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If you thought Gameprom’s three top pinball titles looked good on the iPhone’s 3.5 inch display, wait till you feast your eyes on the iPad version. Pinball HD for the iPad includes all three tables; Wild West, The Deep and Jungle Style, featuring amazing new graphics with added enhancements.
Review
Gameprom’s Pinball HD is a 3-pack pinball game bundle all rolled into one app, made specifically for the iPad. All presented using gorgeous 3D graphics with realistic physics, you’ll get a Western style table (Wild West), an ocean theme table (The Deep) and a jungle theme table (Jungle Style). The tables can be played in both landscape mode ‘full table’ view and portrait mode ‘flying-table’ view (with the camera following the action).
To choose which table to play on, simply swipe up to play The Deep, swipe down to play Jungle Style or touch the screen to play the default table, Wild West. Controls are exactly like those found on the smaller iPhone version; tap the left side of the screen to activate the left flippers and the other side of the screen for the right, while giving the iPad a little shake will help move the table.
A clear set of instructions are provided with the game, along with local and global leaderboards. Although, I haven’t had the opportunity to try this out, the game also provides a stereoscopic imaging option which will make the table appear in 3D using a pair of 3D glasses.
I can’t say enough about Pinball HD’s graphics. They are absolutely stunning. Every detail provided in the smaller version can now truly be appreciated on the larger screen. The tables are not only bigger, but are better than ever before. If you want to show off what your iPad can do, this is the game to do it with.
Recommendation Pinball HD for iPad comes highly recommended to pinball fans of all ages. It’s a triple fun pack filled with great graphics, realistic gameplay that will provide many entertaining hours to come. Pinball HD is available now at the App Store for $2.99.
Check out Pinball HD’s game trailer on the video below.
My 22-year-old son, Kevin, is both physically and mentally handicapped. He’s a lover of technology, and has an iPod Classic, and an iPod Touch, and uses our iMac daily. The company that provides him with employment training has just applied for a grant to purchase 22 iPads for clients with various needs. I offered to do some research on apps that could be used for those with mental and developmental issues.
For Kevin’s purposes, the Calendar app will be a benefit, providing him with reminders through his day. The Notes app, or a similar journaling app, will also help.
Beyond that I’m looking for some help from the greater world of iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users. For instance, Kevin’s workday (at this point) is primarily job training, and he needs to memorize and recall certain pieces of information, such as his phone number (he got that one last month!), address (still working on it), and such things. A flashcard program would be ideal, especially one that is simple to use. Simplicity is the key – just calling my cell phone can be a challenge.
A basic database program like Bento might be helpful as well; are there any others that people have used?
I also think that a program that steps through response to emergencies would be fantastic – fire, power outages, sickness, personal safety, etc.
The apps probably fall into two categories: Learning applications to help with memorization, and Supplemental applications that allow Kevin (and others) to bypass memorization.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone with thoughts on this, or from those who are also interested in identifying apps that would make the iPad a tool for the mentally handicapped.
I fell in love with racing games thanks to Ridge Racer for the original Sony Playstation. I played the whole franchise, beat every track and learned the intricacies of every car. Even today I’ll pull out the Playstation Portable for a run around Ridge City. Could another racer grab me the way RR had?
Thanks to Firemint, the answer is yes. Real Racing HD (RRHD) looks great, sounds great, features well-conceived depth of play, effective use of the accelerometer, customization and more. In fact, it’s one of the apps I use to show off the iPad.
When the game is first launched, you’re presented with a cinematic* and then the welcome screen. Before you go tapping around, take a moment to enjoy it. The camera gently sways back and forth. Your current car can be seen in a bay (more on that later). Light plays across the car in the foreground.
Sid Meier’s classic Civilization strategy series got a facelift a few years ago when it moved over to consoles and handheld game systems as Civilization Revolution. CivRev played well on the Nintendo DS and iPhone, but its screen got too small for comfort. The iPad’s expansive room for larger maps is a good fit for this turn-based, complex experience, and it makes CivRev feel a little more like a computer game again.
Fieldrunners is the Big Daddy of tower defense games and it looks and plays just as well as it did on the iPhone–only bigger and better. Alas, it currently costs $7.99, which is a few bucks too much in our opinion, especially if you already own it on the iPhone. But it’s just too good not to have on the list.
Flight Control was another one of those titles we were tempted to leave off the list because it’s basically the same as the 99-cent iPhone version only blown up (however, it does play better on the larger screen). That caveat aside, it really defined the line-drawing game genre (you must guide planes to runaways by drawing lines on the screen) and remains incredibly addicting. If you don’t want to spend any money, you can opt for Harbor Master, but fans of Flight Control on the iPhone and iPod Touch will probably end up spending the $4.99 to see and play the game in its full glory.
How do old favorites hold up on the iPad? In our "From iPhone to iPad" series, TUAW revisits iPhone applications that have transitioned to the iPad. We look at their latest incarnation and see how the new measures up to the old. Today, TUAW looks at Flick Fishing.
I’ve been a big fan of this application for some time now so I was eager to give it a try on the iPad. Flick Fishing is a fishing simulator. You cast out a line, you wait for a fish, you reel in your catch, and then repeat. The trick lies in managing your line tension, choosing the right distance to cast your hook, and nursing your fish along — as you hope the latest catch is a record breaker. It’s an addictive game that worked beautifully on the iPhone.
To move to the iPad, the game needed to make some compromises. For one thing, the notion of "flicking" the reel had to go. While the iPhone easily fits in your hand, the iPad does not. Instead of casting your line by moving the device, you now use a "Cast" button. The reel control, formerly placed right next to the rod, appears well across the screen. The physical iPad realities drove those design changes and the game suffers, however slightly, as a result. You can imagine the iPhone as a hand-held fishing pole; you cannot do the same with the iPad.
If you thought Gameprom’s three top pinball titles looked good on the iPhone’s 3.5 inch display, wait till you feast your eyes on the iPad version. Pinball HD for the iPad includes all three tables; Wild West, The Deep and Jungle Style, featuring amazing new graphics with added enhancements.
My 22-year-old son, Kevin, is both physically and mentally handicapped. He’s a lover of technology, and has an iPod Classic, and an iPod Touch, and uses our iMac daily. The company that provides him with employment training has just applied for a grant to purchase 22 iPads for clients with various needs. I offered to do some research on apps that could be used for those with mental and developmental issues.
Sid Meier’s classic Civilization strategy series got a facelift a few years ago when it moved over to consoles and handheld game systems as Civilization Revolution. CivRev played well on the Nintendo DS and iPhone, but its screen got too small for comfort. The iPad’s expansive room for larger maps is a good fit for this turn-based, complex experience, and it makes CivRev feel a little more like a computer game again.
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