Fish Labs isn't getting any more specific on the release date of Galaxy on Fire 2 than "October". In the meantime, you can check out the company blog which is host to tons of incredibly in-depth posts about the game and most recently, the creation of the trailer.
A few weeks ago we showed a new trailer for an upcoming gravity-based puzzle platforming game called GravBot from Team Phobic. They have since sent us a near-final build of the game, and after completing nearly all of it, I'm thoroughly impressed with just about everything that GravBot has to offer. Team Phobic has already proven that they know how to bring cute, colorful graphics and excellent level designs with Bounce On [$1.99/Lite] and Bounce On 2 [$3.99/Lite], and those skills have translated well into the creation of GravBot. The levels start out simple enough and ease you into the different elements in the game, but as you progress GravBot will really test your puzzle solving skills and force you to look at each level from every angle.
In GravBot, you'll play as a tiny robot who must collect all of the batteries on each perilous level. In order to accomplish this, you can spin the entire level either 90 degrees left or right or entirely upside down to change the direction of gravity. Your robot can travel left and right on its single tire, and will fall towards whichever way happens to be down at the time. Levels are filled with hazards like spikes, enemies, and lasers which will kill instantly if not avoided. The batteries can be tricky to get to, and a color-coded system of trapdoors, elevators, and various other obstacles will need to be triggered by switching a lever or pushing blocks onto buttons - all in the name of snagging every last battery on a given level.
While just completing each level is sufficiently challenging and fun, the real hook to GravBot is trying to obtain gold medals for each one. The game keeps track of how many times you switched gravity to complete a level, with bronze/silver/gold medals awarded for using it efficiently. What is really satisfying is when you figure out a way to win gold using fewer gravity switches than is required. Due to the physics engine in the game, you can sometimes make it to a hard to reach area without changing the gravity and instead gliding through the air or just barely catching the edge of a platform and hanging on. These types of moves can be risky however, and if you don't pull one off just right you can easily fall to your death. If you do happen to beat a level using a ridiculously low number of gravity switches, you will be immortalized in leaderboard form thanks to the Plus+ network, and there are a number of achievements to obtain as well.
GravBot looks and sounds absolutely great, with Retina Display enhanced graphics and catchy music and sound effects. I especially love the little blips and bloops that your robot will spout out during the game, and he has a ton of personality for essentially being a TV set with a wheel. GravBot has already been submitted and Team Phobic is shooting for a September 30th release. The game will be free to download and comes with 12 levels, with two additional 20 level packs available as in-app purchase for 99¢ apiece. The 12 free levels aren't terribly difficult and serve mostly to get you familiar with the game, but the additional level packs contain some seriously challenging stuff that should keep you busy for quite a while. Make sure to head over to the upcoming thread in our forums to check out more about GravBot, and we'll take another look at the game when it hits the App Store later this month.
Earlier this month we took a look at the upcoming bullet hell shooter Phoenix from Firi Games. Phoenix claims to be able to push hundreds of bullets onscreen at a time and still run smoothly even on the oldest of Apple iOS devices. Firi recently sent us a work in progress build of the game and after spending some time playing it seems they are well on their way to bringing another solid entry into the shmup genre on the App Store. The preview build we were given is missing some key elements like music, some sound effects, and graphical variety, but the core of the gameplay is in place and it's definitely a lot of fun.
Phoenix is a little bit different from other scrolling shooters in that there aren't set levels. Instead, the entire game is an endless randomly generated level with a difficulty that scales based on how well you are performing. Think of it as the Canabalt [$2.99] of shmups. Controls are of the relative touch variety, meaning you can touch anywhere on the screen to control your ship instead of it always following closely to your fingertip. Defeated enemies will drop upgrades to your main weapon, health packs that repair your ship, temporary shield powerups, and a super weapon of sorts called the Alpha Strike Attack which gives your ship incredibly strong firepower for a limited time.
I was a bit skeptical about the scaling difficulty in Phoenix at first, but in practice it actually seems to work as intended. When you are doing well the game throws bigger and more difficult enemies at you who will fire faster and spray more bullets in your direction. Scoring also scales with the difficulty, which can be seen with a tiny meter next to your score display. As you avoid damage, the meter increases and so do the points you earn for defeating enemies. Due to this, you score doesn't necessarily reflect on how long you survive in the game, but rather how efficiently you can avoid damage. Scores are tracked by an in-game global and regional leaderboard.
So far Phoenix has nailed the groundwork for an interesting take on the bullet hell shmup. Controls work well, and I was easily able to narrowly dodge the multitude of bullets being fired at me while simultaneously dishing out my own offensive onslaught. Visually Phoenix is looking very nice as well, although having only one scrolling background image got a little old. I'm told that this is something being worked on and there should be some more variety in locations in the final release. The leaderboards are also being tweaked, as right now they are somewhat basic and allow multiple entries per user which really clutters things up for such a high score focused game. Phoenix seems really well suited for something like Game Center, but it remains to be seen if the developer has any plans to implement this.
All in all I'm really impressed with what I've played of Phoenix at this point, and if Firi Games can polish up some of the rough edges in the game shooter fans can look forward to some bullet hell action no matter which iOS device they own. Firi had been shooting for a September release, so barring any unforeseen issues cropping up we should be seeing Phoenix arrive in the coming weeks. In the meantime you can follow along with the discussion for Phoenix in our forums, and we'll take a closer look at the game when it hits the App Store.
Back in early July, the classic LucasArts adventure game from the 90's Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge was released for the iPhone and iPad. Much more than just a simple port, the entire game features modernized graphics and an interface that has been tailored for touch screen controls. For the purists out there, you can easily switch over to the original 1991 graphics at any time with a two finger swipe, exactly like you can in the iPhone release of the original The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition [$7.99].
Earlier today, LucasArts dropped the price of the iPhone version of Monkey Island 2 from $7.99 all the way down to 99¢. Here is an excerpt from our review:
Monkey Island 2 takes place after the events of the first Monkey Island where wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood is introduced and meets the cast of characters included in the game as he seeks out the pirate leaders and attempts to prove himself through three challenges. A ghost pirate named LeChuck is thrown in to the mix, along with the beautiful Elaine Marley. Without spoiling too much, the game concludes with romance, root beer, and fireworks. Even though playing the original is by no means required to enjoy the sequel, Monkey Island is filled with great writing, silly characters, funny situations, and often extremely odd solutions to the problems that Guybrush must overcome which is really worth checking out– Especially considering the fantastic job LucasArts did on the iPhone port of the special edition release.
If you aren't familiar with Monkey Island 2, take a look at our extensive review from when the game was released in July. If you are familiar with the game, but haven't been able to part with the $8 to buy it for your iPhone, your patience has paid off and you should definitely pick up Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge during this limited time 99¢ sale.
The Final Fantasy Tactics series is on its way to the iPhone, but not as soon as we had hoped. Recently some rumors had been spreading around that Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions would be released on the 15th of this month, which unfortunately has been debunked officially courtesy of the Square Enix Facebook page.
The release date is still to be determined per Square Enix, but as a bit of a consolation prize they did release the above screenshot of the currently in development iPhone game. Being huge Tactics fans, we're more than a little disappointed that we won't be playing the game as soon as we had hoped, but we're definitely going to keep an eye out for more news on the game's development.
If you were around for the arcade craze of the 80's, you no doubt have seen a coin pusher at some point. Basically, a traditional coin pusher is a machine loaded with quarters or whatever tokens the arcade used with a mechanical "broom" that pushes back and forth at the back of the machine. The goal of the game is to drop a quarter in to the machine, and when it gets pushed forward it pushes all the other coins in front of it forward, hopefully resulting in said coins falling to the collection tray below.
Here is a video I found on YouTube of a real coin push machine in action:
While I'm sure there are more games with similar gameplay mechanics on the App Store, the big three seem to be Dungeon & Coin, Coin Push Frenzy, and Coin Dozer. Each have their strengths and weaknesses, but they're all free so you might as well just download them all if you're remotely interested. All of the games work in a similar manner in that you start with an allotment of coins, you drop them in to the game, then you can either wait for your coins to recharge or you can buy more via an in-app purchase.
When you take a game like a coin pusher machine and compact it down to the iPhone, quite a bit is lost in translation. Coin pushing machines invoke the same emotion as gambling in that you could just be one coin away from starting a massive coin avalanche, or in the case of the video above, making a $5 bill drop in to the collection tray. This feeling is extremely difficult to duplicate with an iPhone game especially since all the prizes are virtual, and feel entirely meaningless in comparison.
Because of this, I really don't recommend buying more coins in any of the games. Only having five coins left and strategically dropping them to try to get more is a lot more fun than I originally thought it would be, and having to wait to get more coins really makes you think about how you're going to use the existing coins you have more. In comparison, once I bought a bucket full of coins as an in-app purchase for a couple bucks, I just started spamming them everywhere because I had so many. Managing a limited pool of coins is just much more fun.
Dungeons and Coin, Free An odd conglomeration of a coin push machine and light RPG elements. You battle monsters by pushing coins of the edge, and unlike the other two games, you're not limited by the amount of coins you can chuck in at once-- often resulting in hilarious coin explosions as the physics engine tries to figure out what to do.
Coin Push Frenzy, Free Packed with the best graphics and physics of the three, Coin Push Frenzy has a bunch of different power-ups, collectable prizes, and additional unlockable coin pusher machines. Currently there seems to be some bugs that effect coin generation, but Freeverse is aware of the issue and an update is on the way but in the meantime putting your device to sleep and waking it back up again should make coins appear.
Coin Dozer, Free Downloaded over 2.5 million times, Coin Dozer has been somewhat of a sensation in Asian App Store markets. With gameplay very similar to Coin Push Frenzy, I like that you can actually see what prizes are coming up instead of just spawning mysterious chests or boxes like the other two games.
I've been enjoying all three of these games much more than I thought I would when I first caught wind of them. Like all freemium games, they're designed to be played randomly throughout the day, and it's fun loading up the various games, dropping a few coins, and seeing what you get. If you remember staring at real coin push machines in the 80's with wide eyes, dropping pocket full of coins and getting nothing but a few coins back, definitely give these games a try.
Interactive fiction on the App Store has definitely surprised me not only with how well it works on the family of iDevices, but how much I've enjoyed the titles I've read. In the past we've posted a large roundup of the three big series including Gamebook Adventures, Fighting Fantasy, and Sorcery!. More recently we've covered the Choice of Adventure series which are much more similar to R. A. Montgomery's Choose Your Own Adventure books that were incredibly popular in the past.
Book 3 of the Gamebook Adventures series was just released, and both of the previous books also were updated to fully support the Retina Display of the new iPod touch and iPhone 4. In addition, in celebration of the new addition to the series all of the books have been put on sale. Reading the books in order isn't required to enjoy them, but you might as well start at the beginning because they're all worth checking out if interactive fiction is your cup of tea.
Gamebook Adventures 1: An Assassin in Orlandes, $4.99 Set within Orlandes City, nobles are being systematically murdered by a ruthless assassin no-one seems able to catch. Finding yourself thrust in the middle of a large conspiracy, you must make decisions that may put yourself and one other most precious to you in great danger. Can you locate the Assassin in Orlandes before it is too late?
Gamebook Adventures 2: The Siege of the Necromancer, $4.99 Set in the coastal town of Myr, you have returned home after a long Summer in the mines of Durath Tor to find your hometown besieged by strange creatures. A dark presence has taken over the town and you are the only one who can rid the stronghold of Erid Buul, the mysterious new Lord and his ghastly cohorts.
Gamebook Adventures 3: Slaves of Rema, $4.99 Cruelly taken from your homeland of Orlandes, you find yourself in a far off land at the mercy of a gladiatorial arena. Somehow trying to find a way to escape overseas, can you also unravel a potentially dangerous mystery that puts two nations on the brink of war?
Over the weekend quite a few people have been coming to the realization that Game Center only seems to allow for 500 friends. Per TiPb and a few tweets, once you reach 500 total friends in Game Center the only way to add more friends is to delete an existing friend. While I suspect this won't be an issue for close to 99% of the people who use Game Center, our 4.1 update post, Project-79's absolutely fantastic thread listing all Game Center games, and the actual Game Center usename thread are packed with people trading friend requests.
If you've been going hog wild adding anyone and everyone, you might want to slow down so you don't need to go through your friends list purging people when you've got other people to add later. It's hard to say if Apple will ever increase this limit or not, as it was likely put in place to reduce lag while using Game Center. In comparison, both OpenFeint and Plus+ don't seem to have any kind of limitation on the amount of friends you have, but having massive friends lists in both services has caused problems for me in the past in some games.
Gameloft recently released another episode of their series of podcasts, which like most of their podcasts includes some new tidbits about upcoming games. It also includes quite a bit of Real Golf 2011 [$6.99], so if you're not interested in that feel free to skip to about 2:30 in the video.
Last week we posted about Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus, and this podcast includes a brief clip of the incredibly corny trailer along with some additional details. Aside from refining the original controls, they're also packing in a gyro control option. There are going to be 3 playable characters across 12 battlefields and players will have access to 15 different weapons which can be tweaked with various accessories. They're also calling it the "most complete multiplayer FPS on the App Store."
In addition, Gameloft also teased an upcoming developer diary of Dungeon Hunter 2 and revealed a new space shooter called Star Battalion which looks a lot like the upcoming Galaxy on Fire 2 by Fish Labs. One incredibly intriguing component of Star Battalion is the inclusion of online coop gameplay, since really, coop play makes everything more fun.
We'll keep an eye out for more information on these games, but historically by the time Gameloft starts showing games off like this, their release isn't too far off.
An App Store favorite of our readers who relish the retro is surely Manomio's Commodore 64 [link], the C64 emulation system / game store that does a great job of putting an expanding list of 8-bit classics right in our pockets. We first got wind of Manomio's emulation effort in June of last year, when it was submitted to Apple and rejected, as it was determined to be in violation of the iPhone SDK agreement.
Then said Apple,
Thank you for submitting C64 1.0 to the App Store. We've reviewed C64 1.0 and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it violates the iPhone SDK Agreement; "3.3.2 An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise. No interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple's Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s)."
It was the system's included BASIC interpreter that was the sticking point for Apple, it turned out. Manomio disabled (and then removed, as it was deemed necessary) the BASIC interpreter and the app finally found its place in the store, and in Apple's good graces.
Last Thursday, Apple made significant changes to the iOS SDK agreement, relaxing restrictions on development tools used to create iOS applications. One of the areas of the SDK agreement affected was section 3.3.2, the specific part of the agreement that Apple determined Manomio had violated with the initial releases of C64. Upon hearing this news, Manomio CTO Stuart Carnie was quick to read over the new Apple document and found the following, updated section 3.3.2.
3.3.2 An Application may not download or install executable code. Interpreted code may only be used in an Application if all scripts, code and interpreters are packaged in the Application and not downloaded. The only exception to the foregoing is scripts and code downloaded and run by Apple’s built-in WebKit framework.
As can be seen in the new language, interpreted code is now acceptable under certain circumstances. In light of this fortunate turn of events, the developer has put together an updated version of C64 (v2.0) with BASIC enabled. Wanting Apple to be fully aware of his re-inclusion of the BASIC interpreter, Carnie extensively underscored his changes in the Reviewer Notes section of the submission form and additionally sent a courtesy e-mail to Apple on the issue. Since then, the developer and Apple have had further correspondence regarding the update and the response so far is positive. Apple will, understandably, spend additional time reviewing the application, but Carnie says he remains cautiously optimistic.
If Apple does end up rejecting the update, Manomio's plans are to remove the BASIC interpreter, but leave in place the other enhancement that this update brings, Carnie tells us. Those other enhancements include:
FIX - fix crash when attempting to use the "Download All" feature and many games are queue
FIX - Add additional controls to Hunter's Moon
FIX - iPad landscape view is no longer partially off the screen
NEW - Upgraded to OpenFeint 2.6.1 (includes time-scoped leader boards)
NEW - iOS 4.1 tested
NEW - New "Always use keyboard" option to access additional in-game features
Apple's recent update to the SDK agreement gives developers of all manner of apps more flexibility, but is a particular boon to developers of retro system emulators and games. We've got our fingers crossed that C64 with BASIC enabled is given the nod by Apple and that other developers are inspired to bring others classic systems and games to our favorite mobile device family.
Early this summer we posted an exclusive sneak preview of NimbleBit's upcoming frog management title Pocket Frogs, which is something of a follow-up to their popular Dizzypad. The developer has recently posted a video showing the game in action and provided us with additional screenshots.
Pocket Frogs is a game of raising, breeding, and trading frogs. Each of your frogs will have three specific genetic traits that they inherit from their parent frogs, which according to NimbleBit will result in "many thousand possible emergent species." There are going to be multiple customizable habitats to raise your frogs in, and players will be responsible for keeping the frogs healthy, happy, and well fed by taking them out to explore the Pocket Frog pond.
Aside from breeding frogs, players will be able to get new frogs by ordering them in-game as well as trading frogs with friends via Plus+. There are also plans to have various challenges to breed certain frogs which rotate on a weekly and monthly basis and the frog store will rotate on a daily with new frogs to buy with in-game currency. NimbleBit is still hashing out plans on exactly how they're going to monetize Pocket Frogs, but have assured me that players will be able to access absolutely everything in game for free and whatever in-app purchases they finally decide on will be intended for serious frog breeders and otherwise entirely optional.
Pocket Frogs will be a free download, available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and will take advantage of the iPhone 4's high-resolution Retina display. The game is slated for a September 15th launch, and those who download the title in its first week will receive an exclusive frog, the 'Black Floris Tribus'.
Last year we posted early details surrounding the forthcoming iPhone game controller accessory from 22moo, the GameBone, which will offer official iOS 4 support (read: no jailbreak necessary). The accessory-maker has recently posted additional details on the item to their website.
Features listed by 22moo:
8-way D-pad (directional pad)
4 action buttons
2 shoulder buttons
Built-in 1600 mAh Lithium battery for additional power for your iPod touch / iPhone
Rear button and LED to check charging state and capacity
Built-in stereo speakers
Omnidirectional MIC
3.5 audio headphone jack
Rear kick-stand
iDevice independent volume control
Charge and sync for all iDevices (except for the iPad)
Interchangeable core for compatibility with iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad devices
The company is currently in the process of finalizing the device's new PC board and updated case design for mass production. A new availability date will be announced in early October, so stay tuned.
Stuart Carnie of Manomio has indicated that the studio's C64 for iPhone will offer eventual support for the device when it hits market.
The GameBone will support the following iOS devices: 2G, 3G, 4G iPod touch, iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, and iPad.
Yesterday during Sega's iPhone Games Day, easily the most impressive and fun game that I had a chance to play was Sonic 4. It finally feels like the Sonic game that we've all been wanting for the past 15 years, with no gimmicks, unnecessary characters or outlandish stories. Just pure 2D side-scrolling Sonic goodness, with heaps of Blast Processing. We previewed Sonic 4 during E3 in June, where we had a chance to play an early version of the game. Yesterday at Sega I was shown a nearly complete build of the game that included the previously unannounced Labyrinth Zone, two exclusive iPhone levels, and the special Chaos Emerald bonus stages.
The best thing about Sonic 4 is that it's incredibly simple to play, to the point of almost rendering the virtual controls a non-issue. I say almost because it still can be tricky playing a platformer without tactile feedback, but with only an analog stick and one button to worry about it certainly simplifies matters. Sonic 4 plays similarly to the original trilogy where you can run down hills and roll through loops or perform a spin dash by crouching and mashing the button to build up speed, but one significant new maneuver has been added to Sonic's repertoire. After performing a jump, you can hit jump in mid-air and execute a homing attack that will send Sonic spinning into nearby enemies or interactive objects which get target locked automatically. This adds an interesting dynamic to the game and makes it far more playable on the touch screen, as you don't have to be quite as precise when trying to defeat enemies.
Previously, Sega has shown off the first area of Sonic 4 called Splash Hill Zone. This zone is reminiscent of the beginning stage in earlier Sonic the Hedgehog games, with bright blue skies, green grass, and plenty of loops and hills. Yesterday they revealed Labyrinth Zone, which is also akin to levels from the old Sonic games. It's an underground cavern area with moving platforms, boulders falling from the roof, and underwater portions. This is also where one of the iPhone exclusive levels is based, called Lost Labyrinth Zone. This level has Sonic riding in a mine cart that is controlled by tilting the device while negotiating maze-like caverns. Sonic 4 deviates from the linear level progression of the originals, and once you've completed the initial Splash Hill Zone all three areas in each of the four zones are made available to play in any order. The catch is that you will not be able to play the fourth boss area for each zone until you've completed the previous three.
Another returning feature from the classic Sonic games is the addition of bonus levels. If you complete an area with at least 50 rings in your possession, you'll have a chance to jump into a gigantic spinning ring at the end which will take you to a special stage and give you an opportunity to earn a Chaos Emerald. These stages are re-imagined versions of the ones from Sonic 1, and if you remember those stages you'll understand just how well suited they are for tilt control. Whereas you controlled Sonic himself as the stage spun around you in the originals, in this iPhone version you'll actually be controlling the stage by tilting and twisting the device while trying to get a stationary Sonic to the Chaos Emerald in the middle. Collecting a total of 7 Chaos Emeralds and completing the game will yield an alternate cliffhanger ending that will hint at things to come in Sonic 4: Episode 2.
Yes, Sonic 4 will be an episodic release. Sega couldn't comment on how many episodes will make up the entire experience, but have assured me that there is a definitive end to Sonic 4 and they won't just be releasing a new episode whenever they feel like adding a new set of levels. Sonic 4 is also looking quite stunning visually, and will be nearly identical to the console versions save for the 2 exclusive iPhone levels and tilt controls. Remarkably, the game runs at an incredibly smooth rate, and I didn't experience even one hiccup during my time with the game. Also of interesting note is that Sonic 4, the long awaited spiritual sequel to the classic original trilogy that fans have been clamoring for for years, will not be appearing on either the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. While this may have Marcus in a huff, it shows just how committed Sega is to this platform and its fans.
This hands-on video from our E3 preview in June demonstrates Sonic 4 in action:
I can hardly describe just how much I enjoyed Sonic 4, and I cannot wait for the final version to be released. Sega won't pin down anything more exact than “sometime this Fall” but the game was looking mostly complete and hopefully it won't be too much longer before we can all finally play Sonic 4: Episode 1.
Japanese gaming company CAVE seems to be on a roll with the App Store. After the release of excellent Espgaluda II and Dodonpachi Resurrection games, CAVE has announced their first original title for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Mushihimesama Bug Panic is an original title featuring Bug Princess Reco, star of the Arcade and Xbox 360 game “Mushihimesama Futari”. They aren't offering many details on the new game but provided this trailer:
The game is categorized as "Bug Busting Action". Of note, CAVE seems to have drawn a line in the sand and will continue to only support high-end devices. This new game will be compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, 3rd Gen iPod Touch and iPad only. The game will be released in the Fall of 2010.
Update: Here's an early gameplay video from December 2009:
It seems fitting that Sega chose today, the 11th anniversary of the North American launch of the Dreamcast, to announce that one of that systems most popular and beloved titles ChuChu Rocket! would be coming to the iPhone and iPad. I was an avid Dreamcast gamer back during its heyday, but never actually got into playing ChuChu Rocket. After spending time playing the title today at Sega's iPhone Games Day, I realize what I was missing out on.
ChuChu Rocket! is a colorful J-style puzzle game where you must get a group of mice safely into their rocket ships while avoiding cats. The mice will brainlessly move forward on their own, and make a right turn when running into walls or barriers. You can place various up, down, left, and right arrows around the playfield in order to direct the mice towards the safety of their rockets. Cats behave similarly in how they march around the board, and if you happen to misdirect your mice into any of the cats you'll fail the level. There are limited numbers of arrows per level to direct your mice with, meaning you'll have to think ahead to find the best placement of each one to assure you get your mice to safety.
That's the basic gist of ChuChu Rocket! anyway, but there can be variations of this due to the different modes of play. The Puzzle Mode is the main part of the game, and offers 100 levels of trying to get your mice safely to their rockets. This mode isn't timed, and allows you to think through how to complete the level at your leisure. Then there is a Challenge Mode with 25 levels that each have a specific goal, like directing the mice into the cats rather than the rockets. This mode is timed, and you'll need to get a certain amount of the mice to their goal before time runs out.
Finally there's Multiplayer Mode, which I think has the possibility to really shine on the iPhone. ChuChu Rocket! was the first online capable game for the Dreamcast, back before it was a common feature in video games. Multiplayer is 1-4 players, and you can either join up in teams of two or play free for all style. The goal here is to get as many mice to your own rocket as possible, while using arrows to direct cats into players rockets in order to prevent them from gaining any mice. This mode can be played over WiFi, 3G, or Bluetooth, and if you can't find any friends to play with you can add bots to the game and play against the AI. There are 25 levels to battle on, and the game will be the first from Sega to utilize Apple's new Game Center social network.
ChuChu Rocket! was a total blast when I had a chance to play it today, and it makes me sad that I never tried out this title almost a decade ago. It seems like a perfect fit for the iPhone, with all of the original levels reworked to be touch screen friendly. Gamers have been begging Sega to bring ChuChu Rocket! out on a current platform for years, and finally they will get their wish on the iPhone and iPad. Both versions will be exactly the same except for the iPad version which will contain a same-device 4 player multiplayer mode. Expect to see ChuChu Rocket! sometime in late October.
Back in early July, the classic 
Interactive fiction on the App Store has definitely surprised me not only with how well it works on the family of iDevices, but how much I've enjoyed the titles I've read. In the past we've posted 
Over the weekend quite a few people have been coming to the realization that Game Center only seems to allow for 500 friends. Per 
Last year we 
