Fred Topel has been an entertainment journalist since 1999 writing about film, television and games for websites like About.com, Daily Radar, Sci Fi Wire/Blastr, Canmag, E! Online and currently Crave Online, Fanhattan, Starpulse and Arcade Sushi. He has owned Coleco Vision, Atari 2600, NES, PC, Sega Genesis, N64, Sega Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, PS3, Nintendo DS, PSP, Android and now iPhone and iPad. Teachers used to complain he played too many video games. Now who's bad!
Fred Topel
Heads Up! Hot Dogs Review
Finally, someone made a game about dropping hot dogs on people’s heads, because, why wouldn’t you drop hot dogs on people’s heads? I have been waiting so long to be able to drop hot dogs on people’s heads, all this pent up hot dog dropping rage can finally be unleashed in the weirdest game of this week.
SpinCraft Review
3D platform games have always been problematic for me. I was cool with Tomb Raider on PC because I could just tap the arrow keys to incrementally inch along the cliffs. When Nintendo 64 came out with their sensitive analog stick, I just couldn’t make it through Super Mario 64 without accidentally wandering off every ledge. Now they make these for tiny little cell phone screens, so imagine the sens
Arc Squadron Review
When it comes to flight games, I prefer a third person game to a cockpit view. Maybe it goes back to the days of playing After Burner in the sit down sensoramic arcade machine, but it’s continued through console games like Heroes Over Europe. Even back on the PC, the X-Wing/Tie Fighter games (or Wing Commander), felt mechanical to me, like the cockpit was right but I didn’t feel the thrill. From t
Wreck-It Ralph Review
A movie about video games obviously has to have its own video game tie-in. Disney has launched Wreck-It Ralph games on all platforms reflecting different aspects of the movie. The movie stars John C. Reilly as the voice of Ralph, a video game villain who tries to become a hero in other video games, but causes more trouble doing so. What happens when Ralph invades your iOS device? Let’s find out.
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Zombiewood Review
Whenever a video game incorporates movies, we’re usually pretty forgiving about the filmmaking process. We want to play a good game, so it shouldn’t be an accurate representation of waiting for lights to be set up between takes. So a game about making movies during a zombie apocalypse isn’t in itself a bad idea, but Zombiewood may not make the best use of its awesome premise.
Hairy Tales Review
If iOS games have taught us anything, it’s that nothing is simple. A game that starts out as a few taps and swipes can gradually become a maddening form of torture that gets under your skin and messes with you from the inside. Gee, what could prompt me to be so graphic in my frustration with a handheld game? You’ll have to read on.
He-Man: The Most Powerful Game In The Universe Review
For those of you who don’t know, He-Man is a character played by Dolph Lundgren in the classic movie Masters of the Universe. Before that he was an animated character in the weekday afternoon Masters of the Universe cartoon. Before that he was a toy in a collection of action figures of which I had every single one, thanks to my parents standing in lines at toy stores. 30 years later, how does his
Opinion: Hey Nintendo, Put Your Games On IOS Already
One of the great joys of iOS gaming is getting to play all of our old favorite games again. Archives of classic games from Atari, Namco, Midway, Sega’s Genesis and more are available for download in the App Store, for reasonable prices. There’s just one set of classic games notably absent, and there’s no sign of this company changing their mind about iOS.
Sonic Jump Review
I’m morally opposed to a vertical Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog was a classic side-scroller, ruled by speed, not height. What does jumping have to do with sonic speed? Let's find out.
Carmageddon Review
Carmageddon for PCs came out around the same time as the original Grand Theft Auto, the bird’s eye view version, remember that? I ended up playing Carmageddon more, not because it was a better game, but it was a little more addictive once you get behind the wheel running over pedestrians and smashing into your competition. Is the newly released iOS game just as addicting?