More than a few quality iPad - optimized games have hit the App Store in the month - and - a - half since Apple released its Modern equipment . But which ones merit a in demand space on your iPad ?
That ’s a query for our go team of iPad game reviewers . So we asked our reviewers to name the game that have grabbed their attention since the iPad ’s arriver . As with our tilt of essentialpaidand free apps , we devoted particular aid to games that take advantage of the iPad ’s unique qualities , whether that ’s making the most of the machine ’s CRT screen space or implementing a particularly clever control dodge .
The result ? A various lineup of game that let in racing , casual , puzzler , adventure , and legal action titles . ground on the apps below , iPad gaming is off to a majuscule start , with hopefully more great offerings on the mode .
Angry Birds HD
Another iPhone larboard that bewilder to pass around its backstage on the iPad , Angry Birds HD ( ) do the most of its newfound place . The original secret plan always feel a scrap constrain on the diminished iPhone screen , so I was thrilled to see an iPad variation usable at launch . tempestuous Birds HD is n’t a universal app — so if you enjoyed the original , you ’re crush out $ 5 for the honor of playing the high solution version . However , Chillingoadded extra levels , a crazy unexampled boomerang bird , and hidden prosperous egg that unlock even more level . The gameplay is the same on the iPad as on the iPhone — simply flick your skirt with the slingshot at the pigs and their miscellanea of defensive structures . On the larger screen , you may really appreciate the clever animations and intricate level intention . Plus , zooming out to survey the battlefield is now practical.—James Savage
Flight Control HD
Flight Control for iPhone is one of the majuscule App Store achiever stories , andFiremintcould have easy phoned in the iPad variant by just yield us the same game with higher solution artwork . Fortunately for Flight Control lover everywhere , the developer didn’t — the $ 5 Flight Control HD ( ) takes all the greatness from the original and adds loads more . Gameplay is still just as simple to teach and as addictive as ever — direct plane and helicopter safely to the ground by draw their flight of stairs paths with your finger’s breadth . With the superfluous screen existent estate , this line of work is much easier on the eyes and finally a good experience . In add-on to the four original iPhone landing field , you get four more with three of those in a mellow - solution format . With the bigger screen , there is now room to share control province with two - musician co - op and versus modes.-James Savage
Need for Speed Shift
require for Speed Shift for iPad makes this inclination for adding some spicery to the racing genre . Electronic Arts’$10 game offer seven different type of gameplay modes ( such as roam competition , driver duel , and , of course , a good ol’ fashioned race run ) , and even an optional control organisation for expert that grant for manual infection . There are 20 real licensed cable car , and you’re able to upgrade and customize them with your winning . require for Speed Shift is breathing place of fresh air that does n’t go dangerously overboard with cheesy plots and worse acting . Shift is extremely accessible to racers of any caliber , and its gameplay is cryptic and various enough to keep you behind the wheel for hours.-David Chartier
N.O.V.A.
Already among the best first - person crap-shooter for the iPhone , N.O.V.A – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance ( ) benefits from beautiful high - solving graphics and a more intuitive interface in its iPad incarnation . You ’ll still ask to get comfortable with the virtual controls for this $ 7 gun for hire fromGameloft , but the iPad ’s screen spread out the game ’s canvas , allowing you to see more graphic particular and less of your thumbs . Additionally , the iPad ’s larger screen render to a more comfortable playing side — no more holding the screen mere inches from your face to spot those distant aliens . The rest of the elements of the game stay the same as the iPhone interpretation , but that ’s a good thing . There are 13 level deserving replay and a fat multiplayer experience , too . NOVA HD proves that the iPad is a viable first - person shooter platform.—James Savage
Pinball HD
Pinball HD ( ) has all the making of the perfect iPad game : a secret plan concept that fit the machine ’s capability , uncomplicated and intuitive controls , and large nontextual matter . The $ 3 biz fromOOO Gamepromfeatures three different tables , each with its unique design , gameplay and challenge . fan of the mechanical antecedent of Pinball HD will treasure the accuracy of its physics engine , which approximates the tangible thing in almost excruciating item . The size of it of the iPad ’s screen also make this game the perfect selection for two - player games in which each player controls one of the flippers — perfect for a cursory biz with your family or friends . While this pinball biz wo n’t exhaust all your quarters , it will keep you entertain regardless of whether you are a pinball aficionado or just enjoy the periodic challenge.-Marco Tabini
Plants Vs. Zombies HD
Combining my dear of horticulture and my motive to slaughter the undead , Plants vs. Zombies HD is a unique $ 10 tugboat DoD game fromPopCap Games . First released on the Mac and PC in 2009 , then on the iPhone , this cartoonish and addictive strategy game gets an iPad sole minigame and a fully grown concealment for you to plant all of your peapods and sunflowers . Plants Vs . Zombies HD also back up to 11 coincident touch points , ensure you ’re able-bodied to plant , pull in sun , launch corncob rockets , or grab coin even quicker than you ’re able to on an iPhone or console . plant Vs . Zombies has never looked so good.—Chris Holt
Real Racing HD
Maybe it was just beneficial fortune that the iPad is about the sizing of a go - kart steering steering wheel . Whatever the reason , it ’s the thoroughgoing program for a first - person racing game , and Real Racing HD ( ) — the $ 10 offering fromFiremint — is as perfect a launching rubric as you ’ll observe . With three game modes , three levels of trouble , five ascendance scheme , and 48 unlockable car to drive in 76 unlockable issue , you ’ve got enough options to produce an experience “ geared ” to your exact specification . Throw it all together with flawless , high definition graphics , and you ’ve get under one’s skin one of the honest racing games in a crowded field of suitable contenders.—Meghann Myers
Sam & Max Episode 1: The Penal Zone
The gonzo comedy video game heroes Sam & Max bring their unparalleled mark of humourous adventuring to the iPad in the premier episode of their latest season of ongoing adventures . With Sam & Max Episode 1 : The Penal Zone ( ) , Telltale Gamesstarts things off with a deep , playfulness , and thoroughly enjoyable $ 7 risky venture game mark by unmated visuals and a unique sense of humor . For the uninitiated , Sam and Max are a offense - fighting duo made up of an anthropomorphic blackguard in a trenchcoat and a crazed rabbit - thingy whose surrealist adventures feature lots of ridiculous characters , razor - sharp caustic remark , and bizarre plot of land twists . On the iPad , the reference look and recreate well than ever . There ’s simply nothing else on the platform like it.—Chris Holt
Strategery
Strategery was — and is — an excellent biz on the iPhone . But as a $ 2 crossbreed offering that also now runs on the iPad , the hazard - corresponding app proves that sometimes bigger really is better . big battles on the iPhone were unwieldy , forcing you to scroll all over your map as you tried to manage your war loony toons . Strategery perfectly embraces all the extra real estate that the iPad affords , making promethean single-valued function not just doable , but darn sport , too . It ’s not just bigger maps — a heavy screen door have in mind that Strategery can show you more at once ; you could compare regular army size and tweak secret plan options without exchange between menus , a sumptuousness the iPhone version ca n’t provide . When Strategery went cosmopolitan for supererogatory iPad compatibility , developerAffogatoadded in some moderately prima online - play features as well , so I can now take on anyone in the world in a game of global conquest.—Lex Milton Friedman
Words with Friends HD
word With Friends is n’t Scrabble — at least as far as right of first publication lawyer are concerned . But it does feel abominably intimate to that addicting lexical Word of God plot , andNewtoy’s$3 plot make a few key melioration over the existent - world board game . More important , the iPad variation of the game is an melioration upon the iPhone liberation , thanks to the iPad ’s much big concealment . Both you and your on-line opponent — whether she ’s in the next way or the next continent — get easy viewing angles for the total circuit card without hold to care about jostling tiles . hold in the fact that you play at your leisure — you’re no longer stuck staring at your supporter ’s scrunched os frontale and he struggles to discover optimum Triple Word Score - along with push notifications and in - plot chat , and you ’ve get down an splendid wandering word game.—Lex Friedman
