It seems like every time a “What would you like to see on the iPhone?” thread pops up on our forums, classic PC games like Diablo are always the first to be mentioned. If you’ve followed Touch Arcade for the last week, you’ve no doubt caught wind of Pixel Mine’s new RPG, Underworlds [App Store]. If something to satisfy a craving to hack and slash your way through hordes of monsters is what you seek, look no further than the twisting catacombs conveniently located just off the cellar of the Happy Cadaver Inn.

Your adventure begins as a guard for McTavish, the purveyor of a traveling caravan. After defending against an invading orc (which serves as a brief tutorial), he explains that your services are no longer required and suggests that you travel to the Happy Cadaver Inn  located in nearby town of Albrect to find work. To save time, McTavish opens a portal and a brief animated video introducing the Inn plays. Upon arriving you’re greeted by Kurgan who asks you to retrieve a bag of flour from the basement... Which just so happens to be loaded with bloodthirsty swarms of rats!

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Yesterday we posted a preview of Gameloft's upcoming Terminator Salvation for the iPhone and iPod touch.  As mentioned in that post, we also took a look at another upcoming title during our visit to the studio's Manhattan offices, yesterday.  Siberian Strike is a top-down airplane shooter, visually reminiscent of 1942, that is set to go live in the App Store in two weeks' time.

Siberian Strike, originally a well-reviewed mobile game, follows the fairly standard top-down, 2D shooter formula, but is notable on the iPhone for its fast-paced onscreen action (even as demonstrated on a first-gen iPod touch, the slowest device in the family), a trait so commonly absent from shooters in the App Store.

But the best part of the game is surely the backstory...

After the Second World War ended, the Soviets are perfecting a strategy of global communist invasion using a mysterious vodka export company... This disturbing company, "Stalinka Corp," is led by the Evil Stalinbot, a genetic crossbreed between Stalin and the future Mir space Station...

The Evil Stalinbot will use his terrible weapon...Bottles of Stalinka!!!! This fiendish vodka is capable of corrupting all the decent - honest workers in the free nations!!! To thwart Stalinbot's plans, the Air Strike command mobilizes its 3 best fighters: Eliza McCampbell, Eliot Freeman, and Pappy T. Wilder

In Siberian Strike, the player pilots one of three different aircraft: R-51 Thunder, P-69 Conquest, or B-87 Sicarius.  Gameplay involves dodging enemy fire and laying waste to the waves of enemy aircraft that dance across the screen, and the boss aircraft at the end of each level. The destruction of certain enemies releases power-ups than can be picked up to enhance weapons and summon wingman reinforcements. The game utilizes touch control of the aircraft (which can be moved in all directions), with a continuous auto-fire, as long as a finger is held to the screen.

The game will feature WiFi-based multiplayer game sessions as well as an online leaderboard for ranking against players across the world.

While I only spent a short while with the game, the overall flow of the onscreen action makes for a great shooter experience with a real arcade feel.  Siberian Strike is easily one of the best shooters for the iPhone, and fans of the genre are in for a real treat when it hits the App Store.

Have a look at a somewhat crude video we captured of Siberian Strike X, a Windows adaptation of the game, which is quite similar to the iPhone version in overall gameplay and gives a feel for what's to come.

Gameloft has posted the iPhone version's intro movie, but it doesn't show gameplay.

StormBASIC has released their 3D survival shooter 7 Days of Apocalypse [link] into the App Store tonight.

The $1.99 game puts you only seven days away from the end of the world as an unknown virus has started turning humans into zombies. The only hope is a Dr. Kayla Cupper who has discovered the source of the infection. Your job is to protect Cupper while she is able to develop a cure for the virus.

The game offers two modes: survival and history with either "bird's eye" or "back" camera views. Survival is your typical high-score last-longer game in which you are fighting back an endless stream of zombies and ghosts.

The history mode is perhaps more interesting with 7 distinct stages that represent days to the apocalypse. Each day involves accomplishing very specific goals. These include:

Day 1: The Beginning - You have to kill 25 zombies.
Day 2: Protect Cupper - You have to protect a Dr. Cupper from zombies as she (slowly) walks to the mansion.
Day 3: Infected - You have been infected. In this level your life is decreasing continuously, so your only option is kill as fast as possible, to get life items.
Day 4: BioHazard - You have to find some 10 Biohazard containers strewn across the yard
Day 5: Spectral Chaos - You have to kill 35 ghosts.
Day 6: Apocalypse - You have to survive a 5-minute onslaught.
Day 7: Last Hope - You have to protect Dr. Cupper again from zombies, as in level 2, but with more zombies and ghosts.

I actually found the history mode to be quite enjoyable, and felt the distinct goals made the game far more interesting. Trying to complete a specific level was much more of an incentive than simply starting up another survival match. The later levels also add a ghost enemy which can be harder to kill and requires some change in strategy to survive. While I was able to complete the history modes relatively quickly, others seem to be having some difficulty. Regardless, I felt the difficulty progression was a bit off as the 6th level seemed by far the hardest.

Developer's gameplay video:

In the end, the game successfully delivers what it promises: an effective 3D survival shooter with good controls -- and the game's 3D engine is nicely done. That said, there are a number of fairly obvious "1.0" deficiencies. No global high scores and no difficulty level options are perhaps the most needed to ensure ongoing replayability. Meanwhile, there have been a number of requests to expand the current weapon supply which is limited to only 3 distinct weapons.

While the game's likely worth the $1.99 in its current form, a few additional improvements could make this game become highly recommended.

Meanwhile, reactions in our discussion thread have been generally positive, with TouchArcade's Big Albie offering his own first impressions.

App Store Link: 7 Days of Apocalypse, $1.99

For those who are still waiting for Need for Speed from EA, the game is said to be launched "very soon" according to EA Mobile's Craig Law. A new screenshot (above) was released today.

Need for Speed has been delayed a couple of times and was originally on target for release late in 2008.

Older screenshots available here.

Today Touch Arcade spent some time at Gameloft's Manhattan offices to preview two upcoming games for the iPhone and iPod touch.

The most significant of the two is upcoming Terminator Salvation, a third-person shooter to be released in time for the May 27th release of the film by the same name.  (More on the other title, shortly.)

In Terminator Salvation, the player assumes the role of both star John Connor and Marcus Wright, a terminator who believes himself to be human, depending on the stage in question.  The game closely follows the movie, but features certain enemy machines that are exclusive to the iPhone game.

Gameplay involves moving through various indoor and outdoor levels, following a cue arrow and destroying all enemies that get in the way.  At the beginning of each level, the player is presented with a  briefing, detailing the enemies within, including their individual points of vulnerability (head, torso, legs, etc.).  While most of the gameplay is on-foot, certain levels involve driving an armed vehicle and manning the on-board cannon.  The main game utilizes touch controls--virtual left thumb stick for motion, screen swipes to aim the target reticle, and a right thumb press for fire--while an accelerometer controlled maze mini-game must be completed to unlock certain doors.

Terminator Salvation features eight different levels with a boss at the end of each and in-engine cut scenes spread throughout.  Six weapons are available to fend off the baddies: shot gun, grende launcher, gatlin gun, surge cannon, assault rifle, and T1 chain gun.  One aspect of the game is collecting memory chips, which allows for switching between weapons as well as collecting various art items (details on this are scant right now).

The game offers about 2-3 hours of playtime and the drama of finding out...is Marcus a good guy...or bad.

The development build of the game I played is graphically impressive and ran at a decent framerate on the first-generation iPod touch (the slowest member of the iPhone family).  In the brief time I spent with the title, I found it to be a pretty fun game to play but noted that the screen-swipe targeting controls, as opposed to, say, a virtual right thumb-stick, take some getting used to.

Terminator Salvation will be released during the first week of May and will retail at a premium price-point of $7.99 - $9.99.  We will take a much closer look when the game goes live.

A few games that have been amongst our favorite iPhone games have received notable updates or price drops in the past few days.

Space Ninja

Our favorite space dodging game has received a substantial update as well as a price drop to $0.99.

Space Ninja has been updated to version 2.0.0.9 and adds the following features:

• 83 new levels, making it 123 levels in total.
• Global and regional high scores using geocade.
• 5 new kinds of turrets.

The game is set up like a traditional vertical shooter in which you control the flight of a spaceship. Instead of shooting the enemies, however, the objective is to dodge enemy fire and make it to the end of each level.

Space Ninja's accelerometer controls and slow-motion "bullet time" mechanic are particularly well implemented and with 123 levels, global high scores and a price drop... there's no reason not to get this game.

App Store Link: Space Ninja, $0.99

Up There

We described this as a beautiful game when we first reviewed in back in December.

Up There places you in accelerometer control of a balloon that wants to rise. But bookshelves, lumber, branches, clouds and stars will get in your way. You must tilt your iPhone left and right to maneuver your balloon through the openings. If you get pushed down past the bottom of the screen, game over. High scores are kept locally but can also be submitted to a global list.

Simple game, but so well executed. The latest update offers:

• 10 New Balloons to Choose From
• New Music (as an option)
• Optional Reversed Controls
• Expanded Information and Settings

App Store Link: Up There, $0.99

Zombieville USA

One of our favorite survival shooters, Zombieville offers a surprisingly fun and challenging experience for what appears to be a simple game.

The latest update offers these new features/fixes:

• Ammo can now be purchased for a weapon once its been upgraded fully!
• You can now listen to your own music during play! Just start up your iPod's music before playing, and Zombieville's music will automatically turn off.
• Now respects the "mute" switch on your device.
• Various performance and graphical improvements - artwork is higher resolution, yet uses less memory and runs smoother than ever before

App Store Link: Zombieville USA, $1.99

Pixel Mine Games' action RPG Underworlds was released into the App Store tonight [link].

The $4.99 game offers a Diablo-like dungeon crawler in which you play a guard who has been asked to help discover the source behind mysterious activities happening around the town.

The game is played in an isometric view with both d-pad and touch controls. The d-pad allows you to move your character in any direction while simply tapping on the screen causes you to move to that spot. Items can be picked up by simply tapping on them or walking over them and pressing the "Loot" button.

Your character has Health and Vitality stats depicted by on-screen skulls (red and blue). Health and Vitality potions can be cast by simply tapping on the corresponding meters. Four character stats that can be upgraded (leveled up) include Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Constitution. Special "Feats" offer new capabilities for your player and include Slash, Shield Bash, Berserk, Health Boost, Vitality Boost. These special attacks can be invoked by pressing the corresponding icons on the bottom of the screen.

The game's story progresses in a series of Quests. Equipment and gold can be found while fighting off enemies. These resources can be traded in at a shop for additional potions or even better equipment.

The following video shows off the basics of gameplay (note, that the attack button actually need not be pressed repeatedly):

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

We've had a full version of the game for a number of days and while our full review is still pending, our initial impressions have been very positive. We personally quite like the art style of the game. The lead artist for the game was revealed to be Denis Loubet -- the primary artist for many of the Ultima games. And we've found the overall gameplay to be solid/fun and feel that fans of the genre will enjoy it. The d-pad controls, however, are somewhat awkward and both control schemes can result in inadvertent actions due to the cramped area of the screen.

Meanwhile, early TouchArcade forum impressions (Big Albie overview) have also been very favorable (though with some similar control criticisms).

App Store Link: Underworlds, $4.99

The last we saw of Ngmoco's upcoming tower defense title Star Defense was at the studio's San Francisco offices during GDC 2009. At that time, the game engine looked remarkable and they were still tweaking the gameplay before the final release.

Ngmoco released new screenshots and a video today in the lead up to the May release of the title.

In Star Defense, players take control of the captain's chair and travel to a series of planets invaded by alien S’rath forces. Twisting and spinning complete 3-D planets, players must examine the terrain to plan tower defenses, selecting from a broad range of turrets that unleash everything from burning hot plasma to high voltage decimation.

The game comes with seven different planets (maps), five upgradable tower types, 10 types of enemy invaders, and three levels of difficulty.

We spent considerable time with Star Defense at Ngmoco and found it to be very playable, with natural controls and great responsiveness.  The planetary graphics and accompanying galactic backdrops are impressive and the overall play mechanic feels very solid. Make no mistake, tower defense fans are in for something special.

See Ngmoco's Star Defense trailer.

The video that Touch Arcade took at the Ngmoco offices can be seen here.

We'll take a much closer look at Star Defense when it makes its App Store debut in early May.  Stay tuned.

Gyrocade has released a major update to its 3D take on Pong, 3-D Vector Ball [App Store].  The version 3.0 update addresses various issues that many players have been complaining about and truly does add dramatically to the game's playability.

New in this release:

• Improved, gradual learning curve (starts off slow and build speed, every three rounds the paddle shrinks)
• Larger deflector paddle
• Perspective correction (corner shots are easier to volley)
• Smoother framerate
• New sound effects
• Enemy paddle has its own distinct color to improve visibility.

Just 15 seconds with the game is enough to feel the major improvement in playability.  At just $0.99, 3-D Vector Ball v3.0 comes highly recommended.

We took a look at the first version of 3-D Vector Ball back in July (with vid).

App Store Link: 3-D Vector Ball, $0.99

Silver Software has just released Power Toppler [App Store], an iPhone remake of the classic platform puzzler Tower Toppler (also known as Nebulus) from Hewson, for the iPhone and iPod touch.

As in the original, your character (a robot, who replaces Pogo the frog) starts off at the bottom of a circular tower adorned, from bottom to top, with a series of platforms connected by a system of tunnels and elevators.  The goal is to make it to the top of the tower, dodging the creatures that guard it and watching out for cracked tiles, in order to unlock the next tower.  There are 16 towers in all (the original game featured eight).

A notable aspect of the game at the time of its 1987 release was the manner in which the tower is negotiated.  Rather than moving about the screen against a fixed backdrop, it's the main character that's fixed mid-screen while the tower itself rotates.  Even today, it's an interesting twist to the platformer formula.

Power Toppler for the iPhone features basic sound effects, updated graphics as compared to the original, and swipe control of the on-screen robot, with a double-tap to fire.  While this is a retro title, it holds up very well today and should appeal to many gamers who enjoy a simple, unique platform experience.

See our very brief gameplay video for a look at the first tower.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

App Store Link: Power Toppler, $1.99

Last week's announcement of Pixel Mine's upcoming role-playing adventure seemed to generate a lot of interest. We've since put together this brief gameplay video based on an early-release copy of the game.

Underworlds is an action-RPG that features a classic Dungeons & Dragons level up system with feats and stat boosts. Your avatar can be controlled either by using the virtual D-Pad or by tapping in the game world to move and perform actions. You play a guard who has been asked to help discover the source behind mysterious activities happening around the town.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

One thing to note about the game is that I've since learned that the action button does not have to be repeatedly tapped to fight. That aspect aside, the video should otherwise show a reasonable amount of early gameplay, including leveling up, healing and buying items in the shop.

The game has been submitted to the App Store so should be appearing at any time.

This weekend Chillingo released the first screenshots of their upcoming 3D iPhone game called Vampire Origins.  While it appears to be an action fighter / RPG in the spirit of Devil May Cry, all other details are extremely scarce.

Chillingo did, however, confirm with us that the game is not related in any way to their iDracula [App Store] title which was developed by More Games. No release date has been provided.

Have a look at the rest of the gameplay gallery (click thumbnails to view larger):

Additional screenshots can be seen in our Vampire Origins forum thread. When we have further details on this upcoming title, you'll be the first to know.

Mobile developer ZodTTD has announced his forthcoming game Wizzley Presto and the Mysterious Time Machine which he describes as an action platformer with slight RPG elements and similar to the long-running Dizzy series.

While there's been a number of iPhone platformers, the developers are documenting the development progress of the game at 30daygame.com. They hope to complete the entire game from scratch within a 30 day timeframe.

A cool element of this project is the blog. We are doing this game in 30 days, from an idea to a finished product for AppStore. Best of all we’re showing all of what is involved along the way. Expect lots of interesting posts for all those who wonder what it’s like programming a game on the iPhone & iPod Touch!

The game was started at the beginning of April and should be complete by the end of this month. Progress on the game's development can be seen on its official launch site.

Click on image for larger view

Freeverse has provided us with exclusive screenshots from their upcoming game Flick NBA Basketball. This is an officially licensed NBA title with actual players and teams making it the first real NBA title in the App Store.

Not a full-court basketball title, Flick NBA Basketball is basically an iPhone adaptation of the All Star Challenge. The player takes the role of a big name NBA player (in realistic 3D models) and takes on various skill challenges such as the 3-point shootout, Hotshot Arcade, Longshot Challenge, Ball Spin and HORSE.

Features include:

• You will be able to play as all of the game's hottest stars, including Kobe, LeBron, Shaq, D-Wade, Dwight Howard, Yao Ming and dozens of other NBA All-Stars.
• Players will compete in several events versus the computer or a friend. Events will be similar to NBA All-Star Weekend, with the 3 Point Shootout, HORSE, and more.
• 3D player models are so accurate they have details down to their expressions, tattoos and hairstyles.
• Real 3D ball-physics

Click on the image for to full size screens:

The game is expected to be released during the 2009 NBA Playoffs which start today and run into June.

A number of titles are currently on sale in the App Store.  Here's a roundup of some that we've covered before here on TouchArcade.

Wooden Labyrinth 3D [App Store, $0.99 - down from $3.99]

Fans of the marble / labyrinth-style games will enjoy Elias Pietilä's Wooden Labyrinth 3D. 

It offers 180 built-in levels of tilting fun but adds a realistic twist, providing a 3D perspective that shifts with the tilt of your iPhone. Besides the traditional 2D levels, the game also offers platforms and obstacles that must be jumped over by simply shaking your iPhone.

Biplane: Wings of Raccoon [App Store, $0.99 - down from $1.99]

GameResort's Biplane: Wings of Raccoon is a cartoonish flying game that offers both an Arcade shooter mode and a Race mode featuring nine courses of fly-through-the-hoops action. 

It utilizes accelerometer flight controls with on-screen touch zones for firing and activating a temporary speed boost. Biplane doesn't strive to provide a realistic flight experience; it's about bullseyeing targets, blowing up enemies, and racking up the most points possible.

Hill Billy [App Store, $2.99 - down from $5.99]

Mirage Labs' Hill Billy revolves around you defending your carrots from biomechanical creatures with a shotgun.

The game's graphics are very nice with rather smooth gameplay and it also offers a reasonable set of controls to manipulate the action. It's one of the most graphically impressive first person shooters currently available on the iPhone. The gameplay itself, however, is a bit unusual and at just five levels, the sale price is easier to justify than the full retail.

Glu Mobile: Glyder, Build-a-Lot, Bonsai Blast

Glu Mobile is running a sale on three of its iPhone titles. 

Casual flyer Glyder has been reduced to $0.99 [App Store], down from $1.99.  It's a graphically impressive game of gem collection and mini-missions, spread across six different worlds, with a feel reminiscent of Nintendo's Pilotwings 64.

Housing tycoon game Build-A-Lot has been reduced to $1.99 [App Store], down from $4.99.  It's a casual strategy game in which the player buys and sells land, develops blueprints, builds and expands houses, and creates a functioning community that – hopefully – makes the player a wealthy tycoon. See our full review.

Match-three eliminate-the-meandering-beads puzzler Bonsai Blast is on sale for $1.99 [App Store], down from $3.99.  The game features 90 levels, a zen garden theme, and in a departure from most games of the sort, features multiple shooter locations.

Wild West Pinball [App Store, $0.99 - down from $2.99]

This pinball game tries to offer a more authentic pinball experience and is very nicely animated with a 3D panning and scrolling table.

The game has earned high praise from pinball fans who have been looking for a more authentic experience. Several users have commented on the accurate physics model and "real feel" of Wild West Pinball.

Features listed by the developer include:

- 40 frames per second
- Camera effects
- Realistic physics
- Natural sounds
- Top 15 global high score