Bouncing Ball Games recently released their puzzle game Double Maze in both full [$1.99] and Lite [Free] versions.
The game is a level-based puzzler in which you are given two different boards each with a ball and a goal. Your objective is to get both balls on their respective goals at the same moment. You control each ball with the swipe of a finger, but you can only control them simultaneously -- so you must use given obstacles to hold one in position while moving another. Be sure to avoid the edges of the board as you can also fall off the sides.
The game is well produced and offers an excellent lite version that takes you through 6 levels and is certainly worth a try. The full version of the game has 40 levels.
IUGO announced that they have a new game coming for the iPhone called Spy Bot Chronicles. Based on the Toy Bot universe, Spy Bot appears to be a more traditional platformer with the ability to jump and shoot:
Toy Bot has been kidnapped! Thief Bot, the greedy kleptomaniac, has taken him to be used as a shiny, golden trophy and Spy Bot is the only one who can rescue him! Take control of Spy Bot as he jumps, shoots, and hacks his way through a varied 2D world of fun and adventure. Find Thief Bot’s hideout, save Toy Bot, and recover all the other stolen goods Thief Bot has swindled throughout the galaxy!
The game has already been submitted to Apple for review. IUGO lists the following features of the game, and estimates the game content to be equal to the entire 3 episodes of the Toy Bot series:
Innovative hack ability allows Spy Bot to change the world around him
4 different zones containing hours of gameplay (we figure it's about the size of TBD 1,2,3 COMBINED for content)
Hidden levels to find
35 unique collectibles
Over half a dozen characterful enemies
Distinct music for each zone and major challenges
Interactive animation and art
The game seems to include left/right and jump buttons making it a bit of a departure from the original Toy Bot series which relied on tilt controls for movement.
This certainly has been an interesting last couple of days, between Sega's challenge to gamers to come up with what game to make next and then Christian Whitehead's surprise response unveiling a remarkable Sonic CD proof of concept port created with his own Retro Engine Development Kit.
Eager to know more about both Sonic CD and the iPhone Retro Engine and Retro Engine Development Kit (or RDSK), we fired off a series of questions. The interview is totally worth a read, but beware, it will only make you want Sonic CD and other games produced by the RDSK even more.
Eli Hodapp: How flexible is the RSDK? Is it tied to a game like Sonic or would something like Castlevania with RPG elements be possible?
Christian Whitehead: All of the actual Sonic CD logic is script driven, so the Retro Engine is more than capable of different styles of gameplay. A game like Castlevania would definitely be possible, since the engine excels at handling 2D side scrollers. Stuff like top down RPG's would be fine too, I wouldn't count it on doing something like a full on 3D racing game though!
Four great games went on sale this week, each providing a pretty amazing value for their sale price of 99¢. If you don't own these games yet, there's no time better than the present to go looking for change in your couch cushions.
Radial 50 (Radial 50 Lite) - A colorful brick-breaker with 50 different levels, online leaderboards, achievements, and cool music. The developers posted a gameplay video on YouTube and we found Radial 50 to be a fun spin on the standard brick breaking genre.
Slotz Racer - If you ever played with slot car tracks as a kid, this is the game for you. Playable with four players on a single device (or against AI opponents), you race miniature cars around a slot car track. Included is a full track editor to re-create tracks you played in the past, or make entirely new and crazy tracks and share them with friends using an alphanumeric code system. The physics of the game can also be altered to better match the slot car system you grew up with. We've covered Slotz many times in the past between developer interviews and gameplay videos.
Star Hogs (Star Hogs Lite) - A fantastic Worms-like artillery-style turn-based combat game. Featuring intense customization of your four ships, a single player campaign, and full internet multiplayer, Star Hogs is an unbelievable value at 99¢. We originally saw Star Hogs at WWDC, liked what they showed us, and later went on to really enjoy the final game in our review. Some have criticized the game's graphics, and while they're nowhere near as colorful as Worms, the gameplay is solid and online multiplayer is awesome.
Top Gun - Top Gun is exactly what a game based on a movie should be. The highly refined tilt controls and gameplay combined with the astronomical framerate (even on older devices) makes for a great experience. Featuring licensed music, ten different missions across multiple environments, achievements, and even some easter eggs, Top Gun is a really fun game.
A few lite versions of games we have enjoyed in the past popped up on the App Store this week. If you haven't bought these games yet, here's your chance to give them a try. App titles link to Lite versions.
PathPix Lite ($1.99) - Kris Pixton's simple puzzle game we enjoyed where you draw lines to connect colored numbers. The length of each path you draw must equal the numbers you're connecting. Starting off simple and graduating to massively complex levels, when you finish connecting all the lines the level zooms out and you can see the picture you were making.
Pipe Mania Lite ($4.99) - Based on the 1989 Amiga game, Pipe Mania has been ported and remade many times over the years and even served as the motivation behind oodles of mini-games such as hacking in BioShock. Players connect pipes going from a faucet to a drain using the random pieces the game gives you. For more details, check out our review.
Tyrian Lite ($1.99) - A DOS-era vertical shooter ported to the iPhone using touch controls to shoot everything that moves. Featuring two game modes, Full, where you can customize your weapons, and Arcade where upgrades appear randomly. We enjoyed the game in our review, and the weapon upgrade bug that was mentioned has since been fixed.
Westbang Lite (99¢) - A reaction tap-shooter where you play as a sheriff of a small town tasked with the job of taking out bandits. It's not as simple as it sounds, as you not only have to properly identify your targets, but also wait until they draw. In our review we recommended Westbang as a fun and casual gaming experience.
StarByte has let us know that their squad-based first person shooter Nex has finally been submitted to Apple for approve. We first reported on the game back in February.
You are in charge of a small human commando squad battling terrifying hoards of violent aliens in dark, gloomy, confined spaceship wastelands.
You’ll need razor-sharp reactions during solo missions and a combination of aggression and strategic planning when ordering your commando squad if you are to have any hope of meeting your varied mission objectives.
The game certainly sounds like an ambitious effort, and StarByte has released this new gameplay video in anticipation of the release:
The control pad on the screen seems to adopt a Wolf 3D style controller as default, though an accelerometer-based controls also appears to be available. Squad-based control of the game is detailed here:
Q. There are two (or three) commandos in my mission – which one am I?
A. You control one directly in the play screen. The others will carry out any orders they have. However, you can switch to any other commando by tapping the mini-commando icon on the play screen – you would then take direct control of him. If you switched into a commando currently under a move (or follow) order, you’ll see the intended path highlighted on the scanner. The other commandos will continue to carry out their orders. They are also aware of dangers and will turn to fire at any approaching aliens.
More details on the game as well as tips and FAQs can be found on StarByte's site. We're looking forward to trying this one out.
HeroCraft has announced their upcoming futuristic 3D racing game called Protoxide Racing. The game began development over a year ago. Final feature list planned includes:
5 different ships to choose from, ranging from the heavy tank-like to the light and fast bike-like
4 worlds of 4 racing tracks each, 16 tracks in a total
5 weapon types, pick-up bonuses like nitro or nuclear weapons
Quick race and career modes
Multiplayer over WiFi
Hall of fame, both local and online
3D stereo sound, cool music
Motion sensor controlled steering (or swipe controlled if you’d prefer)
The video is said to be from an early prototype, so elements will change by release. There have been a few similar competitors including Low Grav Racer [Lite] and Phaze [Lite] that have both received mixed reactions in our forums.
For some reason we seem to be drawn to these futuristic-racing titles, likely in an effort to relive Wipeout. We'll have to see if Protoxide can deliver.
Taito's Space Invaders Inifinity Gene [$4.99] was finally unleashed into the App Store tonight, and our reaction is simply "Wow!".
The iPhone version of the game is an expanded version of the Japanese mobile version and walks you down an evolutionary path of shooters starting with a brief glimpse of the original Space Invaders. Each stage adds new capabilities and weapons to your ship and can even unlock additional menu items and options for the game itself. It becomes a frantic and incredibly fun experience that has blown away my expectations, and delivers one of the best shooter experiences on the iPhone.
You start off as a simple left/right moving single shooter from the original Space Invaders and gain advanced weapons as well as the ability to move freely around the screen.
The official trailer offers a high quality glimpse of the varied gameplay:
Space Invaders Infinity Gene offers touch screen controls seem perfect, allowing you to touch and hold on any part of the screen to move your ship around. This avoids the problem of obscuring your ship with your finger, and can allow for some precise dodging as seen in my gameplay video below. Meanwhile, the shooting is set to auto-fire.
By unlocking additional capabilities, you add to your evolutionary tree which is depicted as a menu level-select tree. Evolutionary power-ups include advanced weapons such as rapid shot, search laser, wave, lock-on, and gravity. Other unlockables include extra stages, and even extra menu items. For example, the settings menu originally only allows you to have 3 lives per game, but later unlocks allow 5 or even 7 lives (this is as far as I've gotten). The extra lives and weapons come in handy in later levels as the difficulty ramps up. The game also comes with "Easy" and "Normal" difficulties, though it wouldn't surprise me if a "Hard" mode unlocks later on (update: this has been confirmed to happen).
While the official stage count is 38, the possible number of levels to play is essentially infinite. The game includes a unique "Music" menu option that allows you to pick a song from your iPhone/iPod's library and play a song-specifically generated game level (see video above). This means that when you go back to play using the same song, you'll get the same level. And if your friend is playing on their iPhone using the identical MP3, he or she will also get the same level. (Note that the levels don't actually follow the tempo or beat of the songs, but are programatically generated from the song data.)
At this stage, my only suggestion for the game would be a more robust high-score tracking system. While the built-in stages store high score records, the music generated levels don't seem to.
Space Invaders Infinite Gene is an amazing effort by Taito to bring a fresh and modern version of Space Invaders to the iPhone. The loads of unlockables, varied gameplay and music-generated levels should give this game a long shelf life on your iPhone. If it's not obvious by now, we highly recommend buying this game.
A while ago we were let in on a secret project in the works by iPhone developer Christian Whitehead. He is responsible for the iPhone Retro Engine and Retro Engine Development Kit or RDSK. Using the RDSK, Whitehead is able to develop classic 2D games in a fraction of the time it would take to build them from scratch with performance levels that literally blow the games Sega has released so far out of the water.
He built this Sonic CD proof of concept, without the use of the original game's source code or a disassembly. The video is really impressive and shows Sonic CD running at 60 frames per second on an iPod Touch.
Whitehead has actually been in contact with Sega regarding doing an enhanced port of Sonic CD for the iPhone, but Sega's challenge to their fans to come up with what they want to see them produce next has pushed the developer into making this project public.
If this is what you want Sega to release next, let them know. For more information on this remarkable Sonic CD port, check out the thread in our forums.
This afternoon Sega invited iPhone and iPod Touch gamers to an online brainstorming session on their blog looking for new ideas of what they should bring to the App Store next:
Any idea is welcome, no matter how out there or random, we’ll take it and add it the list for the presentation. There are some restrictions, but that’s expected, right? First, it has to be a Sega game, meaning no other publisher’s titles, even if they did appear on our old systems (I know, I know, I want to see a Road Rash sequel too). Second, we can’t accept original game ideas, we’re not looking for acquisitions for new titles in this brainstorming session. And that’s pretty much it, go to town and tell us what you want to see.
They're gathering feedback on Twitter, Facebook, their forums, and on the actual blog post itself. Discuss with other TouchArcaders in our forum or in this story's comment thread. So, if you'd like to see a Sega game made, now is your chance!
I got my hands on an early copy of Nano Rally [App Store] late last week and have since put a fair bit of time in to the game. If you're looking for a pint-sized racer to stoke the coals of Micro Machines nostalgia, look no further.
Nano Rally has players driving a tiny car around six different environments which range from a kitchen table scattered with produce, a desk littered with office supplies, and other miniature makeshift race tracks. Before each race, you're shown an overview of the track and given the opportunity to customize the performance of your car. Acceleration, top speed, braking power, and handling all can be tweaked to help get the best time on each track.
The game features both touch and tilt controls, and while I've found myself preferring touch controls, some players on our forums seemed to prefer tilt. The main thing that I thought took a little getting used to in the game is that when you steer your car, the track turns instead of your car. It's a little disorienting at first, but otherwise the gameplay is solid.
If I had to say something bad about Nano Rally it would be the lack of AI opponents, no multiplayer, and only one car to drive. But, at the same time, for a 99¢ game it's hard to expect much more than what's already included. Instead of racing against on-screen opponents, in championship mode you race against the clock to unlock additional tracks.
Unlocking new tracks can be difficult, although I've found that the key to getting great times is trial and error as you tweak how your car is tuned for each individual track. A few players on our forum have mentioned the high level of difficulty, but you can't really have every track in a game like this being a total cake walk or you could blow through the whole game in a half hour.
The developer is already working on the 1.1 update which will include racing lines, adjustable difficulty levels, and a fixed camera to rotate the car instead of the track when you steer as well as taking suggestions for 1.2 in our forums. For what it is, Nano Rally is a great little game, and the developer seems very involved in gathering community feedback to refine the game with updates.
Blue Island Coding's first iPhone game, Cataica [App Store] was released a few weeks ago. Listed as "an arcade classic captured in comic style," it's hard to come up with a better way to describe Cataica.
Based on the 1979 Arari game, Asteroids, Cataica replaces the black and white vector graphics of the original with the choice of three different ships, different types of asteroids, aliens, and power-ups. Tilting the phone controls your ships, and like most tilt-based games these controls can be calibrated in the option menu. High scores are recorded on a global leaderboard.
Cataica is free this week. While a relatively simple game, it's a very nice take on Asteroids and certainly worth downloading.
Some of our readers have been waiting for a game just like Moto X Mayhem [$1.99] from Occamy Games. The game is a faster-paced version of various physics bike games that have already appeared in the app store and resembles many of the popular Flash dirt bike games. In fact, this version seems near identical to TeaGames' TG Motocross.
The game is a physics dirt biking gaming in which you are simply trying to make it to the end of each level with the best time. If you fall, you've got to start over. The controls work quite well on the iPhone with the natural use of the accelerometer for leaning forward/backward on your bike. Tapping on the left side of the screen brakes while tapping on the right accelerates. You can perform flips, though no bonus points are given for these stunts. Despite the nicely implemented controls and gameplay, the remainder of the game is remarkably sparse.
The game comes with only 7 levels which in total took me about 2 minutes and 21 seconds to complete once I had practiced enough to be able to make it through. Making it through within the allotted lives isn't a cinch and does take practice. The incentive to keep playing is to improve your times. The game does contain a global leaderboard to compare total track times, and each track can be practiced individually.
We really like what we've seen, but we want a lot more. There are similar physics types games including another dirt bike one called Motocross [$3.99] which does have many more levels, but we just didn't like the design or gameplay of that one as much.
Following the surprising early accidental release of Resident Evil 4 [App Store] in Japan a few weeks ago, iPhone owning Resident Evil fanatics have been anxiously anticipating its official release. The wait is over, but it will likely take a true Resident Evil fan to appreciate the mobile edition of the game (or, ironically, one who has never played the original).
An on-screen D-Pad controls your movement along with a array of buttons lining the right hand side of the screen that control all of your actions. Resident Evil 4 features a slight improvement to the control scheme in Resident Evil: Degeneration [App Store] that we reviewed previously. It seems like Leon moves a little bit faster, and double tapping on the D-Pad while aiming makes you take a step in that direction.
Since in a game like this controls are everything, I highly recommend giving Resident Evil: Degeneration Lite [App Store] a try before picking up Resident Evil 4. They take a lot of getting used to, and the inability to run and aim at the same time doesn't translate particularly well to the virtual D-Pad either.
The thing that gets me about this version of the game is that the console and PC versions of Resident Evil 4 are such amazing games. In fact, RE 4 saw so much critical acclaim that it a "Reception" section summarizing its awards in the Resident Evil 4 Wikipedia article. Many publications listed it as the 2005 game of the year, and Resident Evil 4 even ranked number 1 on the "IGN Readers' Top 99 Games Of All Time" list.
Unfortunately, the iPhone version of the game (ported from BREW) seems so watered down that it's barely even recognizable as Resident Evil 4. All of the amazing plot elements and cut scenes are replaced by brief text introductions to each of the twelve levels, all of the voice overs are gone, and overall this just really feels like what you would expect a cell phone game to be-- which needless to say does not do justice to the original at all.
AppBank posted the following gameplay video of the Japanese version:
If you're interested in the series or enjoyed Resident Evil: Degeneration, chances are you will still have fun with Resident Evil 4 despite its shortfalls. If you're brand new to the game, however, I'd recommend starting with one of the other console versions if you can, but then again, you can't exactly play your GameCube while sitting on the bus.
We gave some quick impressions of Touch KO immediately after its release, but have since been able to spend some time to play through the game. As we mentioned before, the game offers an impressive looking boxing game for your iPhone.
Touch KO's multi-touch controls are surprisingly comfortable and an in-game tutorial walks you through the moves. Tapping either the left or right side of the screen punches with that arm, and different gestures like swiping towards the center lets loose a hook, while swiping upwards throws an uppercut. Holding your thumb on either side of the screen blocks with that arm, and tilting the iPhone makes you dodge. The controls are rather easy to pick up and contribute to a rather immersive experience once you get comfortable.
In fact, I'd say that Touch KO's controls are one of the best aspects of the game. In contrast, while the main boxing competitor in the App Store, Iron Fist Boxing [$3.99], seems to have "deeper" controls, I was never able to get as comfortable with its four-quadrant portrait oriented system. Ironically, though, Touch KO's control's simplicity has been one of the criticisms of the game as there are no body shots or lower punches possible.
As mentioned in our impressions article, however, many of the early customers found that the game was too easy. While there seems to be some differing opinions amongst players exactly how easy, the general sentiment remains the same and one that we also agree with.
The game offers a career mode that takes you through Amateur, Professional and Championship tiers as you earn money to upgrade your equipment. Completion of the career mode consists of 30+ fights to win before you can be declared Champion. Each fight lasts as many as five 3-minute rounds. However, once you get good enough, a match can easily be over within the first round by a knockout. This means depending on your skills, career mode could be over in just a couple of hours. While you can continue to fight on after being declared champion, once I had gotten my groove, none of the last tier fighters offered me any challenge at all. (The developers seem aware of the AI criticisms and are planning on adding an "expert" mode in the first update.)
The game also suffers from some minor 1.0 issues including a lack of a pause button as well as the inability to skip past knockout instant replays which can get tedious to watch.
For those looking for another opinion on Touch KO can look at Big Albie's user review which goes into more detail on the game mechanics, but comes to the same general conclusion:
The best looking boxing game available in the iTunes store but weak AI hinders it; for the price, it delivers cheap entertainment, but keep your expectations in check
The game does have great controls, a high quality look and feel, and a lot of potential, but experienced gamers are finding the game to be too easy in its current form.
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Bouncing Ball Games recently released their puzzle game Double Maze in both full [$1.99] and Lite [Free] versions. 
This afternoon Sega 
Blue Island Coding's first iPhone game, Cataica [
