Newtoy Inc’s new Chess game called Chess With Friends [App Store] is now available for free (normally $4.99) for the next 1000 downloads.

We’re not sure how they’re tracking the downloads so closely, so you should probably download first, ask questions later:

Chess With Friends IS FREE for the next 1000 downloads! Our servers are handling the first round of players - so it’s time to unleash the horde! Download Chess With Friends now, FREE for a limited time, and start enjoying the best multiplayer experience available on the iPhone and iPod Touch today!

Chess With Friends is a multiplayer chess game that allows you to play Chess “asynchronously” against other across the world. Once you make a move, the other player will see your move the next time they log into the application.

App Store Link: Chess With Friends, Free (normally $4.99)

As found in our new games and price drops page, a few notable titles have received price drops.

Guitar Rock Tour ($9.99 -> $7.99)

Gameloft’s Guitar Hero clone came out just last week and has already seen a price drop from $9.99 to $7.99. Overall, the game has been very well received and if you’re a fan of the rhythm game genre, this one’s probably worth the price. But be warned, there have been some complaints of stability issues with this first version.

The game is curiously only compatible with the iPhone and not the iPod Touch.

App Store Link: Guitar Rock Tour, $7.99

SPiN ($4.99 -> $2.99)

We took a look at this silhouette matching game at its release and quite enjoyed it. A new gameplay video offers a better look at the actual gameplay, and the price has dropped to $2.99.

App Store Link: SPiN, $2.99

HupplePupple ($2.99 -> $0.99)

This is actually a title that we haven’t highlighted before. The game is similar to Mouse About in which you control your PacMan-like character (”Hupple”) by choosing which direction he runs. He will run in that direction until he hits a wall.

Your goal is to collect all the hearts and end up facing Hupple’s love interest (”Pupple”) to complete each level. You have to plan your moves strategically, however, to be able to collect all the hearts.

The game only has 20 levels and you must start at level 1 each time. This is what prevented us from giving the game a recommendation before, but for $0.99, we feel it’s worth the price.

App Store Link: HupplePupple, $0.99

Venger has dropped in price from it’s original $6.99 all the way down to $0.99 [App Store]. The dramatic price drop also precedes a number of new features promised (but not yet available_ by the developer including:

• Guided missiles
• Awesome new boss
• Mines and asteroids can now be destroyed
• Auto calibration of controls on game start
• Revised boost button
• Phase modulated UFO shields (use matching laser colour to breach UFO shields)

At the time of our original review we found Venger to be one of the best space shooters available for the iPhone.

Our gameplay video shows version 1.0 (current version is 1.0.1)

A free Lite version [App Store] also remains available.

Kroll and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed are two of the latest price drops found on our New Games and Price Drop list. While we didn’t love either title due to limited gameplay, both had very good production values and represent some of the most visually appealing titles on the iPhone.

The lower prices help swing the cost to value ratio towards a better direction. Here are excerpts from our original reviews which both cited their pricing as the main sticking point against their recommendation.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed ($9.99 -> $7.99) - Our review - “While die hard Star Wars fans will enjoy the ambiance of this title and even enjoy the actual gameplay despite the limited control options, the short game-play time, limited replay-ability and frustratingly un-skippable cut scenes make it difficult to recommend this title at its $9.99 asking price.”

Kroll ($7.99 -> $4.99) - Our review - “Kroll is perhaps one of the most visually impressive games available for the iPhone. But as a total package, its simplistic gameplay and short play time prevent us from recommending this title at its $7.99 asking price.”

App Store Links: Kroll, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

As seen on our New Games and Price Drops page, PopCap games has dropped the price on their popular Bejeweled 2 [App Store] game to $2.99 (down from $7.99).

Play the phenomenal sequel to the classic gem-swapping puzzler! Sit back, relax and marvel at the fun you’ll have when you swap adjacent gems to match three or more sparkling jewels. The more matches you make, the higher your score. Enjoy three entrancing game modes with Power Gems and Hyper Cubes. Fully optimized for the touch screen with both landscape and portrait display, it’s an all-new way to play the award-winning, Hall-of-Fame game. Add in amazing planetary backdrops and super special effects, Bejeweled 2 is hours of high-carat fun!

While perhaps not the original match three game, it’s likely the most popular incarnation of the game with over 25 million copies of the franchise being sold (across all platforms).

The $2.99 price is only being offered for a “limited time”.

At the risk of alienating more of our early adopters, developers have cut prices on a few prominent titles we’ve looked at recently.

Loopy Laboratory ($6.99 -> $2.99) - Enjoyable puzzle game in which you must navigate numerous obstacles to find your way to each level’s exit. 50 levels in all, but the levels are a bit too easy for a bit too long. Gameplay video in full review.

Venger ($6.99 -> $3.99) - Probably the best 3D space shooter currently available on the iPhone, though the boss battles get a bit repetitive. Gameplay video in our full review.

Nanosaur 2 ($3.99 -> $1.99) - We didn’t actually take a close look at this application but readers seemed to like the game with the notable exception of a lack of mid-level save feature.

While we try to avoid doing constant price drop stories, over the past 24 hours, there have been a few price drops that we felt would be of interest to readers.

Rock’n'Roll ($0.99 -> Free) - a motion-sickness inducing 2d scroller with impressive visuals.

Raging Thunder ($7.99 -> $3.99) - we enjoyed this fun racer which has a satisfying sense of speed. And a recent version update has addressed some early sound issues.

Black Mamba Racer ($3.99 -> $1.99) - a different sort of racer that we also very much enjoyed. This top-down 2D racer offers a fun game that has also been well received by our forum members.

Readers can browse other price drops on our new iPhone games page.

As first noted on our New Games and Price Drops page, EA’s Spore Origins [App Store] has been discounted to $7.99 (from $9.99).

Spore Origins was a highly anticipated iPhone release which we enjoyed:

Spore Origins is certainly one of the most engaging games available for the iPhone. Using the Creature Creator to evolve your organism–to better equip it to eat and not be eaten in the dangerous game world–and to watch those changes work to advantage is highly satisfying.

However, some Touch Arcade commenters were concerned about the long term replay value. If you’ve been holding out, now may be a good time to pick up this high profile title.

App Store Link: Spore Origins

RealNetworks has put South Park Imaginationland on sale for $2.99, down from $9.99. Touch Arcade reviewed the game way back on July 18th, shortly after the App Store launched.

We really enjoyed this physics puzzler and have thought that it was one of the more underrated iPhone games. This, of course, is not helped by the hard-to-describe gameplay:

The hero of this game is a South Park character by the name of “Butters” and the mechanics of the game involves solving individual levels (of which there are over 60) of increasing difficulty. At the start of each level, Butters is launched into the air and each time he bounces against a wall or the ground, he accumulates “imagination powder”. With this powder, you can propel yourself into the air with a simple swipe of your finger. The goal of each level is to pick up a number of Rainbows and land on the goal.

Knowledge of the television series is not required to enjoy the game. The video should help explain:

The game is certainly worth the $2.99 “limited time” promotional price.

App Store Link: South Park Imaginationland

Hudson is giving away three of its iPhone games this week as a promotion for the Tokyo Game Show 2008.

The free games include: