Let's start by making one thing clear, MaxNick's Spider Jack [99� / HD] is Cut the Rope [99� / HD] reimagined slightly enough that it will appeal to the rope-cutting fans out there who've been dying for new levels, but certainly won't convert anyone who isn't a fan of physics based puzzlers. It's also impossible to get through this review without comparing them to each other every step of the way.

It's probably easiest to look at the few differences between the two games first before moving onto the similarities. Where Cut the Rope tasks you with delivering a piece of candy to little Om Nom's mouth, Spider Jack wants you to deliver Jack the spider to his dinner. To do this you'll be spinning you spider web out to knobs, using physics to swing around and eventually cutting the web to capture your dinner. The main difference is that you have to create the ropes before they're cut here. Other than that, you'll find a remarkably similar experience.

Spider Jack's commonalities with Cut the Rope don't just lay in its gameplay. The visuals are remarkably close, albeit not nearly as polished and the music is the same, quirky and upbeat style. There are also differently themed rooms where you're tasked with completing puzzles by grabbing up to three stars scattered across the level. Before anyone cries out that it's a clone, consider that Chillingo published both games, so clearly someone out there seemed to think the differences were strong enough, or maybe just didn't care if they weren't.

Unfortunately, the one thing the two don't share is solid level design. Cut the Rope was imaginative and capable of introducing new techniques to keep the game interesting. Spider Jack's 75 levels are considerably easier, which for anyone who struggled with Cut the Rope might be good news, but if you've already three-starred everything and are looking for more, you'll be able to blaze through Spider Jack in around an hour with little trouble. That's partially due to the lack of multi-touch puzzles � no two-finger swipes are necessary here and that alone makes it a considerably easier experience. Of course, in Chillingo style, more levels are supposedly incoming shortly.

If you played Cut the Rope, you're not going to be surprised by the puzzle variety. Blowing air, electricity, timers, portals � they're all here. The tutorial portions are nearly identical too. That said, it has some annoyances with its mechanics. Since you're controlling a spider and not a falling ball of candy, some puzzles rely on you climbing up the web, but Jack moves so slowly and unpredictably it's harder than it needs to be to get your timing right and it ends up feeling like luck more than skill when you do.

For those looking to show off their skills, there is full Game Center and Crystal support as well as the ability to gift levels to friends. This means you'll be able to unlock five levels per stage for your friends if you're in the giving mood.

All this is to say that Spider Jack does get the job done and if you find yourself itching for more slicing, cutting physics-based games, it won't be a disappointment. The final chapter introduces the portal mechanic and even though it's similar to Portal and Cut the Rope's magic-hats, it's probably the strongest part of the game. Hopefully in future updates MaxNick will take the unique portions and expand on them to create something wholly their own.

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Laser Dolphin [.99 / HD] is a criminally under-produced game plagued by issues that wouldn't be permissible if Laser Dolphin was anything else but a mindlessly fun game about a dolphin with a laser gun strapped to its back.

It's obvious that Laser Dolphin is a game built on a tight budget or the end product of a rookie game development team. Its animations are stiff, while the story presentation is even stiffer; the assets are endlessly regurgitated, the level design is haphazard, and the action is loose, unpolished, and lacking substance, control, and refinement.

But, again, this is a game about dolphins with laser beams on their heads, meaning that you control a dolphin with a gun attached to its spine.�I can't quit pushing this point because it's the sole reason why I keep being drawn back to Laser Dolphin and see it in a positive light. It embraces its humorous title in both style and tone, and expresses these two defining characteristics with its mechanics.

Presented in 2D, Laser Dolphin puts you in control of a dolphin in search of an undersea void that leads to the next area and then the next. The hook is within the gun strapped to its head, which can, of course, be powered up with a variety of explosive-laced pick-ups that dot the game's minimalistic landscapes.

With a flick of a virtual stick, you can rotate and move the dolphin wherever the level's borders allow you. A troubled physics engine gives you a measure of momentum as you progress, which in turn, can give you the speed needed to hop out of the ocean for tricks or even traversal when the waves meet the horizon.

While moving, you can also shoot lasers with taps from your opposite hand, which makes Laser Dolphin something of a dual-stick shooter, minus a true second stick. This is where the game suffers. Often Laser Dolphin isn't quick to understand your secondary input, so it's hard to shoot and move at the same time � a requirement, I should add.

In the worst cases, the dolphin will refuse to turn towards where you want it to shoot. In the best of cases, you'll fumble with the movement stick while your right hand hovers over all the game's action, obscuring the field of view.

And it's important to see a level; each one is laced with enemies, most of which shoot back at your dolphin.

The good news is, I suppose, that your health meter is rather generous and the game doesn't require absolute enemy domination. If you're good at moving, you can simply push through the groupings of vicious sharks, spore-spitting flora, and rocket-equipped fish and bomb-dropping pelicans.

Of course, pretending that the enemies don't exist isn't the most satisfactory way to play through the game. If anything, these monsters are the expression of the game's over-the-top style and tone, and as the laser-equipped dolphin, you want to be able to destroy them with your lasers, bullets, and rockets. That's kind of what's promised. And when the game is cooperating and you're hitting on all cylinders, it does feel great. Just don't go into it expecting perfection or polish � you'll get neither.

Laser Dolphin tries to conjure Adult Swim's Robot Unicorn Attack [.99 / HD]. The hilarious titling and embracing of the laser dolphin vision is definitely its strongest hooks, just like Robot Unicorn Attack's are its unicorn and jumping, but Laser Dolphin is missing some key components that could make it truly, truly good. As it is, it's unpolished, dull in places, and the action doesn't feel right.

But… dude, it has a dolphin with a laser strapped to its back.

I know! Anyway, give this a spin if you're looking for some mindless fun. If you require complexity or depth, or solid mechanics, this definitely won't be up your alley. As a side note, steer clear of the "HD" version, it upscales poorly.

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It seems like any time I hear of a new iOS game being built with the Unreal Engine development kit, I'm immediately interested. Such is the case with�The First Attempt from Turkish developer Wish Game Studio. They recently released a video of their upcoming game and, despite not having any idea what type of game it is, the video has piqued my curiosity.

Take a look for yourself at the video for The First Attempt, which shows some character renders, some vague story description, and some fly-throughs of a few of the levels:

Unfortunately, there is no other information about the game, and the developer's blog and Facebook page don't offer many clues either, though they do have additional screenshots if you're interested. My best guess is that The First Attempt will be some sort of first-person shooter, as the level designs appear to be laid out like a single-player campaign of a typical FPS. It's really anybody's guess, though, and there is plenty of speculation going on in our forums.

The video states that The First Attempt is set to launch sometime this month, and we'll bring you any new information on this title as we get it.

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Back in March Rovio Mobile released Angry Birds Rio, a version of their incredibly popular bird-themed physics game Angry Birds that tied into the also bird-themed movie Rio.

Normally movie tie-in games aren't very good, but we were pleasantly surprised with Angry Birds Rio in our review, even awarding the game 5 stars. More than just a Rio re-skin of the original game, it actually contained a few new elements and improvements that made it almost feel like a full-fledged sequel.

In following with Rovio's practice of adding plenty of new levels to the original Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons, they have released a trailer for the first update that is set to hit for Angry Birds Rio, subtitled "Beach Volleyball":

Rovio has stated on their Facebook page that this new update is set to hit sometime this week. If you've been enjoying Angry Birds Rio as much as we have, then keep your eyes peeled for an App Store update badge these next few days to check out the new Beach Volleyball levels.

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