Aesthetically, Horizon Chase is exactly the sort of racing game that genre fans looking for a classic experience will want to check out. Unfortunately there are some odd mechanical implementations that make Horizon Chase feel a bit too wonky to net a full recommendation.

An unfortunately mixed bag. It looks and sounds great, but the writing seems haphazard, the gameplay feels clunky at best (and buggy at worst) and its online reliability is sporadic.

At a time when it’s ever more difficult for a game to convince us to not only listen, but just keep the sound on, Miracle Merchant offers an engaging audio environment for its players. Thanks to a score and sound effects by Craig S Barnes, the game is able to offer a soundtrack that lets you think without being distracting. The sound effects themselves also seem incredibly true to the fantasy world that you’re temporarily inhabiting in the game, itself another real accomplishment. The lack of progression means things may get stale fast for some players, but if you’re the type of gamer who strives to find new strategies that let them bump their score up over time and dominate their friends on the leaderboards, Miracle Merchant is a potion that’s well worth sipping.

Once Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch gets rolling, it’s a great mobile strategy game that genre fans will undoubtedly enjoy. Unfortunately a number of backend issues really hold the experience back from being a must buy for strategy gamers.

An ideal example of a game that rises above the sum of its parts. Its problems can't be ignored, but the its highs are so much higher than its lows. The game - like Toku - is a mischievous scamp whose faults are not its undoing. And when all's said and done, there's such a strong puzzle platformer here that it's hard to stay mad for too long.

The 3D engine the game uses is surprisingly well done, with well detailed plane models and decent environments. If you have interest in taking to the sky and sending jets to the ground in a ball of fire, you should consider giving Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy a shot.

It might get repetitive if you play it for too long, but the initial draw (pun not intended) means you’ll soon be quite endeared towards it. Even if it does take you a while to unlock any equipment upgrades.

The Forest of Doom is actually pretty good, and packs in some nice extras including achievements, an extensive art gallery that catalogs your encounters, a history of the Fighting Fantasy series and the story behind The Forest of Doom. The biggest knock against it is simply that it lacks sophistication.

The game adheres to the control scheme and tropes that most endless runner games possess, but it still manages to feel like something fresh.

You need to react quickly to the point of operating on pure instinct once things really pick up, and a single mistake will send you back to the beginning. If that sounds like your thing, or if you like really pretty space stuff and don’t mind a bit of frustration, then definitely check it out.

If you’re in the market for a game to give to your kids who are just getting into gaming, or if you enjoy very basic platforming games, Momoka is a fine choice. But veteran gamers that are looking for something that will put their skills to the test will want to keep on looking.

There’s a really cool and enjoyable puzzle strategy game in Ticket to Earth. The problem is all the supposedly random bits end up making things feel unfair. Failing a level because the tiles happened to spawn in a way to help an enemy chase me down isn’t challenging, it’s cheap. Missing out on collecting important items on the board because they often appear where enemies can grab them first isn’t fun, it’s frustrating. I really, really want to like Ticket to Earth, but I just don’t have the patience for its poor balancing.

While Golf Zero might not have the universal appeal of Colin Lane’s earlier works like Wrassling or Dunkers, those who master it will likely have fallen in love completely. It’s just that it’s so hard, those who master it are likely to be few and far between.

A fun third-person action/RPG that isn't as original as it'd like players to think it is. It's got some kinks that need to be ironed out, but it's definitely something that most action RPG fans will like while it remains simple enough to appeal to genre newcomers.

Mad Acorn might have a generic soundtrack and strange mechanics, but it serves as a fantastic example of a budget rhythm-based game that captures a few elements from the all-time greats.

Certainly not a bad game: it’s just a little too much on the simple side. It has a shining presentation and beautiful visuals, but the lack of things to do can quickly sour the total experience.

Draw Something is a great concept that has been proven to work by other games of its ilk, but the general execution of the OMGPOP's app just leaves something to be desired.

Though it reminds me strangely of games like Angry Birds, Land-A-Panda is definitely still well worth investigating in its own right. If nothing else, the birds have had their fun; it's time for another species to dominate the skies instead.

The Blockheads is missing the real secret sauce that made Minecraft king of the current gaming zeitgeist: community.

You get to meet all these quirky characters, you finally have levels where there is more to do then swallow everything, but then the game just ends. I like everything about this game, it’s just too short to recommend.

As a highly competent two-stick shooter, there is no reason not to recommend it. If you have fun with it for an hour and never play it again, it will have been worth your money. Chances are you will have fun with it for at least that long. But will you be playing Darkside two weeks from now? I doubt it.

As it stands, Almightree is a capable puzzle game offering a unique assortment of challenges that fall just short of their potential.

The game will be enjoyed most by players already familiar with the aspects of Icewind Dale and are seeking a mobile dosage of Dungeons and Dragons on the go. But if you’re not a seasoned veteran, approach these cold mountains with caution.

I’m a firm believer that Loot & Legends will approach or reach the heights of Card Hunter, but I can only review games in the forms they take when we can actually download them to our tablets. This one is an unstable version of a classic for now, so here’s hoping we can revisit it in a few months and find it’s realized its full potential.

For some Frog Detective won’t offer enough actual detective work, but it’s still a gently amusing ride that will certainly appeal to younger gamers.

Hunters: Episode One is a good title that's on the verge of being absolutely great. Aside from needing some bugs fixed, the game could also use some story missions to provide a solid narrative that players can get behind.

In truth, it’s clear the developers of Fates Forever were trying to build something very much akin to Blizzard’s casual hit – boiling down push-and-pull of MOBA into something quick, simple, and great to look at (the game looks great, by the way, though the human/animal character design is uninspiring). They just happened to reveal the limitations of doing so in the process.

Where Solitairica falters is its depth. It’s not as deep as it sounds. Once you’ve unlocked all the classes, you’ll find yourself gravitating to your favorite and mostly using the same spells repeatedly. That’s fine, but it means that Solitairica outstays its welcome eventually. There are only so many times you can play it until you feel as if you’ve had your fill and seen enough. Fortunately, that amount of content just about warrants a purchase, but you’ll burn out earlier than your initial playthroughs would have you think.

Heroes and Castles isn't visually stunning, and its controls might cost you more than one battle, but it's not a bad package when it's taken as a whole. Glory to the king and his butterfingered champions.

The main problem with Burn It All ends up being its repetitive gameplay. While having 100 levels is certainly nothing to sneeze at, the fact that you're presented with virtually the same problems and pitfalls all the way through (i.e. burn things in the right order, don't get extinguished) gets a little stale after a while.

Battleloot Adventure has a lot more going for it than we expected in a budget app. If you don't mind straight questing, there's easily 10+ hours of content here to play through. Combat is slick, and the dozens of unique creatures are a blast to pummel. The lack of a story, grinding, and glitches keep it from being a definite must-buy, but it's still a decent RPG experience.

Hanging with Friends is a pretty basic app, but it still manages to be fun and engaging.

Gentlemen! is great fun, and well worth splashing out on if you often find yourself wanting to play tablet games with a friend. Solo players need not apply, obviously, but if you're hankering for some friendly Victorian-style deathmatch, then this is a game that will suffice.

Hardcore gamers will certainly be able to sink their teeth into Indigo Lake and enjoy an edge-of-your-seat experience, but anyone who is, perhaps, a more casual player will have trouble staying patient or tenacious enough to reach the real meat of the game.

I have to emphasize the first two worlds here, because while the puzzling in Sprinkle is fairly easy, unlocking World 3 and beyond is incredibly hard.

Exhumed Powerslave is not one of the best first person shooters of the mid-nineties, but has more than enough interesting ideas to be worthy of retrospection. Just make sure you go in with a sufficient amount of patience.

Bringing back such an old game is never easy and making one with so many ideas feel relevant in 2022 is a tough feat. But Live A Live does a good job of modernising this lost game and making sure a whole new audience can experience it. If you love JRPGS or HD-2D Live A Live will have something for you, or if you are looking for something different with a unique story you’ll be happy here. At times it can be frustrating in its older game design and often a little easy but at the end of the day it never stops being interesting.

If you’re aren’t into platformers as a whole, Tevi might not be for you – it’s probably one of the more complicated entries in the genre out there, but it’s just about worth the effort.

You can adjust the digital d-pad to your liking, for instance. It gives you reasons to keep running, too: As you play a level, you’ll see ghosts from your past attempts, as well as the ghosts of your friends. It’s almost impossible to resist the compulsion to give chase.

For a title that proclaims itself the first real mobile MOBA, Heroes of Order & Chaos is a good start. Until it gets those technical glitches smoothed out, though, that's all it's going to be. Play it now with a little bit of forewarning, and definitely check back on it in a few months to see if it improves on its promising beginning.

It's a fashionable example of something that isn't very interesting. The Hitman license is used here to good, if slightly limited, effect. It's just not enough to make me like something that a lot of players like myself finds fundamentally frustrating, and, moreover, just boring.

Deus Ex GO is basically more of the same. The sci-fi coat of paint looks nice, the plot is pointless, the puzzles are tricky but satisfying — and it’s all starting to feel a bit by-the-numbers. Fans of the previous games will still probably enjoy themselves, but I wouldn’t blame them for feeling a little burned out, either.

Even though Xenowerks is repetitive and easy, it’s still a fun game that is a great quick-fix to satisfy your urge to blow up monsters into chunky, green, bits.

Like any tasty drink though, the more you consume, the quicker you'll tire of it.

In terms of core gameplay, Great Little War Game is a delightful, challenging title. Unfortunately, the production values are a bit uneven and drag the rest of the game down. Still, it's a lot of fun, and strategy fans should enjoy it.

RadBalls is a fun little bite-sized experience that is worth playing through, even if only for the bright and colorful aesthetic and the amazing upbeat soundtrack. It isn't overly complicated, it's easy to pick up and learn, utilizes the multi-touch capabilities of the iOS devices, and would be a great game for all ages to play around with.

Subterfuge is a fairly entertaining game for what it is, even with its quirks.

It’s definitely fun and a different take on both match-3 and Magic, but it’s going to need some updating wizardry to completely captivate me for the long term.

Mini Motorways is a well put together puzzler, and reasonably well priced – but we’d recommend playing it on another platform if you have the option.

Why does a game that promises and sets up for an adventure feel so small...like it never left the comfortable shores of the status quo?

I enjoyed the Kiwanuka experience – it's so upbeat and sincere that I couldn't help but be charmed by it – but the game itself was a little too simple.

The full five-dollar Auditorium experience is well worth the money, and even the five level initial game is worth downloading. But it's hard not to feel bitter about getting a title piecemeal rather than a full, outright download.

Despite not adding much new, Diggin' Dogs is a very fun and well made title. Attempting to get all the bones in each of the missions would be a lengthy, fun process. If you're looking for another game that will mollify your completionist urges, look no further.

It isn't ahead of its time, or working on the cutting edge of its genre, but for some gamers, it may just do you one better: illustrate the joys of something completely quaint.

RAD Soldiers still offers smooth tactical action for the wartime enthusiast, and the turn-based gameplay functions on a high level of strategy and fun. But the game's lack of inventiveness in level design fails to make the experience stand out from other tactical war games on the market.

1001 Attempts a steal at its launch price, and is an easy game to jump right into.

Most iOS games are good for about ten minutes, and then immediately deleted. But Bridgy Jones is at its best hours later, with little charm to hold you over until then. If you’re a fan of the genre, this is probably for you; but if you still need to arrive at that station, well this train don’t stop there anymore.

Touchgrind Skate 2 is going to be a seriously awesome, in-depth skater for some players, and a troublesome, niggly experience for others. What's for certain is that the App Store very much needs these kinds of unique and innovative offerings in spades, and we're excited to see what comes out of Illusion Labs next.

It’s a good game with a lot of good aspects to it that will satisfy those who are satisfied by this type of game.

In the end though, Titan Quest’s issues are more of an annoyance than anything that will ruin the fun. And it is a fun game that manages to capture much of what made dungeon crawlers so popular.

It’s still bright, it’s still full of interesting ideas, and it’s still one of the most intriguing IP that Bioware has created. This might not be the best way to play it, and you will find yourself frustrated from time to time, but it has one very big thing going for it: convenience. Being portable makes this one of the easiest ways to play Jade Empire. Stick it on your phone or tablet, take it with you on a long trip, and despite the port’s failings, you’ll still find one of the best RPG experiences on mobile. And that’s high praise indeed.

Simply put, there are better options out there, and Neon Shadow is little more than a boring distraction wrapped in an OK-looking package.

Legend of the Skyfish might be a little awkward in a few areas, but it doesn’t ruin the experience so much as disappoint me a little when I think about what could’ve been. It’s a tiny big adventure that should have felt better, but is still worth taking.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links might lack some of the depth of the original, but it’s still a pretty good mobile conversion. By cutting certain elements down, you’ll be able to get more accomplished than you would have before.

The original Jet Car Stunts was a paid app we gave four stars, but Jet Car Stunts 2 simply fails to live up to its predecessor’s legacy as it falls into the free-to-play trap so many other titles have. Unless and until they give this one some fine-tuning, it’s better to go with the original or other, better games than bother with this one.

Full of potential but still in need of work.

Despite this, An Alien with a Magnet is still enjoyable and provides a nice level of challenge across its story and bonus modes, though one might not be inclined to marathon it. But in shorter spurts, or if you manage to get on a roll, it satisfies.

Touchscreen issues and a lack of controller support aside, Modern Combat 5 delivers on what it set out to do.

Kaze and the Wild Masks is a bit of a hard sell. On one hand it does everything it wants to exceptionally, but what it wants to do has already been done. And, arguably, much better.

Kirby’s Return To Dream Land Deluxe is a well presented title that does have more ideas than most 2D platformers – but they’re presented in such a chaotic way that we can’t imagine anyone but the very young (and their parents) getting much enjoyment out of them.

TwoDots would be a wonderful experience to lose yourself within, if the game would only let you in.

A fun game for as long as it lasts. It's very well-made, and has a fun premise. But the lack of multiple maps, modes or any other reason to replay other than topping your score makes Zombie Gunship merely a fun diversion than a fulfillment of Zombiepocalypse Now.

PAC'N-JUMP may be just another Doodle Jump clone, but it's a good Doodle Jump clone. With a little bit of variety and some fun retro flavor, PAC'N-JUMP offers a terrific alternative to The Doodler that any Pac-Maniac should enjoy.

Hambo has some quirks which are more a matter of personal preference as to whether you would appreciate them or not. Beyond that, with the exception of a couple of gameplay issues named above, Hambo is a pretty solid, fun game with over 200 levels, so you should be kept occupied for quite a while if you go with it.

Taken as a game, Pivvot lack the edge-of-your-seat challenge I’d hoped to find here. Taken as an experience, Pivvot is a trippy, hypnotic ride that’s perfectly suited to a touch device. Whether or not you’ll enjoy Pivvot is largely dependent on what you’re expecting from it. If you’re in the mood for hypnotic rather than hyperactive, consider Pivvot money well spent.

If you're craving a shiny new fighting game, Street Fighter X Tekken is definitely pretty, but know that the entry cost won't be the last time you'll have to purchase something for an optimal experience.

A game that seems like it's trying to wheedle even more cash out of you despite its base price tag. It's still fun, and one of the better examples of tower defense on the market, but it's hard to escape the impression that Bloons TD 4 wasn't so piratical in its drive to urge you to spend premium currency.

It starts off superbly, with the promise of a dark, mature fantasy tale wrapped up in an utterly stunning multimedia package, but once you get into the meat of the story it becomes little more than a succession of dull, often-annoying combat sequences.

Little touches like bomb pegs, fire and ice pegs, and pegs that multiply the number of babies all helped to keep Kickin Momma fun – but with a general lack of challenge and originality, there simply wasn't anything here to blow us away. Fans of Peggle will no doubt enjoy what Kickin Momma has to offer, but at the same time, it doesn't offer anything we haven't seen before.

Checkpoint Champion is easy to play yet difficult to master, but it does leave you wanting more: more vehicles (especially), more game modes, just more in general, and not necessarily in the good way.

While Cling Thing may have a lot of heart in its quest to become the next big thing in cutesy physics-puzzling, the game is really hurting in terms of its charm. With bland, forgettable characters and boring level designs, not to mention controls and physics that do more to harm the playing experience than do it any good, this is probably one game that’s best left stuck on the back of your chair like a stale piece of gum.

While there is no denying that Slayin is an incredibly charming title, it’s hard to recommend a game based on charm alone. Yes, this is a great way to kill a couple minutes, but it is also easily forgettable and just about as niche as it gets.

The iOS version of Crazy Taxi is a hard game to judge. On the one hand, it's a pitch perfect port. It's the kind of port that makes me wish more classic driving games would come to the App Store (Burnout, I'm looking at you). On the other hand, the Crazy Taxi license has so much untapped potential that it's killing us that SEGA isn't doing more with it. This release proves that the Crazy Taxi formula is a fantastic fit for mobile gamers… but SEGA needs to think about putting some new tires on this old cab.

The visuals are too determined to mimic the past than impress in the present, the plot is awful fan fiction guff, and world feels utterly drab and lifeless. None of the areas I explored were memorable, and I had no desire to return to any of them once I’d moved on. The result is a game that clearly wants to be Jet Set Radio 3, and because we’re all so starved for more, we’ll lap it up like it is. But, ultimately, it’s not up to the same standards. I’d definitely back Sega giving Team Reptile the opportunity to make a genuine stab at a Jet Set Radio 3, as the love for the series oozes in every screen, but it needs the big budget that the series deserves. And, a vastly superior writing team.

As movie tie-ins go, Monsters, Inc. Run is a great deal of fun – but it's also completely forgettable, and you'll have moved on to a new experience and pushed this one aside pretty quickly.

A nice challenging puzzler, but it offers nothing special to really draw you into its world, and its puzzles aren't so inventive or mind-boggling for you to go and tell your friends about.

You go back to it again and again because levels are passable – you just wind up trying again and again until the candy gods take pity on you and finally issue a board that gives you a fair chance at succeeding.

There are plenty of rewards for those who dive in, but I still think Pokémon TCG Online’s entry to the iPad could have been smoother.

What ultimately holds Lightopus back is the lack of any real growth or development. What you're doing in Level 1 is the exact same thing you're doing in Level 20, but with more enemies onscreen. It's the same thing every single stage, and even though it's fun for a little while, the mechanics and gameplay aren't engrossing enough to stand on their own for an extended period of time.

Coco Loco is an interesting creature for sure, as it's not quite good enough to knock those perturbed birds off their perch but it is good enough and fleshed out enough to warrant a cheap download. The game is especially worth it if you're a huge fan of these types of games and can't stand the wait for Angry Birds Space.

Notably, KAMI isn't exactly mind-blowing, or even exciting. It's more of a calming, zen-like experience that never really does anything that will wow you, but is still rather pleasant.

You might be tempted to play through most of Rust Bucket’s Puzzle Mode before diving into the Endless Dungeon, but I wouldn’t recommend it. You can figure out most of what you’ll need to survive after only a few levels, and the constant appearance of obnoxiously long ads might make it unbearable if you have to deal with too many of them. Instead, play a few puzzles and then jump straight into the Endless Dungeon – it’ll be a lot more enjoyable that way.

Embracing the subject matter, as well as maintaining a fast paced take on matching different colors, means you’ll find yourself frequently itching for just one more go.

If you've only played a handful of tower defense games, Siegecraft TD will be right up your street. It's polished, it's to-the-point, and it's meticulously crafted. But if you're looking for something more from your tower defense games, Siegecraft TD is going to be a passing distraction and nothing more.

Dead Effect 2 certainly has a few quirks that might annoy you or even turn you off entirely (it’s mainly the forced registration and the tone-deaf script for me), but if you can endure or ignore them you should be able to have quite a bit of fun with it.

The truly rewarding moments in The Trace are exploring its gorgeous, accessible world and feeling like you are a physical part of it.

As it stands today, Kumo Lumo is an adorably strange game that has stolen my heart, but not a spot on my must-play list. A rainy day game, for now.

At their core these are perfectly entertaining games, but are bewilderingly poorly presented. If we are to keep receiving ports of older titles on the Switch we should certainly be demanding ones that are put together with a bit more effort than this.