This Week at 148Apps: September 2-6, 2013

Another Week of Expert App Reviews

 

At 148Apps, we help you sort through the great ocean of apps to find the ones we think you'll like and the ones you'll need. Our top picks become Editor’s Choice, our stamp of approval for apps with that little extra something special. Want to see what we've been up to this week? Take a look below for a sampling of our latest reviews. And if you want more, be sure to hit our Reviews Archive.

Bombcats Special Edition

  Bombcats Special Edition is a puzzle game from Chillingo with an odd premise. In the game’s world, cats explode, and they only don’t explode if they are kept in a cage. The funny thing is these cats want to explode, so the goal of the game is for players to use exploding cats to jump their way over to captive cats and free them so they can explode, too. This zany premise ends up working though, as Bombcats is an absolutely delightful puzzle game. --Campbell Bird

Star Wars: Force Collection

 

I find myself stuck in the awkward no-man’s land between familiarity and rabid fandom. I’d call myself a Star Wars fan, certainly, but not I’m not a Fan. Even so, I was scowling with disgust and groaning out loud when Princess Leia was asking me to help her fend off storm troopers in a spectacularly cornball re-imagining of the first film’s opening moments. And yet, despite the patronizing fan service that makes even my low-level fanboy blood boil, Star Wars: Force Collection is actually quite good. --Rob Rich

Jumping Jupingo

 

Even someone with arachnophobia will enjoy Jumping Jupingo; a slick platform game with just the right dose of strategic thinking and action thrown into the mix. A baby spider rescue mission with a difference. Does it offer enough entertainment for the price tag? Playing as furry spider Jupingo, one’s mission is to guide our fearless (and rather cute) friend through the wilderness to rescue baby arachnids from the clutches of a race of evil alien invaders called the Clopters. Armed with just a set of strong springy legs and elastic silk thread, players must guide the jumping spider across the wilderness and aid the little ones back to safety. --Lucy Ingram

Sago Mini Pet Cafe

 

I have been charmed by Sago Sago’s new app, Sago Mini Pet Cafe – a universal interactive app for children. For those who do not know, Toca Boca has joined forces with zinc Roe to create delightful applications for toddlers. I have been a big fan of both Toca Boca and the Tickle Tap apps once developed by zinc Roe, many of which are re-developed for Sago Sago. Sago Mini Pet Cafe is a new title with elements that I remember from these earlier apps. It is nice to see these details within other titles. --Amy Solomon

Other 148Apps Network Sites

  If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

The Last Express

 

Solvable mystery adventures are the cream of the mobile gaming crop as far as I’m concerned, and it’s not everyday we get a port like The Last Express on Android. It is borne from the popular PC game of the same name by the renown creator of the Prince of Persia line, Jordan Mechner. The game is played in the character of Robert Cath, a likable fellow fleeing his own troubles. He is on the move, and is looking to hook up with an old friend on the Orient Express. From there, the story explodes. Literally. --Tre Lawrence

Save the Snail

  Save the Snail is a fun little game that brings another perspective of positional physics to Android gaming. Familiar gameplay rules the roost these days, and it is nice that this one brings it while stepping out on a ledge. And no, this isn’t just Yet Another Angry Birds Clone. In this one, the goal is to keep the snails safe from aerial dangers that can cause injury. Basically, there is usually a snail (or two) that exist in the playing area. The overall goal is to prevent the mollusks from being crushed by falling rocks (don’t ask) or being zapped by especially vicious sun rays. --Tre Lawrence

Mine Maze

 

I am positively sure that mining is the most popular current profession in all of gaming culture. Not even counting Minecraft, there are tons and tons of games that are based around mining, or have it as one of primary mechanics. It could be great to actually have a realistic game about mining, but it would probably be something completely dull, except for occasional cave ins, which result in an inescapable death traps – so, it wouldn’t be great at all, come to think of it. Mine Maze was released recently, and although it revolves around mining, it has about as much realistic mining gameplay as Angry Birds has ballistic models. --Tony Kuzmin

Also this week, Pocket Gamer has reviews for huge new shooters Call of Duty: Strike Team and Killzone Mercenary, and beginner's guides for Junk Jack X and Terraria. The guys also list their favourite iOS and Android games in August, find more games like The Room, and tell you everything you need to know about microconsoles. All that and more, in the Pocket Gamer weekly wrap-up.

And finally, in this week's episode of the AppSpy News Wrap-Up, we get flanked by an unexpected Call of Duty game. We also take a look at the Telepods in the upcoming Angry Birds Star Wars II, and check out 2K's shamelessly self-referential new racer, 2K Drive.