Game developer Rake in Grass has just released Archibald's Adventures Lite [App Store], a free 32-level version of the full, 114-level paid game.

In Archibald’s Adventures, the player controls Archibald, a boy on a skateboard.  Soon, he trades up to a robotic vehicle that can climb along walls and ceilings, and ultimately ends up with a flying jet-powered craft.  He can also summon a floating bubble and send it to do his bidding (transporting objects, pressing remote buttons, etc.).

We took a look at the full version of Archibald's Adventures [$7.99, App Store] last week and found it to be a challenging puzzle platformer with nice attention to detail that we could recommend to fans of the genre.  The free iPhone version should provide a sold taste of the full title's gameplay action.  Free, trial Mac OS X and Windows versions of the game area also available for download.

See our demonstration video of the paid app.

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App Store Link: Archibald's Adventure Lite, Free

Last month, to little fanfare, Act1 Corporation released retro shooter 80s Galaxy [App Store] for the iPhone and iPod touch.

80s Galaxy is a wireframe 3D, green-on-black shooter rendered with "jiggling" vectors that help to reinforce the retro feel of the game.  It sounds a bit much--and it is--but to die hard retro fans (like me), it's pleasant to behold.

80s Galaxy is a rather simple game.  Enemies approach en masse.  Tap to target and fire at an enemy, swipe to deflect incoming ordnance.  Some eneimes require several taps to destroy.  And that's it.  Level after level of this sort of simple shooter action.  It's so simple that many (most?) will not rank it among their favorites.  But true retro gaming fans will likely find it worth a look thanks to the visual treatment and overall oldschool feel.

Having trouble deciding?  Luckily, Act1 has just released 80s Galaxy Lite [App Store], a "lite" version of the game that offers a limited taste of the full, paid version.

Have a look at our gameplay video to get a feel for the game.

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App Store Link: 80s Galaxy, $2.99 | 80s Galaxy Lite, Free

Makayama Media CEO Vincent Verweij has provided us with details on their upcoming iPhone flying game Flight Stunts.

Flight Stunts is a real 3D aerial action game. Fly the motion-controlled planes by turning your iPhone or iPod Touch, as you take to the skies to complete the missions. This action packed 3D-game lets you fly four different aircrafts in five locations. A Boeing 747, an Airbus A319, a Hercules C130 and a Lockheed-Martin F16. Your goal is to complete all the levels as fast as possible, without crashing.

Action packed with breathtaking scenery your aerial performances are what it's all about. You need to deliver pulse-pounding maneuvers with lifelike graphics that include authentically re-created aircraft, airports, and scenery.

Flight Stunts challenges players to complete 20 demanding missions such as maneuvering an Airbus A319 under the Golden Gate Bridge, dropping a paratrooper in the Beijing Olympic Stadium, and dogfighting over the Pacific and Moscow.  The developer indicates that, while the popular X-Plane 9 is about instrument panels and weather conditions, Flight Stunts is all about fun and action.

Makayama has posted a Flight Stunts trailer / demonstration video.

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Flight Stunts had been submitted to the App Store and is scheduled for release next week, pending Apple's approval.

The folks at iControlPad have posted an update to their development blog indicating that, although it took longer than they had hoped, their gaming control accessory (which we first covered back in May) now works with all devices in the iPhone famliy: original iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPod touch.

The post indicates that both Jailbreak and App Store developers are able to support the iControlPad in their titles if they choose.

The have also posted a demonstration video that shows a white prototype unit in use.  (The final, production unit will be black in color.)

iControlPad indicates more information will be posted very soon.  Stay tuned.

Agharta Studio has recently released a free "lite" version of their iPhone interactive adventure 1112 Episode 01. 1112 Episode 01 Lite [App Store] allows users to play an early portion of the full first episode of 1112 to get a feel for antique-peddler Louis Everett's world before making the $7.99 leap for the paid app.

Take a journey to explore this intriguing mystery and discover the reasons behind his constant headaches and strange dreams. Meet a bunch of colorful characters, dive into bizarre situations until an unpredictable event occurs and turns everything upside down!

See the developer's trailer / demo video for the paid version.

App Store Link: 1112 Episode 01 Lite, Free

Pankaku has released a free demo version of their new game called LightBike [App Store] into the App Store. The game tries to bring Tron's Light Cycles to the iPhone with a 3D implementation in which you try to surround your enemies to force them to crash into a wall.

While the provided gameplay video does look nice, in practice, the free version is a bit boring and there are issues with collision detection. There is only one level and one mode (one player) in this version. The full version is expected for release sometime in February.

Long time readers, however, should not be confused with another Light Bikes game that we looked at back in August. While we have few details of their project, DS Medialabs' version of Tron's Light Cycles is said to be in late testing and should also be released soon.

Ngmoco has dropped the price of their critically acclaimed title Rolando [App Store] to $5.99 from its original price of $9.99.

We reviewed the title in December shortly after its launch and found it to be amongst the best iPhone games.

The most striking part of the game, however, is the level of polish and production of the entire title. The style, music, and humor that is delivered adds as much to the experience as does the gameplay. The Rolandos will frequently address you at the beginning of each level to progress the plot, and you will genuinely feel bad when one gets killed.

App Store Link: Rolando, $5.99

Thanks Tom

Illusion Labs, who brought us TouchGrind and Labyrinth for the iPhone and iPod touch, have partnered with ReadyAimFire to bring a swinging new game called Sway to the App Store.

The world of Sway exploded and you must help Lizzy the Lizard find her friends by swinging her through the world. When you find Ninja, Pappman or one of the others you can play them as well! Lizzy the lizard and her friends can grab and swing in beautiful bouncy physics simulation with a little help from your fingers.

It takes a bit of practice to get used to the controls but once you get the hang of it, you never wanna stop swaying.

Sway, which is visually somewhat reminiscent of a simplified LittleBigPlanet, utilizes a combination of tap and swipe controls to get Lizzy the Lizard through the game's various levels.  Illusion Labs' Sway trailer video demonstrates the technique and overall gameplay.

We don't have many additional details surrounding this interesting looking title at this time.  Stay tuned for more details as they surface and an in-dept look upon release.

Sway is set to make it's App Store debut sometime in February.

Publisher X has recently released HydroTilt: Lite [App Store], a free, limited version of its 3D platform / puzzle / maze game HydroTilt.

We took a look at HydroTilt last month and found it to be a polished title, well suited to the iPhone and iPod touch.

Publisher-X’s newly released HydroTilt [App Store] offers an impressive accelerometer tilt game reminiscent of Marble Madness or a simplified Archer Maclean’s Mercury.

The game offers familiar tilt controls to control a bead of water on suspended platforms. The goal of each level is to find the a cold cube (which turns your drop of water into a ball of ice) and roll it to the goal. The game adds a number of additional obstacles, ramps and challenges to make the game far more interesting than your typical tilt-balance game.

HydroTilt: Lite features five of the full version's 30 levels and provides an enjoyable taste of the full game experience.

See our HydroTilt gameplay video.

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Additionally, Publisher X is running a limited time, promotional sale on the paid version which is now $2.99, down from $4.99 [link].

Resolution Interactive, who brought us Clusterball Arcade, has today posted a gameplay video of a new iPhone title in development, Aqua Moto Racing.

Right now we have basically no deatils on this title, but the gameplay video looks rather promising and we wanted to send a heads up out to the iPhone / iPod touch gaming community.

When more details emerge, we'll bring 'em.

[ Thanks Berkan ]

The savvy iPhone gamer does well to follow @ngmoco on Twitter, as I've indicated previously.  Neil just can't keep it to himself.

This time around, thanks to a tweet from the San Francisco-based iPhone publisher, we've learned that Topple Too, a followup to the company's "fast app" Topple [App Store, Free], will be making its way to the App Store.

Readers can expect us to bring additional details surrounding this game as they surface.  Right now, it's just a quick heads-up.

On Touch Arcade's recent trip to Macworld Expo 2009 in San Francisco, we learned from ng:moco CEO Neil Young that the company would soon be releasing word puzzler Word-Fu! [video], with Touch Pets--"Nintendogs meets The Sims"--following, sometime in Q2 of this year.

Earlier this week we reported that Ethan Nicholas' simple tank artillery game iShoot [App Store, $2.99] stole the #1 spot in the App Store's top 100 paid apps listing, overtaking the infamous iFart Mobile (who would ever have imagined it could be dethroned?). For an app to reach number one and stay there, some 10,000 plus downloads per day are required.  Obviously the developer is thrilled.

Ethan is so thrilled, in fact, that he has given his two-week notice at Sun Microsystems, where he works a day job, iPhone Savior reports.

iShoot was originally released in mid October at $4.99 and gained little response from App Store buyers.  In December, the developer delivered a 1.1 version update and a $2 price drop to $2.99, but it made little impact on sales.  It was Ethan's decision to release a "lite" version of the game that is responsible for the astounding success of the paid app.

"iShoot Lite" went live on January 3, 2009. Less than ten days later on January 11, the original iShoot rocketed out of obscurity as the number one Top Paid App in the iTunes App Store with 16,972 downloads in one day. It virtually blasted the reigning number one iFart app off its perch overnight. iShoot simultaneously grabbed the Top Free App number one spot as well.

Ethan indicates he's been getting email after email from other iPhone developers asking if they should produce a "lite" version of their own titles. Ethan, who has put no marketing dollars at all behind iShoot, replies with a resounding "Hell yes!"

Making the matter all the more impressive for the indie developer is the fact that iShoot was his first Objective-C based application.  It definitely won't be his last.

Good luck, Ethan.  We're anxious to see what's next from this now full-time iPhone developer.

Ethan Nicholas' move is discussed in a lengthy thread in our forums, in which Ethan comments along with several other iPhone developers that have also recently made the full-time jump.

App Store Links: iShoot, $2.99, iShoot Lite, Free

Austrian developer Philipp Luftensteiner has just released space maze / shooter Zero Chance [link] through the App Store.  Zero Chance is both a top-down and a 3D third-person game--the orientation of the iPhone or iPod touch determines the perspective.

ZERO CHANCE is the ultimate challenge for the modern spaceman. In a distant future the space pilot is confronted with countless dangers. After the destruction of the mothership he has to survive in a hostile environment. Left on his own he faces terrifying alien technologies and fights his way to the inner planetary core consisting of turbocharged antimatter, where secret knowledge awaits him.

The situation seems hopeless. Very hopeless.

This on-rails title, which in third-person mode has a feel somewhat reminiscent of Game Arts' classic Silpheed, challenges the player to travel through space, successfully negotiating fields of obstacles of increasing complexity.  The top-down and third-person view modes each offer different ship control capabilities and certain situations can only be handled by one or the other mode, in particular.

Zero Chance features touch screen controls for ship navigation, speed and laser activation.  Gameplay ranges across 10 levels, from hyperspace to the surface of a planet to the core of an alien world.  Minefields, meteorite showers and towering laser turrets are among the hazards to overcome.  An online scoreboard allows ranking against players around the world.

See the developer's gameplay video.

App Store Link: Zero Chance, $3.99

Kotaku reports that Yoot Saito's Gabo has been rejected by Apple due to "unpleasant" content. The developer explains:

When is that previously announced GABO for the iPhone going to be finished? I'm often asked that question. Honestly, that was finished a while back. The reason this wasn't made public was, well, Apple rejected the game. (lol) The reason for this was something like that the interaction with the Peking man was "unpleasant."

We looked at an early video of Gabo back in November which was created by the developer of Sim Tower and Seaman.

While "unpleasant" probably is an accurate description of some of the interaction, it's still a shame that we'll not be able to try this strange game on the iPhone.

Both IGN and SlidetoPlay are reporting that EA's Need for Speed is delayed until March.

EA Mobile gave the following statement to IGN:

EA Mobile is excited about the Need for Speed Undercover iPhone and iPod touch game we have in development. Currently, we are fine tuning and polishing the game so that when it launches it is the best, most engaging racing game iPhone users have yet to experience. We appreciate the anticipation around the arrival of this game. As we approach a confirmed ship date, we will alert the community so stay tuned for more information in the coming months.”

Need for Speed was originally slated for a late 2008 release, but has now seen a couple of delays.