iPhone Alley - Reviews

Horror Racing is a hectic arcade racing game where you outrace and outgun monster opponents on your way to the finish line. It's a perfect example that racing games for the iPhone don't have to have awkward controls that depend on the device's accelerometer. The graphics are rough and grungy, but that's pretty much to be expected with this particular theme. Don't let the title worry you, the "horror" is at a PG level. Think "Mad Max" meets "Monster's Inc." With missiles, speed boosts, and plenty of ramps, Horror Racing is a lot of fun and really easy to get into.

Sneezies is a puzzle game that I definitely feel falls in the "absolutely must have" category. The charming and colorful characters combined with an unbelievably simple idea make for dozens of hours of addicting fun. The fact that it's so simple, yet it can still be quite challenging make it, quite literally, a game for all ages.

Rise of Lost Empires is a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game by Gameloft. It has a very similar feel to the computer game Warcraft and comes complete with great graphics, great soundtrack, and solid gameplay. You start as Gavan, fighting to protect his homeland against the orc hordes. You are a hero. The success of your empire falls on your shoulders as you you prepare your people for attack. Eventually the great story in Lost Empires will have you playing as both humans and orcs!!

RedLaser is a cool little barcode scanning app that may change the way you shop. The way it works couldn't be easier. Simply hit the "scan" button and point your iPhone's camera at a barcode (no autofocus camera required). RedLaser then looks up that barcode using Amazon and Google Product Search to show online listings for that exact product complete with prices. Awesome, right?

Ramp Champ is a extremely addicting and interesting take on the classic arcade concept of skee ball. There have been several versions of this style game to hit the App Store, but this is by far my favorite. It's surprising that such a simple idea could be so entertaining, but trust me. Ramp Champ will steal hours and hours of your life away.

Birdbrain is a simple little app which allows you to track changes on one or more Twitter accounts. Its primary focus is on how many followers you gain and lose over time. It does this by periodically taking a snapshot of your Twitter account and showing you the changes. This means that you won't see any stats when you first get the app, but after a few days Birdbrain will be able to start reporting statistics on followers, posts, and more!

Color Expert is an incredibly hardcore color reference app that includes virtually every color imaginable. It's a fantastic portable tool that makes it possible for artists and designers to create palettes and draw colors from surrounding inspirations. With it's beautiful color wheel interface you can choose and save multiple sets of monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split complementary, and triadic colors. Color Expert will definitely be worth it's weight in gold to any on-the-go artist or web designer.

Glide Factor, by Sprimp and Chillingo, is an action game app which mainly uses the iPhone’s accelerometer function. Tilt the iPhone to guide your spaceship through various obstacle courses in as little time as possible to get stars and badges. Blocks and enemies will cascade towards you while you choose to speed up or slow down by simply tilting your iPhone at highly sensitive degrees. With power-ups, funky graphics and music, and a variety of levels, Glide Factor will definitely keep you entertained.