IUGO has released the second episode of their popular iPhone game Toy Bot Diaries. We at Touch Arcade were huge fans of the first episode.

Your favorite robot is BACK! Join Toy Bot in his latest and greatest adventure: Toy Bot Diaries Entry 2. Toy Bot begins where he left off, climbing out of the dingy sewers and into a whole new world of challenges in the sky. Entry 2 gives you more levels, more content, more graphics and maximum fun! See why Toy Bot has been called one of the best games exclusive to the iPhone. If you liked Entry 1, you’ll LOVE Toy Bot Diaries Entry 2!

We found the first episode to be a particularly polished and immersive experience and we still highly recommend it.

App Store Link: Toy Bot Diaries 2, $3.99

Bootant’s flying game BiiPlane, which we previewed earlier in the week, has appeared in the App Store [link].

BiiPlane is a bullseye flyer in the spirit of Nintendo’s acclaimed Pilotwings and as-yet unreleased Wii Sports: Airplane–but is a much simpler game, overall.

BiiPlane places the player in accelerometer-based control of a bi-plane (bii-plane?) flying through a series of canyon mazes filled with hot-air balloons dangling star cubes and star rings suspended in mid-air.  The goal of the game is to gather star cubes by flying directly through them.  If aim is not true and either the hot-air balloon or the chain the star hangs from is hit, the star cube will drop to the ground, making for a perilous pick-up scenario as impacting the ground or walls of the canyon inflicts damage upon the plane.  For every star ring that is successfully bullseyed, the player can swipe the screen, which flips the plane 180-degrees to aid in collecting missed star-cubes.

Being a fan of this genre (I pray nightly that Nintendo will go ahead and release Wii Sports: Airplane), I find BiiPlane to be a fun diversion that offers smooth, sensitive control.  (That’s not to say that keeping off the canyon walls in some of the more zig-zagged levels is an easy task.)  I do, however, wish there were more expansively designed levels.  As the demo video illustrates, despite texture changes and route shape changes, level-to-level the game is much the same.  It would offer greater replay value if there were more varied terrain to fly through.

While BiiPlane is a game in the spirit of Pilotwings, it is nowhere near as complete a title.  But then, at $3.99 [App Store] it’s one tenth the price of the Nintendo classic.  Fans of the genre may want to have a look.

Oliver Pasqualini has recently released a 2D cave-flyer for the iPhone called G_Force [App Store].  As a particular fan of the genre, I was excited to see the game appear in the App Store and was anxious to try it out.  (I am always hoping for an iPhone title that approximates my all-time favorite mobile game, RocketElite.)  And while G_Force is an otherwise well-designed game, it has one fatal flaw that ruins the feel of what could be a very enjoyable title.

Like the typical cave-flyer, G_Force puts the player in control of a spaceship that must navigate an increasingly intricate system of caves filled with various obstacles (both moving and not) in order to complete a task which, in this case, is the collection of a certain number of gems within a set time limit and with a limited amount of fuel.  The game utilizes the iPhone’s accelerometer to control the orientation of the ship and thrust is controlled via touch.

As is the case with most games of this sort, gravity and inertia play an important role–the ship can’t just stop on a dime.  And here is where G_Force fails.

In nature (and in most other games of this sort), when an object reaches the top of a parabolic “throw,” it hangs slightly at the peak and then begins to descend.  In G_Force, when the ship reaches this point, it is subject to a mysterious, greatly extended sort of hang time.  It inexplicably just hangs at that point on the vertical axis for much longer than it should, before beginning to descend.  (See the video.)  This phenomenon ruins the feel of the gravity / physics situation and makes the game too frustrating to be enjoyably played.

Otherwise, the graphics are simple but sufficient and the game features a particualrly nice soundtrack.  Fortunately, this is a v1.0 release and it is well within the developer’s power to fix the physics system such that the ship will respond more “realistically.”  Until that happens, iPhone gamers would do well to hold on to their $3.99.

Horsham Online Limited has recently released Zone Warrior [App Store], a new 3D, first-person space shooter for the iPhone and iPod touch.

In Zone Warrior, someone parked a space station in the middle of an asteroid field and it’s your job to defend it against the asteroids that are slowly tumbling towards the station.  On higher levels, enemy alien fighters join in the mix, making your task notably harder–it’s difficult to blast asteroids while engaged in a dogfight.  Once all the asteroids in a level are cleared, you return to the station and dock with the assistance of a docking computer.  If the station is damaged, however, it’s your task to (perfectly) line up with the rotating station’s docking bay and guide yourself in–think 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It’s not easily done.

The game utilizes the iPhone’s accelerometers for flight control, with an onscreen button for lasers as well as smart missiles.  In the event of a manual dock, a roll control slider appears.

While the station, asteroid, and ship graphics are rather basic polygons, the smooth-panning starfield backdrop and rotating planets strewn about the system make for a convincing feeling of moving through space.  The game features decent sound effects and no in-flight musical track (the dead-silence of space is your theme song).  The explosion effect is particularly impressive.

I find Zone Warrior to be an enjoyable shooter that reminds me to some degree of the good ole’ days of Star Raiders and the like.  If you always wanted to see what Asteroids looks like in 3D, this $3.99 App Store title [link] might be worth a look.

Chaotic Box has released a multi-touch color matching game into the App Store called Pinch ‘n Pop [App Store].

Pinch ‘n Pop! is a new breed of frantic color matching fun that challenges both your wits and dexterity. Push, flick, and squeeze the self-replicating Squirms to keep their population under control, and maximize your score with color chains and well-timed powerup bursts.

Designed exclusively for the iPhone and iPod touch, Pinch ‘n Pop! is a unique arcade experience featuring realistic physics and true multi-touch interaction.

While we know most of you are tired of color-matching games, we appreciate the developer’s effort to design an iPhone-specific game.

The gameplay video shows the game in action:

App Store Link: Pinch ‘n Pop ($3.99)

Bartelme Design’s Dash Ball [$3.99, App Store] caught my eye when it was first released a number of weeks ago. It is a break-out game that adds a unique puzzle element to the traditional formula. The game is described by the developer:

Dashball is an exciting action puzzle game where the goal is to destroy colored blocks by controlling a bouncing ball. Solve the 25 challenging puzzles by moving blocks and changing the ball’s color using the switcher blocks avoiding the skulls. 

In Dashball, there is a ball that is constantly bouncing up and down. As the player, you can control the ball’s left and right movements.

The goal of each level is to simply remove all the colored blocks. The color of the ball dictates which blocks you can destroy, and the color of the ball can be changed by colliding with special color-changing blocks. “Skull” blocks must be avoided or you lose a life, and special boxes can be moved by colliding against them. Levels are constructed as individual puzzles which you must “solve”.

The game itself is very well implemented with a polished feel to it. I found the controls worked much better with touch screen rather than accelerometer, so I would recommend starting there. My experience with the gameplay, however, was mixed. While the game itself was fun, some levels require long runs of precise play in order to complete. If you make a mistake, you can find yourself having to repeat long portions which can be tedious.

Fortunately, a free Lite version [App Store] of the game was just released, so you can try it yourself. A preview video shows some of the gameplay:

The full version of the game contains 25 levels, while the lite version contains 5.

App Store Link: Dash Ball LE (free), Dash Ball ($3.99)

Disclaimer: Dashball is a current sponsor of the site

Starbyte has released their second iPhone game to the app store: Black Mamba Racer [App Store]

Black Mamba Racer is a $3.99 2D overhead racer in which you skid and slide your way around 25 racing mission across 9 different tracks. While the graphics may look primitive, the gameplay is surprisingly fun and challenging.

The premise of the game is that you are challenging the “Black Mamba” to a race, but in order to take her on, you have to complete 25 missions against the clock and her drones. Your car can take damage if you hit a wall so you need to take care to avoid those. If your car health drops to 0%, you’ve automatically lost the mission.

The game offers touch-screen controls which work surprisingly well. My brief attempt at using the accelerometer controls failed miserably, and the documentation even hints you should avoid it.

The first few missions are relatively easy but seems to ramp up quickly (I’m stuck at mission 5). Shown in the video are the 2nd and 3rd missions. The 2nd mission involves just beating 3 of the drones in a 4 lap race. The 3rd mission requires you to complete a lap within a certain amount of time (You’ll notice that I wasn’t aware of this when I recorded this video, so I just meander my way to failure).

While I’ve not gotten very far, I already consider this game is a success. What it lacks in flashy graphics, it makes up for in basic gameplay, which is a refreshing twist.

My main feature request would be a global lap time ranking. While you have your own best lap times for each level, a global list would add an enormous amount of replay-ability over time.

Update: The developer video shows more advanced driving, higher levels and obstacles.

In early August, JadeGame released its 2D scrolling shooter MetalAngel [App Store] through the iTunes App Store.  We took a look at the v1.0 release and found it to be highly disappointing.  In that release, the player moves level to level, dragging or tapping an auto-firing spaceship around the screen, dodging enemy fire, destroying enemy craft, and picking up gems and various power-ups.  That’s all fine and well–it’s just that the game was slow.  Everything about the game was slow.  Slideshow slow.  It was basically unplayable.

A v1.1 update arrived shortly thereafter which did little to help the situation.  It replaced the touchscreen controls with an over-sensitive accelerometer control system that made the game less playable than before.

Author Julian Meyer recently responded to the loud criticism and released MetalAngel v1.2, a significant update that brings dramatic performance improvements.

Changes in v1.2, according to JadeGame:

• Game core has been heavily optimized for faster speed
• Game inputs selection panel added to be able to select the way you would like to control your spaceship [ Touch screen mode / Full accelerometer mode ]
• Weapons are better, monsters are stronger
• Many bug fixes

Does the v1.2 right all the wrongs?  The game is much improved–definitely playable.  But there’s room for improvement yet.  A further speed boost would be welcome; it still feels a bit slower than a scrolling shooter should.  A greater variety of enemies and backdrop scenery would make the game more appealing, as well.

Have a look at a video recently posted by the author that shows v1.2 gameplay and decide for yourself if MetalAngel is worth your $3.99 [App Store].

A discussion of MetalAngel v1.2 can be found in our forums.

Earlier this month we reported that Howling Moon Software would soon be releasing ScribBall for the iPhone, a port of their existing Macintosh title of the same name.  ScribBall [App Store] has appeared in the App Store and we’ve spent some time with this latest color-matching puzzler.

As Howling Moon describes it,

ScribBall is an easy to pick-up puzzle game that’s packed full of exciting and addictive gameplay. Players of all skill levels will enjoy the addictive gameplay and fun hand-drawn graphics as they vie to achieve ever greater scores and awards. The game uses realistic physics, so things roll around and tumble just how you’d expect. To keep things interesting, there are a number of special balls that may explode, call in a storm to mix things up, or jump.

The objective of ScribBall is to eliminate balls by creating like-colored groups of four or more.  This is done by tilting the iPhone (wildly) to slide the balls about and using tap-elimination to remove balls that are “in the way”.  Be careful though…a status bar at the bottom fills partially with each tap-elimination, but drops with each match.  When the status bar fills completely the game is over.

ScribBall has a striking visual appearance; everything in the game looks convincingly hand drawn.  Sort of a Paper Mario kind of aesthetic.  This helps set it apart from the host of other color-matching puzzlers in the App Store, but not as much as the gameplay.  The tilt physics that affects the balls, along with the ability to tap-eliminate balls (with a penalty), gives ScribBall a sort of loose, fast-paced feel that’s fun to come back to.  (Unfortunately, our video doesn’t properly illustrate the fast pace of a typical gameplay session as there’s no easy way to get a clear, close look at the screen while dramatically tilting the iPhone this way and that.  Have a look at the developer’s video for a better feel of typical gameplay pace.)

If the sheer volume of color-matching games in the App Store hasn’t completely put you off of anything to do with colors or matching or ball/gem/tile elimination, you might find ScribBall worth a look.

The folks over at iLounge have taken on the daunting task of reviewing every Solitaire game on the App Store to come up with the following list.

There are 19 games of solitaire in the App Store from 12 different developers. Apps prices link to the App Store:

• Acid Solitaire Collection ($9.99, B-) - 3 games, good gameplay
• Cookie Bonus Solitaire ($2.99, B-) - cutesy interface, online mode
• Cookie Bonus Solitaire - Free (Free, B+) - same game but ad supported
• Demon Solitaire ($0.99, D) - very plain
• Las Vegas Solitaire ($2.99, D) - very plain
• MobilityWare Freecell ($1.99, D) - mediocre, limited single game
• MobilityWare Pyramid ($0.99, D) - mediocre, limited single game
• MobilityWare Solitaire ($1.99, D) - mediocre, limited single game
• Mondo Solitaire ($9.99, B+) - one of the best, over 100 types of solitaire, lots of play
• Platinum Solitaire ($3.99, B) - interface and depth are only so-so compared to others
• Pyramid Solitaire ($4.99, C) - simple pyramid solitaire game
• Pyramid Solitaire Lite (Free, D) - a few less options
• Solebon Solitaire ($9.99, C-) - 20 games, limited audio
• Wee Spider Solitaire ($4.99, C-) - 7 games
• Sol Free Solitaire (Free, B) - 3 games, very nice for free game
• Solitaire CAO ($4.99, D) - Klondike, demo-quality
• Solitaire City ($9.99, B) - impressive, online leaderboard, 13 games
• Solitaire Forever ($5.99, A-) - slick, 3D engine, over 150 games
• Solitaire Top 3 ($3.99, D-) - 3 games, simple

iLounge picks Mondo Solitaire ($9.99) and Solitaire Forever ($5.99, pictured above) as their top paid picks and Cookie Bonus Solitaire - Free (Free) and Sol Free Solitaire (Free) as their top free picks.

Solitaire City ($9.99) should get an honorable mention, however, due to its unique inclusion of an online leaderboard.

iLounge gets into far more detail and provides screenshots of every game in their extensive roundup.