A Ninja Dude: Ninja School Video Review

I like the concept of a game based on flicking ninja stars. It seems like someone can do better than A Ninja Dude: Ninja School though.

You swipe your finger across the screen to send the star flying. With (lots) of practice, you can start to get a bit of a feel for how much force is required, and where to aim to successfully hit the target. Unfortunately, you'll probably tire of the game before you get to that point. Try the lite version first to decide if the game is for you.

Here's a look:

A Ninja Dude: Ninja School in the App Store.

Monkey Madness for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

Is there a time when one plus one plus one equals less than three? If there is, I think it is in the app store. Fortunately, Monkey Madness (narrowly) avoids this equation. Monkey Madness consists of three minigames: a wahck-a-mole style game, a concentration game, and a reaction time game. All of these games are, well, okay, especially for kids.

No single game would be worth 99 cents. Wisely, the developer has packaged them, making 99 cents for all three seem more reasonable. Are there better games of these styles in the app store? Sure, but when you put them together, and if you happen to be mad for monkeys, then it makes sense to buy Monkey Madness.

Here's a look:

Monkey Madness in the App Store.

Jiggle Balls: Spikes for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

Jiggle Balls: Spikes is sort of an off-shoot of the labyrinth style of gameplay. Rather than trying to move a ball around a wooden maze and avoiding holes, in Spikes you are trying to collide a large, spike ball with several small balls before times runs out. You do this by strategically tilting the phone to move both the spiked ball and the smaller balls together.

The game rises above the level of a mere proof of concept, but it still it feels like it is missing the "it" factor to make it stick out in the crowded app store.

Here's a look:

Jiggle Balls: Spikes in the App Store.

Guess The News for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

Guess the News aims to bring together the world of word games and current events. It makes sense: if you're an avid crossword player, then you probably read the paper too. While the fill-in-the-blank word play is clever, Guess the News underestimates the ability of most of its players/users, making most of the puzzles far too easy, even on the "hard" setting.

Still, it is an interesting way to discover news stories you may have not already known about, and the built-in browser makes it easy to read the news without leaving the app.

Here's a look:

Guess The News in the App Store.

Barnyard Bounce for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

I have to credit where credit is due: I would never think of creating an iPhone game based on the concept of trying to keep inflated farm animals out of pink water. So kudos to the creators of Barnyard Bounce for coming up with an unusual concept. Unfortunately, the praise ends there.

As mentioned above, Barnyard Bounce consists of trying to keep animals from falling into the  water. You do this by tapping on the screen, while keeping an eye out for bonus bubbles along the way. The whole time, a rotating banner ad is at the bottom of the game. While I understand the need to support ads with advertising, I can't imagine anyone would stop mid-game and click on one of these ads.

As for the game itself, you can unlock different animals by reaching different point totals. The gameplay remains the same, so there isn't much incentive for unlocking.

Here's a look:

Barnyard Bounce in the App Store.