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Disco Kitten Review

Jessica Barabas-Bui
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Disco Kitten
Developer: IJ Software
Publisher: Chillingo
Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iTouch and iPad
Release Date: 14 June, 2012
Price: $0.99 – Available Here

Overview

Disco Kitten, despite its name, isn’t a music game. It comes under a far harder to decipher genre, although the disco music is certainly there. It’s all about reactions, attention span, and a little bit about knowing rhythms well enough to be able to predict certain occurrences.

Gameplay

Disco Kitten involves a kitten named Punka, who hops about on little platforms in front of these large canisters that absorb lightning that shoots down from above. You have to move rapidly from platform to platform, careful to not get caught out by the lightning as it comes down.

The canisters store the lightning and Punka drains the lightning by being on the canister’s platform, which then goes into Bunka, a giant cat head. Bunka gradually drains energy itself, so you have to try and collect energy as quickly as possible. Quick movements and speedily draining canisters is your friend, which is why it’s great if you get a speed bonus because you can flicker between each platform and gather the lightning as quickly as possible.

Moving quickly between platforms also activates disco time, and gives you bonus points at the end of the level. Disco time is like most bonus modes, it lets you drain lightning faster and leads to more points in general. Disco time is presumably why the app got its name, although I don’t really see it’s purpose apart from having some colours, lights, and making the soundtrack go crazy. As a power-up mode goes, I don’t really see why it seems to be the focal point for the game, but putting that aside, it isn’t really a bad thing in any way either. It’s just a little random.

You can fail the level in a few ways. First, if Punka gets caught on a platform that is hit by lightning, although this doesn’t result in immediate failure. It just drains lightning from Bunka and sends you back to the main platform, unless you’ve run out of energy that is stored in Bunka, in which case you fail the level. Another way to fail the level is if the canisters become full and they then turn to stone.

You play through the different difficulty levels: easy, normal, hard, expert, and master. And with each difficulty level there is a different number of stages within each level. As these progress you get different types of canisters, and the rhythm gets more difficult and you have to get quicker and quicker as you go. So if you’re finding it too easy in the beginning then be patient. One downside is that you have to complete each difficulty before moving on. If each difficulty had the first stage unlocked so that you could unlock it at your own speed and without needing to go through all the easier ones first, then that would have been great.

Visuals

Disco Kitten looks a little like a stereotypical disco threw up all over it, which sort of fits the title. It also takes one a bit of an Asian anime feel, with the cute kittens and the expressions on the canister’s faces. The graphics are decently done, but they’re just a big too crazy and colourful for my taste. Still, it certainly represents what the app is supposedly about, so it can’t be faulted for that. Especailly when it hits Disco time and the whole game goes crazy.

Audio

The soundtrack is basically the same as the visuals, a stereotypical disco with a whole bunch of extra energy and craziness put in. And unfortunately that just results in an extremely repetitive soundtrack that basically doesn’t change unless you enter disco time, when it manages to get even crazier, more in your face, and a little grating. While the fast pace of it helps to keep you on your toes and keep the blood pumping, it might also be a good idea to turn off the music, because chances are it’ll annoy you.

Overall

Disco Kitten is a really fast paced game that demands a lot of attention, can get somewhat frustrating because of this, but also works well in small doses. This is the sort of game that you can power through a couple of stages, then hit a wall, put it away, and grab it later on and play it again. It takes some definite patience to master, but is easy enough to learn, and is a pretty easy way to wile away the hours and pit yourself up against your friends, and random strangers on the internet, to judge just how good your reflexes are.

7-0-capsules-out-of-10

Eager Beaver Review

Jessica Barabas-Bui
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Eager Beaver
Developer: Gamagio
Publisher: Chillingo
Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iTouch and iPad
Release Date: June 14, 2012
Price: $0.99 – Available Here

Overview

Puzzle games are a huge thing on mobile devices, they’re easy, levels are simple to make and easy to add on to if the developers ever want to introduce some in-game purchases. In short, they are just the easy option for game developers to pursue, so it’s no surprise that the mobile gaming market is quite full of such games. It takes some serious individuality to be able to have a game rise above the rest and set itself apart.

Gameplay

Eager Beaver is about a beaver called Edgar who is just so damn good at building dams that all the other beavers are super lazy and let him do all the work. You play as this master beaver, covering for everyone else as water threatens your habitat and you use your handy little crane to drop different shaped rocks to stop the flow of the water. The crane rotates each stone, and can be moved around the screen, which are both aspects which become important so care is important. While this is not really a realistic representation of beaver’s building dams, that is where the puzzle part comes in.

For each level you are given a mark out of three stars, depending on how many rocks you had to use to stop the water. The minimum for if you successfully stop the water is one star, and if you only use a few of the stones and have quite a few left over and then you’ll probably get three stars.

The star system works under one of my preferred system, in that to progress onto the next village you have to get thirty stars, but you can earn far more than thirty in the levels. This basically means you can skip a level if you can’t finish it, or just leave it at one star if you can’t accomplish any more (or can’t be bothered). There are ten levels per village, with five villages, and if you really can’t get past a certain village or stage then you can unlock all the stages and villages with an in-game purchase of $0.99.

There are a few different aspects you have to get a handle on to successfully progress through Eager Beaver. The first is the ‘rapids’, or the speed of the water. Often this will cause your stone to move, and if the water is deep and the stones are small then they will generally carry quite far. Then there’s the fish that swim around and love to either bump into the rocks and throw off your carefully balanced piles, or start to eat them. You can also stun these fish by dropping rocks on them, although that will cause them to bounce and fall elsewhere. If you practice enough you can use this to your advantage, but prepare for some frustration to begin with. Plus there are also explosives that go off if you drop something on them, magnets, and fans that you can set off by pressing down on a button in the map. And, on top of all of these features, the rocks you have to drop are completely random and can go from some nice square or rectangular ones, to random rusty items that don’t really seem like they should be being dropped into a river.

Each puzzle is fairly interesting and does involve some thought, although with some levels you could basically just drop each stone on top of each other and it would eventually result in stopping the water.

Visuals

Eager Beaver has really good graphics that pop and look quite crisp on the screen, while also being super cute. The cartoon style of everything really suits the game well and gives it that extra little cute factor that is always a big thing in mobile games.

Audio

To be perfectly honest, the soundtrack reminds me a little of the Sims. It has that little adventure-like, sweetness to it that goes with the visual style and the general feel for the game. It doesn’t distract from the game or get annoying, which is something of a rarity in apps.

Overall

Eager Beaver is a fun little app, with enough of a challenge to keep you interested and thinking up ways to take on each level. With a decent system for game progression, and some interesting features and a good look and feel for the game, this is certainly a buy if you like these types of puzzle games. As to whether it sets itself apart, it isn’t ‘different’ so much, but it certainly is one of the better options to pick if you like this genre.

8-0-capsules-out-of-10

James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes available free on iOS devices

Jack Joly
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Today, Ubisoft announced that James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes is now available free for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. With more than 140 intriguing puzzles and riddles, James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes has you playing as a contestant on a TV game show who must turn his puzzle solving skill to a string of murders linked to the show.

A diabolical criminal mastermind manipulates and defies players at every turn, and former winners are killed one after the other. To get out of this situation and discover the identity of the murderer, the player has to solve the puzzles left by the killer on every crime scene.

It’s available HERE, and be sure to check out the accompanying launch trailer below if you’re interested.

LEGO Superman takes flight over London

Jack Joly
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“Is it a bird? Is it a plane?” These are questions you will have no doubt heard as people spot Superman in the sky. But the question on everybody’s lips when Superman took to the skies on this occasion was “Will he fall off?”.

To celebrate the launch of Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes on June 22 (for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Windows PC, as well as Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, and PlayStation Vita) a Lego Superman Mini-figure was taken for a ride over London on an Remote-Controlled Helicopter.

The helicopter used required the same clearance as commercial airlines – which made for some fantastic views over the city of London – flying high above Hyde Park, Docklands, Primrose Hill and Soho.

Dungeon Twister Available July 4

Joshua Spudic
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Dungeon Twister, Hydravision Entertainment’s latest Playstation Network title, will be heading to Europe and Australia on July 4. North America will be receiving the game a day earlier on July 3. The game is based on the board game of the same name, blending chess and Dungeon and Dragons into one game. In order to obtain victory, players must accumulate five victory points, which can be done in two ways: defeating an opponent or fleeing the dungeon. No price has been announced.

In addition to the release date, Hydravision Entertainment have released 12 new screenshots of the game, showcasing the gameplay elements. On the official website, players can retrieve tips if they get stuck on how to use their eight adventurers. The tips for the game come from the game creator himself, so you know these tips must be good.

 

Battlefield 3 Close Quarters Now Out On PS3

Benjamin Webb
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Playstation 3 owners should be in awe of the new Battlefield 3 expansion pack, Close Quarters, as it was released earlier today for Battlefield 3 players on that system. The soldiers on this platform now have access to the second expansion pack for the Battlefield 3 service a full week ahead of the Microsoft Xbox 360 and PC owners who have not yet purchased the Premium service.

The Close Quarters expansion pack focuses on very close and frenetic gameplay, which many players liken to Call of Duty but I think is much closer to F.E.A.R (Combat). Combat is a very tight affair with players battling over a few locations in a single building, or warehouse, in a cross between TDM and Conquest. It is A LOT of fun.

Close Quarters brings the following to the Battlefield 3 Experience –

  • 10 new Assignments
  • 5 unique dog tags
  • 10 new weapons to use on all Battlefield 3 maps including:

1.       AUG Assault Rifle

2.       SCAR Assault Rifle

3.       ACW-R Carbine

4.       MTAR-21 Carbine

5.       M417 Sniper Rifle

6.       JNG-90 Sniper Rifle

7.       L86LSW Machine Gun

8.       LSAT Machine Gun

9.       M5K Tactical Machine Pistol

10.   SPAS-12 Shotgun (YAY!)

Players can pick this expansion pack up for $23.95 on the PSN right now, for 1200 MSPoints on XBLA or $19.99 on PC next week. Or alternatively, you can purchase Battlefield Premium for $49.99 (PC), $64.95 (PS3) and 4000 MS Points (Xbox 360), which seems like it might be cheaper than buying all the Xpacs separately if these prices are any indication on future releases. Purchasing Premium will also give you (I think) a two week headstart on all expansions, which means that as a PC (or X360) player, you can be playing Close Quarters right now.

Bing Voice Search now on AU Xbox 360s

Luke Halliday
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Bing Voice Search now on AU Xbox 360s

Microsoft have announced that Australian’s will finally be able to join in on the Bing fun with Bing Voice Search for the Xbox 360. The Bing Voice Search feature has been long awaited and greatly anticipated by Xbox users in Australia and it surely amazing news that this feature is now available down under.

The magic that is Bing Voice Search is that users can simply ask their Xbox 360 (pertaining it’s got a functioning Kinect connected) anything and everything and the console will respond with the impressive and wonderful Bing Voice Search.

Will you be taking advantage of this awesome Bing Voice Search feature for the Xbox 360? Let us know in the comments section below.

New Golden Artwork Emerges for New Super Mario Bros. 2

Dustin Spencer
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As of now, we are less than two months away from the release of New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS. Now, as many of you know, this title is all about loot collecting and turning the insides of your pockets gold, and that concept is being heavily promoted by Nintendo as of late.

Furthering the hype train comes a batch of new artwork, showing off golden versions of Mario and his many power-ups and foes. It all looks lovely, and quite unique compared to the series’ previous offerings. I know many of you are awaiting that big, bold cup of freshness to come to Mario, but this game as a whole seems to be catered to the hardcore and seems like a Mario title that will keep you coming back for more due to the whole collecting them coins gimmickry. Check out the new artwork below, and stay tuned as there is sure to be more golden coverage to come.

Introducing New Indie 2D Platformer Triangle Man!

Jessica Barabas-Bui
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Triangle Man is a new game from Convict Interactive that takes on the popular genre of 2D platformer, in which you have to get Triangle Man to the end of each level alive and with as many coins under his belt as possible. But it isn’t as simple as it sounds, with most levels actually requiring you to control more than one Triangle Man, you have to really focus your multi-tasking skills and take on this multiple-triangled challenge.

With a whole bunch of enemies, a range of challenges to come up against, and the serious skill that it takes to coordinate more than one triangle at a time, this game is sure to be a challenge. So long as you aren’t a rage-quit type of gamer, you should enjoy it.

Check out the trailer for the game below and let us know what you think in the comments section!

There is no official release date for the game yet, but it is going to be released for PC, and perhaps move onto other platforms depending on its reception. In the meantime, head on over to the website for more information, or keep tuned to Capsule Computers for updates on the game as they come.

Ubisoft Xbox Live Hits Collection Spotted on Amazon

Dustin Spencer
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If you are into getting your games by the bundle and lack three of the biggest arcade releases to grace the Xbox Marketplace, you can now feel joyous in knowing that Ubisoft seems to be prepared to release a compilation disc of their biggest XBLA hits.

A recent listing on Amazon.co.uk outs Beyond Good & Evil, From Dust, and Outland in the “Ubisoft Xbox Live Hits Collection”, which has been given an art and a release date of September 22, 2012. Not too shabby at all, as seeing BG&E on a disc again is always a good thing. The price is listed at £17.99 at the moment as well, which would put a North American version at $19.99, meaning the value is still strong for what’s included. Ubisoft are more than likely going to come out with a more official announcement in coming weeks for this outing, and if you haven’t grabbed any of these titles from Xbox Live thus far, contain yourself as a better value is on the way.

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