Some time ago, I made a post on Twitter regarding the state of my iPhone Home screen. The 4th row is designated for evaluation of downloaded apps. A maximum of four apps are downloaded and evaluated for 30-days each. First up is IconFactory and DS Media Labs’ Ramp Champ. A new look at an old classic.

The Basics:
Gameplay: 3.5
Replay: 3.5
Sound: 4.5
Graphics: 5
Price: 5
Story: N/A
Overall: 4.3

The game is an updated and advanced version of that midway favorite – skeeball. Packaged with four ramps upon purchase, there are add-on packs of two ramps each. All ramps have a specific theme which include custom graphics, sounds, music and prizes. Point totals earn tickets which can then be redeemed for prizes ranging from squid plushies to Tron light cycles. Each ramp has three goals to strive for allowing you to fill your trophy case with the fruits of your labor.

At $1.99, you’d be hard pressed to find a more addicting game so rich in imagery and auditory immersion. I defy you to play just a single time. How could you, what with a giant PLAY AGAIN button looming over your blood-and-tears soaked tickets poking out below. You’ll garner more than trophies and tickets while you play. Indeed, callouses shall form on your most often used finger to shoot the ball up to victory. Hitting multiple targets with a single ball will have you fist-pumping the air as it fills with your maniacal laughter. Perhaps you just want to get ahold of that stuffed ninja plush valued at over 3000 tickets—sidle up to your favorite ramp and mindlessly play away. And who knows, you might score that gold trophy in the process. Ramp domination aren’t the only trophy earners either. No, no. There are individual “All Prizes” trophies and even, apparently, those earned under special circumstances (this ramp champion has no such special trophies).

Some memory issues plagued the first release of this game, but that was fixed by the developers in fast fashion, though Apple took an eternity to approve the update (where’s the Apple App Review rating system?). The physics can be a bit frustrating in their lack of consistency—making you lose your mind when all is going according to plan only to have your last ball not follow the same path you did 8 times previously. Additionally, hitting a target in the same spot/manner doesn’t necessarily equate to a similar reaction by that target. While I wouldn’t want the game to become easier, per se, it would be nice for results to match up to the action in a predictable manner. Ultimately, it is likely just an elaborate ploy to keep one playing. It’s working so far. I would also like to hear the ball rolling (perhaps even hitting targets) a bit more, but this is a personal aesthetic that doesn’t effect my rating. The game’s replay value is somewhat limited to the prizes available for ticket trade-in. If you’ve met all a given ramp’s goals, there really is no need to torture yourself attempting to get the max score possible. Upon finding a ramp that is high-scoring for you, racking up the tickets is enjoyable, but once you have all prizes, the motivation to play does lessen.

All that said, however, the game is 2 bucks with add-on packs for only a dolla! Spending 5 clams for a less robust game is the norm and Ramp Champ sits high in the category, in this reviewer’s opinion. Keep in mind that iTunes doesn’t have incremental star levels so this review was rounded to the nearest whole number for the store. This game is spectacular in the end and is so fun and easy to play, my 4-year-old asks to play it daily.