Recently, I had the chance to play the iOS remake of the original wildly popular Final Fantasy game. It was this game that led to an epic series of Final Fantasy games, numbering in the dozens (not to mention the countless spin-offs), and spanning several generations of consoles. This is the game that all of the older generations of gamers talk about, it was something that I had never experienced for myself.

So, I set out to see what all the hype was about.

Gameplay + Combat
Final Fantasy, as I said before, is the root to all of the other Final Fantasy games that have been made. It was the base concepts of this game that were built on. That being said, it stands pretty well on it’s own. The combat is built on a turned based system. Each character has the options of Attacking, Using an Item, Magic, Defending, or Fleeing. While it works rather well, it does have it’s downsides. For example, it gets really frustrating when, in the higher level dungeons, the enemies somehow almost always get to attack first. This minor inconvenience can be a problem in two ways. The first is when you have 9 enemies facing you. Each one gets to attack you before you even get the chance to do anything. The other way this is a problem is when your facing very strong enemies where every hit counts. It starts you off with the underhand in the battle.

Controls
As you may have noticed, many iOS games suffer from terrible control schemes due probably to a lack of physical buttons on iOS devices. This has ruined countless games for me, as I’m so used to physical buttons on my consoles and my PC. This being said, I’m glad to say that Final Fantasy has overcome many of the control issues that plague many modern iOS games. The virtual joy sticks are both smooth and responsive, and that’s more than I could ever ask for.

Graphics
While not anything particularly revolutionary, the in-game graphics are impressive. While staying true to the original, they look vibrant and colorful on the IPhones Retina Display. I only wish that there were some form of cut screens to further the immerse you into the story, which brings us to my next point.

Story
The Final Fantasy game series is well know for it’s intricate, long, and sometimes outright painfully confusing story lines. In this aspect, Final Fantasy succeeds. It tells the tale of mysterious travelers who are foretold by ancient prophecies to save the world from impeding doom (Yea, because we have never seen THAT story before). While not being necessarily original, the story is well told is full of turns and twists.

Summary
In conclusion, this is one game I would highly suggest for any RPG fans that own an IPhone, IPod, or IPad. Its a full, entertaining experience, the likes of which you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere on the App Store. It’s a great game for the price, and a classic to boot.

- Sami

The art of making a casual game that become a smash hit with those gamers who despise the ‘casual games market’ is a tough one to crack. PopCap are a company who seem to have mastered the art of the highly-polished casual game. Their latest iteration of PC / Mac title Plants vs. Zombies is no exception, it brings addictive, fun gameplay to the iPhone format. We reviewed Plants vs. Zombies for PC back in May last year. Our reviewer – Kristin – thoroughly enjoyed the title. We’re back again to see if the iPhone version is as good.

At its core Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense game, in essence you must stop waves of – adorable – zombies making it across your lawn and up to your house. You fight the shambling hordes by planting an arsenal of plants in their path, plants that spit, explode, stop the zombies in their tracks and various other awesomeness. New plants are opened as you progress through the game and sunshine gives you the power to purchase them. It’s all very simple, but addictive as hell.

As well as new plants appearing each time you finish a level, so too do new types of zombies. Newer zombies will bring with them more difficulty, be it taking more damage to kill them or less shambling, more Sue Sylvester styled running. Plants vs. Zombies iPhone incarnation loses little in its transition as far as the main game is concerned, it retains a whopping 50 levels, though the mini-games have been removed in favor of Adventure and Quick Play modes. Given the price of this title ($3.99 AUD, $2.99 USD at time of writing) you get plenty of zombie bang for your buck.

The iPhone / iTouch user-interface feels like it was made to host Plants vs. Zombies, tapping seeds with your finger and placing them on the lawn is superb and for the most part precise. In many ways playing the game on the iPhone is better than using a mouse to click your way through. High praise to PopCap for doing such a wonderful job in the porting of this game.

So are there any negatives to this title? Well, if it can be termed a negative, it’s so addictive you’ll probably finish it fairly fast, that said, the price point is more than fair in this regard. In later levels there appeared slight stuttering when the screen was extremely busy, but this did nothing to mar what is a fun gaming experience.

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and you missed out on Plants vs. Zombies when it released last year on PC, get it.

Review by Angela

Bullet Review:
Plants versus Zombies has made a fantastic transition to the iPhone format. Protecting your house from the zombie horde feels as natural as can be with the touch screen format. It’s addictive, creative and cheap at the present price. At the cheap price point, it’s definitely worth getting.

A lot of us gamers have iPhones, heck, a lot of non gamers have iPhones, but with a gazillion apps in the app store, we don’t have time to go through them all, so here for you my gaming chums is a little rundown of some of the apps you should have on your phone.

For the Tweeters
There are loads of Twitter Apps on the iPhone, but we’ve narrowed down your choices somewhat right here.

Tweetie 2
Tweetie 2 has seen some changes and it’s now rated by many as one of the best Twitter Apps available. Tweetie 2 handles multiple accounts, allegedly translates foreign Tweets and links your contacts with Twitter (if you want that). It’s $3.99 (AUD)

Twitterlator Pro
Twitterlator Pro isn’t cheap at $5.99 (AUD) but it’s got everything the regular Twitter user is going to need, including video / audio tweeting, friends lists, locational tweeting, multiple accounts and more.

For the Fitness Freaks
Yes there are a ton of fitness Apps in the AppStore and here are a couple of the best.

RunKeeper
Fitness freaks this one’s for you. RunKeeper tracks your jogging using the GPS. Not only does it keep track of your running distance, it will also calculate calories burned and various other fitness guff. There’s a free version and the pro version is $12.99 (AUD).

For the Geeks
I’m one and chances are if you hang out on a gaming site you’re one too. Geeks Unite! Here are some of the best geek Apps on the AppStore.

Dynamic Dice
Tabletop RPG fans looking for a nicely animated dice roller can try Dynamic Dice (1.19 AUD). Other choices for dice rollers lay in D20 Dice and Dice Bag. Though there really is nothing like actually rolling real dice.

SCI FI Wire
Okay so this is really just a flashy RSS feed, but heck if you want to keep up with your scifi news when you’re out and about, this is pretty darn cool and updated all week. FREE

Word Games
There are loads of word games on the iPhone, but some of the first to appear are still the best. Be sure and check these out.

Chicktionary
It’s chickens, with letters on their eggs and you rearrange them into words to fill in blanks spaces. This is cute and a lot of fun, if you haven’t tried it, grab the lite version. It’s $2.49 (AUD) if you want the full version.

Wurdle
Drago your finger across letters randomley generated on a grid to make words. The more words you make the more points you get. The bigger the words, the more points you get. $2.49 (AUD)

How’s the Weather
Okay so there are loads of serious weather Apps in the App Store, there are also some fun weather Apps, sure weather can be fun.

Zombie Weatherman
At $2.49 this is a bit steep for a weather App given the iPhone comes with one installed, but hey it’s got zombies in it! Your zombie weatherman groans and bleeds when you poke him, as well as showing the weather.

BOMRadar
For Aussie iPhone users the BOMRadar is a great little app that shows you incoming storms and other information. It’s fairly cheap at $1.19 (AUD).

Games Games Games
They’re what we’re here for, but rather than listing them separately I’ll just splurge them all out one after the other because there are so many.

Papertoss – Flick the paper ball into the bin
Skee-Ball – Throw the ball, score points, retrotastic
Jet Car Stunts – It’s a stunt car app what more do you need to know
FlightControl – Planes planes planes
Harbor Master – Boats Boats Boats
Peggle – Addictive and great music
StoneLoops! – PuzzLoop essentially
AirportMania – Don’t crash them!
MiniGore – Mmmm fuzzy monsters
ZombieVille – Mmmmm Brains
DoodleJump – Simple accelerometer title, but addictive as heck
RockBand – That RockBand, only with a lot less songs.
Sally’s Spa – One for the time management nuts
Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor – Because it’s so darn clever
Orbital – There’s a lite version, go get it!
Ranch Rush – Another one for the time management, this time on a farm

Handy Apps
Shazam – It’s like magic, hold your phone to the song you’re hearing and it will tell you what it is. Handy for those “who the heck sings this?” moments.

Wikipanion – It’s Wikipedia in your pocket, easier than going via Safari to get there.

PandoraBox – Tells you what Apps are on sale or going for free

I hope you’ve enjoyed a look at some of the best Apps available in the App Store as of the start of 2010. I’m sure we’ll do another article as an update a little later in the year with even more great Apps, particularly given the rumored iSlate is said to release at the end of this month.