Mini Reviews: Ahmmm Oh Yeah Pro, Mega Man II, and Virtuoso Piano Free 2

For less than a dollar, and some times for free, you can transform your iPhone from a futuristic hero that hails from an ironic past to a partial keyboard that you would probably leave untouched at a garage sale.  Check out some reviews for some of the most recent and popular games and applications from the iTunes' App Store.

Mega Man II

It is pretty standard for gaming companies to try and maximize their creative work.  They do this effectively by marketing older titles for hand held and alternative sources, often packaging them together in "retro" collections.  This is a cheap ploy to continually sell old titles with a new veneer, but we still love them as the real classics remain timeless.  Mega Man is one of the best gaming series in the history of home consoles, and Capcom Interactive has spared no time in bringing our blue helmeted friend to the touch screen.  Mega Man II is now available on the iPhone, but this time around it has only marginal success.  The same side scrolling fury is in place, but instead of utilizing the entire touch screen Mega Man II just takes up a small sub space.  What Mega Man II does is put the image of a classic arcade machine with a joystick and dual A and B buttons.  The landscape view is much better than this and puts the button on the sides, but it would have been nice if they had figured out a way to make the entire screen viewable.  The graphics of Mega Man II are not updated at all on the iPhone, and the arcade visual is likely used just to justify the lack of updating by accentuating this "classic" novelty.  The controls are a little awkward, but Mega Man II is still such a strong game that it actually can blast through many of these issues like a tightly balanced particle cannon.  It is hard to even blame Mega Man II when it only holds a price tag of $0.99 and has a free iPhone game version as well, just so you can test it out.  You should always try to take a look at the Lite game version before buying, but really you do not have much to lose with a buck.  It is going to be hard to be let down by Mega Man. 

Four out of five stars.

Virtuoso Piano Free 2

Trying to port musical instruments to your iPhone may sound stupid, and it just may be.  There is little practical use for this, until you see someone performing live by strumming at their touch screens.  Outside of hipster coffee shops this kind of novelty is likely not to fly, so don't start writing the new harp app just quite yet.  Even though there are limitations, some of them can still be a lot of fun.  Virtuoso Piano Free 2, which is a supposed sequel, brings a mini piano to your touch screen.  You can now play the ivories fro C3 to C4, which is hardly enough to play a song.  Since that is not likely the point you can have a brief amount of fun, with emphasis on brief.  You have a limited amount of settings that is regulated to things like whether or not you get note labeling and overall volume.  There is no clear reason why you would need a volume setting when the iPhone already has a volume option, but Virtuoso Piano Free 2 does not pride itself on logic.  Really Virtuoso Piano Free 2 exists so that it can give you banner ads on the top of your touch screen, so if you want links to iPhone ringtones you are in for a real treat.  Virtuoso Piano Free 2 is not a bad free iPhone application, but it does not bring much in the way of keyboard options. 

Two and a half out of five stars.

Ahmmm Oh Yeah Pro

Farting seems to be the preferred pass time of many iPhone game and applications developers.  Liang Sai's Ahmmm Oh Yeah Pro takes this concept to apocalyptic levels.  Here it presents a fully graphical environment where you are a well manicured bald man standing at a bus stop next to an attractive woman.  You have a fart bar at the bottom of the screen that you have to get rid of while it builds up.  You have to fart to release this only when cars pass so that the sound will drown it out and you will not offend your possible companion.  This is an incredibly elaborate set up for what is a one note joke, and can be fun in a very passing way.  You do get multiple areas, but since you really do not do anything but fart discreetly this is not a very big selling point.  Ahmmm Oh Yeah Pro is only $0.99, but compared to titles like Mega Man II it is really lacking.  Ahmmm Oh Yeah Free is available, but it will give you so many intrusive advertisements for Ahmmm Oh Yeah Pro that it hardly makes it worth it.  Just reading this you will likely already know if you will find Ahmmm Oh Yeah Pro to pay for, but if this is really what you want to spend your money on you might already have a few issues to deal with. 

Two out of five stars.