I love the App Store. On a single platform, I can draw from a well of my favorite classics like Doom [ $4.99 ], and try out thousands games like N.O.V.A. 3 [ $6.99 ] that take their inspiration from popular console and PC games but offer an experience tailor-made for tablets and smartphones. But what I enjoy most about the App Store is the chance to drop a buck or two on quirky titles you don't see on any other platform. Take Rocket Fox [ Free ], for example, a new puzzle/platformer game starring a fox named Guy who loves fireworks. He loves them so much that he's not content to admire them from afar like your average Fourth-of-July party-goer. No, Guy likes to hop aboard rockets before they blast off and ride them skyward. Of course, what goes up must come down, and that's where you come in.

Each level begins with Guy slipping inside a large flower while a counter ticks down from three. Once the clock strikes zero, the camera flips to an overhead view, the flower bursts open, and Guy, mounted on a rocket, shoots up to the clouds. Seconds later, his rocket blows apart in a torrent of colors, and Guy begins to freefall. From here, you tilt your iPhone to guide Guy away from the hard earth and watery depths, and toward trampoline-like flower pads. Flower pads come in different colors and designs that denote their functions. Red flowers give you a slight boost, blue ones throw you up even higher, and yellow pads give a breathtaking view of surrounding topography. Flowers can only be used once before withering away, leaving you to find the next one by the time Guy starts hurtling back down once again.

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Punch Hero's [ Free ] moment of brilliance occurs when it has you against the ropes. You’ll come to a point during the game’s eighteen-bout arcade mode where progression seems well-nigh impossible. Down to a trickle of health, you will think about throwing the towel in, taking an uppercut to the chin so you can earn some gold and turn the thing off.

But you won’t. Instead, you weave under a vicious right hook and in cinematic slow motion land your own devastating punch. Your opponent is dazed. Jab, jab, jab. Right in his big, stupid face. He comes to, and, mad as hell, throws an uppercut. You weave under it and this time, in similarly cinematic slow motion you throw a left hook. The knockout punch. “Oh my God,” you’ll probably say while your cats look on in shame.

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It was back in October of 2010 that Sega first released Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I [$3.99 / $4.99 (HD)], a direct sequel to the original 16-bit Sonic trilogy on Genesis and the much ballyhooed return to its classic 2D roots after more than a decade of mostly mediocre Sonic games. While we did enjoy Episode I in our review, I don’t think it exactly lived up to the expectations set by the rabid Sonic fan base (could anything, though?).

In short, Sonic 4 Episode I brought modern visuals, great level designs, and a Sonic experience that was decidedly better than the majority of recent entries in the series. However, it didn’t quite feel like the Sonic games of old. Sonic’s movement in-game felt both slippery and sluggish, and it seemed much too easy to lose momentum and speed while playing, which isn’t a good thing for a character that has made his name by blasting through levels in a blue blur. Still, with the right expectations Sonic 4 Episode I was a pretty darn fun platformer that worked well on the touch screen, and was a huge step in the right direction for a faltering Sonic franchise.

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As much as we may not want to admit it, a game’s style goes a long way—especially in a market as crowded as the App Store. With so many games from so many developers, the right icon and the right visual presentation are often the be all and end all of standing out from the pack. And while those of us who love games know that graphics don’t make for a good game, it’s hard to ignore the allure of stylish games.

That’s why I jumped on Brandnew Boy [ $3.99 ], the latest action RPG from Oozoo. Sporting the Unreal Engine and a beautiful cel-shaded art style rich in color, the game is instantly stunning—especially in motion, where the smooth framerate and fast action prove to make an already-attractive game even more gorgeous. Much of the attention the game has received is because of its presentation.

Thankfully, unlike some pretty-yet-disappointing games out there, Brandnew Boy manages to delight in terms of gameplay, as well. It’s certainly not the best action RPG on the platform, but its unique combat controls and hearty adventure make it worth a spot on your home screen.

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Like the bad boy that every girl finds impossible to resist, Frontier Developments' sequel to their platform-adventure LostWinds [ $3.99 ] from last year isn't always easy to control. Precision is not LostWinds2: Winter of the Melodias' [ $3.99 ] best feature. With the sheer amount of things that LostWinds2 can occasionally demand of its players, this would normally be almost unforgivable but much like the hypothetical rapscallion, LostWinds2 is just too charming to give up.

Set shortly after the events of the first game, LostWinds2 follows the continuing adventures of the chubby-cheeked Toku, a brave and impossibly adorable young boy, and his companion Enril The Wind Spirit. After a brief introductory sequence, one that features a number of piscine-looking critters, you find yourself in control of Toku. His mother Magdi has somehow gone absent and it is your duty to go look for her. This eventually segues into an exploration of some phenomenally gorgeous places, the acquaintanceship of some new friends and an encounter with old evils.

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When we first found out about Kotomon [ $2.99 ] recently, I was excited for the possibilities especially considering that some of the developers at Monstars consisted of folks from Q Entertainment (Lumines, Rez). Unfortunately, reputation alone is not enough to carry this simple music platformer with iffy controls.

Kotomon follows the adventures of a cute red monster of the same name as he searches the world for other monsters. Gameplay is divided into levels and has you navigating Kotomon and his companions across the terrain, battling monsters of various strengths until you reach a campfire, signifying the end of the level. A three-star system grades your completion with points awarded for faster completion, combos, and the amount of food your companion eat (littered across each level).

As you progress, Kotomon will meet new monsters (which are hatched by finding eggs), each with their own abilities and attributes. While the help menu provides small blurbs in each monster, i still found it a but vague for trying to figure out the differences of some of them. Regardless there's enough there for strategy in later levels when you have the choice of choosing who to bring with you in a level.

The platforming itself is enjoyable for being a simplistic title. Levels are usually divided into battle royales with tons of combat or terrain based missions with obstacles that can block or kill your companions. There's an interesting dynamic of keeping tabs of your companions while simultaneously using them as weapons of destruction. The difficulty also cranks up in the latter half of the game for gamers that enjoy a challenge.

One of Kotomon's features is a dynamic soundtrack affected by the actions of your Kotomon. For example, launch a monster at some baddies and the beat picks up temporarily for each enemy dispatched. Extras notes are also added when taking on more powerful bosses.

Other than those little nuances, I didn't really find anything particularly special about the music features. True, watching the enemies and your monsters dance to the beats of the song is quite adorable, but it's hardly game-changing. If anything, the emphasis on a dynamic soundtrack means that you'll be hearing a lot of simple tunes until you get into the thick of the action.

By far, the biggest issue I encountered with Kotomon dealt with its frustrating control scheme. Kotomon utilizes a floating, non-static virtual joystick for movement, which means that movement is always relative and can lead to the joystick sliding all over the screen. Compounding the problems are the shooting mechanics, which are solely based on the direction of your character and just feels unintuitive. For me, this lead to a lot of misplaced shots primarily due to the controls which range from frustrating to level-ending (especially with levels that contain lava which can instantly kill your companions).

The control issue feels amplified when you start to get to later levels with enemies that actively seek you out. Since aiming is based on the direction of Kotomon, you'll find yourself in a constant predicament of running away while trying to turn around to launch a shot before turning back to avoid dying.

Other facets of Kotomon simply felt average. The visuals were a mix of cell-shade for the characters coupled with bland backdrops and a heavy dose of particle effects. Meanwhile, content felt a bit light once you get past the star ranking system.

Maybe it's just a case of irrational expectations, but I was a bit disappointed in the overall package of Kotomon. It feels less like a music/rhythm adventure and more of a simplified platformer with frustrating controls and little in terms of variety. The cute monsters and somewhat catchy music are sure to appeal to some but folks looking for the next great platformer may want to pass.

After seeing Monster Shooter: The Lost Levels [ $0.99 ] for the first time, you might be wondering why another dual stick shooter is necessary on iOS, considering the hundreds of others already available. The answer isn’t always an easy one, but let’s just say that Monster Shooter shows why we shouldn’t just be writing off the genre altogether.

Monster Shooter tells the story of alien battles from one planet to another, all with the ultimate goal of saving a kitten with a runny nose. These naughty aliens want to wreak havoc and torture the poor kitty, and are even traveling anywhere in the galaxy as to not be captured.

As the kitty rescuer, you travel from planet to planet in a level-based format, and are shooting down enemies in a dual stick style shooter. The controls of a shooter are of the upmost importance, and they work well in this game especially with the multiple options available. If you’re finding the aiming to be a difficult affair, you can turn on the auto aim option and then you’ll only have to tap when you want to shoot, rather than where. Having the option of a fixed d-pad is also a nice touch, meaning you can play in whatever way suits your style best.

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Simplistic controls are a staple in creating a competent iOS game these days, seeing as how Angry Birds [ $0.99 ] soared to heights never expected, in part due to its easy pick-up and play format that anyone can enjoy.

While This Could Hurt [ $0.99 ] capitalizes on this trend, it’s nearly to a fault to where the game is almost too much on autopilot, leaving you yearning for more control of your fate in the long run.

In This Could Hurt, your main goal is to get to the end of a winding path, avoiding any and all of the obstacles along the way. You’ll have to dodge spikes, fire holes, shooting darts and more. Your only control when it comes to not being hit by these obstacles is when your character stops, as he will continue on down the path automatically otherwise.

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There's an overabundance of cute things on the App Store, as anyone who takes time to prowl it knows. Whether or not something will be equally as fun as it is cute is always a mystery, but in this case, Pinch Peeps [ $0.99 ] has managed to pull off that oh-so-desirable perfect balance between sickeningly adorable and fun to play.

The retro gamer in me loves when games are pared down to the absolute basics, and that is the case with Pinch Peeps. There is one gameplay mechanic, which you'll simply repeat for the whole of the game: pinching your fingers together. In each of the two modes (Timed and Endless), you'll be faced with the challenge of matching pairs of cutely-shaped blobs with eyes (called "peeps") to rack up points.

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Dragons Odyssey Frane [ $11.99 ] has the distinction of being the only game that makes me want to reach out and pinch its metaphorical cheek. Not only is it kinda adorable, it's also all sorts of loveable. Like the fawning, mud-encrusted niece that is never short of questions about unicorns, Exe-Create's port of their PC-based action-RPG title has a way of making you tilt your head and go "D'awww".

Actually, before we get any further, the whole 'action-RPG' bit needs to be clarified a bit. Those expecting an assembly of eccentric party members, a varied set of skills to manage and all of the other traditional tropes may be a touch disappointed. Dragons Odyssey Frane doesn't actually have all that, per se. In some ways, the game bears more of a resemblance to a laid-back shoot 'em up than anything else.

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Late last week The New York Times published an op-ed debate titled, “Hip, or About to Break a Hip,” a discussion about whether 45 year-old skaters are “embarrassing and risky or inspiring and life-affirming?” Opinions ranged from “inspiring and life-affirming,” to “... do something productive: become an ultimate fighter, get your G.E.D., date an 18-year old.” Um, wow, guys.

Appropriate then is the release of Brisbane-based IV Motion’s Penny Time [$0.99 / Free ], which flies in the face of that rather unnecessary conversation. Shorn of the skating genre’s mechanical trappings, the game is allowed to focus on the sport’s anarchistic roots. Its reply, “Who gives a #$%*?”

Penny Time announces its care-free absurdity with a series of vignettes that see the player character using a Penny skateboard, crashed like a meteorite from the heavens, to freeze time and subsequently summon some spirit animals in the form of a pig, dodo and porpoise. Right. So, the player is off on his or her quest to skate through a series of time-frozen environments with the aid of the aforementioned Ghost Dodo.

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Surprise! A couple of "core" members from Lumines and Rez team at Q Entertainment have just released a brand new game on iPhone and iPad under the brand Monstars Inc. The app is called Kotomon, and it's available for an introductory price of $2.99 through May 31.

As you'd expect considering Q's release history, Kotomon appears to revolve around a mix of action and music. In the game, you control an adorable little red monster charged with collecting and firing friendly monsters into bad monsters. Monstars describes it as a little like pinball, except every action you take adds beats and layers to the game's soundtrack.

Kotomon seems like a neat app, so we're going to get you something much more detailed as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

In our previous review, we covered N.O.V.A 3’s [ $6.99 ] single player experience with the promise of reporting on its multiplayer after the game hit the public and the online servers filled up with players. Unfortunately, after a few days of blasting away against fellow iOS gamers, N.O.V.A.’s multiplayer hasn't quite lived up to expectations.

From a generalized standpoint, N.O.V.A. 3 appears to have everything needed for a successful multiplayer experience. There’s 12-player support across six different game types, ranging from staples like free-for-all and Team Deathmatch, to objective-based modes like Capture the Flag, to even some novel gametypes such as Freeze Tag. There’s also a wealth of customization options including a full selection of weapons, weapon upgrades, power-ups, reward streaks, and even trash-talking statements. A decent amount of custom slots also means that you can plan out a variety of different load outs once you unlock the various weapons and options.

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In January of last year, Liv Games’ debut title Legendary Wars [$0.99 / $1.99 (HD)] really redefined the side-scrolling castle defense genre. It had a huge cast of interesting heroes and enemies, a fantastic art style, tons of humorous dialogue, and a huge single-player campaign to play through. But what really made it stand out was how it used so many different iterations of the strategy defense formula, making it feel like many different games in one and a fresh experience throughout.

Exactly a year to the day after the release of Legendary Wars, Liv Games put out its pseudo-sequel Monster Wars [ $0.99 ], which we really liked in our review. It took basically everything from the first game but re-imagined it from the bad guys’ perspective, letting you play with the monsters as the protagonists. Also, it dumped heaps of new content, improved visuals, and lots of new odds and ends that made it an even better overall experience.

Today, you can grab Monster Wars for free for a limited time. In addition, Liv Games has sent over some details of what to expect of the next new 1.2 update which will be hitting soon, along with a teaser image of some of the new tier 4 armor:

-11 New AWESOME Tier 4 Monster Armors! Each with a more powerful special designed to destroy heroes!
-Monster Arena! 12 New Challenges and 2 new bosses!
-NEW LEVEL featuring the Unisis boss (Pegasus Unicorn)
-New Sky Angel boss in 6-2 and Arena.
-New 'Hero" Difficulty designed for Tier 4 Monsters.
-New Fear status that causes heroes to get scared, miss and run away!
-11 New Tier 4 Achievements and 1 new Leaderboard.

Definitely don’t miss the chance to grab Monster Wars while free, and if you like the game and find yourself curious about what it’s like for the heroes in the game, then definitely check out Legendary Wars at some point too.

London-based design studio ustwo created a heck of a game in Whale Trail, but it's failing as a commercial entity. It'll never hit the App Store top 10. The face of its bubbly and wide-eyed mascot, Willow, will never grace products like panties or fruit snacks. And at its current pace, it'll be awhile before it generates a decent profit.

The studio has huge expectations that aren't being met, and just based on trends, it's clear that Whale Trail will continue not meeting them. It's a failure in this life. But will it be one in its next? Again, ustwo is spending money on Whale Trail, giving it a second wind via creative mouth-to-mouth. It's retooling and redesigning the oddball flying game as a free-to-play title in a high-bandwidth effort to attract the casual audience that the original version failed to reach, but managed to brush.

The hope is that this model, alongside some fresh content, will finally put the game over the top and onto hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of phones and tablets across the world. It's a crazy plan. Crazy, however, is kinda its project lead's thing.

On Conversion, Failure, And Journeys

I've been speaking with ustwo co-founder Mills about the upcoming transformation. Mills is like a bizarro Clint Eastwood. In the face of adversity he has the same grit and air of determination, but instead of a cowboy hat and a killer squint Mills rocks a long, flowing red wig and eyeglasses with thick, black frames. When he talks to you, even via e-mail, you feel his warmth, energy, and passion. He's funny, too, and you see a lot of his brand of humor in his game. As we talk, he refuses to call the original Whale Trail a failure despite being able to produce evidence indicating as much. Instead, he calls it a "succailure" and the process of making it a F2P title a "journey."

"Whale Trail was our first proper game release," Mills tells TouchArcade. "Full heart, full passion. The launch was a success for our studio, showering loads of eyeballs on us but something didn't quite click. Although we were hitting 12,000 downloads a day at launch, it tailed off pretty quick."

In fact, Whale Trail has just hit over 188,000 total sales, and it shifts around 250 units a day across Android and iPhone and iPad. These kind of numbers would be enough for a lot of studios, but ustwo spent oodles of cash on the game. It needed Whale Trail to be up there with the Angry Birds and Fruit Ninjas and the Cut the Ropes of the world.

How those titles manage to stay up top is a matter of debate. Mills doesn't believe that featuring, reviews, or exposure brings in new downloads. He thinks that word of mouth is now driving sales. As evidence, he notes that the game's trailers still get around 500 new views a day and the music video for the theme used in the game drives interest, too. Riding on a wave of featuring, however, Whale Trail managed to light up the charts for a short period. Mills shot us the following handy chart, for those of you into the numbers:

Learning about why the game didn't keep selling at its initial, breakneck pace is an important component of its upcoming transformation. Mills is soaking up everything he can. He frequently frames this entire ordeal as a learning experience.

"We went back to the drawing board and dove deep into the blue waters to understand why Whale Trail wasn’t quite able to take off. We had made a wonderful experience but there wasn’t enough ‘replay’ value in the current game. The new challenge levels added in iteration release two and three helped, but we needed more. Much more," he adds.

The new version of the game is, indeed, functionally different. As you collect bubbles and travel, you'll collect an in-game currency called Krill. With Krill, you can buy new powers, "useable treats," costumes for Willow and its five new playable friends. If you want this stuff without the grind, you can buy Krill straight-up.

"The game is so much better. Players are now in full control of their destiny and each play rewards them. This was missing before," he says.

If you've already purchased Whale Trail, Mills says you'll receive a "BIG" bag of Krill when you update to the new version. Additionally, you'll receive a message designed to make you feel "special." Mills worries about how the current install base is going to react to this massive change, since the regular version will essentially die after this update. Perhaps that's why this message to fans will be "like finding a bag of money in your house that you can use to pimp it right up 50 style" or "like finding a bag of candy that is so sweet, yet so sticky."

When I bring up failure, Mills says I have a point, but he describes the experience so far as a "journey." His studio has had opportunities to sell off the IP or actually make money, but ustwo as a whole is more interested in learning at this point.

"You can look at it as a failure, but I see it as journey," Mills says. "Each iteration of Whale Trail has created a new buzz and has engaged the players more. It's been a big lesson for me especially in regards to releasing something I wanted and releasing something that the majority of players want. We were very successful at creating buzz, we were very open about the whole experience and the story of Whale Trail will now be told via Penguin," he tells us. He means the publishing company, not an actual penguin.

"We had two Whale Trail acquisition offers for the game as it currently stands now, but we were not interested in money. We were interested in better understanding what we could do to make the game better. I couldn't walk away from it now, knowing it was not the game we wanted it to be. The game we have since built and are testing now with players is the game we should have released back then but didn’t realize it at the time."

Even though the Whale Trail flopped, Mills notes some positives. It gave his studio new business opportunities, a higher-profile in the development community, and a lot of good will. These things, however, aren't going to make new Whale Trail sail. A balance of IAP and fun mechanics are the only thing that'll save it.

"I want to know more about free-to-play," Mills says. "We are not being aggressive with the monetization potential. Players need never spend, but the joy they feel should allow the game to be pretty viral. We get a small social virility through Twitter right now, but the potential at the higher numbers is unreal. I guess the plan is for Willow to find some real Whales!"

We'll have to see if the new version of Whale Trail hits the heights that Mills thinks it can reach. Regardless if it does or not, it's going to be hard to call this iteration a failure. To Mills, success is all about what you do as you try to succeed.

"We didn't set out to make something generic. Success is about crafting something you believe in and telling that story, granted it may never be a smash hit as the very concept of a little fat flying whale called Willow who lives in a psychedelic land is too far out for many to stomach, but we made something we are so proud of."

We'll have hands-on impressions in the near future.