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Top 10 best Android games of February 2013

Toys, futuristic parkour, retro RPGs, and hip hop dogs

Top 10 best Android games of February 2013
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It's that time of month again where we stop and get a little reflective. Join us as we look back at the best Android games of February.

Here's how it works: we take a look back at our own Android reviews section from the past 30 days or so. We also check out the Quality Index boards, and try fiendishly to remember anything else that might have caught our attention during the month.

The ensuing ten games represent our favourite Android titles of the month, then. Simple!

Naturally, it's far from definitive, so we encourage you all to contribute your own favourite 'droid games of the month in the comments section below.

Toy Story: Smash It!
By Disney - buy on Android

Take a little Angry Birds; pump some air into it until it's all chunky and 3D; then stir in some Boom Blox (the cult Wii game). Now, slap on some Toy Story magic, and what do you get?

One of the best physics-puzzlers of the year so far: that's what.

In Toy Story: Smash It!, you topple towers and knock over aliens like a big kid - which is apt given the attached licence.

Vector
By Nekki - download free on Android

This slick little runner can best be described as 'Canabalt with extra parkour cool and a solid sci-fi story bolted on'.

Playing the part of a fleeing silhouette dude, you must hop, skip, and jump your way to freedom. Or a delayed death, depending on whether you're a glass-half-full type.

Syder Arcade HD
By Studio Evil - buy on Android

No, Syder Arcade HD has got nothing to do with glugging Strongbow around the back of the OutRun machine. Though, heaven knows, we've all been there. Er, haven't we?

Rather, Syder Arcade HD is a classically styled shoot-'em-up with some pretty pseudo-3D graphics.

It's a pretty darn good one, too, which is probably why it's on this list.

Mission of Crisis
By GoodTeam - buy on Android

This compelling action-strategy game has more than a faint whiff of Cannon Fodder about it.

If you know what that means, you're probably in the process of downloading Mission of Crisis already.

If you don't, well, you're probably quite young. We forgive you.

Either way, the war between cats and dogs has rarely been portrayed as entertainingly as it is here.

QuestLord
By Lava Level - buy on Android

QuestLord nails that retro RPG vibe beautifully. And when we say 'retro RPG', we mean pre-Final Fantasy Western RPGs.

This means that it's a fairly crude first-person adventure in which you inch forward, uncovering loot and engaging in turn-based battles.

It's crude but deeply engrossing.

Covenant of Solitude
By Kemco Games - buy on Android

Compared to QuestLord, Covenant of Solitude is positively futuristic. Saying that, the latter is still a fairly traditional RPG.

This time around, the inspiration is the 16-bit JRPG era of the role-playing game, which some would call the golden age of the genre.

It's a highly polished top-down adventure with random battles, dodgy dialogue, and a hokey save-the-world plot. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Word Up Dog
By Sarah Northway - buy on Android

There aren't enough video game characters influenced by '80s hip hop, we've decided. The maker of Word Up Dog looks to redress that balance in fine style.

This is a rather unusual spin on the word game, in which you - as the aforementioned streetwise mutt - must dig for letters in order to spell out words.

Hey, it works, okay. You gets me?

Real Racing 3
By Firemonkeys - download free on Android

Few games in recent memory have been as divisive as Real Racing 3.

On the one hand, it's a gorgeous and technically exquisite racing game, the likes of which you'd normally expect to see on your current-gen console.

But then there's that awkward IAP system. Yep, that one. Unless you're very, very careful, you will keep getting booted out of the game in order to top up the meter, so to speak.

We still reckon there's a great game at the heart of it, though. It's free (initially), so see what you think.

Jelly Dash
By Orca Corporation - download free on Android

Cute match-three puzzlers don't seem to be particularly fashionable at the moment, but Jelly Dash reminds us why there was such an appetence for them a few years ago.

It's a familiar case of matching coloured blobs in lines to make them disappear, but there is a compellingly tight 60-second time limit and a light character progression system to keep things fresh.

Cordy 2
By SilverTree Media - download free on Android

Yet more lush pseudo-3D platforming from SilverTree's telly-headed mascot.

Cordy 2 is a tightly constructed game, which continues to wow on a technical level... provided you have a fairly meaty Android device to hand.

Cordy 2 is, however, pretty safe: the dev doesn't even attempt to push any boundaries here. But when the area around you is so lovely, why move elsewhere?


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Top 10 best Android games: August 2012
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.