Each event is able to be played individually, or all together in the "Olympic Games" mode which has you doing one event after the other competing against a team of opponents. There's also a single device multiplayer mode that can support up to 6 people competing against each other by passing the device around.

Each of the five included games are controlled a little differently, some with on-screen buttons you need to tap and others that require tilting. For instance, when cross country skiing, you tap the buttons that appear randomly on either side of the screen to go faster, and in snowboard cross your board is controlled by tilting your device. Racing in the speed skating event involves holding and releasing on-screen buttons with precise timing. Three difficulty modes are included, an easy mode which comes unlocked, as well as hard and survival modes which are sequentially unlocked as you complete each difficulty level.

Vancouver 2010 looks and plays very similar to Playman Track & Field [99¢ / Free], RealArcade's other sports game that came out early last year featuring a set of summer events. There isn't a lite version of Vancouver 2010, but the free version of Playman Track & Field will give you a very good idea of what you're getting in to. There's also a video of the J2ME version which looks nearly identical to the iPhone game aside from the differences in aspect ratio.

I liked Playman a lot, and Vancouver 2010 is even more timing, tilting, and reaction-based mini games. Each of the events are fun, although I've found myself preferring the Snowboard Cross and Biathlon both in-game and in real life.

App Store Link: Vancouver 2010, $2.99

Apogee / Mobila Interactive's iPhone port of ROTT brings all there is to like about 1994 PC original to our favorite mobile platform. The game features 32 levels, a choice of five characters to play (each with unique attributes), five different, customizable controls schemes, and the original game's full soundtrack. A notable feature of the original at the time, the player can look both up and down — up to 45 degrees in either direction — to better take in the surroundings. And the original's horde of minions, comprised of ten digitized enemies (Apogee employees at the time), is fully represented.

I've spent some time with the game and can say that, while the standard formula of mouse + keyboard is definitely the ideal control method for an FPS such as this, the variety of control options offered in the iPhone port of the game, which utilize combinations of both touch and accelerometer controls, should make it easy for most players to find a system that they are comfortable with. It's not perfect — I'd like to see a sensitivity setting for the left / right swipe view controls, for instance — but it works well enough. And it's great fun to get back to this title I enjoyed so many years ago.

Back in 1994, ROTT was a nice alternative to DOOM. And, just as there's certainly a place for DOOM on the iPhone today, so is there a place for Rise of the Triad. For fans of the original, this is an automatic buy, and for anyone else who still enjoys an occasional round of DOOM on the go, Rise of the Triad is a nice alternative that may well be worth a look.

App Store Link: Rise of the Triad, $4.99

The atmosphere of the game is straight out of a classic B-movie, with everything from the numerous ridiculous weapons, to the silly looking aliens, and Daisy Mae's clothing which gets more and more skimpy as you unlock additional outfits. There whole game is even wrapped in a film grain filter that I think looks really cool but is easily disabled in the options if you don't like it.

Gameplay is standard for a dual stick survival shooter. You have three lives, and can restore lost lives by picking up lipstick power-ups. As you kill more and more aliens, a meter fills in the bottom of the screen that you can tap to taunt nearby aliens, which apparently makes them drop dead. There are a bunch of different aliens to kill, and even some giant aliens which take up a huge chunk of the screen.

My favorite thing about Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet is that it seems to be one of the few dual stick shooters that actually has collision detection with obstacles in the game world. You can use the old cars, signs, and random garbage strewn about to your advantage, and it really adds a lot more to the game compared to other dual stick shooters where you can usually just run in circles killing everything that's chasing you.

Daisy Mae is certainly one of the more newbie-friendly shooters out there, thanks to the three control options it includes. Aside from the standard dual sticks you can just use one virtual joystick and a button to fire, or simply just use the virtual joystick and let the game handle firing for you. With this third control option the game basically plays itself, and you really don't even have to move until the meaner aliens start spawning.

Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet is a fun survival shooter with tons of weapons and a cool atmosphere to it. An in-depth stat tracking system keeps track of kills with each of the weapons, total play time, and numerous other stats. Scores are even seamlessly submitted online without needing to register, but like other IUGO games you can optionally participate in the IUGO VIP system. The taunts and unlockable outfits are equally ridiculous, but the addition of terrain collision detection easily makes Daisy Mae worth trying, even if your device is already loaded with other shooters.

App Store Link: Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet, $1.99

Recipes are simplified to basic steps, and you must perform each of them within a time limit. For instance, when making french toast in game, the first step involves cracking eggs. To crack the eggs, you drag them back then forward to hit the rim of the bowl and finally separate the shell to drop the egg in the bowl. From there you need to stir the eggs by tapping the nearby whisk, and then moving your finger in a circular motion over the mixture.

Following that, you move to the cutting board where you slice up a few loaves of bread by tapping the knife to pick it up, then dragging down across the loaf. The next step involves taking the bread you just sliced, dipping it in to the egg mixture and placing it on another plate, all accomplished by sliding your finger around the screen. Nearing completion, you then tilt the phone to move a pad of butter around the frying pan, then finally cook the french toast, flicking the phone down and up to flip it.

And after all that, you have a glorious virtual piece of french toast for you to… not eat. Pocket Chef features five different kitchens, each with different cuisine ranging from classic American foods to desserts. 25 recipes in total are included, with multiple steps that involve playing through 19 different individual cooking step mini games. There's also an in-game cookbook that has the actual recipes if you want to try your hand at making some of the in-game food in real life.

Cooking Mama has flirted with various positions near the top end of both the paid games listing as well as the overall paid app listing, so the appeal of these cooking games is undeniable. I just wish I could see what other people saw in the genre, as cooking virtual food seems so unbelievably dull to me. Regardless, if you've played through Cooking Mama and are looking for more to cook, Pocket Chef seems to be a competent cooking simulator that I'm sure some will enjoy.

App Store Link: Pocket Chef, $4.99

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¢

There is a backstory for Eveningstar that's accessible in text form through the main menu, but it's not really important. The important thing is that you are a dude in spaceship with a deadly magnetic ball called "the Eveningstar" orbiting you. The Eveningstar does major damage to anything it touches, and while it can't be controlled directly, it can be manipulated by moving your ship around to create a slingshot effect. Your ship is controlled by touching anywhere on the screen and dragging, and the Eveningstar follows behind. People in our forums found it quite difficult to control the Eveningstar at first, but reported becoming much better at it after spending a little time with the game.

Aesthetically, Eveningstar impresses. Each of the game's nine levels are set in different elementally-themed locations that draw from unique color palettes. These levels and the enemies that populate them are extremely well drawn, with animation that looks great and feels appropriate for the game's art direction. The occasional 3D effects on some objects seems a little strange, but despite the inconsistency in which items are 3D and which items are not, everything looks good. Complimenting Eveningstar's pleasant graphics is the orchestral soundtrack, which is of professional quality. The epic score makes headphones highly recommendable, as they can add to the overall experience in a way that really shouldn't be missed.

Unlike many other vertically-scrolling shooters, Eveningstar's camera is extremely slow to scroll, making the game intentionally slow-paced. This might be for the best, as there's a pretty cool physics system in the game attributed to some objects that can be manipulated by a well-placed whack with the Eveningstar. To keep levels at a reasonable length, most of the game's nine levels are extremely short (from a physical length perspective, not the time that it takes to beat them). It won't take long to beat the game, but completing all nine levels will restart players at the first level with their current score, encouraging endurance runs for those who wish to go for high scores.

Unfortunately, there is no online leaderboard support to speak of in Eveningstar, so players will be hard-pressed to find incentive to play through the game more than a couple times. The inclusion of easy, medium, and hard difficulty settings (the latter of which is a real challenge) was a wise move on the part of the developer that will add replay value to the game, but online leaderboards seem like an absolute must if Eveningstar is to totally connect with its audience. Even with the omission of leaderboards, Eveningstar is an attractive game that's well worth checking out.

App Store Link: Eveningstar, $1.99

The game involves solving physics puzzles by arranging blocks and other objects on each of the 50 levels to hit a switch. Pressing the play button on the top right of the screen causes a ball to shoot out and if you positioned everything right, hit the various objects you strategically arranged to fall over, knock in to each other, or otherwise cause some kind of chain reaction that involves something mashing the goal switch.

As it stands right now, Isaac Newton's Gravity is a fairly basic physics game with better than average graphics and controls which can get a little finicky at times. The real magic is apparently coming in the 1.1 update. According to Jon Kromrey, the GM of the Apple games division over at Namco, the 1.1 update will be hitting the streets sometime in February or March which will allow players to share custom made levels they create online instead of the current implementation which only allows players to create custom levels then share them via Bluetooth.

In the meanwhile, if you enjoy these types of games, Gravity will keep you scratching your head for quite a while, especially if you have someone local to trade levels with.

App Store Link: Isaac Newton's Gravity, $3.99

When I first saw this game I thought it was yet another ragdoll punishment game with a crazy premise, but after some research (and some help from forum moderator and bike expert VeganTnT) I've come to realize it is anything but. Modern tall bikes are usually home made and built from spare parts by taking two (or more) bike frames and welding them together. After some other modifications to move the seat, handlebars, and drive train around you've got yourself a tall bike.

Bikers couldn't just stop there though. Somewhere along the way the Black Label Bike Club came up with the idea of instead of just simply riding these tall bikes, why not arm two cyclists with lances and send them barreling towards each other in attempt to score points by knocking the other rider off? And with that, tall bike jousting was born.

The sport translates as well as I imagine it possibly could to the iPhone– With each joust you and your opponent start at opposite ends of the arena, you peddle as fast as you can by dragging your right and left side of the thumbs down the sides of the screen in an alternating motion. Tilting the phone aims your lance, and as you get within striking distance tapping the screen causes your rider to strike.

After winning matches you earn attribute points to make your cyclist more powerful, and you're even awarded different items you can equip for stat boosts as well as different components that you can combine in to upgrades for your bike. Jousts take place in six different post-apolcalyptic locations, each with different environmental hazards to deal with.

For such a strange game based on such an odd sport, an awful lot of effort went in to the development process. Ryan Doyle, who holds the title of "official tall bike jousting champion of the world" did some of the illustration for the game as well as all the motion capture for the movements of the cyclists. They even use real music, featuring tracks from Matt and Kim, Japanther, and Altaer, and there's even a behind the scenes video.

Tall Bike Joust is a game that will likely have massive appeal amongst avid cyclists and people who are interested in custom bike fabrication. If you fall outside of those groups, the game might not do much for you aside from make you aware of the existence of tall bike jousting– Knowledge that could lead to spending entirely too much time watching people knock each other off tall bikes on YouTube if you're anything like me.

App Store Link: Tall Bike Joust, $2.99

Gameplay amounts to making your way through the 60 included levels (with more coming soon per the iTunes description) by tapping on screen to remove pieces in order to guide the star at the top of the pile safely to the ground– Very similar to game modes in the Topple series, Finger Physics, and others.

What interested me in Tumbledrop was the forced delay in between removing the pieces that comprise the various structures of each level. Other games you could pretty easily cheese your way through the challenges by just quickly removing pieces as fast as possible while guiding the goal item back to the ground. In Tumbledrop, you have to plan your movements carefully as you can only remove one piece every three seconds.

Tumbledrop isn't particularly original, but if you're a fan of these types of games you likely have several similar ones on your phone already. If you want to give the game a try, there's a free version you can play in a web browser, you just have to download the Unity browser plugin. It's worth a look, if only to see how happy the star you're rescuing gets when its on the ground accompanied by the fanfare of rainbows and multi-colored confetti before progressing to the next level.

App Store Link: Tumbledrop, $1.99

Gameplay in Heavy Mach 2 consists of taking various missions that seem to either have you killing things or collecting things, going out in to the battlefield to fight with your tank and returning with your spoils. As you earn credits and experience by defeating other tanks and completing missions, you can eventually buy tons of weaponry and different upgrades to your tank as you level up.

My favorite part of this game is how well the controls work. While the developers could have easily just used a typical virtual dual-stick control scheme, instead everything is done using different taps and drawing gestures on screen. To move your tank you can either tap on the battlefield, or you can draw a line with your finger for the tank to follow. Your tank will try to follow the exact course you plotted, so it will often get stuck if you try to make it cut corners or drive places it can't. This is easily solved by just tapping or drawing on the screen to move somewhere else.

Attacking enemies is as simple as tapping on them, and letting your weapons do the rest. Tapping on screen twice causes your tank to dash in that direction. There are buttons framing the screen to use special abilities (such as calling in air strikes) and changing weapons once you get more than the starting load out. The interface as well as the different tanks themselves and the terrain are extremely detailed, and the animations are great– Much like the original.

The only thing that really seems to be missing in Heavy Mach 2 is any kind of plot to follow. The highly detailed scenery does a great job of setting the futuristic war-torn the mood of the game, and I just can't help but wonder why you're just randomly taking missions to destroy things. Maybe that's just me.

Heavy Mach 2 combines the RPG elements of an experience and leveling system along with seemingly endless equipment upgrade and customization options. The controls work well, and I've had a great time rampaging through the countryside blowing up every tank I come across. While the original Heavy Mach was a great sidescroller, the sequel has translated well to the overhead view along with improving nearly everything from the first game. If you're a fan of tank combat, you really should give Heavy Mach 2 a shot.

App Store Link: Heavy Mach 2, $2.99