You know I'm not a fan of proof of concept stuff. It’s just no use to you, as the consumer, to be exposed to mechanics that might not make it into the final build of an iOS game (if the game makes it out at all). But in talking with Gale Force Logic this morning at GDC in San Francisco, I got a strong vibe in, at least, the direction of their upcoming game Pocket Aces that I’d like to share.

Gale Force thinks there’s a market out there of older gamers with the cash for games, but not the time required to really dig into them. So, their games will cater to this audience. Pocket Aces, at least for right now, does demonstrate how they will.

Pocket Aces is, basically, a card game with casino hub worlds. The game's basic narrative supports this hub structure: you'll play as a detective investigating the death of a New Orleans councilman, and your travels will have you rolling around in a variety of casinos. What triggers progress is the card play. I saw Blackjack in action and poker will be included, too.

But how does it cater to this audience of dudes with limited time? Getting into card games is super snappy -- while purposeful or not, Gale Force didn't incorporate any elaborate dealing animations into the game and there's no UI to speak of; click, deal, hit or stay, and get your card. If you've played other games with card games bolted on to them, like, say, Red Dead Redemption, you know how dragged down the card action can get when developers pile on supplemental animations and nonsense elements.

Pocket Aces, as a whole, is a little like Epic Citadel [Free] (it uses the UDK, actually). It's first-person and you'll rove around environments in full 3D with the same basic movement mechanics. The effects I saw were rough and the same for the visuals, so this is definitely a wait-and-see kind of project.

During GDC this week, I met with developer Booyah! to check out their upcoming game Nightclub City DJ Rivals. DJ Rivals is a hodgepodge of many different gaming ideas, but essentially it boils down to a rhythm-based game with RPG elements. Booyah! has previously brought the casual social game MyTown [Free] to iOS and are responsible for the mega popular Nightclub City game on Facebook, which DJ Rivals is loosely associated with.

Typically, I’m not really a fan of casual social games or Facebook gaming in general, so it would be very easy to dismiss DJ Rivals because of that. But one of the great things about an event like GDC is that I was able to sit down face to face with Booyah! and actually try out the game myself, and was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

In DJ Rivals you will choose locations throughout a city to partake in rhythm-based battles against rival DJs. These locations can be culled from Google Maps information and will actually populate the buildings in the city with the actual locations, which I thought was a fun touch.

Each location will have drone DJs which you can battle to level up your character and earn money. You can then purchase a ton of different items like new DJ tables, clothing items, and special moves. You can also become the “House DJ” at a location by continually winning battles there, much in the same way you become the “Mayor” of a place on Foursquare. Other players can then challenge you for House DJ and will battle a ghost of your character that contains all the stats and moves you’ve accumulated, and you can battle and take over House DJ status from other players as well.

The actual battle mechanics are quite fun in DJ Rivals. You will unlock 50 moves over the course of the roughly 30 quest storyline, and can equip 3 of these moves at a time. Choosing a move will trigger a rhythm-based sequence where you tap to the beat on two lanes of notes and scratch a record when prompted. How well you do during this sequence determines the damage you will deal for that particular turn in the battle. This continues until you or your opponent’s life bar is depleted.

With all the different elements in Nightclub City DJ Rivals, there should be plenty to do for people who enjoy leveling up and building a character, collecting tons of items, and playing rhythm-based battle sequences. I really liked being able to import real life locations from anywhere in the world into the game, and thought the battling mechanics were really fun.

While I might normally have glossed over DJ Rivals as just another casual social game, after actually playing it I’m actually looking forward to putting some time into it when it launches next week on March 10th.

So, earlier at GDC in San Francisco I went hands-on with an upcoming puzzle title called Daddy’s Dojo. Don’t read into that playful, unconventional name -- it offers more depth than you’d figure, but also offers the ease of play that it should.

In a nutshell, Daddy’s Dojo is about moving pegs to their appropriate holes. The catch is that each space a peg has previously occupied becomes a space that can no longer be used by future pegs within the same level. And as the progression ramps up, more unusual obstacles will meet you: elemental pegs that can only travel and land in certain places and also arrows that allow you to teleport across the board.

So, yeah, it’s a traditional type of puzzle game. Here’s a video of it in action starring the sultry tones of one of the developers who showed it off to me. You’ll get a better sense of the game when you check this out:

A couple of things to note: the target release date is April and the team plans to throw it out on the App Store for a penny shy of a dollar. An HD version is in the works too, and while it’ll cost a bit more, it’ll also offer some different content on top of the iPod touch and iPhone stuff you see above.

I’m not a huge fan of posting about proof of concept demos. Games evolve during the design phase, and mechanics, whether promising or not, tend to disappear. But I have to share what I saw earlier last afternoon, an ambitious puzzle / adventure game dubbed MacGuffin’s Curse. It smells like the kind of game I’ll be able to dig for long stretches, and it definitely has a fun art style.

The concept art I’ll share below, unfortunately, won't give you a taste of the action. But in a nutshell, MacGuffin's Curse is a top-down puzzle game in which you’ll be tasked with moving a special object within the confines of a singular, locked room. Think: older puzzle games. In this specific case, though, you’ll be moving around batteries as one of two different characters: a man and his werewolf alter ego -- the dynamic here is a weak, cunning character versus a strength-based avatar. You'll be able to switch to the wolf when the sun goes down.

What I saw this afternoon was early, so nothing really feels “confirmed” to me, but the devs, Brawsome, told me that the game would support a rich hint system and over 150 rooms to figure out, and that includes side-missions. Look for the game later this October at a premium-ish price point on the iPad.

Earlier this morning we caught up with Graeme Devine at GDC. Recognize the name? He was a co-founder of Trilobyte and had a huge hand in the original The 7th Guest [$2.99 / HD], The 11th Hour and worked on other games like RTS Halo Wars and FPS Doom 3. Our conversation was all over the place -- we talked a bit about native design for the iOS, subscription models, his departure from Apple, and even a little bit about his future as an iOS developer.

Devine has two projects in the works with his daughter. He left Apple to work with his family, and you’ve seen the fruits of that partnership in the form of his card game, Full Deck Solitaire [Free] for the Mac App Store. The two are currently throwing around ideas for an item shop game. It’s early, so there’s a chance this specific project might never see the light of day, but we’ll definitely keep our ears and eyes open for more details as production progresses.

We think Devine's overall story is pretty interesting. Dude built his reputation on "core" type of games, but here he is now, working on family-friendly casual titles with his family. Very cool stuff, and, obviously, we're excited to see what's next.

This week at GDC we had a chance to sit down with Gamevil to have a look at what's in their pipeline -- and pipeline chock-full of games it is. The Korean studio has been quite busy of late, and this year they expect to release more than twice as many iOS titles as they did last year. Gamevil, who caters to both the featurephone and smartphone markets, has restructured to enhance their focus on the latter. And, while they have so far strongly established themselves as an RPG maker, in 2011 all types of games will be landing in the App Store, as evidenced by the titles they shared with us here at GDC.

Zenonia 3

The third member of the popular Zenonia RPG series, Zenonia 3 brings notable enhancements along with a new story to play through.

The story goes like this: The world of Zenonia was divided into the Heavenly Realm and the Earth Realm until a war between the Divine Tribe and the Devil Tribe caused the creation of the Midgard Realm. The main character of the original Zenonia, Regret, appears to his son, Chael, the hero of this story. Chael, shortly thereafter while walking in a wood with his fairy friend Runa, disappears into the mysterious Midgard Realm. Your goal, as Chael, is to help the Divine Tribe get back to the Heavenly Realm and return yourself to Earth.

Fans of the earlier versions of the game will appreciate the dramatically improved, razor-sharp Retina graphics and lovely onscreen animation.

Chalk n' Talk

Chalk n' Talk is a multiplayer draw-and-guess game something akin to Charadium, but with the addition of social dating elements. The game allows up to four online players at once to join a room and participate in a game of drawing a scene and trying to guess what it is.

Seeds and flowers are given to players that solve the puzzle, which represent the game's basic currency. By default, the canvas is represented as a chalkboard, but other backdrops can be acquired, both by spending virtual currency as well as via in-app purchase, to mix up the look and the finished drawings can be shared and liked by others. (Some of the existing works I was shown were pretty impressive!)

Players setup Gamevil live profiles that track their progress and allow groups of friends to connect. The profiles contain a self-photo which others can see and, if interested, reach out, send virtual gifts, request a game session, etc. It's a social mechanic that's proven quite popular in the original, Korean version of the game.

Chalk n' Talk will be submitted to the App Store this week and launch in Canada and various countries abroad around the 20th of this month.

Skipping Stone

The original Skipping Stone was apparently the first "one button" game for mobile phones and was IGN game of the year in 2005. The game is basically a simple timing / rhythm title where you to skip a stone across a scrolling field of water as far as possible by timing your taps to the the leaps of the stone. A tap precisely when the stone hits the water keeps the next leap at the same height, while missed taps result in smaller and smaller leaps until your stone sinks. Along the way, dolphins and such may jump out of the water to give your stone a helping nudge upwards.

Skipping Stone will be submitted to the App Store in late March or early April and will be available for both $.99 and free, with ads. (See gameplay in the video, below.)

Mr. Penguin

A simple, pick-up-and-play title, Mr. Penguin (tentative title) is an entirely tilt-controlled game where your goal is to help a cute little penguin make his way along the vertically scrolling field of snow and floating slabs of ice. On the snow, it's an exercise in dodging obstacles as you slide along through the snow, while on the floating ice you must use delicate timing and tilt skills to bounce your penguin from slab to slab and on the backs of turtles, without falling in -- all while avoiding the sharks.

Game Center and Facebook integration drive your progress along the way. (See a gameplay sample at the end of the video above.)

Soccer Superstars 2011

Gamevil is following up last year's Soccer Superstars with the new Soccer Superstars 2011, an evolved installment of the title featuring a significantly upgraded game engine with much more advanced player AI. The game allows players to select team countries like the original, with the added ability to choose from among a roster of (fictional) club teams. The title is graphically similar to last year's release and maintains its special players and special shots, while bringing with it most of the peripheral features of the Baseball Superstars series.

Soccer Superstars 2011 will be submitted to the App Store in late March or early April.

Kami Retro

We've just had the opportunity for a bit of hands-on time with the amazing looking Kami Retro, developed by Paw Print Games. The game is a platform puzzler that combines elements from Jet Set Willy, Rainbow Island, Mario, and Lemmings.

Gameplay involves flick-guiding a series of "Kami's" from start point to end point across colorful 2.5D, blocky retro playscreens. There are five stages with 13 levels each -- 65 screens in all. In addition to fixed platforms, the task at hand involves positioning movable platforms, utilizing upward-blowing fans, and the like. Game Center integration keeps the gameplay competitive.

Ever since we first got word of this one, we've been eagerly awaiting its arrival -- and the wait is almost over. Kami Retro is set to launch on March 10th.

Many of you should be familiar with SuperMono Studios from their wildly popular MiniSquadron [99¢/Lite] games and most recently from their RPG experience bar-laden to-do app EpicWin [$2.99]. We liked EpicWin when it was released, but that was way back in August of 2010, and you may be wondering what the two man SuperMono development team comprised of Tak Fung and Dave Ferner have been up to since then.

Well, basically they have a couple of new games in the works, but for the past 7+ months they have been carefully crafting themselves a high end engine to use for these games. There is all sorts of technical wizardry going on in this built-from-the-ground-up engine, but in terms that even a laymen like myself can understand, and in SuperMono’s very own words, it “makes everything look completely rad”. Have a look at the trailer for the tech demo that shows off the nifty effects of the engine:

For those who understand technical jargon, this engine uses something called deferred rendering which allows for up to twenty dynamic colored lights to be in motion at once, complete with bloom and reflection effects, and run really smoothly the entire time. In many ways, this is SuperMono’s way of saying “we don’t need no stinking Unreal Engine” and prove that they can do advanced graphical effects on their own.

The video of this tech demo doesn’t really do it justice, and in person it’s really impressive. As such, SuperMono is considering releasing this demo for free on the App Store for people to check out and toy around with. You can swipe around to change the view of the car or turn on and off the various effects, and it’s actually pretty cool.

Eventually this engine will be put to use in a new racing game, which despite the street racing style of the demo will be really unlike most typical racers. Also, a MiniSquadron 2 will be coming sometime down the road, using this advanced engine for 3D graphics while retaining the same 2D gameplay. We’ll have more on these SuperMono developments as work continues on them.

Yesterday morning before the keynote I met with our friends at Firemint who were excited to discuss their upcoming game, Agent Squeak which was announced earlier this week. We mentioned the premise before, but you play as a mouse who collects cheese and must make it to his mouse hole on each level. Gameplay hinges on a really clever and fun stealth/avoidance mechanic where you control the mouse using your finger to draw his path.

Obstacles not only include a wide variety of objects that you need to avoid, but also an array of cats who want to eat you. The time I was able to spend with the game was somewhat limited, but it was really clever how Firemint combined both a stealth and avoidance mechanic with their familiar line drawing control method that was perfected in Flight Control. They weren't willing to let me shoot any video or provide any screenshots just yet, but I got a look at an early cut of an upcoming trailer that showed an amazing amount of variety later in the game.

On the subject of Real Racing 2 HD, the inevitable upcoming iPad version of Real Racing 2, Firemint assured me it was still coming and the extra development time has been spent on truly optimizing the game for the iPad hardware. Also, yesterday's announcement of the iPad 2 threw an interesting wrinkle into RR2 HD's development that Firemint explained they were already anticipating:

While we were not aware of the specs for iPad 2 before the keynote, we made some educated guesses about where we thought the hardware might head, so for many months now we have been developing a much more graphically intensive version of Real Racing 2 HD to take advantage of the anticipated performance improvements. Real Racing 2 HD has been significantly enhanced beyond what could work on existing devices, and our efforts have definitely given us a head start on iPad 2.

We're excited to see what's coming from Firemint, and I can't wait to post the inevitable Agent Squeak trailer. Will it be the next Angry Birds? It's hard to say, but it's hard to argue the fact that Firemint has had an amazing lineup of games on the App Store.

Army of Darkness Defense - For fans of this cult classic B-movie starring Bruce Campbell, you may remember the epic battle where main character Ash and company must fend off legions of undead enemies from penetrating their castle fortress. If you’re familiar with this scene, it’s basically the perfect setting for a castle defense style game, and that’s exactly what Backflip Studios is creating.

The video game version of Army of Darkness doesn’t stray too far from your typical castle defense experience, but what really sets it apart from similar games is the excellent use of the Army of Darkness license. Ash quips dozens of his famous one-liners as you’re fighting, and the weaponry includes the boomstick (aka shotgun) and his attachable chainsaw hand. The art style is great, and the developers working on the game are all huge fans of the movie ensuring that it will have an authentic feel.

Army of Darkness Defense is currently slated for an April release, and we’ll have more from the game in the coming weeks.

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Boss Battles - The appropriately named Boss Battles is an interesting take on the vertical scrolling shooter where the focus is on battling a series of bosses. You’ll blast through a short sequence of cannon fodder, asteroids in the level I was shown, collecting gems before reaching the boss encounter. The final game will have roughly 8 very distinct kinds of bosses, but each one will come with alternate versions which become harder as you keep playing and can be replayed multiple times.

The ship itself in Boss Battles also comes equipped with an interesting set of offensive weaponry. There are 4 base weapons like missiles and lasers, each of which can be upgraded independently using collected gems. Then there are 4 different kinds of secondary weapon choices, like a spread shot or homing abilities. The game controls really well and the action is frantic as you dodge a mess of bullets and asteroids before taking on each boss.

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Paper Toss World Tour HD Free - One of the most popular games in the entire App Store has been Paper Toss, and Backflip has released a free ad-supported version of their internationally flavored iPad version of this game called Paper Toss World Tour HD Free [Free]. You’ll now be able to toss crumpled paper balls into wastebaskets at exotic locations around the world for free with the option of disabling ads via in-app purchase.

One very interesting idea Backflip has for their Paper Toss franchise which should be coming this Summer is incorporating a more social aspect into the gameplay. They are working on players being able to have their own customized environments, each with their own sets of challenges that the player decides. So for example, I may create a room where the basket is really far away, and add a brutal amount of wind to deal with. My friends can then take a crack at my environment and shoot for a high score, which I can then try to top on my own. It’s a clever idea that has a lot of potential, and Backflip has a ton of ideas to make this mode both social and fun.

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Finally, there was a very brief mention that Backflip is currently working on Ragdoll Blaster 3. There wasn’t a playable demo or even any art assets for this currently, but they have told me a bit about the direction they want to take it. There will be different types of characters which will have various effects on the gameplay, like a flaming character which will be able to burn items in a level in order for you to complete it first. Also, there won't be as much of a steampunk-inspired style this time, and they're looking to broaden the overall look of the game as well as the scope of the levels. As a big fan of the Ragdoll Blaster series, I'm definitely looking forward to more information on this as well as the rest of Backflip's lineup for this year.

Here at GDC 2011 I sat down with Gian Cruz from Feel Every Yummy to check out their new game WordFighter. Basically WordFighter is a word game like Boggle or Scrabble with an added fighting game component layered on top. Players will “fight” each other by creating words from a 5x5 grid of letters over 3 timed rounds. Each letter has a point value and the total value of created words determines the damage dished out to your opponent. As you create more words you’ll earn special bonuses to use which vary amongst the planned 6 characters. These will either heighten your own offensive exploits by giving your increased damage or make things harder for your opponent’s endeavors by mixing up the game board or forcing them to spell words backwards.

The concept works incredibly well even in this pre-alpha version of WordFighter. The plan is to offer typical local multiplayer options, same device multiplayer on the iPad, and online multiplayer for all versions in both real-time and asynchronous turn-based fashion similar to Words With Friends [$2.99/Lite/HD]. Eventually an Android version of the game will allow for cross-platform play between iOS and Android users. The same device iPad multiplayer is especially fun as you’re literally elbow-to-elbow with your opponent frantically making words and dealing damage to each other, as you can see in the following video.

WordFighter is still in a really early state, and may even undergo a complete art style overhaul before its final release, using stylized versions of characters from popular literary works rather than anime style fighting game characters. Despite how the game ends up looking, the core concept is a lot of fun, and if Feel Every Yummy can find a way to offer a solid turn-based online multiplayer experience then WordFighter could end up being a hit. We’ll have more on WordFighter in the coming months as development continues towards its planned Summer release.

We see a lot of “core” games at GDC in San Francisco. Developers like hard, deep, or big games just as much as the vast majority of you do, and their designs reflect this. A nice palate cleanser swung my way the other day and provided a break from the gore and the challenge I’ve been seeing. It was a casual game called Total Toads. It’s the kind of title you can pick up, play, and drop on the train or while walking the dog or even sitting on the toilet.

In a nutshell, Total Toads is a game built around the high score. The not-so-subtle twist is that the score building requires a little math on your end.

It’s a little abstract, so stick with me for a second. In the game, you control the tongues of three respective toads that line the bottom of the screen. You use these tongues to collect numbered bugs. The number of the bug you collect goes towards your score.

The catch: some bugs have negative numbers, meaning you could lower your score. But, each toad has an addition, subtraction, or a multiplication sign etched into their fleshy bits, which means that you can turn negatives into positives by using the right frog.

Some bugs operate as bonus items. If you happen to divide by the zero bugs, for example, a ton of numbered bugs will flood the screen. Or if you divide by two, your score will be halved.

How do you lose? Each bug that passes your frog ends up killing the little guy. After all three are gone, your game is over.

So, Total Toads is simple, sure, but it’s a good time for what it is, which is to say, a basic, “matching” type of game. Laid back, smooth music compliments and exudes the vibe the point and touch play exudes (brushed by Randy O'Conner of Spider: Secrets of Bryce Manor fame [$2.99]) ; awesome art plays its role as well, adding a layer of quirk and character to the experience.

Look for the game  at some point this March. It’ll hit at around the one-dollar mark.

Yesterday at GDC we sat down with Brian Robbins of Riptide Games who took us through their latest release, Shadow Ranch [link] (with an "HD" version for iPad [link]), an iOS adaptation of Her Interactive's highly popular Nancy Drew Adventure series.

In a departure from the PC and console originals, the iOS Nancy Drew mobile mystery takes the form of an interactive book that works much like one of the old Choose Your Own Adventure stories. The primary portion of the experience is reading the story presented, eight chapters full of illustrations and media-enhanced hyperlinks. The other part of the app consists of three different kinds of mini-games. The outcome of a variety of hidden object games, word games, and horse racing games determine the path of the story and bring achievements. Several sideline mimi-mysteries are also included.

Brian also showed us Mini Monster Smash! [App Store], the fruit borne of Riptide's all-night coding frenzy at November's 360iDev Game Jam. The goal of the game is to smash a cute little red monster with a flyswatter to get it to fly as far as you can. Along the way the monster will bounce off of trampolines, bombs or float in bubbles.

And, finally, we had a look at an upcoming title called My Pet Zombie, which is being developed jointly with Recharge Studios. It's one for the virtual pet fan who also has a thing for zombies. The game puts a cute little zombie in a graveyard setting on your screen for you to love and nurture. It even dances. But don't take care of it and it's one more tombstone in the graveyard. The game also features social aspects, such as freinds' zombies going on a date, etc.

Shadow Ranch and Mini Monster Smash recently went live in the App Store, and My Pet Zombie is expected in late April or early May as a freemium release.

Touch and swipe are what iOS games do best. In my opinion, focusing on these two native user inputs often spawn the best design in iOS games.

These are the two thoughts that hit me as I went hands-on with a demo of MecaPix at GDC in San Francisco yesterday afternoon. It’s sort of looks like Tetris with a touch of Space Invaders. And it’s also a game with no virtual d-pads or buttons -- just touch and swipe, the bread and butter of the iPad and iPod Touch.

In Tetris, the idea is to organize descending blocks into piles. In this game, the idea is to draw and fire off ascending blocks (with your finger) in order to clear falling blocks before they reach the bottom of the screen. It’s a unique, simple idea that plays off the familiarity we all have with the classic puzzle game, Tetris. It’s even got that retro look and similar shapes. Check it out.

But there are twists. For example, some descending block patterns have special abilities packed within their constructions. Bombs can be placed in the middle, and when you hit the bomb, the entire patterns clears. Other patterns have laser blocks that fire adjacent blocks at other constructs falling down at the screen.

So, the idea is to be precise and hit the blocks that matter. There’s an ammo counter that keeps you from firing blocks wholesale. Otherwise, you could theoretically just build massive lines of blocks that would eliminate all enemies.

MecaPix mixes things up with classic puzzle elements, creating a cool balance between basic trigger-finger play and thought. One level, one out of around ten in the stage, forced me to consider each of the special blocks in a descending pile and pick the best ones to kill the construction before it reached the end of the screen. It’s a neat change of pace.

Precision, and therefore conservation, is rewarded with points. And so are combos. As you anticipate and shoot blocks in the right place, points skyrocket.

There’s a lot more to the game that I didn’t get to play directly, but demonstrated the amount of depth to be had. There are boss battles, for example, that have you attempting to reach the heart of a tumbling monster. There’s also a cool level that uses the classic game Snake as its inspiration. The falling blocks in this level resemble the Snake and squirm, keeping you from drilling the heart without thought.

Mecapix is being built by Robotalism Games, a developer out of Paris. The plan is to launch the game is as soon as they possibly can and at an agreeable price point: a mere .99 cents. From what I saw this afternoon, this might be a very special game. I’ll be keeping my eyes on it, for sure, as it combines unique and possibly deep play with the two things that spawn the best games: touch and swipe.

Remember this time last year? We were heaping dump trucks full of praise on Superbrothers' Sword & Sworcery EP both in our initial hands-on, then again a few days later as we further reflected on just how impressive the whole experience was. Since then, our forums have been going wild with speculation, especially as Superbrothers' kept slowly releasing details and commenting on possible release dates.

So what's been taking so long? Well, now that the game is officially nearing release, Superbrothers' were willing to open up on just what it is that they've been up to. Here's the terrible secret of Sword & Sworcery: What we saw back at GDC 2010 was basically a polished prototype, what we played was quite literally all there was that was completed at the time. While you could shake your fist at the sky and damn Superbrothers for hoodwinking you, you could realize the entirely too clever thing this has allowed them to do.

So many games that we preview are either completed or very close to it. From a developer's perspective, all you can really do then is listen to feedback and try to mitigate what people don't like or criticize either in future updates or last minute changes before the game is released. Getting the world excited for Sword & Sworcery when it was just an incredibly intriguing prototype has more or less flipped this process completely around.

The vague previews and trailers have resulted in a hurricane of comments as people post what they hope the game will be. Superbrothers has been following this discussion like a hawk, and through the year that the game has been in development, seemingly implementing things from the various "wish lists" people have had. They also admitted throughout the conversation we had that there were several times in the development process where they debated releasing what they had, but decided to continue development until the game was at (or as close as humanly possible) to 100% in their eyes.

Superbrothers' weren't willing to let me shoot any video of the game yet, but the good news is that next week we'll have a full hands-on of the final version of Sword & Sworcery. Until then, what I can say is that I'm blown away by how much better the game looks since our last glimpse at E3 last year. They've added tons of lighting effects, and if you're crazy about parallax scrolling, you're going to be in heaven. The art of Sword & Sworcery now still is blatantly minimalist pixels, but the crazy amount of parallax layers in the game gives it a fantastic looking almost-3D effect.

I've likely said too much already, but please stay tuned for our preview next week. I absolutely cannot wait to play the final version of the game in its entirety and see whether or not this backwards development cycle worked for Superbrothers.

Earlier today Sega announced that a port of last year’s console title Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing would be coming to iOS. Today I was able to stop by a hands-on event for the game and spend some time with an early pre-alpha build, and so far it’s shaping up nicely. If you’re unfamiliar with Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, it’s similar to Mario Kart but with a selection of Sega characters. It’s a fast-paced racing game with special weapons you can use to slow down your enemies and powerups that help you gain an advantage in the race.

Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing will feature 10 playable characters including the expected stable of Sonic-related characters like Sonic, Dr. Robotnik, and Tails; and some more obscure characters like Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue, Beat from Jet Set Radio, and B.D. Joe from Crazy Taxi. There will be 12 tracks to race on over a single-player Grand Prix or Challenge mode, and local multiplayer with 1v1 over Bluetooth or 2-4 players over local WiFi. There isn’t currently any online racing functionality, but the developers have stated that it’s always a possibility in a future version.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing played very well despite still being in an early state. The tilting to turn was very responsive and fun to use, and I usually dislike tilt-to-steer options in racing games. There are plenty of boosts and weapon pickups scattered throughout each track, so there’s always some sort of carnage going down. One nice aspect to the game is how you earn points with each race which will go to unlocking each of the characters and tracks in the game, lending a nice goal-oriented progression to playing. The game is also quite colorful, and although it isn’t heavily detailed the game moves so fast that it’s hard to notice.

Here’s some video of me playing through one race using B.D. Joe from Crazy Taxi:

Sega pegs the release of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing for Spring, and there is definitely some additional polishing that needs to be done before then. The frame rate stuttered a tiny bit and many of the sound effects and some music aren’t present at this time, as you can tell from the above video. Still, it’s shaping up fairly nicely and I’m definitely looking forward to the release. You can check out a discussion for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing in our forums, and we’ll have more from the game as its Spring release date approaches.