As I was saying in my previous article, when I turned back on my old iPod Touch, I got the chance to play again with some old games. I’ve decided to break them down in two categories, based on their gameplay: Arcade games and Puzzle games. While some arcade games are puzzles and some puzzles are not actually puzzles, the main attribute for setting them apart was if you could do a relaxed play, taking your eyes a bit from the screen and so on.
The ones I picked to be in this Arcade games list have a fast gameplay, rely on skill, but more than that they rely on quick reaction times.
The best part of the games in this era is that the games usually came with a “Lite” free version to test the game, and the game itself was priced at 0.99-4.99. None of micro-transactions shit-show, where you need to pay for boosts, lives, power-ups, etc. Just you, the game, and skill.
Bliss
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
Boost is a game similar to NES’ Doctor Mario. The gameplay is simple, relaxed and the music is great. Great game to pass the time.
Boost
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
Boost is a quick first-person racer where you’re running in a white neon tube until you crash into a block barrier, which are signaled before by coloured lines on the floor. That means you’ll encounter a block. Avoid them or it’s game over. Replay to get as far as possible,
Brick 3D
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
Classic brick game, but in 3D. Nice colours, nice music.
Collapse Chaos
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
One of my favourite puzzle/arcade games, Collapse Chaos is a fast twist of the classic Collapse game. Click colours, make blocks disappear, repeat until you can’t keep up.
GloBall
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
Use the accellerometer to guide a ball through different mazes, touch the blocks to make them disappear, collect power-ups to make the blocks disappear faster. Clear the area, move to the next level.
Line Up 2
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
From Labpixies, a studio that made some nice puzzle games as well, Line Up 2 is a game with similar mechanics as the above-mentioned Collapse Chaos. While it’s well-made, it still feels like a clone.
Luxor
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
From mumbojumbo we have the famous Luxor game. It has a similar mechanic to Zuma, Tumblebugs and others, but instead of being placed in the middle, you move along the bottom of the screen. While the game is nicely done, the gameplay on the small touchscreen isn’t as accurate and fun as it is with a mouse.
MaxInjury
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
MaxInjury is a game where you need to throw a crash test dummy down a flight of stairs and score as many points as possible. Super-fun.
MaxInjury 2
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
The second installment of MaxInjury brings multiple maps, and a new mechanic, allowing you to tilt the device to make the dummy move left or right. Levels are way bigger and there’s a long long long way down, filled with bombs, flamethrowers, shotguns
The Moron Test
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
The Moron Test shows that you are a moron. It’s a puzzle game, but you need to be (very) fast to solve the puzzles. If you don’t, you’re a moron. Super funny, super fun.
Crazy Penguin Catapult
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
The bears kidnapped some penguins and you need to get them back. Use your catapult and set penglings1 into action and drop them on bears’ heads, so you progress through levels. Get upgrades, free the panguings1, save the day!
Crazy Penguin Catapult 2
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
Ohnoes! Just as you thought you saved the dumb pinglungs1 they managed to get snagged AGAIN by the smart polar bears. Whatchagonnadonow? Of course, use your catapult and set ponglings1 into action and drop them on bears’ heads, so you progress through levels. Get upgrades, free the panguings1, save the day!
Plants vs Zombies
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
One of the best games ever, it started a ton of sequels, spin-off games (PvZ: Garden Warfare, RIGHT??) and merchandise. However, since EA purchased PopCap, they turned the sequel into a shit-show of micro-transactions and in-app purchases. That’s why I still love this original title, just as it was developed by PopCap.
Space Deadbeef
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
Space Deadbeef is a classic side scrolling shooter, similar to Gradius and R-Type (den of geek wrote a bit about the genre) and it had amazing graphics for the technology back then, really pushing the technology.
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
The SLS AMG was a promotional game made to showcase the new (back then) Mercedes-Benz car, featuring a photo/video gallery, a car features presentation and a small game, where you need to race a car through a tunnel and avoid obstacles, to get to the destination as fast as possible. You can drive on the ceiling, so it’s fun.
Space Monkey
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
You are monke. Astronaut monke. Garbage monke. Collect space trash, avoid space tazers, clear the universe of garbage. Fun cartoonish graphics and nice gameplay give a ton of fun times.
Star Defense
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
One of the best mobile games ever created. The music, the control, everything is done properly. It’s a classic tower defense game, but it’s placed on small asteroids. Defeat wave after wave of enemies, place more cannons, upgrade them and defend the shield wall. I’ve spent hours in this game back in the day and it’s great.
Stoneloops of Jurassica
🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
To be fair, I even forgot I had this game. Made by the deveopers of Luxor, it’s just a clone with different levels. Nice to play, if you’re bored, but nothing to write home about. It also lacks of the controls issues like Luxor, so it’s not even that fun to play if you’re bored
Tetris
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
Built before EA’s hunger for micro-transactions, this is a classic colorful Tetris game.
WordFu
🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
WordFu is what you get when you mix dies, letters and speed. It’s like a game of Scrabble-craps, annoying and you don’t have too many chances to win
Zombie Duck Hunt
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
A nice remix of the classic NES game, you hunt various types of ducks to get high scores. Pew pew pew! I mean, fun fun fun!
Zombieville USA
🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ 🕹️ / 5
A fun side-scrolling shooting game. You kill zombies as you progress through levels. Get ammo, get weapon upgrades, kill huge waves of zombies until you’ll eventually die. Super fun game.
Plus, you have various modifiers, based on the character you choose to play.
I wanted to mention a few more games which I remember playing, but don’t have them on the iPod for some reason. Volkswagen at some point created some nice driving games to promote their cars, I don’t remember them very well, they might be newer than iOS 3.1.3 and I might have played them on the iPhones I had starting with like 2012, so maybe I’ll look them up and make a separate post about them.
Anyway, I’ll have to write soon an article about the Puzzle games that I played on the iPod Touch, so keep close.
