RampChamp = iPhoneChamp

RampChamp is a beautifully crafted/designed application for the iPhone/iTouch. After months of waiting, it’s finally here and its WONDERFUL.

Games for the iPhone have been growing and growing…in number that is. However, the quality of the apps is appalling. It’s sad when Apple has sold over 1.5 billion apps right? It’s sad that I can only think of 5 apps (notice I said apps not games) in total that I actually use on a daily/weekly basis. RampChamp has just made it’s way to the top 5.

RampChamp is the best application on the appstore (period).

The guys at the guys over at IconFactory and DS Media Labs have truly outdone themselves and I only hope that they make many more applications in the future.

Using Your Time Wisely: iPhone Games

I think one of the keys to having a hit on the App Store, when it comes to games anyway, is to help your game infer a purpose. I wanted to highlight a few games that I’ve been playing lately who stay true to this formula as well as help me teleport through time with their addicting replay value.

iDracula-Undead Awakening – Becoming a “Van Helsing” of sorts is crucial to our survival as humans. If there were nobody to kill off all those ware wolves/demons/creepers and DRACULA, we wouldn’t be here. Would we? Updated 3/16/09 to include more levels, weapons and game modes. Available now for $2.99.

Flight Control – One of my new favorite hobbies is helping visually impaired pilots find their way safely to the runway. However, I always think it’s funny that they don’t crash on the runway once I have guided them there. Give Flight Control a try and see how many planes you can land! Now on sale for $0.99!

Dizzy Bee 2 – I’ve never been a huge fan of bees. Ever since one of them stung me on the foot when I was 10, I’ve held a grudge. However, I think my grudge has faded a bit after meeting Dizzy Bee. Dizzy helped my learn about the simple things in life, Fruit Friends and flowers. Now on sale for $0.99!

Blocked – Don’t let this one fool you, Blocked is full of purpose. The purpose being that you must break the blue rectangle out from his group of grey rectangle companions. The lack of a timer keeps the game stressless, however, a buzzer beater mode could be fun! Available now for $0.99.

Update:
Jezz – Oops, can’t believe I forgot this little gem. Thanks @davisf for the reminder. Jezz has brought a ton of joy to my soul where there had been a void since the Windows 3.1 days of Jezz Ball. Thanks to Menial & Kevin Anderson for bringing this game back to life! Available now for $1.99.

Old-School Games With A Twist

Update:

There is a minor update to the Xbox Arcade Hit Castle Crashers available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

To learn more about the DLC King pack, check out The Behemoth blog.

Original Post:

The Xbox 360 is my favorite game system. Obviously I enjoy a good online Halo 3 match or Gears of War 2 battle as much as the next gamer, however I have found myself extremely excited about the Xbox LIVE Arcade/Community game scene lately.

The New Xbox Experience has brought around a lot of cool advancements in home/online gaming: Friend Parties | Extensive Avatar System | Intuitive Interface | Netflix Integration and lots more. One of the more notable features is the availability of more “Arcade” style games ready for download in the Game Marketplace.

I say “Arcade” because the games sold in the Arcade section are not only old arcade games updated to run on the Xbox 360, they also include classic games from systems like the NES and the Nintendo64. Built more for the casual gamer, Arcade games have really pique my interest because they take me back to a time when games were more linear. Meaning rather than having a huge story line and enormous back stories, you can simply download and start having fun with these retro games, jumping right into the action. The arcade section of the Xbox LIVE Marketplace boast classic titles such as: (Xbox LIVE Marketplace Links) Banjo-Kazooie | Metal Slug 3 | TMNT 1989 | Sonic the Hedgehog | Pac-Man and Defender.

However, the titles I have been most excited about are the new ones! Don’t get me wrong classic games have their spot in my heart, but developers have really taken hold of this new outlet for creating/distributing games over Xbox LIVE and have made some really stellar games. My favorites include:

(Xbox LIVE Marketplace Links)
• Braid
• Geometry Wars 2
• N+

Click to enlarge

So why not give them a quick play and let me know what you think. Come on, I know you still have some Microsoft Points left over from Christmas! If that isn’t the case however FREE DEMOS are available for all of the games mentioned above. Have fun!

Also noteworthy, Castle Crashers by Behemoth another amazing Xbox LIVE Arcade game, has some awesome figurines in their store.

Aren’t these little guys awesome! (Click the image to enlarge.)