Slotz Racer for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

Ah, youth, how I miss thee. And that includes the slot car racing I did as a kid. Yeah, I had my own "modern" track (circa 1984), but the real challenge (and frustration) came from trying to use my brother's older track. It was a time when the cars were far more likely to slide off the track. When you needed skill and patience to master the hand grip accelerator.

Fortunately, Slotz Racer for the iPhone and iPod Touch falls somewhere between those two tracks of my youth. It takes a fair amount of skill with the accelerator, but at the same time, allows for some fast racing action. The set layouts (editable, by the way) are far longer and complex than most of us had as kids. And it gives a new generation a chance to experience slot car racing. (Yes, the tracks still exist but good luck finding them since most of the stores that sold them have closed.)

The variation of tracks, nighttime racing, pit stops, and car models (although more models would be great) keeps the game fresh. And for those of you who may have tried an earlier version, the dreaded competitor "Fruitbat" no longer wins every race you lose.

So kudos to Freeverse for taking a different perspective to racing on the iPhone and iPod touch. If you've never touched a slot car, you may find it frustrating at first, but that's just part of the realistic recreation of the real deal. Slotz Racer is currently $4.99.

The Weather Channel iPhone and iPod App Review

There's no shortage of applications to give you weather info on the iPhone and iPod Touch. But look out lightweights, here comes one of the most well-known names in the weather biz. Enter There's no shortage of applications to give you weather info on the iPhone and iPod Touch. But look out lightweights, here comes one of the most well-known names in the weather biz. Enter The Weather Channel App for the iPhone.

This app, and the Weatherbug app are the top of the heap for weather apps, although both serve slightly different purposes. The Weather Channel app is focused on weather forecasting, while Weatherbug is far superior at telling you weather conditions (wind speed, rain, temp, live webcams, etc.) 

My favorite Weather Channel feature is the most recent video forecast for your city. If you get a local video forecast on the Weather Channel, now you can see it on your iPhone as well.

So if you're looking for more weather info than the included Apple weather app supplies, The Weather Channel offers a solid option:

Hydro Tilt for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

I was always a big fan of Marble Madness in the arcade, and at first I thought Hydro Tilt was sort of a Marble Madness clone. I was wrong. It is far more focused on the puzzle aspect of getting your water drop (that can also turn to steam and ice, as needed) from point a to point b.

Essentially, you need to change form at the right time to cross certain bridges/shoots, etc, turn into the frozen cube, and get that cube back to a specific place on the game board. At first I was annoyed by the on-screen directions, but those are there in the first rounds to let you know what's going on. ( A great reason for directions, I suppose...)

Crazy Tanks for the iPhone and iPod Touch Review

If you remember the classic "Combat" game that shipped with millions of Atari 2600's, then you'll already know the basic idea behind Crazy Tanks. You pilot a tank, and have to shoot enemy tanks and gun positions. Tapping anywhere on the screen allows you to fire, while the radar in the bottom right corner shows the relative positions of enemies, as well as health bonuses, multi-shot upgrades, etc.

Unfortunately, you never see much of that battleground at any given time, and the lack of visibility makes the game more frustrating than it would be otherwise. There are worse ways to spend 99 cents in the app store, and with just a few tweaks, this could be a top game in my book. Don't take my word for it, try it for yourself.

Turkey Hunt for the iPhone and iPod Touch Review

Gobble, Gobble... Thanksgiving might be long gone, but it looks like some turkeys may have made it through. It's time for you to change that in Turkey Hunt. The gameplay is simplistic to say the least (just keep tapping), but there's something oddly addicitve about Turkey Hunt: