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Archive for October, 2010

Chillingo Reveals Fall Game Lineup

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Chillingo just released their fall games lineup which features six games ranging from weird racing games to shooters. We haven't gotten our hands on any of these titles yet, but if Chillingo picked them up it's safe to say they're worth a look:

Sheeple Chase by Green Ant Games [Forum Thread] – "Prepare for a turbo-charged romp through an English farmyard where Sheep race against Pigs to reach the finish line. Burst through hedges, dodge past cows and leap across rivers at fiery speeds to defeat the competition. For added fun, players can also opt to build their own tracks and share them with friends."


Folded Flight by GD8 [Forum Thread] – "Paper planes have never soared like this before! Glide your customizable plane using the amazing accelerometer and gyroscopic controls of the iPhone 4. Fly across stunning 3D environments in a large mansion filled with rooms and a garden full of dangerous obstacles."


Infinity Field by ForzeField - "Dodge and destroy your enemies in this gorgeous space shooter that really is out of this world!A visual feast, with score-attack style game play, plus a challenging campaign mode."


Mummy’s Treasure by FizzPow Games – "Explore the Great Pyramids in this challenging physics-based puzzler to find the Mummy’s treasure. Use your quick-thinking, logic to save all the gold treasures while disposing of the mummified heads."


My Kingdom by Oberon – "Build an empire and stake your claim in this revolutionary real location MMO game. Build settlements at real-world addresses; amass friends and battle foes as you venture across various parts of town to attempt to rule the territory!"


Sky Combat by Alien Worm – "Visually stunning, top-down frenetic shooter with staggering explosions, realistic real-world terrain and a variety of enemy vehicles and aircraft to destroy. Fight your way through the many stages, upgrade weapons and experience the intensity of war!"


That's all we know about these games right now, they're all scheduled to be released in the not too distant future, so we should have more details soon. It's hard to say if any of them will be the next Angry Birds, but, you never know.

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Official 'Speedball 2 Evolution' Coming Soon

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

It's hard to think of anything better for long time gamers from the 80s and 90s than iOS. Classic games from our childhood have been reborn on the iPhone platform, and another one appears to be on the way.

Tower Studios and Vivid Games, in association with The Bitmap Brothers, have announced the imminent release of Speedball 2 Evolution for the iPhone and iPad. The Bitmap Brothers were the original developers of Speedball, a popular Amiga sports game that was a cross between handball and ice hockey.

Here's a teaser video they released last week:


Only a few details are available and Vivid Games has posted in our forums about the upcoming launch.
We have been working very hard over the past few months to bring this classic title to modern systems in glory it deserves. Expect very Amiga experience!

The game will be released in 20th Anniversary of Speedball 2 Brutal Deluxe.

And yes - there will be multiplayer included + many more features added on a top of original game!

While an Xbox Live Arcade version of Speedball 2 was released in 2007, Vivid says they are "far from the XBLA version". A video of the Amiga version of Speedball 2 can be viewed here.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the announcement is that they report that Speedball 2 Evolution is just the first in a series of remakes of classic Bitmap Brothers games.

The Bitmap Brothers were also responsible for Xenon, Cadaver, Gods, Magic Pockets, and The Chaos Engine.

Latest 'Monster Dash' Update Adds New Level, New Weapon, and Game Center Integration

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Developer Halfbrick Studios has just released another significant update to their endless running high score game Monster Dash [99¢]. The Australian dev has noted that they are shooting for a fairly frequent update schedule to Monster Dash, in similar vein to the treatment that their other top-selling game Fruit Ninja [99¢/HD] has received. The first Monster Dash update was released at the end of August, and included a motorcycle powerup that protagonist Barry Steakfries could collect to plow over the countless monster enemies. In addition to the motorcycle, a number of gameplay tweaks and a couple new achievements were a part of the last update that we posted about when released.

This newest update takes things even further than the previous one did. An entirely new level, Yeti Heights, is now a part of the regular rotation. This snow themed level features abominable snowmen climbing up the walls in the foreground to reach the path of Barry while a twisted rendition of Jingle Bells plays in the background. Along with this new level comes a new rocket launcher weapon that can lock on to enemies and does splash damage to anything around the point of impact. The rocket launcher can be a bit tough to use early on in the game, as you aren't moving fast enough to get out of the way of the rocket's explosion. But further on when the game is moving at a fast clip, it can prove an invaluable weapon.

The final big addition to Monster Dash in this update is the inclusion of Apple's Game Center social network for leaderboard and achievement tracking. As with other games that had previously used OpenFeint for these purposes, the Game Center works in harmony with OpenFeint and you're given the option of which service will be the dominant one when initially starting the game. All of your previous scores and achievements will automatically transfer over to Game Center and you can switch between either service at any time from the About screen at the title.

As a small word of caution, since Game Center is still such a new service it can act a little wonky sometimes in certain games. When I first fired up the new update I had trouble logging in to Game Center and getting it to recognize Monster Dash as a Game Center compatible game. Eventually it did work after multiple tries, and while the achievement and high score transfer worked just fine it seems that my friends and recent games list in Game Center have been reset for some reason. A couple players in our forums have experienced problems as well, though it seems most people have been able to play the updated version without a hitch.

I wouldn't let these minor issues deter you from downloading the new update though, as the benefits that it adds outweigh any fussing that may need to be done to get Game Center to work. If you have yet to pick up Monster Dash, make sure to check out our original review as it's definitely one of the best endless running style games in the App Store and we can't wait to see what's in store for future updates.

App Store Link: Monster Dash, $0.99 (Universal)

'Trainyard' Review - Not Your Average Train Set

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Matt Rix's Trainyard [99¢ / Free] has actually been available on the App Store for quite a while now, but it wasn't until the recent Retina Display update that it popped up on my radar. Trainyard is a puzzle game which, as the title hints, involves routing trains around.

The games begin with a long tutorial (almost too long) that goes over all the basics of the game. In a nutshell, everything takes place on a 7x7 grid which begins filled with two or more train stations, one that the train comes from and one that the train needs to go to. Initially routing these trains around only involves drawing track between each color coordinated station, but before long you'll be routing multiple colored trains from the same originating stations through various switched pieces of tracks to several different stations. Some puzzles even involve combining trains. For example, one of the levels has a red and blue origin station and a purple destination station. On this puzzle, you need to lay track so the trains collide (oddly enough making one purple train instead of crashing), then send it to the purple station.

All of the elements of Trainyard go together very well, and the variety of the different included puzzles is impressive. What I like most about it though is that unlike a lot of puzzle games where there is usually only one solution (or a slightly more difficult solution to collect whatever bonuses some games have), many Trainyard levels have hundreds. I know this because of yet another clever feature in the game that allows you to submit your solution to an online solution database that shows all the unique solutions to each of the levels that have been submitted. This is useful not only if you're stuck, but also if you beat a level and want to see if someone did it more efficiently (or in some cases, much more convoluted).

Trainyard is currently the target of a limited time 99¢ sale, and I really recommend picking up the game if you've been looking for another great puzzler to sink some time in to. Unlike many train routing games, Trainyard doesn't require fast reactions at all, making it perfect for even the most casual gamers. Also, if you're interested in a behind the scenes look at what went in to Trainyard Matt posted an incredibly comprehensive blog post on his adventures in game development that's also worth checking out.

App Store Links:
    Trainyard, $2.99 (Universal)
    Trainyard Express, Free (Universal)

'EVAC' - An Upcoming Maze Game from the Creators of 'Totemo'

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Hexage has been responsible for a number of cool iPhone games including the puzzler Totemo [99¢ / HD] which we enjoyed quite a bit in our review and Radiant [99¢ / HD]. We've got some details on their next title, EVAC, and I really can't wait to give it a try.

EVAC is a maze game that incorporates elements from several genres. You play as a bright pink square set in a Pac Man-like maze filled with aggressive red squares that will stop at nothing to pursue you through it. From the sounds of it, levels can be completed in a number of different ways-- from playing stealthily and avoiding the red squares entirely, trapping them, flat out destroying them, or using other tactics. Online leaderboards are included, and the game is coming loaded with a soundtrack of electronic music by Kubatko.

The trailer looks awesome:

If all goes as planned, EVAC will be released sometime next month. I really like the art style of the game, and really look forward to playing it.

'Game Dev Story' Review - Create Your Own Game Company

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Typically I'm not a big fan of the sim-management type games. Back in the day I was hopelessly addicted to SimCity on the SNES, but future iterations of that game and of similar franchises just never appealed to me. They all seemed a bit too complicated, or required a hectic style of time and resource managing that turned me off to them, and nothing has quite captured the particular mix of simplicity and subtle depth from that classic SNES title. That changed yesterday when I discovered Kairosoft's Game Dev Story [$3.99] on my iPhone. It offers a sim-management experience that's not overwhelmingly complex, but at the same time has a lot of different elements that meld together well to create compelling gameplay. Plus, it's just a ton of fun to create your own games and see them go on to be huge successes (and sometimes total flops).

In Game Dev Story you'll play the president of a fledgling game development company as you direct your crew of designers, artists, and coders in an effort to create a string of successful video games over a 20 year time period. Beyond just making games, you'll need to grow your own brand name by running a game convention booth, attending awards shows, advertising, and managing an ever-changing fan base. As your company expands, you'll have the opportunity to move into larger offices and hire a bigger team of employees, all of whom can be leveled up and trained (at the expense of  higher salaries) so as to create better games. If you really become a big company, and have employees with the right skill sets, you can even create your own console and compete with the well established big boys in the hardware game.

To start off, though, you're just a tiny company with a few employees and a small amount of start-up capital to work with. You can choose to make games for home consoles or PCs, but each console requires you to purchase a license before you can develop games for it. To earn some extra funding for licenses or projects, outside contract work can be accepted. It's not the most exciting work, but it will pay the bills and help you earn enough money to make games of your own. Once you have the money to make a game, you'll choose which platform, genre, and style of game you want to make. Your own employees can be used to create the story, graphics, and sound, or you can source out that work to other professionals for a fee. A number of factors can affect how your game sells, including your fan base, what time of year you release (holiday season is best), and how the media reviews the game.

One aspect I especially liked about Game Dev Story is how it parodies every major console released for the last 20+ years, and loosely mimics their individual success levels. So when Intendro introduces the first portable game system the Game Kid, you can bet it will be a really popular system to support given the Game Boy's history. However, when they come out with the newfangled Virtual Kid, with its headache-inducing 3D goggles, you'll see it disappear from the market fairly quickly. These are the types of things that you must consider before shelling out the dough for a console license, although one extremely popular game can rewrite the history of a failed console as well.

While the gameplay in Game Dev Story is fun and engaging, the overall presentation falls a bit flat. The 16-bit style pixel graphics are charming and certainly get the job done, but they are a far cry of what is capable from even the oldest iOS devices. The screen size is also oddly small, with plenty of wasted space on the top and bottom. It almost seems as if it's a port from a different device, like an older smartphone or PDA, but I couldn't find any information to that effect. The menu navigations work just fine and the game is still very easy to play, it just seems strange. Another minor annoyance is that despite having an in-game manual hardly any of the game mechanics are explained very well, although the game is simple enough that you catch on after playing for a bit.

Game Dev Story won't impress you with stellar visuals or an iPhone specific feature set, but it is a well thought out and thoroughly enjoyable time sink, and is even more intriguing if you're familiar with the last few decades of video game history. It took me roughly five hours to play through the 20 year career of my company, and at the end of that time your highest selling game and biggest profits serve as the final score, though you can keep playing beyond that time period indefinitely if you choose. There really is just something about this game that keeps me coming back for more over and over again. Further impressions and help discussion are taking place in our forums, and if you've ever had a hankering to create your own video games then Game Dev Story is one you should definitely check out.

App Store Link: Game Dev Story, $3.99

TouchArcade Rating:

DeNA to Acquire Ngmoco for $400 Million

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

The New York Times confirms rumors that started last week that iPhone game company ngmoco was on the verge of acquisition. Japanese company DeNA will indeed be acquiring iOS game developer ngmoco:

DeNA, the Japanese social gaming giant, said Tuesday that it would acquire Ngmoco, a Silicon Valley iPhone game developer, for $400 million — one of the largest deals ever involving an iPhone application developer and another sign that the iPhone is fast becoming the hottest gaming device on the market.

Ngmoco had previously received about $40 million in funding throughout its existence. The acquisition was approved by DeNA's board and is expected to officially close in the next couple of weeks.

DeNA founder Tomoko Namba cites "social gaming" as the big tide in gaming and is seeking to expand into the western market with the acquisition.

Ngmoco was founded in 2008 just as the App Store launched. We first reported on the company's founding back in July, 2008. Ngmoco was responsible for some of our favorite early iOS titles including Rolando, Dropship, WordFu and more. Recently, however, they've transitioned into freemium/social gaming with titles like We Farm, We City, and Touch Pets Dogs.

Universal 'Fumes Stunt Racer' Arrives in App Store

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Retro-inspired Fumes Stunt Racer arrived in the App Store this evening. The Stunt Car Racer inspired title just appeared for $1.99.

The game offers 15 different tracks as well as support for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch as well as Retina Display support. A full list of features include:

  • Classic stunt racing action
  • Fifteen tracks, ranging from Easy to Hard difficulty
  • Controllable and rewarding driving physics
  • Great racing atmosphere
  • Polished and responsive Touch and Tilt driving controls
  • OpenFeint integration for online leaderboards
  • Universal binary supports iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
  • Retina Display support


We haven't had a chance to put the game through its paces yet, but readers can submit impressions on our forum.

App Store Link: Fumes Stunt Racer, $1.99 (Universal)

'Bug Heroes' Gameplay Trailer Released - Dual Stick Shooter + RPG Elements + ...Castle Defense?

Monday, October 11th, 2010

I'll fully admit when I first caught wind of Bug Heroes, I was a little skeptical because it certainly wasn't the first time a developer posted about a dual stick shooter with a fantastic (and somewhat unrealistic) sounding feature list in our upcoming games forum. With this recent gameplay trailer, I'm a believer in Bug Heroes, and really can't wait to try it. Foursaken Media, developer of N.Y. Zombies [99¢ / Lite], has experience in building fast-paced iPhone games with tons of enemies on screen at once and it looks like that know-how is going to shine in a big way in Bug Heroes.

The basic premise of the game involves playing one of three unique bug heroes, each with their own play style. From there, you search for food to add to your food stash which you must defend from endless waves of invading insects. As you play you will unlock additional abilities and equipment for your bug heroes and turrets to equip on your food stash. To mix things up further, side quests are thrown in that you'll optionally be able to complete while you try to survive. You can also switch to any of the bug heroes at any of their time to utilize each of their strengths to your advantage.

Check out the trailer:

Bug Heroes is coming packed with an experience point and stat system, and over 25 different abilities and pieces of equipment to aid in your survival. In addition, there are over 25 varied enemies to deal with, 7 turrets to defend your stash, and two different game modes-- each with their own online leaderboard. Bug Heroes is still in development, and is approaching beta testing. The developers have been incredibly active in our forums, so if you have any questions or feedback for them, be sure to stop by the thread.

Still Haven't Played a Multiplayer iPad Game? Versus Pad Has Three Freebies: 'Ogs', 'The Roswell Game' and 'City Bucks'

Monday, October 11th, 2010

I must mention this in every post that has anything to do with single device iPad multiplayer, but two (or more) player games on the iPad are almost always universally awesome. Everything from elaborately crafted ports of board games like Small World [$6.99] to the simplest of games like Omium [99¢] are a ton of fun when played with another person. If for whatever reason you've disregarded my previous encouragement to try out two player gaming on the iPad, you really need to download any or all of VersusPad's free games. They're all fairly simple, but serve as an excellent example of just how well two player gaming works on the device.

Also, to make things a little more interesting, all of these games were developed in PhoneGap, a cross-platform development framework that allows developers to build their games in HTML and Javascript while still being able to take advantage of the core features of the device as a native app. If you're great with Javascript/CSS, but bad with C++, PhoneGap is a free open source way for you to get started building games and apps on the iPhone. Anyway, on to the games-

Ogs

Ogs, Free [Gameplay Video] In this game, players dispatch creatures called "Ogs" to defend their own island and attack the opponent's island. A bar at the bottom of the screen slowly fills up, allowing you to deploy more advanced Ogs. The game is over when either player's island is destroyed.

The Roswell Game

The Roswell Game, Free [Gameplay Video] Up to four players at once buzz around the iPad collecting crystals using virtual joysticks situated in each corner of the screen. The game is over when one player collects 75 crystals.

City Bucks

City Bucks, Free [Gameplay Video] My favorite of the three, players place businesses on to an initially empty city grid to lure customers in to buy things. Earning money unlocks more expensive (and attractive) buildings. Monster attacks and disasters like meteor strikes spice gameplay up, and add an element of risk to saving up for one super-expensive business. I'd love to see this game concept fleshed out a little more, as it seems like it is on the verge of something really cool.

Wired Computes the Physics of 'Angry Birds'

Monday, October 11th, 2010

There are few things that send me in to a Wayne Knight nerd squeal than the complete over-analysis of ridiculous things. Today's example of this comes from Wired physics guru Rhett Allain who geeked out in a major way over Angry Birds [99¢ / Lite / HD], not obsessing over collecting every star, or topping leaderboards, but instead looking at the raw physics of the game. Or, as Rhett put it:

But what about the physics? Do the birds have a constant vertical acceleration? Do they have constant horizontal velocity? Let’s find out, shall we? Oh, why would I do this? Why can’t I just play the dumb game and move on. That is not how I roll. I will analyze this, and you can’t stop me.

Using video tracking software, Allain loaded up one of the many solution videos on YouTube to record the velocity of the bird and the acceleration of its vertical motion. Armed with these figures, and assuming that Angry Birds takes place on Earth, through the magic of math he was able to determine that the launcher in Angry Birds is about 5 meters tall. Once he figured this out, it was trivial to measure the birds themselves using the launcher as a ruler of sorts. If the launcher is 5m tall, the standard angry red bird is around 70cm (or 2 feet and 3.5 inches) tall.

That's one huge bird.

[via Wired]

One Man Declares It's ControllerOrBust(.com)

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

So it started off like this, over at ControllerOrBust.com:

Alright, this is ridiculous. The iPhone was introduced over three years ago and there still isn't a game controller peripheral available to the masses. I've seen several prototypes that have kicked around the internet for some time now, but nobody has stepped up to the plate and actually delivered. You know the old saying, "If you want something done right you've gotta do it yourself?" Well, I'm going to follow that wisdom and do it myself. Well, not entirely myself, which is why I'm soliciting the help of the entire iPhone 4 community. I know there are many out there who've wished for an iPhone gaming controller and have a piece of the production process puzzle necessary to create one, but need the rest of the pieces. I'm suggesting that we band together and create a group of talented individuals who can make an iPhone 4 game controller a reality.

Benjamin Morrise got tired of waiting and began seeking assistance from various capable types to form a production team to build the iPhone controller accessory we've all (well, some of us anyway) been waiting for. The team he hopes to assemble consists of an Industrial Designer, a Mechanical Engineer, an Electrical Engineer, and a Software Engineer. The hope is for them to come together and build a controller for the gaming masses.

And it will look a little something like this:

Morisse hopes to secure funding through Kickstarter.com, to which I'll let Rocket Boom introduce you. It's a project that definitely sounds good to us. Let's hope that Morisse meets his goal, and that other such controller projects see the light of day, soon.

iOS Gets a Port of ReadySoft's "BrainDead 13" Interactive Movie Game

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Fans of cinematic interactive movie titles in the style of the Don Bluth classics Dragon's Lair and Space Ace might just sit up and smile at Digital Leisure's recent iPhone release, a port of ReadySoft's 1995 action adventure BrainDead 13 [App Store].

Stylistically extremely similar to the earlier Bluth classics, BrainDead 13 isn't a laserdisc title was never an arcade fixture; ReadySoft released it for DOS initially, with various CD console ports coming soon after. And sage animator Bluth had nothing to do with it.

The story goes like this: The main character is a computer geek named Lance (your on-screen avatar). One day Lance takes a call to go fix a broken super-computer in a rather sinister looking old castle. While there, he learns of the evil villain Dr. Neuro Neurosis' (a snake-like, disembodied brain and spinal cord) diabolical plan to take over the world. Your objective is to guide Lance through the castle, evading Neurosis' bumbling henchman Fritz, in a bid to defeat the evil mastermind, saving the world and getting out of the castle in one piece.

The first thing you'll notice in playing the game is that it really does feel a lot like Dragon's Lair and its ilk. Being a fully digital production, the original game's visuals running on a DOS box or Sega Saturn, would suffer as compared to those of its laserdisc-based forebears. But, running on the iPhone's comparatively small screen, there's little difference in the visual quality of Braindead 13 as compared to the iPhone ports of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, which themselves are digital conversions, of course. And it's not as if graphics assets were sacrificed in bringing the title to the iPhone -- the game is a 575MB download.

Game controls are rather simple; an onscreen controle rose to the right sends Lance in the desired direction, while an action button on the left causes him to perform the task appropriate to the moment. And, as in the aforementioned laserdisc titles, the whole thing about this game really is timing...which you'll more likely than not achieve with lots and lots of trial and error. Though, as compared to Dragon's Lair, there is a bit more granularity to the possibly pathways / choices in the game, and timing, though key, is a little more forgiving.

See the developer's iPhone game trailer, and have a look at a bit of footage of the Atari Jaguar CD version to see more of the action.

BrainDead 13 follows the play style of some pretty oldschool classics and, as such, it feels like a retro title. Which is fine, but make sure you're on board with this type of gameplay before opening your wallet. (After all, though awesome, Dragon's Lair is available as a DVD-player game -- all you need is L/R/U/D and an action button...) That said, I'm having a pretty great time with this one, so far.

App Store Link: BrainDead 13, $4.99

A Few More Weekend Sales and Price Drops...

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

Yesterday we made a post listing several titles that have gone on sale for a limited time. We wanted to pass along a heads-up on a few more sales and price drops for titles we think readers may enjoy.

Soosiz

Soosiz, $1.99 Ahh, Soosiz. [ review ] Touch Foo's rotational 2D platformer is one of our very favorite iPhone games, and is one of the first titles to which we gave a five-star rating. Soosiz is a stylized cartoonish platformer that challenges your brain to keep up with all of its twists, turns, and inversions. It's incredibly well executed with excellent controls, has a ton of content and is a lot of fun. And it's free this weekend (regularly $1.99). There's no excuse for missing this one.

Need For Speedâ„¢ Undercover

Need For Speedâ„¢ Undercover, $2.99 [ review ] Electronic Arts' Need for Speed Undercover (down from $4.99 for a limited time) is the studio's first iPhone release in their long-running racer series. It's a mission-based racer (as opposed to the "'round the track" variety) that puts you in the role of an undercover wheel man infiltrating a series of street racer / chop-shop gangs to try and bust an auto theft ring wide open. It's a very well-done title that, at the time of its release, was perhaps the most visually impressive game on the platform.

ROCK BAND

ROCK BAND, $4.99 [ review ] EA's Rock Band, which recently hit the 2000 downloadable song mark, is one of the most immersive rhythm games in the App Store. The game sets you behind a guitar, bass, or drum kit, or lets you take the lead vocals in playing through any of the myriad songs available through its in-game song store. The game features 32 free songs and offers Facebook integration to help jam with your friends. Rock Band is, for a limited time, down from $6.99.

Rogue Touch

Rogue Touch, $2.99 [ review ] ChronoSoft's Rogue Touch (normally $2.99) is an iPhone adaptation of Rogue, the classic dungeon crawler that dates back to 1980. It's highly faithful to the feel and mechanics of the well-loved early platform releases, but has expanded the game nicely. It's my personal favorite iPhone dungeon crawler and is one of our long-time favorites here at Touch Arcade.

Worms HD

Worms HD, $4.99 [ review (iPhone ver) ] First there was Worms for the iPhone [ link ], then came Worms HD for the iPad. Well, actually, first there was the Worms for the Amiga, which Team 17 released back in 1995. Whichever way you look at it, it's classic turn-based artillery action in the Scorched Earth vein. And the iPad version has been reduced in price, from $4.99.

2XL TROPHYLITE Rally

2XL TROPHYLITE Rally, $0.99 [ post ] 2XL Games' 2XL TROPHYLITE Rally (down from $4.99) is a highly impressive looking desert rally racer featuring 15 different races, WiFi and Bluetooth multiplayer, multiple vehicle views, five control schemes, and leaderboards. The iPad version has also been reduced in price ( $7.99 down to $.99 ).

Enigmo

Enigmo, $2.99 Pangea is running a sale on all of its multiplayer titles, physics puzzler Enigmo (down from $2.99) being one of the three games affected. Starting its life as a Mac game, Enigmo is a physics puzzle game that was voted Best iPhone Game at WWDC in 2008. In the game you move various objects around the game board to direct water droplets to their destination. Levels start easy and get so hard you will be desperately searching Google for the solution.

Nanosaur 2

Nanosaur 2, $3.99 Another Pangea multiplayer title on sale is Nanosaur 2 (down from $2.99). Also starting as a Mac game, Nanosaur 2 was ported to the iPhone in late 2008. It hasn't aged very well compared to Pangea's other games, but the premise of piloting a massive dinosaur from the future who is equipped with a massive arsenal of weaponry couldn't get much more ridiculous and/or awesome.

Cro-Mag Rally

Cro-Mag Rally, $0.99 [ review ] One of the early iPhone cart racers, Pangea's Cro-Mag Rally (down from $2.99) won the 2008 Best App Ever Award for Best Racing Game. Cro-Mag Rally puts you behind the wheel of a caveman's cart in a bid to cross the finish line first through nine different race tracks, using 11 different vehicles with nine types of power-ups there to help you. The multiplayer system was recently entirely rewritten to ease the auto-matching game process.

New 'Aralon: Sword and Shadow' Trailer Shows Incredible Transformation

Friday, October 8th, 2010

We've been following the development of Aralon: Sword and Shadow for quite a while now. The game actually has an incredibly interesting history which we covered in one of our early previews in that it originally was an amazingly expansive 3D RPG with absolutely horrid placeholder art. Crescent Moon Games got onboard for what they called an "Extreme RPG Makeover", and later provided us with some comparison screenshots showing their work in progress. Today they've released a brand new trailer showing tons of iPad in-game footage which looks amazing:

For an idea of just how far the game has come, here is the original trailer for the game:

For more information on Aralon: Sword and Shadow, stop by the thread in our forums which has taken on a life of its own while RPG fans anxiously await its release. Also, in other semi-related Crescent Moon Games news, Rimelands: Hammer of Thor recently received an update with several bug fixes, so if you own the game you should probably download that if you haven't already.


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