Our Verdict
I have no idea what will happen at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Sunday . But one scenario that I ’m middling sure will be off the table is this one : When the captains of the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers meet at midfield for the pregame coin toss , I do not expect one of the Steelers captains to snarl at his Cardinal counterpart , “ Let ’s settle this like adult male … with our iPhones ! ”
But let ’s just say for argument ’s interest that both the Pittsburgh and Arizona player are reallyintotheir iPhones and that the spot I ’ve just laid out is exactly what add up to pass . First off , would n’t the caller that pass 100 of thousands of buck on publicizing really palpate like chumps ? secondly — and perhaps more crucial — what app should the Steelers and Cardinals twist to if they were to settle the championship of professional football game iPhone - vogue ? And would their biz of choice be adept enough for you to just hand away some of your wild hours ?
The App Store does offer at least half - a - dozen pigskin - themed games . Peter Cohen has already covered the two best ones — lead Football ( ) and its continuation , top Football 2 ( ) . But are those the only football game games deserving considering ?
Are You Ready for Some (Paper) Football: Paper Football takes that classic time-wasting mainstay of study hall and puts it on the iPhone.
For the most part , yeah . There ’s at least one other game — maybe two — that could sate the football - athirst iPhone user . But most of the apps I tested this Super Bowl weekend fell more than a few yards shy of the conclusion geographical zone .
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Are You quick for Some ( Paper ) Football : Paper Football takes that classic time - wasting keystone of work hall and puts it on the iPhone . The concept behindPaper Footballwill be conversant to any schoolboy who ever goofed off during study Marguerite Radclyffe Hall or any 9 - to-5 drone driven to misdirection during a particularly dull league call . Take a patch of paper , fold up up into a finger - sized triangle and examine to flick it the length of your desk . nock a touchdown , and you recoil an extra item by flick the paper trilateral through the upright — which are by and large your resister ’s outstretched thumb .
The Fickle Finger of Fate: Player One is on his way to another impressive win in Finger Football from Jirbo.
Jirbo’soffering for the iPhone and iPod touch recreates that secret plan in mobile form , right down to the wooden desk and the cafeteria - like setting . Slide your finger into the composition football to make it slue along the table airfoil — if it stops at the mesa ’s edge , you get six points and the chance to flick the football game for an supererogatory point . Hit the football game too hard , and your opposition gets a shot . That opponent can either be another person ( who slides the football from the opposite end of the screen ) or a computerized foe . First mortal to 35 head win .
The Fickle Finger of Fate : Player One is on his room to another impressive winnings in Finger Football from Jirbo . ascendancy can be a short chip challenging , peculiarly when it comes to flicking that superfluous head through the uprights . That say , I never had much difficulty besting the computer opponent , even when I opted for the “ tough ” setting . Two - player competition were another issue . I played several games with my wife , and Player One always scored the triumph , even with us alternating between One and Two . Shots from Player One that would slew to a graceful check on the tabular array ’s edge flew right off the table when Player Two was make the snap . The report football could be three - quarters off the table ’s edge for Player One and still scotch points ; for Player Two , the football game would tumble off the boundary at the tenuous provocation . Another defect : Should Player Two be lucky enough to score , he ’ll then have to flip around the iPhone to kick the extra point .
“ This is tedious , ” my wife say . And she was win at the time .
Down, Down the Field: Figure out the timing on X’s & O’s Football, and it’s relatively easy to maneuver your red-helmeted team to the end zone.
There ’s also a $ 5 version , Paper Football Premium , which is advertizing - free . You also get to make an avatar and jibe your scores against other Jirbo biotic community members . The former feature article call for you to download a separate app ; the latter never work for me in my examination . And the gameplay is just as frustrating as in the gratuitous variation . run for far away .
Jirbo ’s other football game travail isFinger Football , a carbon copy of Paper Football only with an actual pigskin replacing the paper triangle , a football field supercede the tabletop , and field end billet alternatively of fingers . There ’s a prescript variety , too — instead of game live on until someone scores 35 points , you play four 30 - second quarter . The highest scotch when sentence runs out wins .
Other than that , Finger Football is a dead ringer for Paper Football , with the same marking , same controls , same level-headed outcome , and same flaws . Player One is as unvanquishable as ever . And Finger Football adds its own singular defect : Because there ’s no shaft clock , a player who ’s ahead on points can let the clock lift down without penalty . I had the confidential information and the testis against a computer resister in the 4th quarter of one game with more than 20 seconds on the clock , and I never scud again . cloud triumph was mine !
Bust A Move: PocketSports Football makes great use of the iPhone’s accelerometer to control the movements of players with the ball. On defense, not so much.
Jirbo also offer apaid version of Finger Football , currently for $ 3 . It ’s billed as the “ Hard Edition . ” After my experience with Paper Football Premium , I did n’t sense like bear for the privilege of being more frustrated .
Down , Down the arena : Figure out the timing on X ’s & O ’s Football , and it ’s relatively well-fixed to maneuver your red - helmeted squad to the end zone . X ’s & O ’s FootballfromSkyworksat least fork out a more reliable football experience . In this game , you ’re both handler and signal caller . You nibble a passing play out of a playbook of eight plays . crack the football game , and it ’s up to you to deliver a fling to your ruby - helmeted receiver who ’s being flanked by a computer - control defender . Just tap on the screenland where you want to throw the glob — the playbook shows you the form your receiver will race — and if you clock it right , your receiver will make the grab . Once the liquidator catch the ball , you could tilt your iPhone or iPod ghost to make the receiver lead down the field of operations . Because the withstander is ordinarily on your pass receiver like stink on an ape , though , you ’ll usually get tackled before you could make many moves .
You ’ve got four downs to get 10 railway yard ; go to convert and it ’s biz over . Otherwise , you keep playing through four 1 - minute quarters , racking up passing yards and touchdowns in the cognitive process .
Hit Target, Win Prize: Whether in classic or progressive (pictured) modes, QB Pass Attack Football requires you to throw the ball through a pair of targets.
X ’s & O ’s is fun — to a point . But with only eight plays to select from , all of them passing , the game promptly becomes repetitive . Also , it does n’t take that long to get the timing down , making it easier to complete strait . Let ’s just say that as retentive as the blue - helmeted withstander may be , the Detroit Lions are likely kicking themselves for not scheduling them this past season . ( To the game ’s credit , you do have to mix up your caper calling , or the Blue Helmets will get wise to the fact that you keep throwing to the same receiver execute the same pattern . ) After just a few attempts , I was able to play a arrant four - quarter secret plan without once turning the glob over on downs . Since you play only criminal offense , never defense , your account can take on an Arena Football - similar quality ; I broke treble finger’s breadth in one plot , and if the High Scores from other players are anything to go by , I ’m just a pisher . Add a few more play - call options and a more thought-provoking denial , and X ’s & O ’s would be on to something .
Bust A Move : PocketSports Football makes large use of the iPhone ’s accelerometer to control the movements of players with the clump . On defense , not so much . PocketSports FootballfromSolus Gamesis on to something promising as well , though there are still a few wrick to work out . Still , it ’s the only game I found on the App Store that proffer a traditional football experience , so pigskin drug addict will want to give it a try .
In PocketSports Football , you ’re in dictation of a seven - military man team playing a four - quarter biz . ( you may set whether the quarters last one , two , or three minute . ) You call the child’s play when you ’re team is on offense and defence . And you may either play a prompt game , or an eight - week season in which you control the destiny of one of 10 squad .
PocketSports Football makes great use of the iPhone ’s accelerometer , with you shift your iPhone or iPod to control the movement of your players down the field . There ’s also a pregame lovesome - up mode which is great for convey the hang of the controls before you ever snap a ball in ire . Multiple television camera angles give you three different views of the gameplay .
But there are some shortcomings . I find oneself slide by plays — in which you tap on the receiver you want to throw to — a piddling unmanageable to overcome ; sometimes my signal caller would just hold on to the testis , no matter how frantically I tapped . And while you could set your justificatory alliance by name one of formation , you do n’t seem to be able to control individual players , so tackling seems to be a matter of getting golden and get the offense run into one of your guys . There ’s no pick for kick a field goal , which is fine until you ’re face a fourth down in the red zone and you realize your only option is to go for the first down . PocketSports Football lack the profoundness of Real Soccer 2009 ( ) , that ’s for certain .
Which is not to say that the game is n’t fun , so long as you ’re willing to accept its limitations . I ’m currently in the midsection of a season — battle on , you New York Whateveryourcalleds — and I certainly find PocketSports Football a decent enough way to go through the time .
shoot Target , Win Prize : Whether in classic or progressive ( pictured ) mode , QB Pass Attack Football requires you to give the ball through a duad of target . No , the best football game game currently at the App Store — in the non - Mattel Football homage variance , at least — isQB Pass Attack Football . Another offering from Skyworks , this game requires you toss a football game through a couple of hoops — a scenario that will be conversant to anyone who ’s hang out an colonnade , visited a carnival midway , or view a Levitra ad . In Pass Attack ’s case , you ’ve got two maw — designed to look like receivers ’ outstretched hands — and a wrack full of footballs to toss at them . Touch a football to grab it , then slither your finger up the blind to hurl it at the target — it ’s challenge , but doable .
Pass Attack offers two modes of gameplay . The classic game devote you 60 second to thrash about as many football through the holes as your noodle implements of war allows . Tossing the ball through the cheeseparing hole receive you seven points ; the faraway jam is deserving 30 . A progressive interlingual rendition features four 60 - 2d quarter in which you rack up as many points as possible , with bonus for first downs and touchdowns .
Pass Attack is beneficial casual fun , with a picayune scheme attach to it . ( Do I scud up wanton point with short , manageable throw to the nearest hoop , or do I go all Brett Favre and judge for the foresightful turkey ? ) The control are easy to overcome , and the backdrop music augment the plot ’s frenetic pace . While Pass Attack lumber the Top 10 score for all players in both Graeco-Roman and progressive modes , it does n’t keep track of your own scads — I care that it did . Still , in all my testing of football games , this was the one I found myself constantly reaching for .
If the Cardinals and Steelers want to save us all some time Sunday , they could do worse than settle their differences with QB Pass Attack . It may boast the only complete pass Matt Leinart gets to throw all day .
All the games reviewed here are compatible with both the iPhone and iPod spot . Jirbo ’s plot pass on any gimmick with the iPhone 2.x software update . Other game require iPhone 2.2 .
[ Macworld.com executive editor Philip Michaels is wee beef with barbecue sauce for his Super Bowl party . ]
