The sequel to arguably the best soccer game on the iPhone is now available, and it's even better. X2 Soccer 2010 [$6.99] brings improvements to graphics, controls, computer AI, new game modes and more teams.

X2 Soccer 2010 has over 150 club teams to choose from in 10 different leagues, plus international teams from all over the world. This includes U.S. Major League Soccer, Spanish, English, French, Italian, German leagues and more. There are a vast amount of more teams than last years version to play with.

The six game modes are Quick Match, Penalty Shootout, Training, Tournament, Dream Team, and Multiplayer. In Tournament mode, there are 30 tournaments to compete in to win and collect the cups to keep in your trophy room. In the all new Dream Team mode, players must use their skills to create the ultimate team of their own. You start out with poor quality players and work at improving them by competing in Multiplayer, Tournament and Quick Match modes for tokens. These tokens can then be used to scout and recruit quality players from across the globe, to help create the ultimate Dream Team. And Multiplayer mode is where you can play against a friend on local wifi, bluetooth connection, or in a new online option to play against people all over the world. The online option works surprisingly well, but obviously depends on your internet connect for best results. Playing online does not work over 3G or EDGE networks, so you must be connected to a wifi network to play.

The control layout is essentially the same as X2's previous game, with a little refinement. You'll find the virtual floating joystick on the left and the three 'X2 S.M.A.R.T.' buttons in the bottom right corner. The three buttons are slightly adjusted and re-positioned, but offer the same great control system. Of all the soccer games, this layout is my favorite, rather than the traditional "A" and "B" buttons offered in the others. Each button has its own ability depending on if your attacking or defending, with options of pass, lob, cross, one-two, through ball, and shoot on attack and pressure, slide tackle, switch player, and goal keeper charge on defense. The buttons can be tapped, double tapped, or held down for the more advanced controls. When a button is pressed, a power bar appears above the player signifying the level of strength to be used. I don't find the controls to be confusing at all. They are both easy to use for beginners yet fully functional for skilled players.

The game also has enhanced defensive and offensive AI players. The AI players are much smarter now, forcing you to play smarter. If you are finding the game a little easy as you get better, you can ramp up the difficulty in the settings to easy, good, hard, or expert. You have full customization on the settings from what is displayed on the screen while playing, weather, rules, stadium, commentary, replays, favorite team, team/player names and more. There is also a crawl on the bottom of the screen with real life information coming from an RSS feed that you can edit, the default one gives you lots of great soccer information that is going on in the world.

The full 3D graphics are much improved and even more impressive than X2 Soccer 2009, which were already top notch. X2 Soccer 2010 runs super smooth while playing on my iPhone 3GS and there are also 3GS-specific optimizations that were made to accommodate the faster hardware. Some 3GS users are reporting that they are experiencing some lag in their games, but I haven't experienced any. Meanwhile, reports from other device users seem to be fine.

Overall, X2 Soccer 2010 is one of the top soccer game experiences right now on the App Store. Konami will have a tough time out doing X2 with their upcoming Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 game. You will not be disappointed with X2 Soccer 2010, if you are holding out for an enjoyable soccer game, look no further.

X2 Games, makers of X2 Snowboarding [$1.99 / Free] and last year's X2 Soccer 2009 [$4.99 / Free] just released this year's version of their amazing full 3D soccer game, X2 Soccer 2010 [$6.99].

Soccer fans on our forums are going crazy over this year's iteration of X2 Soccer, and I've got to agree with the positive reactions forum members are having playing the game. X2 Games took everything that was great about the original X2 Soccer 2009 and added new game modes, even more teams and competitions, further refined controls, better graphics across the board as well as 3GS-specific optimizations, and even smarter AI.

On top of all that, X2 Soccer 2010 comes with a full suite of multiplayer options covering local WiFi or Bluetooth as well as online multiplayer which actually works shockingly well for a fast paced sports game. The in-game commentary is decent, there are different weather effects, and if something cool happens in your game you can even save the replay.

We'll have a full review up shortly, but in the meantime, it would be difficult for our initial impressions of X2 Soccer 2010 to be more positive.

When we first had a look at the recently released Pocket Creatures [App Store] back at GDC, it didn't take us long to be enchanted by the too-cute, pikachu-like pet sim with an apparent wealth of things to explore.

Pocket Creatures begins in a temple, with you choosing the name and color of your critter. Hatching its egg and proceeding with the tutorial (which continues throughout the game in the form of stone tablets you pick up) introduces you to the basic mechanics of the game. Moving your little guy and navigating the game-world is straightforward, simply requiring double taps and familiar screen gestures.

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Blast Off, Rocket Racing, and Echoes; these are a few of the games created thus far by Halfbrick Studios. By even taking the smallest glimpse at the Aussie-based developer's portfolio, you'll notice that the studio isn't married to a specific digital platform. Yet its latest title, a simple and entertaining slasher called Fruit Ninja [99¢], gives us the impression that the iPhone is as good of a place as any for Halfbrick's oftentimes irreverent titles.

But here are with monstrous iPads. To say we hunger for high-quality, visually stunning titles for the device is an understatement. Luckily, it looks like Halfbrick might fill our tummies with our own desires -- and it could be with a title we're already familiar with, like Fruit Ninja.

"We certainly have," Halfbrick's Phil Larson told Touch Arcade when asked about the possibility of ever releasing Fruit Ninja -- or Blast Off -- on the iPad, "and at this stage it looks likely that we will be able to create iPad games once we are set up with the right hardware."

"There's already a significant number of Fruit Ninja players who are playing on iPad, so we'd definitely like to give them a nice HD version in the near future."

Halfbrick might not have the all the right pieces for full-on iPad development, but the studio does seem to have a creative direction in mind whenever it does decide to go full throttle with the iPad.

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Spearhead Entertainment's Phoenix Spirit [99¢] which we featured in our last upcoming games roundup hit the App Store recently. As mentioned in the previous post, Phoenix Spirit involves playing as a flying squirrel of sorts exploring the forest attempting to discover the cause of the illness that has infected the mother tree.

The entire game is controlled by tilting your iPhone, slowly gliding your squirrel around the screen. On-screen buttons appear that allow you to quickly dive to gain speed, as well as jump off to keep flying when you eventually land. This control mechanic has been a major point of discussion in the Phoenix Spirit thread on our forums. Currently, only tilt control is implemented. I didn't mind the controls as I played through the game, but there seems to be quite a few people who dislike being restricted to tilt input.

Properly controlling your squirrel involves managing your speed through careful dives, and not climbing up too quickly. It isn't immediately apparent that the game revolves around this gliding mechanic, but once you wrap your head around needing to always make sure you have enough speed to maneuver around things get a lot easier.

Progressing through the game works exactly like any Castlevania or Metroid game with new powers and abilities that allow you make your way through previously inaccessible areas. A mini-map that is always in the top right corner of the screen keeps you from ever really feeling lost, and three game save slots make it easy to share your device with other people playing the game. (Something I wish more games did.)

Combat is the one portion of the game that feels really weak, as there doesn't seem to be any benefit to fighting things compared to just avoiding them by careful flying. There isn't any kind of experience system, so it almost seems more fun to just evade enemies entirely. Check out the following gameplay trailer to see how the game looks in motion:

It would be nice if Phoenix Spirit had some other control options aside from tilting and I'd love to see the combat system fleshed out a little more so there's reason to fight instead of just flying by everything. However, at the current price of 99¢, it's hard to focus too much on the game's shortcomings because of how much you're actually getting for your dollar. Phoenix Spirit is a cool game of exploration, filled with well drawn pixel art, immersive music, and a neat game concept that any fan of Metroidvania side-scrollers shouldn't miss.

Backflip Studios, the company that brought us such massive hits such as Paper Toss and Ragdoll Blaster, has released their latest game into the App Store. Strike Knight is a casual flicking game based on real life puck bowling arcade games of the 80s and 90s.

We met with Backflip Studios during this year's GDC where they had an early build of Strike Knight. The game is free ad-supported game that follows the basic structure of bowling but places you in control of a puck. Like their insanely popular Paper Toss game, Strike Knight is controlled using the simple flicking motion to send your puck hurtling towards the pins.

Each game lasts 10 frames. Scoring, however, has a bit of a maddening twist. Your score for either strike or spare is based on the timing of your shot. A score indicator is constantly cycling through the top of the screen and freezes at the moment you flick.

True to its dive-bar origins, we spent one late night gambling away with the developers in head-to-head sessions. Backflip has had a lot of luck with high quality free ad-supported games, and Strike Knight is a great addition to their lineup. They have an aggressive plan for many more releases in the near future.

Released last month, Scarface: Last Stand [App Store] is an on-rails third-person shooting game themed after the final scene of the 1983 cult classic movie Scarface. With slightly clunky controls, middling graphics, and fairly repetitive gameplay it was hard to recommend at the initial $6.99 price point unless you were a diehard fan of Scarface. Well for today only, the game is available for free as part of FreeAppADay.com. Despite it's drawbacks, there's plenty of content in Last Stand and it has some fun moments, and is definitely worth taking the time to download while free.

The game takes place during the end of the movie's plot when main character Tony Montana has an army of assassins sent to his mansion to kill him after double crossing his Bolivian drug lord boss. Not the best situation to be in. You control the aim and firing of Tony as he fends off attacks from every direction. An analog nub in the left corner controls an onscreen cross-hair and a button on the right fires your weapon. Tony automatically moves to different points in the mansion as you aim and fire at oncoming waves of enemies. It works decently, but the aiming is too imprecise to be very effective. An auto-aim option alleviates this, but takes away much of the challenge. The gameplay can be entertaining for a while, but eventually becomes monotonous as you play in the same parts of the mansion with the same enemies over and over.

Although the play experience is not stellar, there are a lot of standout features to Last Stand, especially for fans of the movie. While the graphics are none too special, the little details of the mansion interiors and Tony's extravagant office are fairly accurate to the film. Voice samples are taken directly from the movie and feature many of the popular profanity laden quotes from Tony. There's a nice arsenal of different weapons to unlock and use that somewhat spice up the gameplay and, as a nice touch, the gun firing sound effects seem to be sampled directly from the film as well.

In addition to the 30 level Arcade mode, there's a Survival mode, a number of achievements and wallpapers to unlock, online leaderboards, Facebook connectivity, and statistics for every level. In other words, there's a lot of stuff to do. If you're a fan of the movie Scarface, or just looking for some simplistic shooting gallery-type action, Scarface: Last Stand is worth a download during today's free promotion.

App Store Link: Scarface: Last Stand, Free (today only, regular $6.99)

Since the iPad's arrival last month, we've joined readers in keeping our ear to the ground in order to get our hands on any great new or retooled games offering specific iPad support that land in the App Store. Such titles that take advantage of the iPad's more powerful processor and feature high resolution graphics befitting the iPad's large display have the potential to deliver a game experience beyond that of the iPhone. Of course, the iPad is quite capable of running all your iPhone games (at standard res or 2x scaled), but generally those titles are better played on their original target device.

Of course, there are exceptions. Certain iPhone shooters are more enjoyable on the iPad -- Espgaluda II, for one. And, I find that iPhone Arkanoid clones play a little better on the iPad -- Bricks of Camelot, Krypton Egg, and ... Arkanoid, for example. But, of all the iPhone games I've played on Apple's multitouch tablet, Steph Thirion's Eliss [App Store] is by far the best fit for the device.

Eliss, IGF Mobile 2009 finalist for Innovation in Mobile Game Design, superbly demonstrates all that multitouch gaming can be.

The universe that Eliss presents is a place of entropy. The game challenges the player–in mind and body–to apply order to this universe. Into this dark void spring planets of varying size and color. Like colored planets can be combined to make a larger planet (pinch) or pulled apart to create smaller planets (spread). The goal of the game is to eliminate the planets by dragging them into the "squeezars" (think black…err…multicolored holes) of matching size and color that blink in and out of the universe. After a set number of planets have been eliminated it's on to the next level. And the most important thing to remember? Don't let planets of different colors touch! Failure to heed that warning will result in a rapid drain of energy levels and a chance to see the Game Over screen. Making the task harder are the space vortexes that draw planets towards them (and one another) as well as a red giant star that meanders its way in and out of the playfield, draining energy on contact with any planet.

As I said in last year's review of the game, I've found myself laying my iPhone flat on a table and struggling to keep the planets away from each other and that cursed, wandering red giant with as many as five fingers on the screen at once. With so much extra space to work with on the iPad, the Twister experience -- for fingers as well as for the mind -- that is Eliss is even more engaging than on the original target device. What's more, the game's spartan geometric, almost retro visuals actually look better at 2x scale on the iPad's display, in my opinion. This is a game that's not begging for an iPad-specific release.

Anyone that has yet to experience Eliss, on iPhone or iPad, should at least spend some time with the free, lite version [App Store].

App Store Link: Eliss, $4.99, Eliss Lite, Free

Glu games has made their musical puzzler Beat It! free for a limited time. See our full review for details:

Beat It!, a music-based game from Glu Games Inc, is different from other music games, not only in the way that it presents its music for interactive play, but in the way that players' brains must function in order to be successful. Instead of playing along with a predetermined song, players are asked to recreate a short, looping beat that is played for them several times in quick succession before the beginning of each level.

We actually really enjoyed the this game and highly recommend every pick it up for free.

Aqua Forest 2 is also free but for today only.

This game challenges you to guide a drop of water from start to finish across a variety of beautiful photorealistic levels, including leaves, mossy rocks, flower petals, and more. Simply tilt your phone to make the water move, thanks to the technology of the "PHYZIOS Engineâ„¢ Casual" 2D multi-physics engine.

It's hard to say we highly recommend the game, but its worth a free download to see the water droplet physics effects.

Limbic Software has announced that TowerMadness HD has been submitted, including 8 new maps, new single player campaign mode system, and a unique multiplayer system.

TowerMadness HD is an open-field or fixed-path tower defense game where you can create your own path to defend off the enemies (Aliens) from reaching your base (herd of sheep). The game has full 3D graphics with pinch-to-zoom capabilities to view the game from any angle, all the way down to first-person viewing of the action. You can check out our full review of the iPhone version of TowerMadness here.

One of the most intriguing new features coming to the HD version is the split-screen multiplayer mode. The way it works is that each player is controlling different games, but they are fighting the same linked waves of aliens, allowing each player to have their own strategy. Sending waves in early will result in both you and your opponent having to fend off the incoming aliens. So if your confident in your defenses, you can overload your opponent with waves and win, but this could also result in your own demise if your not careful. There are also new multiplayer specific features, like 'Panic Your Opponent', where you can accelerate the aliens on your opponents side for a little while to hopefully get past their defenses. Another one is a new character called 'Robosteal', who will travel down your opponents path and steal a sheep if he reaches them, and give it to you.

Look for TowerMadness HD on the App Store soon as it has already been submitted.

Imangi Studios' Harbor Master HD [Free] recently received an update which tweaked a few things such as the number of touch points the game tracks (now 6) and adds the new 99¢ DLC map, Pirate Passage.

Harbor Master HD is a free line drawing chaos management game similar to Flight Control, except you're managing boats and you need to not only dock them to unload cargo, but also guide them back off screen. Harbor Master HD launched for free with a single map, Treasure Island.

Pirate Passage is a map with three ports to drop cargo off at, and three cannons to fire in order to shoot the attacking pirates out of the water. Pirates spawn seemingly at random who then come to steal your cargo off ships and eventually sink them. Touching a gun and dragging it in the direction you want to shoot fires the cannon to defend your cargo.

Harbor Master HD is free to play with the Treasure Island map, and really is something you shouldn't miss if you own an iPad. Also, if you're annoyed by in-game advertisements, you're in luck as buying the DLC map completely disables them.

One of the greatest things about the App Store is the accessibility for indie developers, and as such, the iPhone is the target platform for an amazing amount of risky or artsy games that would likely never see the light of day on regular consoles. Sure, obscure indie games always had a home on the PC, but the visibility offered by the App Store has allowed these same developers to reach a remarkably wide audience.

Kometen [$2.99] is yet another example of an indie game that's hard to really define as a "game", and instead, is more of an interactive experience with fantastic art and music wrapped around a vaguely game-like wrapper.

In Kometen, all you do is play as a comet and explore the galaxy. You can't lose, you can't die. You navigate about by tapping on various planets to orbit them. Some planets have space junk also orbiting that you can munch up to briefly speed up. That's really all there is to it.

The game is the brain child of Erik Svedäng, the creator of the PC game Blueberry Garden, which won the Independent Games Festival Grand Prize 2009 and Niklas Åkerblad, a painter and art director of indie XBOX games. Reactions to the game on our forum have been mixed, with some loving the abstract nature of the game while others are looking for more from the gameplay side of things.

We think Kometen is an artsy game that does a great job of embodying the indie spirit of the App Store. With simple goals, remarkable art, and perfectly paired music, Kometen is a really cool experience that seems to elicit the same kind of feelings as Zen Bound and other games that hinge more on atmosphere and mood than high scores and boss fights.

It's hard to give the game a strong recommendation because at the end of the day, it isn't much of a game, but if the creativity that went in to the above trailer at all piqued your interest, give Kometen a try.

MF3d Developers have been promoting their upcoming 3rd person shooter Crazy Goblins World War II in our Upcoming Games forum since January. They started off with a brief description and a non-gameplay teaser video, but recently posted some very promising screenshots of their game.

It's still early, but the game is a 3rd person shooter that is going to be offered up as a series of missions stringing together a larger overall goal or story line. While no enemies are depicted in these early screenshots, they are described as German-goblin-style enemies that you will be combating.

We'll keep a close eye on this one. The development team is made up of only two individuals and we're told a gameplay video is still a few weeks out. While the graphics looks impressive, we hope they'll have the resources to properly flesh out mission designs. Follow the discussion thread for ongoing updates.

Since the inception of the App Store, and specifically since the big-name studios started throwing their hats in to the ring, iPhone gamers have been clamoring for big name series on the iPhone. Capcom brought Street Fighter 4 [$9.99], Square Enix developed an entirely new iPhone RPG, Chaos Rings [$12.99] and Konami is releasing a Castlevania puzzle game, Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night.

According to Konami, Encore of the Night is an "addicting puzzle-RPG" where players will play as Alucard, the son of Dracula also seen in the classic Castlevania title, Symphony of the Night. The only details we know right now is that the game will involve playing as or against characters from Symphony of the Night, and completing puzzles will provide weapons and spells to help along the way.

It's hard to say if Encore of the Night is going to be closer to Puzzle Quest [$4.99 / Free], or more battle oriented like Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter games-- Or something else completely different. As for why they're releasing a spin-off puzzle RPG instead of any of the other games in the series, your guess is as good as ours.

Konami rarely announces games like this without having them ready for release very soon. Their last game to appear on the App Store, MLB Power Pros Touch 2010 [$7.99], was first announced hardly even a day before it appeared for download. So, Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night really could be available any time now.

"You're doing very well," a machine voice blurts through a state-of-the-art monitoring system. "Please be advised that a noticeable taste of blood is not part of any test protocol, but is an unintended side effect of the Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grille, which may, in semi-rare cases," it adds, "emancipate dental fillings, crowns, tooth enamel, and teeth."

Rarely does a game hit with the impact of Valve Corporation's Portal. An instant success among critics and fans alike, the downloadable puzzle game carved itself into the enthusiast hive mind. Part of the reason is due to the quirky, yet sinister GLaDOS, a machine overseer of the game's unique sterile observatories. Its one-liners (see above), fictitious warnings, and promises extract chuckles within a  serious tonal framework that challenges without bringing users to their knees.

Of course the bigger reason for its success is tied to the game's name. Portal is a first-person game built with the Half-Life -- called "Source" -- engine. But unlike its Source counterparts, Portal shirks conventional teeth-gnashing, bullet-spewing visceral action. Solving and casual exploration composes its core, with the characteristic portal gun being the chief object of accomplishing both these concepts. When fired twice, the portal gun opens up teleports that users can then use to navigate and interact within their white-walled, three-dimensional world.

Portals are key to discovering new routes within each of the game's many confined puzzles (the protagonist is trapped in a series of "tests") that need to be solved before another can be tackled. Reduced to the essentials, most puzzles break down into a traditional "keep the button pressed and a door will open" mold but there are other spots of puzzle design at work. Momentum, platforming, and even threat avoidance all have a place.

// There's nothing like Portal yet on an iDevice (even though some brave legal ice-skaters may still be porting the title with Unity - see video above). I've yet to discover a narrative with the same wrinkles or even design with the same complexity and care. But there's no reason to keep yourself from exploring what Portal has to offer; Until May 24th, 2010, developer Valve is offering a download of the game for free.

A Macintosh version is now available for free as well. Valve just opened up their Steam platform, which is something like iTunes for videogames, to the Cupertino crowd. The celebration, I suppose, is in full swing -- over 60 titles are to be available soon for Mac users, with more are set to come each Wednesday... but none are free like Portal.

I realize Portal isn't an iDevice title -- although that idea tickles me -- but it's silly to ignore how unique and compelling Portal is. If for whatever reason you don't have the hardware to run the game right now, go ahead and give it a download anyway. It'll stay tied to your Steam account forever, just like an iTunes App Store download. Oh, and do enjoy the cake on your way out.