IPad App Review: Stickman Golf HD

What is it?

Stick Golf HD is a simple-to-play puzzle loosely based on Golf and published by Noodlecake Games. This is the iPad version, available for a 59p download from the App store.

How to play

The objective of the game is to get the ball in the hole after negotiating the hazards of a course.  This is achieved by making the little stick man hit the golf ball with his big club thing.  The angle of delivery is set by pressing the left or right or buttons to change the directional arrow.  Pressing the Go button to start the power meter then pressing it again to stop at the required power sets the ball on its way. 

If this was real golf, my ball would now be whizzing off in any direction except forwards and in the process, knocking out the 86 year-old club captain on his retirement dinner.  Hiding in the bushes until the police have gone is highly recommended. 

Opinion

Stick Golf HD harks back to the good old days of video games and is reminiscent of an old game (I forget which platform) where players take turns to fire a tank at each other, setting the angle of trajectory and power of shot.  It's a tried and tested mechanic, perhaps most famously put to use by the Worms series of games.

So, while the gaming mechanic is not exactly original, where Noodlecake Games score highly is in the sheer charm of its implementation.  Graphics do not a good game make and here that adage is proved correct.  The 2-dimensional side-on is simple but unobtrusive allowing the player to concentrate on the puzzle ahead.  The little golfer man is nicely animated and his balls behave according to physics, bouncing convincingly and flying through the air with the greatest of ease.  Hit the ball hard enough and it turns into a kind of flame-powered turbo ball. 

There is no storyline.  There's no gravel-throated announcer saying, "In a world, where Golf has gone mad, one man stands alone in the face of adversity.  This Summer, see Johnny Depp in ... Stick Golf HD".  It's about beating your scores.  There are no cut-scenes either.  Did I mention it's about posting the lowest score possible?

For 59 pence, there are a LOT of courses to play, with 21 courses each with 9 holes ranging from the absurdly simple to the absurdly absurd.  There's a nice learning curve with the first few holes of the first course almost impossible NOT to get holes-in-one (or is it hole-in-ones?  Or holes-in-ones?  I never can tell).  Later levels really ramp up the difficulty and some are stupidly frustrating.  Obviously, the sideways view offers a lot of latitude in course design and trying to get your ball in a small pipe surrounded by water is quite often a case of trial and error.  Noodlecake are not bringing a faithful emulation of Golf, it's much more puzzle than any kind of sporting replication.

But, there are skills to be learnt and it's very addictive.  Rather like say, Angry Birds, where a simple premise is executed to perfection, so it is with Stick Golf.  Unlocking all the courses is an achievement in itself but beating your own scores is where the real challenge lies.  And there's none of that tedious exercise or pushing a golf trolley around a field nor do you have to listen to the golf 'bores' in the club-house.  Here's a question for you: What is it about Golf (the real-life 'sport' that is, not this game) that attracts an entirely unattractive species of person?  *Cough* Wan *cough* kers *cough*. 

Bad Bits

The association with Golf will put people off, which it nearly did myself.  Don't, as it really is a very loose assocation.  While the terminology is there, eagles, birdies and what have you, it's still very much a puzzle game.

Some of the levels (holes) are ridiculous it has to be said.  I dare say Captain Cholmondely Arse-Biscuit would have something to say about them at the golf club annual board meeting (when he's recovered from that misfortuitous head injury that is).

Conclusion

Stick Golf HD is a terrific, simple little game for the iPad and at 59 pence for a 33mb download, it's an absolute bargain.  It's addictive and frustrating but a lot of fun all the same.  It has longevity built in and provides a neat little fix of puzzling mayhem.  Recommended.  Now, have the boys in blue gone yet?

Addendum

Noodlecake Games changed the name of Stick Golf HD to Stickman Golf HD in May 2011.  To all intents and purposes it's *exactly* the same game. 

IPad App Review: Tune-in Radio

What is it?

Tune-in Radio is an iPhone / iPad app that brings digital radio to your device.  It is published by Synsion Radio Technologies and there is a free version or a more fully-featured version for £0.59.  Please note, it is a universal binary so it is the same app whether it's for the iPhone or iPad.  The app resizes itself automatically according to the device it is being used on.
 
In Use / Features

Tune-in Radio has a very nice interface and certainly on the iPad, the extra screen real-estate is put to good use.  Two thirds of the screen is taken up with recently-listened stations, bookmarked stations and so on while on the left is a navigation pane allowing quick access to different search parameters such as by genre, by location, by type (music or all-talk) and even by language.

In addition to being a gateway for 40-odd thousand radio stations, Tune-in Radio promises to deliver Sky Plus-like controls, much like DAB-devices already do.  Live radio can be paused and rewound up to 30 minutes back in time.  Shows can be saved out into the podcasts area of iTunes and listened to at a later date (paid-version only) or loaded back into Tune-in Radio itself.  Not all radio stations carry the extra broadcasting information but a lot do and this allows artist information to be displayed along with album art and even links to the iTunes store for purchase.  Nice.

When playing, there is a very swish-looking full screen mode where it shows just the currently playing station.  This makes the iPad look like a very sophisticated wireless player.  If you squint, you can almost imagine yourself to be in a futuristic film, swiping the air to move projected computer imagery like a hologram.  You're not of course and you'll only end up looking like a fool, waving your arms around to nothing but still, the thought's there.

For iOS 4.x, like many other app publishers, Synsion converted Tune-in Radio to take advantage of the multi-tasking and fast-app switching capabilities that that OS update brought.  This allows the radio to be played while other apps are being used.  Of course, this is something PC users take for granted but for early-adopters of Apple portable devices, it's a recent innovation (as of Nov 2010-ish). 

When selecting a station to play, there's a small period of inactivity as the app attempts to connect then buffer the sound stream.  All streaming devices do this and it allows for the sound to be played continuously without a 'jittery' effect to it.  Occasionally Tune-in will lose the connection to a station and it will attempt to rebuffer the sound.  Luckily, it will happily continue from where it left off so you don't lose anything.

Tune-in Radio also provide an alarm clock so it can wake you in the morning to some hardcore 170bpm Jungle Drum 'n' Bass (or other annoying station of your choosing).  They do recommend the device is plugged in for this and I would have to agree.  You don't want the battery to run out before the alarm has gone off. 

Differences to the free version

The main differences between the paid and free versions are a lack of adverts and the ability to record a radio show for listening later.  There are some more subtle differences such as extra bookmarking features and more information about the artist.  Not only that, delving a little deeper sees the addition of bit-rate choosing and custom URL inputs - neat options and well worth a few pence of anyones money.  

Conclusion

At only 59 pence for the full version, it's less than the price of a chocolate bar and you're supporting further development into what is a great bit of kit.  All the mainstream stations are there such as everything by BBC radio, not to mention a whole raft of local stations either from your own home town or if you live in Vladivostok.  It's incredibly simple to use and provides access to free music - yes, free music that is also legal.  There are so many Internet radio stations and podcasters who give up their time to pump out this stuff and with the full version, you can save it away for a later listen.  For what is essentially turning the iPad or iPhone / iPod into a radio station, they sure have managed to fit in some really neat options.   It's slick, easy-to-use and puts 40,000+ radio stations into your hand.  A network connection is obviously needed and because of that, it isn't recommended for use over 3G for a long period of time (bandwidth costs and all that). 

A stunning app and well worth the dosh.

Cost: £0.59
Size: 9.6 mb
Overall App Store rating: 5 stars from nearly 6,000 ratings.