With the recent release of the excellent Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes [$4.99] on the iOS App Store, my heart fluttered quite a bit when I saw a game called Lego Star Wars The Yoda Chronicles [Free] pop up in the list of new releases. Was this a similar mobile version of the console Lego Star Wars games that I loved so much all those years ago?

No. It's not that, sadly. Instead, The Yoda Chronicles is more of a free-to-play, social, extremely light real-time strategy/action game that takes place in the Lego Star Wars universe. It seems a bit flimsy so far, but it's also not completely terrible, to my surprise.

You'll start by picking a side, either as a Jedi fighting for Yoda or a Sith fighting for Dooku, and then embark on a series of missions based on your choice. Missions take place in tiny environments from a sort of top-down view using a simple one-tap system to move your characters and vehicles around and interact with the environment.

The missions seem pretty straightforward, and involve things like killing certain enemies, collecting a specific item, and making it to an endpoint in the level. There's a 3-star grading system based on the missions you're able to complete and how quickly you're able to complete them. You can also collect studs by destroying enemies or items and then use them to build different kinds of vehicles at certain points in the level.

The missions may be standard fare type stuff, but they're bolstered by excellent CGI cutscenes in-between that tell the story of the struggles between the Jedi and the Sith. The Yoda Chronicles also has lovely 3D visuals and stellar music and sound effect, all straight from the Star Wars films and shows, naturally.

I was initially disappointed that we weren't getting the full-blown Lego Star Wars games from consoles, and I still am actually, but Lego Star Wars The Yoda Chronicles seems neat for what it is. I mean, it's free to download and there isn't a single in-app purchase in sight, so you've really got nothing to lose if you're a Star Wars fan looking for something new on your iOS device to occupy your time.

You can also play The Yoda Chronicles on the official Lego Star Wars website after May 4th ("May the 4th Be With You," get it?) and if you log in with your Lego ID you can even keep your progress up-to-date between the iOS and web versions as well as unlock special bonuses for doing so. Finally, later this summer when the game hits Android a new batch of levels will be released doubling the current amount of levels.

Rockstar Games brought a surprisingly playable touchscreen port of their classic Grand Theft Auto: Vice City [$4.99] to the App Store back in December, and for the first time since release they've dropped the price of the game from $4.99 down to just $1.99.

Vice City is the second iteration of the fully 3D, open-world sandbox GTA games and was released way back in 2002. It goes hard with its 1980s, neon, Scarface-meets-Miami Vice theme and follows your protagonist as he starts out as a low-level thug and works his way into the crime boss of Vice City.

For its 10th anniversary Vice City was released on iOS with some cleaned up visuals and some subtle tweaks to certain missions and difficulty levels. While the original Vice City is designed for the many buttons of modern gaming controllers, the virtual buttons actually work surprisingly well on iOS and we really enjoyed the touchscreen conversion in our review.

If you're a GTA fan that for whatever reason hasn't picked up Vice City for your iOS device yet, then now is your chance to grab it for more than half-off. It's fun for what it is, and it's kind of a miracle a game like Vice City can be carried around in your pocket nowadays. As always, more information and discussion of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City can be found in our forums.

If you spin the clocks back to GDC (which feels like ages ago even though it totally wasn't), we actually had our pepperoni-greased hands all over Gamevil's Dark Avenger which is due out this evening at 11:00 PM Eastern, or potentially way earlier if you're in Europe or Asia. We took some extensive hands-on video of the game, which still feels representative of the release version of the game:

In a nutshell, Dark Avenger is another crack at a mobile version of Diablo. They were beaten to the App Store by Gameloft's recently released Dungeon Hunter 4 [Free] and I'm super curious to see which will end up being the champion of this proverbial dungeon crawling cage match.

Impressions on our forums generally seem to be positive, although multiple members have mentioned that the game feels a little flat. That echoes my experiences as well, although admittedly I'm very curious to see if/when the game opens up at all to anything more than mindless monster mashing.

International App Store Link: Dark Avenger, Free

It's been almost a year since last we saw an iOS port of the successful LEGO series. While we've yet to see the likes of LEGO Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean grace Apple's platform, the folks at Warner Bros saw fit to show some DC universe love with LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes [$4.99]. Hampered only by spotty controls, DC Super Heroes is an otherwise great port bringing a fresh coat of paint to the classic LEGO gameplay formula.

Unlike the previous LEGO ports we've seen, DC Super Heroes actually features an original narrative within the DC comic universe. While the game focuses at the onset on the escapes of Batman and Robin (along with the usual villains) other heroes, such as the iconic Superman, get weaved into tale. Of course, being a LEGO game, players eventually have the option of playing as a wide variety of DC icons, with over 80 playable characters (along with create-a-character minifigs) available for the unlocking.

Gameplay, meanwhile, is pretty familiar if you've played any other LEGO games. Like others in the series, DC Super Heroes combines platforming, puzzles, and decent amount of brawling. In addition, there's also ample opportunity to collect studs, which are used to unlock the myriad of characters and extras available. While DC Super Heroes does offer a few new twists, such as some additional depth with the various Batman and Robin suits that expand powers, gameplay largely remains unchanged and fairly linear. That's not to say it's a bad thing, as LEGO games have typically been highly approachable while offering tons to do. DC Super Heroes certainly doesn't disappoint in this regard.

Another new addition to the iOS LEGO ports is the inclusion of Golden Bricks, which can be purchased via IAPs. While the game's additional characters and extras can still be unlocked with enough studs, progression, and collectibles, golden bricks can be used to sidestep a lot of the stud grinding and unlock items a lot faster. In this regard, I didn't really mind the IAP as most LEGO games are a bit too grindy for my tastes and golden bricks could be used to speed up some actions of the game.

Maybe it's due to the freedom of an original story or because the universe history is so deep, but I really enjoyed DC Super Heroes from a thematic standpoint. From the onset, you're treated to the epic tunes of the Danny Elfman Batman theme and the game is full of little nods to various facets of the DC Universe. In addition, the large swatch of playable characters means fans should have plenty of options in playing their favorite characters (assuming said characters have the necessary super powers to pass the level). The fact that the game features full voice acting (a first for iOS) also goes a long way towards making the story more enjoyable.

Spotty controls have been an issue with LEGO iOS ports in the past, and unfortunately they continue with DC Super Heroes. Previous LEGO games offered players either virtual buttons or touch-based movements. While DC Super Heroes is the first port to offer players both options, I still had some problems with both. The touch-based scheme is the more intuitive of the two options, but there's a tendency to tap errantly on enemies/environmental items on the smaller iPhone screen (although it works better on the iPad). Virtual controls, meanwhile, work as mediocre as one would expect. That's not to say the game isn't playable, but it's definitely the weak link for the game.

Control issues aside, DC Super Heroes is a welcome addition to the few LEGO games currently on iOS. In fact, I'd say it's the better LEGO game currently on the App Store considering the wider appeal of the story combined with the decent visuals, awesome music, and familiar LEGO gameplay. Suffice to say, LEGO fans have little reason not to check out DC Super Heroes, while anyone else interested in a light-hearted adventure should take the plunge.

If your haven't seen Crabitron [$2.99 (HD)] in action, you owe it to yourself to check out this TA Plays. Two Lives Left's Crabitron is fast, funny, endless but kept remarkably fresh with boss fights and classic game parodies, and has spot-on controls that make it one of the most iPad-native games I've played.

In hindsight, a game that takes advantage of the multi-touch screen by asking you to use your fingertips like chopsticks makes perfect sense, and the kaiju (giant monster) theme really suits that mechanic. If the original Rampage captured something about the potential (and limitations) of the arcade technology of it's day, Crabitron does the same thing for the iPad, very much including the Mini.

It also, and seemingly unintentionally, sports really good single-device cooperative play.

Most of the games that offer single-device multiplayer on the iPad are turn based. There are a few with simultaneous competitive play, like Shufflepuck Cantina [Free / $2.99] and the HD version of Fruit Ninja [$2.99 (HD)], but only where the controls can be kept to separate parts of the screen, to avoid input confusion.

By default, one of the challenges of playing Crabitron is trying to use both claws effectively at the same time. It's hard to do anything fancier than having one claw mirror the other. But share your tablet with a friend, and the challenges change. Now you can each focus on your own claw, but you have to worry about what that other claw is doing. This can lead to almost Spaceteam [Free] levels of confused shouting. Even the fact that the claws can get tangled due to input confusion if they're pressed together feels more like a feature than a flaw.

Perhaps best of all, players of widely varying skill can play together. This is the only videogame I've found that I can play with my toddler without one of us quickly getting frustrated or bored. It's amazing, really. So far, my high score for the game is from a run I started with him, played a little by myself, continued with my spouse, and then finished alone.

The biggest problem with Crabitron's co-op potential is that it doesn't mesh well with the game's coin-based upgrade system. You can upgrade each arm separately, but upgrades are costly, permanent, and irreversible. Thankfully, there's no IAP grubbing: you can buy a coin doubler or a tripler, that's it.

It feels like he devs were preparing for the possibility of needing to release Crabitron as a freemium game, but took the risk of charging Happy Meal prices instead, something they deserve credit for.

Regardless, it would be a lot more fun (especially in co-op mode) if you could choose different claws or abilities for each game. Fixed-upgrade systems, with their roots in RPG character customization, tend to feel really player-specific.

To be fair, I don't think I'm playing Crabitron "as intended," it just happens to be a heck of a lot of fun this way, a bit like the tricycle that became cooler when you figured out you could ride it backwards downhill. Just don't hold Two Lives Left responsible if you injure yourself. Whether or not you've got a friend (or toddler) to play Crabitron with in this unintentional co-op mode, you really need to check the game out as Crabitron is a perfect example of how to intelligently craft a game for the iPad that really could only exist on the iPad.

If you're a longtime iOS gamer then you probably remember Lego Batman: Gotham City Games, the first Lego Batman game to grace the App Store. You also probably remember that it was an uninspired collection of mini-games that was a far cry in terms of enjoyment from its console counterpart. These are painful memories.

Well, it's been more than four years but perhaps there's finally a chance for redemption with Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes, set to hit the App Store in the US in just a few hours. We'll be looking forward to checking it out then, but even already you can tell that this is a far cry from that other Lego Batman game.

First off, this is a full 3D action title, similar to the console Lego games and even Lego Harry Potter [$4.99] on iOS. You'll run around doing 3D platforming and light puzzle solving, all the while beating up on both bad guys and objects and then collecting the sweet, sweet Lego studs that are left behind, which are then used to buy different characters and other goodies. Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes boasts an 80 character roster, and not surprisingly it looks like you can buy studs as IAP if you desire.

Controls are also always a concern with a game like this, and Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes offers two different options. First is your standard "Classic" virtual stick and buttons setup, and second is a streamlined "Touch Screen" option which simply has you touching where you want the character to go and tapping items to interact with them.

If you liked the iOS versions of Lego Harry Potter then chances are you'll dig this latest Lego Batman incarnation, as it seems to be in the same vein. Or, if you just like Batman and other DC heroes, you'll probably get a kick out of it too. Add it to your TouchArcade [Free] app Watch List to be alerted when it hits the US later tonight, and check out our forums for even more impressions and discussion.

International App Store Link: LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes, $4.99 (Universal)

In late February Angry Mob Games, creators of Muffin Knight [$0.99 / Free] and Guerrilla Bob [$0.99 / $2.99 (HD)] on iOS, released a new 3rd-person action game in the Aliens vs. Predator crossover universe titled AVP: Evolution [$0.99]. In fact, Angry Mob had already proven their merit in working with this kind of IP with their previous dual-stick game Predators [$0.99], which was actually quite good.

Graphically, AVP: Evolution is very impressive, and it lets you battle through its campaign as either an Alien or a Predator. At first blush, though, it felt like nothing more than a mindless, button-mashing brawler. In some ways it actually is, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. However, put a little time into learning the mechanics and there's actually a very satisfying game here, and it's one that players in our forums have been enjoying a ton since its release.

Yesterday Angry Mob pushed out the latest update to AVP: Evolution and it's a doozy. Two new playable characters have been added, the Berserker Alien and the Chopper Predator, and each come with their own unique new abilities. There are some new missions to play through and secret areas to discover throughout the game's campaign. Oh, and the Predator has gotten a couple of new weapons to add to his arsenal: a Shuriken and a Plasma Railgun.

Additionally, the combat camera has been improved, following up on some tweaks made to the camera and combat mechanics in the previous update. Difficulty has been adjusted as well, along with performance improvements so the game runs more smoothly on all the various supported iOS devices.

AVP: Evolution opens up as a pretty awesome action game once you've spent some time learning the ropes, and especially if you're already an Alien or Predator fanatic. This new update keeps the good times rolling, so be sure to check it out.

Pocket Frogs [Free], Tiny Tower [Free], Pocket Planes [Free]… Nimblebit’s gotten pretty good at keeping us enraptured on our devices with cute graphics and pixelated timers. With Nimble Quest [$0.99], the team takes a turn towards improving upon and deepening a classic arcade experience. Less of a time-management title and more of an action-oriented experience Nimble Quest is an excellent title that continues the trend of high quality games coming out of Nimblebit.

The best way to describe Nimble Quest is like a game of Snake, except way better (to paraphrase the title of our TA Plays). Similar to what Call of Snakes [$0.99] did last year, Nimble Quest takes the simplicity of Snake's mechanics and adds layers of variety to turn it into something more. The game centers around guiding a group of heroes around a bordered plane with simple swiping controls turning your heroes left or right. Movement and attacks are both on auto-pilot and the goal is to dispatch enemies that randomly appear in the environment. Take out a certain number of baddies, and you move on to the next level.

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Remember that tech-demo-y not-quite-a-game game Aves (Which has since been removed from the App Store) released in late 2009? It was a game with (then) great graphics, a really cool physics model, and a ultra-basic gameplay mechanic that just centralized around shooting a bow and arrow. Well, The Legend of Holy Archer [Free] takes that similar vibe and just runs with it, and keeps running, all the way to super-epic archery land where you're put to the task of firing arrows at huge monsters in several fantasy environments.

Despite definitely being an archery game, The Legend of Holy Archer almost feels more like a flying game. See, when you fire off your arrow, you can actually swipe around on screen to control its flight path. Monsters rarely (if ever) are a simple straight shot from where you're standing, so you'll usually need to bank around columns, avoid hills, and other terrain to hit your mark.

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Being a stealth assassin sounds like the coolest job ever. Hunkering down in the shadows, sneaking up on your target, and quietly handling your business – all without making a peep or being noticed by anyone. While it sounds cool on paper, I could never actually handle being an assassin in real life. I feel bad even swatting a fly, and I'm clumsy as all get-out. I wouldn't last a second.

Recreating the feeling of being a bad ass assassin through video games is something I'm capable of, though, and series like Metal Gear and Splinter Cell have done a good job over the years at putting players in those shoes. So when I saw an iOS game simply titled Stealth Assassin [$0.99 / Free], where all you do is sneak around and take out marks, I got excited.

And it delivers everything it promises in its name: level after level of assassination jobs, but an inaccurate control scheme has had me pulling my hair out in frustration, not to mention getting myself constantly killed, in what is an otherwise fun game about covert killing.

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While I'm not sure the opinion of our forums could be more split on how our community feels about Halfbrick's recently released Fish Out of Water [$0.99] one thing is for sure: We're absolutely stomping the in-game leaderboards. See, the way competing with others works in the game is by joining a "league" which then competes in some kind of cumulative score black majiks to compute an overall leaderboard.

The "TouchArcade" league was full by the time the game hit the US App Store, but it seems people have taken it upon themselves to just increment the number behind "TouchArcade," forming leagues "TouchArcade1," "TouchArcade2," and others... And we're doing quite well it'd seem, per Halfbrick's twitter:

I feel like we need to somehow intelligently re-organize our existing leagues to either put all the best players in one, or, at least equally distribute them across multiple leagues to ensure total leaderboard domination. But, hey, we're beating Halfbrick proper, Reddit, Bacon, and apparently the entirety of the People's Republic of China... So I guess that's pretty good.

Keep up the good work, everyone!

The Brothers Marsh at NimbleBit (and honorary Marsh brother Tim, I suppose) just released the first content update to Nimble Quest [$0.99] which we first posted about a little over a week ago. There's a new hero to unlock in the game now, who goes by the name of "Bolas." He's available as the reward for clearing the "Dungeon 2" level. Alternatively, you could just flip out the two bucks for the IAP.

Bolas is a "elemental monk from the eastern planes." His attacks are a spinning disc with an area effect explosion attached to them. You know how hard Gizmo rocks? Imagine that, but magical. Here's a video of Bolas in action:

If you haven't tried NimbleQuest, now is a fantastic time to get on board. The game has basically become The Official Toilet Game of my household, which is basically on par with seeing that Nintendo Seal of Approval stamp on the box of NES games back in the day.

If there ever was a series that could pose as a case study in the general shift to freemium in iOS gaming, Gameloft's Dungeon Hunter would be at the top of the list. The first two games operated as full-featured Diablo style clones with everything you'd want in a dungeon crawler. The third made a dramatic leap into the freemium sphere by going away from its dungeon crawling roots with arena-style gameplay, very little narrative, and plenty of IAP.

Dungeon Hunter 4 [Free] looks to bring some balance back to the series with the return of an actual story and a greater emphasis on traditional dungeon crawling. For the most part, the game actually succeeds in this regard, with a legitimate story, plenty of gameplay and options and beautiful visuals to boot.  While the game certainly brings back some of what we loved in the first two titles, the 'in-your-face' IAP and other freemium elements leave a wistful feeling in your mouth.

After mysteriously waking up in the middle of a demonic invasion of your kingdom. Dungeon Hunter 4 puts you in the role of one of four heroes mysteriously imbued with power and charged as last hope of the kingdom of Valenthia. As the kingdom's savior you'll journey from region to region taking on standard story-based dungeon crawling quests coupled with a decent amount of side quests that provide supplemental awards. I didn't find the story to be particularly enthralling but it is a full-featured narrative and provides a far better experience than the previous Dungeon Hunter.

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Gameloft just sent a raven our way with the new Iron Man 3 - The Official Game trailer attached, and so far, I'm really digging what they're showing. Gameloft might even be escaping the dreaded curse of the movie game by releasing a simple-ish game that just seems to fit with the IP instead of, well, Iron Man 2 [$6.99] which didn't really do much for me.

As you can see from the trailer, the approach they're taking with Iron Man 3 is more of an endless runner in the sky kind of thing. The marketing materials mention it being free to play, with suit upgrades and other things which I'm betting are all going to fit right in to that Temple Run-style power-up purchasing mechanic we're all ridiculously familiar with by now.

Iron Man 3 should be available with the onslaught of other games next Wednesday. If you want to be alerted when it hits, be sure to add the game to your watch list in the TouchArcade app [Free].

If you stuck a thermometer in the proverbial mouth of our forums, you'd find them totally afflicted to Kemco fever. Symphony of the Origin [$10.99] was just released a couple weeks ago, followed by another rapid fire release of Silver Nornir [$8.99] today. Both games are the kind of things we joke about on the podcast in that they're basically "Fantasy Game: Fantasy of The Fantasy" but if you're the kind of dude who shoots for the whole tens of hours of gameplay, massive character progression, and just generally saving the world from the ultimate evil over the simpler pick up and play offerings of the App Store, Kemco games are for you.

In this particular game, the world has actually been destroyed by evil twice already, so, third time's the charm, I suppose? Regardless, Silver Nornir seems to be a game of huge battles, an even huge-er game world, and almost Chrono Trigger-sounding combo moves with other characters in battle. Like other Kemco games, there's a small amount of IAP, but they're typically balanced in a way that makes them feel more like optional cheats than required purchases.