The Best iPad Apps Of The Week, August 28-September 3, 2011

The iPad App Of The Week: Crimson: Steam Pirates, Free, Released September 1 Bungie Releases Crimson: Steam Pirates - Available To Download Now The studio responsible for creating the Halo game series released an iPad app today. The game, Crimson: Steam Pirates, is available to download in the App Store for free. As outlined in the app's release notes:

In Crimson: Steam Pirates, plumes of black smoke fill the blue Caribbean sky as Thomas Blood’s pirate fleet steams ahead—over, above, and below the waves. On the surface, ships bristle with swivel cannons and lightning guns. Above, zeppelins drip with incendiary bombs. And below, silent and deadly, submarines stalk their targets, torpedoes at the ready.

According to Bungie, features of Crimson: Steam Pirates include:

• 8 voyages that begin the tale of Thomas Blood’s adventures in the Caribbean
• 2 “Pass-and-Play” multiplayer scenarios
• Over a dozen types of ships, subs, and airships
• Over 20 unique crew members whose special abilities enhance gameplay

  The game looks to be an exciting, swashbuckling adventure, and something iPad owners will enjoy playing through. As a developer, Bungie has proved its ability to create excellent games on Microsoft's XBOX platform - it certainly is great to see the company release an iPad app. New Releases PhotoViva, $1.99 & Universal, Released August 29 Turn Your Photographs Into Paintings With PhotoViva PhotoViva by Lamina Design is a universal app for your iPhone and iPad that turns your photos into beautiful paintings. We all love to take photos on our iDevice, right? But these are still just photographs. What if we want a bit of creative and artistic flair? PhotoViva turns your photograph into just that: creative works of art. Users can capture a new photo or import from their Photo Library. From that point, there are several different options that users can choose from on the bottom toolbar: Tools, Fill, Brush, Color, and Image. The arrows will reveal even more, including New, Save, Zoom, and the Undo/Redo buttons. Madden NFL 12 for iPad, $9.99, Released August 30 EA Releases Madden NFL 12 For iPhone And iPad If you are a football fan or a fan of EA Sports, check out Madden NFL 12 for iPhone and Madden NFL 12 for iPad. The game is part of an authentic NFL franchise of titles originating on gaming consoles and handhelds. The iDevice version has over 2,500 real NFL players for you to control and all 32 teams are available. Even the stadiums are modeled after their real life counterparts. "Choose from the 32 NFL teams and battle it out in their true-to-life stadiums. Make trades, track stats, and launch winning strategies from in-depth playbooks, unique to every team," the app description states. Up And Up!, $1.99 & Universal, Released August 30 Up And Up! Gets Released As A Universal App A new physics-based vertical climber has hit the App Store and it's called Up And Up! The game has you slingshot a creature, or a bungy (sic) monster as the app description states, upwards and to safety. "Rising lava, flies that shoot fireballs, angry frogs, repelling cave walls and dead ends... Ascending to safety is no easy task, if you're a leg- and armless bungy (sic) monster. Luckily, there are plenty of tools, power-ups and friendly critters to aid you!" the app description states. There are two worlds for you to explore in the game with a total of 30 levels. There are also various secrets to uncover like eight pieces of cheese and golden bats. The game even offers a survival mode if you want to test your vertical climbing skills. Doodle Jump for iPad, $2.99, Released September 1 Breaking: Doodle Jump For iPad Arrives Doodle Jump for iPad is now available. Based on the highly popular iPhone/iPod touch title, Doodle Jump, the $2.99 app is now arriving in App Stores across the globe. Created by Lima Sky, Doodle Jump for iPad will almost certainly become one of the top-selling iPad apps, if the success of the iPhone version is any indication. Flick Soccer! HD, $4.99, Released September 1 Flick Soccer! HD Now Available To Download In The App Store If you're an iPad-owning fan of the popular Flick Soccer! iPhone app, head on over to the App Store and download Flick Soccer! HD - an iPad optimized version of the game, which is currently available to download for $4.99. Jetpack Joyride, $.99 & Universal, Released September 1 Barry Steakfries Is At It Again! Jetpack Joyride by Halfbrick Studios brings back Barry Steakfries, everyone’s favorite hero, in another endless running adventure. You may remember Barry from Monster Dash, another game that we previously covered, and that awesome weapon – the Machine Gun Jetpack. Well, now you have Barry again, and this time the entire game focuses on him flying through a secret laboratory with his stolen Machine Gun Jetpack, scattering all of the evil scientists around him. Samurai Bloodshow: les vagues blanches, les nuages rouges, $1.99 & Universal, Released September 1 Samurai Bloodshow Now Available As A Universal App From Sega If you enjoy games with hand-drawn graphics and the castle defense genre, check out Samurai Bloodshow from Sega. The game is a castle defense title in the sense that your troops, and your enemy's troops, have different planes of movement available. It is similar to Plants vs. Zombies in that regard. The game's theme is based on Japanese culture and customs. It has a very eastern vibe to it, which is a nice change for a genre populated by characters taken from western popular media. The visuals look like they were actually taken from old Japanese scrolls dating to the feudal era of shoguns and warlords. Unlike most other castle defense games, Samurai Bloodshow's gameplay is card-based. There are over 60 cards for you to use in battle and they range from various soldiers to sorcerers. Updated Prowl: Growl Client, $2.99 & Universal, Updated September 1 Prowl Gets An Update: Adds iPad Support, Refined Design And More The popular Growl client for iPhone, Prowl, has recently received a major update adding iPad support, a new design, offline access to notifications and much, much more. As outlined in the application's release notes, "overall" changes made to the app include:

• iPad support (universal!)
• Offline access to notifications
• Cleaner, smaller and more refined notification list
• Internal browser for opening links

Trainyard, $.99 & Universal, Updated September 1 Trainyard Updated - Adds iPad Support, Game Center Integration And New Content An update to Trainyard recently arrived in the App Store, adding iPad support, Game Center integration and new content. The application is a fun puzzle app (and something we've reviewed before). Currently, it's available to download in the App Store for just $0.99. As outlined in the app's release notes, changes made in the latest version of the application (1.6.6) include:

• Make your own puzzles!
• Achievements
• Game Center
• Universal (works on iPad)
• New puzzles
• Hundreds of other bug fixes and improvements

  If you haven't played Trainyard for a while, this update could bring you back to the station: New puzzles and the ability to make your own extend the lifespan of the app. Furthermore, the update brings Game Center achievements, and iPad support means you can even work through Trainyard on your 9.7 inch tablet. The Best iPad Apps Of The Week is published each weekend; a companion piece, The Best iPhone Apps Of The Week, is published separately. Attention developers: If you would like your app to be considered for one of our “Best Of” lists, please me know by sending me a tweet @bryanmwolfe. Note: Your app must have been new or updated in the last week to make the current list.

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