Here are a few sales and price drops that have just landed, to hopefully help deliver a bit of low-cost, weekend gaming fun.

Archon, $1.99 [ review ], Archon: Conquest, Free [ review ] -- React Games has brought the classic 1983 EA action strategy game Archon to the iPhone in two different flavors. Archon for the iPhone is, well, Archon — for the iPhone, more or less a straight remake. Archon: Conquest replaces the chess board of the original with a variety of different environments in which to play — four maps or campaigns with 60 different quests or puzzles to complete in all, visually similar to EA's 1984 sequel, Archon II: Adept. Both titles are on sale until the end of October in honor of the release of Archon PC through Steam.

Archetype, $0.99 [ review ] -- We've been in love with Villan's superb online first-person shooter Archetype since we first got our hands on it -- and it's a love that shows no sign of fading. Villain has dropped the price of the iPhone version to $0.99, down from $2.99, so if you're a FPS fan and somehow don't yet have this on your device, get to the App Store. Archetype is also available in an iPad version [link].

The Sims 3, $6.99 [ review ], The Sims 3 Ambitions, $2.99, The Sims 3 World Adventures, $1.99 [ review ] -- Will Wright's The Sims series is one of the best known in gaming history. EA is currently running a sale on all of the Sims titles in its App Store catalog. The base title is currently reduced in price by $4, while Ambitions is down $2 and World Adventures is down $1.

SimCity™ Deluxe, $0.99 [ details ] -- Before The Sims came another extremely well-known and respected series, the city-building simulation SimCity, also by Will Wright. EA is currently running SimCity Deluxe, a follow-up to the original SimCity for the iPhone, at $0.99, down from $4.99.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (US), $0.99 [ details ] -- Sports game fans out there may appreciate Konami's recent price drop on their Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, which has just gone from $5.99 to $0.99. The game offers classic virtual-pad controls as well as AI-supported touch controls for those just learning the ropes of the title.

Raging Thunder 2, $2.99 [ video ], Raging Thunder 2 for iPad, $2.99, Wave Blazer, $1.99 [ review ] -- Polarbit, who were putting out iPhone games before there was an App Store, have discounted three of their iOS racing titles. Raging Thunder 2, both the iPhone and iPad versions, have dropped from $4.99 to $2.99, while their aquatic, power-boat racer Wave Blazer has sunk in price from $3.99 to $1.99. All three are high-speed fun.

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Our sister site's AppShopper App has recently seen a few updates, including the much requested addition of Push Notifications.

AppShopper tracks all the major changes to the App store, including new apps, updates and sales. For example, with the right combination of filters you can find every app that has gone from Paid to Free. For a less overwhelming view, you can just view popular changes amongst other AppShopper readers.

It's what we use to keep track of interesting game sales, and now you can monitor them on your iPhone or iPad.

If you're looking for a couple games to play over the weekend for the low price of, well, free-- Here are a couple you should try.

Cubed Rally Racer - Back when this game was first released, I gushed like crazy in our review. It's an isometric 3D racer with completely randomized tracks. You can do all kinds of awesome things like endlessly generate tracks to always have something new to race on, then you can even send those tracks and your associated ghost data to any of your friends via OpenFeint. If you've got an iPad, Cubed Rally Racer HD [$1.99] is also worth checking out because the two player spitscreen mode is really cool.

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Giant Moto - We thought Giant Moto had tons of potential when it first was released, but a limited number of tracks and weird controls were hard to overlook. Since then, new tracks have been added along with OpenFeint support for some extra replay value via leaderboards and achievements. If you have fond memories of Excitebike, don't miss this one while it's free.

The Boondock Saints is a cult classic movie based around Connor and Murphy MacManus, a pair of Irish twins who believe God calls upon them to purge the fair city of Boston of gang evil. The movie bombed in box offices, but went on to make over $50m in home video and DVD sales. If you haven't seen it yet, and you like bullet-packed action movies, you should really check it out on NetFlix streaming. Much like the Predator movies and Predators [99¢ / Free], it seems like the Boondock Saints movies has more than enough in it to make a fun iPhone game.

The cleverly titled The Boondock Saints Mobile Game is a dual stick shooter based on the Boondock Saints movies. It comes with an entirely new story exclusive to the game, and you can choose to play as either of the brothers while cleansing Boston of filth. Along the way you'll run in to many characters from the movies, and of course, tons of different weaponry.

The Boondock Saints Mobile Game will be appearing on the App Store next Thursday the 28th for $1.99. Once the game is released, we'll take a closer look.

Exozet Games recently dropped us a note regarding the opening of a beta test for the upcoming expansion to Catan [$4.99 / HD]. The Seafarers expansion is a nautical themed addon that allows players to build shipping lanes, which work a lot like roads in the existing game. Also, there's a whole set of new water-based hex tiles to build the game board with.

We don't have many details yet, but from the looks of it, it's going to be a DLC expansion pack for the original Catan. Also, like the original, The Seafarers looks like it will be based off the original J2ME version of the game also by Exozet. It's hard to say when this will actually be released, as if they're just starting the beta test now it could be weeks or months before it is even submitted to Apple for approval.

Needless to say, as huge fans of the Catan board game, we're going to keep a close eye on this.

Last month we had our pizza-greased paws all over Sega's upcoming Chu Chu Rocket for the iPhone, and having loved the Dreamcast version, we can't wait. We explain the basic premise of the game in the preview:

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.

The game will be available on the 28th for both the iPhone and iPad. The iPhone version will be $4.99, with the HD iPad version at $6.99. Chu Chu Rocket for the iPhone sounds pretty awesome, with over 140 puzzles and a four player multiplayer mode. If you can't wait until next week and desperately want some similar gameplay, give Mummy Panic a look.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't understand the Farmville [Free] phenomenon at all. I've tried several times to get in to the game, and while I've been sucked in to other freemium social time sinks, Farmville just doesn't do it for me. However, this doesn't seem to stop nearly everyone I know on Facebook from constantly offering lost cows, free corn, and all kinds of other junk I can't even begin to understand why I'd want. If you do want those things, and own an iPad, you need to check out the latest Farmville update ASAP.

Here's a before and after of what playing Farmville on the iPad was like, and is like now:

There's also some high definition assets in the game for the Retina Display of the iPhone 4 and 4th generation iPod touch, but on initial inspection this seems to be limited to the splash screen and a few other graphics. Also, if you're super hardcore and have the Super Combine tractor, that's supported in the app now as well.

Last month developer CAVE revealed that they were working on an original game for iOS devices starring Bug Princess Reco from the Mushihimesama series of console and arcade games called Mushihimesama Bug Panic. In our post about this news, there was very little in the way of gameplay shown in the teaser trailer provided by CAVE. A video we discovered later and added to the post was from all the way back in December 2009 and still didn't explain too much of what the game was about. What it did show however was that Mushihimesama Bug Panic would definitely be in line with CAVE's other iOS offerings, such as Dodonpachi Resurrection [$8.99/Lite] and Espgaluda II [$8.99/Lite], featuring huge explosions and tons of enemies on screen at once.

Just a few hours ago, CAVE sent over a brand new video and some more info on Mushihimesama Bug Panic, and it's looking great so far. Mushihimesama Bug Panic will be a sequel to the arcade and Xbox 360 title Mushihimesama Futari, and rather than a bullet hell scrolling shooter it will be more of a dual-stick shooter of sorts, but still with some bullet hell elements. The game will feature two main modes of play, an Adventure mode and a Score Trials mode. The story follows the events right after Mushihimesama Futari and has Bug Princess Reco using three different types of bombs to destroy the multitude of bug enemies that are after her.

The planned release date for Mushihimesama Bug Panic is sometime in Fall 2010, and the game will follow suit with other CAVE releases on the App Store and only support 3rd generation devices and above. A price has not yet been set for the game, but we are looking forward to getting our hands on Mushihimesama Bug Panic and we'll bring you any further news as we get it. In the meantime you can drop by the upcoming thread in our forums where a discussion of the game is taking place.

One of the greatest features of the iPhone 4 and the 4th generation iPod touch is the super crisp Retina Display screen. Plenty of older games have been given new life just by updating the graphics to run in the higher resolution of the Retina Display. While it doesn't exactly add to the gameplay, it sure doesn't hurt having some nice eye candy to gaze upon while playing your favorite games. Recently four games have received updates that include Retina Display support, as well as some other nifty new features.

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Tilt to Live, $2.99 Tiny red dots never looked so sharp, as the tilting combat game Tilt to Live has received a significant update adding Retina Display support. In addition to the shiny new graphical coating, the game also now has online leaderboards and achievements using Game Center. Tilt to Live has only gotten better over time thanks to some fantastic updates, and this newest one is no exception. Developer One Man Left has also hinted that new weapons and gameplay modes are planned for the near future. Check out our review of the release version and our coverage of the first and second updates to the game for more info.

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Helsing's Fire, $0.99 A unique puzzle game that uses an interesting light source mechanic, Helsing's Fire is really unlike anything else on the App Store. Its incredible humor and clever level designs make it a real joy to play. Much like Tilt to Live, Helsing's Fire has received not just one but two significant updates since our initial review. Now this latest update adds Retina Display support, along with some optimizations and bug fixes, so you can hunt down monsters in razor sharp resolution.

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BIT.TRIP BEAT, $0.99 Originally a WiiWare downloadable title, Bit.Trip Beat made its iOS debut at the end of last month. Being fans of the original, we noted in our review that Bit.Trip Beat actually felt more natural and fun on Apple's devices. While it may seem weird that an 8-bit inspired game gets updated for Retina Display, this is exactly what has happened in a recent update and it actually does make quite a difference. Also in this update is a much needed Easy mode, as the game was initially brutally hard, and levels no longer need to be unlocked in order to access them. Minor bug fixes and multiplayer stability improvements round out this update to an already fun game.

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Needless to say, if you own any of these games (and especially if you own an iPhone 4 or a 4th generation iPod touch) then make sure to grab these latest downloads to enjoy the enhanced visuals. If you have yet to pick up any of these games, they are all worthy additions to any gamer's library and are definitely recommended.

Few App Store ports have more history than the original Puzzle Quest [$4.99 / Lite]. It started its life back in 2007 on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, then slowly made its way to other platforms over the years before finally winding up on the iPhone. The original release of the game sold for $9.99, and was host to a number of game breaking bugs ranging from incredibly blurry graphics to players just flat out randomly losing their progress. 1.1 was released shortly thereafter, and as a bit of a consolation prize to early adopters, an entire additional episode of content was later bundled in as a free update. After that, a third episode was eventually offered as a DLC pack, but still, Puzzle Quest was never a very good port.

So because of all the lackluster developments with the original Puzzle Quest on the iPhone, I admittedly was not expecting much at all from the iPad version... But how very wrong I was. Puzzle Quest HD [$4.99] is without a doubt the definitive version of the game. To make things even sweeter, it even comes bundled with all three episodes of content for five measly dollars. This not only makes Puzzle Quest HD the best version of the game, but also the cheapest.

Blurry graphics and weird performance issues have been replaced by crisp iPad-resolution interface elements, text, and puzzle pieces. Really, the only negative I can even find is that the game seems to prefer you to tap pieces to swap them around instead of swiping like most match threes, but this only took a few moments to get used to before I was in complete Puzzle Quest bliss.

Puzzle Quest HD is a natural fit for the iPad. It looks great, it plays great, and is going to keep me busy for quite some time. I'm not really sure if the HD version is worth rebuying, especially if you've already played through it on another platform, but for me Puzzle Quest is just one of those games I can play again and again.

Back when the original Samurai: Way of the Warrior [$1.99] was released on the App Store, we thought it was an incredible display of what the current iPhone was capable of. Awesome cell shaded graphics were combined with some of the most gory gameplay available at the time which unfortunately was sullied by a cumbersome swipe-based control scheme. However, this didn't stop Way of the Warrior from topping over 800,000 downloads and winning a number of awards including being listed among Apple's Best Games of 2009.

Samurai II: Vengeance [$2.99] was released last night as a universal app, and after putting it through its paces I can safely say that this is a worthy sequel in every regard. First off, if the cell shaded graphics of the original Samurai wowed you, to put it lightly, you ain't seen nothin' yet. The game looks great in screenshots, but seeing it running at 60fps on the Retina Display of the iPhone 4 or on the iPad is downright incredible. Utilizing the latest version of the Unity 3D engine, MadFinger Games has made the entire game world even more detailed, making me stop quite often while playing the game to just look at my surroundings to take note of just how great something like a patch of bamboo looked-- Something I really can't say for too many video games, console titles included.

Especially on the Retina Display, Samurai II: Vengeance looks like a comic book in motion and the game's camera always makes sure you're focused on the action. For instance, when you're fighting an array of enemies, it will pan in and out whenever you're executing any of the varied combo finishing moves. When you get a hang for the combo system, this results in an incredible display of swords flying, blood splattering everywhere, with the camera zooming in to show the blood spurt emanating from a decapitated foe, then (if you can keep it up) repeating the whole thing on the next enemy-- Only this time, you might slice them in half.

All of these combos are reasonably easy to pull off too, since the convoluted swipe system of the original has been replaced with a much more sensible virtual joystick and array of buttons. One could argue that the swipe system made it feel more like an iPhone game, and to some extent I agree, but actually being able to pull off the moves you want instead of what the original Samurai thought you wanted to do makes playing the game a lot more fun. Also, with your hands fixed in one position, you can actually enjoy the graphics and overall mood of the game instead of constantly obstructing the screen with wild swiping and tapping motions.

Unfortunately, with all this awesome comes a bit of, well, not so awesome. Samurai II: Vengeance is an extremely linear arcade style brawler to its core, which is great if all you're looking to do is slaughter wave after wave of baddies, but not so great if you like games with a little more variety than just repeating your most effective combos over and over. Some light puzzle elements are included, and there are a few gauntlets of fairly menacing traps you'll need to navigate, but other than that, it's just straight up bloodbath action which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. Personally, I found myself getting bored at times during the game especially early on before you see a little more variety in enemies and have some upgraded combos.

Speaking of upgrading, Samurai II has a barebones experience point system of sorts that allows you to buy new combos, upgrade existing ones, and add some extra pixels to your health bar. The rate that you unlock new things seems pretty good, but again I found myself wishing there was more you could do to customize your character. In comparison, Gameloft's Hero of Sparta 2 [$6.99 / Lite / HD] offers a silly amount of character customization through various unlockables.

The difficulty level of Samurai II: Vengeance, even when playing on normal, can be a little too challenging. There's no way to heal aside from when you're refreshed when battles are over, which can often result in an incredibly frustrating series of do-overs especially later in the game with some of the gauntlets of enemy warriors Samurai II throws at you. Also, instead of any kind of tutorial to speak of, the game begins with a completely overwhelming four screen slideshow detailing every function of every UI element. While this might not be an issue for the hardcore gamer types that populate the TouchArcade forum, I'm not sure how well it will go over with the general populace.

If you are the hardcore type, you'll be happy to know that the endless survival mode dojo has made its return, complete with Game Center-powered leaderboards. Also, each of the seven chapters has its own leaderboard, and if achievements are your thing, there are a bunch of those as well.

While Samurai II: Vengeance isn't going to knock Epic Citadel [Free] off its throne of having the most jaw-dropping graphics available on the platform, this is an actual game, and is a must-have if you're looking for another way to show off the Retina Display. I'd love to see more variety in the gameplay, upgrades, and a more forgiving difficulty mode, but otherwise Samurai II: Vengeance is everything a great sequel should be.

Reckless Racing [$2.99/HD] is one of those games that almost needs no introduction. Ever since we posted the first video back in early March, when it was called Deliverace, gamers were impressed with the incredibly detailed graphics engine and arcade-like physics in the game. Later that same month, our hands-on video and an additional gameplay video only served to intensify the fervor of anticipation for the game now known as Reckless Racing. While initially developer Pixelbite Games had pegged the game for an “early 2010” release, suddenly everything went quiet regarding news on Reckless Racing. The weeks passed with no word from Pixelbite on the status of the game or a release date, and fans in our forums started to doubt if the game would even be released at all.

Then in late July, nearly five months after the game's announcement, we finally learned that EA Mobile had picked up Reckless Racing and would be publishing the title for Pixelbite. This was good news as it meant the game hadn't been cancelled, but we were still left without a solid release date. Meanwhile, the hype continued to swell in our forums to an astronomical degree as the weeks again began to pass without any sign of Reckless Racing. Then, just this past week, EA announced that the game would finally be coming out on October 21st, and there was much rejoicing.

Common sense would tell us that practically no game could match the incredible amount of hype that Reckless Racing has garnered in the past 7 and a half months, but casting that aside now that the final game is in our hands we can at least say that this is an incredibly enjoyable top-down arcade racing experience – just as we had hoped it would be. It definitely feels lacking in terms of track and vehicle options, especially taking into account the long development time, but what is here is super high quality and becomes an easier pill to swallow thanks to a really reasonable price point. Like many of the best games on a mobile platform, the biggest problem with Reckless Racing is that there just isn't enough of it.

Upon starting the single player game, you are thrust into a simple but very useful tutorial. Here you can choose from one of the five different control schemes (that include various onscreen buttons, virtual steering wheels, or tilt controls) and test them out to your heart's content on a practice track until you've found the one that suits you. Quitting the tutorial takes you to the main racing menu where you can choose either Dirt Rally, Hot Lap, or Delivery mode and pick from 6 different cars and 5 different tracks to race on.

Dirt Rally is like a championship mode where you'll race 3-4 laps on each of the 5 tracks on bronze, silver, and gold medal difficulties. Once the first 5 tracks have been completed, a reversed version of each one must then be played. The Hot Lap mode has you racing your choice of track over and over again trying for the very best lap time you can get, with medals earned by beating certain time requirements. The ghost from your best lap races along with you to give you something to compete with, and any of the ghosts from the online leaderboards can be downloaded and raced against as well.

Delivery mode is fairly different from the rest of the game, and is quite a lot of fun. It takes place on its own map that is both larger and more open than the regular racing tracks. You're given either 3, 5, or 8 minutes to complete as many deliveries as you can before time runs out. A package will be picked up at one point on the map and taken to another to complete each delivery, with a handy waypoint guiding you in the right direction at all times. The dollar value of each delivery decreases the longer you take to complete it, and at the end of the time limit your total number of deliveries and cash earned serve as the score for Delivery mode.

All of these single player modes include online leaderboards, and there is also an excellent online multiplayer mode that lets you race in Dirt Rally or Hot Lap modes with up to 3 other players over WiFi or 3g. The online portion works really well in my experience, always remaining smooth on my end although occasionally other racers would lag and teleport around the tracks. Overall the online high score tracking and multiplayer mode add a ton of incentive to keep playing Reckless Racing after you've earned every medal in the single player portion.

The two things that really stand out about Reckless Racing are the stunning Retina Display graphics and the fun physics system. The attention to detail in the game is incredible, with dust and dirt flying behind your vehicle's tires, tire tracks that remain on the course until the race is over, environmental objects like street signs and fences that can be destroyed, and excellent use of lighting and shadows to really bring the game to life. Driving is a blast as you drift around every turn on tracks comprised of both cement and dirt portions that both behave quite differently from one another. The tracks are designed really well, with plenty of jumps or small shortcuts to take and dangerous cliffs to fling yourself off of if you aren't careful. Racing around is just flat out fun, and it's hard not to be impressed with how beautiful everything looks while you're doing so.

Really the only thing I don't like about Reckless Racing is that it's all over too soon. The online leaderboards and multiplayer mode go a long way in lengthening the experience, but inevitably you'll have every nook and cranny of every track down pat before you know it. Owners of the iPad version get 3 additional tracks (each with a reversed version) on top of the original 5 included in the iPhone version. If you have a choice between the two, Reckless Racing HD is worth the couple of extra bucks for the added content. Player impressions in our forums are largely positive, despite being short on content. I sincerely hope that EA and Pixelbite continue to add content to the game with future updates, as the core of the game is done so well, but even as is Reckless Racing is a fun ride that is well worth taking.

TouchArcade Rating:

This evening Rovio Mobile released a Halloween themed supplement to the original Angry Birds [99¢ / Lite / HD] with the somewhat obvious title of Angry Birds Halloween [99¢ / HD]. There's not a whole lot to say about it other than it's another 45 levels of Angry Birds set in a Halloween theme. There is a new spooky theme, ghost pigs, and pumpkins to smash everywhere.

I'm not sure what else needs to really be said about this. Angry Birds has been at the top of the iTunes charts for quite some time now, and even complete strangers at gas stations who see me fiddling with my iPhone seem to know about the game. We posted a review back in December of last year when the original game first came out, and since then its been updated a ridiculous amount. It's hard to say if this special Halloween edition is going to see the same update love, but both the original Angry Birds (if you don't already have it) and Angry Birds Halloween will likely be the best $1.98 you've spent today.

If you at all enjoyed the original Angry Birds, you need to download this Halloween special.

An update recently propagated across the App Store for the classic jumping game Doodle Jump [99¢] in honor of the upcoming holiday of Halloween. If you're looking for something to get you in the spirit of Halloween, this new update should do the trick. The Doodler has undergone the terrible transformation to the Frankendoodler, and all of the monsters now are Halloween themed.

Something to be aware of is that this update is a bit of a double edged sword. While the new theme is pretty cool, to stay under the 20MB over the air download limit, Lima Sky nuked last year's Halloween theme. This one seems to be tons better, but if you're partial to the previous ghost theme you might want to back up your Doodle Jump.ipa somewhere to revert back or just flat out skip this update.

The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital posted some interesting details today regarding a potential acquisition of Chillingo by the hand of gaming giant EA. Neither company needs any kind of introduction around here, and it's really amazing to see all these huge multi-million dollar deals flying around lately over iPhone games. Price estimates of the purchase range from $80 million to $200 million, and there apparently are a number of companies interested in Chillingo ranging from DeNA, Activision, Gameloft, and oddly enough, even Microsoft's gaming unit.

We're waiting for comment from both Chillingo and EA.

Update: Reuters is reporting the sale price to be $20 million, but the full details have yet to be made public.

Update 2: We just heard from Chris Byatte, General Manager (former President) of Chillingo and got a brief comment on the buyout. In his words, "The acquisition will allow us to marry our expertise in identifying and cultivating the ideas of independent developers with the publishing power and reach of EA mobile. It is going to be BIG!"

We expect to get more details soon, as both Chillingo and EA seem to be inundated with requests currently. An official press release explaining the acquisition can't be too far off.

[via All Things Digital]