Happy New Year everyone! the news crew is back from our break, Now do you remember when you asked mom for her phone so you can play some games that you downloaded on them Well I know I have, so i’m gonna talk about not just some of the more popular games but also some of the more obscure ones that only a small amount of people have played So let’s get started!

For now let’s just talk about the three grand-daddys of classic mobile games, The first of which being…

Temple Run: The gameplay is pretty self-explanatory: you swipe left and right to turn, swipe up to jump, and swipe down to slide under things. You have to do these actions to avoid getting eaten alive by these demon monsters which somehow sound like monkeys, but hey I’m all for any kind of monkeys in a game on a device that i can fit in my pocket. You also need to tilt your device to collect coins, you use them to upgrade your power ups or unlock new characters, speaking of which the characters are a little generic Especially Guy Dangerous (the character that you first start off with) However the game did received enough popularity to gain a sequel and a handful of movie tie-ins. The second game is actually the first one but on steroids, It features new characters, new mechanics and new worlds to explore, And not to mention Temple run went on to pioneer the runner mobile game genre, and it inspired many  games such as Subway Surfers, and Minion Rush. (Has anyone besides my friends ever played minion rush before?)

Next up we have Angry Birds: The gameplay is pretty simple, you fling your birds at the many structures the pigs have made, Each bird has their own unique power: The Blues (Jay Jake and Jim) start off as one bird but when they’re flung they split into three of the same bird for mass destruction, they’re very effective against glass blocks, Chuck, (The Yellow bird that’s shaped like an upside-down dorito) speeds up his flight for mass destruction, he’s very effective against wood blocks, Bomb (The Black Bird that’s actually shaped like a bomb) Simply blows himself up, Matilda (The White Bird with a mother-esque personality) drops an explosive egg, Hal (The green toucan) changes his entire direction right on the fly, Terrance (The Humongous Red Bird) uses his strength and momentum to plow through everything, and that was just the birds that appeared in the classic version. I would name all of the birds and their abilities but that would carry on for too long, so let’s talk about the Cinematic Trailer for the original game

Surprisingly the game actually has a story: According to the cinematic trailer, the birds are actually guarding the eggs from anyone and anything, not even insects could survive the wrath of those birds. The pigs were apparently sick and tired of eating grass and wanted some variety so they went and stole the eggs from the birds while they’re checking to see if they killed the mosquito. And when they saw that the eggs were stolen by the pigs, Apparently they go into they’re limit and Bomb blows up the pigs. That was it for the cinematic trailer for this game, however it did go on to receive many spin-offs, a long awaited sequel, and three movie tie-ins. Rio, Star Wars, And Transformers respectively.

Now Let’s talk about a more obscure mobile game, Jetpack Joyride: this game revolves around a man named Barry Steakfries, who somehow steals a “Machine Gun Jetpack” from a lab and goes all ham on the scientists who were just trying to get money to pay for their family, Yes it sounds gruesome but thankfully you don’t see any blood and/or gore so it gets a pass. Anyways you use this jetpack to not only gain some height and collect coins but also avoid obstacles such as zappers, lasers, and missiles and You use those coins to buy cosmetics, upgrades and gadgets, most of these gadgets are really helpful for example the Ezy Dodge Missiles not only makes them blue but they’ll also travel slower so that you have more time to dodge them, and the X-Ray Specs allows you to see what power up you’re gonna get and also see through any of the scientist’s lab coats weird but funny at the same time it also makes you look stylish that is according to its description. Speaking of power ups, let's talk about some of them…

Mr. Cuddles is a fire-breathing mecha dragon that can plow through any scientist that comes near and burn them to a crisp.

The Bad as Hog Is literally just a motorcycle but it gives Barry a cool leather jacket and a shotgun for you to shoot at the scientists. Truly an item that can make any terminator fan jump out of their seat in excitement.

And finally the coolest power up of them all The Strong Arm Machine…

Also known as S.A.M for short this power up requires you to collect the three puzzle pieces that make up it’s initials, Once you collect all three of them it’ll assemble itself and then the music changes to dubstep while you use it’s one arm to deflect missiles that will be careening towards you at all times. It takes three missiles to destroy it instead of a measly one for all the other power ups. However you can only use it once per day but you do get a reward from it once you end your run but hey that’s one plus about it. Anyways this game would also gain a sequel, and Barry would later appear in games such as Monster Dash and Dan The Man. The game was developed by Halfbrick Studios, the same company that made Fruit Ninja.

Anyways that’s all for me today. I hope you enjoyed it and I’ll see you all next time.

PS: You have probably noticed something different about my avatar, I decided to dip parts of his hair blue, and I also gave him a necklace. (If you're wondering, yes the necklace he's wearing is actually magical) Anyways this is going to be my avatar's new look for this year, I will make a full body reference eventually. I hope you like it and I'll see you next time!