It's no secret that we're big fans of John Kooistra. He's the developer behind Blue Attack!, a highly recommend $1.99 iPhone shooter.

Blue Defense! [App Store, $0.99], however, was the title that started John's journey into iPhone gaming development. When we discovered the game in November, we were pleasantly surprised by the simple but effective mechanics of the game:

John Kooistra’s Blue Defense! is a $0.99 iPhone shooter with relatively simple graphics and no sound. The controls of the game, however, are remarkably well suited to the platform and already feels like a “classic” iPhone game.

A just-released 2.0 version adds a number of nice touches which makes the game a more complete experience and also adds a significant amount of replay value.

First, music and sound effects have been added. We tend to be sticklers about the inclusion of music and sound, but we forgave the initial release due to its low price point. But that's no longer an issue.

A more notable inclusion to the game, however, is the addition of a level select with individual level stats and medals. For some, one issue with the original game was that it played like a traditional arcade game. You start on level 1 and played until you died. To play again, you start again at level 1. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this traditional setup, it can take a much longer to get enough practice to advance your skills. The new level select, however, allows you to keep going back to the same level until you perfect it. If one level's too hard, you can just skip to the next one. Individual stats are kept, so you can take your time to defeat them all. Of course, the traditional arcade mode is retained as well as an "expert" quick-start that lets you start at a higher difficulty.

This gameplay video is from the original 1.0 release, so it does not demonstrate the new sound or music, but does give you an idea of the gameplay:

At $0.99, this game has always been a great value, but with the new additions, it's certainly a "must get" if you have any interest in the genre.

App Store Link: Blue Defense!, $0.99

SlidetoPlay posted a high definition video of some of the gameplay from EA's Need for Speed which has seen a few delays since it's initial target announcement.

[ full HD version | low bandwidth video ]

Few other details are provided. The gameplay video was shot during the "Sneak Peek" events that EA held at Apple Stores in December of last year. Given the rumors of a $19.99 premium game section, many are speculating that EA's Need for Speed could be one of these higher priced titles.

EA's Craig Law recently had some hands on time with the latest build and described is 'sick'.

Imangi Studios, who brought us iPhone word puzzle games Imangi and Word Squares, is currently working on a 3D downhill sledding game called Little Red Sled.

Let's celebrate the winter, the way it was always supposed to be. The sun is shining in the shimmering blue sky. The snow is dazzling on the ground. Giant deranged bunnies are roaming the mountains. Every day is a snow day. And you just got your very first Little Red Sled

The game features:

• Jumps and air spins
• Realistic physics simulation
• Original Soundtrack
• Unlockable levels
• Power-ups
• And most importantly... deranged bunnies!

The developers tell us that the Little Red Sled is presently in the final stages of development and that it will be submitted to the App Store sometime in the next few weeks.

See a gameplay video that Imangi provided us of the game in its current state.

Stay tuned for a closer look when Little Red Sled makes its App Store debut.

Imangi is active on Twitter.  Main: @imangi, Devs: @nattylux, @kshepherd

Pachinko, for those unfamiliar, is a Japanese gaming device somewhat akin to a vertical pinball machine.  The machines are typically found in "pachinko parlors" featuring large numbers of the devices.

As Wikipedia describes the game,

Players can buy metal balls by inserting either cash, a pre-paid card, or their member's card directly into the machine they want to use. For 1000 yen, 250 balls can be bought (4 yen per ball). These balls are then shot into the machine from a ball tray with the purpose of attempting to win more balls. The pachinko machine has a digital slot machine on a large screen in the center of its layout, and the objective here is to get 3 numbers or symbols in a row for a jackpot.

Originally, pachinko machines had a spring-loaded lever for shooting the balls individually, but modern machines use a round "throttle" that merely controls how quickly an electrically fired plunger shoots the balls onto the playfield. The balls then drop through an array of pins. While most balls simply fall through to the bottom of the pachinko layout, occasionally some will fall into the center gate and start up the digital slot machine in the center screen.

On-Core has just released an iPhone adaptation of this classic combination of pinball and slots. Pachinko [App Store] for the iPhone and iPod touch emulates the original, levered mechanical machines of the 70s.  The on-screen launch lever is touch controlled and determines the force with which the ball is fired into the pegged play area.  The game features settings for the starting number of balls, jackpots, and number of balls required to win the game.

Pachinko is an interesting game to play (in a parlor or on the iPhone) and likely a new experience to most of our readers.  Having spent hours and hours on an actual, upright pachinko machine I was given as a kid, I can say that On-Core's release provides a faithful rendition of the physical game on the iPhone screen.

See the developer's gameplay video for a look at the game in action.

App Store Link: Pachinko, $0.99

It turns out there are two new towers in the Fieldrunners 1.2 update that has been submitted to the App Store. The developer announced these to include:

• Mortar tower. With a destructive payload & explosive force the mortar tower obliterates enemies in a single devastating attack.
• Flame tower. The flame tower is capable of incinerating multiple fieldrunners in a single fiery swoop

The screenshot above shows both towers (one flame, two mortar) in action along with both an exploding mortar and one that is in mid-flight. Both towers are available in an "extended" mode while the classic 4 tower mode remains.

As we've previously reported, the new version also contains a new map (Drylands) and fieldrunner (the P-47 Thunderbolt airplane).

The 1.2 version of Fieldrunners has been submitted to the App Store and a release is expected in a matter of days.

App Store Link: Fieldrunners 1.1, $4.99 (free 1.2 update not yet available)

TouchGrove is giving away LED Football [App Store] for free this weekend in celebration of the Super Bowl.

Here at touchGrove we want to make this the BEST SUPER BOWL SUNDAY ever! That's why we are giving away LED Football *FREE* for 48 hours, starting Friday, 1/30/09 12:00 PST. LED Football will be FREE in the App Store for 48 hours. With all the the original bleeps, blips and blops.

The game was originally sold at $0.99 and provides a detailed simulation of the 1970's handheld electronic game. TouchGrove has followed the title up with LED Football 2 [App Store].

App Store Link: LED Football, Free for 48 hours

I'm not sure what possessed Wasted Pixel to work on and release a Match-3 game into the App Store... because if they'd have asked me before hand, I would have told them to forget about it.

Well, it's good they didn't ask me, because Gemmed! [App Store] is a very fun and refreshing take on genre, and here's the reason why: The goal of the game is not to match-3.

The goal of this game is to get each colored monster on the board to their respective exits. Monsters act in one predictable behavior: they will eat adjacent gems of their own color, and by doing so, they move one step closer to their exit. Your job is to manipulate the gems around each monster in order to lead them to their exit. You accomplish this, of course, through Match-3.

The distinction may sound subtle but for me it was the difference between actually playing a game vs. just killing some time. The game also adds special power-ups and good and bad monsters which help/hinder your progress. The goal itself gets far more difficult as they add more monsters at opposite ends of the board. Meanwhile, the position of the exits also make a huge impact on your gameplay options (near the bottom of the screen is much harder).

While we've included the developer's gameplay video below, I highly recommend just downloading the Lite version [App Store] and giving it a spin. The Lite version is a very good representation of the full game with a sampling of levels. It skips from level 1 to level 5 to level 10 and so on. This gives you a chance to explore the harder levels.

My main criticism of the full version is the pacing of the game. The difficulty ramps rather slowly, so you will find a single game lasting you 20-30 levels. Of course, you can easily stop and resume at any time, but I'd enjoy being able to start at a higher difficulty.

The full version of the game has just gone on sale to $0.99 until February 1st. Normal price is $2.99.

App Store Links: Gemmed! Lite, Free and Gemmed!, $0.99 (On sale until Feb 1st)

Imangi Studios has recently released a Free Lite version [App Store] of their word puzzle game Word Squares.

Word Squares is a game that should appeal to Crossword puzzle fans. The game presents you with a grid of letters where each row and column form a valid word. Your job is to simply unscramble the words by dragging and dropping the letters into place. A few letters are given to you in their proper position to help you get started.

The Lite version offers 25 hand puzzles while the full version offers over 1000 and is only $0.99.

This developer video shows how the game is played:

App Store Link: World Squares, $0.99

Steve Palley at Slide to Play was able to get additional confirmation that Apple is indeed planning a "premium game" category as reported earlier today.

According to an unnamed publisher representative, Apple is prepping its major parters to produce "PSP-quality" games for the new $19.99 category.

When we asked what Apple meant by "PSP-quality," our source indicated that premium games are likely to have much larger file sizes than most of the games we've been seeing; Apple also wants the section to attract prominent franchises that publishers have been reluctant to bring to the platform thus far.

By being open only to select publishers, the new section would highlight so-called "premium" titles and intellectual property that might otherwise find it hard to gain footing against the volume of inexpensive titles in the App Store.

The possibility has generated a lively 140+ comment thread in our forums. The general consensus from customers seems that many will be willing to pay $19.99 but these premium games will have to be proportionally better/longer than many of the existing titles in the App Store. Some indie developers, however, are concerned about the exclusivity of these arrangements that will put them at a disadvantage in the App Store.

By raising the possible revenue of App Store titles, it should theoretically allow developers to invest more into iPhone gaming development. id Software's John Carmack referenced this reality back in July as the App Store was launching.

“The iPhone, as a device, is in the same generation power-wise as the PS2 or Xbox,” he says. “The graphics are a little lower but the RAM is a lot higher. … You could easily spend $10 million on an iPhone game, but the market just can’t support that yet.”

PocketGamer.biz claims that Apple will be opening a premium $19.99 games section in the App Store. This new section, however, would be limited to a number of "large publishers".

There are no details on timescale, although Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), traditionally held in June, may be one likely launch date. However, it could be announced at a separate games-focused event.

The move would combat the natural trend to lower priced apps in the highly competitive App Store market.

It's in Apple's best interest, of course, to be able to sustain these higher priced Apps.

Subatomic Studios announced that they have submitted version 1.2 of Fieldrunners [App Store, $4.99] to the App Store and should be available in the next few days. The update offers a number of new features, including a new Map, Tower and Fieldrunner.

The changes are detailed here:

• Flame tower. The flame tower is capable of incinerating multiple fieldrunners in a single fiery swoop.
• Sell without penalty. A tower that is both purchased and sold while the game is paused will not incur a score or price penalty.
• Faster load times. The time required to start a new game or resume a previously saved game has been significantally reduced.
• Updated game icon. The game icon has been changed to reflect the color palette of the new map.
• Improved lightning visuals. The lightning bolt discharged by the tesla tower now emits light and animates more realistically.
• New map in v1.2: Drylands. With multiple paths snaking thru the dried-out canyon riverbed, it gives the fieldrunners ample chance to escape.
• New Fieldrunner in v1.2: the P-47 Thunderbolt. These blazing fast planes tear through the sky over the fields at an incredible speed.
• Autosave. The autosave feature saves your progress every round to protect you against crashes or freezes.

Fieldrunners is one of the most popular Tower Defense games on the iPhone and was named amongst Time Magazine's Top 10 games of 2008.

App Store Link: Fieldrunners, $4.99 (version 1.2 will be free update when released)

Paramount Digital Entertainment has reduced the price of iPhone flying shooter Iron Man: Aerial Assault [App Store].  The game has dropped from $4.99 to $0.99 for a limited time.

We took a look at Iron Man: Aerial Assault back in mid-December.

Iron Man: Aerial Assault is an on-rails shooter that is more or less a modern take on the 1985 Sega arcade classic Space Harrier. Equipped with a variety of weapons, the player guides the accelerometer-controlled Iron Man through wave after wave of enemies and bosses of increasing complexity. The goal? Destroy everything and remain intact. (Where have we heard that before?)

While it's true that Iron Man for the iPhone is a rather more limited outing as compared to the PSP version, it nonetheless offers solid 3D shooter action.

[ full HD version | low bandwidth video ]

App Store Link: Iron Man: Aerial Assault, $0.99

In December, we previewed a game from Japanese developer Izumi Studio which demonstrated an alternative method for control for a shoot-'em-up that offset your finger into an otherwise unused area. Versions of this control method exist in other games games such as 2079 and Centipede but not really in what we'd call a traditional scrolling shooter.

The game which has now been released in the U.S. market and is called Internal Force [App Store] and is available for free. It does offer a fun but very challenging game comprised of multiple battles with individual "boss"-type enemies. In the meanwhile, you need to dodge a multitude of enemy fire.

The game offers three types of control: "Flick", "Gamepad", and "Accelerometer". "Flick" (the default) is the one to use and is demonstrated in this video.

The use of an "off" screen area allows you to not obscure your ship while you try to dodge enemy fire. The game works pretty well and the flick control allows some precise movements. The gameplay area, however, is noticeably small. As a free game, however, it's certainly worth a try.

App Store Link: Internal Force, Free

The Grand Theft Auto series, which was originally released for the Playstation and PC back in 1997, is one of the most popular action / role-playing franchises of all time.  Along with the console and PC releases, Gameboy and PSP versions of the game have given mobile gamers the opportunity to carjack and pillage on the go (with a Nintendo DS release set to debut in March).  And, while we haven't heard that Rockstar Games has plans to bring GTA to Apple's mobile platform, tonight mobile gamers are getting the next best thing.

Or perhaps...a better thing?

Apex Designs has just (re)released Payback [App Store] for the iPhone and iPod touch.  And in the original author's words, "every effort has been made to ensure that Payback beats GTA in every way."

Payback started life as an Amiga clone of Grand Theft Auto [info].  Apex Designs brought an enhanced version of the game to the Macintosh, Gameboy Advance, and GP2X.  Early this month, the developer informed us that the iPhone version was near release.

Payback features dozens of vehicles and 11 cities to explore.  The player starts off each city on-foot and must get to a payphone to receive mission details.  At first, the player's only weapons are his fists, but crates scattered about the cities contain shotguns, grenades and other weapons that aid significantly in wreaking various flavors of havoc upon the cities' inhabitants.

Each level requires a certain number of accumulated points to complete.  Points are gained by completing mission milestones, running down civilians, and generally causing mayhem.  The more mayhem the player causes, the more of a target he / she becomes to local law enforcement.  A particular challenge of the game is the short timeframe given to complete certain missions.  Admittedly, I've spent only a short time with the title, but some of the allotted mission times would seem to require back-of-the-hand familiarity with a given city.

The game features accelerometer control for left / right movement and touchscreen control for forward / backward movement as well as fire and enter / exit vehicle controls.  Having played the joystick-based GP2X version, I can say that the control system of Payback for the iPhone compares quite favorably.  It works well and is not in the way.

Payback offers three modes of play: Story, Rampage and Challenge.  Story mode places the player in the role of a criminal seeking to amass as much money as possible in moving from city to city.  Challenge mode offers all of the cities of Story mode plus a variety of smaller arenas--more of a pick-up game scenario.  Rampage mode has no requisite score to move from level to level, it's just about getting the most points possible.

Payback for earlier mobile units won kudos for its relatively complex software 3D rendering engine that pushed the limits of both the Gameboy Advance and the GP2X (neither of which feature 3D graphics hardware).  The iPhone version appears to include an enhanced version of the GP2X engine with HDR (high dynamic range) rendering and impressive lighting and shadowing. Not surprisingly, the iPhone version runs at a notably higher framerate than the GP2X outing.  Interestingly, it appears that Payback's 3D engine for the iPhone version is not implemented in hardware-assisted OpenGL ES, but utilizes a software-based engine like the GP2X version before it.  Is this a big deal?  Not really, though true, perspective-correct texture mapping done in hardware would have given the game a bit more graphical polish.

Moving through the game's various cities, tossing grenades at oncoming vehicles and pedestrians, carjacking fast rides, and gunning down rival gangs makes for rather engrossing gameplay.  Payback is a fast-paced game and the never-distant sound of police sirens add to the overall pacing and urgency.  For fans of the genre, it's fun, solid action.

Having played both the GBA and GP2X versions of the game, I can say that the iPhone version of Payback is easily the best yet.  It does a solid job of delivering the essence of the experience that is Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto II to the iPhone platform.  Fans of the series will find that Payback hits close enough to home to be of particular interest.

Have a look at our gameplay video to get a feel for the action and the various levels.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

The developer has also posted a video on YouTube showing additional action including some tank warfare.

Commodore 64 Version

React! Games announced yesterday that they will be delivering Archon to the iPhone in the second quarter of 2009. Yes... that Archon.

React! Games managed to wrangle a license deal with Free Fall Games who created the original Archon game in 1983. It was a huge hit at the time and found itself ported to the Commodore 64, Apple II, Macintosh, IBM PC and many more platforms.

The gameplay of Archon resembles Chess, but with a few notable differences:

While the board is similar to a chessboard and the various pieces are similarly designed to have various offsetting abilities, when one piece attempts to take another the removal of the targeted piece is not automatic. Instead, the two pieces are placed into a full-screen 'combat arena' and must battle (action-style, with the players running the pieces) to determine who takes the square.

Chad Lee, founder of React! Games, says of the iPhone version, “We’re very excited for this platform, it’s ease of development and user base. Initial tests confirm that the touchscreen and accelerometer will be a fun and interesting experience for everyone.”

Other features confirmed for the iPhone version include:

• Multi-player Wi-fi
• Worldwide leaderboard
• 3 AI Settings
• an additional surprise game mode for 1 player only

Only the following promotional shot was provided at this early stage. Stay tuned. Ongoing information about the game should be available at ArchonClassic.com.

For those unfamiliar, a video of the Commodore 64 version is available here.