The game begins with you manning a simple, somewhat slow fixed wing aircraft, capable of firing only a single machine gun. Round to round you are presented with additional and varied enemy types to take down, each with their own attacking style, agility and armor. Through use of a virtual analog stick you control only the pitch of your plan, able to send it into loop-the-loops and other complex maneuvers as you wrestle for the most advantageous position in which to fire. You unleash your bullets by tapping on the right-hand side of the screen.

These straight-forward controls complement the frantic nature of the game; a fact that ramps up in no time as you find yourself facing an overwhelming number of enemy combatants, particularly in the latter rounds of each level. In order to master MiniSquadron, you have to become intimately familiar with your plane’s speed, turning circle and weapon of choice, as you’ll find yourself dodging a hail of fire from tens of other planes almost simultaneously while trying to whittle them down one-by-one. The combat really is MiniSquadron’s high water mark; an all-out romp that action fans should warm to  immediately.

MiniSquadron rewards your progress and feats with plane unlocks; each plane different to the next, with its own speed, armor and turning attributes. Additionally, planes that you unlock will possess one of several weapons, which start off as just additional guns, but later take the form of the cluster bomb for example, requiring a completely new approach to your aerial acrobatics to get the most out of. A range of in-game power-ups also bolster your arsenal, with quick burst omnipotent weaponry such as the Big Laser providing some of the more memorable experiences, in a throwback to the over-the-top Street Fighter super attacks.

The game is presented in its own charming, cartoony fashion, with smoke trails, weapons and plane damage effects looking particularly terrific. The variety (and eccentricity) of planes to unlock is impressive; with panda-faced planes to UFOs being awarded for completing certain requirements each level.

The 8 worlds to tackle are each accompanied by well-recognised classical compositions. Unfortunately, the current version does not support use of your own music; so if you do have something against classical music you’re out of luck until the developer pushes through an update- something that is being looked into according to posts on our discussion forum.

MiniSquadron also offers local WiFi play, which whilst a nice addition, seems a little out of place for a game that shines far more when heavily populated by combatants. If you can manage to get a few friends together though, there’s no doubt that there is a heap of competitive fun to be had here. MiniSquadron does seem far more suited to online play however, and its absence is notable seeing as how that was the hallmark of games on which it is based.

All in all however, MiniSquadron can be thoroughly recommended both to those who wish to take a trip down memory lane and to those who are new to the 2D dog-fighting genre. It is a well-rounded package that can be breezed through in a couple of hours, but offers you replayability as you unlock and learn to master the many different planes composing your sizable squadron. The game is also seeing overwhelmingly positive impressions in from our discussion forums.

AppStore Link: MiniSquadron, $2.99

Those eagerly awaiting the 2D Mini Squadron shooter we profiled back in September will be pleased to find the game has arrived. The developer described his motivation was to bring a "high quality, frenetic shoot-em-up to the iPhone, taking inspiration from old-skool games".

Mini Squadron offers an arcade style 2D shooter with a progressively difficult 8 levels with multiple stages in each. There are 50 progressively unlockable aircraft with different stats, handling and weapons to use throughout the game. Other features from the developer include:

• Over 50 planes to unlock and collect for your mini squadron.
• 8 Levels of intense combat each containing multiple levels of enemies to shoot down
• 7 different types of weapon to use including Homing Missile, Drop Bomb, Laser and BIG Laser!
• Ducks, Seagulls, UFOs, Devil Planes, Propellor Planes, Squids – you can shoot all these things and more!
• Simple yet fluid gameplay systems based on physics, you can stall if going too slow and also gain supersonic speed by diving fast towards the Earth for a competitve advantage.
• More than 8 different pick-ups to boost your plane.
• Local WiFi Multiplayer – challenge your friends to a one-on-one dogfight to the death!

Full review to come. First impressions are being reported in our forums.

App Store Link: MiniSquadron, $2.99

Your mission: Use the Force to overthrow the evil Galactic Empire as they attempt to destroy the small rebel base on the jungle moon of Yavin 4. As part of the Rebel Allianceʼs Red Squadron, you dogfight with TIE fighters above the Death Starʼs surface before heading into a trench where you are inundated by cannon fire. Dodge obstacles and stay out of Darth Vaderʼs sights as he tries to gun you down before you have the chance to fire your proton torpedoes into the thermal exhaust port the size of a womp rat. If successful, a direct hit will cause a chain reaction that destroys the Death Star, thus saving the Rebel base from impending doom.

For anyone who has seen the movie, the plot is laid out for you: combat some Tie fighters, navigate the trench while avoiding obstacles and taking out turrets, avoid Darth Vader's attack from behind and finally shoot your proton torpedoes into the exhaust port.

The only tie-in with the Force is the ability to slow-down time by pressing on the left side of the screen which slows the action down. Right side of the screen fires your lasers while a top left button alternates your cockpit or exterior view. The game comes with Mission and Arcade modes. Mission mode takes you through the above objectives in sequential order while Arcade focuses on two areas (Trench Run and Dogfighting) that you play over and over in increasingly difficult levels.

Overall, the game feels like a series of mediocre mini-games tied together by scenes from the original movie. While there are multiple difficulty levels, none of the individual gaming components were particularly compelling, so once we had made it through the campaign mode on easy (a 10-20 minute endeavor), we weren't sure what there was left to do. The endless arcade mode does offer some added distraction, but quickly grows old as you realize you are just playing those same levels at increasing difficulty.

In the end, it's not a game we see ourselves coming back to again, and given the number of other great games we've recently seen, we just can't recommend it.

App Store Link: Star Wars: Trench Run, $4.99

Have a look at the gameplay videos they were able to capture of these upcoming titles.

• Star Wars: Trench Run

Use the Force to overthrow the evil Galactic Empire as they attempt to destroy the small Rebel base on Yavins jungle moon.

As part of the Rebel Alliances Red Squadron you dogfight with TIE Fighters above the Death Stars surface before heading into a trench where you are inundated by cannon fire. Dodge obstacles, and stay out of Darth Vaders sights as he tries to gun you down before you have the chance to fire your proton torpedoes into a thermal exhaust port the size of a womp rat. If successful, a direct hit will cause a chain reaction that destroys the Death Star, thus saving the Rebel base from impending doom.

• Skies of Glory

Skies of Glory is an aerial combat game much like F.A.S.T. but set in World War II with various terrains including mountains, deserts, and sea which are said to showcase the classic views of WWII air combat. The game will support both local Wi-Fi battles as well as online battles around the world.

Also demonstrated was the upcoming Harry Potter: Spells, a game that turns your iPhone into a magic wand and allows for real-time player-to-player duels utilizing 14 spells, each summoned by its own particular hand gesture.  The hands-on video of this one can be seen here.

Because of this change, players will be energized more often, earn more credits, and in turn be able to spend those credits on the various upgrades that are sold in game much faster. If this somehow is the first time you've heard of Eliminate, if you're at all interested in first person shooters you should download it (for free) as soon as you can. While you're waiting for it to download, check out our review which explains quite a bit about the game, available upgrades, and play strategies.

If you've been as captivated by Eliminate as we have, you also will be happy to know that ngmoco already has Eliminate 1.1 in the works. Along with many refinements, there will also be a brand new map and even more armor for you to buy with your hard earned credits. Ngmoco isn't ready to release details yet as the update is still in development, but we should have more information as soon as it is actually submitted to Apple.

App Store Link: Eliminate, Free

From our coverage of the Galactic Gunner release:

As the title would hint, you play as the Galactic Gunner, shooting down Trepidoids by tapping the screen while the Galactic Captain flies the ship. Taking the control out of the player's hands allows for a more cinematic experience as your ship flies through precisely choreographed manuevers.

All the while, you're listening to near constant radio chatter between the Galactic Captain, your wingmen, and the Trepidoids. The whole package creates an experience unlike anything on the App Store, and the game feels like playing an episode of a wonderfully cheesy low-budget 80's Sci-Fi show, especially whenever the Trepidoids speak.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

The only thing bad we had to say about the game was its relatively short length, but it's hard to complain about a half hour or so of expertly choreographed free rails shooting action. Galactic Gunner is going back to its regular price tomorrow, so don't delay if you're planning on giving it a try.

App Store Link: Galactic Gunner, Free

DotEmu, who brought the retro titles Nicky Boom, Krypton Egg, and Golvellius to the App Store, has just given Touch Arcade an exclusive heads up on their latest IP acquisition. And for shooter fans, this is pretty much the best news you could hear: The renowned shooter classic R-Type is coming to the iPhone and iPod touch. The studio informs us that development is currently under way and the title should hit the App Store sometime in the next few months.

"We are very pleased to work on R-Type and to start our collaboration with Irem Software Engineering Inc. Our main goal is to make the best touch version possible of this great game to seduce both fans and new players. This is really a great game and we are eager to release it!" said Xavier Liard, CEO of DotEmu.

For those somehow unfamiliar with R-Type, a bit of history. R-Type is a side-scrolling shooter released to the arcade by Japanese publisher Irem in 1987. The game is set in the 22nd century and places the player in control of the R-9a "Arrowhead" fighter craft with the goal of defending humanity against the bio-mechanical alien life form known as the "Bydo." Battle is waged in and among a complex series of levels, some machine-like and metallic, some biological in nature.

( screenshot of arcade version )

R-Type is widely considered to be one of the best shooters ever made and is known for its viciously designed levels and extreme difficulty. (IGN ranked it 7th in their list of the 10 most difficult games to beat.) The game has been ported to a great many platforms, including the Xbox Live Arcade and the Wii Virtual Console, and has spawned many sequels as well as imitators.

( screenshot of arcade version )

The arrival of a classic of this magnitude — one that stands so notably apart in its genre — is wonderful news for iPhone gamers.  DotEmu is a French development and publishing house dedicated to bringing classic 80's / 90's games to modern platforms. See our interview with DotEmu CEO Xavier Liard, from last year, for a close look at the company's history and vision for iPhone game development.

See the following video of the arcade version of the game for a look at the action.

DotEmu has not released any iPhone-specific screenshots or demo videos, but they did reveal that the game will feature D-pad, touch, and tilt controls and that they are focused on getting those controls implemented in a perfectly playable fashion. They have also indicated that they are eager to dig into the issue of iControlPad support and, barring something unforeseen, plan to have support implemented either in the initial release or in an update.

We will share any further news and assets surrounding R-Type for the iPhone as we get them.  Stay tuned.

The $2.99 game offers a beautifully stylized side scroller that places you as the pilot of a nano machine whose mission is fight off viruses and save the humans from disease. Designed for the iPhone, the game has some nice touches with a good variety of level design and power-ups that seem to keep the game interesting. Three levels of difficulty are provided over 9 different stages, and the game also provides online leaderboards.

The game is controlled primarily through the use of the iPhone's accelerometer allowing you to move the ship with tilt controls alone. This can be calibrated in the options so you can choose the neutral position. Your primary weapon is fired automatically and can be upgraded multiple times. Beyond this, the game also offers a nice touch targeting system for missiles akin to Space Deadbeef — simply touching on the enemies will lock on your missiles.

Here's the game in action:

The developers have also released a fully featured Lite version that provides the first two stages of the game, complete with all 3 difficulty levels. There really is a lot to like about this game, and the production values are outstanding. My only real issue with the game may simply be a personal one. I've never been a fan of the use of the accelerometer for ship movement in 2D iPhone shooters, and I much prefer touch (which is not an option). If you have no such hang ups, this game is definitely recommended, but even if you do, the Lite version provides you with a great sampling of the game.

App Store Link: Cell War, $2.99, Cell War Lite, Free

If it wasn't apparent by now from reading our other coverage on the game, we really enjoy Eliminate. The classic four player deathmatch gameplay is enhanced with an RPG-style progression system which adds a great deal of depth to an otherwise simple game. Power-ups littered throughout the maps spice up battles, and when it's working as intended, the matchmaking system seems to do a decent job of making sure the game you get thrown in to is reasonably matched.

While we did feel obligated to review Eliminate Pro, since you can download and experience everything in the game for free, there isn't much reason for me to dwell much on the gameplay. Instead, I'll try to clear up some common misconceptions I've seen in comments and in forum posts, along with offering some helpful tips and hints for new players.

Credits and Power

First off, credits make the world go round in the world of Eliminate. In order to buy weapons and equipment upgrades, you need to spend credits and your overall earnings act as your experience point total. As you earn more credits, you increase in level, unlocking more powerful weapons and armor to buy along with available upgrades for your existing equipment.

In order to earn credits, you must be energized. The first time you load the game you will start out with a full energy bar, and while you have energy every opponent who dies in a match will drop credits which can be picked up by anyone nearby. After each match, your energy decreases until you're eventually out, at which point you have three options: Wait for a recharge in 240 minutes, buy energy via an in-game microtransaction, or continue playing for as long as you want without earning credits.

An extremely common misconception is that you can no longer play when you're out of energy. The fact of the matter is you continue playing Eliminate for as long as you want, your character's progress will just be stopped until the next recharge and it will take a few seconds longer for you to get matched in to a game. That's it. If you're happy just playing a few matches each day while earning credits and the rest of the time just playing for fun, you never need to spend a cent on Eliminate.

When the matchmaking system is working well, it should match you up with people of somewhat similar skill. Because of this, not having the best equipment shouldn't detract from your overall performance as much as you'd think. Skill can overcome gear, as forum moderator and iPhone gaming superstar Zincous illustrated by killing a higher level forum member in a heavily armored suit and rocket launcher ten times in a row without dying once using the default (through presumably upgraded) armor and rifle.

So again, you do not need energy to play Eliminate or eventually buy character upgrades in Eliminate. You can play for free as long as you'd like, your progression will just be slowed– And just because someone has better gear than you doesn't mean you can't mop the floor with them.

Tweaking Options

The first thing I recommend you do when you download Eliminate is make your way to the options. Changing the look sensitivity is absolutely vital to enjoying the game. I've been preferring a higher sensitivity, but you should try out a few different settings while fighting against bots locally to find a setting you like. From there, you can pretty much disable tap to zoom as more often than not you will only trigger the zoom functionality in the game on accident. Being able to snipe is rarely very useful in the fast paced games of Eliminate.

If you prefer the controls flipped, there's a checkbox for that along with a checkbox for showing or hiding the on-screen directional pads in game. These obviously are personal preference settings and seem to have no effect on gameplay performance. The final option seems to be highly contested on our forums regarding whether or not to enable it, and that is auto-fire.

With auto-fire turned on, you will automatically shoot whenever an enemy is inside of your crosshairs. If you're having trouble getting comfortable with the controls, this can make the game much more accessible early on. While this may be friendly for beginners, you should try to get used to firing on your own with this turned off as soon as possible. To fire manually, you tap your right thumb once to begin firing, then briefly lift your thumb off the screen again to stop.

Auto-fire can unintentionally reveal your location and waste bullets. This is especially important once you've ranked up enough to be able to buy the rocket launcher, as every single shot you make with that needs to count and it takes so long to reload that you can't just have the game automatically firing rockets whenever an enemy crosses your path.

Knowing is Half the Battle

While browsing the store, you can easily see all the available weapons and armor, but what isn't immediately obvious is that you can also upgrade the individual features of your existing equipment. Tap "Gear Up" then "Inventory" to see what you own, and available upgrades. Spending credits upgrading your existing weapons and armor can be more effective than upgrading to new weapons and armor.

Like most death match games, knowing the maps is key. Playing against bots locally can be a great way to familiarize yourself with maps that you haven't spent much time playing in case they come up in rotation while you're energized. While you're exploring these maps, look for places that you can easily get cover and where you can retreat to look for health. As you play more you will begin to learn the locations of the spawn points on the map where players reappear after they die, and the locations of your favorite power ups. With only five included maps, it won't take you long until you have an accurate mental map of everything in game.

Power Ups

Speaking of power-ups, here are the included Eliminate power ups, and how to effectively use each one-

• Damage Amplifier – Similar to Quad Damage in Quake games, this substantially increases the amount of damage your weapons do. While your damage is amplified, it's best to switch to weapons that have a wider attack like your rocket launcher or plasma cannon, as even enemies in the outside of their blast radius will be heavily damaged. While playing, if you see someone's weapon glowing blue, it is probably best to run away from them until their power up wears off as they will be able to kill you much easier than you can kill them.
• Berserker Shield – With this active, you become invulnerable for a brief period of time. You can also shield-slam people with the berserker shield, which instantly kills anyone. The most effective thing to do while having this power up is to obviously shoot whoever you can while you're getting close enough for shield slam to fire inside of melee range. Like the damage amplifier, the berserker shield will make the whole body of whoever has it glow blue. If you see someone with this graphical effect on their character, it's probably best to run.
• Cloaking Field – My least favorite power up, when you pick this up your character turns mostly translucent. Unfortunately, firing gives away your location and your score doesn't benefit from hiding so it is rarely very useful– Especially when playing against skilled opponents. Keep your eyes peeled and opponents who are cloaked won't be much of an issue.
• Health Recharge – This seems to be the best power-up to have, when you pick it up your health will slowly recharge to 175 for its duration. Whenever an enemy is killed, be sure to grab the health recharge before the credits because you can't pick up credits if you're dead. If you see someone with a slightly red glow to them, they have this power-up active and will require a constant stream of bullets to kill.
• Jet Pack – Take to the skies with this power-up, jumping or looking up and moving forward will send you flying around the map. Useful for credits that get stuck in weird places or chasing opponents across large gaps. If someone is flying, they have the jet pack active. It can be a little disorienting when you first pick it up, so if you see someone flying around try to pick them off before they get a handle on their trajectory.
• Acceleration – This power-up greatly increases your movement speed. Useful for stealing the credits from other peoples' kills and running away from enemies with strong power ups active. Opponents with this activated are obvious as they will be moving very quickly. On the up side, at least you know they're not regenerating health so they should be easy to kill.

Keep in mind, only one power-up can be active at a time, and picking another one up cancels out the previous effect. The duration of power-ups can be increased by upgrading the power-up functionality of your armor, which is at the bottom of the list in the inventory page that has armor upgrades. Generally speaking the best power-up seems to be the health recharge followed closely by the berserker shield and damage amplifier depending on the situation.

Maximizing Damage and Credits

Eliminate uses basic hit box detection, so aiming for the head does more damage than the body. Whenever possible try to aim at the heads of your opponents for maximum damage. If you're in a hallway with an opponent and you're shooting their head while they're shooting your body, you will win and be able to recharge back to full health when you pick up their health power-up.

When starting out, it seems to be the most effective to save your credits to just upgrade one or two guns before other weapons. Even though the auto-rifle is your default weapon, it can pack quite a punch once you sink some credits in to it. Similarly, even though armor skins may be attractive to buy to make your guy look cool, they're a waste of credits early on when you could be increasing your overall effectiveness to earn more credits. Don't underestimate the power of upgrading the stats of your weapons and armor.

Taunting awards additional credits while energized, so make sure you shake your iPhone when you're on top of any corpse. When you hear your character say "Yeah!", you've successfully taunted. Also, speaking of credits, once an enemy has died anyone who is energized can pick up the credits they drop. If you're trying to maximize your income, be as crafty as possible and let other people do much of the killing only to sweep in, kill them, and clean up all the credits.

Like other death match games, framerate is important. Eliminate runs best on newer devices, but runs well enough to play on the entire line of iPods and iPhones. If you're having performance issues, you can try restarting your device, disable automatic email checking, or even turn on airplane mode and re-enable WiFi to avoid being interrupted by calls and text messages.

Since energy is a limited resource, I recommend playing games while you're energized while connected to reliable WiFi. Eliminate works fine over 3G, but with only a few recharges per day it's usually best to use an internet connection that you trust instead of depending on the often questionable performance of the cellular network.

Have Fun

Like any video game, practice makes perfect. The first few times you play Eliminate, you will likely get owned. Play against bots locally until you have a good feel for the controls, and then expect to die quite a bit while you're learning how to best play against human opponents. Most of all, don't get discouraged because of a string of a few bad matches. Whenever you're in a game where you're being dominated by your opponents, try to observe what they're doing to kill you so effectively and try to turn your defeat in to a lesson on a play technique you may not have thought of.

Eliminate is a great game, and I've really got to hand it to ngmoco for not only creating such an action packed multiplayer experience on the iPhone, but also doing it in a way that can be enjoyable for casual players who just want to dabble in the game for free along with hardcore players who have made Eliminate part of their daily routine. If you've read this far and haven't already tried Eliminate, what are you waiting for? Further questions can be answered in the massive discussion thread or in our Eliminate tips thread in our forums.

App Store Link: Eliminate Pro, Free

Namco's Garters & Ghouls made its way into the App Store last night and is the latest twin stick shooter to arrive on the scene. You play as the freshly reanimated Marie Dupois fighting against an evil force known as "Thrum" who has caused the dead to rise under its control. It's your task to close the portals of the underworld that spawn the various zombies, werewolves, and demons that are rampaging across the countryside.

The game plays a lot like iDracula and other similar games, with two virtual joysticks that control your movement and shooting. Along the way you come across different weapons and powerups, and throughout the land are shops run by the "Steam Queens" where you can buy upgrades for your character's health, movement, weapon damage, and other things.

The main content difference between Garters & Ghouls and similar iPhone games is that the gameplay is structured around 25 distinct and large levels and framed in a slowly revealing storyline.

The task for each level, however, remains the same throughout: you must destroy the enemy-spawing portals strewn across the map. Still, going into a level with a specific number of portals to destroy gave me a greater sense of purpose than other pure survival shooters. There is some very light planning involved in avoiding getting caught in the crossfire between demon-spawing portals, and there are a variety of enemies which do get more difficult as well as a number of weapon upgrades.

The game's difficulty, however, ramps up slowly, so it can feel like you are just grinding your way through the game. And if you listened to our last podcast, you would have heard that Eli Hodapp's issue with the game was the repetitive and lengthy nature of the levels. While I don't believe its any more repetitive than many of the existing survival shooters we've played before, I had also hoped the levels would provide more variety in gameplay.

Meanwhile, a number of other factors keeps the game squarely in the "good, but not great" category. The controls and animations are adequate, though not especially smooth, and the targeting of the enemies and portals requires you hitting just the right spot. This gives the enemies a 2 dimensional feel. The 1.0 version also suffers from some occasional crashes, though if this occurs only your in-level progress is lost and you can resume at the beginning of the level.

Further discussion and opinions of the game can be found in our forums

App Store Link: Garters & Ghouls, $4.99