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Novelty applications are very common on the iPhone, as many developers have created little $0.99 applications that do one thing. Many of them come from elements of our own history, such as using a wishing well to make wishes come true. However, some of them, such as an application that solely says “Dude” are more for entertainment. In this app review roundup, we will be looking at NESynth, Dude Deluxe, Ask Happy Buddha, and The Wishing Well; four small applications that don’t really do a lot.

NESynth

Developer: newforestar co., ltd
Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, iPhone OS 3.0 or later
File Size: 0.8MB
Price: $1.99
Appletell Rating: 4/5
App Store Link: NESynth

NESynth is an application that displays various types of keyboards for the user to play on and construct music with. You can either have one layer of keys on the screen or two, and you are able to alter the settings from playing high notes to low notes, and so on. It was made to simulate the 8 bit sounds of videos games in the past, and it does a good job at that, in an interesting way. The interface is also pretty well put together.

Although I didn’t have a chance to try it out, it also appears as if this app has a peer to peer bluetooth connectivity feature that can be used to play with your friends. It’s a simple application that does a simple thing pretty well, and I enjoyed playing with it.

Dude Deluxe

Developer: The App Company
Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later
File Size: 3.7MB
Price: $0.99
Appletell Rating: 2/5
App Store Link: Dude Deluxe

Dude Deluxe is an application that does one thing, and one thing only. It speaks the word “dude” whenever you push the big red button in the middle of the screen.  Each time it speaks it, however, it is with a different voice and style. Furthermore, the application allows you to e-mail a dude audio clip to friends or send it to friends to use as a ringtone. You can also set an alarm for when to say the word or use the bomb feature to give yourself ten seconds to play a joke on your friends.

While it was certainly interesting to see all the different ways one could say the word “dude,” I would not bother spending the money on this app, even at $0.99. You may be amused for 10 seconds, but then you just have one less dollar to spend on another app that could be way better.

Ask Happy Buddha

Developer: Front Pocket Media
Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, iPhone OS 3.0 or later
File Size: 2.6MB
Price: $0.99
Appletell Rating: 3/5
App Store Link: Ask Happy Buddha

Ask Happy Buddha is an application in which users first rub the stomach of a large buddha on the screen to make him laugh and raise his hands. During that, the user shakes the iPhone to receive advice from the man. The advice comes in the form of a yes or no, but it also offers interesting and random little clips of texts. While I wouldn’t use this to make any of my decisions, it is oddly entertaining to rub the belly and watch him giggle.

That’s about all this application does. If you are looking for a quick answer to yes or no questions with a little humor involved, then this app is for you. However, I can think of 99 better ways to spend my 99 cents.

The Wishing Well

Developer: Caleb Cahoon
Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch, iPhone OS 2.0 or later
File Size: 1.0MB
Price: $0.99
Appletell Rating: 1/5
App Store Link: The Wishing Well

The Wishing Well application is probably the most simple application on the store. It presents you with an image of a wishing well and a coin at the bottom of the screen. As the user, you tap on the coin and then watch it slowly fly into the wishing well and make a splashing noise. That’s it. There is nothing else to this app, and it is probably even more pointless than iFart and that whole category of applications.

Appletell’s Novelty App Winner

In the end, I would have to choose NESynth as the winner of this round up. While all of the applications were made to do one thing, I feel that NESynth was the most entertaining of these. The other three application I discussed didn’t do enough and had too few features to be worth purchasing. NESynth allows you to express a different sort of creativity and try out making your own music.