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Category: Games
Developer: Kieffer Bros
Requirements: iPhone 2.2.1 software or later
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
File Size: 6.7 MB
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Price: $1.99

Hyper Puck is a table hockey type game for the iPhone that offers an interesting twist. Instead of simply moving the paddle around to hit the puck, you operate a mini turret that is stationed inside of your goal. By tapping on the screen you shoot at the puck to move it instead of simply hitting it with your finger like most table hockey games. Furthermore, there are various special power ups that appear through the gameplay that you can get by shooting at before your opponent. These alter from burst shots to shields.

Hyper Puck has a refreshingly nice, custom interface. It is extremely easy to navigate and change the game settings before you begin, and it even offers very nice audio clips for actions such as saving a setting and changing other ones.  The colors and design go very well together and match with the idea of the app perfectly to create a sort of futuristic feel. This also feeds into the gameplay, where there is audio for shooting at the puck and different pucks and fields to choose from. You can tell the developer put a lot of time into the experience.

My experience with the game was very pleasant.  Through the three difficulty levels, the user can make the game as simple or challenging as he likes.  Also, it offered a nice twist on the usual table hockey gameplay that really made it fun to play. Who doesn’t like shooting at stuff with a tap of their finger? Yet, it makes it interesting in that if you shoot too often and fast, your gun can overheat and you must slow down until it returns to normal. In my opinion, this was a nice addition. Also, during my time with it I never experienced a crash or even a lag despite the graphics intensive gameplay so that’s impressive as well.

There is also the ability to play over wi-fi with another iPhone or iPod Touch that has the app installed. I found a friend and tested this out as well. One device hosts the match, and the other simply waits for her to create it and then joins it from a list on the screen. The host picks the settings and then the game begins. While it worked pretty well overall, I noticed that sometimes the shots of the opponent lagged behind due to the data being sent over wi-fi.

Overall this was one of the best games I’ve played on my iPhone so far. From the first screen to the end of the game it was a great experience. I had a lot of fun playing it and wasn’t bothered by the interface in the least.