Gamevil's classic action role playing game Zenonia has gone live in the App Store [link] at a price of $5.99.

Zenonia is a port of the company's mobile title which ranks very highly on the Korean mobile charts (over 600,000 copies sold).  The game is a very deep RPG with many nice details including day/night changes, slower movement when carrying many items, as well as the usual leveling up system, and skill upgrades.

“We’re thrilled to launch ZENONIA on the Apple App Store”, said Kyu Lee, president of GAMEVIL USA. “The revolutionary iPhone and iPod touch have allowed us to develop a unique version of this game and we are certain fans will love the engaging gameplay and captivating fantasy world we’ve created.”

We spent some time with Zenonia during our interview with Gamevil at GDC and our own Eli took a look at a pre-release of the iPhone version earlier this month.

If you've been looking for something on the App Store that compares to the classic 16-bit RPG's from days of yore, Zenonia may just be what you've been searching for — especially since according to GAMEVIL, Zenonia comes packed with over 40 hours of gameplay.

See our gameplay video of the beta.

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Zenonia is being discussed in a form thread where readers are excited to see the release and are liking what they see so far.

Finally, a developer walkthrough video gives you an overview of the game:

App Store Link: Zenonia, $5.99

Isotope Games has just provided us with details surrounding their upcoming iPhone title, Isotope: A Space Shooter.

Isotope: A Space Shooter is a retro arena shooter in the vein of Geometry Wars and Robotron that features the the added dimension of certain RPG elements.  According to the developer, Isotope maintains a 30fps framerate with hundreds of enemies, bullets, and effects on screen.

Features listed by the developer:

• Fast and Frenetic gameplay with tons of enemy mobs.
• A Full Campaign Mode with over 30 missions.
• Earn credits from missions and spend them in the store to expand your arsenal of ships, modules, abilities and satellites.
• 40 different ships to purchase and level up.
• Purchase and equip modules to increase your ship's effectiveness.
• Use abilities like mega laser, blackhole and time stop to turn the tide in battle.
• Equip satellites and have them fight by your side.
• Take your leveled-up ship and compete in survival mode with online leaderboards.
• Play the game exactly how you want to play it with 5 different control schemes.

Isotope has been submitted to the App Store and a free, lite version will precede the full $2.99 app by one week.  Stay tuned for a much closer look at this one.

See the developer's preview video.

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IntoMobile managed to get some video footage of EA's upcoming iPhone Sims 3 in action.

We were surprised by the game’s playability and the smooth 3D graphics (using an iPod Touch for demo purposes). All menus and navigation controls are incredibly intuitive - you flip through menus and scroll down lists with a flick of the finger. And, without being briefed on in-game controls, we managed to find our way through the Sims’ world with little trouble. The Sims 3’s iPhone-optimized UI is a testament to EA Mobile’s devotion to iPhone gaming.

Sims 3 is said to take full advantage of the iPhone's 3D graphics capabilities with 3D world panning, tilting and rotation.

The game will be released on June 2nd.

Thanks qasim

FDG Entertainment has released their rotational shoot'em up game Kryzer Prologue [App Store] last night.

The game is a rather simple shooter set on a circular playfield. The ship circles around shooting enemies and picking up bonuses with a goal of survival. The game is timed with additional time bonuses provided for after destroying enemies. Accidentally crash into an enemy and that's a 30 second penalty.

I personally felt the gameplay was a bit too simplistic to hold my interest, but some other early forum reactions to the game have been positive including a recommendation from our own Big Albie.

App Store Link: Kryzer Prologue, $0.99

Developer Spin Bottle Games and publisher Chillingo finally re-released the award winning Zooloretto [App Store] to the iPhone last night.

The original 1.0 release of the game was quickly pulled due to the presence of a major bug affecting gameplay. The game has since been updated and re-released as a 1.1 version that addresses the issue.

Amongst other awards, the original board game won Australian game of the year in 2007. Zooloretto. places the player in a colorful, cartoony zoo setting and challenges them to use small, large, wild, and exotic animals and their young to try and attact as many visitors as possible to the zoo. The game involves strategy and planning, as there's only room for so many animals in the zoo.

One forum participant provides an overview of the gameplay and scoring.

App Store Link: Zooloretto, $4.99

Lima Sky has been making ongoing updates to their excellent Doodle Jump [App Store] game. We first took a look at the game back in March. The game builds where PapiJump left off and the result is a simple but remarkably addictive game.

Since our initial coverage, Lima Sky has added a number of features including: direction shooting, facebook friends leaderboard, monster sound warning and two new monsters. In the latest 1.2.1 update, the company even added a cross-over easter egg that should please Pocket God fans.

Doodle Jump update 1.2.1 brings a secret "easter egg" created in collaboration with Pocket God. If you set your name to one of the default Pocket God pygmy names ("Ooga", "Klik", "Klak", etc.) the original Doodler character will be replaced with a jumping, coconut throwing, oog from Pocket God!

Lima Sky's Igor Pusenjak also reports that they have more surprises in store for this game as well as in Bolt Creative's Pocket God.

Pocket God is, of course, the massively popular entertainment app that we looked at in April. Bolt Creative has been churning out ongoing updates and are up to the 17th episode/version of Pocket God.

If you happened to miss it the first time around, we still highly recommend Doodle Jump for simple but surprisingly compelling gameplay.

App Store Link: Doodle Jump, $0.99, Pocket God, $0.99

Earlier today we posted news of the Wonderful Word Games Week $.99 sale of word games from six independent developers.  A number of titles of different sorts that we've taken a look at in the past are also currently available for a limited time price of $.99.  Here's a roundup.

• Car Jack Streets from Tag Games [App Store] ($2.99 -> $.99)

  Car Jack Streets is a solid iPhone take on the top-down Grand Theft Auto (GTA) formula.  The real-time play mechanic makes gaming on the go, in small sessions, very enjoyable and quite manageable.  Despite the sometimes cumbersome controls, this is the king of the iPhone GTA-alikes.  GTA fans cannot go wrong with Car Jack Streets for the iPhone.

• Azkend from MythPeople [App Store] ($2.99 -> $.99)

  This puzzle game has seen life on multiple platforms including the Mac, PC and Flash. The iPhone version, however, manages to still feel perfectly suited for the device with a very natural use of touch controls.

• Hysteria Project from Bulkypix [App Store] ($1.99 -> $.99)

  The game begins with the premise that you find yourself tied up by a strange cabin, and your job is to escape and stay alive. The game is a series of video clips tied together with multiple choice decision points and plays like a choose-your-own-adventure.

  The initial "pilot" episode is said to offer 30-40 minutes of play and the rest of the story will arrive in subsequent episodes.

• Ingite from Monster Gila [App Store] ($2.99 -> $.99)

  The game is a very non-traditional 2D platformer that is well suited for the iPhone with excellent touch-screen controls.  Despite a seemingly simple gameplay mechanic, the game is surprisingly compelling and one we highly recommend.

• 7 Days Apocalypse from StormBASIC Games [App Store] ($1.99 -> $.99)

  The 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.  In the end, the game successfully delivers what it promises: an effective 3D survival shooter with good controls

IUGO has released the first gameplay video for their upcoming Star Hogs turn-based strategy battle game.

We first heard about the game during this year's Game Developer's Conference but few details had been released about the game. IUGO includes the following description with the video:

Rig up your hogs, strap yourself in, and head out into orbit for the fiercest turn-based strategy battles this side of Uranus. Obliterate the competition with a Cruise Missile or close in for some potshots from your Vulcan gun. Not your style? Don't worry, you've got more than 20 ways to kill someone. Nuke some asteroids for an extra payday, but remember, they're the only thing protecting you from a re-entry hangover you won't wake up from.

Take out some chumps and unlock heaps of new gear in 32 campaign levels, or ride into the online multiplayer arena to face curly tails from all over the universe. But remember, in space no one can hear you squeal."

Gameplay appears to be similar to other turn-based artillery games like iShoot and Worms. The game is said to be coming "soon".

As Reuters reports, Capcom Cheif Financial Officer Kazuhiko Abe indicated, during a speech at the Reuters Global Technology Summit in Tokyo, that the game maker plans to launch more than 10 iPhone game titles between now and March of next year.

Abe spoke of Capcom's current success in the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 space with 4.4 million sales of Resident Evil 5, released just this past March.  The company forecasts a 6% rise in operating profit in the year to March 2010.

Capcom recently released the iPhone action horror title Resident Evil: Degeneration [App Store] and, in March, brought NES classic Mega Man 2 [App Store] to the platform.   The company has an impressive list of games in its arsenal -- 1942, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Street Fighter, Bionic Commando, and Devil May Cry to name a few -- any of which would be welcome additions to the App Store library.

Chillingo has just posted the official trailer to the upcoming "synthetic" shooter Circuit Strike.One from Chillingo and H.Grendade.

Audio/Visual effects like music, environments, vocal samples, and sound FX are mixed in real-time and triggered in sync with the music while playing. As intensity levels change so does the game world. cs.one also features a dynamic, sliding time scale where audio speed and pitch are warped in real-time when using the bullet.time hack. Hypercube hits, Teleportation and some Chain Reaction kills also trigger slow motion effects. 3l3tronic, aka. DJ Vitamindevo and Bianca Dino, stepped up to deliver pulse pounding beats, fills, breaks, and hits that create a fully interactive audio soundscape.

Screenshots and additional info can be seen in our earlier post, here. A release date has not yet been indicated.

May 22 to May 31 is Wonderful Word Games Week.  Fans of iPhone word games should take advantage of this week's $.99 sale on games from six independent developers:

• Imangi from Imangi Studios
• Imangi Word Squares from Imangi Studios
• Moxie from Blue Ox Technologies
• Wurdle from Semi Secret Software
• Textropolis from Ian Marsh
• Wordology from Cerebral Gardens
• Stitch'em Words from Syed M.Ali

Two Tribes' long awaited iPhone version of Toki Tori [$4.99] has finally arrived in the App Store tonight. The game was originally released for the Gameboy Color back in 2001 and has since been updated for the Wii and now the iPhone (published by Chillingo).

Toki Tori is a puzzle platformer in which you control the actions of a cute chick across 80 levels. The goal of each level is for Toki Tori to free his siblings who have been mysteriously kidnapped. Each level has a number of eggs that much be rescued and a certain inventory of tools to accomplish that task. The levels consist of a side-scrolling platformed environment with ladders, obstacles and enemies. Solving a level involves finding a way to collect all the eggs without getting stuck or killed by an enemy. Judicious use of your special tools is the only way to succeed.

Tools come in a variety of shapes and sizes including: a telewarp, bridge builder, freeze-o-matic and more. You are only given a subset of tools and a limited number of each to solve the levels and you will find yourself starting them over to get it right.

The game is beautifully animated and offers a wonderfully polished experience. I found the controls to be very well adapted to the iPhone touch-screen. Simply tapping on a location will move Toki Tori to that spot. The final version's controls have seen significant improvements in sensitivity over the early beta version we looked at in February. In the end, the controls stay out of your way and let you focus on the game itself.

In the past, I've criticized iPhone puzzle games for being too easy and too short. Balancing level gameplay is an art and Toki Tori clearly benefits from being a long established game. While I haven't yet completed the 80 included levels, I found the difficulty ramped up nicely and provided some particularly imaginative challenges. Unlike some games the solutions to the more advanced levels weren't always immediately obvious which make for a much more enjoyable and rewarding experience.

This gameplay video shows two levels: an easy and a more difficult one.

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The game is divided into four distinct worlds. Once the normal levels in a world are complete, you may proceed to the next world. Meanwhile, a number of "hard" levels from the completed world are also unlocked and can be played at any time.

Overall, Toki Tori is a wonderfully challenging puzzle game that has been very well adapted to the iPhone and comes highly recommended.

App Store Link: Toki Tori, $4.99

Back in March, Shawn Kollat released a fun little game that we missed when it hit the App Store.  Race for Home [App Store] is the tranquil and surreal affair of guiding young Grace and her magic umbrella on her journey home.

The physics-based game takes place through a variety of sky environments and involves tapping various floating items to lasso them and swing ever towards the three floating presents per level that must be collected to advance, guided by an onscreen arrow.  There are seven levels in all and protective upgrades can be collected along the way to help Grace avoid a variety of hazards and enemies bent on keeping her from finding her way home.

It's a rather simplistic game and it could be longer, but the lovely classical piano audio tracks and the peaceful act of swinging from item to item make for a rather placid and enjoyable gaming experience.  While hardcore arcade fans might find it a bit light, the casual gamer may well enjoy this unique iPhone title.  But don't take my word for it -- try the lite, three-level version of Race for Home [App Store] before making the paid app jump.

See our gameplay video for a look at the game in motion.

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Shawn has developed a number of other Flash games and apps that can be seen at his Revision8 website.

App Store Links: Race for Home, $0.99, Race for Home Lite, Free

[ Thanks Chris Bernick ]

Digital Chocolate founder and CEO 'Trip' Hawkins recently appeared on CNBC in a CNBC Exclusive interview "Tech: It's All About Apps."

In the piece, Hawkins discusses the unique, social nature of mobile gaming today and echoes his earlier sentiments that the iPhone is a "breakthrough platform" that is leading the new wave of connected mobile devices that are being heavily embraced by today's "omni consumers," a new sort of user interested in interacting with digital media of many forms and on many different levels.

Hawkins expresses great satisfaction with the performance of his studio's games on the iPhone platform (four of the studio's games have hit #1 in the App Store) and calls Digital Chocolate "the #1 game company on the iPhone," based on 20 million downloads of their games, or 2% of all App Store downloads.

According to Hawkins, Sony and Nintendo should be very concerned by the iPhone's success and the degree to which today's omni consumers are embracing this new type of device.

They're using all kinds of platforms, many of them are brand new. And they've got a very different expectation [from gamers 10 years ago]. They're really looking more for social value than for escapism. They want to find new ways to check in and be in contact with people than just checking out and doing something by themselves.

Trip Hawkins left Apple in 1982 to form Electronic Arts. He was the man behind 3DO and formed mobile development studio Digital Chocolate in 2003.

Fans of the Dave Matthews Band will be pleased to hear that Tapulous has just released Dave Matthews Band Revenge [App Store], the latest release in the highly popular Tap Tap Revenge music / rhythm game series.

The game brings the following features:

• 10 smash hits from Dave Matthews Band, including two hot new singles off their upcoming album: Funny The Way It Is, Shake Me Like A Monkey, Tripping Billies, Everyday, Ants Marching, American Baby, Crash Into Me, What Would You Say, So Much To Say, Two Step
• New themes, graphics and effects, inspired by Dave Matthews Band videos and discography
• Four addictive difficulty levels, each with unlockable boss tracks
• Superior stability, multi-player mode, a Dave Matthews Band news feed, and Facebook Connect to flaunt your scores to the World

Fans of the series may also want to have a look at Tapulous' Tap Tap Coldplay [App Store], which was released last month.  It features themes and effects inspired by Coldplay's videos, along with the following tracks: Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix), Lost, In My Place, Fix You, Life in Technicolor II, Clocks, Yellow, Shiver, Speed of Sound, Viva la Vida, Viva la Vida (Thin White Duke Remix).

App Store Links: Dave Matthews Band Revenge, $4.99, Tap Tap Coldplay, $4.99