Top 10 Mobile Games of 2011

Top 10 Mobile Games of 2011


iPhone, iPad, Windows Mobile and Android games - mobile games on smartphones and tablets are all the rage. But what have been the best games of 2011
Game and go
The mobile games market is changing fast. From the over-simplistic and retro-designed games of a few years back, smartphone and tablet games have rocketed past the era of a few breakout brand hits (Angry Birds and Cut The Rope) and we're now seeing games that can rival console titles for complexity and depth, as well as entire new emerging genres and ideas. Plus, mobile games are allowing independent developers to make a name for themselves. This year has been so great there's a heap of brilliant games missing from this list. So, Block Breaker 3, Game Dev Story, Tiny Wings and many more (Wind-Up Knight, iBlast Moki 2, Starfront: Collision, Hypership Out Of Control etc etc) didn't quite make the cut. What did?

Ilomilo
Windows Mobile is still suffering from a severe shortage of great games. But at least the platform has Ilomilo - an absolutely stunning-looking maze-navigation game featuring a pair of cute creatures (that's the ilo and milo of the game's name) working through a series of gravity-bending 3D mazes. The mazes ramp up in difficulty beautifully, with bonus content to get on each one for completists too. But at the same time, there's never a point where you're left stuck for too long.Available on: Windows Mobile

Dead Space
As a demonstration of just how close to a traditional, immersive console game you can now get on a phone, this takes some beating. And as well as the visuals making the hop across from home consoles, the guts of this visceral and violent horror-action game series have made it along intact too. As an engineer who accidentally unleashes a necromorph outbreak on 'The Sprawl', the plot here set after the original Dead Space, you have to face creepy corridors filled with nasty enemies - and dismember them using Dead Space's iconic inventory of unusual limb-slicing guns. The only real catch - on the touchscreen devices, controls are occasionally cumbersome and prone to mis-hits.Available on: iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Playbook, Xperia Play

Order & Chaos Online
Gameloft's current slate of titles won't win prizes for originality. Most are blatant rip-offs of major console/PC games delivered to mobile. But when their games are as playable as N.O.V.A. (read: Halo) and Sacred Odyssey (read: Zelda), then who cares? The latest big game Gameloft has tackled is its most ambitious to date. Order & Chaos is essentially the massively multi-player online title World Of Warcraft, shrunk down to smartphone size. For sheer chutzpah alone, that deserves some credit - but Order & Chaos largely delivers too. The controls and chat system may be awkward, and some users have reported frustrating bugs but, despite that, the opportunity to wander a foreign land and set off on missions with other players - on a touchscreen - is not only a stunning achievement, but also great fun. And the monthly subscription fee is fittingly lower than its PC-based rival.Available on: Android, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch

Contre Jour
Combining the gameplay of puzzle classic Cut The Rope with the atmosphere and art style of Xbox Live indie smash Limbo is Contre Jour. Sure, once you're past the first few levels, it's clear that the gameplay offers no amazing new twist on the world of stretchy ropes and spiky traps. But the levels are excellently designed and progress nicely, and the immersive atmospheric visuals and downbeat musical score really do add a certain flair to the game and its genre.Available on: iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch

Infinity Blade II
The original was not only stunning visually, but also provided a mobile-friendly mix of finger-swiping, sword-slashing action - instant, yet increasingly tactical - and role-playing inventory management and stat-buffing. The sequel looks set (it launches in December) to improve on the original in just about every way it can - better visuals, bigger and more frequent screen-filling boss behemoths (six of them, compared to one in the original) and more complex and rewarding combat and role-playing elements. In other words, Infinity Blade II is set to be bigger, better, badder.Available on: iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
A classic karting title that's one of the best smartphone racing games around, until Mario deigns to make an appearance on your mobile that is. All of the classic karting touches are present and deftly-handled, and the accelerometer tilt-steering is a joy to play with - this is racing done right. And as well as joyfully trawling through Sega's iconic back-catalogue, the game even offers excellent multi-player options.Available on: iPad, 
iPhone/iPod Touch

Sid Meier's Pirates!
Sitting somewhere between role-playing adventuring, mini-game bonanza and simulation-style strategy, Pirates is an excellent iPad-only adaptation of the recent gleeful reimagining of the original 1987 Sid Meier game. Choose an initial character and ship, key skill and difficulty level, then it's time to set sail to rescue your family - and engage in a lot of rum-swilling nautical misadventure. You choose where to sail to, whom to side with and how to push the story along - with the game world reacting around you, and constantly firing a series of mini-game challenges at you - swashbuckling swordfights, strategic boardings and more.Available on: iPad

Anomaly Warzone Earth
This one neatly inverts the usual tower defence idea - here you're attacking the bases with your units in one of the best mobile strategy games around. You choose the route your units take through enemy territory - where they're outnumbered and outgunned - and you choose when to apply extra bonuses to your troops (airstrikes, smokescreens etc). You can change tactics, troop order and customised kit as you go. The end result is a serious and rewarding strategy title, with a unique idea - and great visuals.Available on: iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch

Whale Trail
Underneath the glitz, this is, yes, another endless running title - see Canabalt or this year's also-excellent Tiny Wings as great examples worthy of a quick punt. What elevates Whale Trail to this stratospheric list is the sheer slick presentation and joyful brio with which it's all carried off. The theme tune's by Gruff Rhys from The Super Furry Animals and the visuals are retina-dazzlingly cartoon bright (think LocoRoco and then some). At its base level it's a whale you have to tap to keep airborne as it chases bubbles and dodges storms. But it's a game guaranteed to make you crack a grin - and that's worth the price of admission.Available on: iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch

Minecraft Pocket Edition
One of the contenders for the most exciting and unusual game of the last few years - Minecraft combines low-res blocky Lego-a-like building with massive options and a monster-infested survival mode. And now it comes to smartphones and tablets - only minus the monsters, for now. So, you can build and create all sorts of unusual landscapes. So far, there's not the more complicated crafting options or huge vistas of the original game, nor is there survival mode. But the original Minecraft has only recently released as a 'finished' game - with most of its key features having been added along the way during 'beta'. In the same vein, the Pocket Edition is promised monsters and a survival mode, as well as many more crafting options - as they're programmed in. Even now, in its more basic form, the freedom to create and tinker is already highly compelling.Available on: Android, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Xperia Play

Venture Bros. 'Ladle' Out First Details of Animated Special

Adult Swim serves up the first details and synopsis from The Venture Bros. upcoming animated special "From the Ladle to the Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy."

Frith Almighty, it's been a good six months since we've seen any new Venture Bros. but the good folks at Adult Swim are finally ready to ladle out a fresh helping!

A ways back we learned from Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick themselves that not only had The Venture Bros. Been renewed for a fifth and sixth season, but that their new contracts included both a 60-90 minute special, as well as a Summer short to tide over fans.  Thanks to the Adult Swim upfronts, we now have our first details of what to expect when the fifteen-minute short drops on July 24th.

The second Venture Bros. inter-season special in their history, this Summer special "From the Ladle to the Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy" will outline the truly fictional story behind Hank, Dermott and H.E.L.P.E.R.'s legendary two-man-one-robot band Shallow Gravy, last seen rocking the titular madness of "Operation P.R.O.M!"

From the official press release:

THE VENTURE BROS. SPECIAL—FROM THE LADLE TO THE GRAVE: THE STORY OF SHALLOW GRAVY

See the Venture Family as you’ve never seen them before: in a 15-minute documentary-style animated special. Follow the meteoric rise, the equally meteoric fall, and the decidedly un-meteor-like second coming of the most important band Hank Venture, Dermott Fitctel and H.E.L.P.eR. robot have ever been in: Shallow Gravy. If you’re hungry for rock, then open wide, because here comes a ladle of heavy metal fire and metaphoric meat drippings. 

Launched on Adult Swim in August 2004, The Venture Bros. is an inspired spoof of 1960s action cartoon shows such as Johnny Quest. Created by Jackson Publick III (King of the Hill, The Tick), the 30-minute animated series follows the bizarre misadventures of the Venture family. The Venture Bros. Special—From the Ladle to the Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy premieres July 24 on Adult Swim.

But that's not all!  You can also check out our five-part interview with creators Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick covering everything from today's movies and TV, to who and what we might expect when the Venture Bros. returns for their ten-episode fifth season! 

The Awesome Gross Chick From Bridesmaids Announces Two Projects

The Bridesmaids scene-stealer is doubling-down with two new comedies.

When I first reviewed Bridesmaids I was so swept up with Kristen Wiig's performance (the best film comedienne since Madeline Kahn) that there were few column inches left to talk about the other performances.

As I exited the SXSW premiere, however, I recall saying to friends that "if it were a just world, Melissa McCarthy would be starring in films of her own."

Well, there's nothing like a movie overshooting its estimates (it made $25 million at the box office this weekend) and receiving near-universal praise to make miracles happen.

Deadline reports that McCarthy is teaming with Bridesmaids co-writer Annie Mumolo on a quest movie to steal the Stanley Cup for her dying husband. The husband will be played by McCarthy's actual husband, Ben Falcone, who plays the object of McCarthy's affection in the soon-to-be-if-not-already airplane scene in Bridesmaids.

What disgusting things are in store for this noble vessel?

Entertainment Weekly is also reporting that Bridesmaids director Paul Feig is setting up a project for McCarthy to star in.  Nothing is yet known, except for the quote pulled in The Film Stage's article, "“If an actress like Melissa becomes a huge star? THAT is a world I want to live in.”

McCarthy uglied herself a bit for the role in Bridesmaids, but no matter how you slice it she has "unconventional Hollywood looks."  To that end, we must all do what we can to support Ms. McCarthy and her career.  Because she's really effing funny and we need more of that.

Hilariously Dumb Parkour Fails

Everybody's trying to get in on the parkour craze - the French sport of "free running" is in movies, video games and more. But you know how they say "don't try this at home?" These dummies didn't listen.

World of Cheap Thrills

What's scarier than a haunted house?  TWO HAUNTED HOUSES!

Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson and their three young children have just moved into a big, old home.  He's a teacher and she doesn't work, so immediately I assumed there was some deal with the devil to make the down payment, but this was just my mind playing tricks.  The young baby does nothing but cry and one night the eldest sees something, makes a spooky face, then goes to sleep and NEVER WAKES UP.

He's not in a coma, he's just. . .in limbo.  Rather than making the cover of the New England Journal of Medicine with this indescribable condition, they just send the kid home.  And then the craziness starts.
I can't lie, the first few scares got my heart rate up.  There are demonic sounds on the baby monitor and, even though I was thinking "here comes the scary part, here comes the scary part" when something finally jumped out, I yelped like a frightened puppy.
I can't recall seeing a movie that relied as heavily on loud, dissonant piano notes on the sound track as much as Insidious.  Director James Wan (the first Saw movie and follow-up garbage he'd rather you not remember) either doesn't trust us or doesn't have the chops to allow creative framing or tense perspective shots to deliver the scares.  Either way, I found I did most of my crying-out not because anything truly frightening was happening on screen, but because something REALLY LOUD JUST CRASHED IN MY EAR.
I certainly wasn't involved in the plot in any way, which is a shame, because I think a comotose, house-bound child is fertile soil from which a genuine horror film can grow.  After Byrne sees enough weird visions she gets the family to relocate.  The scares keep coming in house two, making us all wonder what the hell kind of realtor they're using.
There's a twist, of course, and a too-late attempt at humor in the form of some goofy ghost hunters.  Once the "truth" is revealed, however, only the audience members willing to suspend their disbelief to the point they could wrap it around the circumference of Jupiter will keep from checking out.
So this is what's in store for you in Insidious: a real moronic supernatural horror film that exploitatively uses startling tactics to get in four or five decent jump scares.  If you are a high school kid on a date, go see Insidious.  If not, go take a run or finish that Dostoyevsky novel you keep putting off.

Deleted Scene From Mega mind Lays on the Guilt

Tina Fey socks it to Will Ferrell in this deleted scene from Dream works Animation's Mega mind.

Even in a modern, 3D, computer animated film there are things that hit the editing room floor. Only they do it more expensively than any ofther type of film imaginable.

This sequence from Megamind shows TV reporter Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey) really sockin' it to Will Ferrell's Megamind for slaying Brad Pitt's Metro Man.

I won't lie and call this a laugh riot, or even all that visually appealing, but for we obssessive completests out there, you need to watch this or you'll know, for the rest of your life, there's a part of Megamind you didn't see and it will drive you crazy.

NPC Characters

In our quietest hours, these are the companions we promise God we will attend church every weekend for if only he will make them come to life.

Epona (Legend of Zelda series)

I’ve been afraid of horses since I was a little girl, when the pony I was riding ran under a pine tree. I went through it, giving me significant Christmas sores and permanent equine trauma. I might be convinced to saddle up on Epona, Link’s lady horse in the Legend of Zelda series. She is easily the best horse in all of gamedom, handily besting Shadow of the Colossus’ Agro.

Dog (Fable series)

He’s not the first video game dog sidekick. Way back in NetHack, for example, we had a canine companion, represented by a sensible lower-case d. Your dog in the Fable series just takes it to a new level. He’ll fight for you, help you pick up ladies, and perform all manner of trickery at the whim of a button press. If he were to come alive and need a home, he could probably make up for what my ten pound Schnoodle lacks, as the only buried treasure she finds is invariably of the fecal or deceased baby bird variety.

Bentley (Sly Cooper series)

Bentley the turtle is part of Sly Cooper’s band of thieves, which also includes hippopotamus Murray. A wheelchair-bound, asthmatic orphan, Bentley doesn’t want anyone’s sympathy: he is an unmitigated badass, tech genius, and stud in a half-shell. Despite originally fearing that no girl would want anything to do with a guy in a wheelchair, Bentley finds a love interest in Penelope the mouse

Cranky Kong (Donkey Kong Country series)

Cranky Kong is supposed to be the original Donkey Kong, now the crotchety grandfather or father to the Donkey Kong of Donkey Kong Country. Stopping by Cranky’s Cabin is an invitation to be swatted about the head and neck with a cane. And yet, we were happy to see the old bastard again in Donkey Kong Country Returns, making acidic remarks and selling us things. You’ve got to cut the guy some slack, though: he is perpetually haunted by the ghost of his afghan-wrapped, scrapbooking wife, Wrinkly.

Bonnie MacFarlane (Red Dead Redemption)

Not to be confused with comedienne Bonnie McFarlane, Red Dead Redemption’s Bonnie MacFarlane is one of your strongest allies in the West. Bonnie helps her father run his ranch and proves to be as capable a farmhand as any man. She’s tough without being shrewish and pretty without fulfilling that skanky game girl stereotype. This is incredibly rare in this industry. When she got in some trouble, I rode hard to rescue her. If history does her justice, she will go down as one of the great game characters of all time.

Kitten (Shenmue)

Can you walk away from this snugglepuss? What about if I told you you find him in a box? And also his mother was killed by a car? Please, take the time to give tummy raspberries to your computer screen. You can feed the kitten tuna in Dreamcast classic Shenmue, but you never really get to see his story develop or his kitten life achieve true fulfillment. He may not be as tough or confident as some of the other NPCs on this list, but he is the most deserving of your friendship.

Candy Suxxx (GTA Vice City)

We want to hang out with '80s porn star Candy Suxxx (voiced by Jenna Jameson), but not for the reasons you might suspect. We here at UGO have enough bed trouble thanks to the swarm of American flag bikini-clad blog nymphs hurling their shapely bodies at our guarded office doors (we do have to get some work done, sometimes). No, we want to spend time with Candy Suxxx because according to game lore, she eventually becomes an educator and philanthropist. Depriving paying customers of that tremendous polygonal rack is a crime that needs to be rectified.

Superfly Johnson (Daikatana)

Superfly Johnson, the offensive black stereotype and one of your companions in heaping stink failure Daikatana (the other being an offensive female Asian stereotype who replaces R’s with L’s), continually invites you to “Suck it down” in the year 2455 AD. In the year 2011, he could probably reboot the rich Shaft franchise for the second time

Fawkes (Fallout 3)

Fawkes would’ve been our best friend in high school, as we too felt like highly literate super-mutants. He could beat up the football team for us with his Gatling Laser, give us a piggy-back ride to the malt shop, and snarl at the librarian when she makes her comments about us checking out too many books. His skin coating appears that it would also make a delicious poultry baste, which makes him a serious candidate for best friend of all time.

Daxter (Jak and Daxter series)

He’s obnoxious in a Gilbert Gottfried kind of way, but we can’t help but love Jak’s ottsel sidekick. Is it the terrible pick-up lines? The jokes that fall flat? All the talk about not wearing pants? You either love or hate Daxter, but you will feel strongly about him as a sidekick (or as the protagonist of his own PSP game). Also, please allow me to take this moment once again to beg Naughty Dog to get to work on a Jak and Daxter reboot after Uncharted 3 goes gold. I’m not above violent, childish hysterics, if that’s what this is going to take.

Pigsy (Enslaved)

Pigsy is a playable character in the Pigsy’s Perfect 10 DLC, but towards the end of Enslaved proper, he becomes your mud-bellied AI companion. Critics were overly harsh on this game, which you need to play if you were dissuaded this fall by crotchety reviewers who didn’t give the original title the props it deserves. Pigsy is one of the most original characters to come out in many moons of industry regurgitation, a cross between a human swine and that one uncle on your dad’s side of the family. As a real-life pal, he could help us hunt for truffles (also the name of his robotic pal) which we could then sell to stupid urban foodies, and make us look super sexy and employed by comparison.

HK-47 (KOTOR series)

Assassin droid HK-47 hates filthy meatbags, but we’re willing to put up with the abuse because he is sickly awesome. He was originally built for Sith Lord Darth Revan, but he can be yours thanks to his erased memory. He can’t shake his murderous inclinations, though, which come across in his sarcastic, witty banter. Mercifully, he will be reappearing in the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, allowing me to justify yet another summer of porcelain skin and atrophied muscles.

Adoring Fan (Oblivion)

Adoring Fan is a nubile male elf from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. After you become Grand Champion of the Arena, he runs up to you and begs to follow your around, offering his shoe-shining and backrub services in exchange for the honor of your presence. He will actually follow you around until you ask him to go away, or death parts your ways. If he dies, he reappears at the Arena and asks to follow you around again. Naturally, the best thing about having Adoring Fan around is slaughtering him at every opportunity.

Wiki (Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure)

If you didn’t buy Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure when it came out for the Wii in 2007, you are part of the problem. Don’t come crying to me about the lack of original games published when you failed to support Zack and his adorable gilded monkey sidekick Wiki in their point-and-click puzzle-solving pirate adventure which, though I admit it is tempting with the monkeys and the islands and all, should not be confused with the Monkey Island games.

Little Gray (MGS4)

Provided I could get him to stay in a leash and do my bidding without fuss, Metal Gear Solid 4’s Little Gray would be the ultimate monkey companion. I could get away with taking him everywhere. If anyone asked me to not take my monkey inside the Wal-Mart, I would act horribly offended at what the vested greeter called my young child, who is suffering from some rare disease I will think of a scientific-sounding name for. No one would ever hassle us again for fear of lawsuits and we would get free silver diapers for him and stuff from the bakery for me. Also, the little guy loves energy drinks and cigarettes, and he could use my mothering to direct him towards a healthier lifestyle, which includes Diet Dr. Pepper and typing and gaming all day.

Ghost Town (video)

Pripyat River (Ukrainian Prip'yat) - abandoned city in Ukraine, on the banks of the Pripyat River, 3 km from Chernobyl. A popular place for stalkers.

General reason the city's foundation was the construction and subsequent operation of one of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, Chernobyl - city-forming enterprises, which gave the title of the city of Pripyat atomic scientists. Pripyat was the ninth in the Soviet Union atomogradom.

According to the latest census carried out before the evacuation (November 1985), the population was 47 thousand 500 persons, and includes more than 25 nationalities.

The announcement of the evacuation of Pripyat, April 27, 1986.

Attention, attention! Dear Comrades!

The City Council of People's Deputies reported that in connection with the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat fared radiation environment. Party and government bodies, military units are taking the necessary measures. However, in order to ensure full security of people, primarily children, there is a need to hold the temporary evacuation of residents in the settlements of the Kiev region. For this to every apartment building today, the twenty-seventh of April, beginning with fourteen zero zero hours, buses will be filed, accompanied by police officials and representatives of the City Council. It is recommended to take with them documents that are urgently needed items, as well as in the first case, food. Heads of enterprises and institutions defined the terms of workers who remain in place to ensure the normal functioning of enterprises in the city. All houses in the period of evacuation will be protected by police officers. Comrades, temporarily leaving their homes, do not forget, please, close windows, turn off electrical and gas appliances, water tap. Please remain calm, organization and order during the temporary evacuation