Right smack in the middle of Macworld this past January, Liv Games released their first iOS title called Legendary Wars [99¢/Lite]. It’s a castle defense game similar to a plethora of other titles available in the App Store, but Legendary Wars made some smart design decisions that set itself apart from the rest. There are 3 different lanes to manage, which adds a layer of depth to the landscape as you send troops towards the enemy castle or deal with oncoming attacks. There are also a staggering number of different game types that afford a ton of variety to the gameplay. A full armory and upgrade system motivates you to keep on playing just one more game as you power up your offensive squad.

We were really surprised at just how much we enjoyed Legendary Wars in our review, and really the biggest negative we had was that the lovely artwork in the game didn’t support Retina Display resolution, and looked pretty fuzzy on those devices. Today Liv Games has rectified this by releasing an update that includes Retina Display graphics and a number of other goodies. Check out these comparison shots below to see just how big a difference the higher resolution art work makes in Legendary Wars (normal resolution on left, Retina resolution on right. Click to enlarge):

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Vocal members of our community have long since written off ngmoco as a lost freemium cause, leaving us hardcore gamers in the dust as they move on to greener (and more casual) free to play pastures. The Rolando series seemed poised to become the Super Mario of the iOS platform when the original Rolando [99¢] hit in in late 2008. In July of 2009, Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid [99¢] was released, and is better than the original in every way imaginable.

Unfortunately, even though Rolando 3 was announced, poor sales of Rolando 2 combined with the wildly successful freemium-powered Eliminate [Free] seemed to be all ngmoco needed to seemingly give up on the Rolando franchise.

Check out the trailer to see what Rolando 2 is all about:

With a 99¢ price drop and a Retina Display update, I recommend everyone download Rolando 2, and you might as well snag Rolando while you're at it. Put simply, Rolando 2 is a fantastic iOS platformer that intelligently utilizes both touch and tilt to create one of the first "iOS-only experiences." It looks great with the new graphics, and the gameplay still stands on its own today. While we're incredibly excited that some of our favorite games are getting some entirely unexpected Retina Display treatment, it's still dreadfully disappointing that there hasn't yet been (and from where we're sitting likely won't be) a Rolando 3.

Recently Gameloft announced yet another upcoming title on their Facebook page. In the wake of N.O.V.A. [$4.99 / Lite / HD] and N.O.V.A. 2 [$6.99 / Lite / HD] comes N.O.V.A. - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance Elite. Aside from the following promo image, that's all we know right now.

Now, even though Gameloft is being incredibly vague with details currently, we can likely make a few semi-safe assumptions here. First off, Gameloft never shows off games that aren't at least somewhat close to being released, so it seems unlikely that we'll be waiting that long for this game. Also, last month Gameloft announced that they will be using the Unreal Engine in the future. Given that the N.O.V.A. series is one of their more popular franchises, it seems reasonable that Elite might be one of the first Gameloft UE3 games.

We'll just have to wait to find out!

If you're one of the millions of people out there who have found themselves gingerly stroking their new iPad 2's lately waiting for some more games to truly unleash the beast on, today is your lucky day. The guys from Trendy Entertainment dropped us a note and let us know that Dungeon Defenders: First Wave now fully takes advantage of everything the iPad 2 has to offer. All you've got to do is download the latest version of Dungeon Defenders and turn the somewhat confusingly named "video upscale percentage" slider all the way up.

Doing so makes Dungeon Defenders look and play like this:

It might be a little hard to see in the video, but the difference is insane. Performance on the original iPad was always lackluster (to put it kindly) and it's crazy to see what a difference the iPad 2 hardware makes. Unfortunately, all of our original criticisms of the game's UI still stands, and even though it performs substantially better, it's still incredibly clunky to play due to the incredibly complicated on-screen interface.

Regardless, the game is on sale for a buck for the next few days so if you're looking for something to try on your iPad 2 or have just been looking to check out Dungeon Defenders, now is as good of a time as any.

Back in January we learned that Remedy Entertainment, developers of Max Payne and Alan Wake, would be resurrecting their first ever PC game Death Rally for an iOS remake. Today, that new version of Death Rally [$4.99] went live in the App Store. I never played Death Rally when it came out in 1996, so my opinion of this remade version won’t be colored with knowledge of the original. Approaching it as strictly a new iOS title, Death Rally is one of the finest top-down racers in the App Store. Death Rally isn’t perfect mind you, but it’s an absolutely gorgeous title with satisfying combat-heavy racing and an engaging upgrade system.

The thing that sets Death Rally apart from most racers is its focus on combat. Each vehicle is equipped with a standard machine gun and a second stronger weapon of your choosing. These weapons, along with the vehicles beyond the first one, are unlocked by collecting items spread along the track while you’re racing. Money is earned with every race you enter, with more money awarded based on what place you finish, how many cars you destroy, and other performance factors. Your winnings go towards upgrading the 5 available vehicles in the game in the areas of speed, handling, armor, and weapons.

Upgrading your cars and equipment is the real hook of Death Rally, and I was constantly wanting to play just one more race so I could fill up some more of my upgrade bars. The combat is also very satisfying, and there’s nothing better than blowing the snot out of the car ahead of you in order to surpass them and win a race at the last moment. Controlling your vehicle is slightly awkward at first. A virtual control stick is used for both acceleration and turning, and there is no brake button. This isn’t really necessary due to the arcade nature of the gameplay, but it caught me off guard at first. After just a few minutes though, I quickly warmed up to the controls and actually grew to really like them.

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Earlier today we posted the news that due to a license agreement expiring between THQ Wireless and Star Wars IP owners LucasArts, the iOS title Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner [$2.99] would no longer be available in the App Store after the end of this month. This also led to strong speculation that all THQ published Star Wars games would need to be removed as well.

We got this information from Kotaku, who since posting their original story had sent word out to all parties involved for further clarification. Earlier today they received confirmation from THQ that indeed all Star Wars games would be getting pulled, then just a few short hours later they were told the exact opposite. In a response email sent to Kotaku, a THQ Wireless spokesperson stated “All Star Wars apps will be available until further notice”.

Personally, that response doesn’t strike a ton of confidence in me that the Star Wars apps won’t be pulled sometime in the future. But for now, it seems that they’re safe. Josh Shabtai of Vertigore, the studio that created Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner, is trying to push forward with his planned updates for the game which include an iPad 2 optimized version (the game doesn’t currently work properly on that device) and a Battle for Endor expansion. Vertigore is currently waiting to find out if they’ll be able to release these updates.

Likely after this story made its way around the ‘net THQ realized that there could potentially be some bad PR fallout from pulling those games, so have tentatively struck a deal with LucasArts to keep them around. Kotaku is currently awaiting an official response from the LucasArts folks, so I guess this could still all take a turn for the worse should they decide against this latest turn of events. We’ll keep you updated if we find out any new information on this situation.

[via Kotaku]

Remember the Gameboy Camera? There are many reasons not to be aware of it ranging from "I wasn't alive at the time" to "I try not to buy every silly accessory Nintendo releases," so I'll lay down what this wonderful little gadget was all about: It was the late 90's, everyone and their little sister had their own Game Boy to play either Pokemon Red or Pokemon Blue, the mass proliferation of camera phones was still a decade away, and digital cameras were both clunky and expensive. Enter Nintendo, with a portable four-shade barely-greyscale digital camera with the hilariously low resolution of 128x112. It even had a thermal printer (which no one I know owned) that hooked up via the link cable port to print your photos to tiny stickers.

Check out this horribly 90's TV commercial detailing the features of the device:

While apps like Camera+ [99¢] and Hipstamatic [$1.99] boast features that actively try to make your photos look better, Dezro's 8-Bit Pocket Camera [99¢] sends your photos back in time to the aforementioned glory days of the Gameboy Camera... with shockingly accurate results.

Using a few different on-screen controls you can tweak out your 8-bit photos, then save them as virtual stickers with a number of different boarders. There's even Twitter and Facebook support for posting your stickers online. If you even have the vaguest of fond memories of the Gameboy Camera, 8-Bit Pocket Camera is an app you need on your iPhone.

Here’s a weird one: NBA Jam [$4.99] on consoles won’t be receiving a roster update that reflects all the mid-season moves teams made as the NBA trade deadline closed, but the mobile version of the title will -- and has. Starting now, one can go on a massive losing skid as the Knicks led by Carmelo “Defense Is For Babies” Anthony or, even better, get some insight into Deron Williams' surely deep, deep depression as a member of the Nets.

As if roster updates weren’t enough, EA has also thrown in some “tweaks” to the core experience. The patch notes aren’t available online, but I’m assuming some of the bugs users have been freaking out about since release have been addressed.

Don't mind that Felton guy. He's gone now, too!

If you’ve been on the fence about NBA Jam, well, this is as good of a time as ever to get into the experience of the terrific arcade basketball title, especially since EA is obviously willing and able to update the game with current rosters -- something even the console owners won’t be getting after dishing out 40+ dollars for their version. We can point and laugh at these guys now, right? Finally!

Surely at some point in your life you've (either purposefully or accidentally) let a helium filled balloon loose into the air which then potentially went on to travel hundreds of miles before finally deflating enough to come back to Earth. There's no shortage of sites detailing the dangers to wildlife of actually doing this, but what if you still want to release some balloons but without littering or causing other potential problems? Well, that's where Floonr [Free] comes in.

Using this app (Calling it a "game" is likely a bit of a stretch.) you're able to scroll around Google Maps to see other balloons that have been launched, as well as launch your own. These balloons float about as they would in the real world, until they eventually crash land in 150 miles or so. You can attach messages to your balloons and other people can comment on your balloons. Also, unlike a lot of real-world GPS-based games, there seems to be a surprising amount of activity in the app.

There's a hefty amount of completely optional IAP such as stickers to add to your balloons as well as "power-ups" of sorts that do things like let your balloons float either longer or faster. I'm not entirely sure what the point of buying these is, but at least the option is there I suppose. Floonr isn't a killer must-have app by any means, but it's really cool how they've applied the activity of releasing balloons to a smartphone app and I've had a lot of fun reading what (often silly) messages there are attached to balloons virtually soaring overhead.

I absolutely loved handheld LCD games growing up, and was constantly harassing my mom to buy whatever the latest one was that I would spot at the toy store so I could add it to my collection. In the pre-Game Boy era, there was just something so fascinating to me about having a little video game that I could tote around wherever I went. Of course, my brain would have exploded out of my skull had I known that a few decades later I’d have a device as powerful as an iPhone in my pocket, but I still hold a special fondness for those simple monochrome screens of yesteryear.

Apparently, the folks at Dawn of Play have a tender spot in their heart for the LCD era too, as evidenced by their game Monkey Labour [99¢]. Monkey Labour is a lovingly crafted riff on Nintendo’s Game & Watch handhelds, but with its own unique gameplay. It was released back in December, but a recent update added some interesting new graphical features and gameplay tweaks which caught my attention. While LCD game recreations are nothing new on the App Store, none have come close to the level of detail contained in Monkey Labour.

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Kotaku is reporting that after the end of March, the augmented reality shooter Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner [$2.99] will be pulled from the App Store. We took a look at this title when it was announced in early November, with its release coming just a couple of weeks later. The game allows you to point the camera of your iOS device towards anything to serve as the backdrop for an intense shootout with Imperial ships as you man the gunner turret on the Millennium Falcon.

The game is published by THQ Wireless, but was developed by a small studio called Vertigore. Josh Shabtai, Falcon Gunner’s creative director and head of Vertigore, recently wrote in a blog post that due to THQ’s deal with the owners of everything Star Wars Lucasfilm coming to an end, THQ will not be able to allow Star Wars: Falcon Gunner to be sold in the App Store any longer.

This is bad news for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that Star Wars: Falcon Gunner is pretty cool. But it also means that current owners will never be able to receive possibly critical updates to the game, and that current development plans for Falcon Gunner will never materialize. These included a new Battle for Endor expansion and a special iPad 2 edition, both of which won’t see the light of day now. Josh also hints that it could very well be the end for any THQ published Star Wars titles in the App Store, though he can only confirm that to be true for his own game.

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Don't get me wrong, I love massive in-depth iOS games as much as the next guy, but it never ceases to amaze me how the simplest games can have such a crazy appeal on the iPhone. Lane Splitter [99¢] is a game of, as you may have guessed, lane splitting. You know those jerks on crotch rockets that come flying down the highway going twice as fast as you are in your car? That's you in this game.

You steer your bike using familiar tilt controls, and earn a score based both on how many cars you pass as well as how long you ride. Touching and holding the screen makes your rider do a wheelie, which not only speeds you up, but also offers a sort of rolling bonus score for each car you pass. The catch? Riding a wheelie makes controlling the motorcycle substantially more difficult. Cars change lanes as well (oddly enough, they also use their turn signals to do this) so even if you've got a straight path to ride a wheelie you still need to keep an eye out for fellow motorists.

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One of the true App Store classics, Doodle Jump [99¢], recently celebrated its 2nd birthday and surpassed the 10 million paid download mark. It single handedly brought notoriety to both the “doodle” style and the endless jumping genre on iOS, and after numerous feature updates and additional graphical skins Doodle Jump has just received its most dramatic new feature thus far. Today a brand new update added online multiplayer functionality to the game using Game Center, and this mode is so much fun I’ve fallen in love with Doodle Jump all over again.

Like the single player experience of Doodle Jump, the multiplayer is extremely simple to play. You can send out an invite to anybody in your Game Center friends list or be matched with a random opponent. Both players are then launched into a randomly generated level that features all the standard elements that you would expect from the normal game. There are enemies to shoot and the various types of platforms to jump from, but the only power-up you’ll come across are the springs that launch you higher into the air.

The goal is to race upwards against your opponent to a finish line at about the 12,000 mark, and the player to cross this first wins. Accidentally hitting an enemy or falling into the oblivion below instantly loses the game for you or your opponent. Springs can only be used once, so along with avoiding the dangers of the level you are also in a constant battle to be the first one to get to a spring. It creates a really fun competitive dynamic that compliments the tried and true Doodle Jump gameplay really well.

One thing the new Doodle Jump multiplayer really needs is some sort of statistical tracking so you can see how you shape up against the competition, but as a first effort it has really impressed me. With a pool of millions of players it’s easy to connect and find people to play with, and although there is very minimal lag occasionally it doesn’t really affect the game. If you never really got into the whole Doodle Jump thing, the new multiplayer may be just the thing to finally sway you. It really is a lot of fun. If you’re one of the millions who already owns Doodle Jump, dust off your copy and grab this latest update.

Nearly two years ago, EA released Tiger Woods PGA Tour [99¢] into the App Store. This game was remarkable at the time for providing a fairly robust golf experience that was akin to the Tiger Woods series on home consoles. While the graphics were fairly lackluster, the frame rate was incredibly smooth and it was exciting to have such a fully featured golf game in your pocket. The real standout feature, though, was the touch screen swing meter which offered a very direct and organic way to swing clubs in the game, which we talked about in our original review of Tiger Woods PGA Tour.

Now, after skipping a new release last year, EA is back with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 [$6.99/HD]. This iteration of the franchise brings with it several new features and greatly improved graphics, but the gameplay feels extremely similar to the last version. This isn’t necessarily bad, as the gameplay was the strongest aspect to the last iOS Tiger Woods, and if you enjoyed that game then you’ll likely enjoy this one even more. If you’re looking for a completely new mobile golfing experience however, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 doesn’t offer that.

The meat of this year’s Tiger Woods is again the PGA Tour which has you entering and competing in the various golf tournaments for cash prizes. Your winnings go towards buying better equipment to improve your game and entering subsequent tournaments throughout the year. Besides this mode, a Tiger Challenge mode has been added where you can play through a number of different types of mini challenges for money, which typically have alternate rules and are generally better suited for a quick play session than playing an entire round or multiple rounds of a tournament.

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Regular readers who also happen to be oldschool gamers from the UK have likely been enjoying legendary studio Elite System's forays into retro gaming on iOS. ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection [App Store], and the standalone Jet Set Willy [App Store], make for some quality virtual Z80-based nostalgic gaming.

Word on the street is that in 2012, Elite will be re-releasing the ZX Spectrum, in a manner of speaking. It seems that the studio will be bringing out a a bluetooth keyboard in the form of a ZX Spectrum that will connect to the studio's iOS apps and deliver a rather close to authentic, emulated ZX Spectrum gaming experience to iOS gamers. And, while it's not confirmed, we're expecting rubber keys.

That's about all we've got on this right now, but we'll keep you posted as news breaks.