Hundreds, Semi Secret Software's minimalistic puzzle game that tasks users with tapping and growing bubbles until they hit a specific threshold, is being re-introduced by Semi Secret. The reason? Apparently, a lot of things have changed. To name a few added elements: a new mode has been created, the number of puzzles has been bumped up, the presentation has been sharpened, and "something akin to a narrative layer" has been added since its initial debut at GDC 2012.

We don't have any hard details on any of this stuff, but we're guessing all this new content is going to be solid. Semi Secret has never failed to deliver.

Hundreds is still coming to iOS. In more recent news, it will apparently even run on iPad 1 at 60FPS, so take some comfort in that if you've got an older device. Semi Secret is offering up a "soon" as to its release, so keep your head on a swivel.

Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy [$2.99] pops because it knows what it is: a super fast, over-the-top action game that plays it loose with physics and reality. That was our big takeaway from earlier this year when we went hands-on extensively with it following its surprise debut at the new iPad event where it helped show off that device's power and actual HD screen.

Air Supremacy has just been updated with iPhone 5 screen support, which turns out, is a great thing for the smaller version of the game. Functionally, the increased screen real estate let's you really chew on the game's environments. Also, the game feels easier to control in certain modes of play, courtesy wider virtual button placements.

More importantly, maybe, is the fact that we've been getting the same sense of speed out of this version that we got from the iPad version. It could just be in our heads, but it seems to be drawing us in more into its speed and scale on iPhone 5 than it ever did on iPhone 4S, courtesy being able to see more whizzing by us.

If you're looking for a cool flight game for iPhone 5, you can't really do better than Air Supremacy at the moment. It was already a hip game, but the smaller version sings on iPhone 5.

Rayman Jungle Run [$2.99] is now my favorite iOS auto-runner. Granted, I wasn't the biggest fan of the genre, especially those with procedural, unending levels. Luckily, Rayman Jungle Run offers 40 distinct levels that require players to jump, hair-copter float, wall run, and punch or kick their way to the goal.

Each of these four overarching worlds tacks on an ability, and three of these worlds play out with tap-anywhere controls. However, the punch mechanic, used only in the final world, is relegated to a virtual button on the lower right.

Getting to the 40 goals is the easy part and adds up to less than an hour of pure gameplay. Getting 100 Lums per level, though, requires hours of practice. Each perfect level earns players a red gem-tooth, and five teeth unlock one crazy-hard race per chapter.

No Lums are in these Land of the Dead levels; it's all about reaching the end for the final tooth and getting the fastest time to place on the leaderboard. Speaking of leaderboards, none of the other stages are timed for online racing, which almost seems like a missed opportunity.

Other than meeting achievement goals, going for 100 Lums in stages unlocks an image gallery full of characters from Rayman Origins. This feels rather bittersweet, as seeing the characters creates nostalgia but serves to remind players what's missing from the Origins universe. How would this auto-runner incorporate bosses? I don't know, but I think the brilliant minds behind Rayman could have found an innovative way.

A few extra music tracks also wouldn't hurt, as they played randomly and grew a little stale after the first hour of playing. These tracks are probably enough for casual plays, but not for those who play over and over to perfect every level. That said, the overall lack of new assets made more sense when I realized Pix'n Love Rush creator Pastagames actually developed Rayman Jungle Run and not the original Ubisoft team.

Fanboy-like complaints aside, Rayman Jungle Run is the most thrilling, gorgeous, charming, and responsive auto-runner I've ever experienced. The stages whip and zip like a rollercoaster set at a perfect speed, which allowed me to take in each colorful character and background.

Each level, while less than a minute long, felt large. In whatever direction Rayman was running, jumping, or floating, I felt like I was exploring nearly every inch.

I don't believe collecting all 3,600 Lums in one play without dying is reasonable replayability, but I will happily pay for more levels to explore. Sadly, the title screen lacks a DLC button to hint of any forthcoming content.

For people who've never experienced Rayman or those who have strayed from the series, this is an excellent (re)introduction. For those who've played Origins, this may feel a bit mechanically and aesthetically familiar. In the case of Rayman Jungle Run, familiarity isn't a bad thing, especially when it stems from creator Michel Ancel.

Good news: the wait for Fireproof Studios' super atmospheric 3D puzzle game, The Room, is almost over. The game has cleared certification and it'll be out this September 19 across the App Store for iPad 2 and the new iPad. The price? An agreeable $4.99.

We're pretty stoked about this. We took a gander at a pre-release version of the game earlier last month, and came away surprised with its ability to dish out mystery and intrigue while also giving us the chills. The experience was pretty powerful.

In addition to word pictures, we've got some moving ones just below. If you've had a bit of trouble visualizing how The Room rolls, this should help:

Far cheaper, less sweaty, and more bizarre than any real-world miniature golf course I've played on, Wonderputt [$0.99 (HD)] is a polymorphic putt-putt painting brought to life by the charming design of Damp Gnat.

Easily observed in the trailer, Wonderputt contains a ridiculous amount of creativity in its 18 holes and the way the course transforms between each hole. Playing on a cubic river optical illusion, a farm mowed by hyperactive cows, lily pads on a lake, or a hill from a fresh avalanche keeps the golf game fresh with unique obstacles.

Wonderputt's biggest flaw is that it penalizes players' scores for the time spent completing the course. How can I not get lost in its visuals?! Maybe by the 5th or 10th playthrough I'll be less distracted.

That said, Wonderputt has only one golf course in the whole game and is the only other let down here. However, in the second playthrough, it becomes much more fun and manageable with the Wonder rainbow collectibles littered across each course. These collectibles seem arranged in a way that the most geometric of players can connect in one shot. It certainly helped me earn two hole-in-ones.

I had actually played Wonderputt online for free last year, but my iPad experience was definitely more memorable. I recall giving up on the pull-back-and-release gameplay with a mouse. Thankfully, the tiny golf ball feels easier to putt with my finger.

Feeling so familiar, I cheated a little and asked developer Reece Millidge what was new to the iPad version. He said it contains a larger canvas than the Flash version, HD graphics for retina display, and a triple-length soundtrack. As for why I played slightly better on the iPad version, he says he made the holes slightly bigger to help with the inaccuracy of fingers compared to the mouse.

Wonderputt has Game Center leaderboard integration, but it offers some homemade achievements that I think add more to the replayability, asking players to eventually hole-in-one everything. Also worth noting, music and sound effects are light but fitting for the game. I'd rather they complement but not overpower the striking visuals.

Wonderputt joins a number of other great mini golf style games on the App Store, and I can see several casual and hardcore players wanting to explore this eccentric golf course from end to end at least a few times. If you're the guy or gal with the fancy iPad 2 or 3, Wonderputt is one of those sharp apps you just have to show everyone and will definitely earn a few cool points in doing so.

Neat: Rovio Mobile's next game based in the Angry Birds universe doesn't star the Angry Birds. Instead, it puts the pigs front and center, and in a playable role.

Earlier this morning, Rovio announced Bad Piggies, a game that will turn "the franchise on its head." The studio is being needlessly vague with the game's actual mechanic, but it is promising "all-new, never-before-seen gameplay," whatever that means.

Bad Piggies is slated to hit soon -- like, September 27 soon across iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, as well as Android devices and Mac. Following the launch, the game will appear on Windows Phone and PC. Bad Piggies shower curtains, rugs, underwear, and cat toys are sure to follow.

We've got a trailer above, if you're interested.

Square Enix's latest iOS release is out, hot, and confusing the crap out of people. Final Fantasy Dimensions [Free] is a free download, but unlocking the full game will cost you more than Final Fantasy Tactics [$15.99] and Chrono Trigger [$9.99] combined. This is Dimensions' English-language debut, but it's not an iOS original. Oh, and you can get the free part now, but you can't buy it yet due to some strange App Store SNAFU where Dimension's in-game store shows no available chapters for purchase.

Phew!

So, what is Dimensions, really? It's an update of a chapter game released in Japan as Final Fantasy Legends over late 2010 and 2011, so it's still basically a new game. It's also distinctly 16-bit in style, and uses a job system similar to that in Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy Tactics, so it's old-school. It's full of NES and SNES era Final Fantasy references, including the "crystal theme" scales and the blue screen of introduction. If you've ever wished that there were more pre-VII Final Fantasy games, you're the target audience.

I currently have a piece of Final Fantasy VI fan art (by the incomparable Zac Gorman) as my wallpaper, so I can't claim to be unbiased.

The Prologue of Dimensions clearly isn't intended to sell you on the game's system: the job system doesn't unlock on this side of the paywall, and the combat ramps up just enough to make you pay attention without ever becoming a real challenge. It also won't sell you on the originality of the story or characters - both are more comfortably familiar than refreshing, with a plot that begins like a benign mashup of Final Fantasies I and IV, and the characters like the childhood friends of Chrono Trigger, though less immediately distinctive.

Instead, the game is going to pitch itself to you on it's nostalgia value, its implementation in iOS, and the sense that things are really going to pick up from here.

The nostalgia value is the most subjective. I found it pleasantly familiar, but others will find it dull or cloying.

The implementation is superb, and it may have helped that this game was originally designed for mobile gaming. There are three different control schemes: fixed virtual controls, a slide-to-move mechanic similar to the much-maligned default controls of Cthulhu Saves the World [$1.99], and the game's default controls, a "best of both" interface that pops up a d-pad wherever you touch which can then be used as a virtual controller or the compass rose (center point) for swipe-to-move. The d-pad is a bit large, and cannot be resized or made invisible, but otherwise should accommodate nearly every gamer's preferences.

Menus are also multi-control, including the combat menus, where you can touch the monster you want to attack or select the box with it's name on the right hand side of the screen. Contextually appropriate controls, like a "target all" button, pop up when appropriate, and tapping them a second time toggles them back off. To equip different characters, you can go into their equip menu then back to the main menu, or you can speed things up by tapping on other characters' portraits or cycling though your ranks by tapping the left or right sides of the item information window (tiny arrows cue you in to this option, but the sensitive area itself is generous).

With Dimensions' large party cap (5) and all the ability and equipment swapping the jobs system will require, this should really make quick-changes a breeze. If you get tired of the default chiptunes, you can select other tracks (though this is part of the IAP) or adjust the game's music volume (controllable separately from sound effects) and put on your favorite playlist. The game's sped-up autobattle mode makes hash of weak enemies, and turns off at a tap if you get into trouble.

The effort put into the UI, and the plot twist at the end of the Prologue (spoiler: the world gets split into light and dark parallel worlds, and you'll control a party in each one) suggest that Dimensions quickly expands from a tightly-constrained and simple retro title into something much larger and more interesting, with a large cast, lots of combinations of equipment and abilities, and maybe even a different take on the "light v.s. dark" stories of the early Final Fantasy titles.

I just wish I was more invested in the characters at this point. With the lack of available of launch day IAP unlocks, Dimension's pay structure could backfire on Square. The first part of the game is free, but with the strongest elements of gameplay (and, hopefully story) hidden behind the broken paywall, some players will have moved on by time the patch comes out.

After the patch is out, we'll review the rest of the game.

Surprise! Supergiant Games has been working on an iPad port of Bastion. It'll launch a little later tonight, as international releases worm their way across the globe. If you have played Bastion before, on either XBLA or in your browser or on PC, you'll feel at home with this version. While it does contain some minor tweaks, it's functionally the same game that you should have, and probably have, checked out before.

For those of you not in the loop, Bastion is an action RPG that tasks you, as The Kid, with restoring a floating island to its former glory. In the process of rebuilding, you learn a thing or two about a beautiful world gone wrong. You'll also kill tons of weird bad guys, like, say, floating blobs and deformed blue things with scythes.

(more...)

Words With Friends HD [$2.99] is, like, totally HD now. The game's latest update, which went live just the other afternoon, has added support for the new iPad's display. Version 5.0 also sees the addition of a new sidebar interface element that hooks you up with links to other Zynga games and lets you pester your friends via social media.

Of course, this update also includes nebulous "bug fixes and optimizations." Words With Friends [99¢] on iPhone and iPod Touch has also been updated with these, and as you may have just noticed, it's also just 99¢ instead of its usual $2.99.

(more...)

realMyst [$6.99] for iPad -- which is now actually called just realMyst -- is available on the App Store today as promised, and it's rocking a $6.99 price tag. realMyst includes all of the content from the original Myst plus "Rime Age," and includes a few hip features like save states, auto-saves, and a hint book.

realMyst is a port of a re-release of Myst that, for the first time, gave Myst fans that ability to explore the original game in 3D. This version includes dynamic water and environmental effects, too. Early word from our message board seems to be positive, but we'll be digging in soon, too. Stay tuned.

Cyan Worlds' Real Myst, or "realMyst for iPad" as its now being called, has a release date. According to a post on the studio's Facebook page, Cyan expects Real Myst to hit the iPad 2 and iPad 3 on June 14. Over 60 designers, coders, and programmers combined have touched the project, the post also shares.

Real Myst isn't a new thing, by the way: it's just a port of a real-time version of the original game. Released in November 2000, Real Myst's real-time rendering and streaming -- which allowed users to explore Myst much more fluidly and intuitively -- was cutting edge stuff. Technology! It moves fast!

New Tourin-based studio Mixed Bag is creating an "old-school action adventure" game that will embrace the fundamentals: art, real estate, bosses, powers, and mystery. It looks a little like Metroid, except with probes.

Forma.8, as its called, takes place on an alien planet where you, as the titular probe, will be tasked with finding something after an accident separates you from your pal. As you progress, you'll discover ancient civilizations and even "dystopian visions," rendered in some of the coolest art this side of Another World. Check it out:

(more...)

Neuroshima Hex [$2.99] received all sorts of new features and content this morning courtesy a brand new update to the core game. The coolest addition by far is the introduction of asynchronous online play, which is something the game's developer Big Daddy's Creations has been thinking about doing for quite some time. Other neat features in today's update include new iPad retina support, player profiles, a stronger tutorial, and redesigned UI elements across the board -- stores, menus, and even in-game.

We haven't talked about Neuroshima in a while, so allow us to re-introduce you to the brain busting game with this tidbit from our comprehensive review:

Like many strategy games with unique rulesets, Neuroshima Hex is fairly complicated. Playing the game involves selecting one of the four factions, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, then playing with a 35 tile "deck". Players start by placing their headquarters on the game board, and the rest of the game revolves around attacking the enemy HQ while defending your own utilizing the tiles you draw at the start of your turn. Your deck of tiles consists of three different types, tiles that contain different types of units, modules which buff those units, and instant action tiles that do things like destroy or slide a unit, or even initiate combat.

In celebration of the release of this update, Big Daddy has dropped the price of the game to $2.99 from its usual $4.99. Our full review is available here, if you'd like to read up on the game if you're thinking about taking the plunge. Spoiler: the game's learning curve is a little steep.

Infinity Blade 2 [$6.99] already has a ton of content to explore, but it'll be offering even more fat loot and monsters this coming Thursday when Chair unleashes a new expansion dubbed Vault of Tears. It's free and set to "delve further into the Infinity Blade story" via a brand new dungeon to dive. Expect to get around 50 new items to collect, level up, and utilize and expect to see a handful of new foes.

Interestingly, Chair is plugging in a few fresh mechanics to play around with. Of the most note, it's adding a treasure map that marks treasure locations. Also, ClashMob is being expanded to allow anyone to participate in fights via Twitter or Facebook -- no game required. Weird, right?

Again, Vault of Tears hits later this Thursday. These assets should hold you over until then, we'd hope.

One of the world's best CCGs on mobile, Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer [$.99], is now better looking and it's packing more content. In a recent update, developer Incinerator Studios added retina support for iPad, as well as three new IAP card packs -- Return of the Fallen, Storm of Souls, and an aptly named promotional pack called Promo Pack 1. It has also dropped in an "in-app purchase" manager, which allows you to restore, as well as buy, cards from within the app.

If this sounds good, go ahead and update Ascension. You'll notice some new tweaks, too: fast-app switching is now supported and a new 28-day online game timer round out what is sounding like a pretty sweet update for the game's most dedicated fans. It's nice when this happens, right?