It's Halloween and that means lots of ghouls and goblins tricking or treating -- and it also means discounts on games in the App Store.  Here's a quick and dirty list of notable titles on sale to give readers something to do while nursing that terrible stomach ache that will inevitably follow a strong night of door-to-door candy collecting.

• EA is running a Monster Sale on a large number of games, many dropped down to $.99.
• Jet Car Stunts from Tru Axis $1.99 → $.99
• Splinter Cell Conviction from Gameloft $6.99 → $.99
• Splinter Cell Conviction HD from Gameloft $9.99 → $6.99
• Let's Golf HD from Gameloft $4.99 → $.99
• Yslandia from Bulkypix $4.99 → $.99
• Minigore HD from Chillingo $4.99 → $3.99
• Seed 2 Vortex of War from Chillingo $2.99 → $.99
• PAC-MAN from Namco $4.99 → $.99
• PAC-MAN for iPad from Namco $4.99 → $.99
• Ms. PAC-MAN from Namco $4.99 → $.99
• I Love Katamari from Namco $4.99 → $2.99
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 $9.99 → $6.99
• Plants vs. Zombies from PopCap Games $2.99 → $.99
• Plants vs. Zombies HD from PopCap Games $9.99 → $4.99
• Battle for Wesnoth from Kyle Poole $4.99 → $.99
• Battle for Wesnoth HD from Kyle Poole $4.99 → $.99

Just in time for Halloween comes word of an official Evil Dead game coming to the App Store. For those that don't know, Evil Dead is a campy 80s horror movie directed by Sam Raimi (yes, the director of the Spider-Man movies) that follows a group of college kids as they spend the weekend in a remote cabin in the Tennessee woods. They accidentally unleash demons into the world by using The Book of the Dead, and all manner of Hell breaks loose. Main character Ash (the "King of All B-Movies" Bruce Campbell) spends all night fending off his friends as they each become infected with evil spirits. Evil Dead has become a cult classic horror film in the nearly 30 years since it was released.

We literally have no details about the upcoming game, but are impressed with how faithfully the game represents the original film in this trailer:

We're eager to find out any more information about this Evil Dead game that is coming to our iOS devices, but so far the developers are remaining hush about any specifics. What's interesting is that the trailer seems to use the actual audio directly from the movie itself, and what is shown closely mimics the events in the movie as well (though with Nintendo Mii-like characters). Also, this comes after the announcement of an Army of Darkness (the third movie in the Evil Dead trilogy) iOS game coming next year, but it doesn't appear that the two games are related aside from subject matter. We'll bring you any more news on this game as we get it, and until then I'll just pop in my Evil Dead Necronomicon Edition DVD and patiently wait.

Id Software's Rage is high up on my list of games I can't wait to play. It's going to be released on the PC and home consoles on September 3rd, 2011, and spinoff game for iOS devices is also in the works that is coming this November. The Bethesda Blog posted a developer diary of sorts by John Carmack today which is filled with some great technical details and newly revealed information on their upcoming Rage-based iOS game, Mutant Bash TV.

Starting things out, John admits that mobile development at Id hasn't been on the top of the priority list, and it wasn't until the end of July that he even started writing the engine that would power the iPhone game. (We saw the results at QuakeCon.) In the post, Carmack also reveals that while with this engine it's technically possible to compile the full-blown PC/console version of Rage for the iPhone, he describes it as a "hopelessly bad idea," citing inappropriate performance tradeoffs and control differences.

He admits what they do have is fun, and unlike anything else available for the iOS. After seeing the success of Myst, which is a 700MB download, that became their target file size for the "standard definition" version of the game. The "high definition" version for the iPad and iPhone 4 will be twice that size. Carmack then goes on to explain that the full version of Rage weighs in at an incredible 20GB. Even more surprising, this game is going to launch at 99¢ for the standard version, and $1.99 for the HD. Carmack thinks "people will be very happy with the value."

But what is this game going to be all about? John explains in detail:

The little slice of RAGE that we decided to build the iPhone product around is “Mutant Bash TV”, a post apocalyptic combat game show in the RAGE wasteland. This is the perfect setup for a quintessential first person shooter game play experience — you pick your targets, aim your shots, time your reloads, dodge the bad guys, and try and make it through to the end of the level with a better score than last time. Beyond basic survival, there are pickups, head shots, and hit streak multipliers to add more options to the gameplay, and there is a broad range of skill levels available from keep-hitting-fire-and-you-should-make-it to almost-impossible.

A large goal of the project has been to make sure that the levels can be replayed many times. The key is making the gamplay itself the rewarding aspect, rather than story progression, character development, or any kind of surprises. Many of the elements that made Doom Resurrection good the first time you played it hurt the replayability, for instance. RAGE iOS is all action, all the time. I have played the game dozens of times, and testing it is still fun instead of a chore.

Carmack has built his life around making games that are not only technically impressive and beautiful, but also tons of fun to play. If gameplay is in fact the rewarding part of Mutant Bash TV, I can't wait to give it a try. This all is making the end of November seem even more far away.

Gamevil has had a streak of hits with their Baseball Superstars series of games. We really liked Baseball Superstars 2010 [$2.99 / Free / HD] in our review, and the 2009 edition was great as well. The games combine arcade style baseball with RPG elements, creating an experience that is not only fun for fans of sports, but impossible to put down for those of us who like filling experience bars. Baseball Superstars 2011 is on the verge of being released, and Gamevil released the following two videos in preparation:

First, the ridiculous trailer:

...And a gameplay video:

I seriously cannot wait for this game.

Glu's Gun Bros [Free] plays a lot like a typical dual stick shooter in that you're armed to the teeth with weaponry and need to survive in a battle against wave after wave of various baddies. Competition is getting tough in the dual stick shooter section of the App Store, with plenty of fantastic options to choose from, but Gun Bros offers a few features that makes it stand out from the pack. First off, it's free to download and monetized via in-game adds and optional in-app purchases for equipment upgrades. Also, instead of playing by yourself, you play with a computer controlled bro who assists you in slaughtering everything that moves.

It gets even cooler though. Utilizing Game Center, you can import your friends' characters in to your game which then substitutes your secondary bro with their bro. It's still computer controlled, but both you and your friend get all kinds of bonuses for helping each other's bros out.

Playing the game awards experience and xplodium which is then refined in to coins at the end of the level. Utilizing these coins and optional war bucks which you buy with real money, you can upgrade to 30 different types of guns and 50 different types of armor. Some items are only able to be purchased with war bucks, but if you're willing to grind up coins, you can still have a great time in Gun Bros without paying for anything.

If you're in to dual stick shooters, you need to give Gun Bros a try. It looks great on the Retina Display of the iPhone 4, and like any free to play game you can either go crazy with in-app purchases, or just play the game without paying anything. Either way, the Game Center bro sharing system is really cool, making Gun Bros worth checking out for that feature alone regardless of how you feel about freemium games.

This morning some cryptic information was posted to the Square Enix Facebook page this morning regarding what appears to be an upcoming RPG for the iPhone. The only details provided with the screenshot are as follows:

According to the info that I've got,various characters can be generated from your "voice". Please wait for the official announce for the detail. I'll keep you updated.

This isn't the first time Square Enix has utilized sounds to generate characters in a game, as the entire gimmick behind Song Summoner was using your music to generate allies to assist you in battle. We should know more soon, as I doubt they'd release this information without more details in the pipe. We'll follow up as soon as we hear more.

After taking a look at Lil' Pirates a couple of weeks ago, Capcom Mobile is keeping the casual social freemium game trend going with their recently announced Smurfs' Village. Smurfs' Village looks to mimic some of the same mechanics of other similar titles like We Farm [Free] and Farmville [Free], but wraps it up in gorgeous artwork based on the classic Smurfs franchise. While these kinds of games have proved to be insanely popular as of late, they aren't typically my kind of game personally. But as a fan of the Smurfs growing up, I must admit I'm intrigued by the concept of Smurfs' Village and can't deny that the screens are looking fantastic.

The game begins as the Smurfs' village has just been desecrated by their nemesis Gargamel. Papa Smurf guides you as you rebuild the village starting out with just a small house and plot of land. As the village grows, more specialized houses, gardens, and structures will become available. A crew of your favorite Smurf characters will join in as well, offering their own unique abilities. When you're not busy building your village you can partake in some mini games based on things like painting, baking and mixing potions with Papa Smurf. Facebook integration will allow you to share your Smurfing exploits socially with your buddies online. Click on any of the pictures below to get the full size high resolution image:

Smurfs' Village will be launching sometime in November, and will be free to download and play. As is the case with most freemium games, much of the progression will be constricted by timers, and you'll have the ability to purchase special Smurfberries that allow you to grow and construct your village more quickly if you choose. The sharp look of the artwork and allure of nostalgia has captured my interest for Smurfs' Village, and we'll be taking a closer look at the game when it launches for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad next month.

With election day quickly approaching in the USA, iPhone developer Super Boise has released a surprisingly fun free trivia game that pits the two major American political parties against each other in real-time online trivia battles. Political Fury: The Knowledge Battle [Free] begins by forcing you to pick sides between Democrats or Republicans. From there, it displays a bar that shows each party's score, with a scale that tips from side to side depending on who is winning more games of trivia.

After tapping play, the game searches for an opponent from the opposite political party, and you duke it out in a five question trivia battle in various categories ranging from geography to current events. Points are awarded per question based on who answers correctly first, and winning a round of trivia awards one point to your party's overall score. What's really cool about Political Fury is how seamless it all is. There's no annoying sign up process, all you do is download the game, choose a party, and you're off. It uses geolocation to figure out what state you're in, and when you're playing someone, you see their state and their current grade. Answering properly increases your grade, and obviously, answering incorrectly decreases it.

If you like trivia or have found yourself caught up in the pre-election drama, download Political Fury right away. With or without all the political mumbo jumbo, it's still really cool to be instantly matched up against another person in online trivia wars.

Update: It would appear that this game went from free to 99¢ a few moments after this story. Given the topical nature of the game and the fact that it likely won't have much appeal once the election is over next week, I can't really recommend buying it unless you'd really just love to battle members of the opposite political party for a couple days.

Last night Chillingo's WackyLands Boss [99¢] hit the App Store, and turned gaming on its head by allowing you to quite literally play as the boss, slaying hordes of innocent knights, archers, wizards, and more leaving nothing but destruction in your wake. To sweeten the deal, you're not stuck with one boring old boss to play as either. Your boss is incredibly customizable with even more customization that unlocks as you play through the game.

Only one control option is included, and every action in the game is performed via tapping or swiping gestures. For instance, holding one side of the screen causes your boss to walk that way, tapping in a direction executes a quick attack, and swiping in a direction performs a slower but more powerful swing. Rolling to evade is accomplished by swiping up on either side of the screen, and picking up in-game objects involves swiping up on your boss.

It all sounds good, but in action, it leaves a little to be desired especially later in the game when precise control of your boss is required. As much as I hate to say it, I almost wish there was a virtual D-Pad and button option. WackyLands Boss reminds me a lot of Samurai: Way of the Warrior [$1.99] in that way too many deaths result from game disagreeing with what you're trying to get your character to do as you wildly tap and swipe trying to stay alive.

Once you do get a hang of the controls, WackyLands Boss is a lot of fun. Gameplay can be a little repetitive at times since you're basically just walking to the right murdering swaths of defenders, but this is greatly defrayed by an experience system. Leveling up unlocks more and more weapons, armors, special abilities, and evolutions for your boss. Using coins that you take from your victims, you can really trick out your boss by buying swords, clubs, shoes, and all kinds of other items that boost your stats. In addition, as you progress through the story you also unlock three simple but fun mini games.

WackyLands Boss is a game that's dripping with charm. Whether you decide to customize your boss to look like a bloodthirsty killer or any number of other silly combinations, it's a great time rampaging through the countryside tossing barrels of poison, eating princesses to regain health, and punching down castles. I'd like to see some more control options, but other than that, this is a beat-em-up that's easy to recommend.

Tonight Sega released their classic Dreamcast puzzle game, and huge fan favorite, ChuChu Rocket! [$4.99/HD] into the App Store. We had a chance to go hands-on with ChuChu Rocket! at Sega's offices last month and came away excited for the iPhone and iPad version of the game. Sega has taken the entirety of the original ChuChu Rocket! and reworked it for the touch screen, and the results are terrific. While the graphics are essentially the same, the UI actually feels much more natural than that of the Dreamcast. This game seems almost meant for touch screen controls, and whether or not you were a fan of the original Dreamcast release ChuChu Rocket! is a puzzle game that needs to be in your collection.

Starting the game forces you through a very short tutorial explaining how to play ChuChu Rocket! The tutorial is so short because this game is ridiculously easy to play. The core of the gameplay involves placing various arrows around a checkerboard-like playfield and then unleashing your crew of mice who will blindly march forward. The only things that stray them from their path are running into your strategically placed arrows or hitting a wall which will cause them to turn clockwise. Your mice must avoid running into hazards, like holes and cats, on their way to their escape rockets.

Placing arrows simply requires touching a square of the game board and swiping in the direction of the arrow you want. Tapping a placed arrow erases it if you make a mistake. A button in the upper left sets your mice in motion, and tapping that button again speeds up time if you're feeling impatient. And that's pretty much it. The controls are so intuitive and easy to perform that you can focus squarely on solving the fiendishly clever puzzles and frantic multiplayer in ChuChu Rocket!

The bulk of the content in ChuChu Rocket! is the 100 levels in Puzzle mode. There is no time limit in these levels, and the goal is simply to get all of your mice safely to the rockets. This mode starts out easy enough, but quickly ramps up in difficulty as some of the later levels had me nearly pulling my hair out trying to find the correct positions to place each arrow. It's a good kind of difficulty though, one that urges you to keep trying until you've figured out the solution to a puzzle you are stuck on.

Then there is Challenge mode which features 25 timed levels that each have a specific task to complete. These can be things like directing a certain number of mice to the rocket before time runs out, or even going against the very nature of the game and running them all into a cat as quickly as possible to be eaten. The Challenge levels are a nice diversion from the typical gameplay found in Puzzle mode, and the best time for each level is saved with your total time for completing all levels being tracked through Game Center leaderboards.

Likely the thing that will keep you coming back to ChuChu Rocket! long after you've completed the rest of the game is the phenomenal multiplayer mode. Unfortunately there is no online multiplayer as was first announced, but the local and same-device multiplayer modes are crazy amounts of fun if you have friends to play the game with. The multiplayer gives each player their own rocket and up to three arrows to place. You're constantly trying to direct a stream of mice into your own rocket, while trying to direct cats into your opponents' rockets. Random events will trigger to mix up the action like switching the position of everyone's rockets or releasing a mega stream of mice into the game.

Multiplayer is a blast as everyone is simultaneously trying to screw each other over, and the lead changes hands suddenly and often. It supports up to 4 players over local WiFi, and if you have the iPad version you can play with up to 4 players all on the same screen. If you don't happen to have any friends around, you can set up to 3 AI bots to play with on any of the 24 multiplayer maps. Nothing can top talking smack to your buddies while playing in the same room, but the option for bots is pretty comparable and lets you take advantage of this mode even if you're solo.

I can't really think of too much that I don't like about ChuChu Rocket! It can be pretty difficult at times, but there's no real penalty for retrying levels that you get stuck on and it's really satisfying to finally nail it when you do. The graphics aren't Retina Display ready, but the game still looks quite sharp on 4th generation devices and it actually suits the retro nature of the game. The lack of online multiplayer is a disappointment, especially since Game Center is already integrated for leaderboards and achievements, but hopefully this can be added down the line. It will take quite a while before you're able to complete all of the Puzzle and Challenge levels, and the multiplayer mode could conceivably last you the rest of eternity. ChuChu Rocket! is just one of the best puzzle games around, much as it was 10 years ago on the Dreamcast, and with the new touch interface it actually succeeds at being the definitive version to own.

Halfbrick Studios' Age of Zombies [$2.99] is a dual stick shooter that started its life as a PSP Mini all the way back in February. Starring the same Barry Steakfries and similar to Monster Dash [99¢], Age of Zombies doesn't really bring anything that incredibly new or exciting to the table, but that doesn't make it any less fun.

It's a little hard to review dual stick shooters, because like so many other crowded genres on the App Store, they all play very similar. Age of Zombies features the standard set of on-screen controls that work great, a variety of weapon power-ups, and even grenades to toss when things get hairy. Gameplay consists of what you would expect out of a dual stick shooter. You run Barry around, shoot everything that moves, and do everything you can to survive.

Halfbrick mixes things up a bit by changing the way health is handled in the game, as instead of a single hit resulting in death, Age of Zombies plays more like a modern first person shooter. As you take damage, the edges of the screen get red. If you're able to blast yourself a clearing and get away from whatever is chomping on you, your health regenerates and you're back to slaughtering everything in your path. I actually like this quite a bit because you only die when you're completely overwhelmed instead of biting the dust when you make a stupid mistake.

Terrain is very important in Age of Zombies, with levels having multiple paths you can run around avoiding and channeling enemies in to the spray of your shotgun or the splash of your grenade. Also, the number of enemies that can be on-screen at once is crazy. Seeing how long you can survive running away from everything, only to turn around and start lobbing grenades is a ton of fun.

The story mode is filled with swearing, toilet humor, and time traveling. In all, Barry will visit five different areas starting with battling prehistoric cave men zombies all the way up to the terrible zombies of the future. Each setting plays similarly, but it's nice to mix things up. Bosses also appear in game, but they don't really have any unique properties to them and instead just seem to serve as massive bullet sponges before finally falling over. The reward for playing through the single player is a survival mode for each time period, complete with online leaderboards using both Game Center and OpenFeint.

Sure, there are a ton of dual stick shooters on the App Store, but there's only one starring Barry Steakfries. If you have room for one more on your device, Age of Zombies is an excellent pick. Game Center support and the fact that Age of Zombies is launching as a universal app makes this bloodbath even easier to swallow. The only question left is what kind of trouble will Barry Steakfries find himself in next?

Yesterday developer Chaoji Li unleashed iDOS to the world. For 99¢, you were able to download a surprisingly fully functional version of Dosbox, a cross-platform program that emulates an IBM compatible PC running MS-DOS, tweaked to ridiculous lengths to work with the touch interface of iOS devices. We posted about it late yesterday morning, and within a few hours the story was picked up by TUAW, Gizmodo, MacRumors, Engadget, and many other media outlets before Apple ultimately pulled it from the App Store entirely a few hours later.

Originally we suspected that this might be the first of many full featured emulators appearing on the App Store following Apple easing up on approval guidelines, but after spending some time with iDOS, it became clear that someone obviously was asleep at the wheel in Apple's approval department. First off, iDOS allowed root access to the file system of the iOS device it was run on via use of simple DOS commands to navigate outside of iDOS's app directory. Secondly, it allowed for execution of absolutely any external DOS-compatible code from games to compilers to entire operating systems. (Some have even installed Windows 95 within iDOS.) As if things couldn't get worse from there, iDOS also came bundled with Dig Dug and Ms. PacMan, two games that Namco not only owns, but is currently selling on the App Store for $2.99 and $4.99 respectively.

Even with the new approval guidelines those three things are in serious violation of the developer agreement, and as such it wasn't much of a surprise to see iDOS quickly removed from the App Store. However, chances are, this won't be the last time you hear of the project. Chaoji Li has already submitted an update to Apple removing Dig Dig and Ms. PacMan, and intends to restrict file system access if Apple also feels that's a problem. Of course that leaves the glaring hole of complete code execution of any random executable you download and drop in to iTunes. One could be quick to jump to the conclusion that this means that iDOS is doomed to forever live in jailbreak purgatory as the freely downloadable DOSPAD, but I'm not so sure. Simply put, iDOS doesn't follow the rules Apple set for apps that are listed in the App store; but this aspect isn't important to understanding why iDOS is important.

Nostalgia gaming currently is bigger than it's ever been before as more and more people who grew up with video games as a main part of their childhood come into adulthood, and don't seem to have any problem spending money to relive those memories in remakes, sequels, and re-imaginations of their favorite games of the past. The Monkey Island remakes are an excellent example of a game studio taking completely classic intellectual property, refreshing it, and releasing it to both a crowd of new gamers and old gamers anxious to once again accompany Guybrush Threepwood on his quest(s). Similarly, iDOS allowed both new and old gamers to play a nearly limitless supply of classic DOS games on their iOS devices.

Much like using Dosbox on your Mac or PC, quite a few games require a bit of tweaking to run optimally, but this is hardly any different from the original releases of these games. (Or as someone put it on Twitter, often times coaxing the game to run on your ancient PC via jumper settings and other wizardry was half the fun of playing it.) Regardless, quite a few games run phenomenally on iDOS right out of the box. The thread on our forums is full of people posting positive results when attempting to run all kinds of retro games and programs. I spent an embarrassing amount of time playing The 7th Guest on my iPad yesterday, with a stupid grin across my face the entire time.

Adding all these things together when leveraged with the power of the App Store, results in the ingredients for a true renaissance of iOS retro gaming. The rate at which our story yesterday expanded to other massive blogs and media outlets proves that there is an immense interest out there for a plethora of classic PC games that iDOS is capable of running on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Chaoji Li proved that playing these games is entirely possible via his iOS-customized spinoff of Dosbox, and, with a little tweaking, many of them run quite well. The current pool of retro remakes and other inspired titles on the App Store (as well as other platforms) and their associated success proves people are willing to pay for them.

This brings us back to the issues that Apple will have with iDOS. Frankly, it does too much, is way too open, and there's likely no way for Apple to look the other way in the entire purpose of the emulator: To execute whatever remote code you drag into iTunes. When emailing back and forth with Chaoji yesterday, I asked him what he thought about another possible alternative for the direction of iDOS.

What if developers leveraged the power of iDOS, or, more accurately, the open source nature of both Dospad and Dosbox to release individually tailored versions of iDOS with a specific game embedded and the emulator extensively tweaked to run that game well? id Software is already using Dosbox in this exact way to re-release both Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D on Steam. Sega has used their own Genesis emulator to release Sonic and other classic games on the App Store. The only thing stopping developers from doing the same thing with any number of classic PC games is tracking down who owns the rights to them, licensing the IP for distribution on the App Store, and tweaking iDOS to exclusively load that content. Chaoji told me he's even willing to help making the entire wrapping process easier in any way he can.

If you're an iOS developer out there trying to come up with what your next project will be, consider looking up who currently holds the rights to your favorite retro game. Since most of these games are freely distributed as abandonware, you might find that the owners may be willing to strike an amazingly reasonable deal with you, or just give you their blessing to breathe some new life into their projects of the past for nothing at all. As mentioned previously, the market is there, the software is there, the distribution network is there.

All we need to start the revolution is developers willing to answer the call.

Thanks to IzzyNobre for the awesome photos, and forum members for screenshots.

In July of last year, Team17 released their classic artillery battle game Worms [$2.99/HD] onto the App Store. It was great to see such a beloved franchise hit iOS devices, but unfortunately the game was plagued with a number of problems. Performance was subpar even on a then-new and more powerful iPhone 3Gs, and fans complained of certain missing weapons and lack of online play. The game was updated a number of times which resulted in much improved performance, but the promise of additional weaponry and online matches never actually materialized, though they did add a very nice Bluetooth multiplayer mode to the game.

Now Team17 has just released Worms 2: Armageddon [$4.99] to the App Store, and it essentially feels like what the first game was always meant to be. There is an incredible amount of weaponry in Worms 2, and local multiplayer with up to 4 players or 2 player battles online. A single player campaign contains 30 missions to play through across 5 brand new locations, with tons of different modes to try out. Also, many options are available to customize the look and sound of your worm teams as well as a number of unlockable items to earn.

In many ways, Worms 2: Armageddon feels more like Worms 1.5. The UI feels just like the last game, slightly clunky but manageable. The graphics also don't look any different, save for when running on the iPad, and the lower resolution visuals stick out on a Retina Display device. Online play is a nice addition but I can't help but wish for full 4 player support, as that's when Worms is really at its best. Overall it's a good game if you're a fan of Worms and are looking for the best available version for your iOS device, but if you were expecting leaps and bounds of progress over the first game then you will likely feel disappointed with this latest installment.

Developer PopCap has just dropped the price of their wildly popular zombie defense game Plants vs. Zombies down to 99¢ for a limited time. This is the first time this game has ever seen a price drop from its normal price of $2.99. Plants vs. Zombies debuted on the App Store back in February and immediately skyrocketed into the top 10 overall paid apps list, and hasn't dropped out of the top 50 ever since.

Chances are that there aren't that many of you out there who don't already own Plants vs. Zombies, based on the incredible sales numbers, but for those of you who have been on the fence this whole time now is your opportunity to pounce on this game. If you aren't sure what the heck Plants vs. Zombies is, then check out our extensive review of the iPhone version from when the game was released back in February.

Update: As was pointed out in the comments below (and so egregiously missed by myself) the iPad version Plants vs. Zombies HD is also currently  on sale for 50% off, down from $9.99.

Back in March of last year Fish Labs rolled out their space trading title Galaxy on Fire, giving folks like me who missed out on the 1984 classic Elite a chance to make a name for themselves out there among the stars. It's a great game that debuted with some difficulty issues, but they were resolved in short order and its universe has been enjoyed by many. Tonight, the studio released a new challenge for space jockeys everywhere, the sequel Galaxy on Fire 2 [App Store] for the iPhone, with an iPad version to follow close behind.

The game places you in the role of space fighter pilot Keith Maxwell who encounters a space anomaly and ends up adrift through the galaxy, to be rescued by a benevolent miner who helps you get back on your feet. You'll quickly find you've not only been transported to to the other side of the galaxy, but that you've woken up 35 years in the future. Kind of like Sigourney Weaver.

Your goal is to get back to your home system on the other side of the galaxy, but achieving that goal is going to take some time, and what better way to fill that time than by taking on various missions across the region's 20 star systems. You start out with a relatively weak, modestly outfitted ship, but there's money to be made and upgrades to be had along the way. Jobs ranging from cleaning up space garbage to mining asteroids to transporting goods to hunting pirates to rescuing kidnapped officers can be had in the various stations in each system on the vast star map. And, if that seems too harrowing, money can be made in the simple buying and selling of simple commodities from one station to another. Like father of the genre Elite, it's a game you can take at your own pace.

Each star system consists of a handfull of planets, each with a space station -- there are 100 in all -- complete with a hanger in which to buy and sell goods as well as a Space Lounge. In each station's lounge can be found individuals of many sorts, most of whom are eager to do business with you. Some want to send you to a neighboring planet to do their bidding, while others seek to send you to other systems much father afield, requiring a multi-leg journey across the star map, involving jumpgates that can send you to strange and distant systems. And all this against the backdrop of the tyranny of the evil alien race known as the Voids.

Seeing real success in the game required careful ship and equipment choices. For instance, some ships offer up the valuable contents of their cargo holds when destroyed, but without a pricey tractor beam, you can't touch them. The same goes for asteroid mining -- without the proper gear, that booty is beyond your reach. It's all about successful missions and wise income management.

The game offers a choice of virtual stick or tilt-based controls with contextual action buttons to fire primary and secondary weapons. In addition, there are two view modes: standard and free view, which allows for swipe-based, any-angle  camera controls of the battlefield action with pinch and spread zoom support. The free view mode is an opportunity to partake in some real eye-candy, allowing you to contrive cinematic aspects through which to view the game's impressive starfields and volumetric dust clouds which take advantage of the iPhone 4's Retina display, where available. (And a different vantage can actually be helpful in a heated battle against a swarm of space pirates.) An option setting offers three different detail settings, the default being the highest on our iPad test system.

Hitting various gameplay milestones (returning to base nearly mangled, talking to more than 20 traders, etc.) will trigger in-game achievements, which are tied to integration with both OpenFeint and Apple's Game Center.

While I enjoyed the time I spent with the original Galaxy on Fire, the sequel feels a more well-rounded and immersive. More polished. Everything just kind of flows together more smoothly this time around. And, while I've spent a significant amount of time with a pre-release build, I've really only scratched the surface of the gameplay the title has to offer.

The space trading / commerce genre is certainly not a sparsely populated one out there across the many available gaming platforms. And in the App Store, Fish Labs isn't the only gig in town. But of the games of this sort I've spent time with, Galaxy on Fire 2 is the most approachable and satisfying on the platform, so I highly recommend it.