Our February game ratings are in place now, and here are the top of the heap. Our monthly "best of" round-up summarizes the top rated games that we looked at in the previous month. Each game reviewed receives a 1-5 star rating relative to the other games from that month. Generally, a 3 or higher is considered a "good" rating.

Our final scores are not the product of any traditionally objective measures such as graphics or sound, but simply reflect the games we would most recommend to others.

5 Stars

Space Miner - It's probably no surprise that this game topped our list for February. Space Miner: Space Ore Bust has an unusually broad appeal successfully mixing shooter and RPG genres into a humorous and well scripted package. Whatever sort of gamer you are, don't miss out on this one. (Review, App Store)

Plants vs. Zombies - Popcap's breakout hit for PC has come to the iPhone -- and it's great. Popcap took the standard tower defense formula and greatly simplified it. Instead of a path to build towers along, you drop seeds in your yard which then grow in to plants that have various offensive or defensive capabilities. While it does lack a few gameplay modes from the original, the iPhone adaption is very well done and highly recommended. (Review, App Store)

4.5 Stars

Doom II RPG - Like Wolfenstein RPG before it, id Software’s latest venture into the world of Doom has more in common with turn-based dungeon hacks than twitch shooters. While it may seem like a strange direction for the franchise to explore, it really works. The excellent game design kept us on the edge of our seats throughout. (Review, App Store)

X2 Snowboarding - We were happy to report in February that a quality snowboarding title had finally landed on the iPhone. X2 Snowboarding from Exient is a highly enjoyable romp on the slopes that sets itself apart from the crowd in graphics, controls and gameplay. With a great sense of speed and immersion, this is our snowboarding game of choice for the iPhone. (Review, App Store / Lite)

The rest of February game ratings can be seen in their respective rating categories (also found in the sidebar navigation): 5 Stars, 4.5 Stars, 4 Stars, 3.5 Stars, 3 Stars, and 2 Stars.

As always, we expect there will be some debate about relative scores, but keep in mind that everyone's personal ratings may vary based on individual tastes.

Do you have what it takes to help Mark the mole locate the elusive Terracore gem?  That's the question, really, in Roo Games' recent release Mole - Quest for the Terracore Gem! [App Store].

Mole is a game that, on the surface resembles classic Dig Dug, but is really a deeper game (sorry) that's much more about scoring up in order to better equip your character than simple arcade action. In Mole, you start off as a rather ill-equipped Mark the mole that can't do much beyond burrow about the top-most layer of the six-layer underground world that hides the fabled Terracore Gem (in the deepest layer, of course). While burrowing, you can pick up various precious metals and gems, and they can be used to up your gear in the equip shop -- and better gear is what really opens up the game. It's a gear-to-gameplay dynamic that's reminiscent of that in Hook Champ.

The aforementioned shop offers air tanks, pick axes, gem detectors, and the like for the player with enough metal. All of them help you on your quest, but the most important upgrade would have to be the air tanks, for, despite the occasional pockets of air that can be found in some (but not all) of the underground layers, you're not going to get very deep without some serious tankage. And the Terracore Gem lies deep.

The game offers very simplistic controls that work quite well; tap out some distance from your mole and he'll move there or just hold and drag in the direction you want to travel. The arrangement of on-screen indicators can be adjusted for left or right players, as well.

See the developer's gameplay video.

This is one of those games that delivers just a really nice balance between light playfield strategy (how deep should you go with your limited oxygen supply?) and asset allocation (how best to spend money in the shop?). If break-neck arcade action is what you're after, then Mole - Quest for the Terracore Gem! will disappoint, but for the gamer that can weigh risks and keep their eye on the goal, this one is a true hidden gem.

In honor of the Game Developers Conference 2010, Mole is free until Sunday, March 14th.

App Store Link: Mole - Quest for the Terracore Gem, Free (limited time, normally $1.99)

With the launch date of the iPad now set for April 3rd (wi-fi version) developers are gearing up to have games in the app store for you to download. Secret Exit was kind enough to send us an email with details about their upcoming Zen Bound 2, the sequel of their smash hit Zen Bound.

Earlier this year we posted screenshots of Zen Bound 2 running on a 3GS with very little details about the finished game. The new screenshots we were sent today only show the iPad. At this point it seems like they are focused on the iPad version for launch, with iPhone version possibly coming at a later date.

What we do is know, the new version will include upgraded versions of the levels in the last game and brand new levels with new kinds of gameplay. It will also include the same great sound track from Ghost Monkey with a few new songs thrown in. You can listen to one now on sound cloud.

They plan to have the game ready in time for the iPad launch in April. There has been a lot of discussion in our forums about this highly anticipated game.

Screenshots:

When you look at the lineup of iPhone games in the App Store you will notice a few genres that seem a little crowded. One of these is castle defense type games, so I was kind of surprised to see a developer working on one to join the ranks of the many other castle defenders such as the highly detailed 2D Knights Onrush [99¢] and Gameloft's 3D Castle Frenzy [99¢].

Gamedoctors, an independent developer form Germany, is hard at work putting on the finishing touches on a game they call, ZombieSmash! In an effort to have their game standout they’re using the strangely popular (and arguably overdone) theme of zombie killing to draw gamers in.

After watching the trailer you can see the game has cartoony look and some amusing killing methods. ZombieSmash! also includes something they're calling the "splatter engine" that is powering the zombie ragdoll physics and excessive amounts of blood spewing everywhere. Gamedoctors is trying to get people to call it a survival comedy, but we’ll have to wait and see if that sticks.

The game should hit the App Store in March for $1.99.

Late last year Volkswagen teamed up with Firemint to bring us Real Racing GTI [Free], a cleverly disguised free demo of Real Racing [$4.99] loaded with VW cars and branding that is still totally worth downloading if you haven't tried out Real Racing yet.

VW's most recent collaboration was just released today, this time working with Fish Labs to bring us what appears to be some kind of crazy economical driving edutainment game that appears to share a similar game engine to their previously released Rally Master Pro 3D [$4.99]. In Volkswagen Think Blue. Challenge [Free], instead of racing as quickly as you can, players are forced to drive economically.

As silly as this sounds for a video game, doing well is actually quite challenging. You start the game with a small amount of gas, and with each checkpoint you come to, you're asked an often obvious question about fuel efficiency to get more fuel. You then try to drive as far as you can with the amount of gas the game gives you. This means intelligent throttle management, coasting down hills, taking turns properly to not lose speed, and other economical driving techniques the game explains for you.

When you finally run out of gas, your distance is submitted to a global online leaderboard showing how far the world's most economical drivers have gotten in the game. Initially I just wrote Volkswagen Think Blue. Challenge off as a marketing gimmick, but after playing a few games it's really kind of neat how the game encourages highly technical driving. So often in driving games you're able to just go all out, bounce through corners and off other cars with little if any penalty at all and this is a nice, albeit fairly odd, change of pace.

Volkswagen Think Blue. Challenge is free, and who knows, you might even learn something about economical driving that could end up saving you money on gas in your own car. If you like the graphics in the game and how it calls out turns for you, be sure to check out Fish Labs' game this seems to be based on, Rally Master Pro which we posted a review on when it was first released.

App Store Link: Volkswagen Think Blue. Challenge, Free

With the NHL playoffs quickly approaching and after an amazing gold medal game at this year’s Winter Olympics a lot of people (and not just Canadians) are excited about all things hockey. I am one of those people, so when I found out that a new hockey game was coming out of the iPhone I just had to share it with you all.

Ice Hockey Nations 2010 is the first full hockey game to come to the iPhone. When I say full I mean, six on six hockey with all the trimmings. The developer, Distinctive Games, claims they will be able to pack all the action and strategy of the sport onto the small screen of the iPhone. They even went as far so to do live motion capture of real players for the game at Centroid 3D. We will not be able to see if that paid off until the game comes out, the developer has yet to release game play footage.

As you can probably already tell by the title, the game is not licensed by the NHL. So instead of playing with your favorite pro team you will have to pick your nation of choice out of the 14 nations featured in the game.

The game is set you be launched in March with a price tag of 4.99.

Features include:

• The first full 6 on 6 Ice Hockey simulation game on iPhone/iPod Touch.
• Take control using touchscreen d-pad and control buttons.
• Make line changes at the touch of a button.
• Sin-bin and powerplays
• Real player movement animation using motion capture.
• 14 National teams to choose from.
• Quick play, practice, tournament and league game modes.
• No waiting for the Zamboni in between periods.

Screenshots:

A title that has been getting a lot of attention on our forums, and rightly so, is the upcoming dual-stick shooter, Revolt, created by the three-man team of Kristopher Peterson, Jaap Kreijkamp and Sean Neville.

Revolt is an exquisite looking shooter that departs from the usual dual-stick model of unlimited ammo run-and-gunning by throwing a surprising amount of strategy into the mix. The gameplay promotes taking cover and rolling to avoid enemy fire, and ammo needs to be carefully managed across 15 weapons and 5 weapon types. A mixture of lasers, grenades and missile launchers serve to create some of the most impressive explosions and combat effects we've seen on the AppStore, too. To boot, Revolt seems to take its storytelling seriously, the gameplay spanning over 8 campaign levels and an impressive 20 survival arenas.

The story behind Revolt's development seems equally impressive, being largely a labor of love for Peterson who started development in May '09 on his own and was joined soon in September by Kreijkamp to form what has mostly been a two-man development team. Lack of manpower certainly doesn't show, as Revolt's stunning level design and attention to both lighting and shadows are really setting it apart from the usual shooter suspects. The full feature-list as provided by the team is as follows:

• 8 Story Levels and 20 Survival Arenas
• 15 Weapons
• 8 Unique Enemy Types
• Weapon and Armor Upgrades
• Advanced Gameplay
• Destructible Environments
• 3 Difficulty Modes
• Kickass 3d Graphics
• Killer Music and Sound Effects
• High Score Leaderboard

The developers have already promised to add to that sizeable feature list, with a character skill system, more levels, weapons and enemies, and OpenFeint integration scheduled as planned updates, so there is a ton of content to look forward to.

Be sure to check out the impressive trailer above and keep an eye on our Revolt discussion thread for further updates from the developer before its upcoming but as-yet unannounced release date.

It seems the developers of Raging Thunder 2 (which was published through PolarBit) are certainly not resting on their laurels following their recent AppStore release. Pixelbite have been very active in our own forums these last few days promoting their upcoming top-down, physics-heavy racer, Deliverace.

Though our early impressions of Raging Thunder 2 were very positive, it already seems Deliverace is set to impress us just as much, if not more. Pixelbite recently released a trailer that showcases an amazingly rich and extraordinarily detailed graphic engine that seems to trounce nearly anything we've seen on the AppStore to date. The developers have provided a summary of the game's features in our forums as follows:

"The game is a classic top-down racer, but with modern physics and amazing graphics. Naturally we also have multiplayer support over Lan and Internet, online leaderboards, several control options, ghost cars and much more."

Though the trailer convincingly sells itself, the impressive list of features available right off the bat has cemented Deliverace as one of our more anticipated titles. Deliverace is slated as 'coming soon' in early 2010 with no price point currently fixed. Pixelbite really seem to be making a name for themselves in the racing genre, and we can't wait to see what they have in store for us this time around.

Be sure to keep abreast of our Deliverace discussion thread for further updates and media releases by the developer.

Tactile Entertainment is working on what they call an “open-world pet sim” and it’s called Pocket Creatures. At first glance it just looks like another pet sim but after watching the new trailer it looks like there is potential for more.

Something worth mentioning regarding this developer is that their founder and CEO, Asbjoern Soendegaard, was also the development manager on Crysis, a PC game released in 2008 that is still used as a benchmark for pushing gaming PC's to their limits today. In Pocket Creatures you will be able to explore a tropical world, plant a garden, and find other NPC creatures to interact with. Everything you do effects the world your creature is living in. There also appears to be a magic element to it too. Admittedly, with the links to Crysis, our expectations are high.

Screenshots:

Tactile Entertainment hopes to have Pocket Creatures on the App Store by the end of March. Also, be sure to check out the developer’s blog, where they have a lot of character development sketches up. We will be meeting with CEO Asbjoern Soendegaard at GDC, and should have some hands-on time with Pocket Creatures as well next week.

A few days ago we took a look at Cocoto Magic Circus [App Store]. Since then, the game has been released and is easily one of the better tap to shoot arcade style games I've played on the iPhone.

From our preview:

In Cocoto Magic Circus, you take on the role of Cocoto, Shiny, Neuro, or Baggy on a mission to save poor Fairy, the pixie, who has been kidnapped by a sinister and disturbing clown. In order to save her, you must progress through five different creepy carnival settings, wielding your dart-gun like a champ, tapping true on the clown's various minions to knock them into oblivion. There are seven shooting gallery-style mini-games in each of the settings, making for 35 challenges in all.

While it's true that shooting gallery titles are generally rather simplistic affairs — and there's certainly no lack of such games in the App Store — Cocoto Magic Circus is a surprisingly enjoyable little game. The visuals are very well done — cartoonish, cute, and atmospheric with a nice parallax effect to the scenes that adds a sense of depth to the game. Complexity is added to the title's tap-to-shoot dynamic by way of line-of-fire obstacles as well as floating bonuses and special effects that, when shot, trigger things both good and bad: double shot score, free hits, lights out, gun jams, flip screen, etc. It's a nice touch.

Cocoto Magic Circus is a fun series of tap to shoot mini-games that is enhanced by a real-time online multiplayer mode that worked pretty well in the few games I was able to play. The game has seen an overwhelmingly positive reception in our forums, and while these tap to shoot games never come close to the feel of an actual light gun game, Cocoto Magic Circus is really worth checking out.

App Store Link: Cocoto Magic Circus, 99¢

Turn-based strategy gameUniWar has gone free today. Uniwar came out in mid 2009 and has since seen numerous updates since that time.

UniWar tips its hat at both the StarCraft and Advance Wars series with three playable races that each have slightly different advantages and disadvantages while waging a turn based war on a hex grid.

We loved the game when it was introduced as it was one of the few asynchronous online multiplayer games available on the iPhone. The game now supports push notifications so you know when it's your turn.

If you somehow missed picking up this game so far, now's the perfect time while it's free.

App Store Link: UniWar, Free (Today)

Polarbit's racing game Raging Thunder 2 [App Store] just appeared for download mere moments ago. We're still putting the game through its paces, but so far Raging Thunder 2 fulfills nearly everything on my checklist of what makes a fun arcade racer.

The sensation of speed is great, there's a boost system, tons of jumps, and even a car damage system. Five game modes are included ranging from the standard time trials and career mode to an "arcade" mode where you play through as many races as possible without the timer reaching zero. In total there are six cars and twelve different tracks, although most will need to be unlocked through career mode. It even has internet multiplayer.

Amazingly enough even with all the stuff packed in this game, Raging Thunder 2 only weighs in at the 3G download friendly 15MB. We're going to be spending some more time with the game, but after burning through a few races our initial impressions are very positive.

App Store Link: Raging Thunder 2, $4.99

Studio Radiolaris has released their followup title to Radio Flare this morning. Radio Flare Redux promises a side-scrolling multi-touch shoot'em up experience.

Pilot your ship to the beat of the universe and blast a galaxy of invaders out of the sky. Weave through an intense sensory onslaught as you dispatch swarm after swarm of enemies, tapping the touchscreen, and your toes, as you go.

Redux contains over 30 levels of varying visual styles and licensed techno, club and house music. The latest gameplay video shows much enhanced visuals from the original release:

We'll post thoughts/impressions about the game in the near future.

App Store Link: Radio Flare Redux, $2.99

Gameloft has posted a new teaser site at SamsNewMission.com for an upcoming iPhone game they have not yet announced, but given the named character, it points to Splinter Cell. The site simply contains the above image with coordinates for 1 Infinite Loop, Apple's headquarters.

The game should be officially announced soon, and we'll have details and screenshots then.

It's no big surprise that when it gets close to a big conference (Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco) that developers will taunt us with new screens.

Earlier today EA released some details on their upcoming port of “Skate It” to the iPhone. If you’re not a console gamer, Skate It was the skate board for the Wii and/or DS that has gotten high marks. The iPhone version's release date is set for May 2010.

Here's the video for the DS version of the game:

If the screenshots are any indication it’s going to look impressive, but we will have to wait and see how it plays.

Key Features

• FEEL IT & PICK UP AND PLAY LIKE IT'S FOR REAL: We've maxed out the potential of your accelerometer and gesture controls. Get a real feel of a true skate experience as you conquer the skater nirvana that is "San Vanelona" or roll through real-world locations.
• FLICK- IT & LAND YOUR TRICKS: Use the revolutionary touchscreen Flick-it controls to pull off ollies, kickflips, heelflips, Pop Shuvits, and more.
• BE IT & LIVE THE LIFE OF THE PROS: Freeskate as a selected pro skater, or as your own customized guy or girl. Score Personal Bests in Career mode, and get sponsorships and perks galore.
• KILL IT & UNLOCK STUFF: Own challenges and KILL them to get the really good stuff — from new boards to outfits. Unlock fresh skate spots, too. Gain enough gear and create your own killer skate park.
• FILM IT & SEE YOUR SKILLS IN ACTION: Capture every sick line or epic bail on camera. Replay footage to view your mastery or just for your own amusement.
• KICK IT TO YOUR OWN TUNES: You can even shred to a soundtrack from your own music library.

Screenshots

The expectations on our forums are high with most people hoping for better controls then other the skate games on the iPhone.