Mario Kart Tour isn’t perfect, but it is Nintendo’s best offering on mobile yet, and one that manages to completely avoid pay to win in the freemium space. That’s pretty commendable stuff.

There’s a lot worse stuff on the App Store than this, and even though it’s not really pushing endless runners forward or anything, it’s not a bad way to kill some idle time – and maybe the only way to pit athletes versus aliens, for what it’s worth.

A bit polarizing to say the least, the game starts off incredibly strong, with a delightfully spooky atmosphere and slick gameplay mechanics that just make it feel so good every time you pick off an enemy down the scope of your rifle. But once that first mission ends and the apocalyptic paywalls begin to set in, you’re going to start covering your eyes and hiding from this game for entirely different reasons.

Those with greater patience might find it rewarding towards the end, but the blood-thirsty like me will find it disappointing that Barry won't splatter when dropped from great heights.

Perhaps my expectations for Yet Another Zombie Defense were off-base. I was looking forward to a sharp mix of light tower defense strategy and arcade action, but what I got was a competent but unremarkable dual-stick shooter with sentry turrets and blocks- reasonably fun, but quickly forgettable.

It's a good game that hasn't quite crossed the line to great, and you'll want to be sure you're familiar with its quirks before you drop money in it.

Carrying the Sons of Anarchy brand built my expectations up pretty high. I expected some hard-hitting action and some memorable characters. The Prospect delivers very little of both.

Ultimately Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a good game that’s sadly been poorly treated with this port. There’s not enough that’s been added in here to make it worthwhile for those who have fond memories of playing it back in 1993, and the rough edges will likely put off most newcomers.

The nostalgic trappings of the experience are a ploy, and one that works pretty darn well. The game bears the hallmarks of nostalgia, of a glimpse into a rose-tinted past, but unabashedly uses them to drag the player into a more mundane and general present.

Star Wars: Galactic Defense borrows liberally from Kingdom Rush and doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but I’m not one to complain about Star Wars-themed anything, so it works for me.

There seems like some nice extended play value, as there are villains beyond those starring in the movie, and arena mode and regular events.

A good bit of fun. Yes, it's a little shallow and the visuals are a bit dull, but overall it makes for some good, simple game play. Will it be something that appeals to everyone? No, not really. But it is a great, arcade-like title that is ideal for killing a few minutes at a time.

Game of Thrones: Beyond the Wall is an entertaining distraction. It’s better than the last series of the show, in that it won’t leave you confused or furious, but it’s still not the mobile Game of Thrones experience a lot of us are waiting for.

If cruising through wave after wave of similar disposable baddies in order to reach a challenging boss sounds repetitive to you, than the game might not feel so super. But if you've grown up on arcade classics and are looking for a cheap way to relive the thrill of incredible combos, then this is a must buy.

This isn’t a “decent” endless game. Even the less than impressive ones understand the importance of being able to start a new game quickly. And making players have to wait and/or pay to repair their suits so they can get back to it faster only makes it that much more insulting.

Our biggest disappointment is down to the gameplay itself, which is so bog standard and dull that we already feel like we’ve seen enough on day one. That’s the most damning indictment of all.

So like any good dystopian fiction, the game ends up packed with allegory, mirroring its main protagonist. Like Robo, No Red T-Shirts feels like a would-be wonder, caught in an explosion and left instead with haywire circuitry. A very hard lesson about the risks of greed and technology.

No, it’s not the worst endless runner you’ll ever play, but it lacks the charm and creativity of similar titles like Robot Unicorn Attack.

If moving buildings around all the time to squeeze in a fire department or a police station, while waiting for the slow trickle of money and resources that you need to expand, sounds like fun, then jump right into SimCity BuildIt. Just be aware, patience is necessary, and don’t expect to have marathon sessions with the game.

There's a very simple way to decide whether Everyday Spelunker is for you: if you're looking to pick it up for the sake of nostalgia, or simply to fill a blank in your video game knowledge, then this is a great port, and well worth your time. If you're planning to pick up Spelunker for proper entertainment purposes, and/or you find that old-school games don't usually gel with you, I really wouldn't bother.

Dream Revenant could have been a halmark mobile gaming moment. Instead, it’s a masterclass in how to make a mess out of the best of intentions.

So am I just supposed to laugh when I spend ten minutes flopping a piece of bread around a house, only to lose when the bread wildly flops to the floor and goes bad? I’ve laughed at goats rocketing through the air, and comedic surgeries gone wrong …but go throw a piece of bread on the floor. Did you laugh? Probably not.

Tales of Crestoria, for most of us, is big and confusing and probably not worth the effort. Tales of… fans will definitely get more out of it, but even then they’re going to spend a lot of time confused, befuddled, and letting the game take care of itself.

Feels like a deception – a physics puzzler that appears simple enough to engage with from the outside, but will leave scores disappointed when they take to its waters. The idea behind it, though a touch derivative, has potential aplenty – but developer Cezary Rajkowski's strict rule set means Feed the Duck's fishing trip only turns tasty when you follow its line to the letter.

Like the "big in Japan" DotA, Plants War could prove to be hugely popular with a small subset of gamers, but more mainstream audiences probably won't get much out of it.

So if a game has some clever ideas, looks pretty and sounds fantastic, but is kind of a monotonous grind under all of that... well, that's where you end up with Guardian Cross, I guess.

In the sea of endless runners, and in the pool of Everplay games, Miner Problem sinks.

Disney has made a number of admirable changes to Where’s My Water? 2, but these are overshadowed by the money-grubbing nature of its energy meter and pay-to-play focus. What was once a relaxing, refreshing change of pace in the App Store is now just another poorly implemented freemium model. It will take a lot of baths to get this stench off Swampy.

Even though GolfStar still has some “ironing” out to do in the design department (get it? iron?), it sure is nice to look at, and when you actually get to play it, the core gameplay mechanics are smoother than any mobile golf game you’ve ever played before.

A great concept partially foiled by really shoddy implementation.

In the end, Kill Shot does little to differentiate itself from a pack of similar titles that also require you to perform the same kills, over and over.

The biggest saving grace of Papertris is its budget price, but even with that in mind there are so many better options out there for puzzle game fans than this.

That's really Fightback in a nutshell. It's a fun game, it's an amusing game, but it never leaves me craving more.

Gameplay-wise, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is strictly old hat, but its self-aware humor makes it worth a play if you’re into celebrity-building games.

It's really below average to average at best. But when placed up against other similar titles it just gets the pants beat off it. I can't in good conscience give you any reason to own this game, especially with such better options on the market.

I'm still playing Third Blade; I played it on the subway from home. However, there's something incredibly tasteless about the fact that they would use such underhanded freemium-style tactics in a paid game. That said, if you're looking for a fever-paced little game destined to keep you busy for at least a few days, Third Blade remains a worthy recipient of your money.

Half-Inch Heist is a nice idea, let down by a lack of content and a slightly shoddy movement system. It's free-to-play so you might as well grab it anyway, but here's hoping a future update rectifies these issues.

There certainly seems to be an audience for this type of game, but you’ll have to be drawn in by the atmosphere of Dragon Storm and be prepared to be social if you really want to be part of it.

Knitted Deer boasts cute graphics and a great soundtrack. Its knitted world is an interesting place. Unfortunately, if an endless runner doesn’t excel in every category—and Knitted Deer doesn’t—it’s going to get run down and left to bake on the asphalt.

The Deep Paths is okay. If you keep the volume low or play on mute. And you have the patience of a saint for clumsy controls/menus. And you don’t ever use maps in games. I suppose if there weren’t similar games that have been out for a while that do what this one does better, it wouldn’t seem quite so bad. Unfortunately for The Deep Paths, we live in a world where Legend of Grimrock exists.

If you like cosy fantasy games, but with a hint of action, then Elrentros Wanderings comes highly recommended – as long as you’re okay with things getting a little repetitive at times.

There are only sixteen levels available right now, with another eight coming soon, but they are each packed with plenty of things to do, see, and bounce on. Square Planet certainly isn't flat.

Kingdoms of Middle-earth may be a competent release, but it's also a soulless one.

It's frustrating. Still though, if you want to see something new, I won't stop you from downloading it. It's a good game, it just needs some kinks ironed out.

While I've definitely seen worse, Big Hollow Princess is still a pretty good example of a corporate cash-in. It's current place near the top of the App Store charts nearly justifies their practice, too: people will buy anything as long as it has the Adventure Time name on it.

But being a mediocre action-RPG is not the point of Hail to the King: Deathbat; this is a game by Avenged Sevenfold for their fans, and unless you are one, stay away from this game.

Danger Boat isn't particularly horrible per se, as it's quite playable and safe.

There’s an endearing cheesy soap-opera charm to Five Dates that means you can’t take your eyes away from it. This certainly doesn’t mean it’s a game we recommend to everyone – but if you’re looking for a reasonably well presented dating sim you could do a lot worse, especially for its budget price.

This is worth a shot if you like pouring hours upon hours into a visual novel – especially since there are multiple routes. However, you’ve really got to push yourself to get through the first few hours – don’t go into it expecting a predecessor to Danganronpa, because this game is nothing like that.

The best way to describe Evil Dead is "almost, but not quite." It's cute and cheeky and so over-the-top that it's got a lot of charm going for it. Unfortunately, the gameplay needs to be tweaked a bit before it'll be really good. Still, it's entertaining in a mindless sort of way, and as a fan of the series, you could do definitely do worse.

I love a challenging game, but Calvino Noir is simply too difficult to keep my interests for long. Calvino Noir demands 100% concentration, and if the gameplay experience was 100% consistent, it might warrant it.

If you're a fan of brick-breaking games, there are countless better options out there than Breakout: Boost. Here's to hoping this is just a single unpleasant blip in Atari's future mobile plans.

Though folks using older iOS devices may occasionally become frustrated missing a target due to a choppy framerate, Deer Hunter Reloaded is perhaps Glu's most successful attempt at freemium.

Crossword Dungeon is - regrettably - not the game it pitches itself to be. It's dull and repetitive, the need to move a step between entering each letter in a word seems unnecessarily clunky, and the mistakes in the hints suggest a serious lack of polish.

Seemingly exploitive level design and hair-pulling hazard placement aside, this title contains many of the basic elements that draw us to gaming in the first place, and puts them all in a package that is both wonderfully retro and satisfyingly modern. Good luck putting this one down – especially you old-school fanatics.

Mega Man X definitely deserved a more faithful transition to iOS than what Capcom has delivered this time. If you want an excellent example of how to bring a classic game to modern platforms, check out Sonic CD, because it's exactly what should have been done here. I wouldn't call this port lazy, just a misguided attempt at upgrading a game that didn't need it.

Ultimately we’re not sure Romantic Distancing is even worth buying at its budget price point, unless you’re desperately after an hour of undemanding and disappointingly lightweight entertainment.

Disney's Monsters University is a disappointingly bland offering with little by way of unique and engaging gameplay or replayability.

While other mobile FPS games might still be drowning in a sea of shoddy touchscreen controls, The Drowning offers just enough moments of ingenuity and potential insights to these traditional issues that gamers will always be able to keep coming up for refreshing breaths of air.

Before the Nexus is a typical endless running game with a couple of issues as well as a couple of smile-worthy surprises. If you're into the Ratchet and Clank universe, or if you just like collecting endless runners, you'll enjoy this. If you've had it with the genre, or if you've sworn only to touch the very best it offers, feel free to skip ahead to Into the Nexus.

If you enjoyed Guardian Cross or really have a thing for zombies, there’s a good chance you’ll really like Deadman’s Cross. Otherwise it probably won’t hold your interest for very long.

A decent game. Unfortunately, that feels like a colossal letdown after things start off, if only because the production values imply that it's going to be so very much more. It looks and sounds amazing, so it's a shame that it doesn't play amazing, too.

A loyal reader told me I overrated Thor: The Dark World, and while this game is better, it’s not by much. That leaves me in much the same place, lamenting that while this game looks like the proper companion experience to the sure-to-be-awesome movie, it’s just a bit underwhelming. Guess I’ll keep hoping.

A work of adorable potential hidden behind gold-plated barriers.

Nothing about Record Run is unforgivably broken, but nothing is spot-on, either. It’s like listening to a favorite song sung by a different artist in the wrong key; it’s familiar and almost enjoyable, but it never gets stuck in your head like the real thing.

It's not perfect, and when compared to those other games I mentioned earlier in the review, it simply can't compete on that level. But as a short distraction with no pressure of long lasting appeal Glo Flo can certainly fit the bill.

As both a comic book fan and an endless runner aficionado, Marvel Run Jump Smash! didn’t need to do much to wow me. But in the end, it just fell flat.

SimplePhysics does what it ultimately set out to do, which is to make a physcis simulator that works and is easy to design for.

Because Angry Birds Fight! is free to play, it’s worth the download for a match-3 or Angry Birds fan. But if you’re looking for a truly addictive PvP battle, don’t put all your eggs in this basket.

It makes progress a struggle, so despite good intentions SkateBird isn’t a game that ever really properly takes flight.

So yes, while Sonic Jump Fever is not a perfect game and a little repetitive, it’s at least built to not overstay its welcome, and isn’t a bad game to just pick up and play for a few rounds at a time.

Ultimately The Game of Life 2 isn’t a bad game – and should appeal to families looking for the occasional brief piece of entertainment – but doesn’t offer a slick enough package to justify its price-tag.

Bravo Games has outdone itself in terms of presentation, but I can't help but feel that the game could have been more, well, MORE. It's not a bad game, it just lacks the elements that will keep players wanting to play further than, perhaps, ten minutes at a time.

A quirky little tool, and it's nice to see more people attempt to utilize the iOS cameras in gameplay, but this is far from the supreme ghost fighting experience that many of us have been waiting for our entire lives. It's a fun gimmick to show your friends, but the novelty disappears faster than a Slimer in broad daylight.

Sniper Fury appeals to players who enjoy seconds-long bouts of sniping, and those who get a rush watching a bullet fly through the air and into some poor guys head, belly, or little finger are going to have some decent time with Sniper Fury. As for everyone else, Sniper Fury just doesn’t offer enough interesting content upfront, and there are other games out there that do a better job at what Sniper Fury is doing.

A first person shooter that is perhaps a little too focused on style over substance, this is still worth investigating for fans of the genre.

A mediocre game trying to sneak by on the coattails of greatness.

Until Z-Man Games releases an official Pandemic port for iOS, I'll be happy to use Operation: Eradicate to get my co-op disease curing fix.

If you've played the original, then you've already seen practically everything the sequel has to offer. If you haven't, there are better puzzle games out there more deserving of your money and time.

Unfortunately this version is let down by annoying controls, weird audio glitches and multiple crashes – meaning this is hard to recommend unless you’re one of the biggest Blade Runner fans out there. And even then…

Peggle Blast is so hair-pullingly careless about its attempts at monetization, you can’t shake the feeling that somewhere in the bowels of EA, a person in an expensive suit has their feet up on a nice desk and is roaring with laughter.

No matter where you stand on all of this, I think we can all agree that server issues are a total bummer. Curiosity suffers from them, and at times it kept me from even firing the game up. I'm hopeful the issue will be fixed in a forthcoming patch, but as of now it's a pretty big annoyance.

Its drab exteriors, while well animated, give Battleborn Tap a dour feel. One that struggles to encourage you to be excited. Unlocking rewards for the console/PC game, though, is certainly tempting.

Flappy Bird is simultaneously everything that’s right and wrong about video games. You’ll play it, you’ll obsess over it, but you’ll never really like it.

It's a broken, laughable mess of a "game" and should be avoided at all costs. The scariest thing about it is trying to finish it. And you'll probably stop caring long before that.

Having finally played Dominant Species I can confirm that at its core is a superb strategy game, filled with difficult choices and fierce competition. But this conversion to digital is a weak half-attempt, struggling up from the primordial ooze and gasping for breath on dry land. It takes almost no advantage of the inherent advantages of the format, offering no multimedia, no tutorial, feeble AI and limited network play, succeeding only in streamlining the overheads inherent in the physical game.

I just wish Stan Lee’s Hero Command captured a little more of the magic in the living legend’s mind, but he probably isn’t sweating the fact that it doesn’t make that much of an impression, so neither should you.

Umihara Kawase BaZooKa is a hard title to pin down. Okay, perhaps that’s too much of a cliche – as ultimately it’s an arcade game with some nonsensical flourishes.

The issue with Fieldrunners Attack! is that it isn’t even a great interpretation of the usual base building strategy stuff. It’s too formulaic, and too safe to be considered a step forward in any way. Full troop control is something that other strategy games should embrace, but it’s still not enough. If you’ve played any of the many Clash of Clans clones out there, you’ve played this before. Don’t pump money or time into it. It’s not worth it.

When a game decides to incorporate peoples' real lives without their consent and turn them into game elements for us to enjoy, looking for keywords like "tsunami", "terrorist" and "death" is just abhorrent.

If you’re looking for a dyed-in-the-wool racing experience, you’re not going to get one here. But Forza Street offers up some sharp and entertaining slices of mobile action all the same.

It's funny how fitting an analogy the main characters of this title are for the game itself. There's too much to do here and not enough of a reason to do it. Pocket Minions is one of the rare occasions where ambition works against a game.

Unfortunately, the team at the fledgling Monstars Inc. has a lot to learn about this platform if they want Kotomon to join the ranks of their other titles. As it stands now, I find myself stressed at the end of one level, dreading the beginning of the next, and ultimately, pressing the home button pretty quickly.

Playing Monster Mansion is as disheartening as watching someone drop a pack of raisins into your Trick-or-Treat bag. Very young monster fans might appreciate the simple gameplay and graphics, but even kids will crave something with a sharper bite before too long.

Overall, it would be hard to recommend the mobile version of Cosmonautica to anyone but absolute lovers of space trading games. There is great potential here, but Chasing Carrots has a lot of work to do before I’d feel comfortable giving it a proper endorsement.

We can’t question the work that’s gone into reviving Gargoyles Remastered, but we do slightly question whether this was a title that needed bringing back in the first place.

The best way to describe In Time on the iPhone is that it's like using a treadmill after being a trail runner. It's decent and serviceable, but it's nothing memorable, and there are a lot more enjoyable alternatives out there.

This game is pretty, but pretty ain’t everything…especially when we’re talking about slaying legions of the undead.