If you would have asked me a few days ago what the best Missile Command game was on the App Store, I would have responded Earth vs Moon without hesitation. That is, before I downloaded Pangea Software's Warheads [App Store], a game that takes the standard Missile Command formula, and then smears a layer of explosions, particle effects, and other eye candy creating a totally over the top experience.

Radio chatter calls out which sector the current barrage of incoming missiles is coming from, the camera shifts to that direction, and you tap the screen to fire your own missiles. The gameplay isn't anything we haven't seen before, but the sound effects coupled with the camera shaking around and the constant change of direction really creates a surprisingly frantic atmosphere, especially when you advance in attack waves and difficulty.

Four different power-ups can be shot down which give you bonus ammo, bonus points, make the explosion radius of your missiles larger, or clear the whole screen. To see how this all ties together, check out the following gameplay video:

The truly unfortunate thing about Warheads is the lack of any kind of online scoring. This is a game that is practically begging for some kind of online leaderboard and achievement system. In its current state, there isn't much replay value to be found short of just beating your own scores locally. Regardless, I'm sure there are some Missile Command fans out there who will appreciate what Pangea has done with the classic 30 year old gameplay.

App Store Link: Warheads, 99¢

Lazy 8 Studios (through Chillingo) has just released an iPhone version of their 3D mechanical puzzle game Cogs [App Store]. The iPhone release is an adaptation of their PC original, which is currently a finalist in the IGF 2010 Excellence in Design category.

Cogs is a mechanical puzzler that challenges you to bring to life a series of increasingly complex machines by way of arranging sets of tiles, gears, pipes, and the like in such a way as to connect varying energy sources to their ultimate outlets across 50 different 2.5D and 3D environments. And the whole thing is done up in a lovely steampunk motif (the best cogs are, of course, brass). There are carts to set rolling, balloons to inflate, helicopters to build, and rockets to launch. The sliding tile mechanic makes it feel something like Puzzle on (brass and mahogany) steroids.

Cogs presents you with three different modes of play. Inventor Mode, which is really the core gameplay mode, takes the player through all of the game's 50 puzzles, starting with the easy and moving towards the maniacal. The other two modes are Challenge modes that provide access to any puzzles unlocked in the Inventor Mode and are great for getting off a quick round or two on the go. Time Challenge presents any unlocked puzzle in an easier-to-solve configuration than Inventor mode…but each puzzle must be completed within 30 seconds. Move Challenge mode, in contrast, is all about taking time to decide the most efficient route to a puzzle's solution — each puzzle must be solved in 10 moves in this mode.

Score rankings and achievements are tracked through Chillingo's own Crystal game network.

The game features a well-done touch system that takes the iPhone's screen out of your way and puts you in simple control of these seemingly real objects. It's a simple tap (or swipe) to move a tile — and you can move more than one at a time by tapping on the first tile in a row to move. Two fingers on the screen allows for drag-based rotation of the various puzzle objects. Although the original is a PC title, Cogs was definitely meant for a touchscreen.

Cogs is addicting, brilliant, and frustrating. A casual puzzler, it is not. Oh, the game takes it easy on you for the first few puzzles in order to instill within you a false sense of mechanical mastery. Shortly thereafter, however, the puzzles get downright cruel. You'll discover that the next level, a mere flat board of pipe tiles, has pipe pieces on not one but both sides. Or try your hand at ringing an array of bells in perfect synchronicity with a wildly varying array of hammer cogs to deal with. It's a case of "must…defeat…this…game…" where one might not always call achieving victory "fun," but rather "necessary — for sanity's sake." It can be maddening, but in the loveliest sort of way.

I've spent significant time with various pre-release builds of Cogs over the last few weeks and I can say that it's, at the moment, my favorite iPhone puzzler and one of my very favorite iPhone games in general. I really can't imagine much in the way of a negative that a puzzle fan could posit against this game. But if my praise doesn't convince, grab the free PC demo version and give it a try to get at least a feel for the game.

Cogs is being sold in an interesting way in that you pay as you go, buying incremental packs of ten levels for 99¢ a pop. For the initial 99¢ you get the first ten levels, which basically amounts to the puzzles that make up the Cogs tutorial. Beat that, and the next ten levels are 99¢, beat those and ten more are 99¢, and so on. If you buy the game and all four DLC packs, Cogs will run you $4.95 and should take around 10 hours to complete if you try to beat every challenge in the game.

App Store Link: Cogs, 99¢ (Plus 4 DLC Packs @ 99¢ each)

Normally it would seem that gamers appreciate games that had a ton of work put in to them, and generally speaking, the more depth the better. However, a new trend has taken hold in iPhone development, with games produced in the least amount of time possible. Super Ramen BROTHers was released earlier this month, and yesterday Project 72 [App Store], a game developed in 72 hours, appeared.

In Project 72 you tilt your device to pilot a rocket through space, avoiding various obstacles and picking up a few different items. Your ship needs to be constantly refueled, requiring you to plan your course around picking up the green fuel tanks. There's also a power-up that surrounds your ship in a shield and a nitro power-up to make you go faster.

While the gameplay may be fairly basic, the seamless integration of online scoring is really nice. Forum members in the game's thread are really enjoying it, and if the guys from Dogtown Studios can produce a game with these kind of high quality graphics in three days, I'm going to be looking forward to seeing what else they come up with in the future.

App Store Link: Project 72, 99¢

As a big fan of time trial games, I took immediate interest in Comet Racer [App Store], the newest release from Donut Games. Comet Racer has you piloting a small craft through the mazelike interiors of comets in a mission to complete each of its 25 different levels in as few seconds as possible. With a unique global leaderboard system and a great physics engine, this is a game that fans of other recently released time trial games like Hook Champ or Jet Car Stunts will enjoy.

Each level in Comet Racer opens with the unveiling of your ship on a launch pad, and an old-school traffic light slides in from the left to give a three second launch countdown. Using a thruster button on the right side of the screen and the two left/right directional buttons on the left, controlling your ships around hairpin turns and through slim corridors is an easily-acquired skill. Crashing into a wall will cost you one of your "lives" (displayed in the form of tiny spaceships at the top left corner of the screen) and cause a significant drop in speed, making it more difficult to finish the level under the given qualification time.

I normally don't like games that require players to unlock all of its levels by beating every level in order (as this can cause players to get stuck on one particular level and become frustrated) but I feel that it's not a real issue in Comet Racer since players will rarely have much difficulty finishing levels. The game is tuned so that levels aren't difficult to complete, but so that it's challenging for players to attain a three-star ranking (the highest possible ranking).

Comet Racer uses a fairly unique leaderboard system that I particularly enjoyed. Instead of setting a separate leaderboard for each level, the game combines all your track times into one total score, where each hundredth of a second that you beat the qualification time by is worth 1 point. For example, if a certain track has a qualification time of 20 seconds, and you finish it in 19.50 seconds, you'll be awarded with 50 points. Naturally, it'll only be possible to max out your potential score once you've unlocked all the tracks, but the real focus of the game is going back through and improving just marginally on your times in each level. To aid with this visually, the game even keeps a "ghost" version of your best time in each level that you can race against later.

As you unlock more levels, you'll begin to encounter more and more unique obstacles and pickups that give some needed variety to the tracks. You'll encounter boost pads, temporary shields, dangrous tracking missles, and walls that must be opened by running over nearby switches. One of my few complaints with the game is that the missiles almost never pose any sort of threat, and will usually be avoided with ease. Even if you fail to avoid the missiles, shield pickups are so common that the useless missiles will bounce right off of you.

I love the way the global leaderboards for this game work, and I will soon start up a major effort to make my way to the top of the boards. Comet Racer is easy to get into and fun to try to master. It's one of those games that can draw you in for hours at a time for the simple chance to improve your high score, and yet it can be picked up and put down in two minutes, a quality shared by the best of iPhone games.

App Store Link: Comet Racer, 99¢

Rocket Powered Games has dropped the price of their four games to $0.99 a piece. The sale runs until Saturday, January 23rd and include Bloodlines: The Alexa Holmes Chronicles, SKATE or DIE, Zombeat, and The Deep.

The two games we've liked and covered before include:

Zombeat Review – Rhythm gaming meets Zombie killing

The Deep Review – Super Metroid goes deep-sea diving

The Deep has been particularly enjoyed by many of our readers, while Zombeat is a clever take on rhythm gaming.

The proceeds of these games and many others are also being donated to Haiti relief for a few days. Full list and schedule at AppRelief.

App Store Links: Zombeat, $0.99 – The Deep, $0.99 – Bloodlines: The Alexa Holmes Chronicles, $0.99 – Skate or Die, $0.99

Meridian has released a new game in the App Store which is a departure from their recent games such as Alive 4-Ever and Against the Fire. This time they've returned to the time management genre with a nice doctor-themed game called Are You Alright?.

Chloe is a brilliant doctor that strongly believes the medical machines invented by her dad will bring great benefits to a lot of patients around the world. She continues to work at hospitals in different countries to demonstrate the machines so that they can be widely used and recognized.

Like most time management games, you are tasked with keeping your customers (well, patients in this case) happy as you direct them from station to station. The story mode for Are You Alright takes you across 70 levels with 50 additional Time Attack levels.

Are You Alright? keeps things interesting by adding station-specific mini games such as X-Rays, Bacteria Testing, Plaster Casting and more. You need to take the time to properly complete each task before moving on.

As you earn money during levels, you can upgrade your equipment and hire additional help that will help keep the flow of patients moving. But, take too long with one, and they might not make it out alive.

This gameplay video shows an early level:

We've only spent a short amount of time with the game so far, but we've found it to be a fun and well executed time management game.

App Store Link: Are You Alright?, $0.99

Released in late 2008, The Creeps [App Store] is a classic tower defense game for the iPhone with a devoted group of fans who have stuck with the game and its various updates that were slowly released over 2009. With this latest update, it's clear that developers Super Squawk Software aren't giving up on the game anytime soon.

The recently released version 1.4 includes three map packs, purchasable via a 99¢ in-game transaction. Each DLC pack comes with six new levels, as well as new dinosaur-themed terrain and creeps. Two of the packs are fairly difficult and seem to be designed for veterans of The Creeps, the third variety pack is of "average" difficulty.

If you haven't had The Creeps on your phone recently, it's worth reinstalling to check out these new level packs, especially if you completed all the content in the previous updates. The new levels have definitely got me back in to the game, and judging from the response on our forums I'm not alone.

App Store Link: The Creeps!, 99¢

Following on the coattails of Skeeball's [99¢] overwhelming success comes another classic arcade machine game from Freeverse. NBA Hotshot [99¢] is a fully NBA licensed game based on the basketball games seen in many bars, bowling alleys, and video arcades. Featuring two gameplay modes, prizes to win, and both local and online scoring via the Plus+ network, NBA Hotshot is a welcome addition to Freeverse's "Flick Sports" lineup.

The game is controlled using flicking gestures to shoot basketballs. In classic mode, you have 40 seconds to score as many points as possible. Initially your shots are worth two points a piece, but 20 seconds in round two starts, the hoop moves farther away in the machine, and each shot is then worth three points. There is also a flashing bonus ball that provides additional points when used.

The second game mode, three strikes, allows you to play until you miss three shots. Regardless of which game mode you choose, as you finish each game a bar slowly fills indicating when you get your next prize. Prizes range from different balls you can play with that feature the NBA team logos and colors, and other less useful prizes like foam fingers and popcorn.

Reactions on our forums have been mixed, but it's safe to say that if you found yourself enjoying the gameplay and controls of Skeeball, NBA Hotshot will likely be a welcome addition to the arcade game collection on your iPhone.

App Store Link: NBA Hotshot, 99¢

Romper Games has recently released an arcade-style block elimination game called ReBounce [App Store] that Peggle fans might just find right up their alley.

ReBounce challenges you to use a golden puck to eliminate screenfuls of marbles of varying colors. Tag a marble with your puck and all surrounding marbles of the same color change to the next color. The color sequence goes: green, yellow/green, and then yellow, with a final hit causing the elimination of all adjoining yellow marbles. Puck control involves tapping the on-screen puck to slow down time, and dragging and releasing in the desired direction to send it where you will. It's an agreeable control method that, along with the puck physics (gravity, inertia), takes little getting used to.

In all, the game offers 40 levels divided among three different types of play: Rush, Puzzle and Bonus levels. Rush levels involve eliminating enough marbles to at least reach the indicated goldScore while not letting the puck fall off the screen. It is also important not to let the growing field of marbles, scrolling in from the bottom of the screen, reach the safety line at the top of the screen. Puzzle levels are set against a timer and are completed when either all of the marbles on the screen are eliminated or the special Goal marble is eliminated (in  the case of the latter, the more marbles eliminated before the Goal marble, the higher your score). And Bonus levels are similar to Rush levels, with an expanding field of marbles, but are set against a timer and the risk of losing the puck off the screen is removed. The various level types are intermixed in the standard play mode and can also be selected individually by type, as well.

We discussed ReBounce in our latest podcast (#10) and had mixed, but overall positive, reactions to it. I love the game, finding it to deliver a feel highly reminiscent of Peggle (one of my favorite iPhone games), but with the notable addition of a fast paced, real-time element. Arnold, too, enjoyed the game but felt that the intermixing of the three different board types in the standard play mode can be, at times, awkward. Eli, on the other hand, found the intense, real-time action to be a bit out of place in a game of this sort. A look at the developer's gameplay video should help you decide of ReBounce is for you.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

I just spent the entirety of a two and a half hour flight knocking out marbles with my puck, never finding it turn tedious. Noting that, at a debut sale price of $0.99, ReBounce seems a rather solid bit of iPhone gaming for your dollar. At least, two out of three experts agree…

App Store Link: ReBounce, $0.99 (limited time)

One of my favorite things about the App Store are all of these insane game concepts that likely would have never seen the light of day if it wasn't for the low barrier of entry in to iPhone development. Discussed during our most recent podcast, Sword & Poker [App Store] is a game we greatly enjoyed with an odd combination of gameplay elements that surprisingly enough work very well together.

At the core is a card-based strategy/adventure game where battles take place by making poker hands on a 5×5 grid. When each game starts, nine cards are dealt in to the center of the grid and you take turns with the AI opponent placing pairs of the four cards you're dealt on the perimeter of the game board to form hands down, across, or diagonally. Jokers are wild, and as you play more hands a gauge in the bottom left slowly fills which allows you to swap a card for a joker as well.

There is a surprising amount of strategy in placing cards, as you need to look at what you've been dealt to try to determine the best order to play them as your opponent could also have plans for the same squares you hope to utilize on your next turn. Furthermore, as the game board fills up, you can potentially form multiple hands. A well-planned hand placed on the diagonal could also form many other hands going down or across.

The "Sword" portion of Sword & Poker comes from the roleplaying game layered on top of these poker battles, which could practically stand alone as its own game. Instead of just playing poker battles of increasing difficulty, the games are structured as floors in a dungeon and the challenge differs based on the type of monster you're fighting.

The various monsters have different amounts of coins, which is how your life is measured in game. Forming a hand like a flush subtracts far more coins from your opponent's coin purse than a simple pair, and when either you or the monster you're fighting runs out of coins the battle is over.

As you get farther in the game, the shop eventually unlocks where you can use the money you win from battles. Aside from upgrading your coin purse to increase your stamina in battles, you also can buy a number of different weapons. These weapons change your damage output, and some of the later ones you come across also have special abilities when you form particular poker hands.

Weapon selection adds yet another layer of strategy on top of Sword & Poker, as some weapons are bottom heavy, and do more damage when you form simple hands like one or two pairs. Other weapons are top-heavy, and while they do very little damage when you match pairs, they inflict devastating strikes upon laying down hands like straights or flushes.

In addition, certain weapons (along with some monsters) have special effects associated with certain hands. For instance, the thief's knife I'm using now steals a card from my opponent's hand when I form any kind of straight. Other special effects include shielding yourself from damage, causing your opponent to skip a turn, and more.

This is barely scratching the surface of Sword & Poker, a game which nearly defines the term "a hidden gem of the App Store." There are a few things that are strange about the game, such as there seems to be a huge benefit in passing your turn to make sure you are able to play the last two cards of each game board as you're often guaranteed more than one poker hand.

Also, as you progress in the game, poker battles can drag on for quite a while especially when fighting harder "boss" monsters. These fights can be a lot of fun, but the battle music is a painfully short loop that quickly becomes very repetitive as it has a very clear start and finish. However, these are merely minor complaints for an otherwise fantastic game.

If you like poker, RPG's, or just strange games that actually turn out to be a lot of fun you owe it to yourself to at least try the five levels in Sword & Poker Lite [App Store]. We discussed the game on our last podcast, and there is a thread on the forums where several people have posted about how much they're enjoying it if you need any more reason to give the game a try.

App Store Link: Sword & Poker, 99¢ – Sword & Poker Lite, Free