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Capcom's amazingly popular fighting game, Street Fighter IV, has made its long-awaited iPhone debut. To every button masher's joy, the game didn't disappoint, turning out an exciting beat-em-up that's bound to subject your poor handset's touchscreen to relentless abuse.
Graphically, the game has more in common with older versions of the franchise, rather than the 3D Street Fighter IV you will find on current-gen home consoles. They're not bad, far from it. In fact, this is one of the most attractive-looking fighting games I've seen on a mobile platform to date, even on an iPhone 3G (where I played it).
How about the buttons? Surprisingly enough, they work well. There will likely be some getting used to, especially if you're a hardcore player, but it's not as bad as I originally imagined. In fact, I was pulling off mildly difficult combos in well under 30 minutes - a feat considering everyone I know kicks my ass on SF4. You get an onscreen joystick for movements, plus four buttons - punch, kick, special move and charge. Yes, Capcom decided to leave out the low and medium strikes, which sucks a little. Regardless, there's still plenty here to waste entire days on (not hours, but days).
The special move button, by the way, is kind of a cheat, but you can turn it off in the preferences, as well as rearrange the button placements if you so wish. You also get "revenge" and "super" meters that charge as you get beat up or pile on the hurt, respectively. Once either is full, you can simply touch them to perform a special attack. The ease by which you can do that is a bit of a turn-off, but it's a minor annoyance on what's an otherwise excellent implementation.
You can play as one of eight familiar characters in seven different environments. Game modes include Tournament (where you fight multiple matches), Dojo (a training mode for your character), Free-Sparring (for testing out an opponent), Training Room (where you can practice your combos) and Versus (against a human opponent over Bluetooth).
If I had any real complaints, it would be the common iPhone problem of my fingers getting in the way of the action. It can get irritating, especially for a fast-paced horizontal game such as Street Fighter 4. While I do think the price is a bit steep at $9.99, it is one of the greatest action games of all time on your iPhone, so that should count for something.
Streetfighter IV Brings Relentless Touchscreen Abuse To The iPhone4.3333333333333noel2010-03-13 15:14:27
App Reviews,iPhone AppsStreetfighter IV Brings Relentless Touchscreen Abuse To The iPhone
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Does your kid have an iPhone? My nine-year old nephew has one - a hand-me-down from his mom when she got her shiny new 3GS. While kids will most likely use it to play games, you have to keep in mind that they can also use it to surf the web.
As on the PC, you'd like to keep them off from objectionable areas of the internet. Problem is, Safari offers zero parental controls on that end. As such, they're pretty much free to wander about cyberspace unrestricted.
The Mobicip Safe Browser fills this gap, giving you options to block out unsavory websites from being accessed on your kids' iPhones. Yep, it's an alternative browser that's actually approved by the App Store, because it does offer something that the native Safari client doesn't - a child-safe surfing environment.
Before you can force your kid to use it instead of Safari, you'll have to disable the latter manually: Settings -> General -> Restrictions. It would have been better if this could be handled right from the app itself, although being a one-time change, it's no biggie.
Its main strength is that it functions and looks nearly like Safari, making the transition from using one to the other seamless, with no required learning curve. The lack of a facility to import bookmarks is bit of a letdown, though.
Mobicip itself costs $4.99, which gets you the child-safe browser plus a free account for their filtering service. Any URL accessed from the app gets filtered through the company's servers, which decides whether to either allow or block it. Free accounts get three levels of filtering: elementary, middle and high school.
If you want more detailed control of your child's surfing habits, you can also sign up for a Premium account for $9.99 per year. This gets you plenty of latitude, including the ability to blacklist and whitelist specific pages and categories, download activity reports and manage multiple devices from a single dashboard.
[Mobicip for iPhone]
Child-Proof Your Kids' iPhones With The Mobicip Safe Browser4.125noel2010-03-05 15:14:06
App Reviews,iPhone AppsChild-Proof Your Kids' iPhones With The Mobicip Safe Browser
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Aspiring guitar players can now get a new free Gibson app on their iPhone. No, it won't turn your handset into a Les Paul as other apps are inclined to do. Instead, it just bundles a number of free tools that six-string instrumentalists of all levels may find of value.
It comes with five different sections - tuner, metronome, chords, lessons and Gibson.com. The tuner is a chromatic software that can track whatever note you're currently playing (which it receives via your iPhone's mic) and indicates whether you're flat, sharp or in tune. It starts in "All Notes" mode, but gives options to allow for alternate tunings. Very useful, especially if you've got a bad ear for sound.
The metronome is just a regular metronome app, which allows you to choose a specific BPM rate. Tapping the screen three times will adjust the tempo according to your speed. The chord area, on the other hand, gives you access to 30 chord charts, a great resource if you need help figuring out which finger goes where on the fretboard.
Need guitar lessons? The app comes with very useful ones, drawn off the award-winning Learn and Master series from Legacy Learning Systems. It comes with a variety of instructions for new licks, riffs and sequences - a definite value for new and struggling players. Gibson also promises plenty of updates for this section, with more video lessons slated to come. Finally, Gibson.com is the app's news area, where they list Gibson-related products and special events.
Overall, the free Gibson app is a definite download if you're at all planning to learn the guitar. Even intermediate and slightly more advanced players might find it of value, too.
[Gibson App]
Gibson iPhone App Bundles Useful Tools For Novices And More4.3333333333333noel2010-03-03 12:27:10
App Reviews,iPhone AppsGibson iPhone App Bundles Useful Tools For Novices And More
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Originally available for other mobile platforms back in 2008, the Transformers G1 Awakening has finally found its way into the App Store. Mixing turn-based strategy gameplay with shape-shifting robots of the legendary franchise and the iPhone's power, it's only natural to be expectant.
Based on the original TV series rather than the movie, it includes a cast of characters that should make hardcore Transformers fans giggle with delight. The storyline follows the show faithfully as well.
Like the non-iPhone version, gameplay is a regular turn-based strategy. You wait your turn, move a certain number of squares, effect an attack, capture structures and all that. There's really little deviation from the old formula, except for the fact that your characters can transform. Naturally, being either a vehicle or a robot brings its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Because each Transformer has special abilities, the game becomes heavy on the strategy too - a fact that should delight true fans of the genre.
Transformers G1 has three game modes - Campaign, Showdown and Multiplayer. The campaign mode comes with a total of 17 missions, good for about four hours worth of play. Showdown is a special challenge mode that puts Autobots versus Decepticons on a number of difficult situations. The multiplayer sucks, however, as it's strictly as pass-and-play affair.
Ported directly from the 2008 version, graphics hardly take advantage of the iPhone's talents at all. In fact, the visuals can be downright silly at times, although the battle scenes are gratuitously entertaining.
Overall, Transformers G1 Awakening is a must for any old-school Transformers fan. For other gamers, it offers enough of a challenge to be a worthy contender, especially if you're a fan of turn-based strategy titles. Despite the graphics complaint, it's totally worth the $4.99 price.
Download Now
Transformers G1 Awakening Brings A Challenging Strategy Battle3.8333333333333noel2010-02-26 16:14:17
App Reviews,iPhone AppsTransformers G1 Awakening Brings A Challenging Strategy Battle
It's almost 2010 and you still haven't jailbroken your iPhone? Good for you. Well, not really. Even with the dismissed warranty, losing Apple restrictions can help you gain these awesome features that could make losing your handset's chains worthwhile.
1. Multitasking
First, an app called Backgrounder will let you run programs in the background, allowing you to do multiple things at a time (like listen to internet radio while surfing the web and reading your mails). Combine it with a task switcher (either Kirikae or the paid Multifl0w) and you can easily work from one app to another, all while they run at the exact same time.
2. Downloads
Like to download torrents when you're on the road? Do it on your jailbroken iPhone. A simple Safari plug-in will add a full-featured download manager for your device, allowing you to look after your torrents (and other downloads) the same way you work with them on your PC. Want to download YouTube videos? Not a problem either with YourTube.
3. Lockscreen apps
Wish the iPhone's lockscreen can do more than just lock the device? On your jailbroken iPhone, it can. Apps like LockInfo and IntelliScreen provide a boatload of functionalities in that state, including accessing your calls, messages, calendar and numerous other information. With Cydgets coming too, it's about to get even better.
4. TV out
Screw Apple TV out restrictions in jailbroken mode with the TVOut app (for portrait mode) and Landscape TV Out, which lets you enable the capability on all apps.
5. Unrestricted 3G
Tons of software in the App Store restrict 3G (in order to kowtow to Apple rules). With the Unrestrictor, that goes away. All apps that bar 3G (e.g. Skype) suddenly get it. That 10MB download file limit? It no longer exists. Heck, even your streaming YouTube videos look better unrestricted.
Five Good Reasons To Jailbreak Your iPhone Nowunratednoel2009-12-28 11:19:43
NewsFive Good Reasons To Jailbreak Your iPhone Now
