TouchGen Editors’ Choice Awards 2011

Winner: Infinity Blade 2

There has been no shortage of quality action titles this year. Dead Space started the year with a scream, 9mm hit us mid-year with a bang, and GTA 3 rounded it all off by pulling us from our cars by our hair, kicking and screaming! But it was Infinity Blade 2 that topped our action picks, with its blend of lightning-reflex duals, vast array of weapons, and epic kill shots.

Winner: Dead Space

The lines between console and mobile shooters seemed to blend even more in 2011, particularly in the area of graphics. All our picks look gorgeous and at first glance can give some console games a run for their money. Shadow Gun had the edge on visuals, and Modern Combat 3 has it sewn up with it’s great FPS controls.

But as an overall package we felt Dead Space should emerge victorious. Taking out an advancing Necro Baby is shocking but highly satisfying!

Winner: Jetpack Joyride

This was one of the hardest categories to pick from due to the sheer variety of experiences. Street Fighter IV had it wrapped up last year, and once again Volt impresses, with King of Fighters-i bringing up the rear. Muffin Knight had us in stitches, and War Pinball was the perfect virtual representation of the real thing. But Jetpack Joyride stole our hearts as far back as E3 when it was called Machine Gun Jetpack. By the time of its release and renaming, that love had only grown stronger. The best of its genre, highly addictive, and kept fresh with frequent updates.

Winner: DeathSmiles

It was another impressive year for the classic style shooter genre. So much so, that we felt that this year it deserved its own awards category. CAVE got two nominations, with both Death Smiles and, more recently, Bug Princess offering up slices of bullet hell goodness as only they can.

DeathSmiles takes the crown though, with its action packed levels, Manga-tastic visuals, and techno-rock soundtrack. It’s so easy to get lost in the craziness of it all!

Winner: 1-bit Ninja

While many developers strive for next-gen console visuals, there are also those who yearn for those 8-bit haydays; a time when it was all about the gameplay. This year we were really spoiled for choice, particularly with some truelly excellent platformers. For real retro appeal, Monkey Labour was a near perfect love letter.

But it has to be 1-bit-Ninja that walks away with the award, bringing us jaw-achingly challenging retro platforming with a modern-day 3D twist.

Winner: The Adventures of Tintin

Another close match with the nominations in this class.

This year we saw classic re-releases li Monkey island go head-to-head with highly original offerings from the likes of Sword & Sworcery EP. But, even Hector’s like-able dislike-ability couldn’t sway us from giving Gameloft’s The Adventures of Tintin the award. It mixed drama, humour, action, and stealth with movie-like production values to produce a touch-screen adventure that couldn’t be beaten.

Winner: FIFA 12

It was a great year for sports. Speedball 2 offered up some classic sporting violence; NBA Jam was great fun and one of the best versions of the series; and Fight Night Champion surprised us with touch controls that actually worked well. FIFA 12 stole the show for us and is easily the best Soccer title yet for iOS. Improved in every way, from its graphics to its on-the-ball controls, only the lack of online multiplayer stopped it from getting full marks. The icing on the cake was the new iPhone-to-iPad connection mode, allowing two people to go head-to-head with two iPhones and an iPad.

Winner: Mission Europa

2011 saw a variety of RPGs, large and small, and even a remake of an old favourite. But even the might of Square-Enix with its classic Final Fantasy III and pseudo-sequel Chaos Rings Omega couldn’t sway us from awarding the RPG crown to Mission Europa, a game that blew us away with its great depth and customization.

Winner: Anomaly: Warzone Earth

This is possibly the most crowded of genres on the AppStore, thanks in part to the success of the Tower Defense style. We even saw Com2Us secure the rights to using the words ‘Tower Defense’ in a games title; a shrewd business move indeed. However, it wasn’t enough to beat a new kind of TD game, and one that turned the genre on its head in something we call ‘reverse tower defense’. That’s right, we’re talking about Anomaly: Warzone Earth from Chillingo. A strategy game so awesome that it made uttering the words ‘Tower Defense’ cool again.

Winner: iBlast Moki 2

At a time when all you hear about is Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, it was nice to see that creativity on the AppStore for puzzle games hadn’t diminished.

Contre Jour wowed us with its art style and physics, while Gesundheit! won us over with its cute but devilish mechanics. But, it was left to the sequel to our 2009 game of the year ‘iBlast Moki’ to once again deliver the goods, with its ingenious puzzles, physics and the best level editor around.

Winner: Tiny Wings

In a market full of time management and Farmville rip-offs. It fell to the excellent Tiny Wings to take them all to school and show what casual is all about. One of the simplest games to pick up and play is also one of the most addictive of the year. A mini masterpiece that no doubt had other developers wondering how they hadn’t come up with the idea before. Plus it had a bird in it… a guaranteed money spinner!

Winner: LostWinds

The retro platforming delights of 1-bit Ninja, Mos Speedrun and League of evil seemed to have this all tied up if it wasn’t for Jet Pack Joyride swooping in like a testosterone fuelled Tiny Wings. But all of these were pipped to the post by a last minute newcomer to the AppStore. A port of the successful Wii release, LostWinds is a mix of engaging platforming and physics puzzles. But it’s the gesture controls and beautiful presentation that steels the show. It might be late to the party, but it leaves with all the chicks!

Winner: DrawRace 2

There was no Real Racing release to steal the show this year, though updates came thick and fast with iPhone 4S graphical tweaks and Airplay-enabled 4 player split-screen. Apart from SEGA’s charming kart racer, it looks like it’s the year of the micro machine.

Death Rally and Mini Motor Racing were the closest yet to the Super Sprint style racer. We had to give the gong to Chillingo’s DrawRace 2 for it’s originality and possibly the most intuitive touchscreen controls thus far.

Winner: Modern Combat 3

All five of these nominations offer up fantastic multiplayer experiences, be it online, offline, head-to-head or party modes. But Modern Combat 3 showed us that – when they want to – Gameloft can seriously turn up the heat and come out, quite literally, all guns blazing. The sheer amount of customization and 12-player online sessions echoed an FPS experience usually savored only on the big boy consoles.

Winner: Infinity Blade 2

The power available in our hands keeps on increasing at an incredible rate. All five of these titles are optimized to make the most of the lastest hardware, but even on older devices these games shine.

It’s no surprise that Infinitiy balde2 takes the prize. Beautifully crafted, with great character designs, detailed texture work and cinematic staging; the lighting and shadow effects left your jaw hanging by your feet.

Winner: Super Brothers: Sword and Sworcery EP

While Infinity Blade 2 pushed our iOS devices to their limits, it fell to the unique and quirky adventure game Super Brothers: Sword and Sworcery EP to take the art award home.

More art than game, the pixelated graphics and subdued colour palettes created a truly unique looking world which surprised and delighted with every scroll of the screen.

Winner: Groove Coaster

Dead Space shook us to our cores with edge-of-your-seat frights. The sound was almost scarier than the gory visuals. The dark Meadow and Infinity Blade 2 showed that you can have good voice acting on a budget, and GTA 3′s radio stations are as much a joy to behold now as they were 10 years ago. But TAITO’s Goove Coaster steals the show here. Not only are all the techno tracks lovingly mastered, but the way they integrate with the game’s Space Invader-themed graphics and gameplay is an audio, visual and, tactile experience not to be missed.

Winner: Contre Jour

The mind-bending creativity on show in these five nominations alone is enough to tax any brain to the point of self-implosion. But this year we fell in love with Contre Jour’s mix of rag-doll and soft-body collision detection, creating challenging level design within a pleasingly tactile environment. Like a love child from a threesome between Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and LocoRoco, and with beautiful results.

Winner: DrawRace 2

These five nominations provide experiences that would be difficult to replicate on consoles. In 2012, iOS gaming really came into its own, be it the great use of Airplay technology in Real Racing 2, or the gesture based action of Infinity Blade 2. It was DrawRace 2 that impressed us the most. An unlikely pairing of slot racing and finger painting that brings an intuitive, tactile and, satisfying experience like no other.

Winner: B&W C5 in-ear headphones

Whether you like your iDevice eau natural or covered with bling, there is no denying that pimping your pad is big business. 2012 saw some great gaming gear in the form of the fling controller add-on and iCade. But we can’t ignore the king of gear: the humble headphone. The B&W C5 produces a mix of sound that music was made for. If you can afford the high price, you may never take them out of your ears… ever!

Winner: Halfbrick

All five of these developers are worthy winners, bringing us fantastic titles throughout the year. CAVE’s excellent shooters; Firemint’s Real Racing updates and Spy Mouse; Godzillabs’ return to form with iBlast Moki 2; and ChAIR delivering once again with Infinity Blade 2. We award the prize to Halfbrick, the creators of Fruit Ninja and, more importantly, our Arcade Game of the year JetPack Joyride. They have delivered a slew of excellent updates to their games, keeping an already excellent selection of games fresh and as enjoyable as ever.

Winner: Chillingo

Another stellar year for Chillingo, where they once again prove that they can get under the skin of iOS gamers and deliver a range of must-have quality titles week-on-week.

Highlights from Chillingo this year include: DrawRace 2, Contre Jour, Infinity Field, Swords and Soldiers, Extraction: Project Outbreak, and Anomaly: Warzone Earth to name but a few. They really “get” iOS games, and it shows.

Winner: Dead Space

As always, this category is a tough choice due to the extreme amount of great content out there for iPhones and iPod Touches.

But, after playing these games to death, it’s Dead Space that sticks in our minds as the iPhone game of choice. Managing the small screen real estate of the iPhone for a shooter is no easy task, and Dead Space nails it. It was a real game-changer for mobile gaming at the beginning of the year, from which every other action game on the AppStore subsequently aspired to be.

Winner: Infinity Blade 2

Some games simply play better on some devices than others, which is why we have three titles in our top picks for iPad that aren’t featured on the Best iPhone game list. While we feel Dead Space is the best mini experience of the year, it’s Infinity Blade 2 that takes the iPad crown.

Infinity Blade 2 is better on iPad than on the iPhone, period. The larger screen allows for a heightened feeling of control over attacks and defense. Not to mention the beautiful ‘award-winning’ graphics look more… well… Epic!

Winner: Infinity Blade 2

For the second time running, ChAIR has won our coveted Game Of The Year award. One thing is clear: this was the tightest race yet, with some truly great titles.

In the end, Infinity Blade 2 out-classed the competition with its engaging story, eye-popping graphics, intense gesture-based combat, varied attack types, and deep character leveling. An exclusive to the platform, it has once again put iOS gaming on the map, and for that we salute it!