FingerGaming

StoneLoops! of Jurassica

StoneLoops! of Jurassica, one of the iPhone’s most popular puzzlers, has been removed from the App Store following a complaint from Luxor publisher MumboJumbo.

According to a blog post at Codeminion’s website, MumboJumbo accused the StoneLoops! developer of “infringing Luxor copyright, confusing customers, stealing Luxor’s look & feel and even stealing their source code.” Apple notified Codeminion of the complaint earlier this month.

Luxor

MumboJumbo also claimed that App Store customers searching for Luxor would instead find StoneLoops! listed among the search results, due to Codeminion including a review quote that cited a similarity between the two games.

Codeminion volunteered to remove the quote, and then heard no further response from Apple. On October 23rd, still with no reply or prior warning from Apple, StoneLoops! was removed from the App Store.

Atlantis Sky Patrol

Curiously, Codeminion notes that the decision was not Apple’s. According to the developer, Apple instead asked MumboJumbo whether Codeminion’s offer to remove the offending quote was a sufficient enough act to drop the complaint. Mumbo Jumbo persisted, and StoneLoops! was delisted. Similar titles like Tumblebugs, Blackbeard’s Assault, and Atlantis Sky Patrol are still available for sale.

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Tags: clone, codeminion, luxor, mumbojumbo, puzz loop, Puzzle, Removed Game, stoneloops, zuma

This week has been a momentous one for the iPhone, what with the release of the feature-rich iPhone OS 3.0 and the debut of the iPhone 3G S hardware.

Perhaps hoping that Apple would be too busy with managing this week’s events to notice, some clever scoundrels have attempted to slip a handful of shameless game clones into the App Store’s library.

No one was fooled.

First up is Blocks Drop, the product of a genius scientist from the year 2011 who invented a time machine and traveled to the distant past. The plan: 1) invent the falling block puzzler, 2) earn billions of dollars, 3) get a girlfriend. He only missed the mark by a couple of decades or so.

Developer Steven Mitchev finally figured out the key element lacking in tacky games like Arkanoid: class. Classy Bricks ditches the profanity and “your mom” jokes that laced Taito’s brick-breaking classic and adds tasteful Photoshop backgrounds, for a more refined experience.

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Tags: arkanoid, clone, joust, tetris

Now they’ve gone and done it. iPhone developers have cloned Duck Hunt. They’ve cloned the Game & Watch series. Now they go straight for my heart with the intent to deeply wound me by releasing an unofficial port of Moon Patrol, one of my favorite arcade games. The full version of Moon Rover will set you back $1.99, while the Free version released today lets you play the first five levels at no cost.

For what it is, Moon Rover is an incredibly detail-oriented clone. The colors are spot-on, and the sprites are instantly recognizable. It even fully duplicates the way the rover’s tires bounce across the rugged moon terrain, which is kind of awesome. What’s not so awesome is that the game is nowhere near as fun to play as the original Moon Patrol. There’s a distinct lack of challenge here, and while the basic mechanics are in place (floaty jumps included), the game loses a lot of its intensity when there’s no time limit and you’re unable to control the speed of your rover.

Still, it’s Moon Patrol! And the free version is still worth a look regardless of its mediocre execution, as it’s likely to be the only way you’ll ever be able to play Moon Patrol on your iPhone, given that its original developer Irem has shown no interest in the platform so far. Get it now, before the inevitable cease-and-desist arrives.

Tags: Action, arcade, clone, moon rover

Joining Flying Rider and Tris, Rockfall ($1.99) is the next game whose developer was threatened by the developers of the game they cloned, which would be Boulder Dash. As a result, Rockfall will be removed from the App Store. The developer of Rockfall, Pyrofer, posted in his blog about what happened.

First Star Software have demanded that I cease all distribution of Rockfall. They have not stated exactly how my game is infringing their copyrights, and what I would need to change to avoid infringement. They insist they are legally obliged to behave in this way. It seems an unreasonable request to remove the game totally without knowing which elements are at fault. However to avoid any costly legal action I will respect their request and remove the game from iTunes.

This isn’t very surprising considering that First Star Software plans to bring Boulder Dash Rocks to the iPhone (see press release). Meanwhile, once Rockfall is removed, you can still grab Digga ($2.99) until First Star Software releases their Boulder Dash game.

Tags: boulder dash, clone, Removed Game, rockfall