Side-scrolling adventures for iPhone

January 1, 2013 2:25 PM

Looking for the best side-scrolling adventure (or possibly other type) games for iphone. I played a came called Cosmo when I was a kid that I found completely captivating - different challenges on every level, fun graphics, etc. I'd like something for iPhone that would recapture that sense of fun.

I've tried the Wind-up Knight but it seemed to require super-precise movements and then not respond to them that precisely. Eventually I got frustrated and looked at online reviews and found that I wasn't the only one and gave up. I also didn't like that I could not control my speed. I tried the adventure with the white rabbit which unfortunately I can't recall the name of - but it seemed a bit buggy as well, and eventually I gave up on it.

Other games I've liked though not necessarily from the same genre are World of Goo and Plants Vs. Zombies. (Most tower defense games I find fairly dull, though). Loved the visuals and sounds on Goo (which I first read about here), and PvZ was entertaining enough to keep my interest long enough to play the entire game through several times.

I am not such a fan of games that don't allow you to control speed, such as Temple Run and NinJump.

posted by bunderful to computers & internet (9 answers total)

If you liked World of Goo, you may also like Contre Jour and Splode.

Sonic CD is a pretty good retro side scroller. Max & the Magic Marker is fun. And Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP is a side scrolling adventure game many people love (although I don't, but I'm weird, so I'm suggesting it anyway).
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:54 PM on January 1

There is a grear side scrolling Ios game callled 100000000 (it could be a few more or a few less 0's)
posted by Burgatron at 3:47 PM on January 1 [1 favorite]

Another World for iOS. One of the greatest games of all time (of all time!)
posted by hellojed at 3:54 PM on January 1

Waking Mars is a good side-scrolling puzzle game. It doesn't depend much on dexterity challenges (though there are some.)
posted by BrashTech at 4:55 PM on January 1

You might enjoy Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery, which I really liked.
posted by gemmy at 5:00 PM on January 1

Frogatto is a decent side scroller that is for IOS and also features a green protagonist. Frogatto.com. I've only played the PC version but I think it's basically the same.

I personally thought Superbrothers: Swords and Sworcery was annoying, but ymmv. The graphics are quite pretty and the music is nice.
posted by ropeladder at 5:22 PM on January 1

LostWinds is a really charming game, and it has a cool control scheme where you tap to move your character or swipe to blow him around with a wind spirit. I found the controls a BIT mushy—it was originally a Wii Ware game, and it took a few updates to get the controls just right on iOS.

There's also a sequel, which is longer and has some other interesting controls, like freezing and melting water to create walkways and passages. This video shows some of the style of the second game; the first one looks pretty similar.
posted by bcwinters at 5:45 PM on January 1

Swordigo is very good.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:23 AM on January 2

You guys are awesome. So far I'm really enjoying Frogatto (reminds me a LOT of Cosmo - green character - flowers that spew). LostWinds is gorgeous, haven't gotten very far into the game yet. Contre Jour has all the charm of World of Goo.

And Waking Mars is pretty neat. Cannot figure out how the hell to enter the giant mezopods.

I'll try all of these in time - thanks so much!
posted by bunderful at 7:05 AM on January 4