I'll be the first to admit that when I first caught wind of Angry Birds Rio I didn't expect much. Video games based on movies are almost always universally terrible, and this seemed like a prime situation for Rovio do to a quick cash-in on Rio, with hype around the movie and Angry Birds in general making the game sell well anyway. Oddly enough, Angry Birds Rio is anything but a quick cash-in.

At this point I'd think it's safe to assume that anyone reading TouchArcade is familiar with Angry Birds, but if not, here's the gist- Angry Birds is a catapult game where you fling birds at forts which are cobbled together with various materials, all precariously stacked. Levels are complete when you fling the birds in to these forts to kill all the pigs. It's graded on a three star scale with hidden golden eggs which can also be collected.

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There's been a shocking amount of crossover between the iOS world and the mainstream world lately. Both Doodle Jump and Angry Birds have tie-ins with major motion pictures, Angry Birds was (vaguely) featured during the Super Bowl and Cut The Rope even took home a BAFTA. When this is discussed on our forums, I've seen a few people seemingly jokingly mention that it won't be long before a game on the App Store has its own dedicated TV commercial. Well, that day is today.

The following commercial is now running on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, G4, and more:

We thought Pocket Legends was great in our review nearly a year ago. I had no idea that the game was big enough or successful enough for TV commercials until I met with the developers during GDC. Since our initial review, the game has seen several updates to add even more content and functionality. Now is as good of a time as ever to give Pocket Legends a spin, especially if you're looking to get a jump on the inevitable influx of players from this TV advertising campaign.

While the existence of this commercial itself might not seem like that big of a deal, this is a major step in legitimizing smartphone gaming as a mainstream gaming platform in the USA.

Back in November, we reviewed a game called iTrials which we enjoyed quite a bit. It was a dirt bike stunt driving game with 2D gameplay and 3D graphics where the goal was to complete each of the 27 levels as quickly as possible while traversing the insane jumps, loops, and hazards of each. The physics were a bit crazy (but in a good way), the controls were solid, and iTrials offered an extremely fun experience that was akin to the Trials games by RedLynx on PC and consoles.

Well apparently iTrials was a bit too much like Trials, and RedLynx asked iTrials developer Tooko to remove the game from the App Store for fear that players might be confused and think iTrials was an official version of Trials that was endorsed by RedLynx. While Tooko seemingly used Trials as an inspiration for their game, they never set out to mislead anybody and really just aimed to make a great physics-based side-scrolling motocross game for iOS devices.

Tooko agreed to take the game down however, and worked amicably with RedLynx to make changes to iTrials that would differentiate it enough from Trials so as to avoid any confusion to customers. The result is the just-released MotoTrialz [99¢], a free update to previous owners of iTrials. The biggest changes are to the name and the location of the game, as MotoTrialz now takes place in an outdoor stadium rather than an indoor warehouse.

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One of our favorite pastimes around TouchArcade HQ for the past several months has been Disc Drivin’ [99¢/Free]. This asynchronous online multiplayer racing game has you taking turns flicking a small disc around a track against your competitors to see who can cross the finish line first. Powerups and hazards add a bit of a Mario Kart flair to the action, and the turn-based nature of the game works incredibly well for gaming on the go. We really enjoyed the game in our initial review from December, and things only got better when random online matchmaking was added to the mix last month.

Last week, developer Pixelocity released an iPad optimized version of the game called Disc Drivin’ HD [$2.99]. The gameplay and content remains identical to the iPhone/iPod touch version, but the artwork is scaled appropriately to the larger screen and the menu interface has been significantly tweaked. All menu functions are now assigned to a handy toolbar at the top of the screen, and pop-up windows make things like accessing your current races list or the in-game chat a breeze.

One other small but welcome addition is the ability to toggle the overhead view on or off, rather than having to hold down the camera icon to do so. It makes getting a bird’s eye view of a player’s previous turn much easier, and gives you a better perspective on the track. I’d love to see this ability added to the regular version of the game. Disc Drivin' HD plays very well on the larger screen, and it looks nice visually although the jagged edges of the graphics are more pronounced. It would be nice to see that smoothed out in a later version, but it isn't a huge deal.

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Back in January we gave a heads-up on the first gameplay video of Cope-Com's upcoming shooter Battle Squadron ONE, an iOS recreation of one of the very best shooters ever to appear on the Amiga, in the form of a Universal application for both iPhone and iPad. This weekend, Cope-Com CEO Martin Pedersen provided us with a pre-beta build of the game to try out. And, that's something I've been doing a lot of today, and have a video to share that should whet the appetite of those who've been waiting for this one as anxiously as we.

For those who enjoy(ed) Battle Squadron on the Amiga, I can tell you that the iOS version is exactly the same game -- original graphics, original music -- but with various new options and an iOS-appropriate control system. It's so close to the original that I had to re-confirm with the developers that it is not, in fact, running under emulation. While the original Battle Squadron was written in 68000 assembly, Battle Squadron ONE for iOS is a line-by-line C/C++ rewrite, based on the original source code (which Pedersen had stored on floppies in a box in his basement these long years). It's likely the first entirely recoded Amiga game to land on the iOS platform.

For those not familiar, Battle Squadron is a top-down, vertical shooter where you blast your way through a variety of scrolling alien landscapes, taking out turrets and dodging enemy lasers and missiles on a mission to rescue commanders Berry Mayers and Lori Bergin who have been kidnapped by the evil Barrax empire, a ruthless species with one thing on their mind -- ruling the universe. And, it's no light task. The action here is intense -- there's so much dodging that I'd probably call it a bullet hell shooter, although it's milder than some I've seen come out of Japan. That's at the "Amiga" difficulty level, anyway. There's also an "Easy" and a "Hard" mode, in this version.

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Historically speaking, I'll denote any true must-have freebie as a "five alarm freebie Friday alert" because not only does it have good alliteration, I always (incorrectly) assumed that the "alarm" scale for fires topped out at five. Well, a little research online has lead to mention of a ten alarm fire, and this game going free is even bigger than that. So, here is our first eleven alarm freebie friday alert. Yes, Dark Nebula - Episode Two [Free] as today's freebie is that big of a deal. In fact, don't even bother reading the rest of this post until you've already started downloading it. Seriously, TouchArcade will still be here. Go, now, download.

Now let's chat about that game you're downloading. (You are downloading it, right?) Dark Nebula - Episode Two is obviously the second installment in the Dark Nebula series. There's also Dark Nebula - Episode One [99¢] which is also totally worth playing, but there isn't really any reason why you'd need to play the two games in proper order. In the game, you control a disc by tilting your device, and Dark Nebula is home to some of the finest tilt controls on the platform. You'll put those fantastic tilt-based controls to good use too, as some later levels require some extremely precise movements.

As mentioned in our review, the basic premise of the game is making your way to the end of every level. Episode Two spices things up by adding a combat system which is implemented incredibly well and actually allows for boss battles in a tilt-controlled ball roller. Throughout the game you'll pick up orbs that orbit your disc, and battling is as simple as making your disc slam in to whatever you want to damage. It works great, and this weaponry is even used to solve some of the puzzles you'll come across.

Dark Nebula - Episode Two looks great, plays great, and even has online leaderboards that are seamlessly integrated into the game. Everyone with an iOS device needs to download this game today.

If you consider yourself among the John Grubers of the world and have an unnatural love for Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann's masterpiece commonly known as the font "Helvetica", make sure you're sitting down for this one. iPhone developers Speed Noise Movement have built an entire game focused around the typeface. It's called Vetica [$1.99], and in the game you pilot an A, loaded with 12 different weapons, which each shoot different types of punctuation served up in a standard vertical shooter format. Also, I'll openly admit that I chuckled a little harder than I should have at Vetica's tagline: "In letterspace, no one can hear you scream!"

If you've played a vertical shooter on the iPhone, you'll already be familiar with how Vetica plays. Dragging your finger on the screen moves your ship around, which automatically shoots at whatever enemies appear onscreen. An arcade mode will take you through all 13 levels of the game (each with their own unique boss), and once a level is cleared you'll be able to skip directly to it by selecting "levels" from the main menu. Plus+ is also included for online leaderboards and achievements.

It's really clever how the game has been put together, with enemies that consist of single characters, or multiple characters combined together. Enemies behave differently too, with varied weaponry and movement. I love the boss battles: as with any vertical shooter, bosses are appropriately massive and in Vetica are comprised of glorious Helvetica-based ascii-art.

If you don't find yourself even slightly amused that a vertical shooter now exists revolving solely around the font Helvetica, you're probably better off sticking with some of the other more colorful shooters out there. However, if you're the kind of person who smugly lists Helvetica first whenever defining the font-family attribute, you need this game. Doubly so if you can hold an intelligent conversation on the differences between Helvetica and Helvetica Neue. In fact, if you're that kind of person, you'll also probably love The Font Game.

If you were an arcade dweller like me back in the 80s and 90s, you may recall a light gun shooter called Operation Wolf. The game featured a machine gun mounted on the arcade cabinet that let you shoot up all sorts of enemy soldiers and vehicles in an effort to rescue hostages in the game’s 6 stages. Operation Wolf went on to be ported to just about every single gaming platform in existence in the last 20+ years, and while it hasn’t officially come to the App Store Ivanovich Games has done the next best thing and created an homage to the title called Operation Wow [$1.99/HD] for the iOS platform.

Operation Wow has been lovingly crafted in the vein of Operation Wolf. The graphics have been drawn by hand giving it a cartoonish look, and the thin storyline of the original has been axed, but everything else about Operation Wow will tickle your nostalgia bone if you were a fan of its inspiration. The 6 stages in the game follow the same themes as the arcade game, and there are similar enemy soldiers and vehicles like armored tanks and helicopters firing at you from just about every direction.

Gameplay involves simply tapping to shoot, but Operation Wow takes advantage of multitouch allowing you to shoot up to 10 bullets simultaneously (or possibly more, I ran out of fingers to test with). It lacks the impact that holding a physical gun controller with force feedback recoil had in the original, but it works well and makes for some fast-paced action with all the enemies that pop on screen. You can also toss grenades by swiping upwards on the screen in the direction you want them to go, which works well.

Ammo is limited in Operation Wow, so there is some strategy to when and where you decide to pull the virtual trigger lest you waste it all away and become a sitting duck. Additional ammo can be acquired by shooting certain animals that have unfortunately moseyed into your line of fire, or by shooting certain objects or elements in the terrain. There’s also several types of innocent people that will wander into the battlefield and must be avoided, and taking fire from enemies or shooting civilians will chip away at your health bar on the right side of the screen.

One really neat addition to the package is the inclusion of two mini games, Targets and Meat Ninja. Targets is a scrolling shooting range filled with bullseye targets. You're judged by how quickly you're able to shoot green targets while leaving the red targets alone, and it’s a great use of the multitouch shooting feature. The second mini game, Meat Ninja, is a salute to Fruit Ninja and has various meat-based foods launching up from the bottom of the screen which must be shot down while avoiding the grenades that get tossed up with them. It’s a fun diversion and also a funny nod to the classic iOS title.

Operation Wow really succeeds at being a loving tribute to fans of the original game, but even if you’re unfamiliar with Operation Wolf it’s still a pretty solid arcade game in its own right. Sure, it’s a tap-to-shoot gallery shooter that we’ve seen many times before on iOS, but the addition of multitouch firing and the subtle strategic element of limited ammo make for a fun time. Game Center is also included for leaderboard and achievement tracking. The redrawn graphics look great, and there’s all kinds of little touches throughout the game that give it personality.

It feels most at home on the larger screen of the iPad, where you can set the device down and put all your fingers to work, but I was surprised at how well it works on the smaller screen of the iPhone and iPod touch using two thumbs to fire. No matter which device you use though, Operation Wow is worth the price of admission if you were a fan of Operation Wolf. Even if you weren’t it’s still worth taking a look at, and the players in our forums have been having a great time with this one as well.

Yesterday the popular Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series made its debut on the App Store with Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard [$6.99] courtesy of Gameloft. We’ve given the game some thorough play time since then, and have come away pretty satisfied with how the series has translated to the iOS platform. The single player component offers some enjoyable tactical gameplay, but the part of the game we were most excited about - the online cooperative play - turned out pretty disappointing. Even still, Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is a competent FPS that’s in line with Gameloft’s previous offerings, and should satisfy fans of the series’ recent console titles looking for a fix on the go.

The single player campaign in Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard spans 11 missions as your 3-man team works to take out a terrorist organization. The premise and storyline bits are fairly cliché, but the missions themselves are quite fun. Each mission is pretty lengthy and features several different ways to go about completing your goals, which requires much more forethought on how to approach them than your typical FPS game. You have two AI teammates in the game, a recon specialist and a demolitions expert, that you can direct them to take cover at specific areas or clear rooms for you. Taking cover behind walls or using a snake camera to peek under doors to see what’s awaiting you on the other side is imperative, as just barging your way through the game trying to run-n-gun will usually result in a speedy death, especially on harder difficulties.

The online portion of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is pretty good as well. It features online deathmatch or team deathmatch with up to 10 players spread across 5 specially designed multiplayer maps. There’s also an online cooperative mode that lets you team up with 2 other players and have a go at the single player campaign missions. This mode sounded extremely promising when it was announced, as there isn’t really anything akin to that on the iPhone yet. While it’s a technically sound mode, the lack of any sort of chat feature sucks the fun out of the experience. Playing cooperatively means being on the same page as your teammates, and without the ability to communicate with each other this mode loses almost all meaning.

Both the single player and multiplayer portions of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard let you earn experience for killing enemies which can then be used to unlock additional weapons and equipment. This is a nice touch and gives you more motivation besides just merely completing levels, though the extent of items and customization is lacking compared to something like Modern Combat 2 [$6.99/Lite/HD]. The graphics look quite good for the most part, though not mind blowing. It utilizes the same engine used in countless other Gameloft titles, giving it a somewhat generic look. Controls also work well though they can feel cramped on the tiny screen and there is very few options to suit them to your liking.

Overall, Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard gets the job done. It’s not nearly as deep or strategic as the console titles it’s modeled after, but it feels similar enough that it should win over fans of the series or those looking for a more tactical FPS experience. The competitive online modes are very good, though not quite as strong as those found in N.O.V.A. 2 [$6.99/HD] or Modern Combat 2. The cooperative play may serve you well while playing locally with some friends so you can discuss tactics with each other, but playing this online is largely forgettable. Surprisingly, the campaign is actually the star of the show in Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard, and is much more engaging than the campaigns in either of the previously mentioned titles.

The best way to sum up Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is that it’s very competent in every area, but far from the killer app that many might have hoped it would be. Players seem to be enjoying the title in our forums, and if you’re looking for an entertaining new FPS experience then Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is a pretty solid choice.

Imagine your life as a fat multi-armed dude named "All Waka" chilling out in space relaxing and eating rocks all day. Sounds good, right? Well, what would you do when an irritating alien race known as the "Wikus" come crashing your siesta? Slap them back in to space of course. I mean, it only seems logical, doesn't it? That's the premise of Get Outta My Galaxy! [99¢] in a nutshell.

All Waka's movement in the game is controlled by tilting, and your multiple appendages can be sent flying by tapping anywhere on the screen. Each level, much like Super Mario Galaxy is a unique planet with different kinds of vegetation, obstacles, and more. They're all spherical in shape, and generally are small enough that you never really get lost. Progressing in the game requires clearing a planet of Wikus, which just involves giving them a smack with one of your arms. There's a number of different types of Wikus, and various power-ups as well to mix things up. After you've "dealt with" all of the offending Wikus, you need to make it to a glowing stone of sorts, hit that, and you're off to the next planet.

You can see how this goes together in the following gameplay video:

The game starts off incredibly simple, with you just randomly running around open planets slapping errant aliens. It's almost too simple, and really my first complaint is how slowly the difficulty of the game ramps up. I about got bored of it just as it was starting to get cool, and it does get cool. Planets slowly evolve in to worlds filled with plants that can hurt you, maze-like walls, puzzles involving switches to open doors to access restricted areas, and more. It's a ton of fun once you get to the more complicated levels, so make sure you stick with the game at least through the first galaxy.

Another thing I'd really like to see tweaked is how the tilt controls actually work. I feel like you need to tilt way too much to make your character move, and would much prefer a higher sensitivity setting. However, this and the difficulty progression are minor complaints, and shouldn't dissuade you at all from giving this game a shot.

Forum members are having a great time with the game, and I can't help but agree. Get Outta My Galaxy is a fantastic little game that not only looks great, but also is a lot of fun. Just make sure you stick with it long enough to see some of the more interesting level mechanics.

I’m not sure how much of a big deal this is, but Cut The Rope [$.99 / Lite / HD] took home a BAFTA the other night becoming the first, as a press release tells us, iPod Touch and iPhone title to win an award at the UK-based event. Specifically, Cut The Rope won one for “handheld” where it was competing against games like Super Scribblenauts, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and Sonic Team’s Sonic Colors.

If you’re not on the up and up on video game awards shows, BAFTA is the British Academy of Film And Television Arts. It pays attention to the achievements in films, television, and, yes, even video games, and then rewards their excellence. Cut The Rope was able to compete against Nintendo DS and PSP titles, so hey, our medium is definitely becoming much more “mainstream,” eh?

If anything, we’ve an excuse to utter “Cut The Rope” again. It’s a fantastic game, full of heart, creativity, and expression. It totally deserves awards and we’re glad it’s been recognized by a big old establishment, too. If you somehow missed the game, check out our review.

Before you get good and unsober later tonight, EA would like you to take a spin in a tricked out Need For Speed Undercover car. Or kick a soccer ball. Or punch a dude in the face. Or piece together a tower of multi-colored blocks. That’s right, another holiday sale is in full effect on the App Store. EA has slashed the prices of a bunch of its stable in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, the the latest holiday-related excuse to have a sale.

A lot of games are on sale, so I’ve assembled a little list below. And, as usual, there’s no mention of when or if this sale will end.

• FIFA 11 -- $2.99
• Madden NFL 11 -- $2.99
• Mirror's Edge -- $.99
• MMA By EA Sports -- $.99
• Monopoly -- $.99
• Need for Speed SHIFT -- $2.99
• Need For Speed Undercover -- $.99
• Scrabble -- $.99
• Tetris -- $.99
• The Sims 3 -- $2.99

Scrabble for a dollar? Yeah, I’ll take that.

In case you’ve been under a rock, Tiny Wings [$.99] is the new App Store sweetheart, replacing Angry Birds [$.99 / Lite / HD] as the must-have bird based mobile game. The two differ, but both have one thing in common: a wonky physics engine that informs the core mechanic. In Tiny Wings specifically, you fiddle with momentum, gently pulling a fat bird downwards towards a slope in order to feed it more gas for its next abrupt flight.

Now, we’ve got Pilot Winds [Free], another bird based game based on a similar idea. There is no chicken and the egg drama here, either. Pilot Winds was apparently in development before Tiny Wings launched.

Pilot Winds wants you to wrap your head around momentum, too. The distinction is that your avatar isn’t a chubby bird with meager flying skills. No, in this game, you control a penguin who slides on ropes constructed in a series of slopes, all designed to give you the speed to rocket it into the air at fast clips. The motions reminds me of skiing, but as you'll notice, the penguin isn't equipped with skis.

There are a couple of hooks to it, too, mainly in the points area. When you press your finger on the iPad or iPod to bring the penguin down, you can, optionally, “bounce” off a rope to maintain modifiers. You can also give yourself an extra boost by timing a jump or landing without sacrificing speed. So, basically, this is a game about scoring big.

There are individual modes to support the leaderboard-infused nature, but most of them are nestled behind the .99-cent pay wall. “Mad Minute” is a 60-second dash to score the most points, “Checkpoint” is a progression-based mode that requires you to hit flags within a certain time frame, and “Freeplay” is your basic, Zen-like ski-a-thon.

You can download a chunk of the game for free right now, but for what it’s worth, Pilot Winds is a solid download. My caveman brain is enjoying the simplicity of the one-tap control and the basic acrobatics that you can pull off in the rush to gather points. As a whole, this is a pretty low-key, hardly involving game that is enjoyed in bursts.

My one knock on the game involves the physics. They feel stiff. You’d figure the ropes would have a little more give and so would the penguin’s knees. That said, once you wrap your head around the engine and what the game desires, you’ll perform just fine. The tutorial seems annoying at first, yet it actually does a great job at pounding home how the game expects you to play.

I’m not going to get into the debate of what’s better, Tiny Wings or Pilot Winds, or why every App Store game stars a bird, ropes, or both, but I will argue that Pilot Winds is worth your time. I mean, c’mon, you can try it for free.

Gameloft is getting increasingly blatant with their clones as of late. Starfront - Collision [$6.99] was so StarCraft-y that I've had friends who were shoulder surfing me flat out ask how I got StarCraft on my phone. They're not stopping there though, the latest teaser trailer released by Gameloft revealed today that their sights are set on... World of Warcraft, believe it or not.

Feast your eyes on this:

Details are scarce currently, and it remains to be seen how this game will be sold. Apple has recently added the ability for in-app subscriptions, so Gameloft could be following the typical MMO subscription route. Much more likely though is that this game will have some kind of freemium mechanic to it, which is where I'd place my bets. We'll have to wait and see!

For details as they're released, keep an eye on Gameloft's Facebook page.

As readers are by now aware, the iPad 2 launched last week, bringing with it a powerful dual-core CPU and a dramatically more capable graphics subsystem. And, aside from pushing more polygons and tossing more texels, the GPU in the A5 at the heart of the iPad 2 is capable of mirroring its screen to an external display via the Apple Digital AV Adapter, which provides HDMI-out.

To give a folks a look at this feature in action, I've put together a video of the iPad 2 running through a number of games and apps, with video mirrored to a 50-inch plasma HDTV.

(Note that we can't be responsible for any rifts in space-time caused by watching this video on an iPad 2 outputting to an external HDTV.)

UPDATE: Lots of readers have been asking what app is shown here or there in the video. Here's the list of apps shown, in order: AirCoaster, Infinity Blade, Bit.Trip Beat HD, X-Plane 9, Centipede Ultra [app link], Pocket Pond HD, Sword of Fargoal Legends, PongVaders, [clip from The Rock (film)], Google Earth, Intellivision, MiniGore HD, Modizer, ActiveGS Apple IIgs emulator running NinjaForce's Mega Demo followed by FTA's Delta Demo.