guide. It shows you which direction the ball will bounce off the peg, which can be useful information when you're down to two pegs and one ball. 
2. Jimmy Lightning - Multiball is Jimmy's power, throwing an extra ball into the board when you strike the green peg. 
3. Kat Tut - He attaches an ancient pyramid to the ball bucket that triples its width. This at least doubles your chances of winning an extra ball. 
4. Splork - He uses Space Blast to explode all nearby red pegs. 
5. Claude - This was one of my favorites. Claude is a lobster, I think. When you hit the green peg, you are awarded Claude's claws to use as pinball flippers. Although they didn't have quite the reaction speed that Zen Pinball Empire Strikes Back HD does, but that's understandable. 
6. Renfield - The Dracula reference is classic. It's fitting that the vampire's minion produces the Spooky Ball for his special power. It makes the ball re-appear at the top of the screen once at the exact point it fell down. This effect lasts for two turns. 
7. Tula - This beautiful tulip uses Flower Power to light up all nearby reg pegs. She tells you she hopes that hers is your favorite power. Sadly it wasn't, but it wasn't at the bottom of the list, either. 
8. Warren - He is a magician's bunny rabbit. Hitting the green pegs on his levels brings up Lucky Spin (and again we're back to The Price Is Right). A wheel appears and a spinner chooses one of four power options. His own is Magic Hat, which attaches a hat to your ball that lights up any pegs it touches. You can also win triple score for a turn, an extra ball, or any one of the other Masters' powers. 
9. Lord Cinderbottom -When you strike the green peg, you earn Fireball on your next turn. It turns your ball into a flaming orb of destruction that takes out all pegs in its path. There is no Plinko bouncing here, just fiery destruction!
10. Master Hu - His Zen Ball helps improve your shot through the power of mindfulness. No matter where you shoot it, he makes your shot the best it can possibly be. It maybe the most useful power in the game. 

the math

Objective Score: 9/10. This one's a keeper!

Bonuses: +1 for the most addictive gameplay I've seen in a while. I couldn't wait to get home and play more!

Penalties: -1 for not having more characters. I wanted it to keep on going. I guess it's time to buy Peggle Nights now, huh?

Nerd Coefficient: 9/10. Very high quality. A standout in its category. 

Mobile: Zen Pinball HD

small ball

If it wasn't obvious from the title, we're going small this week in the gaming sector. Handheld, to be specific. Zen Pinball HD is a mobile game available for free in both the Apple and Android Play Stores. Pinball is a game that is tailor-made for mobile control schemes. It's easy because there are only two buttons, left and right. There's no getting shot to death while you try to find the 'right' button with your thumb. Tap the screen in the bottom left corner, the left flipper(s) go off. Tap the screen in the bottom right corner, the right flipper(s) go off. Simple, right?

freebie

Zen Pinball HD comes free with a pretty fun game called Sorcerer's Lair (seen above). If you manage to get a ball up to the sorcerer, he vaporizes it with, I'm assuming, sorcery. There are multi-ball portions once you've plugged enough balls into a particular hole (I know, I know, but you think of a better way to say it!). Ghosts appear at one point that you must defeat in a period of time for a bonus by rolling them over with the pinball. There are even some mini-games that I only half understand. Something about gears and a green ball? Anyway, for a free game, I haven't played a better mobile pinball app. 

this is how they getcha!

Although I'm sure it came as a great shock to you, dear readers, they also offer add-on tables for $1.99 each. I'm a Star Wars nut and I was unable to withstand the Dark Side. I was born the same week Star Wars Episode IV came out so I really didn't have a choice in the matter. I'm the definition of a Star Wars baby. Short story long, I bought the Episode V: Empire Strikes Back table and the Boba Fett table. All I've done is play these games for the last two weeks. I've turned off my 360 just to play this game, which is rare for me with mobile apps. Zen Pinball also offers Star Wars: The Clone Wars for fans of the newer movies. I probably enjoyed them more than most people, but even a die-hard fan like me knows the first three movies were better.

They also boast several tables based on Marvel characters including Thor, Wolverine, the Hulk (or the Credible In-Honk as I referred to him at the tender age of 3), X-Men, Avengers, Captain America, Ghost Rider, and then a few others I didn't recognize. My point is, you could end up blowing almost fifty dollars on tables if your habit is bad enough. I may end up grabbing Wolverine and Hulk once I've mastered Empire and Boba Fett.

episode V: the empire strikes back

The Empire Strikes Back table has tons of references to the consensus best of the Star Wars films. If you manage to put the pinball through a door in the middle of the table five times, one for each letter (V-A-D-E-R), Darth will rise up out of the table and roll off quotes from the movie. "Join me, and together we can rule the universe as father and son." If you hit the pinball at him, he quickly dispatches it with his light saber. 

If you manage to hit certain spots enough times, you're offered six different story lines that bring up memorable parts of the movie. One scene brings out asteroids and two tie fighters that fly around shooting at your pinball. Another has Yoda training Luke by doing a handstand while lifting rocks with the Force. A third brings out a storm trooper who fires at your ball with a blaster. For fans of the movie, each one brings back fond memories of George Lucas' classic film. On top of that, it's a top-notch pinball game that's as good as any real-world table that I've played. 

boba fett

The Boba Fett table could also be called Return of the Jedi, although there are a few quotes sampled from Episodes I-III. At the top of the table is the Sarlacc pit. Shooting three balls into Slave I, Boba Fett's ship, will bring on multi-ball. You start the game with one missile, but by increasing your score you can gain more. These are fired by Boba Fett at one of the "job" spots. By hitting these you take on a bounty and have to hit specific spots to complete the job. 

Boba constantly flies around the table using his jetpack. He does his best to avoid being hit by the pinballs. He also fires at your ball as it rolls around the table, but unlike Vader's light saber, it doesn't destroy the balls. As you can see above, one of the "spinners" on the table is Han Solo frozen in carbonite as he appeared as Jabba's finest decoration in his palace. Jabba sits in the upper-right corner of the table and also appears in a cutscene when you're given a bounty job, again drawing direct connections with Return of the Jedi. I still haven't managed to get the Sarlacc pit to pull Fett down as it is doing in the above picture, but I'm not going to stop until I get it to happen! 

the breakdown

I'm not the biggest mobile gamer in the world. I usually prefer my Xbox 360 to my GS3 for gaming, for obvious reasons. The Samsung has a nice, big screen, but it pales in comparison to my 50-inch HDTV, nevermind the difference in controller abilities. However, every once in a while a mobile title grabs a hold of me and won't let go. Zen Pinball HD, especially the Star Wars tables, have done just that. I'm a big fan of real-world pinball and I plan to have several tables in my house once I'm rich and famous. Until that day comes, Zen Pinball HD is a pretty good substitute. If you're looking for a fun mobile option other than Angry Birds and Temple Run, try out the Zen Pinball HD free table. But don't come crying to me if you end up spending a bunch of money on their other 22 pay tables. That's on you. 

the math

Objective score: 7/10

Bonuses: +1 for the realistic physics that recreate the experience of playing real-world pinball tables very well. +1 for such a large number of table options, especially the multiple Star Wars tables.

Penalties: -1 for charging two bucks for each new table. It's not that I don't think they're worth it. It's just a bit high when compared to the average price of most mobile titles, especially when you consider you can spend nearly $50 to buy all the available tables. I could see some mad parents out there reprimanding their kids when they get the phone bill.

Nerd coefficient: 8/10. Well worth your time and attention. 

Bejeweled Blitz

Addictive mobile goodness!

I've decided to change tack a bit today and go with a mobile gem (pardon the pun). I thought I should write about something that less hardcore gamers are likely to have played and enjoy. I've gotten a lot of "I had no idea what you were talking about but I really enjoyed your writing" responses from friends and family with regard to my reviews. Hopefully a few more people have played Bejeweled Blitz than beat Dead Space 3.

Bejeweled Blitz is a relatively new version of PopCap's breakout hit Bejeweled and its sequels, Bejewewled 2 and 3. If you aren't familiar with Bejeweled, it's a game where you match gems of similar color in order to score points. There is an eight-by-eight grid of gems. You can match strings of three, four, or five gems, which give increasing rewards as you up the count. If you match three gems, they disappear and your score rises as more gems fall in to replace them. If you match four gems, a gem of the same color is created that, when matched later, explodes and destroys a 3x3 patch of gems. If you are lucky enough to match five gems of the same color, a gem will be created that takes out an entire row and column going out from the gem when matched. 

looks like tetris

Bejeweled Blitz definitely pays homage to the greatest of all grid games, that Russian classic Tetris. However, Blitz adds several levels of depth when compared to Tetris' perfect simplicity. For one thing, there are purchasable power-ups that can help you along the way. You can buy the power-ups using money you've won while playing the game itself, in a slot machine that you get a free play on each day, or by buying extra tokens and winning more in-game money in the slot machine. With the tokens, you can buy:

• Mystery Gem - Start the game with a random gem
• Detonator - Detonates all special gems once per game
• Scrambler - Scrambles all gems on the board twice per game
• +5 Seconds - Adds five seconds to the end of the game
• x2 Multiplier - Start the game with a x2 multiplier gem

There are also REALLY expensive power-ups that don't require much skill. They just wipe out large portions of gems at the end of the game. The Phoenix Prism (above) is the most expensive and most powerful, but it feels a bit unfair to use it. For 75,000 coins, you're essentially buying around a quarter million points. I usually save my coins for the smaller power-ups that I can control unless I've recently hit a huge jackpot on the slot machine. In that case, I'll occasionally blow way too much cash on one of the overpowered "cheater" attacks. 

why is it so fun?

Blitz is a change from its predecessors in that the game sessions only last one minute instead of three, thus the name and its implied time rush. It boasts Facebook compatibility so you can compare scores with friends. Don't worry, you can turn off the app's ability to post on your wall. I'm a bit of a Facebook freak when it comes to limiting the content of my posts. I heard dozens of social media horror stories when I was working on my master's in communication and they scared me to the point I don't put anything up there besides family photos and occasional concert or sporting event attendance pics. 

The previous games were hectic, but this one is downright anxiety-inducing. I still find myself freezing up when I can't find a match and I've been playing this game for close to a year. It's got that perfect mix of replay-ability and simplicity that make for a best-selling puzzle game. Add to that the quick, one-minute time limit and you can literally squeeze a quick game in anywhere. If you haven't tried any of the Bejeweled games, I highly recommend you give one a look. Blitz is the fastest and most helter skelter by far, so be warned. You should also be aware that it is highly addictive. If you're a fan of puzzle games, or just want to try something other than Angry Birds on your mobile device, give this one a look. It's free and it's fun!

the math

Objective Score: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 for its simplistic yet addictive design.

Penalties: -1 for making me feel like an idiot when staring blankly at the screen, unable to see the next set of matching gems even though they're right in front of me!

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10. Well worth your time and attention.

Puzzle Quest 2

Puzzle Game and RPG in One Package? Say it ain't so!

As a matter of fact, it is so. I don't have any new games to review this week so I thought I would dig into my old bag of goodies. Actually this is an oldie and a newbie. I played it when it first came out on Xbox in 2010 and I just realized with my new Samsung Android phone that they're giving it away free in the App Store. I can only hope there aren't more charges to come as I already bought this game once. I checked and the Apple Store also has a free version they're calling "Freemium" which I guess means you get the full game for free. They still list the $3.99 version, but why would you do that when the free one is right there next to it? 

The RPG Part

This game is really an RPG with a puzzle game installed for the purposes of battle. Rather than face your foes with sword or spells in hand, you face them on a board somewhat similar to Bejeweled or Tetris. There are four playable classes: Barbarian, Sorcerer, Assassin, and Templar. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Barbarians and Templars are good with weapons. Assassins are good with poisons and sneak attacks. Sorcerers are good at, well, spells, of course! You travel across the country of Verloren, doing good deeds and fighting every kind of bad guy imaginable from wolves to wargs, orcs, evil sorcerers, and even dragons. The story is a bit lacking, but it's serviceable enough to get you through the game without wanting to quit. Where it REALLY shines is in the puzzle and character leveling aspects. Once you have built your character for a while, you learn their strengths and can use them in battle to great effect. My assassin was so powerful I finished several battles without giving the enemy a single turn. As with all RPGs, the focus on character building is a major part of this game. If you spend your leveling points in areas where your character lacks power, you just end up wasting them. This is a hard lesson to learn and I had to start over with a new character upon realizing I had wasted many of my leveling options. You have to match your choices about how to power up your character to their strengths in order to eventually become an all-powerful killing machine like me :-)

The Puzzle Part

As stated before, this game is half-puzzle and half-RPG. The puzzle half is very similar to Bejeweled. You have to match three or more similar gems in a row in order to proceed. If you match four gems in a row, you get an extra turn. Whatever color gem you match increases your mana of the same color. Mana is what you use to fuel attack and protection spells. If you match skulls, it does immediate damage to your enemy. If you match those little pieces that look like iron fists, you can use them for weapon attacks, personal defense, or potions/poisons. As you travel through Verloren, you will encounter citizens in need of aid and goblins in need of killing. All of this battle takes place on the gem board. As the game progresses, the enemies become more and more difficult, but if you've done a good job leveling up you shouldn't have a problem. Spend a little time researching your character before you start and it will pay dividends once you hit the real tough guys. 

Summary

This game maybe a couple years old, but it holds up well. There appears to be no difference between the console and the portable versions that I can tell, and I would notice since Puzzle Quest 2 is all I'm playing on my phone these days. If you're a fan of Bejeweled or Tetris, give this a try. You might just enjoy the RPG aspects. If you're an RPG fan, you might find the battle a bit tedious so try this on your phone for free first. If you like it, you might consider getting the full version so you can play on a big screen. I'm not a huge fan of either genre, but when combined as masterfully as they are in this game, I can't resist. 

The Math

Objective Score: 7/10

Bonuses: +1 for combining two game formats that rarely meet in puzzle and RPG. 

Penalties: None that I can think of. For what it is, this game is near-perfect. 

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10 Well worth your time and attention (but try it on a phone first for free to make sure you like it!).