Laudably unique and pleasing in short bursts, Fish Out of Water falls short of warranting long-term attachment.

Wayward Souls is teeth-grindingly hard, thanks to some loose controls and punishing perma-death, but high replayability and a smart progression system tease you back into the fray.

In Fear I Trust is a well-made thriller with some clever puzzles, but its tendency towards tired horror clichés makes it feel generic and aimless.

Bam Fu’s hectic same-device multiplayer is finger-bashing fun, but the shallow gameplay ultimately taps itself out of contention for anything other than a short bout.

There’s a quirky kind of fun in dunking on UFOs, dribbling around explosions, and jumping into outer space for extra coins — but theme aside, NBA Rush brings little new to the saturated endless runner genre, and it’s too shallow to hold much long-term interest.

Pac-Man Dash! is a surprisingly tight platformer, but it gets bogged down by an unfortunate pace-killing stamina meter.

Vendetta Online's MMO space exploration and combat is deep, complex, and satisfying – once you get past the learning curve and get a feel for its quirks.

Samurai Shodown II could have been a fantastic arcade port, but it's held back by crummy controls and performance problems. It's still entertaining, but iOS 7's gamepad support can't come soon enough.

War of Nations brings a few small improvements to the free-to-play strategy boilerplate, but high prices and glitches diminish the experience.

For what it’s worth, Liberation Maiden is the far better value and experience than its 3DS counterpart. Play this version of the uncommon shooter if you haven’t already, but don’t expect it to last you long.

Despite solid controls, cool and playful presentation, and decent depth, Flick Kick Football Legends shoots itself in the foot with invasive advertisements and a too-short stamina meter.

A minimal, fairly effective, and initially compelling arcade experience that lacks the depth and pulling power to keep it around for the long haul. Still, it’s worth a look for a buck or two.

Danger Boat enters an overcrowded genre with a few novel ideas, but some speed bumps prevent it from racing past the competition.

Go Dance is a simple and enjoyable iOS dance game, though its lack of robust features and very thin soundtrack limit its fun.

Lode Runner Classic is just as hectic and demanding as the beloved original, but control problems hamstring the experience.

Deer Hunter 2014 serves up some robust shooting and free-to-play progression, but it lacks challenge, walks an ethical tightrope, and provides only a tiny portion of the complete hunting experience.

Order & Chaos Duels can quickly become very pricey the more you play, which is a shame since it offers a rich combat system and lots of charm.

Dropchord dazzles with its presentation, but doesn't make a lasting impact with its interactivity.

The Lost Reels is a pale shadow of the original, but it does a decent job with what little it's been given.

Band Stars brings charm and fun in a polished package, but it fails to build on good first impressions and ends up feeling blandly generic.

Angry Birds Friends brings the Facebook favorite to iOS, but while the new angle is interesting, the competitive balance seems muddled.

Sky Tourist is delightfully unique and blast to play when it works, but be prepared to muddle through some irksome moments as you push into this interesting, but shakily-executed adventure.

At its best, Knock-Knock is creepy, surreal, and gripping. However, that grip is loosened by frustrating repetition and a set of muddled systems that obscure more often than they engage.

Flashout 2 is fast and slick, but its combat and upgrade systems stand out more than its racing elements. There are more substantial sci-fi racers on the App Store, but Flashout 2 is a fun, lightweight diversion.

Fightback’s base combat is entertaining enough, but its reliance on a pay-to-win model dramatically overshadows its gameplay.

While there's something to be said for Cold War's new gameplay elements and decent multiplayer, the Sky Gamblers series appears to have entered a deep freeze.

While perhaps enough to satisfy the most dedicated of Marvel fans, Avengers Alliance's high points are marred by some pretty notable flaws.

The novelty of uploading your face into Bloodmasque is a lot of fun, but the enjoyment wears thin due to unreliable controls and repetitive action.

Bookworm Heroes is a polished word/fighting game hybrid, but its aggressive in-app purchases ultimately mellow its charm.

Where’s My Water? 2 provides more physics-based puzzles without rocking the boat, but a barrage of freemium roadblocks – thanks in part to the baffling inclusion of an energy mechanic – drains fun from the latest adventure.

The Collectables shapes up well early on, but its straightforward-yet-fun shooting and strategy elements are well and truly hamstrung by a freemium-spoiled design with a stingy reward system.

Yu-Gi-Oh! BAM Pocket offers a decent trading card game rooted in the world of the long-running franchise, but its good points lose out against a weak story, a lack of variety, and a clear departure from the source material.

While certainly enjoyable at times, The Drowning's free-to-play implementation hampers the game to an inexcusable degree.

AVP: Evolution might turn into a worthwhile iOS brawler with some notable tweaks, but for now it's a rather mundane exercise in patience.

Unless you’re a huge fan of The Muppets, you’re better off with one of the many other sim games that execute this format with a bit more subtlety.

The relationship between player decisions and race results can be hard to determine in NASCAR: Redline, while vestigial in-app purchases put the brakes on what could have been a solid lightweight sim.

Dream House Days is a cute concept that’s almost ruined by free-to-play shenanigans.

Mountain Sheep’s stylish art direction and new ideas are promising, but in execution KingHunt is perfunctory and unfocused, relying too heavily on high scores to the detriment of its pacing and rhythm.

While stunning to look at, Fast & Furious 6: The Game loses its luster after a short time.

Dungeon Hunter 4's slick look and fun scope get trampled out quickly by absurdly aggravating and omnipresent IAP grabs.

Marvel's back catalog is a fantastic resource, but the clunky reader interface and current offline restrictions make the mobile experience less than heroic.

Lawless is easily one of the slickest titles on the App Store, but gorgeous visuals don't really equate to a great way to spend your time.

NBA 2K14 shapes up well for some LeBron-fueled magic, but it fumbles the pass and struggles to meet expectations after a promising 2012-13 season.

If you can deal with the business model, or are happy to waste a few hours before abandoning the game entirely, Trials Frontier is pretty, fairly playable, and reasonably fun. But stick around and the veneer is soon stripped away to reveal endless, soulless grinding to appease cartoon simpletons.

Good looks and a blockbuster movie tie-in don't save Thor: The Dark World from its sloppy battles and lame freemium model.

The founding concept behind Words & Cards is certainly unique, but a novel idea isn’t a substitute for good puzzle design and fun features.

Oversimplified card combat and a weak interface sap the fun in this Star Wars fan-fest.

Dead Effect is an uninspired first-person shooter that does nothing original, proving most memorable for its hilariously awful dialogue.

Sonic the Hedgehog seems like a perfect fit for an endless runner, but Sonic Dash fumbles the fundamentals and aggravates with heavy-handed in-app purchases.

R.B.I. Baseball 14 is fundamentally fair, but the too-streamlined approach and lack of common modes make for a foul lasting impression.

Man of Steel offers decent Infinity Blade-style fighting, but not even Superman can save its shallow depth, pathetic plot, lazy repetition, and unoriginal gameplay from certain destruction.

Kavinsky isn't particularly fun to play, but this stylish freebie may still steal away a few minutes of your time.

Gun Bros 2 is a serviceable twin-stick shooter hampered by a miserable free-to-play model that punishes the player for not paying.

Serious adventure fans will be able to look beyond Cognition's warts to appreciate the story and puzzle challenges, but it's bound to be a love-hate relationship.

The App Store is full of great racing games, but Table Top Racing is a comparatively vanilla effort hardly worth the investment.

With finicky controls and frustrating stages, it's almost like Worm Run wants you to get eaten.

Marvel Run Jump Smash! contains everything promised in its title, but leaves out the fun and excitement.

Bloodstroke pays lip service to John Woo’s bloody brand of action, but it lacks any grace, efficiency, or flair. Cool art style notwithstanding, Bloodstroke’s clumsy controls doom it from the start.

With a different economy or more restrained enemies, Romans from Mars might have been able to use its mechanics more meaningfully. As it stands, though, this game is too frenetic and unsubtle to use the tried-and-true designs it sets out to use.

Every fantastic thing about Dead Trigger 2 is offset with an overriding push towards greedy in-app purchases and/or obnoxious special offers.

Trolls vs Vikings proves incredibly derivative of Plants vs. Zombies 2, which may hit enough of a sweet spot for die-hards — but the few elements Megapop changed or added tend to throw off the balance in unexpected ways.

Some of The Yoda Chronicles may work as an extremely gentle initiation into the strategy genre, but the adorable cut-scenes don’t override the problems present in a short, awkwardly paced, and frequently dull adventure.

While the “endless shooter” mechanics are nicely executed, Die Hard's increasingly boring gameplay and irritating checkpoints aren't worth the effort. "Yippee ki-lame," sadly.

The Croods isn’t the kind of game you’d expect from a Rovio and DreamWorks partnership, and it fails to leverage the strengths of either while beckoning for your wallet.

Level 22 needs some crucial fixes if it hopes to be a competent Metal Gear tribute.

Tales of Phantasia's crass cash-in on nostalgia — via brutal gameplay tweaks and a heavy focus on in-app purchases — comes at the cost of its own magic and value. Keep your beloved memories intact and dodge this damaged port.

Dungeon Hearts is a match-three puzzler with an interesting concept that just never pans out.

Madden NFL 25's excessive, overlapping freemium limitations actively discourage playing and investing time in it.

Inane and unvaried gameplay, paired with some terrible boss stage design, yields another sad Shaq action affair; a real Diesel disappointment, to say the least.

No amount of fan service or witty writing can save Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff from mediocrity born of leaden pacing and shameless freemium money-grubbing.

They say an elephant never forgets. We doubt we’ll forget our experience with 9 Elefants, although not for the right reasons.

The Other Brothers' control issues are bad enough to sink this platformer.

Despite the cute aesthetic, Globlins is not one of Cartoon Network’s finer efforts.

Angry Birds Go! may be the most glaring example to date of a stellar game concept thoroughly corrupted by an awful litany of freemium tactics.

Want to play Contra the way it's meant to be played? Get an original Nintendo.

Rather than offering fun fan service, All the Bravest is little more than an insidious attempt to prey on nostalgia — and waste your time doing it.