Sun, 07 Oct 2012 The 50 best iOS games ever

The iOS gaming landscape has seen a lot of changes in the past five years. Take pricing, for instance. When the iPhone came out, publishers thought nothing of charging a tenner for a half-hearted console port. But gamers soon cottoned on to the sub-£1 impulse purchase, and prices plunged. After a rash of ad-supported freebies and aggressive in-app purchases, things seem to be settling around the £1.99 mark for iPad and universal titles, and 69p for many iPhone-only games.

More importantly, perhaps, iOS is no longer considered the poor cousin of console and PC platforms. Angry Birds showed the world that mobile games can be astonishingly commercial, but they can be critical successes too. The games on this list are inspired, well-written, funny, and occasionally even moving. Sometimes you just want a two-minute puzzle for your bus ride, and the iPhone is perfect for that, but if you know where to look, iOS gaming has so much more to offer.

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50. Earth Defense Force

£1.49

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6js3L2 • Read the full review bit.ly/idgJ4Z

Like many arcade-style games, this fast-paced horizontal shooter is easy to learn yet hard to master, and features high-definition retro graphics with an awesome 16-bit soundtrack. You can choose from an iPhone-adapted mode (in which you drag your finger across the screen to move your fighter up, down, left and right) or a classic arcade?style, with a virtual joystick and a firing button. The joystick is harder to use than tap-and-drag, but it actually works quite well. With its improved graphics and iPhone-adapted playing mode, Earth Defense Force’s iOS remake is even better than the classic game it’s based on. Sarah Jacobsson

49. Starfront Collision

£2.99/£4.99

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6jM543 • Read the full review bit.ly/Nk0bxw

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, the gameplay will; the designers definitely had Starcraft in mind. If you’re going to imitate, you might as well imitate the best. The gameplay is typical of real-time strategy games – you mine minerals, construct buildings and train armies. Starfront does an excellent job with the interface, giving you instant access to controls and information, but you can hide menus when you want to enjoy the impressive visuals. As well as single-player mode, there are five multiplayer maps for online or local (Wi-Fi or Bluetooth) battles. The action is intense and smooth, and the game is fun and easy to pick up. James Savage

48. Sky Safari

69p

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/ibJ62Q • Read the full review bit.ly/MleWng

An avalanche is coming, and it’s up to you to keep skiing mountain dweller Sven one step ahead of icy doom, while navigating hills, dips and other alpine obstacles. Tapping makes Sven jump, while tapping and holding causes him to flip – you get bonuses for successfully completing a backflip (or two). The app takes a page out of the Tiny Wings handbook by adding mini-challenges that you complete to boost yourself to a new level. Ski Safari lacks the sort of graphic embellishments you’ll find in other iOS games, but then again, it really doesn’t need them; this is an App Store offering that flourishes thanks to its outstanding gameplay. Philip Michaels

47. Jetpack Joyride

FREE

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6js4jv • Read the full review bit.ly/NnUcqz

Jetpack Joyride is a delightful and addictive cave flyer that keeps us coming back for more. You play the role of Barry Steakfries, a disgruntled individual who breaks into a top-secret research lab, steals a machine-gun-powered jetpack, and takes flight through the lab’s never-ending string of long, tunnel-like rooms. As you jet or run along, ever forward, you try to avoid electrified barriers, lasers and missiles while collecting coins. The mix of responsiveness and acceleration is just about perfect, the comical graphics raise it above most offerings in the genre, and the extras – including a superb array of vehicles – make Jetpack Joyride a true standout. Dan Frakes

46. Uplink

£2.99

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/isz3S2 • Read the full review bit.ly/Nt6fCm

Now here’s an old PC game that’s perfectly suited to the iPad. Originally released in 2001, this hacking sim has managed to retain its tension and strange drama on iOS over a decade later. Rarely showing more than a blue map populated by nodes that can be hacked into with simple but precise actions, Uplink offers far more than even the spangliest graphics ever could, simply by dint of immersion. Trying not to be caught remotely invading banks and government offices, unravelling a wider conspiracy and upgrading your raft of hacking tools offers a taut, paranoid few hours. Even 11 years on, it remains a true original. Alec Meer

45. Super Stickman Golf

69p

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6jG44r • Read the full review bit.ly/eNnMdT

As a single-player game, Super Stickman Golf is great. The controls are easy to learn – adjust trajectory using large virtual buttons, tap the Go circle and tap a second time to choose power – and the physics feel just right. What pushes the game into stratospheric levels of excellence, however, is its multiplayer. You can challenge up to three opponents locally over Bluetooth or through Game Center, racing in real time and scoring points when you complete a hole first – adding a speed element to golf is a no-brainer that makes it laugh-out-loud funny. The retro look isn’t as cute as Angry Birds, but the game is even more fun. Lex Friedman

44. Tiny Invaders

69p

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6js46m • Read the full review bit.ly/QG6bB8

A troop of space germs has been sent to take over the world, and your mission is to travel from host to host, taking control of their feeble human minds by navigating around track-like capillaries and changing them from bright red to sickly green. The minuscule aliens zip around by themselves, but you can speed them up with a tap, or tap one of the junctions to switch their path, a bit like a railway sim. This simple mechanic evolves smoothly as capillaries become more complex and additional hazards like defender white blood cells are introduced. Tiny Invaders’ charm, challenge and clever design make it well worth a recommendation. Sinan Kubba

43. Zombie Gunship

69p

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6jG7j4 • Read the full review bit.ly/q5nYgS

From the cockpit of a heavily armed aircraft, circling above a bunker in which the last remnants of humanity have taken refuge from a zombie apocalypse, your job is to gun down zombies and save human survivors. There are some tactics involved in all this – your guns can overheat or be upgraded – but it doesn’t get in the way of the blasting fun. The grainy, surveillance-camera-style graphics help create an intense atmosphere, and the sound effects are top-notch. The strategy, the graphics and sound, and the undeniable thrill of sending the undead back to the grave they crawled out of make for a compelling iOS game. Philip Michaels

42. Dead Space

£4.99/£5.99

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6js42j • Read the full review bit.ly/J22QJy

With Dead Space’s pins-and-needles soundtrack and thrilling atmosphere, you’re always on edge. Your weapons are nothing more than modified mining equipment, and you’re always scrambling to find ammo: every shot counts. If the beasties reach you, there are touch-activated quick-time events you can initiate to push the enemy back a few feet, and you can gradually upgrade your armour and weapons. Aiming, shooting and initiating quick-time events by tapping is easy. This isn’t just a great extension of the Dead Space franchise; it’s a fine game in its own right, both technically solid and evocatively executed. Chris Holt

41. Mighty Fin

69p

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6jG9D4 • Read the full review bit.ly/x0sreA

You’re a fish bobbing through assorted aquatic settings and capturing valuable bubbles along the way. There’s a multitude of levels, and the music is tailored to each setting; special attention has been paid to the sound effects, from the splash of Fin leaping out of the water to the flopping noise when he meets an unfortunate demise. Mighty Fin’s graphics are also noteworthy, particularly the title screens. Side-scrolling games can get repetitive, but Mighty Fin varies things by unlocking new game modes whenever you complete a level. Great graphics, sound and gameplay all add up to a delightful iOS game. Phillip Michaels

40. Eufloria HD

£2.99

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6js3hQ • Read the full review bit.ly/QB7S72

Eufloria pairs simple strategy with mood and style, offsetting tense gameplay with calming visuals and an ambient soundtrack. Your job is to conquer a pastel-hued pocket of space by directing armies of ‘seedlings’ from colony to colony, wiping out any enemies that lurk there and establishing your own trees to generate new seedlings. You’ll face tough decisions about how many seedlings you need to defend your own holdings and how many should be sent out to battle. The push ’n’ pull strategy is compelling enough, but it’s the hand-drawn graphics and pretty soundtrack that really make Eufloria stand out as something special. Alec Meer

39. Jelly Defense

£1.99

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6js4FR • Read the full review bit.ly/zZsGWO

Instead of making you resist a horde of soldiers, this tower-defence game opts for something quirkier: jelly creatures. But this game offers more than just cute critters, and the result is a refreshing take on the genre. Your job on each level is to defend a set of crystals from jelly invaders travelling predetermined paths. You defend yourself by placing battle towers (yes, jelly towers) along the path; each one has a specific weapon and attack range, and can only attack invaders of matching colours. What makes Jelly Defense enjoyable is that it successfully combines challenging gameplay, attractive graphics and a playful soundtrack. Roman Loyola

38. Brick People

£1.49/£1.99

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6jG2Py • Read the full review bit.ly/OTEhkj

The backstory to this against-the-clock puzzler, inspired by a Japanese arcade sensation, is frankly indecipherable, but gameplay is easy to grasp: in each stage, with some variations, you stack bricks to help the Brick People get to the food. Every couple of levels, the Brick Monsters show up for a bonus game where you’re forced to drag bricks to build specific objects. While not quite what you’d call a casual game, it’s accessible to gamers of all ages and skill levels. In an App Store getting increasingly crowded with copycats – see page 66 for our thoughts on that – Brick People stands out as a weirdly wonderful original. Philip Michaels

37. Catan

£2.99

Get it on iTunes from itun.es/i6jG7Bs • Read the full review bit.ly/Po8Dzn

Graphically, this is a faithful rendition of Klaus Teuber’s superb and deservedly idolised tile-based island conquest game. Having the iPad handle those tiresome banking duties and victory point calculations makes things far more fast-paced than the board game, and you can view statistical tables at the end of the bout. The computer players can be absolute swines – they’ll merrily gang up on you in a way that most human players would consider beyond the pale – but hardcore gamers may even consider this a plus. And the original game is such a work of genius that this couldn’t help being great fun, even if it’s not the perfect iOS port. David Price