iPad reviews of the week: Coin Drop!, Arkanoid, Caveman_HD, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Scream 4

Game: Caveman_HD
Price: $3.99/£2.39
Size: 68.1MB
Buy it now from the iTunes store:US/UK

If Caveman_HD looks like a near-identical port of the original Lemmings, albeit with prehistoric men swapped in for the suicidal creatures, that's because it is. Developer Mobile 1UP created its own engine andported Lemmings to iOSduring a marathon session, but as a result, earned itself a cease and desist letter from Sony; and subsequent attempts to work out a licensing deal fell through. What's an indie developer to do? Rather than let the work go to waste, Mobile 1UP hired a couple folks to come in and create new visuals and audio for the game, and then released it as a ridiculously familiar, yet just-different-enough experience for iPad owners.

As such, Caveman_HD really is just Lemmings with a different skin, which may be both a good and bad thing for fans. On the plus side, the levels are nearly identical to those of the original, meaning your well-honed strategies should still work perfectly in this fresh setting; and we'd never begrudge the quality of the original series, which has boggled the minds of millions over the last two decades. However, while the backgrounds offer nicely abstract interpretations of caves and forests and such, the swap to generic-looking cavemen does rob the original experience of some of its charm. It's just not the same, and while that's sort of the point (at least legally), the experience does feel notably less special as a result.

But unless Sony suddenly decides to start supporting the App Store, it's likely the best alternative we'll have to playing any version of Lemmings on the iPad. However, perhaps in a rush to get it out to the App Store, the current version of Caveman_HD contains just 30 of the intended 120 stages, with later updates expected to round out the roster. That means only the earliest, easiest stages are here at present, and it's unclear how long the wait will be for the more challenging offerings. And while the current $3.99 price seems reasonable for the eventual full package, the App Store listing makes it sound like the cost will be raised into the neighborhood of $10 by the time the entire game is available – which strikes us as a rather high tag for an unofficial update to a 20-year-old game. Updates are free, though, so here's our advice: if you're interested, buy it ASAP. Otherwise, pass.

Game: LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Price: $4.99/£2.99
Size: 453MB
Buy it now from the iTunes store:US/UK

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 is the only one of the console LEGO adventures to make the leap to the App Store relatively intact (ignore that feeble LEGO Batman mini-game package), and while the series may be feeling a bit tired on traditional platforms, this robust universal app breathes a little life back into the game with touch-screen spells, sharp visuals, and whole lot more content than you'd expect from a $5 iPad and iPhone app.

Ultimately, the iOS version of LEGO Harry Potter doesn't deviate significantly from the prior LEGO offerings – you're still running around as Harry or one of his pals, collecting studs, building environmental pieces from tiny bricks, and firing off spells to defeat enemies and bust open items. Everything feels a bit different in this iOS version, though, due to a different perspective and some fresh objectives; plus, the game includes distinct touch-screen puzzles, plus the ability to cast spells by tracing an image of a flame or an arrow, for example. It's all wrapped up in a very accessible, easy-to-use package that younger players ill-at-ease with traditional controllers can enjoy.

As indicated by the title, LEGO Harry Potter casts its gaze on the events from the first four series films/books, with each offering a solid three hours of content for a thick dozen-hour adventure in total – which doesn't include going back and finding all the bonus goodies. That may be expected for a $60 console game, but it's pretty striking for a cheap app that runs on any iDevice. While repetition is still an issue, Warner Bros. didn't slouch on this polished and robust app, which serves as a perfect way to keep kids – or even the adult Potter faithful – busy in a snap. And as of this writing, it's only $2.99 on the App Store, so you might still be able to snag it for a song!

Game: Scream 4 HD
Price: $2.99/£1.79
Size: 37.3MB
Buy it now from the iTunes store:US/UK

If you're one of the few million folks out there that wanted to squeeze out every last drop of 90s film nostalgia by seeing Scream 4 (or SCRE4M, if you prefer) in theaters, we hope you took it in like this writer did: with boisterous, somewhat intoxicated friends, and without any serious expectations. Unfortunately, the single-player iPad game adaptation of the franchise can't quite be experienced in the same manner. And no matter how much you imbibe, it's probably not going to seem like anything more than a feeble cash-in on a flailing license.

Scream 4 looks an awful lot like The Sims, but in actuality, it tries to take after the much-missed Hitman series. As Ghostface (the masked killer, not the rapper), you'll prowl through a high school, frat party, gym, and mansion, respectively, with the intentions of killing all the occupants without running into the cops. Scream 4 rewards certain types of kills with bonus points; for example, the "No Etiquette" bonus rewards you for killing the preppy girl in the toilet, while the "Scott's Pilgrim" reward lavishes extra points on you for slaying the male art student and goth with consecutive kills. Unfortunately, there's really no discernable incentive for stealthily sneaking around the stages and avoiding the police, since you can just axe the officers for even more points.

Worse yet, the controls are an absolute mess, as you'll move Ghostface around the confined settings simply by moving your finger around the screen, but he'll frequently get caught up on doorframes and furniture and the interface just isn't responsive enough to make it a bearable experience. Luckily, the actual kills are dead simple – all you need to do is trace the bloody smears that pop up when approaching your prey. Laughably, the four included stages can be knocked out in a solid 10 minutes, and the chances of us coming back for the promised future levels are truly non-existent. Scream 4 is marginally playable, but ultimately feels pointless – it's an aimless kill-fest that ends about as quickly as it starts. At least the movie offers occasional laughs amidst the nonsense; the game does no such thing.

Apr 23, 2011

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