Review: MotoChaser (iPhone/iPod Touch)

There are a ton of racing games on the iPhone. It just seems like the perfect platform for them, and some of them work rather well. MotoChaser seems to fall right in the middle.

There are 3 characters and 10 tracks. Aside from looking different, there is no difference in the characters that I can tell. The maps, however, are totally varied. Like I said, there are 10 maps, (almost) all in completely different locales, ranging from the desert to an icy place that I'm guessing is Russia, because I saw a hammer and sickle sign somewhere.

To call this a racing game would be a stretch. There is no real racing involved. There is a time limit, but I still don't consider that a race. There is no real story, just a couple of pictures in between races. I think that's supposed to explain the story, but it's just a bunch of pictures of guys with masks on holding a cat with a bandana.

The controls can be quite...not really awkward, they're just touchy and unresponsive a small percentage of the time. Sometimes while I'm driving, for some reason, the game will think I let go of the gas button, and if that goes on long enough without you noticing, your iPhone can actually go into sleep mode when you're in the middle of a race. Oftentimes while you're "racing", you will drive up by the guys with masks every once in a while (it happens far more frequently on the later tracks), and you have to hit a button to punch them. This turns out to be more of a hindrance than a fun gameplay mechanic.

One of the biggest complaints I hear about this game is that the steering is too touchy, and it really is. Most games have an options menu where you can change the sensitivity of the accelerometer, but you wont find that in the current version of MotoChaser. Having a far too touchy accelerometer not only makes the game more frustrating, it also makes is nearly impossible to play in places like a car. On the bright side, there is a difficulty slider in the options menu, but that doesn't change the sensitivity, it just adds more time on the clock, which can certainly be helpful, although I would have preferred a sensitivity slider.

Some of the graphics look pretty good. The character models are all look really nice, but the environments ...not so much. The character models remind me of something like Valkyria Chronicles or maybe even No More Heroes, while the environments look like a close-up of Mario Kart 64.

The sound isn't very good, simply put. The only voice acting in the game is some girl who says "Ready...Go!" at the beginning of each "race". Other than that, it's all just generic rock songs that get really old after a while. They're not as bad as some generic rock tracks I've heard, but they're pretty bad.

Don't get me wrong, I like Motochaser, at least in short bursts. This is not a game I'd want to play for hours at a time. However, it is a fun game (and only $1), if you can get past the sensitivity and the awful sound. 3 out of 5.

Version 1.2 of MotoChaser was reviewed.

Review: Mouse About (iPhone/iPod Touch)

With the iTunes App Store being such a mess with so many things that aren't worth your time or money, it's always great to find one from the other end of the spectrum. One of these games is Mouse About, and it's probably the best $3 you'll spend for a while.

You control Marv, a mouse, as he scoots through mazes trying to eat all the food on the screen. Marv can move in straight lines and he doesn't stop until he either hits something, be it food or nuts and bolts, or moves off the screen to Sacha the cat, waiting to kill him and eat him. The goal is to eat all the food on the screen, so you have to plan out your moves to go from one piece of food to another without moving off the screen. You have to be fast, however, because there is a timer at the top of the screen, and when the timer runs out, Sacha will eat him anyway.

Of course, there's never any violence. This is a bright and colorful kid-friendly game. All of the graphics in Mouse About are great looking, with nicely drawn sprites and great backdrops. There are even several different environments Marv runs through, including a kitchen, underwater and space.

The sound effects are also good and everything is very nice to hear. I don't, however, like the music very much, because it sounds almost exactly like music from a really bad game I used to play (Casper: Friends Around the World for PS1), but that's just a personal problem I have, and it's one that I'm sure not many other people will have. If I weren't biased that way, I'm sure I'd like the music.

If you look at Mouse About for what it is, a casual puzzler on a mobile platform, you'll be very pleased with what you get. It's a game that looks great, sounds great, it's a helluva lot of fun, and since it has a practically nonexistent learning curve, it's very easy to pick up and play. Probably the best $3 you'll spend in the App Store. 4 out of 5.

Version 1.1 of Mouse About was reviewed.