We’re back! In this week's episode, The Bearded One, Jared Nelson, talks up Bumpy Road, Touchgrind BMX, and Mos Speedrun. Eli Hodapp discusses cat games, and I deliver some details about the Infinity Blade update and the third episode of Back to the Future. We also delve into the i3D thing, as well the Minecraft-coming-to-Android story that made the rounds before closing out the hour.

You can grab the podcast on iTunes now if you like, or you can download the raw file or stream the new podcast just below via the handy-dandy link. I encourage you to go ahead and subscribe to us if you're going to do the former. We'll be spitting out pods all over the place from that feed. Starting now, you'll get TouchArcade Show every Friday and fun interviews and other content as well.

In a nutshell, The TouchArcade Show, is an offbeat joint about iOS video games and the staff of this web site. I want to give you more insight into who we are and how that informs our writing. But, I also want to give you something fun to listen to if you’re into new iOS releases, hot iOS scoops, and the occasional phallus, or angry boss joke.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (MP3, 38MB)

Overall, there’s a lot of fun discussion, but we were missing a key component: you. If you’d like to give us some feedback -- whether it’s a question, a comment, a terrible pun, or whatever -- throw us an e-mail at podcast@toucharcade.com. You can also reach us via the Twitter and the Facebook, and if that doesn’t float your boat, you can also reach us in the comments of this post OR via our phone line. The number is +1-951-922-5582 or 951-9-CALL-TA.

The phone line, actually, is something fun we'd like to focus on in the future. If you're too lazy to write an e-mail, send us a call and we'll play it on the show and then respond to your comment or question. I stress, though, that you need to be using good equipment if you want to be featured in future episodes. We can't just throw up any old .mp3 from someone's jank handset.

So, yeah, feel free tell us what you think, what you’d like us to talk about in the next episode, or give us a question. We welcome it all. Also, enjoy!

Did you find yourself salivating at the massive list of EA sales only to discover that the balance of your iTunes account is 32¢ short of actually being able to buy anything? Well, the weekend is saved thanks to three generous developers!

geoDefense, Free - I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about the geoDefense series of games. If you even are vaguely interested in tower defense games, you need to download this one right away. If you like it, make sure to also snag geoDefense Swarm [$1.99 / Lite]

Gravity Hook HD, Free - From the makers of Canabalt [$2.99], here's a game that asks you to climb high instead of run far. You can also play the free Flash version online, but I'm not sure why you'd bother when this is also free!

Zentomino, Free - Little White Bear Studios is a puzzler with gameplay that's simple enough for kids, while still being capable of stumping adults. 200 levels in all are included, which should keep you busy for hours, days, or potentially even longer. If you like this one, give TanZen [99¢ / Lite a try as well. (Note: If this isn't showing up for free for you yet, give it a bit.)

Artificial-life geeks rejoice: a new entry to the Creatures series is finally underway, and it's coming to iOS.

Details are still pretty light, but it looks like Creatures 4 is going to be free to play. It's slated to be released later this year on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, as well as PC and Mac. It's being developed by Fishing Cactus, a Belgian development studio with quite a few solid titles under their belts.

I'm a bit nervous about the whole "free to play" thing, but it doesn't sound like Creatures 4 is going to be gutted and turned casual. Bruno Hurbain, studio manager at Fishing Cactus, says they "are determined to create a new great Creatures chapter, both modern and respectful of what made it the best virtual life simulator game in the first place." Sounds like they're fans, too. We'll take a look later this year and see how the game shapes up.

For those of you who aren't in the know, Creatures is a series of artificial life games from the 90s. You raise cute critters called Norns, teach them basic language and survival skills, and help them evolve and pass their genetic code down over generations. Although the series hasn't seen a major release since 2001, it still has a dedicated core of active players, and a recent Kickstarter for a spiritual followup from one of the original creators did really well. So let's hope this game gives players both new and old something to look forward to.

EA wields an incredible amount of power on the App Store. Their game catalog is incredibly vast, and consists of tons of well known IP that even non-gamers are familiar with. When they pulled a similar stunt this holiday season, EA absolutely dominated the top sales list which was great for gamers who scored absolutely insane deals, but bad for other developers who had their Christmas dreams decimated by EA controlling the majority of the App Store top 100.

We'll see what happens this time around with this similarly massive sale-

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This review is going to get a little wordy. Not only am I telling you all about Great Little War Game, a fantastic turn-based strategy game from Rubicon, I also get to tell you all about the upcoming 1.4 update. So if you're short on time and you want the summary, let me just say that this is a game you need to own if you like turn-based strategy, and the update is going to make it better than ever.

I'll call Great Little War Game "great" without hesitation, but I'd hardly call it "little" - not with 20 campaign levels, a 10 level IAP expansion, and tons of maps for pass-and-play multiplayer and AI skirmishes. This isn't a game that's over quickly - the levels take time and multiplayer matches can turn into all-out war.

The campaign gives you a thorough introduction to the game's many units, from the humble Engineer to mighty tanks, warships and aircraft. Early on, you learn the simple controls - tap to select and move, hold to see range and movement - and then then you'll learn to capture the enemy's resources and base. You'll also need to pick up vital strategies like holding high terrain, defending your resources and picking the right spot to lay an ambush.

You're set against enemy forces controlled by an AI that poses a challenge without becoming frustrating. In each level, you're facing ongoing assaults by the enemy while you try to achieve a goal. Sometimes you need to capture the enemy base. Other times you're left to hold out against a superior foe or to struggle to build up your resources before being overwhelmed. Your performance is ranked on how quickly you succeed.

Great Little War Game isn't just an impressive strategy game; it's also pretty darn funny. The cut scenes between levels feature your army's Generalissimo and his terribly courageous approach to warmongering. I've never seen someone lead so bravely from the (distant) rear. Unit voices, animations and descriptions also offer up some laughs.

I've had a chance to go hands-on with the upcoming 1.4 update. It's going to be submitted Friday, so hopefully we'll see it soon. The biggest change is the addition of difficulty modes. You'll start on Basic difficulty, and there are three higher modes to unlock by beating the campaign with each. Damage increases for both sides as you play on higher difficulties, so you'll need to be very careful about keeping your army safely out of range while picking off the enemy.  The AI also gets more cash to spend, and it's a little smarter in all modes, so skilled players are going to be challenged.

Great Little War Game is also getting a cosmetic bump, with improvements to lighting and water, multisampling and bump maps. It looks very nice - still cartoony, but much more polished. Despite the nice new look, 1.4  feels snappier than ever on my 3GS. As for the one thing some of you have been holding out for - the game's 16 achievements now sync to Game Center. Three new skirmish maps have been added (including a sweet little nod to this site). On top of all that, there's a new 15 level campaign, Holiday from Hell, available for in-app purchase.

Rubicon's always been very responsive to their fans, adding fixes and updates based on feedback. They've adopted a lot of ideas from users on our forums, so if you've got any suggestions, make sure to stop in.

One technical note: the game only supports third-generation devices and newer. Also, be sure to grab the right version. With an HD version, a standard version, and a lite version for each, things can get a little confusing. The HD is Universal with Retina graphics, while the standard version has neither feature. I do like the recent trend of releasing a second version that's a Universal HD, but restricting Retina graphics to that version is less awesome.

Great Little War Game is the kind of game you can really sink your teeth into, which is rare enough. So I'm delighted to discover that it's also rich in features, good looking and full of humor. With the 1.4 update, it's going to be even more of a must-buy. I've got my fingers crossed for asynchronous multiplayer, a feature Rubicon hopes to include some time in the future, but in the meantime there's quite the bounty to enjoy.

NaturalMotion Games has unveiled their newest iOS offering called Icebreaker Hockey. Picture NaturalMotion’s highly successful arcade-style football game Backbreaker 2: Vengeance [99¢] and apply it to ice hockey, and you have a pretty good idea what to expect from Icebreaker Hockey.

Players will race down the ice towards the net from a third person perspective, avoiding hits from opposing players using deke and spin maneuvers in an effort to get a clean shot on goal. This arcade-style of gameplay worked really well in the Backbreaker series on iOS, and seems like a natural fit for the sport of ice hockey.

Here’s a set of screenshots from Icebreaker Hockey which is looking quite impressive:

The game is being developed by Digital Legends Entertainment and published by NaturalMotion, and will also use their advanced “morpheme” animation engine to provide smooth and realistic animations to the players in the game. Icebreaker Hockey will come with 2 different modes to play across 3 difficulty levels, and will use Game Center integration for achievements and leaderboards.

Icebreaker Hockey is scheduled to hit the App Store on June 2nd at a price of $2.99. Members in our forums correctly speculated way back in October that we’d be seeing Icebreaker Hockey on iOS, and now it’s actually official. We’ll be sure to check out Icebreaker Hockey when it releases next week.

It seems fitting that the logo for Donut Games involves a cup of coffee, because these guys seem so busy that I doubt they find much time for sleep. Between releasing new games at a steady clip, and updating their old titles with new features, they are constantly putting out quality stuff for the iOS platform on the cheap. They’ve just released their newest game Mexiball [99¢], and like practically every one of their previous games it’s another solid offering.

Mexiball is a puzzle game with a focus on matching colored balls and clearing them from a board. You’re given a puzzle board with a series of slots that contain multiple colors of balls, and you can tap and drag any of these balls to move them around the board. You must figure out how to move the balls in such a way as to group all of the like-colored ones together to cause them to disappear, and you’re graded up to 3 stars based on how few moves it takes you to do so.

It’s a really simple idea, and one that works quite well with the touch screen. Just completing a level is generally easy enough if you use a lot of moves, but the real challenge is using the least amount of moves so you can earn 3 stars on a level. Some of the solutions that only require 1 or 2 moves are simply brilliant, and it’s a testament to just how well designed the game is. There are other factors like teleporters and hazards to spice things up, and the "aha!" moment of figuring out the most efficient solution to a puzzle is hugely satisfying.

As is commonplace for Donut Games as of late, Mexiball comes equipped with Retina Display support, Game Center, and universal iPad support. Unfortunately, this is another of their games that doesn’t utilize the entire iPad screen. It’s not a huge issue, and the game looks and plays fantastic on the iPad, but the border around the edge of the screen is a tad annoying.

Minor gripe aside, you get a ton of bang for your buck with Mexiball, which has basically become synonymous with all of Donut Games’ releases. There are plenty of positive impressions in our forums too, and if you’re looking for a clever and colorful new challenge for your brain then give Mexiball a look.

I've played a lot of brick breakers, and whenever one claims to reinvent the genre I cringe a little bit. Usually it means they've added crazy paddles or rotation mechanics that turn the game into something totally different. All I want is a really awesome modern take on the Breakout formula. Is that so much to ask?

Apparently not, because that's exactly what Anodia [$0.99] gives us. Functionally, it's a standard brick breaker, with one paddle at the bottom, some bricks to break on top, and a ball that bounces between them. The pickups that drop from broken bricks can enhance your game, making your paddle faster, giving you extra balls, and so on. They can also punish you, with handicaps like a stunned or shrunk paddle. All fairly typical stuff. Aesthetically, though, this game is anything but typical.

The "bricks," in this case, can be almost anything. You'll be bouncing your ball at light bulbs, flowers, and beautiful geometric shapes, many of which move and sway with realistic physics. This can lead to some confusion—sometimes you can't really tell how much damage you've done unless you can spare a glance at the brick's health meter at the top of the screen—but it's worth it. Each level is a new surprise to look at and play with.

The main campaign has 48 levels across 8 themes, like "Colors" and "Geometry," and there's a mini-campaign with 5 extra levels. In campaign mode, you're working toward an overall high score for completing all the levels. You start with 5 lives, and you can buy 5 more with 20,000 of your hard-earned points.  Your overall score and best level scores are ranked on Game Center leaderboards. You also get graded with stars on your performance each level, and you can go back to improve your grade in Quick Play mode.

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There is no way to beat around the bush, so let's just get this out of the way from the start: Com2uS trademarking "tower defense," for Tower Defense: Lost Earth [$2.99 / HD] is a little bonkers, like if Call of Duty was granted a trademark and changed its name to First Person Shooter. Not only does it peeve off a bunch of developers caught in the legal crossfire, it also gives players incredibly lofty expectations for the final product when it's branded as the "officially trademarked" game of tower defense.

Thankfully, it delivers, albeit through a kitchen sink approach more than an innovative one. This is in fact a tower defense game and you'll get every single tower defense trope you've ever run into. The core campaign takes the preset route approach, where you'll set up your units on a grid and the enemies will take a predestined path. There are, however, seven different challenge stages that offer more variety, including several that utilize freeform defense where you create the enemy paths by obstructing the enemy's movements, like in Fieldrunners [$2.99 / HD].

You'll have nine different units to choose from, each of which act as you'd expect in a tower defense game and counter the ten different enemy types in different ways. Enemy diversity is limited to slow, fast, and slow then exploding-into-fast-creatures. Killing enemies and shooting at certain environmental structures yield crystals that can be turned into more units. Some of the stages have actual resource-gathering units associated with them, but don't expect it to be a major part of the experience. The limited units and enemy types means each stage has a relatively restricted number of ways to complete it, which is altered slightly based on the difficulty setting you choose.

There are three difficulty settings, each changing the number of enemies, your starting resources or the score awarded. There are also four different game modes, the standard defense mode, a survival mode, a resource gathering mode and an attack mode. The first three are pretty self-explanatory, but the attack mode changes the dynamic of the game in an unusual way. You'll have to defend by setting up towers as you usually would, but you'll also have to expand through the level to get your units close enough to a boss to attack it. At times it's more annoying than it is innovative, as the core game doesn't change and it ends up just adding a layer of grinding.

But for the most part, the game is well balanced and well paced and you probably won't find yourself getting stuck too often. There were a few levels that stumped me where I was wishing there was a help or skip function, but for the most part, if you follow the "rock, paper, scissors" approach to defending against enemies, you'll get through the campaign on the easiest setting with little trouble. As far as strategy is concerned, there are two different ways you can approach a match, either by upgrading your units (you get two upgrades to each unit) or by scattering a ton of units across the map. Upgrading seems to work better in the long term, but your mileage may vary. If you find yourself in a pinch, each level offers you one additional attack with a one-time use. These include gas that slowly drains enemy life, a ship that drops bombs and others.

Perhaps because Com2uS is already in deep water with a lot of players because of the trademarking, it should come as no surprise the game is well executed. Visually, it has the same look as a lot their RPGs, with well-animated sprites, diversity in the environments and a reasonably long campaign. The menus and interface are well laid out and work well on both the iPhone and iPad. Although the game is refined, it's still generic sci-fi nonsense, clearly inspired by the menus of nearly every single PC science fiction game in existence. The sound doesn't live up to the visuals, with comparatively underwhelming enemy and weapon sound effects.

The campaign does feature a story mode, but it reads like pretty much every RTS storyline ever written. You need to expand to save the human race and to do so, you've decided to exploit the resources of an alien planet. The inhabitants aren't too keen on this idea and start attacking your settlements by running at your guns in waves. It's commendable Tower Defense: Lost Earth tries to add a narrative layer, but the fact you're the invading party, not the defending one makes the story come across as more ridiculous than it already is.

There is leaderboard integration with Game Center as well, but the options are relatively limited. With as much development effort that was clearly dumped into the game, you'd expect to see a bit more stat tracking, trophies or more complex leaderboards. That's only going to matter to some people, but for statistics nerds, the streamlined leaderboards might be a bit of a disappointment.

There is no way around the fact that naming your game after a genre is really not that wise of a decision, but Tower Defense: Lost Earth does a good job of providing exactly what you'd expect from it. Still, it's hard to shake the feeling the game is missing something -- it's a well-executed genre game, but it lacks character. It's not going to fundamentally change what we expect from the genre, it's not going to shift mountains or alter the collective consciousness, but it will give tower defense nuts a deep and nicely packaged experience-- And really, what more can you ask for?

Note: Tower Defense: Lost Earth is presently being advertised on this site, but it has no influence on our choice of coverage or the outcome of our reviews. See advertising and editorial policies for additional details.

I’m nearing the point where it’s impossible to say something of significance about the Back to the Future series. The third episode, which just released in the US App Store for $6.99, is a definite follow-up to the previous two. It takes no sudden turns. This is still an adventure title with a stellar cast, solid production values, and a casual-leaning curve.

I felt some fatigue with the last release specifically, but I couldn’t attribute it to a specific design element. And while I didn’t rush to the App Store for Episode 3, I did actually get drawn into the experience this time around. I think the reason for this lies somewhere in the more exciting tone and setting in this one.

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Ah, the thrill of riddling aliens with bullets. It never gets old, ever. Fortunately for us, EA is hip to this universal truth. In an effort to deliver more bullets-against-alien-flesh action in Dead Space [$6.99 / HD], the publisher has just pushed out a brand new update that does just that in a new mode called “Survival.” It has also added a fresh pulse rifle with a heavy twist that can be purchased with in-game credits or even via the in-game store.

Survival mode, in a nutshell, is a “Horde” mode that pits you against an “all-out rush” of Necromorphs. It’s also a convenient way to collect more in-game credits that can be used for all sorts of stuff in the game, including the brand new “Heavy Pulse Rifle.”

This update also adds “Nightmare” difficulty, a fascinating way to play if you’re not into regenerating health or dumb enemies. As if that wasn’t enough, the update adds chapter select functionality to the game, meaning you can re-live your harrowing experiences as much as you feel necessary.

That’s some big deal stuff for an awesome game. If you haven’t checked out Dead Space yet, you’re crazy. Seriously. Give our review a read and click “buy."

At first glance, HotGen's To-Fu: The Trials of Chi [99¢ / HD] looks like a riff on the Xbox Live Arcade game Super Meat Boy, but where SMB was a gruelingly difficult platformer, To-Fu takes a more slow-paced approach. That's not say To-Fu isn't difficult, it certainly is in the later levels, but you can generally take your time with it.

You'll touch and pull To-Fu in any direction and release to send him flying through the air. He'll end up sticking to most surfaces and those he doesn't, he'll bounce off, slide down or move up them. It's helpful then that you can get a view of the whole level and all of its obstacles by touching and scrolling too, which becomes an absolute necessity by the end. If you've ever touched a video game at any point in your life, you're going to know which obstacles to expect because they're all here -- every single one of them.

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Arcades just aren't what they used to be (with a notable exception or two, of course). But, back in the day, they were wonderful places -- the glowing cloud of phosphorescence, that lovely din of beeps and boops from every direction, and rows and rows of stand up cabinets of many shapes and sizes. Of all the cabinets I recall encountering in my youth, one of the most striking was that of Tecmo Bowl, an American football game released in 1987 that was easily the most visually impressive arcade take on the sport of its day. It was a 46-inch, double-wide cabinet that featured two side-by-side monitors sitting back in a dark sort of monitor cavern. The game was played on a side-to-side "widescreen" rendering of a football field across both screens.

Those recalling this well loved game will be happy to hear that Tecmo Koei Games has just released an enhanced iPhone version of the game, called Tecmo Bowl Throwback [App Store].

Those fondly familiar with this classic likely recall the highly popular NES port, which was responsible for most of the game's popularity, given the relative scarcity of the wide cabinet in arcades. Tecmo Bowl has, since, come to the Game Boy, the Wii Virtual Console and, last year, the PS3 and Xbox 360 in the form of Tecmo Bowl Throwback. This iPhone release is actually a port of last year's console remake.

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Back in November of 2008, Illusion Labs’ Touchgrind [$4.99/HD] was a remarkable display of what was possible on iOS devices. It had fantastic 3D graphics, a great physics system, and excellent multi-touch controls that let you interact with a skateboard in a way unlike any game before it. Now Illusion Labs is back with a new entry in the series called Touchgrind BMX [$4.99] that takes the formula into the world of trick biking.

All of the major traits that made Touchgrind so good carry over to Touchgrind BMX, and it even comes with many welcome improvements. But it’s also missing a few features that I would expect in a game like this, and the multi-touch controls come with a steep learning curve much the same way Touchgrind’s did. Such is the cost of innovation though, and Touchgrind BMX is definitely innovative. It’s also a ton of fun once you get the hang of things, and those who persist in the ways of Touchgrind BMX will be rewarded with a truly unique experience.

Like Touchgrind before it, Touchgrind BMX only requires two fingers to play. One finger controls the handlebars of the bike, and the other controls the frame. Using an assortment of different gestures, you can get your bike to perform just about anything you can think of. The gesture control is really organic, and moves are pulled off just how you’d expect them to be, like flicking the handlebars to spin them around while you’re airborne.

A simple 3 part tutorial walks you through everything you need to know about controlling your bike, and it’s all incredibly easy to understand. The challenge comes when actually trying to perform tricks in practice. It takes fast reactions and precise finger coordination to pull off the elaborate tricks and combos that will earn you the most points. It took me a few hours to actually feel pretty comfortable and start performing some more complex tricks, but looking at the developer high score challenges I know I still have quite a ways to go. It’s a lot of fun though, and improving my skills is what keeps drawing me back into the game.

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High score games are a difficult breed of game to talk about because you either get into them and love them, or you don't. If you frequently find yourself obsessing over leaderboards, Jonathan Kreuzer and Khang Le's Arno the Hunter [99¢]] is an interesting take on the scrolling-enemy-shooter that offers an appealing world and distinct visual style.

As a premise, Arno the Hunter borrows most of its inspiration from the likes of Space Invaders. Different enemies streak across the sky and you tap to angle shots at them. You get around by tilting your device left and right. It takes a little while to get used to, but it works well-enough once you do. Some, myself included, would have probably preferred touch controls, but since you're only working on a horizontal plane, it's not too hard to get the hang of it.

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