Kill the Fly is an arcade style game for the iPhone/iPod Touch. The goal of the game is to kill the flies as they fly towards the poop. There is a little pile of poop in the corner of the screen and the poop must be protected at all costs.

Players can touch the flies causing them to splatter their innards all over the screen and not be able to get to the poop. The more accurate players are at killing the flies the more points they can rack up. If the player misses the fly on the first attempt, they lose points. The smaller flies are worth less points and there for the player loses less points if they miss the smaller flies.

The flies are all different types and speeds. The majority of the flies move at a decent pace and players can easily tap them and kill them. As the levels get harder the flies get faster and bigger. The bigger flies take a few hits to kill and the fast flies speed across the screen at a really good pace and can easily be missed. The fast flies give the player a lot of points when killed, but also take away a lot of points if the player misses the bug. If the flies make it to the poop they will take some poop with them. If the poop disappears the level is lost and the player has to start over again.

The touch mechanisms work as expected. There was never a time that the touch didn’t register.

Over all, Kill the Fly is a great way to pass the time. The game is entertaining and can get challenging at the later levels. Players have the option of playing the free version or getting the full version. Players can try it out with out it costing them anything. If you are looking for an arcade style game to pass the time, check out Kill the Fly in the Apple App Store.

Super Search 60 is a fast paced searching game for the iPhone/iPod Touch. The game contains a bunch of different objects splattered all over the screen and players must find a certain item. The game is a different take on hidden object games. Instead of searching for a list of objects set in a background the player is searching for one object amongst a screen of objects.

The player has to find the object that is spelled out at the top of the screen. As soon as the object(s) are found they are replaced with new objects and the player starts hunting for a new object. The goal is to accumulate as many points as possible in 60 seconds. The faster you find the objects the more points you attain. It can be challenging to find some of the objects because the player has an idea of what the object should look like, but it may not look like that. For instance, the player will have to find a basket ball and most players will be looking for an orange colored ball, but the basket ball may not be orange it can be green or any other color.

Super Search 60 has a Facebook connect feature that allows players to post their scores to their Facebook page. Now players have another addiction to keep them coming back and playing. Players can compare their scores to their friends scores and see who is the better searcher.

The touch mechanics in the game work well and make for an easy way to play the game. Once the player finds the object, they simply touch it and it clears off the screen. There was never a problem with the touch controls and everything worked as expected.

Over all, Super Search 60 is fun and addicting. It is hard to just play one round of the game and put it down. The games are short and happen in 60 seconds, but before you know it you have spent and hour playing the game. There is a part of me that wanted to see if I could beat my old score each time. There are two versions of the game on the Apple App Store. One version is free and the other will set you back $1.99. The full version has unlimited game play and gets updates faster. A $1.99 is a fair price for a fun and addicting game.

Circus Marcus is a collection of mini-games for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Marcus joined the circus as a janitor to earn some cash, but then he fell in love with the ring master, Ruby. Marcus wanted to get close to Ruby and would do anything Ruby asked. Marcus ended up performing in the circus.

Each circus act is a mini-game to master. Marcus starts out fairly easy by being shot out of a cannon at bowling pins. Players get two chances to get all of the pins down. The cannon has to be aimed at the pins by touching the screen and moving the cannon in the direction that will hit most of the pins. When the player is ready, the cannon is fired and hopefully pins are knocked down.

There are other mini-games that involve balance, which use the accelerometer in the iPhone/iPod Touch. Players have to tilt the iPhone/iPod Touch to keep Marcus’ balance. Marcus will attempt hand stands and the player has to help him balance by tilting the device. If the device is tilted too far in one direction, Marcus will fall and the game will start over. Marcus has to balance for a certain amount of time to pass the level.

All of the different multi-tap features are used through out the games. There are games that use the pinch feature to cause Marcus to do a flip in the air.  All of the touch controls work as expected and there was never a problem getting Marcus to do what he was suppose to do.

Over all, Circus Marcus is an entertaining collection of mini-games. The games are short and can be played within a minute or two, which is the perfect length for waiting in line. If you are a fan of games that contain short style mini games, check out Circus Marcus in the Apple App Store.

Valet Hustle is an arcade style game or the iPhone/iPod Touch. The game is a cross between a time management style game and a puzzle game. Players have to park cars as fast as possible and then retrieve the cars when the customers show back up for the cars. Players have to manage the customers, manage parking the cars and retrieving the cars.

The cars won’t drive in until there is a spot for them to pull into. There is one spot to drop off the car and if that spot is full the cars will start lining up and eventually get mad and start honking their horns. As soon as the front car is moved to a spot, another car will fill the drop off spot. The cars are moved by tapping on the car and then tapping on the spot where you want to park the car. The cars will drive themselves to the spot the player clicked on unless there is another car in the way. There can only be one car driving on the path at a time.

When the cars are ready to be picked up, the player will see a customer appear and their car will get a number above the car that is theirs. The numbers are in order and the cars need to leave in that order. In other words, player can’t click on the number 2 car before bringing back the number 1 car. The player taps on the car with the number on it and then taps on the drop off space to return the car to the customer.

The story surrounding the game is a bit different. The story focuses on a lesbian theme and the main character gets kicked out of school for kissing another girl. This was not the first school she got kicked out of and her father had had enough and made her go to work as a valet and that is how the valet career began. If you would rather not play a game with a lesbian/gay theme, you may want to consider another game.

Over all, Valet Hustle is fast moving and will pass the time. There are levels, but the game doesn’t really stop until you lose, sort of like Tetris.  Eventually, you get a helpers along the way that will make things a bit easier, but the game is not easy by any means. The game gets fast and hectic and will keep players challenged. If you are into puzzle/arcade style games, check out Valet Hustle in the iTunes App Store.

Few gamers are not aware of Popcap’s fun tower defense game Plants Vs. Zombies; you can check out our review of the original game here. As expected with a runaway smash hit by Popcap, the game will be seeing new platforms such as Xbox Live Arcade. However, the game was just released for the iPhone and iPod Touch for $2.99, albeit a more stripped down version.

How does it translate?

The answer is: exceedingly well, and the touch screen format actually enhances the game quite a bit. Picking up sunbeams and coins is far easier, since all you need to do is tap them rather than drag the mouse across the screen; it will be interesting to see how the game deals with a gamepad when it comes to the Xbox 360. Placing plants is surprisingly accurate as well; in the hours that I’ve played, I never placed a plant in the wrong place with my finger. The only real change to gameplay is that the plant “cards” are moved to the left side of the screen, which is ergonomically the right choice for the wide touch screen; it felt much more natural.

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