$1 iPhone app review: My Top 5 Games

Here are five $1 apps for your iPhone that in my opinion are “must haves”.

These are games that don’t take long to load, can be played for 30 seconds or 30 minutes and are endlessly entertaining. Well, not endlessly, but pretty close. Click on the photo for a link to downloading pleasure.

Starball – Simple in nature, your iPhone becomes the table surface which you must tilt to and fro in order to move your ball around the table to collect stars while avoiding these little red balls. Each time you collect a star a new red, angry, killer ball is added to the table. These balls travel on a fixed plane so at first you’re all like “This is way easy!”. Then, all of a sudden you’re like “Wait, oh I get it, I have to AVOID those little, pissed off balls to live." I rate this a strong 3.75 stars. (balls)

("Ball's Star")

Rope ‘n Fly 2 – I never played “Rope ‘n Fly 1” so I imagine they are similar because the game I have is the same name just with a "2" in it. So basically this game is like the coolest part of the Atari game “Pitfall” where you would have to swing over those nasty, pixilated crocodile pits combined with Spider-man. You have a rope and you shoot it around the city trying to travel as far as you can. Seems lame now that I type it out, but it actually is a sweet game. I rate this 3.75 stars.

Parachute Panic – The design of this game is very creative as the backdrop of the game is graph paper and the object of the game is to safely land these brave parachute enthusiasts onto the ships below. Some jump out of the plane with their shoot open, some don’t. You have to tap on the ones that don’t and guide them to safety. There are some jerk helicopters that attempt to chop up these heroic stick figures, as well as lightning filled rain clouds and sharks with a voracious appetite should your helpless airborne amigo get too close to the water. I rate this 4.25 stars.

Skee-Ball – An arcade classic complete with realistic sound effects and graphics that are simple but so crisp and colorful. I love this app and it’s perfect for a 2-3 minute game or a half hour zone out session. The iPhone is ideal for this game as you swipe your finger across the multi touch screen to launch your ball and attempt to get in the cups. This is an absolute must have. I rate this 4.5 stars.

Doodle Jump - Probably the best 99 cents you’ll ever spend. Again, simple is better in my opinion when it comes to these quick play games and while each level starts off easy it quickly becomes more challenging as disappearing blocks, holes in the background and disgruntled former doodle aliens attempt to destroy your high score hopes. Buy this app. If you don’t like it, I will gladly not refund your 99 cents because if this doesn’t make you happy, nothing ever will.....ever. I rate this 5 stars.

All of these apps are a necessity. They really are perfect for waiting on hold, waiting for the doctor to call your name, waiting at the post office or waiting for that turd to finally jump into the water. Buy them and thank me later, or don’t. Either way….