Software Reviews

Sonic 4: Episode II Tegra 3 edition review

Submitted by Android Central on

Sonic 4

Remember back to Christmas, and we let you know that Sega and NVIDIA would be bringing an enhanced Tegra 3 version of Sonic 4: Episode II, and today is that day! If you thought Sega did a great job with Sonic 4 Episode I, wait until you try this one! Designed for the Tegra 3 SoC, the latest addition to the popular Sonic the Hedgehog franchise brings true console quality gaming, easy controls, and hours of fun for folks with the right hardware to run it. The rolling, the jumping, the bouncing -- it's all there, and looks as good as it ever did thanks to the new HD graphics engine and in-game physics, and the backgrounds and ambient sounds are done the way only the Tegra 3 can bring them to you.

Android Central Editors' App Picks for April 28, 2012

Submitted by Android Central on

Angry Birds Space

Jared's off with something called "family" this week, (seriously, who has ever heard of that?), so I'm filling in for him. Anyway, every week the folks at Android Central like to share with y'all, the best darn Android community on the internet, what it is we fancy, app-wise. Jump after the break to see what our selections are, and let us know what you're digging in the comments!

read more


Shiprack Package Tracker [Android App Review]

Submitted by Android Central on

If you're used to getting loads of mail and you like to keep track of where it is as it's being delivered, Shiprack is definitely worthy of your consideration and time. Hot on the heels of Phil's review of Slice (okay, not really on the heels of), it's time to see if Shiprack is the less invasive alternative to Slice. (Hint: it is.)

Setting up Shiprack is an absolute breeze. Once you've got it all nice and installed, you have to set up what e-mail account Shiprack will be looking for emails from. Shiprack operates very similarly to Tripit; whenever you receive an email with a tracking number in it, you forward the email off to Shiprack, and they'll automatically start tracking it for you.

Cogs [Android Game Review]

Submitted by Android Central on

Oh, Cogs. If ever I've had my noodle baked more from an Android game, I cannot say. In terms of sheer mind-bendingness, complexity, and demanding that the player stretch their imagination in many multiple directions, you take the cake. This is all aided, of course, by your incredible 3D models, which are some of the most gorgeous I've seen in any Android game. But enough fawning; let's get into the meat of what makes Cogs great.

For starters, lets just talk about the graphics. Not only does Cogs feature some insanely beautiful 3D designs, it does so without sacrificing performance. Animations chug along, buttery smooth, and with all the turning gears and cogs and steampunk goodness floating around, that's quite a feat to see.

Sonic CD [Android Game Review]

Submitted by Android Central on

Oh, Sonic. How far you've come. Once upon a time you were Sega's champion, vying to be the most popular flagship character in history. Now you're reliving your best days, running around nimby-bimbly, on the most popular smartphone OS around. Good for you, Blue Blur.

There's not much to say about this one, except that it rocks. The gameplay is the same frantic zooming, running, jumping, and boss battling classic Sonic games taught us to love, and Sonic CD certainly delivers.

The controls are pretty tight, giving you only a virtual d-pad and jump button to work with, and I'm pleased to report that the d-pad is large enough on a tablet you shouldn't find your thumb wandering off very often. The jump button also serves as your spin dash button (for when you're stationary and pressing down on the d-pad), and, to borrow a phrase, it just works.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit [Android Game Review]

Submitted by Android Central on

Before anyone can say anything, I know, I'm bad at racing games. I was bad at the ones you sat in at the arcades with an actual steering wheel, bad at ones on consoles with funny button configurations and control schemes, and I'm bad at ones that use accelerometer support to simulate a steering wheel, too.

Thing is, it was on sale I love you guys and gals, so I decided to bite the bullet, make a fool out of myself on video, and see what these newfangled touch racing games are all about. And that's exactly what I did.

Let's get the talk about the awesome graphics out of the way now. They're awesome (some of the best on Android, of course), but when your game is made by a huge studio that's used to producing AAA games, I'd expect nothing less. Still, racing (and subsequently crashing into everything in front of me) was still a visual treat, and that's to be commended.

Pages

Subscribe to Software Reviews