Solus Games' Funky Punch [App Store] is now available in the App Store for $7.99.

Funky Punch is one of the first fighting games for the iPhone which we first described in a story over the weekend.

The developer describes the game:

Get funky with FUNKY PUNCH, one of the first fighting games for iPhone/iTouch. Run, Jump, Kick, and Punch your way to victory in this action packed, 3D fighter. Train and test your fighter in a tutorial mode, then go to battle against other funky phenoms using Special and Super Attacks and power up your fighter in battle through dynamic.

We've spent only a very brief time with the game so will reserve our final judgements. First impressions show a well executed game with no show stoppers. The on screen buttons don't seem to be a deterrent in gameplay, but we're not yet certain about the long term playability. Solus Games, of course, promises that the local high score tracking "will keep you coming back".

This video provided by the developer shows the gameplay:

Thanks VeganTnT

Computerworld.co.nz reveals that independent developer David Frampton has seen huge success with his first iPhone game, Chopper [$7.99, App Store].

According to the article, Frampton is seeing about 500 downloads a day for his $7.99 game. So far, he's seen 20,000 downloads total. That calculates out to $111,860 USD made so far and about $2800 more each day. If that level of interest sustained, it could reach $1 million in net revenue annually.

Frampton's Chopper was inspired by the the classic Choplifter game from the 80's. In Chopper, players complete missions, which involve rescuing civilians while fighting off tanks and bazooka wielding men.

David Frampton was kind enough to provide TouchArcade with an early interview as well as early screenshots of the then-unreleased game.

Congrats David!

Hudson has released Puzzloop [App Store], a circular puzzle game for the iPhone through the iTunes App Store.

PuzzLoop is the original "match-three-of-a-kind" circular puzzler released in 1998 that spawned numerous clones including the popular multi-platform Luxor.  As the YouTube video demonstrates, the game is simple.  The player controls a turrett in the middle of the screen that is surrounded by an inward-spiraling track on which a string of balls of varying colors close in on the aforementioned turrett.  The objective: fire colored balls at the incoming string of balls in order to create groups of three or more that eliminate upon contact.  The iPhone version is a solid translation that feels particularly polished.

Puzzloop offers both a Stage Mode, which breaks the gameplay into distinct stages, and an Endless Mode that provides more of a continuous play session.  In addition to balls of various colors, certain artifacts appear in the game that help or hinder the player, such as slow (slows the flow of balls), stop (temporarily stops the flow of balls), bomb (destroys in-proximity balls), and bats (which changes ball state).

The game features a nice touch that we wish all iPhone games offered: online score tracking.  A great motivator to keep coming back.

PuzzLoop for iPhone utilizes touchscreen controls and provides a satisfying pick-up puzzle gaming experience and can be downloaded from the App Store for $7.99.

As we recently reported, Handmark Inc. has released GTS World Racing [App Store] through the iTunes App Store.  After spending some time with this title, we can recommend it as a solid iPhone racer.

Unlike the popular Crash Bandicoot Nitro Cart 3D and Cro-Mag Rally which are kart racers that put a priority on the "zany" or "fun" elememts of racing, GTS Word Racing is one of the two App Store racing titles that strives to capture a more realistic racing experience (the other being Wingnuts Moto Racer from Freeverse).

Gran Turismo fans take note--GTS World Racing is the most realistic racer on the iPhone.  While it doesn't quite match the driving sim featureset of the aforementioned, legendary Playstation racer, it does surpass Wingnuts Moto Racer as far as realistic racing goes.  That said, it lacks a bit of the "fun" of Freeverse's offering.  (After all, there's no punching in GTS World Racing...)

The game offers four play modes: Single Race, Challenge Cup, Grand Tour, and Championship.  In all, the there are 64 tracks across 16 different locations.  The track scenery varies from desert to jungle to icy mountainside, but despite the varying environmental textures, the tracks feel rather similar, overall.  The game world features a 3D track landscape and scrolling backdrop that come together to deliver clean visuals that look favorable compared to other iPhone racing titles.  The only real graphical complaint might be the use of 2D vehicle graphics.  While there is a bit of slowdown when all cars are onscreen at once during the start of a race, the framerate is generally solid.

Speaking of vehicles, there are three different types to choose from: Sports, Coupe, and Formula.  Each vehicle type offers a different combination of acceleration, speed, and handling characteristics, with the Sports vehicle providing the most rounded racing experience.

GTS World Racing features the most spot-on accelerometer control of any racing title currently available for the iPhone.  It's basically "just right."  Acceleration / breaking is achieved by tilting the iPhone forward and back while steering is controlled by rotating the iPhone clockwise and counterclockwise like a steering wheel.  Thanks to the particuarly wide "camera angle" of the game, moving down the track at full tilt delivers a satisfying sense of speed, if not one quite so dramatic as that of Moto Racer.

We feel that fans of the realistic racing genre will find $7.99 a fair price for GTS World Racer, the App Store's standout iPhone racing title.

[ video updated 9/16/08 ]

Forum user Project-79 noticed that Astraware’s GTS World Racing is now available [App Store]. We posted a brief overview just earlier today. The game will offers 16 locations, 64 different track layouts and 3 different car types to chose from. The tilt-controlled racer also offers four different play modes and four difficulty levels. The product page details the different play modes.

We'll provide a full review shortly. The game is priced at $7.99 and takes up 9.6MB.

Macworld's Dan Frakes took the time to buy each one of the 18 Sudoku applications and determine which were the best of the bunch. Frakes managed to narrow the field to 3 top contenders.

Sudoku Vol. 1 [$5.99, App Store] by Hudson Entertainment was his first pick. Its described as the best Sudoku application for beginners in that it offers a tutorial mode to help guide you through the puzzles. While the game provides helpful tools and customizations, it only offers 50 levels and requires you to solve easier levels before getting to the harder ones.

Big Bang Sudoku [$4.99, App Store] from Freeverse offers a shiny interface and is said to be simpler to us than Hudson's offering. This version also offers over 10,000 levels across four difficulty levels.

As his last pick, Frakes choses EA's Sudoku [$7.99, App Store] which has been updated from the iPod version and delivered to the iPhone. The game offers 10,000 unique levels and beautiful graphics (pictured above). One unique feature to EA's version is "Newspaper mode" which allows you to manually enter and play puzzles from a book or newspaper.

A more in depth look at each version's interface is provide in the Macworld article.