Dungeon crawler fans that like to equip an iPhone or iPod touch when it comes time to hew a row of ogre necks are in for a real treat in a coming iPhone remake of a true classic of the genre. Jeff McCord at age 17 originally wrote Sword of Fargoal for the Commodore PET — in BASIC — in 1980. Two years later he teamed up with Epyx and released the game commercially for the VIC 20 (still in BASIC). The following year, Jeff and friends brought the game to the newly-released Commodore 64, and the rest is history.

Sword of Fargoal is one of the best loved roguelike games ever to light up a CRT. In its 1996 anniversary issue, Computer Gaming World listed the game as #147 in the "Top 150 Best Video Games of All Time." It has been inspiration for many dungeon crawlers created since, and has itself been remade for various platforms.

In a nutshell, the game places the player within the top level of a deep series of dungeons with the quest of seeking out the legendary "Sword of Fargoal" and escaping with it from the depths of said dungeons. Complicating matters is the fact that the layout of each dungeon level is randomly generated when the player enters it, and that the dungeons are all initially bathed in darkness, revealing themselves only as the player explores. Those lucky enough to locate the sword have only 2,000 seconds to find their way out of the dungeons which, even on the way up, are randomly generated…. Not a proposition for the meek.

Along the way, the player encounters a vast array of enemies, both human and not-so-human. Battling these enemies, the player builds experience points which allow the character to level, increasing his fighting abilities and hit points. As well, various spells can be found throughout the dungeons that aid the player in completing his quest: Invisibility, Drift, Light, Regeneration, Teleport, and Shield.

Now, the astute reader might be asking themselves just how well a game written almost 30 years ago in BASIC for a 1MHz, 50 lb computer suits the iPhone. The answer is, in fact: quite well. As the game moved from PET to VIC 20 to C64 to PC it has certainly evolved graphically, but never moreso than in its latest jump to the iPhone. Jeff and his partner in this effort Paul Pridham (who brought us Saucelifter) have done an excellent job with this remake.

But, really, what makes the game so well suited for the iPhone is its casual nature as compared to the typical roguelike. And that's not to say the game is shallow or light on dungeon crawling action, but rather I feel it's simply a bit more accessible to the typical gamer than, say, Nethack, Moria, or Rogue thanks to an economy of controls, spells, and the like. Those who've never played a dungeon crawler before might just find themselves drawn in to Sword of Fargoal.

Have a look at the developers' trailer video for a glimpse of the action.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Sword of Fargoal will be submitted to the App Store sometime next week and should go live in early to mid December at a one-week introductory price of $2.99 (regular $4.99). After the game goes live, the developers plan to release a series of free, episodic updates that will introduce new game elements, level types, and the like. Additionally, new graphical tile sets will eventually be made available as in-app purchases for those wanting to apply a whole new look to the game.

I've enjoyed recent dialog with both Jeff and Paul as they've introduced me to their upcoming iPhone title and we plan to post an in-depth interview with the developers in the next week that takes a closer look at the game's history, the iPhone remake, and iPhone development in general. Accompanying the interview will be a detailed gameplay video that should give prospective buyers a solid look at Sword of Fargoal for the iPhone.

Hook Champ is a game that takes the swinging mechanic which has been amazingly popular both in Rope 'n' Fly and its sequel as well as the recently released Rope Raider. The game has wonderful pixel art retro graphics, and feels more like an Indiana Jones game than the actual Indiana Jones NES game.

Using your trusty rope and grappling hook you swing through a series of caves trying to make it out alive with the idol you stole before the evil (and hungry) ghost that is constantly chasing you catches up and eats you. Everything in the game is upgradeable via an in-game shop where you spend the gold coins you pick up, and each level has its own online leaderboard with additional in-game perks if you rank high enough such as a crown for your guy to wear if you're #1.

The impending update is going to have even more hats for you to buy, along with full OpenFeint support. Along with OpenFeint comes loads of achievements that range from things like beating levels to killing 40 bats in a single level. Aside from the current in-game leaderboards, there will also be a myriad of OpenFeint powered leaderboards including an overall leaderboard to see who the true king of Hook Champ is. Also, you will be able to challenge friends to compete against your performance in any level in the game.

If you felt Hook Champ did a poor job at representing female grappling hook spelunkers, you'll be happy to find out that Gunny, the girl who hauls you up at the end of each level will be a playable character in the new update. Not only that, there's an entire new level set. The rat series of levels is all about doing things at blisteringly fast speeds. There's even a new ghost that chases you that's shaped like a rat skull that moves even quicker than before.

Hook Champ was a great game, even before this update was announced. Rockcat Games' commitment to adding additional content and features for fans of the game goes even further to seal the deal. If you haven't yet played Hook Champ, I highly recommend downloading the free lite version.

App Store Link: Hook Champ, $2.99 – Hook Champ LITE, Free

The Isle of 8-bit Treasures is more or less Rogue, wrapped up and packaged with a retro look and feel that seems more at home on an NES than an iPhone. But whereas Rogue is entirely set in a dungeon world, The Isle features a number of environments to play through, including dungeons, caverns, forests and ruins, across more than 60 missions. It has a feel that's somewhat reminiscent of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.

The game lets you choose between three different characters — Swordsman, Witch and Hunter, each with their own gameplay characteristics. Different areas of the island game world are accessed from a central map, some areas and weapons of which are randomly generated using songs in your iTunes library as seeds. The various play areas are full of roving creatures with which you must do battle, and three different types of objects — stones, powders and crystals — that can be collected to enhance your capabilities.  Each game area is completed when the heart shaped Valor icon is collected from the area's final floor.

The Isle brings an interesting twist on the weapons systems of most games of its sort. To the right of the on-screen play area is your vertical Weapon Reel. The Reel contains a light smattering of power icons by default and scrolls downward with each attack you perform. If a power icon appears in the window at the bottom of the Reel during an attack, your weapon delivers more damage than normal. Crystals collected along the way can be dragged onto your Weapon Reel to deliver a series of high-damage attacks in battle.

The game features colorful, whimsical, retro-inspired graphics and feels very smooth to play.  But don't let the graphics fool you, this is a rather difficult / challenging game.  Many's the time I've found myself slaughtered by a cartoonish enemy after just a few minutes of play. And while this presents a notable challenge, some readers in our forums lament the small number of floors in some of the levels (some just 3 or 4 deep), as compared to Rogue's far deeper dungeons. More troublesome, perhaps, is the lack of a mid-dungeon save feature. Tap out to the home screen or get on a phone call and it's back to the island map.  Hopefully Tecmo will address this unfortunate omission in a future update.

Despite its shortcomings, early adopters are enjoying it on the whole. The Isle of 8-bit Treasures is an interesting new take on a solid formula and should appeal to many iPhone adventure fans. Let's hope an update will make things less frustrating for an interrupted gamer.

See our brief video of very early stages of several game areas to get a feel for the game.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

App Store Link: The Isle of 8-bit Treasures, $4.99

RetroVenture has released a port of the old 1982 Apple II game Transylvania. Originally developer by Antonio Antiochia, RetroVenture has collaborated with the original author to bring this classic game to the iPhone.

In Fall 2009, Roe Mobile Development will release Transylvania for the iPhone. Transylvania is an adventure game that was originally released for the Apple ][ in 1982. Back then it was quite successful and spawned two sequels (Crimson Crown and Vanquish the Night: Return to Transylvania). The iPhone version is a joint work between Kenneth Roe and Antonio Antiochia who is the original author. The iPhone version will add a new touch interface and sounds.

If you ever played the original version, here's your chance to get it again for free. Even if you miss the Halloween sale, the game will be available for only $0.99.

App Store Link: Transylvania Adventure, Free (Halloween)

The game offers 27 puzzle rooms throughout which you unravel the mysterious storyline. You play the role of F8, a robot with amnesia who must figure out what's going on. Touch controls offer the ability to interact with your environment and you must perform tasks in the correct order into order to solve each room. The game as been relatively well received in our forums with mostly positive experiences.

The only real criticism for some has been the relatively short length and ease of difficulty of the game, though it appears to be a good time during. Here's some of the Lite gameplay recorded by AppBank.

Two things, however, may convince you to give the game a shot. First, EA offers a free Lite version that gives you a taste of the game, and second, they have temporarily dropped the price of the game from $3.99 to $1.99 for the next 24 hours.

App Store Link: Mystery Mania FREE, Free, Mystery Mania, $3.99

Originally released for the Amiga and DOS in 1994, Beneath a Steel Sky is a graphical adventure set in Australia in a dystopian future. The original game received very high praise at the time of its release and is widely considered to be one of the best adventure games ever created.

The iPhone port of the game has since received rave reviews in our forums. Unlike, LucasArts' Secret of Monkey Island, Beneath a Steel Sky has not been completely re-rendered for the iPhone version, but that's not to say it doesn't have its share of notable improvements.

The iPhone game offers new animated cut scenes, re-sampled voice work and higher quality music. As well, an extensive hint system that will prevent you from getting stuck. Most importantly is that the traditional point-and-click interface has been revamped to the iPhone's touch screen. Rather than controlling a virtual pointer, you can touch and drag your finger across the screen. Items of interest light up with a small blue circle. Tapping on that circle then brings up contextual icons that let you act on that item. An eye, for example. lets you look at the item, while gears allow you to manipulate an item. Meanwhile, inventory items can simply be dragged over to items of interest to activate them. In this regard, the game is a notable improvement over Secret of Monkey Island, and plays much more like a natural iPhone game.

We've recorded some of the animated intro scene as well as basic gameplay elements in this video:

The game's story and dialog remains enjoyable and immersive and the iPhone port does justice to the classic title. While the PC version game has been available for free over the years, the iPhone version is a worthy conversion for fans and newcomers to the series.

App Store Link: Beneath a Steel Sky, $4.99

Back in July we reported that Revolution Software would be bringing its cult-classic graphic adventure Beneath a Steel Sky to the iPhone through its newly formed mobile group.  We're happy to report that the game is now available for download in the App Store [link].

Originally released for the Amiga and DOS in 1994, Beneath a Steel Sky is a sprawling graphical adventure set in Australia in a dystopian future. The story goes like this: the protagonist, Robert, crashed in the Outback as a child and was raised by a group of natives. After growing into an adult, storm-troopers sent from Union City by its all-powerful computer, LINC, kidnap Robert and kill his tribe. After entering the city dome, the helicopter transporting him crashes and he escapes into the city with his robot companion, Joey. Robert's mission is to find out why he was wanted and what to do next.

The game, which is notable for its excellent illustrations, drawn by famed comic artist Dave Gibbons, received very high praise at the time of its release and is widely considered to be one of the best adventure games ever created.  PC Gamer gave it 91% and called it "a must-buy for all serious adventure fans."  CU Amiga gave it 95%, calling it "one of the greatest adventures ever," while Simon Byron of The One gave it a 93%, saying, "I could sum this game in one word: Superb."

The iPhone adaptation, which has been ported to the ScummVM engine, uses touchscreen controls and dispenses with the on-screen pointer typical of Scumm games and, instead, uses blue dots to highlight points of interest.  The game's artwork has been enhanced with the iPhone release, which also features a high quality soundtrack and a new, integrated hint system.

See a video of the original version to get a feel for the game.

See the original game's five-minute intro video here.  Those wanting to try before they buy can have a look at the 2003 shareware release, playable on most major platforms.

App Store Link: Beneath a Steel Sky, $4.99

Cyan Worlds recently released a free version of Myst that will allow you to relive some of the 1993 classic adventure game. While technologically rather simple from today's standpoint (mostly static images), the game's graphics and soundtrack were remarkably immersive. The game starts you on a strange island where you must explore your surroundings, solve puzzles and figure out the backstory.

The free version of Myst allows you to explore Myst island while the full has 5 additional ages to explore. Removing that additional content shrinks it down to 124MB, so still a sizable download. Meanwhile, the full version has dropped $1 to $4.99.

If you've never experienced Myst, here's your chance.

App Store Link: Myst Free, Free – Myst, $4.99

Much to my amazement, the game is actually a lot of fun and seems slightly reminiscent of 16 bit side scrolling gore-fests like the Splatterhouse series. Of course, like all movie games, iZombieland attempts to introduce the plot of the movie in to the game, but these giant blocks of scrolling text add very little and are easily skippable to get to the next level with even more zombies to mow down with the various weapons at your disposal.

iZombieland is controlled with a set of virtual buttons on each side of the screen. Instead of any kind of D-Pad, the right and left side each have their own corresponding buttons to shoot, move, or kick in that direction. When zombies are in range to shoot, targeting reticules appear on the available targets. If a zombie is too close, you won't be able to shoot its head off. In that case, kicking usually pushes them away enough to get a headshot.

If a zombie grabs you, a button will appear along the bottom of the screen that can be tapped to break free. As you kill zombies, a meter slowly fills that allows you to unleash a devastating attack that can clear the entire screen of zombies.

A variety of ranged and melee weapons are included in the game. Ammo is plentiful and is found in barrels and crates that can be broken open along with health packs and other weapons. The one slightly irritating side to iZombieville combat is dealing with melee weapon durability. There are few things more awesome than cutting down entire zombie armies with a chainsaw in each hand, but that fun quickly comes to an end as your chainsaw's durability runs low.

To replenish your weapon's durability, you have to break open crates and barrels to find another one. This can sometimes lead to annoying situations where you need to replay levels because you burnt through your melee weaponry too quickly and eventually come across a room that is too tight to use your guns because you will be mobbed by zombies before you have time to reload.

Here is a video of the most awesome weapons in the game, the dual chainsaws. The percentage that is constantly decreasing is the durability of my chainsaws, so you can see how fast it decreases:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

If you like killing zombies and having the screen of your iPhone filled with zombie blood, chances are you will enjoy iZombieland. The game doesn't feel like it's trying to cash in on the movie, and actually could stand alone as a fun sidescroller if you removed the Zombieland references.

App Store Link: iZombieland, $3.99

Pixel Mine Games has released the Chapter 2 update for their action RPG Underworlds [$2.99]. Chapter 2 adds more than 2.5x the content that was in the launch version of Underworlds. Features include:

• Visit a new city
• Level cap raised to 50
• Repeatable dungeons
• Thousands of new items
• New quests and creatures
• Revamped Interface
• Quest Log
• Mini-Map
• World Wide Agon Rankings with Facebook and Twitter support.

One area of major improvement in the game is an interface overhaul which improves the screen layout and character controls. While we very much enjoyed the first version of Underworlds, the new features seem to address any complaints we had.

This video walks through the many interface changes in Underworlds:

The Chapter 2 is a free update to existing Underworlds customers, and the full game is available for $2.99.

App Store Link: Underworlds, $2.99