A few weeks ago, TouchFoo teased us with a gravity defying trailer promising a fun, innovative, and action-packed platformer game for the iPhone. They have since fully delivered on that promise with the release of Soosiz [App Store].

The basic gameplay found in Soosiz is that of a traditional platformer, where you run and jump your way past obstacles and enemies while collecting coins and rescuing your buddies along the way. Some enemies can be dispatched by simply jumping on their heads, while others need to be avoided completely. As is typical in platformers, timing and dodging become important skills in later levels. Rescuing buddies can give you additional powers (jumping higher, running faster) and once you have 100 coins, you can trigger a brief indestructible power-up allowing you to easily plow through enemies. Soosiz is very easily controlled with simple left/right virtual buttons and a jump button. Holding the jump button longer makes you jump higher.

The big twist to the game is its gravity-changing mechanic. When jumping to a platform above you, the entire world spins around and up becomes down. While this all seems like it might just be a novel gimmick, Touch Foo manages to utilize it fully across Soosiz's 7 worlds and 65 levels. The gravity experience is truly an integral part of the game, and not simply a tacked on afterthought. Triggering this gravity manipulation simply requires you to jump onto another platform, and becomes second nature very quickly.

The game was in development for 6 months, and it really shows in Soosiz's excellent level designs. Soosiz manages to constantly introduce new elements and obstacles to keep the game fresh and interesting across its 7 worlds. Each world carries its own themes (space, underwater, snow, etc…) as well as unique elements. Boss battles at the end of each world are also varied throughout.

You are given 3 lives at the beginning of each level, and can replay any level you've already unlocked. For me, the game managed to be stay progressively challenging, interesting, and fun without being frustrating, even though many of the levels took multiple attempts. Fortunately, your running coin count is not lost when you die, allowing you to continue to build up coins for the indestructible power-up if you find yourself struggling with a particular level. Meanwhile, gold, silver and bronze achievements per level, as well as the many secret areas should offer plenty of challenge for overachievers.

Graphically, the game carries a rather simple cartoon style but still retains its own charm. The game's music, however, feels strangely out of place throughout (additional music in this video). There's also an inexplicable use of the Up on the Housetop Christmas carol for the level win screens. While the music certainly isn't a deal breaker, it does reduce some of the game's immersion.

Regardless, the game is incredibly well executed with excellent controls, has a ton of content and is a lot of fun. We highly recommend it.

App Store Link: Soosiz, $1.99 (Intro sale, Ends Monday)

I got a first look at Semi Secret Software's Canabalt [App Store] back at GDC Austin, received a preview build a few days later, and since then the game has soaked up an extraordinary amount of my free time.

Canabalt has the same appeal to it as other extremely simple games for the iPhone like Doodle Jump [99¢] or the various NimbleBit games such as Scoops [$1.99]. The premise is simple– You play as a guy who is running across roof tops attempting to escape from some kind of alien invasion that is constantly taking place in the background scenery.

Along the way you will need to hop over boxes, break through windows, jump from crumbling buildings, and avoid other obstacles. The only control you have in the game is over your character's jumping. Tapping anywhere on screen jumps, and the longer you press the screen the higher you jump. What sounds like a very simple game quickly turns in to a fast paced reaction game that will have you trying over and over again to make it just a little farther.

Canabalt for the iPhone is a port of the extremely popular flash game of the same name. Absolutely everything has been preserved in the transition, and Canabalt is a perfect for a mobile gaming device. It loads quickly, and the games (unless you're really good) rarely last any more than a couple minutes. Canabalt badly needs an online leaderboard system, which according to the developer is coming in the first update.

There is no lite available, but Canabalt (in its complete form) is playable online for free at Canabalt.com, and we've also embedded the full game here.

Click below to play the full flash game. Click your mouse button to jump.

I highly encourage you to give it a try, I've probably sunk more combined hours in to Doodle Jump than any other game on my iPhone, and Canabalt has the exact same appeal. The pixel art graphics are great, the soundtrack is phenomenal, and short of the lack of an online leaderboard it's hard to find anything not to like about the game.

App Store Link: Canabalt, $2.99

I'm not sure what it is about dual-stick shooters, but these games seem to generate huge followings on the iPhone platform. It may just be that the multi-touch screen suits the control system so well. Regardless, the latest dual stick shooter to make a big splash in the App Store is Alley Labs' Meteor Blitz [$1.99].

The game bears more than a passing resemblance to Super Stardust HD for the Playstation 3, so if you loved Super Stardust HD, that would be a very good thing.

Meteor Blitz is a dual-stick asteroid shooter that offers both Arcade and Survival modes. The game centers around your ship which can fire a variety of different weapons. The standard projectile weapons include a plasma gun, flamethrower, and ice cannon. Different weapons are better for use against specific obstacles. Ice meteors respond best to the flamethrower, while the fire meteors succumb easiest to the ice cannon. Other weapons at your disposal include screen-clearing bombs as well as the gravity gun which can be used to slingshot meteors into enemies causing massive damange. See this video showing the gravity gun in action.

As you destroy enemies and asteroids, coins are collected for weapons and ship upgrades. Meanwhile, in game bonuses give you extra lives, bombs, shields, enemy slow down or the ability to attract coins.

Aside from the onslaught of meteors, enemy ships constantly descend into the game field requiring near constant movement to avoid death.

The game's control system is the typical dual analog stick control system with spot on sensitivities. Weapon switching and bomb triggering are done with nearby buttons at the top right and bottom left corners of your right controller, while speed boost is triggered by tapping your left controller. There is no way to flip the control system left/right. See this video:

As you can see, the art and animation are top notch with all the flourishes you'd expect. The developers also seem to have paid a lot of attention to some other details in the game that are worth pointing out. Pulling your fingers off the dual pads will automatically pause the game. The game also features practically no load times. This YouTube video shows initial launch and the near instant resume on relaunch. And finally, your global rank is given to you in real time as you play (video).

Overall, Meteor Blitz is one of the highest quality space shooters we've seen for the iPhone. It delivers 6 unlockable worlds with a good variety of enemies, excellent controls, and a lot of fun. At only $1.99, this one comes highly recommended.

App Store Link: Meteor Blitz, $1.99

Critical Thought Games' geoDefense Swarm has finally arrived in the App Store [$0.99]. We previewed the game back in August and loved it.

Fans of the original will no doubt love geoDefense Swarm. It has the same excellent Geometry Wars-inspired graphics, massive particle effect explosions, and (at higher difficulty levels) will test the skill of even veterans of the tower defense genre. In my time with the game there has been many times where I've lost levels (or been close to losing) and just turned my phone off, decided I was finished with the game… and then five minutes later would be playing again. How much geoDefense Swarm has me coming back to it, even after punching me in the face with creeps, really is an excellent benchmark for how good the game is.

geoDefense Swarm is an open field tower defense (TD) followup to the original geoDefense which was a fixed path TD game. Beyond its beautifully implemented retro style, the original geoDefense received high praise for the franticly paced and challenging nature of its levels. geoDefense Swarm seems to carry this design philosophy forward into the open field format where you need to build the path for the enemies to traverse.

While some of the tower placements were obvious in the original, the sequel leaves you with wide open maps and many decisions to be made. Towers can be built on a hex grid which is constructed of several types of terrain. For instance, some hex tiles you can't build on but creeps can move through, and some tiles speed creeps or even heal them. The amount of variety in each level really tests your tower defending skill and how well you can utilize the included towers to survive. A strategy you discovered in a previous level can be rendered completely ineffective thanks to the next level's hex grid layout.

The game has 30 levels, 6 tower types with 7 levels each. geoDefense Swarm is available for only $0.99.

App Store Link: geoDefense Swarm, $0.99

Tiger Style's first entry into the iPhone market kicks off with this very interesting game description:

You are a spider. One afternoon, you discover an abandoned mansion. Where is the family who lived here? What happened, and why did they leave? Search for clues as you adventure from room to room on the hunt for your next meal.

And the game is as unique as it sounds. Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor is a beautifully created action (adventure?) game that places you in the role of a spider who must spin webs in order capture enough food to make it to the next level. Use up too much silk between meals and you won't survive.

Gameplay screenshot from MidianGTX

As a spider, you are able to crawl across objects, jump great lengths and lay down silk to weave your web. Spinning a web simply requires you to create closed geometric shapes using your silk. Tapping on the spider toggles silk production while swiping on the spider causes it to jump. Finally, crawling is invoked by simply tapping on the screen. All in all, the controls work incredibly well and makes it feel like a natural iPhone game.

The game comes with 28 beautifully hand drawn levels that walk you through Bryce Manor. Secret areas can be discovered and an underlying mystery ties the game together. The storyline, however, is simply a bonus to an immersive puzzle/action game, and I'll admit I haven't myself discovered the secret of Bryce Manor. The gameplay, itself, will keep you occupied as you strategically manage your silk to capture your next meals.

Different bugs require different strategies to capture and the 28 levels in story mode should keep you occupied for some time. Beyond Story mode, there are 3 additional modes: Feeding Frenzy (race against time), Precision (less Silk to work with), and Hunger Mode (Keep eating or die).

Here's our gameplay video:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Our forum members are loving this game and so are we. Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor is a lovely original iPhone game that we highly recommend.

App Store Link: Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, $2.99