We ran in to Subatomic Studios back at the Penny Arcade Expo in September, and part of my chat with them included the mention of the new levels in the PSP version of Fieldrunners [App Store] eventually making their way to the App Store. These new maps are coming next month when the game is relaunched as the first member of OpenFeint's gold game program. Fieldrunners: Gold Edition will have an in-game store where these new maps will be sold as downloadable content, as well as being the first game to include OpenFeint 2.4 which will boast a number of new features including an in-game instant messaging service. Note, the "Gold Edition" will be a free update to current owners of Fieldrunners.

Similar to our monthly game ratings, the OpenFeint Gold program aims to pick out games which are not only of the highest quality, but also make excellent use of the OpenFeint service. They seem to be setting the bar fairly high in nominating Fieldrunners as the first game to get their gold rating, and it should be interesting to see what games they choose in the future.

Here are two screenshots of the upcoming levels, Frostbite and Skyway:

Each will feature new towers, new enemy units, and will require new strategies.

Fieldrunners was among the first of the highly successful tower defense games for the iPhone, and it's always nice to see original App Store classics like this still getting attention from their developers.

App Store Link: Fieldrunners, $2.99

While this week has been filled with news and reviews of fast paced games, I've always had a weakness for word games on the iPhone, even though I'm fairly terrible at them. Here are three recently released or recently updated word games that are all worth checking out–

Guess the News [99¢ / Free] – Surprisingly enough, the news is good for more than material to auto-tune. Guess the News pulls news stories down from various RSS feeds, and turns them in to puzzles to be solved. You're given a brief description of the article, then need to guess the headline from the pile of letter tiles on the game board. Puzzles are broken out in to several categories such as health, sports, and even "odd stories". For instance, I recently played a few games in the technology category that had me guessing the titles of Engadget posts. Guess the News features three difficulty levels which control how much of the headline is already completed at the start of each puzzle, and with the dynamic content fetching provides infinite replay value.

Word Spin [$1.99] – As seen in the above trailer, this game has two parts to it, the first stage amounts to rotating and positioning the various wheels loaded with letters to line up as many words as possible. You then tap the top of the screen to lock the wheels in place, then find every word you possibly can as you rotate the locked set of word wheels searching for valid words. Once you get good enough, you can compete both against friends by sending email challenges where they will play against your exact configuration of the word wheels or by submitting your score to the global online leaderboard. The gameplay mechanic is solid and provides an interesting spin (See what I did there?) on the word hunting game formula.

Words With Friends [$2.99 / Free] – Everyone who owns an iPhone or iPod Touch should have either the free or paid version of this game on their device. Words With Friends takes the game of Literati (a variant of Scrabble) and adds excellent asynchronous online multiplayer with recently added push notifications that alert you when it's your turn in any of your active games. The free version is ad supported, but otherwise fully featured, and according to a recent presentation by the developers at GDC Austin, Words With Friends and Chess With Friends [$2.99 / Free] has 50,000 active users daily.

I've had numerous Words With Friends games going for months now with nearly every friend of mine who owns an iPhone, a clever in-game search function will search the Words With Friends player database for friends of yours you want to start a game with, and if the game can't find them it will offer to send them an email invitation. Everything about the game is implemented so amazingly well that you owe it to yourself to at least try the free version if you're even remotely interested in word games, especially with the recent update adding push notifications. If you need people to play with, stop by the Words With Friends thread on our forums.

TipCat Mobile just released a very nice side scrolling shooter called Cell War [App Store].

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

Oddly enough, the App Store has no shortage of hunting games. Quite a few of them have flirted with positions high up on the overall sales charts, but none (until now) have come from such long-standing hunting game franchises as the Big Buck Hunter arcade machines and the Deer Hunter series of PC and console games.

Real Deer Hunting, 99¢ – The eighteenth installment in the Deer Hunter series offers a fairly in-depth hunting experience that takes place in the woods of Indiana and the plains of Texas. The game is packed with all kinds of deer luring actions, along with the choice between a shotgun, scoped rifle, and compound bow. Out of all the hunting games I've tried for the iPhone, this one seems the most technical, although having never actually hunted deer I can't say for sure how accurate the developer's claims of ultra-realism are.

Big Buck Hunter Pro, $2.99 – We extensively previewed this game last week following the Big Buck Hunter World Championship in Chicago where the game was originally unveiled. It's a fantastic port of the arcade machine, and provides a remarkably similar experience, only without the plastic shotgun. Big Buck Hunter machines are becoming as much of a bar staple as Golden Tee in my area, so if the iPhone game can tap in to the existing fan base it should be a huge success. However, if you've never drunkenly pumped quarters in to the real Big Buck Hunter game, the iPhone version likely won't have much appeal.

What do you get when you combine a creative lead from Spore and an artist that just finished working on Brütal Legend with the indie spirit of the App Store? Apparently, a dragon with an insatiable desire to stomp on castles while raining fire down upon unsuspecting victims and doing other things dragons do. Or at least, that's the premise of their game Earth Dragon [App Store].

The game features a mixture of tilt and touch controls to maneuver your dragon and spew fire across 15 different levels of increasing difficulty. The recently released trailer shows a bit of the gameplay as well as expanding on your duties as a dragon-

Developer Chaim Gingold has an impressive resume revolving around his involvement in Spore (along with his own Wikipedia page) and artist Jane Ng has spent time as a Senior Artist at both Double Fine Productions and Electronic Arts. It's interesting to see what the two have come up with on the iPhone, and while Earth Dragon doesn't really provide anything revolutionary to the platform, it's still a fun game to play.

App Store Link: Earth Dragon, $2.99

Two new lite versions of games we can't say enough good things about appeared on the App Store recently. If you haven't already bought either of these games, I really recommend giving the free versions a spin

Baseball Superstars 2010 Free – Baseball Superstars 2010, $5.99

With a nearly flawless 4.5 star rating here on Touch Arcade, Baseball Superstars 2010 took everything that was good about Baseball Superstars 2009 and made it better. If you like baseball games or roleplaying games, Baseball Superstars 2010 can potentially consume your gaming life as you find yourself batting through just one more season before going to bed to make your super batter even more powerful.

And of course, like most Gamevil games, there's even a completely off the wall commercial for the game that is totally worth a watch just to see an angel and some type of demon having some kind of epic baseball battle.

Hook Champ Lite – Hook Champ, $2.99

Hook Champ may very well be my favorite game that has been released lately. Fantastic pixel art graphics combined with physics-based gameplay that somehow always keeps me coming back for more (even after falling in to lava for the 100th time) would be enough to interest me in this game, but there's also a whole in-game store with all kinds of both useful and useless character upgrades.

You swing through caves, evade an oddly hungry ghost, and plunder relics along the way. As if Hook Champ wasn't awesome enough, your performance in every level is seamlessly tracked online, and after you beat the game you can go back and try to make it to the top of the score boards in your favorite levels.

Pang (or Buster Bros.) was a popular 1989 arcade game that was subsequently ported to a number of home computer platforms. The basic gameplay has already spawned a number of App Store clones including Chippy [$1.99], Buster Boy [$0.99], LaserBug [$1.99], Bubble Pang Free [Free].

Player X, however, has brought an official Pang port to the iPhone with Pang Mobile [$2.99]. The gameplay is rather simple by today's standards, and also pretty unforgiving. The game involves popping balloons bouncing on the screen with one of several possible weapons. The standard weapon is a harpoon that fires upward. If a balloon contacts the harpoon, it splits into smaller pieces. This repeats until your eliminate all the bouncing balloons. Smaller balloons, however, bounce at lower heights, making them harder to hit. Power-ups allow for a double shot, machine gun, and shield, while in-level obstacles can help or hurt your chances.

For long time fans, the mobile version seems to deliver on the Pang experience. Pang Mobile offers two modes: World Tour and Infinite Challenge. The game is controlled using a "touch area" that allows you to slide back and forth to move left/right. This avoids the imprecision of virtual buttons. Options include adjustments for difficulty and control sensitivity.

Video shows the game in World Tour and Infinite modes:

The game offers a local high score board only and only single player mode.

Not being a Pang player back in the day, it's hard to speak as to how accurate a port this is, but early adopters seem to be enjoying it. Any fans of classic arcade action may also want to consider it.

App Store Link: Pang Mobile, $2.99

There's a lot going right now over at React Games, and it's not just to do with the iPhone.

The studio that brought a revamp of Free Fall Associates' classic '80s strategy / arcade game Archon [App Store] to the iPhone is about to release a separate single-player spin-off title that should give fans of the game much to enjoy.

Upcoming Archon Conquest features four maps to play, 60 different quests or puzzles to complete, and a storyline that ties it all together.  Fans of the series may note that some of the maps are reminiscent of the layout of Archon II: Adept, but the similarity ends at the visual level.  Still, it's a nice expansion of an already great game.

We've captured some early gameplay from the pre-release, preview build of the game that React was kind enough to send us.  Have a look at the action.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Archon Conquest will appear in the App Store shortly at a price of $0.99.

React is also putting the finishing touches on the v1.9 update to classic Archon for the iPhone, which should hit the App Store about the same time as Conquest.  This update will bring a complete re-work of the touch control system as well as various AI enhancements.  And the further-out v2.0 update of Archon will add multiplayer to the mix.  Stay tuned.

Both Archon v1.9 and Archon Conquest now feature Plus+ leaderboards and award systems.

Another piece of news for fans of the game is that React is bringing a four-player adaptation of classic Archon to the PC, featuring multiplayer support as well as a choice of classic 8-bit or redesigned artwork. After 25 years, the game returns to the desktop.  Pre-orders for the PC version start on October 15th at React's website.

I've been slowly playing through Dr. Fun Fun's Hi, How Are You [App Store] since it came out nearly two weeks ago now, completely unaware of the phenomenon that is Daniel Johnston. I originally intended on writing about this game because I hadn't seen another cell shaded platformer on the App Store. However, after doing some research on the history of Hi, How Are You's development, I got turned on to the world of Daniel Johnston and quickly became aware that this is Johnston's life of art and music distilled into a iPhone game.

The premise of Hi, How Are You follows the theme of most of Johnston's music in that you're battling the forces of Satan to find love. Playing as Jeremiah the Innocent, you will make your way through over 25 levels to remove the curse of Satan. As the game progresses, you slowly change from a frog, to a block, to a ball, and finally back to human form.

Your movement in the game is controlled using the accelerometer and the two stop signs in both lower corners of the screen instantly stops your character from moving. Initially this seemed like such an odd set of buttons to have cluttering the screen, but it didn't take long for this seemingly strange control element to really grow on me as you never need to worry about finding the exact center of where you calibrated the accelerometer to in order to stay in place.

Instead, you hold the stop button, tilt the direction you want to move, let go, and you're off. This control method allows you to navigate the different obstacles in game with ease. The camera can be panned right of left by pressing either side of the screen, and to zoom out you press both sides at once.

Completing the levels in game involves hopping over every tile, turning them green, then finding the exit. It's not that easy though, as you quickly come across all kinds of obstacles, moving platforms, and other puzzles. The bottom of the screen displays your life, along with the time, the number of tiles left to turn green, and the number of bonus tiles on the level to be turned red. While each level is timed, you can keep playing and complete each level even if you run out of time, you just won't be awarded for beating the clock.

Hi, How Are You has a soundtrack featuring several of Daniel Johnston's songs, and an art style matching Johnston's drawings. The difficulty ramps up nicely, and with each achievement you unlock a unique piece of artwork to view. I had fun playing the game, but after doing some reading on the life of Daniel Johnston, Hi, How Are You has taken on a whole new layer of awesome. Dr. Fun Fun not only created a game with a neat style that's fun to play for people who have never heard of Johnston, but also an amazing piece of fan service for those who have.

If you'd like to know more about the world of Daniel Johnston, he has his own Wikipedia article, and his life is detailed in the 2005 documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston which is available on iTunes along with all of his music and several music videos.

Hi, How Are You is a fun platform puzzle game with a unique art style. If you're not a fan of Daniel Johnston, playing through this game might just make you become one.

App Store Link: Hi, How Are You, $2.99

Here are some games that have come out recently that are worth a look, but with all the excitement this week between the Eliminate and TouchPets Dogs previews and the 360iDev Game Jam they sort of fell between the cracks of front page coverage.

Bloons Tower Defense

Last month we posted an early trailer for Bloons Tower Defense [$2.99], an iPhone port of the Bloons spinoff tower defense flash games, all playable on the Ninja Kiwi site. Bloons [99¢ / Free] was a wildly popular game on the App Store, and if the positive reactions in our forums are any indication, Bloons Tower Defense may be another hit.

Bloons Tower Defense comes with 50 levels over 15 different tracks with multiple difficulty levels and unlockable medals for each. The game has the same touch controls of other tower defense games on the platform, along with oodles of different towers, upgrades, and tons of balloons for your monkeys to pop.

Mr. Mahjong Touch

FDG Entertainment, most famously known for Parachute Panic [99¢ / Free] and Bobby Carrot [$3.99] recently released Mr. Mahjong Touch [$4.99] based on the popular Mr. Mahjong series of mobile games.

Mr. Mahjong Touch features 100 layouts, 4 tilesets, tons of unlockables, and even a shop system where you can buy power ups. Big Albie posted a review of the game on our forums, and according to him, the game is "easily one of the best mahjong games on the platform."

Galcon Labs

Galcon Labs [99¢] is an evolution on the original Galcon [$2.99 / Free], providing the same basic gameplay with four new game modes not found in the original.

• Billiards – The the planets that make up the battlefield are in constant motion.
• Stealth – Enemy ships are only briefly visible after launching from a planet.
• Crash – Ships collide with each other, so instead of just going after planets you can run in to the enemy to win.
• Assassin – Players start with assigned planetary targets, the first player to capture their targets wins.

Reactions on our forums have been mixed as some people feel there hasn't been enough change to justify an entirely new game, while fans of the original are greatly enjoying Galcon Labs. If you haven't played a Galcon game, I recommend trying Galcon Lite.

Toy Bot Mini Missions

IUGO seems to be pumping out additions to the Toy Bot series like crazy lately. Toy Bot Mini Missions [$3.99] is based in the Toy Bot universe and comes packed with 100 mini games and 12 unlockable playable characters. These ultrashort levels are a bit of a departure from the other Toy Bot games which feature an extended level structure.

Fans of the Toy Bot series may want to consider Mini Missions, but if you're new to the Toy Bot world, you might want to try some of the other games or even the free version first. Take your pick of the seven different Toy Bot games on the IUGO App Store listing.