Star Ride for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

Take the same basic game concept of DoodleJump, but somehow give it a calming, tranquil feel, and you've got Star Ride.

You start on the ground, jump to the first star, which propels you further into the night sky, as you jump from star to star, going higher and higher. Miss a star, and you can expect a tranquil fall, and a chance to start over again from ground level. Climb higher and higher, and watch for the moving stars as they are point multipliers.

It's one of those rare calming, yet fun to play games for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

(iTunes link)

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Fantasy Warrior Legends for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

Fantasy Warrior Legends is Digital Chocolate's latest entry into the role-playing game (RPG) competition on the iPhone. Fantasy Warrior has all the elements you would expect of this type of game: a somewhat odd backstory, special weapons, and of course gems to collect. The game is free, but if you choose to buy the gems, keep an eye on the e-wallet as it can get expensive quite quickly.

While all the usual elements are there, unfortunately there are a few bugs as well: It often takes multiple encounters with gems before your character can pick them up. Additionally, some players have complained of graphics anomalies, stuck characters etc., we didn't encounter any of those issues. Overall it's a standard RPG game that's a little rough around the edges. Maybe a re-visit after a few software updates is in order.

(iTunes link)

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Pang Mobile for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

There are a lot of ball puns that could be made about this game, but I will try to keep it to a minimum. In Pang, you have to break large balls/balloons by launching what amount to grappling hooks and lines. Time it just right, and when the ball hits the line, it will split in two smaller balls. Break one of those balls, and again there are two even smaller balls bouncing around the screen. Unfortunately your character can't jump out of the way, and all of the balls bouncing around make it frustrating to try to advance beyond the first few rounds.

(iTunes link)

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Buster Red for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

Take Space Invaders, add in fun graphics, super-fast gameplay, and you have Buster Red. Buster Red has you piloting one of three ships as you take on a seemingly never-ending army of enemy spaceships and obstacles. The cartoonish art design gives the game a fresh feel:

Befruited for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

(Disclosure: The developers of Befruited have also been advertiser on TDL.)

A confession: I never really understood Bejeweled. Sure, I could change gems and some would vanish, but the strategy ended there. Befruited is a similar type of game, but there's something about the sliding of the rows and columns in Befruited that makes it easier, at least for me, to play the game.

It's a straightforward match-three game. And as a bonus, for some odd reason, if you look at the fruits long enough, they take on a strange 3-D quality. If you like Bejeweled (even while secretly not knowing what you're doing) you'll like Befruited as well.

(iTunes link)

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