One of the first highly successful games in the App Store was Majic Jungle's Chopper [App Store], a side-scrolling aerial shooter that's an adaptation of his original Mac release. The game has seen well over one million downloads since its release and is a pretty fun time on your iPod or iPod touch.

We spent some highly enjoyable face time with Dave Frampton, the man behind Majic Jungle, at MWSF '09 and WWDC '09. As such, I've been following him on Twitter and have long been seeing the occasional tweet about the progress of his upcoming sequel, Chopper 2. Yesterday I pinged Dave and demanded a solid update on this title that we've been quite anxious to see. Happily, with minimal threats, he agreed to give us the latest details and an exclusive set of screenshots of the in-progress title, as well.

Chopper 2 is a complete re-write, with full 3D graphics, numerous different landscapes and a realistic Chipmunk based physics system. It still retains the classic side-scrolling shooter gameplay, however. The control system in the game has been completely overhauled, allowing for touch based aim control independent of the tilt based flight control. There's also the option to use a touch based flight control method with a virtual D-pad.

Chopper 2 has eight different enemies with unique weapons and AI. There are also allies in some missions who will help by firing at the enemy. Some enemies fire homing missiles, and some fire multiple missiles in rapid succession. The missions themselves are also much more diverse than in the original Chopper. In one mission, you and your allies defend a base while a long line of enemies attack from both sides. In another mission you pick up a bomb disposal expert, take him to disarm a bomb in an office tower, and defend his position from attacking enemies until he's done. Sometimes you have to kill a certain enemy but are free to ignore others, and sometimes you must not kill any enemies. There is limited ammo and a new health meter that allows you to take a certain number of hits before you die. Most missions have a base or two where you can regain health and/or ammo, but there is a time bonus you'll be sacrificing to do so.

Chopper 2 will be utilizing the OpenFeint network for online scores, with a high score tracked for each of the 12 locations. Each location has three missions, and there will be three difficulties to play through. This makes for a total of 36 missions in each difficulty setting. The progression structure is non-linear, with a map based system where you unlock new locations and missions to choose between.

The story is not yet complete but, similar to the original Chopper, there is instructional story dialog before each mission. However, Dave tells us that Chopper 2 has a unique and impressive way of delivering this dialog, which makes the story a lot more engaging. We'll hear more about that as the title approaches release.

If all this isn't enough to pique your interest, Dave is also working on an iPad version of the game that will be part of the single-app release — one version for both iPhone and iPad. Having planned to release a Mac version of Chopper 2 following the iPhone release, Dave has had high resolution graphics at the ready all along. He indicates that the work involved in fully utilizing the enhanced features of the iPad is fairly minor and feels that it makes little sense to charge gamers again for it.

Dave was kind enough to provide us with an early iPad simulator screenshot of Chopper 2 in action. The shot doesn't feature all of the graphics of the final iPad version, but it does give some idea of what the device's extra screen real estate offers.

Click for full-sized iPad screenshot

Chopper 2 is not too far from completion, but Dave indicates it won't make the April 3 iPad release. There's no solid release estimate right now, as the developer wants to make sure the game is fully ready in all respects before it lands in the App Store, but he tells us it's coming along quite nicely. Price is yet to be solidly determined, but Dave indicates that it will fall somewhere below $5. Stay tuned for more details on Chopper 2 as we get them.

One of our favorite games this month was One Man Left's Tilt to Live, a fast paced object avoidance game that has also been getting overwhelmingly positive feedback in our forums.

The game is presently on sale for only $0.99, so if you haven't picked it up yet, now's your chance. Riding on their early success. One Man Left has revealed to us that they are planning a couple of additional game modes for Tilt to Live that will be arriving in April. The new modes are described here:

Code Red

Rather than guiding players along a polite difficulty curve, we’re chucking them off a difficulty cliff with Code Red mode. This gametype is best described as “Classic mode on crack”. Everything from Classic is there, but the red dots will spawn at their highest intensity right from the start. It’s tailor-made for experienced players that “just wanna get to the good part”, without enduring the buildup.

Gauntlet Mode

Run the Gauntlet to put your precision tilting skills to the test! In Gauntlet mode, players compete for the longest survival time rather than highscores or combos. Enemies waves will no longer relentlessly chase you. Instead, the dots work together to form an increasingly difficult treadmill course of smashers, battle axes, windmills, and more. It’s an entirely new gameplay experience! The difficulty curve will be comparable to our original gametype, a crescendo from manageable to kick-your-butt. Early dot obstacles and gameplay will be showcased in our teaser video, and even more sinister twists are in development as we speak.

Meanwhile, this video shows Gauntlet in action:

One Man Left promises more game modes, awards and weapons in future versions of the game. If you haven't picked this one up yet, we still highly recommend it.

App Store Link: Tilt to Live, $0.99

We went over the basic premise of the game in our original preview:

Revolt is an exquisite looking shooter that departs from the usual dual-stick model of unlimited ammo run-and-gunning by throwing a surprising amount of strategy into the mix. The gameplay promotes taking cover and rolling to avoid enemy fire, and ammo needs to be carefully managed across 15 weapons and 5 weapon types. A mixture of lasers, grenades and missile launchers serve to create some of the most impressive explosions and combat effects we've seen on the AppStore, too. To boot, Revolt seems to take its storytelling seriously, the gameplay spanning over 8 campaign levels and an impressive 20 survival arenas.

The build we were sent was a preview in every sense of the word, most of the art has yet to be finalized, menus are basic, and they haven't added the story elements yet. However, as far as a beautiful framework for a dual stick shooter is concerned, these guys nailed it.

Check out the gameplay video which shows a bit of story mode and survival mode:

Survival mode is particularly interesting in Revolt, as you fight off enemies in waves and between each wave you're given the opportunity to spend the credits you collect in game on ammo, grenades, and other goodies. I've spent a considerable amount of time trying to make it through the survival mode, and there seems to be an interesting layer of strategy in stocking up on weaponry. The easy levels obviously don't require anything, but once you survive past the first few waves, grenades and other weapons become mandatory.

Revolt is still in development, but shows a considerable amount of promise. We'll be keeping an eye on this game's development, and if you want to know more, stop by the developer's thread on our forums.

In Cocoto Magic Circus, you take on the role of Cocoto, Shiny, Neuro, or Baggy on a mission to save poor Fairy, the pixie, who has been kidnapped by a sinister and disturbing clown. In order to save her, you must progress through five different creepy carnival settings, wielding your dart-gun like a champ, tapping true on the clown's various minions to knock them into oblivion. There are seven shooting gallery-style mini-games in each of the settings, making for 35 challenges in all.

While it's true that shooting gallery titles are generally rather simplistic affairs — and there's certainly no lack of such games in the App Store — Cocoto Magic Circus is a surprisingly enjoyable little game. The visuals are very well done — cartoonish, cute, and atmospheric with a nice parallax effect to the scenes that adds a sense of depth to the game. Complexity is added to the title's tap-to-shoot dynamic by way of line-of-fire obstacles as well as floating bonuses and special effects that, when shot, trigger things both good and bad: double shot score, free hits, lights out, gun jams, flip screen, etc. It's a nice touch.
The game offers an Arcade mode, which is progressive play through the various settings and challenges, as well as a Training mode that allows you to jump in and play any challenge in the game. Online multiplayer is also included, allowing you to engage in real-time matches with players around the world. (Unfortunately I was unable to test this component as there is no community at present, since the game has not yet been released.)

I've enjoyed my time with the game, learning its ins and outs for this post. Getting through it requires some fast reflexes, especially in the later challenges, which ramp up the difficulty and pacing — it's no cakewalk. One thing to note is that it's not a particularly lengthy affair; most users could get through it in an hour or two, but that's helped a bit from a replay perspective by the three available levels of difficulty, with Normal presenting a decent challenge.

Cocoto Magic Circus is a shooting gallery title that delivers a good deal more than most games of its sort. It's a cute little game that's fun to play and, as IGN called it, "a surprisingly fresh breath of air." I'd wager most gamers out there would enjoy it more than they think.

Have a look at the gameplay video to help you decide for yourself.

Cocoto Magic Circus is set to debut in the App Store on Thursday, March 4th at a price of $0.99.

Hexen II is, obviously, the sequel to Hexen (which was the sequel to Heretic) and was developed by Raven Software and published by Id for the PC in 1997. This first person shooter utilizes a modified version of the Quake engine to add a roleplaying element to the game where players could choose from multiple classes, and increase statistics by earning experience throughout the adventure.

Like the other games in the series, Raven eventually released the source code for Hexen II, which is what is powering the following gameplay video:

The sticky situation that the developers of this Hexen II port face is that, while the actual game source itself has been made open source, the data files that make Hexen II more than just a modded Quake engine are not open source. The preview version we were given is utilizing assets from the free Hexen II demo, but the game itself can't hit the App Store until the developers work our some kind of licensing agreement with Activision.

Earlier this month we posted an update on Peter Hirschberg and his glowy bit of retro vector goodness known as Vector Tanks. As we indicated in that post, Peter has recently setup his own studio, BlipTime Studios, and through it has released an update to Vector Tanks known as Vector Tanks (Classic Version) [App Store] at $0.99.  As one might suspect, denoting the current game as "classic" indeed betokened the near-term arrival of a rather revamped take on the original.

That game is Vector Tanks Extreme, and Peter has given us an exclusive look at the release version of the title before it makes its App Store debut.

The game has been split into two versions to provide, as Peter tells it, a version that delivers the "retro-simplicity" of the original, along with a version that's "a Vector Tanks experience WAY over the top for those seeking a bit more of a challenge."

Vector Tanks Extreme offers everything the original did, plus more tank types, more weapon types (my personal favorite is the Rail Gun), airborne enemies (helicopters), and downright frenzied action. The standard play mode is Combat, which is a desperate bid to wipe out as many enemies as possible before losing all your lives, while Rage mode gives you unlimited lives and ammunition with the goal of wiping out as many enemies as possible before a two-minute timer runs out. Both modes are brutal, let me assure you. An integrated online scoreboard shows the world your strength (or weakness) and network play support is a planned addition, to arrive in a future update.

I've had the final build of Vector Tanks Extreme on my iPhone for the past few days and have spent considerable time scoping down enemy tanks, jeeps, and copters. Having become quite familiar with the title, I can definitely say that "WAY over the top" is in no way an overstated description. This is perhaps the most intense iPhone shooter I've ever encountered. If you enjoy Vector Tanks and feel it's a little on the difficult side — stay away from Vector Tanks Extreme. You don't have the stuff.

As we mentioned in our earlier piece, in moving from Chillingo to his own BlimpTime Studios for the original Vector Tanks, now known as Vector Tanks (Classic Version), Peter was unable to make the latest version of the game (v1.3.2, posted earlier this month) a free upgrade. But, to help get every owner of the original up to speed on the latest version, he will be offering Vector Tanks (Classic Version) as a free download during the week following the launch of Vector Tanks Extreme. Thanks Peter!

Have a look at the Vector Tanks Extreme trailer to get a taste of the action.

Vector Tanks Extreme has been submitted to the App Store and should be available for download sometime in the next few days at a price of $1.99.

Update: It's come out already: Vector Tanks Extreme, $1.99

Blast Off is an arcade-style puzzle game in which the goal is to rescue stranded astronauts and carry them through a warpgate to safety. Gravity from nearby planets will affect your rocket's flight path, and the trick to figuring out the best solutions to these puzzles is using this to your advantage.

Here's a trailer for the game:

Blast Off got plenty of favorable coverage when it was released for the PSP minis service, with IGN calling it "the best PSP mini yet." New features aplenty will be added for the iPhone version, including global leaderboards and a brand new "Endless Mode."

We think that Halfbrick has a lot of promise as a studio, especially if one takes a look at their past releases and future games. If you own a PSP, check out this trailer for one of their PSP Minis releases, an excellent little game called Rocket Racing:

While Rocket Racing hasn't been confirmed as one of the "heap" of games being created for the iPhone by the developer, it serves as a good example of their talent as a studio and their knack for creating high quality, smaller games.

In case you missed it, Hook Champ was listed amongst our list of best games of 2009.

In Hook Champ, you play as an Indiana Jones-like character equipped with a grappling hook trying to escape from various haunted ruins before you're eaten by a ghost. The core gameplay mechanic revolves around using your grappling hook and rope to swing through these ruins as quickly as possible.

Hook Champ's 3rd is almost complete, but Auwae provided details of the subsequent update. The 4th major update to Hook Champ will have a Minigore crossover in which you can play as John Gore in Hook Champ with a Minigore level set complete with gun. He describes it as a "Bionic Commando / Megaman style" gameplay within Hook Champ.

Meanwhile, the next game Rocketcat Games is going to set their sights on will be about trying to outrun an avalanche across a procedurally generated mountaintop. Terrains will include grassy plains, meadows, inside and outside of caves, as you try to escape the avalanche. The graphics will be upgraded from the 8-bit inspired Hook Champ graphics to a 16-bit inspired ("Super Mario") style. And don't worry — a Hook will be one of the tools at your disposal.

App Store Link: Hook Champ, $2.99

The new obstacles include a mangled billboards to run across, and a mysteriously massive object that rips apart an entire building which can be seen at the end of the above video. This new huge space-craft (if that is what it is) crashing in to your path has never failed at ending even my best runs since getting the update. If you haven't tried Canabalt yet, check out our review which features the full flash version of the game for you to try.

Touch Pets Dogs [Free] also has an update in the works that will be released very soon to add some holiday themed items as well as significantly changing the balancing of the food system.

Previously, Touch Pets worked a lot like an arcade game in that you needed to be constantly feeding small amounts of money in to it in order to play the game. With the food system retuned, players will get a full food bowl recharge every 15 minutes, putting the focus less on buying food to play the game and more on buying food if you want to trade food for in-game puppy bucks to outfit your dog faster. This aims at making the game play much more like Eliminate [Free] which recently saw energy recharge rates significantly reduced to facilitate similar "pay more if you really want to upgrade quickly" gameplay.

For players who have completed the main quest of Ravensword, two secret areas have been added for you to find and explore: The Forest of Lamneth and the Dungeon of Lamneth. Each area is host to an array of even tougher enemies, including the new "Uber Ogre" which is said to be on par with the "Mega Troll". The "Uber Ogre" is a level 60 baddie that gamers will likely have to put their heads together in the Ravensword thread to formulate a strategy to bring him down.

Additional magical items have been added such as a lightning rune which you can use to zap enemies and an Amulet of Mana which allows unlimited use of magical runes. The catch? It just so happens that the lightning rune was lost in the Forest of Lamneth somewhere and the previously mentioned "Uber Ogre" is wearing the Amulet of Mana.

Several bugs have been fixed, and in the gameplay tweaks department the tap to target distance has been increased and the swipe sensitivity has been turned up for quicker turning. Adventurers with a keen eye will find treasures hidden around the town area, and the price of the starting dagger has been decreased. Also, Ravensword 1.1 will include an option to flip the screen orientation.

As mentioned previously, the update has already been submitted to the Apple although it's hard to say how they will handle the approval process as we get closer and closer to the year-end holidays– But we can keep our fingers crossed it gets released soon.

App Store Link: Ravensword: The Fallen King, $6.99