Battleheart

iOS devices (2/7)
$2.99 (price drops occasionally to $1)

Battleheart has an undeniable charm about it.  While there is literally no story, you guide 4 characters (out of a dozen) through various stages until a final showdown with the face of evil.  Simple in style yet surprisingly deeper then one would expect, Battleheart had me draining my iPhone battery consistently.  Aside from the instantly likeable sprites, the game has surprising amounts of detail to abilities and animations.  I was amazed at the variety of enemies and different powers each party member possessed and enjoyed level grinding just to unlock new ones.  This is also another area that Battleheart excels in that it incorporates it's RPG elements very smoothly.  Each character starts at a low level but every 4-5 levels gained, they are granted a new ability.  Some may be passive, while others are activated by pushing the character and an icon appearing in the upper-left corner of the screen.  Finding party members that compliment eachother is a very rewarding experience and I found myself needing to switch out my knight because he didn't mesh well with others playstyles. 

This isn't to say that there aren't issues with the game, but they are more irritating then problematic.  One nuisance I have is the imprecise way to control each character and their powers.  You must first tap a character to bring up their powers and sometimes you must direct powers (especially projectiles) towards specific enemies.  I often found myself controlling the wrong character or healing the wrong person due to a lack of accuracy.  However, this didn't occur frequently and I didn't feel like it took too much away from my overall experience, but felt the need to address it.  Perhaps they'll release a patch with an alternate control scheme for those with big fingers?

FINAL GRADE: A-

What more could you really want from an iOS title?  Great graphics, a decent variety of characters and enemies, and a great system incorporating RPG elements.  Even after beating the final boss players are welcomed to test new characters out and continue searching for better weapons and gear.