By Derek Hanke
These are the top five apps in the iTunes app store for this week:
- Extreme Road Trip 2
- Fix-it Felix Jr.
- WordSearch Unlimited Free
- Flow Free
- Bike Race Free
Extreme Road Trip 2
Road trips have never before been this exciting.
Ranking first in the iTunes app store this week, Extreme Road Trip 2 will keep a player thoroughly entertained from the second they pick it up to the moment they set it down. This app, created by Roofdog Games, leaves little to be desired.
Starting off driving a compact, gamers ride in one of multiple different environments. The premise of the game is simple: collect as many coins as possible and get as far as possible before running out of gas.
As players collect coins, they are presented with the opportunity to buy new cars, giving the game a level of replayability. Extreme Road Trip 2 automatically sets new goals for players, giving them something to strive for when they come back to play again.
Extreme Road Trip 2 does almost everything right: it keeps players entertained, has smooth and easy to understand controls that don’t confuse gamers, and provides a soundtrack that livens up the gaming experience. The only drawback to it is that while the environmental backdrop of the driving course changes, the course itself never changes, leaving new courses to be desired.
Compared to other popular racing games in the app store such as Bike Race Free and Jet Pack Joyrides, Extreme Road Trip 2 sizes up. With its customizability and enthralling gaming experience, it offers a feeling of depth not seen very often in games on the app store.
Definitely worth a download, Extreme Road Trip 2 will take riders where no road trip has taken them before and gets a 9 out of 10.
Fix-it Felix Jr.
Trying to put a spin on the eight-bit games of the past, Disney has offered gamers an experience that is neither memorable nor classic.
Fix-it Felix Jr. leaves much to be desired. While coupling with popularity of the movie “Wreck-it Ralph,” it has managed to reach the position of second in the app store. This app follows the movie-to-game tradition of being a poor gaming rendition of a semi-popular Disney movie.
As Fix-it Felix, a player’s job is to repair the broken windows left behind by Wreck-it Ralph all while he is throwing boxes at the player. There is no plot and the experience is very repetitive.
A positive to Fix-it Felix is that it has a nostalgic feel to gamers and easy controls, but gamers have evolved since the time of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and expect more from games now. Negatives include low replayability, a boring soundtrack, and low immersion for gamers. This game does not have the depth or plotline needed to immerse a player
If a gamer decides to purchase the full version of Fix-it Felix (Wreck-it Ralph), they may find it to be more entertaining, but only because it comes as part of a package deal with two other games. Also, players could get more bang for their buck if they were to actually go and purchase some real eight-bit classics such as Pitfall or Space Invaders.
An eight-bit gamers are sure to forget, Fix-it Felix accomplishes little, leaves much to be desired and receives a 3 out of 10.
WordSearch Unlimited Free
No longer confined to newspapers, a classic gaming experience has been brought to the app store.
WordSearch Unlimited Free, produced by VirtueSoft, provides a new spin on word searches that is bound to keep word searchers and even a couple of their friends entertained in their spare time and ranks third in the app store.
While other apps only give players randomized word sets or a limited number of categories to choose their words from, it gives them 10 categories and eight words per that change almost every time.
Another great feature of this app lies in its ability to change the style and background of the search to any of 11 different combinations, and even more if a gamer decides to upload their own images.
WordSearch has several good qualities: it has an 11×11 search board that makes finding words the perfect difficulty for most searchers, its customization options allow for a measure of personalization to the app, and the randomized playing board allows for endless hours of playtime. The only negatives to this app is that only one difficulty is provided in the free version, and there are a few adds included.
This app is generally better than other free word search apps because of its better qualities listed above. Other apps are stuck in one format, do not have other categories or customizable backgrounds.
Going from paper to retina definitely has its benefits; WordSearch Unlimited Free is recommended for word searchers everywhere and places 7 out of 10 on the ranking scale and is recommended for download if you are a word searcher at heart.
Flow Free
Connecting pipes has become so fun it has dripped its way into our hearts.
Placing fourth in the iTunes countdown today is Flow Free, a puzzle game that gets harder as players progress through one of its 150 levels.
The goal of the game is to connect all the dots using all the space given on playing spaces that range from 5×5 to 9×9. There are thirty levels per set and anywhere from five to nine pairs of dots.
A feature Flow Free has going for it is that is is almost completely unique to the iTunes app store. It has virtually zero competition from similar apps because it is the best at what it does. It also has time records, so a player can go back and try to beat their own or other’s records at a set. The only negative to Flow Free is the lack of soundtrack for the game, leaving gamers with an empty feeling when playing it.
As mentioned before, Flow Free has basically no competition from other apps due to the fact that little to no other apps exist that compare to it. If one were to come around that had a soundtrack, then it might be considered better. Since there isn’t one out there like that, however, it’s not an issue.
Mind-boggling and addicting, Flow Free has done its job and gets a 7 out of 10.
Bike Race Free
Navigating a difficult obstacle course on a dirt bike is as rewarding to a player as a lab rat finding cheese.
Fifth and final in the top five on the iTunes app store is Bike Race Free, a challenging game that can make or break gamers with it’s tedious but rewarding levels.
Gamers are given three level packs to start off with, but can unlock more as they progress through levels and play multiplayer matches with others via the internet. Players navigate these courses by tilting their iPhones/iPads forward or backward and giving the dirt bike gas by pressing on the screen.
Luckily for gamers, there are infinite numbers of retries so that when they fail (and they will fail), they can try again until they complete the course. There is a multiplayer component to this game which adds even more depth. A player can compete with others online by trying to get the best time on courses all the while their opponent does the same.
This game makes up for not having a soundtrack by implementing realistic dirt bike noises. Strengths of Bike Race Free are its unlockable bikers, challenging but rewarding levels, and multiplayer mode; all of these give Bike Race Free a high measure of replayability and sharability.
Who knew dirt biking on a dangerous life-threatening obstacle course could be such a thrill? Bike Race Free comes with high recommendations for download and gets an 8 out of 10.