Upcoming iPhone games: Bug Princess 2, Saturday Morning RPG, and more
Next week's most promising iPhone and iPad games
Every Friday, we like to finish off the week by looking ahead and talking about the iPhone and iPad games that are just over the horizon.
I attended the F2P summit in London this week, and had speaker after speaker claim that the iPhone is all about free to play, and how you'll soon never see another upfront price tag on the App Store.
Until that nightmare scenario kicks in, here are four games that will definitely be premium apps when they launch in April.
Note: Dates, prices, and features are subject to change at the whim of the developer and Apple's approval team. Dates were correct at time of publication.
Bug Princess 2
By CAVE - out on April 5th (source)
It's another month, so that means another bullet hell game from Cave. This time around it's a port of 2006 arcader Mushihimesama Futari, which is coming to the App Store under the slightly more pronounceable title, Bug Princess 2.
According to Wikipedia, where I do all my research, the original Futari is cited as being one of the hardest games ever made. Don't let that put you off, though: Cave will include four difficulty settings and a practice mode to accommodate newcomers.
Getting a high score is all about collecting gems. You've got a handy gauge that switches colour from green to blue every time you nab 500 of the shiny stones. You'll get more gems for using your laser when the gauge is blue, or with your cannon when its green.
We liked the first Bug Princess game, and said "for aficionados of the genre, this is going to press all the right buttons," in our Silver Award review.
Burger Cat
By Ravenous Games - out in April (source)
We know Ravenous Games from League of Evil, the game where your super-soldier protag punches scientists so hard that their faces explode into clouds of jelly and brain.
The cutesy Burger Cat is not the most obvious follow-up.
It's port of the Flash-based puzzler of the same name (though with all-new graphics and plenty of new levels), where you use a variety of tools to get a moggy safely across each level.
The game's chubby cat (Ravenous is currently crowd-sourcing a name) walks blindly towards a cheeseburger. You'll have to make the journey safe, by plopping down new platforms, placing springboards and creating holes.
It's a much more puzzle-led affair than Evil's twitchy action-heavy nonsense. A game where you'll need to use your brain, rather than your thumbs.
Ravenous will submit the game next week, so here's hoping for a speedy approval.
Rabbids Go Phone Again
By Ubisoft - out on April 5th (source)
Ever wanted to capture one of those raving Rabbids from the Rayman-spinoffs so you can torture the poor blighter and take photos of your sadistic handiwork? Well, have we got news for you...
Next week, Ubisoft is unleashing a new version of Rabbid torture chamber, Rabbids Go Phone, on iPhone and iPad. Once again, a fuzzy bug-eyed critter from the Wii series gets lodged in your iOS device, and you get free reign to mess with it.
You can tickle, toss and shake your prisoner, and play tricks using objects like the toilet brush or the piranha. You can even incorporate a Rabbid into a photo of yourself, and upload the incriminating evidence to Facebook.
Saturday Morning RPG
By Mighty Rabbit Studios - out on April 5th (source)
The developers at Mighty Rabbit Studios are probably not alone in remembering a childhood spent watching Saturday morning cartoons and binging on Japanese RPGs. But they're probably the first to mash those nostalgic bedfellows into an episodic iPhone game.
So in this game, the characters, enemies and locations you'll explore are heavily influenced by 80s shows like G.I. Joe, The Transformers, and Visionaries, while the gameplay is equal parts Final Fantasy and Paper Mario.
The whole thing is a sordid 80s orgy, with killer Care Bears, handy Trapper Keepers with Scratch 'n' Sniff stickers, and even music by composers Vince DiCola and Kenny Meriedeth - responsible for the tunes in everything from Transformers: The Animated Movie to Duck Tales.
After smashing its Kickstarter goal, the first episode of Saturday Morning RPG will be out on April 5th.
