Wow, it’s been a while since I last added anything to this thread. Anyway, here goes:
iComposer - While off to a somewhat rocky start, this music app allows you to compose music tracks using musical notation on a staff, with a complete general MIDI instrument set. Even more impressive, is that the app can take input from a mic (such as a person humming) and transcribe the melody for editing and playback. The app supports multiple tracks that can each be assigned a different MIDI instrument. While noteworthy, the app still has a number of kinks to work out. (The developer does seem open to input, however…)
Wivi Band - This is a high-quality, live performance synth that gives you access to 15 different wind instruments. While you can play these instruments using just the onscreen keyboard alone, the app is designed to accept input from an attached mic, allowing you to “play” the instruments by blowing into the mic as you would the real thing. This opens up some surprisingly realistic variations in how the synth instruments sound over the more sterile keyboard only approach.
Jasuto Modular Synthesizer - Jasuto Modular Synth is a very powerful no-frills synth that allows you to create complex logic patches simply by constructing a crude schematic of circles and lines that represent everything from waveform generators and math functions to actual iPhone hardware inputs and outputs, such as the mic and speakers. Although it’s not the prettiest synth app out there, it’s quite possibly the most powerful one to date. (Possibly even more so than my personal favorite, “Noise.io”.)
Looptastic - If you like playing around in Apple’s “Garage Band” software for the instrument loops rather than constructing a live performance, the Looptastic series might be just the thing you’re looking for. As the name suggests, you are given a series of instrument loops grouped by a rough “theme” and then lay them out as part of a song’s beginning, middle or end (ie, ease-in, constant, ease-out). Once completed, you control the play order with a slider that places emphasis on the loop parts nearest to the slider position, followed by the option to perform manual curve modifications to things like pitch, filters or playback speed in real time. The only drawback is that the currently available Looptastic Apps are primarily rooted in a techno or hip-hop sound. However, the Looptastic Producer app allows users to import their own instrument loops and construct their own “theme” collections.
iPocket Draw - The first iPhone app to support actual vector drawing tools, complete with anchor points for further editing. Although the app is very crude and far from anything close to “Adobe Illustrator” or “CorelDraw”, it marks a very necessary milestone for the iPhone as a serious art tool rather than being just another dumb toy with a paint program. Hopefully future releases of this app will start to resemble vector apps we’ve had on our desktop computers for nearly two decades.
PaintBook - This is a fairly powerful paint app that stores your brush strokes as vectors, allowing for very detailed work without being tied down to the iPhone’s paltry display resolution. Although the app lacks the ability to modify a brush stroke’s vector info after it’s been made (short of the “undo” button), the app is still pretty damned impressive in just about every other area a digital artist might be concerned about.
SculptMaster - This app makes your iPhone turn to putty in your hands… almost quite literally. Here, you have a set of tools that allows you to construct a variety of 3D objects by building upon or reducing from the surface of the object relative to your viewing angle, using a spherical “brush”. You also have the option to rotate around the object and zoom in/out for added detail, as well as the option to “paint” various parts of your object different colors along it’s surface. The experience is remarkably similar to playing with modeling clay.
Now, how about some games…
Castle of Magic - This little wonder from Gameloft is a high-quality platforming title similar to “Super Mario Brothers” or “Klonoa”, where you take control of a little wizard who must make his way through level after level of 2.5D platform gaming goodness. Along the way, the little guy collects various objects (such as special wizard hats that give him different power ups) and faces off with a number of enemies (some easily defeated and others requiring a bit more strategy), as well as uncovering various secret paths throughout each level. The game itself is beautifully animated with vibrant colors all around. And above all else, it’s fun!
Driving Games Galore - These are all good for a variety of reasons, both technical and fun: 2XL Supercross, Dirt Moto Racing, 4x4 Jam, Real Racing, Need For Speed: Underground and Fast and Furious (not the “pink slip” version).
Sway - Quite possibly the only game ever make that you play entirely by scaling the side of a wall. Not only that, you do so by rotating your character around and around to build momentum, then releasing before catching the wall further down the road, while collecting coins and rescuing your pals. Your iPhone screen hasn’t seen this much destruction since Flick Sports Fishing! (Yeah, you know the one… and that huge circle-shaped smudge on your iPhone screen that won’t come off no matter how much you try to clean it…)
Magnificent Gadgets and Gizmos - If you liked “Fantastic Contraption”, you’ll love this far cleaner looking variation on an otherwise great physics-based game.
Crazy Machines - Ok, so “Fantastic Contraption” was good, but it wasn’t the “Incredible Machine” clone you had hoped for. Well fret no more… “Crazy Machines” brings back the rube-goldberg goodness of “The Incredible Machine” and expands on it. (It’s still no “Scribblenauts” though, but we can work that out in therapy until next month…)
Jungle Bloxx - Basically it’s a 2D variation on EA’s “Boom Blox” series, but you must recover a gem stacked upon a pile of stone blocks with varying physical properties without letting it hit the ground outside of it’s safe zone. (A 3D variant called “Blockbusters” was made by a user here with unity, btw… More info is available in the iPhone app store thread in the iPhone section of the forums…)
PrisonBreak - If you are familiar with the game “Echochrome” on the PlayStation Network, you already know what to expect. For the rest of you, "PrisonBreak is a game loosely based on the works of artist, M C Escher, who was best known for his drawings of optical illusions. The goal of the game is to guide a free-walking character to safety simply by rotating your view of the level. This allows you to eliminate hazards and connect paths simply by occluding your view of the problem areas with other parts of the level. (In other words, what you can’t see can’t hurt you… literally.) This also allows for completely unconnected pathways to be interpreted as the same exact path, sort of like how optical illusions like “The Impossible Triangle” are achieved in the real world.
Moonlights - More or less a “World of Goo” clone, but not too bad. You are charged with the task of connecting the moon to the earth by creating a chain with a set number of joints.
Tiki Towers - Yet another “World of Goo” clone, but with monkeys! You have to create a series of bridges and towers to get a set of monkeys from point A to point B, however, the material used is very fragile and could break under stress if it’s not properly supported.
Glyder - Take control of a winged character and fly around a beautifully designed world searching every nook and cranny for gems. The game play is very similar to the hang-gliding stages of the old SNES “PilotWings” game. You can even take advantage of air currents to get a boost in altitude for extended flight.
Galaxy on Fire - This is a game similar to titles like “Big Mutha Truckers”, but set in space. You fly from planet carrying various forms of goods and attempt to make a profit off it, while also protecting it from space pirates intent on blowing you out of the sky to get it. Space battles are fierce and engaging, to the point that your entire body will move all over the place as you play. (Kinda like how you’d lean into turns while playing driving games back in the days of the NES…)
Civilization Revolution - Everybody wants to rule the world… and now, so can you! Be the first to create the greatest civilization on earth or simply eliminate the competition before they beat you to it. You can choose from a number of notable world leaders, both good and evil and take command by establishing cities around the world, building up your troops and improving your civilization by any means necessary. (If you’re still scratching your head over “SimCity”, this game will eat you alive…)
(** NOTE ** Civ Revolution is $4.99 today, but will be jumping to $9.99 after 8/12/09.)
The Sims 3 - While based upon the PC counterpart, it plays more like the original game in the series, with a few intelligent updates. It’s a great time waster if you have time to spare on a human fish tank.
TNA Wrestling - Remember when Pro Wrestling used to have well defined good guys and bad guys, and how they had quarrels with each other that were almost like they were pulled from a comic book? This game takes you back to those days and puts you into the shoes of a completely new wrestler trying to make a name for himself. Unlike most current wrestling titles that have sold themselves out to promote a celebrity roster, this game focuses solely on the fun. And, without the celebrity roster to get in the way, the developers were free to take whatever liberties they wanted with the game. Sure, it’s a wrestling game, but it’s far more than that. This is a fantastically-made role playing game in wrestler’s spandex. On top of that, there are actually innovations here that have not been seen in traditional RPG titles alone. Definitely worth a look for anyone that likes pro wrestling both in and out of the ring.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour - It’s a golf game, and a good one at that. My only gripes are that it needs more courses and the announcer needs to shut her irrelevant trap.
Anytime Pool - To my knowledge, this is the best iPhone pool game to date. The game supports a number of pool variants and is sophisticated enough to handle trick shots.
) http://www.vimeo.com/1941075
