LED Football For iPhone – Flashing Blips Excite Us (free this weekend)

(written by guest author Tim Giron. follow Tim on Twitter @timgiron)

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Good evening sports fans and welcome to this, the LED Football 2 [iTunes $0.99] championship game. The blips are taking the field and we are anxiously anticipating the return of one of the brightest blips to ever grace this game: your quarterback. And what an up and down season he has had, folks. Who can forget his daring run to victory in LED Football? Once he had committed to running forward, there was no way he was able to fall back. You’ve gotta admire the gutsy determination that it took to score against those odds. And then, of course, there were those that said his career was finished amidst the rumors of retirement during the off-season.

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But now, in LED Football 2, he’s back for more. And he’s teaming up with that flashy blip, the razzle dazzle receiver, for a decidedly more potent offense. Just when those dim blips on defense think they have shut him down, he’s able to fire a pass downfield for the first down or even an amazing touchdown run. And this new fancy footwork is a thing of beauty also, folks. The way he fades back a little to bait the defense, just waiting for an opening. It’s like he’s playing a brand new game! One with all of the features that you remember (except the nine volt battery) and it’s fully licensed from Mattel, Inc., by the developer, touchGrove.

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In addition to LED Football [iTunes] and LED Football 2 [iTunes], touchGrove also has LED Basketball [iTunes] already available in the App Store and LED Baseball in the works. At just 99 cents each, these nuggets of nostalgia are easy on the lunch money as well.

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FREE iPhone App – LED FOOTBALL
[Editor’s Note: So here’s the scoop … there’s this sort of big football game going on tomorrow where it costs $3 million for a 30 second advertising spot – BARGAIN. In honor of the companies that spend this insane amount of money, the folks at touchGrove decided it would be cool to price their version 1 LED Football at zero/free. Go ahead, don’t be shy … CLICK HERE to download LED Football for FREE. Heck, why not … all you young punks could learn a thing or two about videogaming history and how good you freaking have it these days. Modern Warfare 2, Madden 10, Halo 3 … hell, back in the late 70’s they got excited over flashing blips on a black screen as Tim described above. So yeah, show some freaking appreciation … download LED Football … and thank KRAPPS, you’ll never take your current videogames for granted again!]

February 6, 2010 | Filed Under anti-KRAPPS, Games, Guest Authors | 8 Comments 

Knife Dancing – First App To Offer “Buy One Get One Free” Code

(free full version Knife Dancing app for all viewers – see end of article for details)

Jobs-Moses-Tablet So today is huge for geeks. In a few hours, Apple will be announcing their computer tablet, the iPad. Think of it as a giant iPhone on steroids … the iPad will have a 10-inch screen, run on the same operating system as the iPhone, priced at $800 and $1,000 and supposedly change the way we read books, magazines and newspapers (rivaling Amazon’s Kindle). Similar to the iPod and iPhone, Apple is hoping the iPad will be another revolutionary product – the ultimate armchair gadget. Even Steve Jobs states, “This will be the most important thing I’ve ever done.” Damn Steve … you go boy!

But while the spotlight is on Apple for another historic day in technology, we choose to salute the little guys … the 28,000 app developers. Without their ingenuity and creativity, the iPhone (and soon, the iPad) wouldn’t be shit.

knife-dancing-title One such “think outside the box” developer is Headlight Software. They managed to introduce an App Store “first” … no small task competing against 150,000 applications.

Headlight Software has a nifty straightforward app called Knife Dancing. It’s a FREE app … so what the hell, go download it now [iTunes]. Knife Dancing is a virtual knife game (safer that way) … follow the pattern and see how fast you can stab back and forth between fingers … careful not to hit flesh (sucks that way). The app starts off really easy … you hack away with a terrifying crayon. In addition to the Crayola, there are four additional levels (weapons) of increasing difficulty.

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As we stated, Knife Dancing is free … but free will only get you so far … the easiest weapon, crayon. The other levels are available for 99 cents via in-app purchase. BUT HOLD ON … here’s the revolutionary part … an App Store first. When you purchase the additional weapons, you’ll receive a SwappIt code. You can then email the code to a friend, allowing them to redeem it from within the app and receive the 99 cents worth of additional weapons for free.

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Essentially, anyone who buys the full version of Knife Dancing, can give away one copy of the full app for free … utilizing SwappIt technology. In addition to email, you can also post the code from within the app to Facebook or even send it wirelessly if the recipient is nearby. We never heard of such a thing … too cool!

And that folks is an App Store first. That’s the kind of thinking required to compete against 150,000 apps. That’s giving your app a fighting chance to go viral. Hopefully other devs will jump on the SwappIt code bandwagon and add some marketing flair to their app.

Free Full Version Of Knife Dancing To All KRAPPS Viewers
Big shouts to the folks at Headlight Software who were kind enough to create an uber SwappIt code exclusively for KRAPPS viewers … allowing you to download all knives for free. Simply CLICK HERE to download the free Knife Dancing app. Launch app and click the SwappIt button on the top right of the screen. Enter the code … KRAPPS.COM … (yeah, we changed it up – keep you guys on your toes) press Done and voila, all knives have been unlocked an ready for you to slash away. Enjoy!

[Illustraion by Dale Stephanos via Flickr]

January 27, 2010 | Filed Under Games, News | 10 Comments 

Mr. Dumb Go Down – Beavis & Butthead Meet A Reverse Doodle Jump

(written by guest author Connor Coghlan. follow Connor on Twitter @Condawg)

Another Mr. Dumb game? You bet your Beavis-loving ass! I’ve already reviewed the two other Mr. Dumb games — Mr. Dumb Toilet and iChowdown — here on KRAPPS and I’m touching down once again to give you some impressions on the third game in the series from ZenuxLab … Mr. Dumb Go Down [iTunes $0.99]

I know that at this point, you’re asking yourself, "What do you do in Mr. Dumb Go Down?" Well … it should be much of a mystery … you go down … Mister Dumb-Ass.

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What? Oh, right. I have to try and be "professional…" Ahem <sorry>.

The basic premise of the game is — do I really have to?  — you go DOWN (get your mind out of the gutter, perv). It’s one of those games where it’s a side view of your character and you  have to avoid objects and make your way down without going out of view.

Mr-Dumb-Go-Down-5 Luckily, the default controls are not accelerometer-based (thank you devs … much better control and feel this way). You simply tap the screen on the side you want your character to go to and… well, that’s it. You can use accelerometer-based controls, if you REALLY want to (I wouldn’t), but the default ones work just fine and give you a good amount of control.

Now, you’re making your way down a tree in this game. There are bees chasing you along the way, so you have to make sure you don’t stay on one branch for too long. Then there are obstacles such as thorns and bushes. They are wicked nastiness as they hurt you and slow you down … basically making your life miserable.

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The sheer simplicity of the game is nice … think of it as a reversed Doodle Jump. Mr. Dumb Go Down is very well made, with fantastic graphics and realistic gameplay. While it may tend to get repetitive for the hardcore gaming crowd, I feel it is best suited for the casual gamer and certainly deserving of a place in the App Store.  

That said, this game still has the same nice charm as the other games in the series. Playing the other two Mr. Dumb games before this one definitely helped me enjoy it a bit more, because I already had a connection with the characters (well, I did from the very beginning, anyway, since they’re essentially Beavis and Butthead).

When it comes down to it, this game targets the casual gaming folks … and most likely won’t make you lose any sleep playing it or induce dreams about it if you happen to drift off. At less than a dollar [iTunes $0.99], there is little risk for casual gamers to check out Mr. Dumb Go Down … or of course you could go the totally risk-free way and download the FREE version [iTunes FREE].

Ok ZenuxLab, I’m waiting for a fourth episode to get by Beavis and Butthead fix … Bring It!

 

January 23, 2010 | Filed Under anti-KRAPPS, Games, Guest Authors | 5 Comments 

Monkeys In Space Delivers Galactic Goodness To Your iPhone

(written by guest author Tim Giron. follow Tim on Twitter @timgiron)

I’ve been playing the latest game from Streaming Colour Studios, Monkeys in Space: Escape to Banana Base Alpha [iTunes] since the day it came out in late November. At the time, I bought it solely based on the reputation of the developer to deliver a solid game. Their other app, Dapple [our review], is one of my favorite games on the iPhone, so I hoped to be similarly entertained with the new offering. And, I am happy to report, I was not disappointed in the least.

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The rules are simple: color coded monkeys (red and yellow) need to be guided to their correspondingly colored space station without touching each other (or any of the asteroids which fly about in one of the levels). As the level progresses, the action gets fast and furious, requiring nimble fingers to achieve high score success. The game also utilizes multi-touch, allowing complex maneuvers to be carried out if you possess the appropriate dexterity (or a trusted friend)!

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Scoring values are increased when you are able to "chain" together several monkeys of the same color to enter the space station as a connected line. Any monkeys on the same chain are also allowed to touch each other. Three levels are immediately accessible: in Deep Space, it’s just monkeys and space stations; in Planetary Chaos, a gravity inducing planet occupies the center of the screen, warping trajectories and flinging monkeys into each other at high speeds; in Asteroids! you have to avoid collisions with a few space rocks as well. In a mid-December version 1.1 release, a fourth level was added, Threes a Crowd which is unlocked when you have saved 750 monkeys. This advanced level features a third monkey, the large blue baboon which, as you may have guessed is paired with a blue space station.

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The game looks fantastic and plays super-smooth. The sound effects and music are also are top-notch. The monkeys panic and begin screeching when they are in imminent danger of colliding, giving you just enough time to attempt evasive action before their "personal space" is invaded. The game also lets you play your own music from the iPod, a feature which is always appreciated. For you high-scoring, competitive types, the game interfaces with the OpenFeint system to record your accomplishments.

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Monkeys in Space: Escape to Banana Base Alpha is a great addition to the pantheon of iPhone games, providing an abundance of entertainment value for the price, which at the time of this writing, is just 99 cents [iTunes].

 

January 16, 2010 | Filed Under anti-KRAPPS, Games, Guest Authors | 3 Comments 

Bounce On For iPhone – 2D Sidescroller That Won Us Over

(written by guest author Connor Coghlan. follow Connor on Twitter @Condawg)

Bounce On, by Team Phobic, is a simple 2D sidescroller. While it doesn’t bring much of anything new to the genre … the game is a quality build, very charming, supported by solid updates from the developers and the 75 levels will keep you coming back for more.

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When I first started playing the game, I was a bit skeptical (that’s how I roll). I’m not a big fan of games that require heavy accelerometer usage … they tend to feel clunky and inaccurate. I don’t think I’ve ever loved being WRONG this much! The controls feel refined and natural … this really is a platformer FOR the device. Its natural vibe makes for a very native feel. I’m a big fan of games with good physics and Bounce On definitely shines here.

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The premise of the game is straightforward … you are a red ball. You roll around (tilting left and right, with accelerometer-based controls) and jump (by tapping the screen) on enemies. You collect gems and powerups along the way… stars are checkpoints and cannons are the exits of each level.

There are several different kinds of opponents and each acts differently. I’m not going to be a spoiler, but I the enemies are freaking awesome in this game.

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One thing I feel is lacking are the graphics … average in my opinion. While this is not a major flaw, it definitely doesn’t do much to contribute to the charm of the game and actually put me off at first.

But it’s like a sweet girl in high school who has a pizza face… get past that rough exterior to the golden center (in this case, the gameplay) and you’ll be rewarded big time. In fact, you probably won’t even notice the off-putting aesthetic aspects and just focus on the good.

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And let’s not forget the in-game music … excellent tunes are provided by electronica group, T3KL3R. Very cool stuff which adds an additional element of quality to the game.

At first I thought the Bounce On would get old pretty quickly, but it sucked me in. The game is Plus+ enabled, so achievements and leaderboards are supported. After playing for quite a while, I can tell you with confidence … Bounce On is a game that’s worth your time, money and space on your iDevice. And it seems others agree with me as Bounce On is a finalist in the Best Adventure Game category in the Best App Ever Awards contest. Considering the tens of thousands iPhone games … that is HUGE … congratulations Team Phobic!

Speaking of worth your money … Bounce On is available for $1.99 [iTunes]. No money? No worries! A Lite version available at no charge [iTunes], so no excuse – give it a bounce.

 

January 9, 2010 | Filed Under Games, Guest Authors | 4 Comments 

A Drunk And Electrocuted Santa For Your iPhone

Hope everyone had an awesome Christmas yesterday! Santa Claus did a great job delivering presents to all those on his “Nice List” (we got screwed, we got coal). No reports on TMZ of any crazy Christmas capers or other Santa sleaze (unlike Tiger Woods, Santa stopped at three ho’s) … so it looks like the Big Guy completed another successful Rodman-Wedding-Dress worldwide delivery run this year.

So what does Santa do now … the day after Christmas? DRINK! – A LOT! Not just one or two or twelve or twenty four drinks … we’re talking a full blown alcohol binge that would make even ex-NBA freak show Dennis Rodman look like a virgin bride all dressed in white (oh wait, Rodman does look like that).

Of course Santa’s December 26 drunken escapades are no secret and as such, there’s an app for that … Drunken Santa Klaus.

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Now while you can’t stop Santa from getting blitzen (see what we did there), you can help a brother out by keeping him on his feet and avoid ending up face down in a gutter, sleeping in jolly puke … or worse, dead electrocuted Santa! So check out the Drunken Santa Klaus video below and help Santa deliver a very Merry Christmas 2010.

 

December 26, 2009 | Filed Under Games | 13 Comments 

When (8-bit) Dinosaurs Ruled the Land! – C64 For iPhone

(written by guest author Tim Giron. follow Tim on Twitter @timgiron)

Commodore_64 Let us travel back in time, to an age when 64 KB of memory was all that was needed to be a real computer. The year was 1982 when Commodore International introduced the best-selling single personal computer model of all time, the Commodore 64. I got one a couple of years later, when I started college and found it beneficial to have a computer at home for CompSci homework (the labs were always packed during the decent hours). Coupled with a 300 baud modem and a dot matrix printer, this was a system that was ready for action! And it wasn’t all school work, oh no… The C=64 had some of the best games of the era: interactive fiction adventures like Zork, flying games like Choplifter and one of my personal faves, the fighting game Karateka.

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And so it was with a sense of nostalgia that I dug into the C64 app by Manomio. Included with the app are 8 games: Dragons Den, Le Mans, International Basketball, International Soccer, International Tennis, Jupiter Lander, Arctic Shipwreck and Jack Attack. I only recalled two of these from "back in the day", so I fired up Dragons Den first. There are 2 different view modes for the games. In portrait mode, the playing screen is pretty small, but you get a clear view of the game controls (namely a joystick and fire button… that’s all we needed back then to have a good time). In landscape mode, the playing screen fills the space and the controls are invisibly overlaid.

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After several minutes of riding around on a pegasus, I was ready to take the wheel of a formula one racer in Le Mans. In both of these, the gameplay is smooth and the music is appropriately retro. It shouldn’t surprise you that the games play well, the iPhone is much more powerful than the old hardware. For several of the other games, I had to look them up online to figure out the goal. While playing Jupiter Lander, my wife walked by and told me she remembered the game and although neither of us remembered Arctic Shipwreck, it was great fun to trample the people stranded on the ice floe with the woolly mammoth (not the "official" goal of the game, by the way).

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Manomio has done a great job in preserving a grand old platform for a new generation. I fear that licensing will prevent some of the best games from showing up, but I did see that there will be new games (some free, some for in-app purchase) available in the next update (which should be approved next week): Bruce Lee, Laser Squad, Uridium, Paradroid, Druid, Kikstart, Cybernoid, Storm Lord and AlletKat.

At $4.99 [iTunes], C64 is priced appropriately for the entertainment value it provides to fans of the old-school.

 

December 19, 2009 | Filed Under anti-KRAPPS, Games, Guest Authors | 4 Comments 

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