Dragon Island

via Dragon Island's facebook

Pokemon fans, you're wait for a decent monster raising game on the iPhone might be over soon. Self described by the developers as a "full scale Pokemon like game" Dragon Island is landing in the App Store thissoon (this August!).

Having played the game (and still doing so), I can tell you it's addictive. The game features an impressive 200+ monster that's beautifully rendered and will make you want catch 'em all (can I legally say that?). Most of the game play involves leveling up - to discover new monsters - but also doing quests. Quests involve finding NPCs and fighting them or plain fighting high leveled monsters themselves. The battle system is swift and sophisticated.

However the game is not without flaw. Graphics lack consistency. The design of the map for example, is not the same as the monsters  There's also no music and monsters do not learn techniques as they level up. Unlike Pokemon, this game is also "loose". You can end up wondering places with high leveled monsters - at least there's no penalties for constantly dying. The many features (soul stones, user stat points, currencies) in the game can be easily ignored and are poorly explained. Tutorials are simply illustrations sans text.

Still this game is easily going to be one of the best Pokemon alternative on the iPhone. Arguably the biggest component (and effort) of a monster raising game, Dragon Island contains a large roster of monsters. If you can ignore so-so graphics, this game will provide days upon days of entertainment.

Check out Dragon Island's Facebook to stay updated.

Game c/o by greyhoundgames