From the makers of Dizzy Bee and Bed Bugs comes Flipside [$2.99], a remarkably fun and original matching game.

Flipside presents you with a board of two-sided tiles. Each tile has a shape on each side (star, heart, diamond, circle, and X). Your goal is to match 3 or more tiles of the same shape.

It all seems pretty straight-forward until you realize you get penalized if you match tiles on the back-side of the tiles. Even more mind-blowing is that in versus mode, your opponent is playing on the back-side of your board, and you are each trying to get matches on your respective sides.

Flipside offers 4 different game modes including Survival, Puzzle, Vs. Com and Peer-to-Peer. Survival offers 20 levels of progressively faster paced gameplay where you try to prevent the screen from overflowing by matching as fast as you can. In this mode, back-side matches result in a shower of penalty tiles that brings the board closer to filling. Survival mode starts quite slow but starts ramping up around level 8. Fortunately, the game allows you to start at any previously unlocked level, so you can get straight away into the action again. Meanwhile, Puzzle mode offers a familiar challenge of trying to clear all the blocks from pre-set boards by strategically flipping the correct pieces to create front-side matches.

The game, however, really shines in Vs. mode. The game offers 5 different AI opponents at 5 different difficulties that can be played in a set of rounds. Each player is given a match meter which grows as you make more matches. The first player to fill their meter, wins the round.

Remember, you are playing on the same board of tiles, just on different sides, so every move affects the other player. If you are fortunate enough to have a friend with an iPhone, you can play against them head to head over Bluetooth.

The main deficiency in the game is the lack of any high score mechanism or even what one might consider a more traditional "endless" mode. The game progress is primarily determined by the progressively harder unlockable levels and there appears to be no high score records, either local or global. As well, the game does not save state when you quit so you'll lose progress if you do.

For a brand new puzzle game, the mechanic works remarkably well. Aside from the silhouettes of the back-side shapes, each tile is also conveniently color coded to also reflect the back-side shape. I found that it took very little time to become comfortable with scanning the titles.

Flipside is a fresh new matching concept that has been incredibly well executed, however, the lack of high score record keeping and non-traditional level progression may be an issue for some.

App Store Link: Flipside, $2.99

Here are a number of recently released Lite versions of games that are worth trying out.

Gameloft's Dungeon Hunter [App Store] is a hack and slash RPG easily comparable to either the Diablo or Dungeon Siege series. In the game you play as a prince who was recently resurrected to vanquish evil from your once glorious kingdom. The story doesn't come off as particularly deep or original, but it more than gets the job done.

Your quest (and associated subquests) will have you venturing across the land and killing (almost) everything that moves in a variety of different environments. The dungeons and villages you come across are beautifully rendered, greatly adding to the fantasy atmosphere and dark mood of the game. Just like the rest of the games that Gameloft has been releasing lately, there were several moments where I experienced a "Wow, I can't believe this is running on my phone" feeling as dimly lit corridors lead into giant expanses lit by candle with legions of skeletons to be slain.

Your character movement can either be handled using an on-screen virtual joystick or touch controls. The joystick is self explanatory, but with the touch controls enabled a small red cross will appear anywhere you touch in the game world and your character will run there. I've found myself preferring the virtual joystick, although touch controls work just as well once you get over the learning curve of figuring out the nuances of the pathing your character chooses to take to reach the point that you touched.

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Viacheslav Klimov's Alien Glyphs [$0.99] is an interesting new perception/matching game that has you exercising your mind in a surprisingly pressure-filled scenario. This game definitely carries a "how hard could this be?" vibe that is quickly dismissed as you start playing.

The game begins with a board of symbols. At set intervals, a new symbol slides into the top of the screen and your job is to match it with one of the symbols found on the board. Tap off a symbol and the top symbol is eliminated. Another symbol takes its place and so on. If you take too long to match up the symbol, however, the timer will run out and another symbol will appear. Take even longer and the row of symbols will fill eventually up and you lose a life. Three levels of difficulty (Easy, Medium, and Hard) should provide plenty of challenge.

Alien Glyphs tries to spice it up with Power-Ups, Power-Downs, that can be triggered or deactivated by matching quickly enough. However, I found myself too busy looking for matches to really register their presence. The game also offers multiple different skins for the glyphs if the neon red isn't to your liking.

The developer video shows the game in action:

While the game does carry a global high score list, a few factors might affect the value of those scores. Through no real fault of the game, itself, it turns out that high-score cheating is quite easy. Even having just two people playing at once on the same iPhone would give you an enormous advantage.

The other factor is a design decision by the developer. The starting board for each game is not randomized by default. They found that randomly changing the board for each game made the game too difficult. As a result, they have 100 distinct starting sets that can be chosen either manually (or at random, if you prefer). This gives you a chance to keep practicing on the same set over time. This doesn't actually make the as easy as it sounds as different factors can affect the positions of the glyphs in the course of a game.

As a result, the real strength of the game is the individual mental challenge it presents in what is a seemingly simple task. The overall production value of the game and music also make it stand out.

App Store Link: Alien Glyphs, $0.99

Chillingo also revealed to us another upcoming game today that they described as "Gauntlet on steroids". Gauntlet, of course, being the classic multiplayer Atari arcade game where you hacked and slashed your way through levels. And The Relic sounds like it's going to mimic that gameplay:

You find yourself in the deepest level of a dungeon - you must seek out and destroy the Quinotaur (a 5 horned Dragon). The beast has ruled over 1,000 years and - through the power of The Relic - re-animates the dead and draws power from them.

The game is described as a hack n'slack close-combat multi-player game that can be played by 1 to 4 people. You'll fight against zombies, skeletons, huge spiders and more with 3D graphics and frantic action.

With the release of iPhone OS 3.1, developers are now allowed to produce augmented reality (AR) apps for the iPhone. We first covered this technology on the iPhone back in March, when we met with game researcher Blair MacIntyre about his work in the field.

Augmented Reality is described as a combination of real-world and computer-generated data, where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time.

Unfortunately, at the time, the iPhone SDK prevented full exposure to the proper APIs required to implement it. All that changed with iPhone 3.1.

Several developers seem to be working on Augmented Reality applications, with several attempts at games. Chillingo has revealed that they are bringing Toyspring's Arcade Reality AR game to the iPhone. Arcade Reality was first released for the Palm Treo and offers a number of game modes:

• Arcade Reality - the main mode, featuring the first person perspective shooting scored for precision, interleaved with the special "bonus levels"
• Infinite Shooter - simple shooter without sophisticated goals, just kill everything that moves
• Asteroids Mode - 3D version of the well known game. Steering the spaceship feels similar to an RC toy - you must figure out which side is "left" or "right" depending on the current orientation

Video from the Palm Treo version shows the basic gameplay, demonstrating the overlaying of video game graphics on real life surroundings.

Meanwhile, Freeverse has recently released a simple AR app called Fairy Trails [$0.99] which offers a bit of a tech demo, and Yelp recently included an early version as an easter egg.

We'll be interested to see how Arcade Reality actually plays on the iPhone as well as seeing what else the future might hold.

Last week we took a look at NaturalMotion's Backbreaker Football [App Store], a title that lies somewhere in between a very impressive tech demo and a fun football minigame.

The gimmick behind Backbreaker is the morpheme physics engine. Instead of having pre-generated tackle animations, everything is done on the fly and because of this no two tackles ever should be the same. Like most games that use some variation of a ragdoll physics model, sometimes things can go awry producing hilarious and highly unrealistic results, but overall the animations are cool enough to sometimes make you want to watch the multi-view replays after each tackle.

More information on Backbreaker can be found in our review:

The gameplay of Backbreaker is structured in to a series of challenges where you run down a football field juking, spinning, and sprinting past defenders attempting to tackle you. You run by tilting your device forward, and the direction you run is controlled by tilting left or right similar to how you would control a racing game.

The different levels start simple, initially only asking you to evade a few defenders on a wide open field. Backbreaker quickly adds a twist with the inclusion of red lines on the field that you must run between without getting tackled. Step across one of these lines and you have to start the whole level over.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Backbreaker Football is a technically impressive game that can be a lot of fun as long as you realize that you're only getting a running minigame and aren't actually looking for a full football experience. I've had a great time playing it, and similar to Homerun Battle 3D [$4.99], Backbreaker is a great game for sports fans to play for a few minutes at a time.

App Store Link: Backbreaker Football, 99¢

BadBumble has dropped the price of their game Solitaire Siege to free for today (Sept 29th) only. The price drop is in celebration of the developer's 2nd wedding anniversary. The game is a clever take on Pyramid Solitaire that we've enjoyed, and today's sale has certainly brought it again to our attention.

The main gameplay of Solitaire Siege surrounds a siege mode where you must take out the enemy forces represented by cards. The game uses a standard 52 card deck and plays like Pyramid. You can only remove cards that are either one higher or one lower than the exposed card. If there are no cards available, you need to draw from the deck. In siege mode, you have to be sure you don't actually have a move before drawing from the deck or your army will take damage. The goal is to remove all the cards (enemy forces).

The game mixes up play with the use of special power-up cards that must be used correctly in order to complete the levels. Overall, a nice game that's certainly worth trying.

App Store Link: Solitaire Siege, Free today

iPhone developers Neptune Interactive and Smells Like Donkey have teamed up to create a casual fighting game inspired by classics like Street Fighter and Karateka.

Readers may remember Neptune Interactive as the creator of 7 Cities [$2.99] while Smells Like Donkey is most famously known for iJiggles [99¢].

Tap Fu is a fighting game that features story and survival game modes along with training and free play. The default control scheme utilizes gestures and taps to move your character around and fight the onslaught of evil ninjas that are attacking you. A virtual D-Pad control scheme is also included.

Meanwhile, the combat in Tap Fu is spiced up by adding a combo system as well as style points that have been seen before in other games, notably the Devil May Cry series. Tap Fu will initially come loaded with the "Ninjas of the SweetTooth Clan" chapter and the developers have plans to implement more content over time. The game also comes with online leaderboards and achievements.

The video shows a very nice look at the combat hands-on:

Tap Fu was recently submitted to the App Store, so assuming no approval delays, it should be available for download inside of two weeks.

Richard Wilson released a nice vertical shoot 'em up tonight with SkySmash 1918. The $0.99 game offers 9 levels of very nicely drawn artwork in which you pilot an aircraft against enemy fighters, defenses and even boss enemies.

The game follows the vertical shoot 'em up formula pretty closely, and offers scattered power-ups that can invoke gun upgrades, bombs, temporarily invincibility and more.

The game's 9 levels are offered in a progressive unlocking manner, meaning you can replay any level you've reached. Each level seems to stand alone, however, as no power-ups carry over from the previous levels. This allows you to try to progressively make your way through levels without much penalty from starting anywhere. The local high scores, however, are tabulated as a cumulative score rather than being level specific. The game also offers a bit of a mix of level objectives, departing occasionally from the standard "destroy %% of the enemy" goals.

Controls are entirely touch with a double-tap invoking your special power-up weapon. There is also a toggle to allow for relative control where the ship moves relative to your finger movement, rather than sitting right under your finger at all times.

Forum user beldandy561 shared detailed thoughts that we felt were an accurate reflection of the game. While finding it impressive for $0.99, he felt there was a bit of a lack of variety of boss enemies as well as some significant difficulty ramp up across the normal difficulty levels. The game does, however, offer 3 modes of difficulty (easy, normal and hard).

At $0.99, SkySmash 1918 offers a solid challenging shooter with some nice touches.

App Store Link: SkySmash 1918, $0.99

If it ever crossed your mind that you wanted to play both Flight Control and Harbor Master simultaneously... well, Harbor Havoc 3D will give you that chance. Backflip Studios, the developer behind Paper Toss and Ragdoll Blaster, has recently announced their new line drawing game that incorporates vehicles in different altitudes to add a new dimension to the genre.

The game offers up to 3 different layers so you many be controlling helicopters, boats and submarines. Obviously, submarines can collide with submarines but can safely pass by boats and helicopters.

Perhaps more interesting is the incorporation of a night time level where a light house offers you a limited view of what's going on. The video shows these elements in play.

Is it going to be enough to distinguish itself in an already crowded genre? We're not sure, but we've really enjoyed Backflip's other games, so we're more than willing to give it a go. Harbor Havoc 3D has just been submitted to Apple for approval.

Freeverse's upcoming baseball game, Flick Baseball is looking even more impressive than when we first saw it at WWDC. In the past few months the developers have been adding all kinds of functionality to the game, creating an amazingly complete baseball experience for the iPhone. We had a chance to take a look at an early build of the game at GDC Austin 2009.

Different game modes are included ranging from exhibition games to a full 165 game season mode where you play from opening day to the championships. If you don't want to commit to quite that much baseball, 11, 33, and 66 game seasons are also available. There's even a multiplayer homerun derby mode.

Flick Baseball has a lineup of 34 teams to choose from, each with different rosters and statistics. The game doesn't have MLB licensing, but you can customize absolutely ever aspect of the teams from names to jersey colors. If playing as the Cubs is important to you, and you're willing to spend the time to build the entire team, there's nothing stopping you.

Freeverse has released this trailer video of the game's customization and gameplay:

And of course Flick Baseball has Plus+ along with the standard load out of social networking integration to brag about your scores via email, Twitter, Facebook, and others.

Flick Baseball is still in development and should be released during the fourth quarter of this year.

In the final days of the Tokyo Game Show 2009, Game Watch reports that Capcom revealed a new upcoming game which appears to be a version of Ghouls 'n Ghosts for the iPhone. Ghouls 'n Ghosts was the sequel to Ghosts 'n Goblins and has seen a number of different versions over the years with Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts and recently Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins for the PSP.

The exact title of the iPhone game, however, was not revealed, though the game is said to use 3D models while still being a 2D side-scrolling action game.

The game is a side-scrolling 2D action game, but the graphics are rendered in 3D polygons. It seems as if you can choose between two initial protagonists at the game's outset, 'Arthur' and 'Lancelot'.

In that way, it shares some characteristics with the PSP's Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins which was the first of the series rendered in 3D. Another photo shows the in-game map:

Capcom did not reveal the target price or release date.

Gameloft's Diablo-like action RPG Dungeon Hunter [$6.99] has returned to the App Store with a new version update.

The game originally appeared a couple of weeks ago but was pulled due to a major bug preventing game progress past the Forge level. This update offers a fix for this issue and brings the game back to the App Store.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

The game is now available for $6.99.

App Store Link: Dungeon Hunter, $6.99

Dromsynt's Squareball is one of those games that seems to demonstrate what a wide range of reactions a single gameplay mechanic can generate.

Squareball offers a touch-screen spin on the retro gameplay of breakout. The ball in Squareball constantly bounces up and down and your job is to navigate it to the end while knocking out certain blocks and avoiding others. You'll also need to avoid gaps in the wall that will send your ball flying out to oblivion.

Instead of controlling the ball's movement, you are actually sliding the level around the ball by swiping your finger on the iPhone's screen. The game runs very smoothly and adopts a simple "retro" look for its graphics. Here's the game in action:

It certainly isn't an easy game and is, in fact, quite frustrating. But is it fun? Well, we played the game shortly after its release, and we didn't love it. While we liked some aspects of the game, we simply didn't feel compelled to keep on playing, and therefore couldn't recommend it.

While that might have been the last of it, some rave reviews (higher ranked than Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor at IGN) and interviews drawing parallels to Super Mario Brothers, make it clear that a certain group of you are going to go gaga over this game. Meanwhile, others had an even more negative reaction than we did with iLounge saying the game is "worth asking for your money back if you make the mistake to actually buy it."

Now, the recent release of a Lite version gives you the chance to decide into which camp you belong.

App Store Link: Squareball, $1.99, Squareball Lite, Free