There are a lot of pixel art platformers on the App Store. The hard part if finding the good ones. Too many are shallow imitations of classics like Super Mario Bros. that lack their own personality and challenges. Le Parker – Sous Chef Extraordinaire by Play Pretend is different. There are superficial similarities to the classics, like the save-the-princess storyline, but Le Parker brings together bright, colorful pixel art, fun sound effects, a great soundtrack, and challenging gameplay in a way that puts it head and shoulders above other App Store platformers.

The storyline is simple. You are Le Parker, a chef and the creator of a meringue so light it floats on air. Only the princess has the recipe until one day, the king and his men capture her and banish you from the kingdom. Your goal is to save the princess and recover your magical meringue.

The controls of Le Parker are simple. You run forward and back by dragging a finger left and right across a button in the lower, left-hand corner of the screen. In the opposite corner is an ‘A’ button for jumping. Single tap for one jump and double tap to double jump. How high you jump depends on how long you press the ‘A’ button.

Along your journey, there are macaroons to collect instead of coins. Every 100 macaroons you collect gives you an extra life, which you’ll need. There are also special items scattered throughout the level, including chef hats that give you an extra life and hidden kitchen utensils. Enemies roam Le Parker’s world inflicting damage that can be healed by finding hearts.

I’ve played many iOS games that look better than they play. What’s special about Le Parker is that there’s substance behind the polished artwork. Each of the 32 levels is deep and designed to keep you coming back to find hidden collectibles or beat the clock with Time Attack challenges. That said, this game is also great to look at. It’s colorful, detailed, and creates a real sense of continuity and presence in Le Parker’s world. Add to that a soundtrack with over twenty songs and the result is a delightful and engaging experience.

Le Parker is a universal app that works equally well on iPhones and iPads, though the iPad’s larger screen helps bring the game to life. Unlike many games, Le Parker syncs your progress among multiple devices. Le Parker also supports the Apple TV. I have found precious few games that are worth playing on the Apple TV, but Le Parker stands out from the crowd. The levels look great on a big screen, but the clincher is that if you have a third-party controller, the controls work better than most games. Mashing a physical ‘A’ button and controlling Le Parker with a thumbstick makes the game feel more like a classic platformer than touchscreen buttons ever could.

If you’re a fan of platform games and especially if you want a challenging game that looks and sounds great, give Le Parker a try this weekend.

Le Parker – Sous Chef Extraordinaire is available on the App Store for $2.99.

Apollo Justice Ace Attorney was originally released in 2007 by Capcom for the Nintendo DS in Japan. This week, it debuted on iOS, remastered to take advantage of the iPhone’s and iPad’s touchscreens.

Apollo Justice is the fourth game in the Ace Attorney series. In the earlier games, which are available as a single iOS app, you play as attorney Phoenix Wright, but in Apollo Justice, Wright has been disbarred and accused of murder. Your job as Apollo Justice is to defend Wright at his trial.

This is not your typical courtroom drama. The storyline and flamboyant characters are bit bizarre. Consider this Capcom description of Apollo Justice’s nemesis for instance:

Facing Apollo across the courtroom is the highly talented and flamboyant prosecutor Klavier Gavin who, in addition to being a legal genius, is also lead singer with Gavinners, a highly successful rock band with a string of hits to their name.

As odd as the backstory is at times, it’s a quirkiness that works, adding a level of humor and intrigue that held my interest.

The story of the murder plays out in and out of the courtroom as you tap through the dialogue among the characters. At numerous points during the trial, you have the opportunity to press witnesses for additional information. Along the way, evidence is also gathered that you can examine. When you discover a contradiction between the testimony and evidence, you present it to the judge who decides whether you have advanced your client’s case.

This isn’t a realistic courtroom simulation game and the story is better for it. Instead, the trial is the conceit for exploring a mystery. You’re challenged to think and examine details in a sort of interactive mystery novel. It’s a format that you can play through in a leisurely, self-paced way that I enjoyed.

I didn’t play the original Apollo Justice on the Nintendo DS. This is my first encounter with the game and the Phoenix Wright series. Comparing the iOS version to screenshots of the original, Capcom has done a great job updating Apollo for iOS, which should make the game a no-brainer for fans of the original series. But even if you are new to the franchise as I was, Apollo is worth a try at just $0.99 for the first half of episode 1 if you enjoy mysteries and puzzle-solving.

The first half of episode 1 of Apollo Justice is available on the App Store for $0.99. That’s more game for your dollar than it sounds like and plenty to determine if you want to play through the rest of episode 1 and episodes 2-4. The remainder of episode 1 is $1.99 and episodes 2-4 are $4.99 each, or you can buy everything for $14.99.

Part 80s arcade game, part rogue-style dungeon crawler, and part pinball, Treasure Buster is a strange combination of game genres that work surprisingly well together. The result is an entertaining game that’s hard to put down.

You play as one of six heroes who must defeat a series of enemies. Each hero has different traits that affect their performance in battle. When you enter a room in a dungeon, you start a battle by pulling back with a swipe on the screen Angry Birds-style to launch yourself at your enemies. When you let go, you bounce around like a pinball slamming into enemies and obstacles, shaking loose treasure from your foes, and collecting the loot.

Periodically, the enemies will stage their own attack, which causes damage to your hero. Clear a room of enemies and you can move to the next part of the dungeon to face new challenges and the occasional boss. Treasure you collect can be traded for new abilities, helping you survive the more difficult later stages. The game ends when you run out of health.

Treasure Buster has two modes of play – Arcade and Endless. In Arcade
mode you move around a map exploring each room of the dungeon. Endless mode eliminates exploration of the map, moving you from one room to another automatically and setting the difficulty level based on a coin flip. Of the two modes, I prefer Arcade where I feel more in control of the part of the game I try next.

The art of Treasure Buster has a retro-pixel style reminiscent of old arcade games. There is a lot of attention to detail at each stage of the game, including a wide variety of enemies, treasure and other elements that keeps the game entertaining.

Treasure Buster is Universal and equally playable on an iPhone or iPad. The mechanics are simple enough to play one-handed on an iPhone and the game is enjoyable in short bursts, though I’ve found it hard to play just one round. If you play Treasure Buster long enough, it can start to feel a little repetitive given the simplicity of the mechanics, but as a way to kill time and take short breaks from something else, Treasure Buster is a good choice.

Treasure Buster is available on the App Store for $0.99.