It’s always interesting to see developers of triple-A titles for the PC or consoles making the jump to mobile. The resulting games almost always tend to be a little more cooler than what solo indie developers tend to come up with, and with new indie development studio Megapop (made up of ex Funcom and ex Artplant developers), this is no different.

Unveiled today is their debut title Trolls vs Vikings, which will be made available both on PC and mobile platforms. The game will be showcased in GDC 2013 and hopefully will bring several new features to the fore in a genre that is honestly well and truly saturated on both PC and mobile. Check out the following excerpt from the Press Release for further details:

Trolls vs Vikings is a brand new tower defense game for players of all ages and experience levels, where you’re tasked with defending a tribe of grumpy, misunderstood-but-harmless Trolls from raids by Vikings intent on stealing their gold.  This colorful, engaging and edgy lane defense game is set in a world of rich Norse mythology, populated by a cast of over-the-top characters. With their background in creating Triple-A MMO, Adventure and Browser titles, Megapop are setting the bar high for their debut game.

Trolls vs Vikings adds a number of never-before-seen features, striving to evolve the tower defense genre for a whole new audience. It takes a fresh approach to towers, levels, gameplay, tactics, player interaction and boss fights. In addition, Trolls vs Vikings has a number of genre enhancements, including multiplayer matches (both live and asynchronous), full social integration, movable towers, strategic resource gathering, a dynamic tile system, set-piece challenges, and more. How did they fit all that game into one little game?!

Don’t forget to stay tuned to Nineoverten.com for further details on Trolls vs Vikings.

Our friends at UNAGames dropped in to announced that they have been nominated for the Drago d’Oro, the Italian award for excellence in the world of video games.  Just a little background on the Drago d’Oro; it is the Italian video game industry award established by AESVI, (Associazione Editori Sviluppatori Videogiochi Italiani), and has two prestigious partnerships with Media World, a leading consumer electronics chain in Italy, and Repubblica.it, one of the top Italian information websites.

The technical jury, chaired by Paul Spagnoli – Product Manager Videogame at Media World – and composed of journalists from the press, will choose the best games by genre; the jury of critics, headed by Jaime D’Alessandro – La Repubblica journalist – and comprising journalists from major news organizations (Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 Ore, La Stampa, Gazzetta dello Sport) and culture and showbiz personalities, will evaluate the artistic and cultural value of the nominated titles.

We reviewed UNAGames’ Tapsteroids back in 2011 (read all about it here) and the game has been nominated in the Best Independent Italian Videogame category, along with other luminaries such as Ducati Challenge, Ikaro Racing: Air Master, Shadows on the Vatican and several more. We at Nineoverten.com wish UNAGames the best of luck in the Drago d’Oro.

The SimCity 5 launch reminded me of Diablo III all over again, with its always on server connection (EA is not calling it that, rather players are “sharing” the same game space) and to hear an EA exec mention that more people logged on than they have expected, playing in ways that weren’t expected (check it out), makes one wonder whether do these guys have any idea what are they talking about in the first place.

This problem however isn’t endemic to the Diablos and Simcities of the world as casual games, which are facing a boom period on iOS and Android devices are guilty of this too. Mainly created to tap into the freemium model, these games constantly are in touch with backend servers, in the likelihood to prevent cheating (especially those that support any form of multiplayer) and to manage in-game purchases.

The folks at at Big Blue Bubble has just launched a brand new MMO on the iPad, featuring pirates and the high seas. Titled Raft Pirates, players get to build their pirate ships by piecing together rafts, and putting some really crazy looking weapons on board. The crew look like something out from a Miyazaki film and having said that, everything in the game is in beautiful 2D line-art graphics.

Besides taking turns battling other fellow pirates (the multiplayer action doesn’t require the active participation of other players, it’s basically a play against power levels), and building your rafts, players get to participate in mini games, collecting salvage (which is earned through combat as well) by diving deep into the waters of Rift Pirates.

In  a perfect world, a reviewer like me would say, hey, this will be the next big thing, but then like SimCity and Diablo, Raft Pirates features always-on connectivity back to its servers. Yes the game is an MMO (and one can argue that SimCity 5 is one as well), but what happens if the servers do not scale up with the seemingly increasing numbers of players buoyed by positive initial reviews. You get nothing short of a disaster.

I’m now having trouble starting the game, it crashes upon start-up. Before that, combat resolution was really slow and there were more than one occasion where I was booted out after a hard-earned victory (reason being the game communicates with the server during and right after combat, and so happened it failed), denying me salvage. To rub salt to the wound, the damage to my ship still remains, with  nothing (in terms of salvage) to show.

You can imagine that it has been an incredibly frustrating experience reviewing Raft Pirates. It seems to be a very nicely  made game, only to be hampered by it’s back end. I would give the game a 4.5 out of 5 just for the gameplay and graphics alone, but connectivity issues and the fact that it is unplayable now makes it difficult for me to recommend the game at all. It’s available for free on the iTunes App Store, so you’re more than welcome to check it out: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/raft-pirates/id539098940?mt=8.

When the folks from Czech-indie game developers Cinemax contacted me about their new iOS title 247 MISSILES, I was thinking to myself: “Hmmm… Another Missile Command clone?” Curiosity did get the better of me and I ended up using the promo code provided by the developers to grab a copy of the game from the iTunes App Store.

I’m happy to report that it was the right move and 247 MISSILES doesn’t disappoint. Like other Missile Command clones before it, the gameplay is action packed. You’ll be tapping all over the screen to intercept enemy missiles. As the commander, instead of the traditional missile silos, you control a Navy ship and submarine protecting a bunch of cities. Both units launch different types of missiles, the ones launched by the ship travel slower while sub-launched missiles move faster.

You’ll need to make full use of both missile types as there are different kinds of enemy missiles as well. Adding further to the player’s tactical considerations would be the fact that both units will need to reload and can be temporary knocked out of commission by enemy missiles! While not exactly being available all the time, players can trigger a laser whenever a satellite flies overhead, helping to destroy enemy missiles as well.

Destroying stuff nets you valuable coins which you can use to upgrade both your ship and submarine as well as additional protection for your cities. The level of difficulty gets progressively harder the longer you survive, just like Tetris . The game tabulates your high score and uploads it to Game Center so you can see how you fare against the rest of the world.

247 MISSILES greatly impresses with its fun, frantic gameplay and super smooth 2D graphics which would make any fan of Missile Command happy. Perfect for one of those days where you just want to blast things out from the sky. And don’t worry about the crazy loading screen when you see it in the game:

Nineoverten.com rates 247 MISSILES at a 4.5 out of 5. The game is available on the iTunes App Store for USD 0.99, check it out over here: https://itunes.apple.com/app/247-missiles/id598888111?mt=8

A review code was provided to Nineoverten.com for the purpose of this review.

I was just about to start Butterscotch Shenanigans’ latest iOS title Towelfight 2: The Monocle of Destiny to grab a bunch of screenshots when my baby girl Natalia decided that she needed some attention. It’s interesting being a new father and a gamer at the same time, having to schedule play time for her and myself, not to mention the time to write stuff like this. I’m 100% confident that a few years down the road she’ll be gaming along with her old man on whatever it is that Sony or Microsoft come up with.

OK, back to the review. You know how the App Store is saturated with 8-bit titles; so much so that as a reviewer, my eyes start to bleed at the mention of “retro graphics”. No offense to developers who think retro is cool, but you know too much of a good thing, like sugar, can be really bad for you (think diabetes). But what if developers took the design principles of retro titles such as The Legend of Zelda, putting key emphasis on exploration with a whole slew of bizarre characters, and top it up with the clean, crisp lines of 21st century 2D animation?

I would say that the team at BS (heh, that was smart) have a winner right here with Towelfight 2. Players take on the role of Hardik, an Indian guy with a stereotypical monocle reminiscent of all things British India. Anyways, the old chap gets swept away to a strange land and that monocle of his gets enchanted to shoot out animals in order to destroy enemies. The first animal that you can shoot out of your monocle is a…frog. Don’t let that wet towel dampen your spirits as you get to collect more animals that deliver even more devastating firepower, well, except for the sloth, he’s just too slow coming out of the monocle.

Towelfight 2 is pretty unique for a game, as the game world is procedurally generated with interconnected rooms. Clearing rooms of enemies and destructible objects will net you coins, rescue NPCs, keys, animal weapons and treasure chests. It’s good to note that Hardik jumps around like a kid discovering a candy store for the first time whenever he gets a new weapon or an item, it’s not that the game is acting up or something. Hardik also has a penchant of saying irrelevant things when it comes to destroying enemies, so be sure to watch the screen for all the shout outs.

There’s quite a lot of content in Towelfight 2, and you get plenty of bang for your buck as the amount of hours you can put in to exploring the game can number in the dozens. The interconnected rooms allow you to take a breather from time to time, but you’ll find that combat is so addictive you’ll go “hey, let’s explore the next room”. The NPCs that you discover along the way have some pretty colourful dialogue, which in context of the game is good, since it shows character.

Towelfight 2, with all its irrelevant, quirky dialogue, crazy combat and vast amount of levels and not to mention sweet 2D graphics, simply delivers and is a heavy favourite of mine to being one of the best games in 2013. Nineoverten.com rates Towelfight 2 at a 5 out of 5. SIMPLY OUTSTANDING. The game is available on the iTunes App Store at a price of USD 2.99. Check it out over here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/towelfight-2-monocle-destiny/id599207248?mt=8

A review code was provided to Nineoverten.com for the purpose of this review. Natalia was not harmed during the course of this review and she was promptly attended to throughout the entire time .

If you are still playing Tiny Tower, don’t you wish for a little bit of spice on your piece of real estate. Nothing ever happens except for visitors and VIPs, but don’t fret just yet, as a brand new game is set to allow you to build castles, complete with all things medieval!  Gamenauts, in conjunction with developer Artlogic Games, today announced their upcoming tower building / RPG hybrid, Castle Champions. The first in a series of games published under Gamenauts’ Asian indie mobile publishing initiative, Castle Champions combines castle-management simulation with RPG/battle party management. The game is set to hit the App Store for free on March 14, 2013.

The coveted honor of being the Castle Champion is up for grabs! Players must battle against fearsome enemies such as the Cerberus, Minotaur, and other medieval menaces in the Amateur and Pro Leagues to claim the prestigious title. Train an army with warriors of nine different character classes, including Mages, Crusaders and Paladins, as well as one of six Heroes serving as team captain to increase the army’s battle prowess!

The army, of course, would not exist without a formidable castle in which to train. Players must build a castle from the ground up to house not just their warriors but also civilians who will earn the player valuable gold and crystals for being employed in the castle’s businesses. Heroes must also be ready at all times to repel the horde of castle invaders!

Stay tuned to Nineoverten.com come March 14th for the launch announcement, and see you in Castle Champions.

Disney Mobile Games is on a roll today, first with the release of Toy Story: Smash It!, for both iOS and Android. This game takes the swipe and launch gameplay made famous by Angry Birds, and does it in 3D! Have a look at the screenshots, the game looks absolutely amazing. Players take on the role of Buzz Lightyear out to stop the evil Zurg and catch alien bandits through 60 levels of play.

Toy Story: Smash It! is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play for 99 cents. Fans of Where’s My Perry on the other hand will be glad to know that the game will be honoring National Platypus Day (March 2nd) with an update that brings  20 new levels for Agent P and 20 new levels for Dr. Doofenshmirtz. The festivities also include special Platypus Day theming and 50% discounts on all locksmith packs that will last until March 4.

Like Toy Story: Smash It!, Where’s My Perry is available on both iTunes App Store and Google Play for 99 cents if you haven’t purchase it already. Owners of the game get to download the update for free.

One of our favourite games of the year, Gunslugs, snagged a couple of distinctions along the way (game of the week AND game of the month, kudos to OrangePixel) has just received a whole slew of improvements along with new content and music. New character names Scarlett Sonya, checked, new world called Marine Dock, checked, new mini games, checked and with a slightly bizarre twist to things, a new weapon called Chicken Gun featuring…. chickens!

Colonel Sanders must be turning in his grave with that last bit, but what can be more fun then chickens right? Gunslugs obtained a 4.5 out of 5 the last time we reviewed the game and based on the ratings we see on the App Store, we’re right on the money. So what are you waiting for, current users can grab the update for free, and if you haven’t already bought the game, check out our review, and then go grab it: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gunslugs/id591368443

Plenty of free games out on the iTunes App Store for iOS devices this week, some of these are new titles while some are existing ones out on promo. Check out the following list for some really cool free stuff (and one has a philanthropic slant to it should you have an extra 2 dollars to spend)  below:

PHLIP

Curious Hat’s has come up with really great stuff for children and their latest release, PHLIP, is no different. The game is an intriguing and addictive visual puzzle aimed at children and inquisitive adults of all ages. Check it out over here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phlip/id544883018?mt=8

Heal Them All

Shortbreak Studios has developed a brand new cartoon arcade Tower Defense iOS title called Heal Them All set within the human body. The game was created with the cooperation of a charity foundation “Cape of Hope”, which is building the new Department and Clinic of Pediatric Oncology, Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation hospital in Wroclaw, Poland

You can help with the building effort by purchasing the full game via in-app purchase for USD 1.99. The game is otherwise available for free: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heal-them-all/id573874866?mt=8

Raiding Company

Tukio’s top-down arcade shooter is plenty awesome, and you haven’t gotten it in your app library, this is a good opportunity to get it as it’s available for free on the iTunes App Store. Check it out now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/raiding-company/id422838860?mt=8

Monsters, Inc. Run

Disney Mobile Games have made their hit game free for a limited time and there’s a whole new content to boot in the form of Desert Canyon with 16 challenging levels. This is in conjunction with the release of the Monsters, Inc. Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Check it out over here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id555724449?mt=8

Remember the Thai movie Ong Bak? It was memorable for its over-the-top action scenes and the movie’s star Tony Jaa was hailed as the next big thing in the martial arts film industry. The guy is now back, this time lending his likeness in a brand new action game developed by STUDIO HIVE that will be released this year on the PC, iOS, Android, PSN and XBLA.

Titled Ong Bak Tri, it’s being released to celebrate the fourth movie of the Ong Bak franchise which will be released in 2013 as well. The developers have worked closely with movie director Thossaporn Poonnart as well as the creator and main choreographer of Ong Bak, Panna Rittikrai. Made using the Unity Engine and utilizing a 2.5D perspective, check out the screenshots below to see how beautiful looking this game is:

Stay tuned to Nineoverten.com for news as and when the game is released.