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GAMES

• Trucker: Parking Simulator - [Free] [TA Plays]
• Blitz Brigade - [Free] [TA Plays]
• Manuganu - [$0.99]
• Gravity Guy 2 - [$0.99]
• Sonic The Hedgehog - [$2.99]

FRONT PAGE

• Hey, A 'World War Z' Movie Tie-In Game Is Happening
• Google Announces A Game Center Thing
• Frostbite Coming To Mobile

This sim's a particularly hard sale because the titling is so awful, so we decided to do a little video of the game in action to show it off. In the below, Eli and I power through several levels, carefully avoiding all road cones and parking like pros. Give it a look and, hey, maybe get as hooked on this thing as we are at the moment:

You can grab this right now, by the way, and you should if you need another simulator in your life. Here's a Steam link to Eurotruck Simulator 2 for PC, as well, since we talked about it so much.

One of the newest movie tie-in games released is a joint venture between PikPok and Dreamworks Studios for the upcoming movie Turbo. The movie is about a snail named Turbo who dreams of being a race car driver, and following a freak accident involving a nitrous oxide spill that gives him turbo speed he sets out to make his dream come true.

PikPok's take on the movie is called Turbo Racing League [Free], and follows Turbo's escapades on his way to becoming the fastest snail in the universe. Is that even something to be proud of? That's like being called the smartest dumb person in the world. But I digress.

Turbo Racing League itself is actually a very fun kart-style racing game. By that I mean it's very casual and arcadey, with a heavy emphasis on drifting and hitting turbo pads spread along the track. The game's 9 courses are all made out of real-life mini locations like a kitchen table or a garage, and you can trick Turbo out with spoilers for his shell that give him improved attributes.

It's all pretty standard racing game stuff, but it's very well done, like most PikPok games. What sort of blew my mind is that in conjunction with the release of Turbo Racing League, Verizon has stepped in to throw a competition called the $1,000,000 Shell Out and are giving away a million dollars in prize money. For the next 8 weeks the top 10 racers per week will each win prizes from a $500,000 pool, then all 8 of the 1st place winners will fly out to Los Angeles for the finals and a chance to win the grand prize which is the other half of the million.

A million dollar prize for a mobile movie tie-in game seems nuts to me, but here we are. You can get the full rules and all that jazz from the official $1,000,000 Shell Out website if you're interested in entering, but even if not, Turbo Racing League is a pretty neat racing game that's free to check out. People in our forums have been enjoying it as well, and as for the actual movie, that'll be opening in theaters in July.

Gangstar Rio: City of Saints, Free - Gameloft is offering up a couple of freebies this weekend on two games which have never been free before. First up is Gangstar Rio: City of Saints [Free], their take on the whole Grand Theft Auto open-world sandbox game. We reviewed Gangstar Rio when it released back in late 2011, and despite some typical Gameloft-isms like terrible voice work and a paper thin story, we thought it offered up a fairly robust open-world crime game experience.

It's been pretty regularly updated too, adding in new content and most recently widescreen support for the iPhone 5.

N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, Free - The second game being offered up for free is N.O.V.A. 3 [Free]. Previously, the N.O.V.A. series had been mostly a riff on the Halo games, but this most recent entry more closely resembles something like Crysis. Either way, expect lots of sci-fi first-person shooting action and impressive visuals. As with most Gameloft entries, there's a robust online multiplayer offering in N.O.V.A. 3, and as such we gave it its own review back when the game released in May of last year. We also reviewed the single-player campaign, which is pretty excellent as well.

Gameloft has been flirting more with free-to-play games as of late, but both N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio are premium-priced games that you can snag for zero dollars right now and through this weekend. Don't miss out.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out, for the 12 of you or so who haven't seen it yet, is a free-to-play city simulation game that tasks you with building a new Springfield after the first one got blown up. Along the way, you'll meet familiar faces and build familiar places. EA constantly updates the app, adding in stuff like the above for users.

You can download Tapped Out now, of course, but be warned: this thing seems to eat up folks' time.

While a first glance might lead one to believe its primarily for kids, beneath the playful, cartoony exterior lies a game that expertly combines tower defense with puzzle elements, making it one of my current favorites of the genre.

Apparently the love for BBQ is so great it extends across time periods and species. As such, Dinosaurs puts you in command of an army of gophers that must guard their delectable BBQ pit against an onslaught of hungry dinosaurs.

When it comes to basic tower defense gameplay, Go Home Dinosaurs plays similar to many other titles. Dinosaurs run down a pre-set path towards the BBQ pit with two pieces of dynamite acting as last-second defenses against impending BBQ devouring. Meanwhile, players place a variety of gopher-manned weapons around the path in an attempt to drive the dinos towards extinction. A coin system rounds out the gameplay, allowing players to earn currency in-game (no IAPs) and purchase supplemental towers with limited, but powerful effects.

Where Go Home Dinosaurs differs from other TD games is in actual tower placement and in the ability to directly control a movable attacking gopher.

While tower placement is important in each level of Dinosaurs, players will spend the majority of their time using their gopher to collect coconuts (which act as the currency needed to place towers) and place them in a good position to attack the oncoming dinos. The gopher isn't a slouch in terms of damage dealing either, meaning players will need to balance collecting coconuts with keeping him constantly attacking.

It's a fun twist to the gameplay that adds some continual, fast-paced action to an otherwise passive genre.

Taking a page from classic puzzlers like Tetris, tower placement is the other aspect that Go Home Dinosaurs mixes up. Each tower has a specific "shape" that takes up a certain amount of spaces in a certain formation on the gridded play field.

Players quickly learn that towers can't be placed indiscriminately without forethought. In addition, the level design will naturally prevent certain towers from being effective, forcing players to develop a well-rounded approach to using all the towers. This actually brings some challenge to later levels, a concept that I welcome whole heartedly in TD.

In this regard, Go Home Dinosaurs almost becomes a TD/puzzle hybrid. Considering players can only bring a certain number of towers into a level, part of the challenge becomes figuring out which towers to bring and in which formations to place them.

There's also the fact that your gopher also has to be part of the equation. Do you place your towers at the entrance and risk blocking any effective spots for your gopher to attack from? Or, do you focus on saving up coconuts for powerful towers while using your gopher as the primary damage dealer until you can get them set up?

These are just a couple of many questions and scenarios that will pop up, and showcase some of the depth that Dinosaurs offers beyond standard tower defense titles.

There are a few annoyances with Go Home Dinosaurs, mainly its iPad-only status, some minor control issues when placing towers (i.e. tap and dragging a specific tower will occasionally select another tower in my inventory), and slow-down on non-iPad 4 hardware. However, these are relatively minor in comparison to the many positives the game offers.

In the end, Go Home Dinosaurs is a well-executed tower defense title with enough additions to the genre to make it worth checking out. Suffice to say, I hope other developers take note when trying to differentiate and improve upon tower defense.

Firaxis has stormed on to the mobile scene: first came last week's spooky strategy game, Haunted Hollow [Free] (see our review here), and later this summer should see the release of the much-anticipated iOS port of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Sid Meier's Ace Patrol [Free] completes this strategy trifecta, and is the first iOS exclusive to bear the legendary designer's name. His involvement shows: Ace Patrol is a fantastic, meaty title well-deserving of your time and gaming dollar.

Ace Patrol sees the player leading a squadron of pilots in World War I, witnessing the infancy of aerial combat. Ace Patrol is a premium game masquerading as a freemium title: the free download serves as a demo and gives you a portion of the British campaign to play. The full British, French, German and American campaigns are unlocked as IAP for $0.99 a piece.

After choosing your nation, you lead your squadron through four of the war's most famous and bloody campaigns. Each campaign is composed of eight combat missions, drawn from a pool of random scenarios. You are given a choice of three potential missions, tasking you with such varied objectives as assaults on supply convoys, bomber escorts, or air skirmishes. Should you do well enough, the eighth and final mission of each campaign will be a climactic decisive battle.

Since aerial combat is Ace Patrol's bread and butter, the question is how do the battles play? I'm happy to report that Ace Patrol's dogfights are awesome. The game is gorgeous and a lot of love went into faithfully rendering the aircraft tearing up the skies over industrial era Europe.

Controlling your pilots is simple, with arrows overlaying the battle map showing your pilot's potential moves. Your available moves are dictated by a number of factors, including your present altitude (the higher the better), the G-forces your pilot is experiencing (such as if he's been banking for the last few turns), the type and condition of the aircraft being piloted, and the maneuvers the pilot is trained in. Thankfully, all of this is done under the hood, so all you see as the player is what your pilot can do for each particular turn and whether or not he can hit an enemy.

While turn-based dogfights might not sound like the most riveting experience, the combat is surprisingly intense. The game also includes a cool replay function which allows you to watch the results of a mission in real time when you finish it. Ace Patrol's turn-based battles will have you on the edge of your seat–imagine, your ace pilot is on the verge of downing a bomber that is seconds from its target when suddenly a German fighter bursts from the clouds and right on to your tail. Do you bring down the bomber and risk having your best pilot gunned down, or do you sacrifice the headquarters, loop back and give that bastard a taste of his own medicine?

Difficult tactical decisions are the order of the day in Ace Patrol, and the stakes are high even on the most routine missions. This is due in large part to the consequences of losing an aircraft: when one of your pilots is downed–or even worse, captured as a POW–he can be out of commission for many missions.

The battlefields in the game are surprisingly varied. I mean, all that's up there is air, right? Well, yes and no. You'll often find yourself fighting above World War I's infamous trenches, with bases on either side providing flak coverage. Flak attacks will ravage your planes, so there's a fair amount of strategy to be had in avoiding enemy anti-aircraft fire or attempting to lure your opponent into range of your own flak guns. Clouds conceal aircraft, making them great for pulling off evasive maneuvers or launching devastating surprise attacks.

The game is also to be commended on its difficulty settings: this is one of those rare games where the AI becomes smarter, not merely harder, as you crank up the difficulty. Strategy novices and pros alike will find a difficulty setting suited to their skill level.

Outside of the great air battles you'll spend your time at your airfield, managing your squadron of four pilots. It is here that you rank up your pilots, outfit their planes with items earned in battle, customize your pilots and planes, and upgrade their airplanes as aviation technology improves over the course of the war. Generally you will have two planes to choose from, with one usually focused on speed and strength and the other on superior maneuverability.

Your pilots start the game as the greenest of rookies but will develop into fearsome aces during the course of the war. Treat these four men and women with respect because they're all you get–when one is out of commission due to injury your roster will simply be down a pilot. Though the game gives you the ability to drop a buck and bring a pilot out of the infirmary, it feels like a cheat to avoid dealing with the consequences of your actions rather than a necessary expense.

As your pilots rank up they gain access to new maneuvers. These aerial maneuvers come in two flavors: general techniques (such as rolls) that will unlock a suite of similar combat maneuvers; and ace maneuvers, powerful unique abilities like the Immelmann Turn. With a host of techniques and ace maneuvers to choose from, you're never at a loss for choices when a pilot gains rank. By the end of the game your most skilled pilots might have a dozen or more potential moves to make each turn, and old tricks like tailing your opponent can become traps as he might pull an ace maneuver from his own sleeve, turning on a dime and blasting you out of the sky.

Ace Patrol also sports two multiplayer modes and Game Center support with leaderboards and achievements. As of the time of this review, the online multiplayer isn't functioning. You can still play the game on a single device in hot seat mode with a friend. Curiously enough, the multiplayer mode is rather limited: you can choose from the different nations you've unlocked, but that's it. You have no control over which pilots you use, their skills, the planes they fly, or even the scenario you play. The game chooses all of this for you. Also, your pilots will always be in the best planes possible with all of the maneuvers unlocked. Hopefully a future patch will give players more options for customizing multiplayer duels. And though we're unlikely to see it, the option to play through an entire campaign with a friend would be fantastic.

You've really got to dig to find something not to like about Ace Patrol. As mentioned before, the online multiplayer isn't functioning yet, and customization options seem pretty limited. Occasionally the controls can be finicky and on more than one occasion I accidentally started a mission prematurely. Thankfully, once you're in combat every move requires a confirmation tap so it's never an issue in the heat of battle. The four nations' campaigns all play pretty similarly and draw from the same pool of missions, with the only differences between the nations being the airplanes they use and when they become available.

Pay no heed to those who complain about the implementation of IAP in Ace Patrol, this game is an example of IAP done right. Outside of the initial campaign unlocks, the IAP are entirely unnecessary, and you can be enjoying the bulk of the game's content for as little as a dollar. If you've still got the freemium jitters you can always get a second opinion from the TouchArcade community on our forums.

Sid Meier is perhaps the biggest name in gaming, and whenever he puts his name on a game heads are guaranteed to turn. We've come to expect a certain caliber of game bearing the Sid Meier label, and fortunately Ace Patrol lives up to the high bar it has set for itself. This is a game with style, substance, and its own great blend of action and strategy, and for now is an iOS exclusive to boot. If you have any love for Sid Meier, strategy games, aviation sims, or just darn good games you'd be crazy to not give this game a shot.

Make sure to leave us a comment and let us know if you think Ace Patrol earned its stripes. Pretty soon you'll find yourself absorbed in the struggle for the skies over the war-torn trenches of Europe. If this is the future of mobile gaming, let me be the first to enlist.

Looking to differentiate itself from the glut of matching games on the App Store, Scurvy Scallywags uses an interesting mechanic where after a match is made the game board collapses in the direction of the match to fill in gaps, rather than just dropping all the blocks downwards like most matching games. Seems like a small change but a potentially significant one, and you can tell that Scurvy Scallywags has a ton of personality in its first official trailer.

Gilbert is not alone on Scurvy Scallywags, either. He has partnered up with Clayton Kauzlaric, the designer of the 2003 Xbox title Voodoo Vince. Gilbert and Kauzlaric have teamed up in the past too, for the 2010 action-RPG DeathSpank and more recently for the quirky and enjoyable iPad game The Big Big Castle! [$0.99 (HD)] last July. Can a proven developer power couple like Gilbert and Kauzlaric reinvigorate a tired genre like match-3? I hope so, and I'm looking forward to finding out when Scurvy Scallywags launches sometime in the near future.

Dark Avenger is all action with little in the way of overall substance. As of this review, there is only one playable class, the Templar, with a second class “coming soon”, the Ranger. Despite having only one type of character at the moment, the game gives you three save game slots. You're tasked with killing bad things from bad places because... well, it's a game without a story. Perhaps because some evil convenience store clerk looked at your grandma the wrong way and now you're exacting sweet revenge.

Delving into the game proper is as easy as choosing your character and selecting your mode. Single player consists of progressing through multiple levels, all within the same basic environment. The virtual joystick is dead simple to use; one joystick on your left controls movement and direction, while the icon on your right controls attacks. Tap it once for a basic attack, tap it up to three times for a combo attack.

The combo attack will come in handy, because you’ll be relentlessly assaulted on all sides. Luckily, your hero is capable of switching direction mid-attack, so those ghoulies sneaking up behind you while you’re already fighting? Just aim toward them and hack! Slash! They’re dead.

The game begins easy enough, pitting you against frail-looking skeletons and crawling torsos, but gradually increases in difficulty. As you slash your way through, you build up a rage bar that when full gives your attacks a glowing, flashy look that results in increased damage for a short period. Failure to continue attacking enemies will slowly deplete your rage bar, but unless you’re traversing to a diffrent area, you probably won’t have the chance to let it drain out.

Rounding out the usual hack-and-slash pieces are your ability to use health and magic potions. Throughout the game, you’ll also be able to unlock up to three special abilities that will decimate whatever is in front of you.

In your quest to fight for whatever reason it is you’re fighting (there isn’t much of a story to go with the game, in case that wasn't clear), you’ll come across bosses who, obviously, will need a beatdown. The majority of these fights consists of you going after them repeatedly; there’s no real strategy per se.

Single player consists of two modes; normal and time attack. The only difference between the two is time attack gives you a limited amount of time to kill everything, while giving slightly better rewards (20% more xp, 10% more coins, etc.)

Multiplayer is where the game lives on, as if you only play single player you’ll be done with it in three or four hours, if that. There are two modes to this; Infinity Tower and Deathmatch.

Infinity Tower is basically a gauntlet. There are an infinite number of dungeons supplied with an infinite number of enemies, and you keep going until you finally succumb to death. There is a leaderboard that charts your score and stats, and compares you worldwide to other gamers.

Deathmatch pits you one-on-one against other players for rewards and fame. I’ve had difficulty playing this mode, as more often than not I’m greeted with an error saying it can’t connect to the server. I’m sure that, like most iOS games, this bug will be fixed in a future update.

If you're looking for some like-minded players to fight with because, like me, you don't always like random matchmaking, feel free to check out our forum and find some frenemies.

Dark Avenger has two IAPs; gold and gems. Gold can be accrued through the normal course of gameplay, by earning rewards in multiplayer and slaying enemies in single player. It is then used to purchase items, potions, skills and upgrades.

Gems are the premium currency, and are used to unlock the best items and equipment. Despite this, neither IAP makes you feel like it's necessary to purchase something to win the game, and you’ll do just fine without by just grinding it out. Gamevil has also chosen not to harass you constantly to buy gold and gems, and in a straight playthrough of one hour I wasn’t asked once to buy anything, unless I had tapped on an item that I didn’t have enough currency for and was asked if I wanted to purchase more.

Despite the multiplayer options, Dark Avenger seems lifeless and relegated to a passing game as opposed to one you'll find on your device a year from now, when you remark "oh right, so awesome, that's why I still have it."  There is no storyline, the graphics are far from eye-popping, and there is no substance. You have one goal and one goal only: get from A to B while killing everything in between.

Perhaps with updates, Gamevil will add more to Dark Avenger, and bring it up to a competitive level. It’s worthwhile to try because it’s different enough and free, but unless you’re playing on the subway or are bored at work and have nothing better to do, it won’t last you long.

Shenandoah Studio delivers in a new update that includes three additional scenarios (two free, one IAP) and two new AI generals. They're so confident that the new AIs, modeled on Omar Bradley and Hasso Von Manteuffel, are going to your socks off that each one is a $1.99 IAP. I was initially skeptical of that decision, but having played against each one, I have to say that Von Manteuffel is, as advertized, a tricky bastard. He stole a draw from me in what should have been a clear win for the Allies. When I played Axis against Omar Bradley in the shortest scenario, "Race to the Meuse," I won easily, but I noticed that he'd done a good job of flanking me: if I'd been playing the full Battle of the Bulge scenario, I would have been in a lot of trouble going forward.

The scenarios are more straightforward: "Bitter End" appeals to those with no patience for victory points and conditional wins by playing out to the, ahem, bitter end of the engagement. That's a feature many players had been clamoring for. There's also added replayability with "Luck of the Draw" which deviates from history by shuffling starting unit placement and reinforcements. Both "Bitter End" and "Luck of the Draw" are free, and are more oriented to players who want some of the options commonly found in strategy videogames.

For the grognards, there's "The Endgame," featuring the siege of Bastogne, which some of you may know from Band of Brothers, and famous for Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe's laconic response to a demand that he surrender: "NUTS!" If you've ever wanted to stand with the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, or if want to see if you can break McAuliffe for his impudence, "The Endgame" will let you fulfill that fantasy for $3.99.

The pricing scheme here is clever: Shenandoah has made the content that will appease those who wanted more "bang for their buck" free, while offering more exotic goodies to the hardcore at a premium. In a move worthy of Von Manteuffel, you have to go to the "purchase" screen to get "Luck of the Draw" (for free), thus ensuring that nearly every player will see the premium IAP. The update is also well-timed, bridging the gap between the winter release of Battle of the Bulge and forthcoming El Alamein, which should be giving us a chance to wage war in the desert sometime this summer.

Bad movie tie-in games (and even worse zombie games for that matter) are incredibly common on the App Store, so it's probably very wise to keep your expectations in check on this one. Don't get us wrong, it'd be neat to if Phosphor can pull this off, but it seems like time and money are always short on these sorts of projects especially given the typical scope of mobile games and the relatively low development budgets that App Store price points even allow.

Fingers cautiously optimistically crossed!

[via IGN]

I've given just a quick run through the updated Sonic 1 and it's everything I dreamt it would be. This is what it feels like when doves cry. Right from the moment you boot it up, you realize the kind of care that was put into this port as a 3D rendered Japanese Mega Drive game case pops up on the screen. You touch the screen to play and the case opens up, revealing the cartridge itself. You have the option of choosing the Japanese, American, or European versions of the box art and cartridge. It's those little touches that tell you this is by fans, for fans of Sonic The Hedgehog.

It also plays like a dream now, or at least as much of a dream as virtual controls can be. If you have no problems with Sonic CD on iOS, you'll be more than happy here. I can't wait to beat the game yet again today, hopefully unlock a new character, and mess around with Time Attack mode. Oh, and there's Game Center leaderboards and achievements, too. Seriously, if you've suffered through the shoddy original port of Sonic The Hedgehog on iOS for the last several years, this is a handsome reward. Head to the App Store immediately and update, and drop by our forums for discussion from the community.

Update: Here's an official trailer!

In Frozen Synapse you take on the role of a tactician. Your task is direct a team of soldiers second by second. They can be ordered to move behind cover, fire a weapon, and many other options. Once all players have decided on the directions for their teams, the actions are carried out simultaneously. It calls to mind the X-wing Miniatures game as your success is based upon the ability to read the other player. Will they take cover or launch an offensive? In some modes of the game you are also locked into seeing only those enemies in your line of sight, which can be challenging. Beware, your sci-fi soldiers are very fragile and a single misstep can mean instant death. Matches usually last only a few rounds as players bluff and bait each other.

There are a myriad of ways to enjoy this title whether alone or with others. There is a fully functional AI in the game which can allow for quick matches. This little buddy is no pushover; you will die often. It is no wonder the developers recommend this mode as the best teacher after finishing the tutorial. The game also features an excellent campaign mode with a story spanning several levels. These range from straightforward skirmishes to  more complex missions of capture or defense. It is the gameplay that stands out, but the story certainly has its strong points.

Frozen Synapse really shines when playing with others. The online play features a separate login and a full blown PC-esque lobby. There are always plenty of people online and games can be completed live or in an asynchronous fashion. You can play with friends, complete strangers, or participate in tournaments. It really is a full fledged online system, the likes of which is rarely seen on iOS. This version also features Hotseat mode which is great for mobile as you can pass the iPad around a room and play with your friends in one location. If you find online play too insular or intimidating, this is an excellent way to play with friends on your terms.

This game comes packed with many hours of content- The campaign will take you some time to complete and then there are untold hours of play both online and off. There are dozens of maps, different unit types, several game modes, and on and on. I was impressed by the amount of things to do. Frozen Synapse is an exercise in complex simplicity. On the service the controls are simple taps and turns, but to really succeed it will require practice. This process can be terribly rewarding, and even games you struggle in will end quickly.

It is this hidden complexity that provides some challenges for this app. The number of choices available to you at any moment make the interface large and somewhat confusing. To really succeed at the game you will have to learn all of these options and know when best to ask them. For a new player they can look downright baffling and it would be great to see a more interactive tutorial that guides a player through step by step. This UI difficulty is paired with the games overall menu system which has a decidedly PC feeling. There are cases of strange pop-up issues and overlays that seem traditional reserved to the wild world of PC gaming. While the gameplay fits perfectly on iOS, the surrounding menus seem to miss the boat.

Frozen Synapse succeeds at bringing a beloved PC game to iOS. It is fiercely faithful in bringing the whole experience to mobile which has its own pros (tons of content, great online experience) and cons (archaic menu system, hard to manage UI). This is a great strategy title which is enjoyable on many levels. There is complexity there if you want it or you can stay on the surface and have a great tactical experience.

I'm not a big fan of this. It's pretty clear that a lot of love went into the look and sound and feel, but it fails in delivering a reason for me to feel like I need to keep fighting and moving to the right. It's kinda hollow, in a way.

You can see for yourself in our look, which includes a lot of real talk.

All Glory to the Pixel King!

iTunes Description:

Exciting news citizen! Our glorious King has passed a new law, specifically stating that 'The King's castle must at all times be at least 42% grander, cooler and shinier than those of his enemies.' The time has come for you, brave citizen, to fight for, and almost certainly die for, your King's noble dream to one day have his own private waterpark!

Build an awesome fortress, stuff it with soldiers, catapults and whatnot, and lead your army into battle against other players' castles in devious turn-based combat!

Forum Thread: All Glory to the Pixel King! - (by Steve O`Gorman) [Universal]

First Impressions: 'Bombcats' is a Physics Puzzler that Combines My Love of Cats and Explosions

In case you hadn't noticed, Chillingo had taken a short hiatus from their normal weekly release pace, but are back this week with – wait for it – a physics puzzler. It's called Bombcats and being a fan of both cats and explosions I took it for a quick spin this morning. It's cute, plays well, seemingly has loads of content, and it's also somewhat unremarkable.

Forum Thread: Bombcats - (by Chillingo Ltd) [Universal]

iTunes Description:

Challenge your aim, hone your precision, and push your puzzle-solving skills to the next level in this insanely addictive game. This installment takes the critically acclaimed Can Knockdown series to all new heights- the physics-based carnival gameplay you know and love- and adds unique puzzles, adrenaline-charged challenges, and even more explosive action!

Forum Thread: Can Knockdown 3 - (by Infinite Dreams Inc.) [Universal]

iTunes Description:

Defend the Earth from the attack of huge cats from outer space!
Bounce the flying cats by using a trampoline.

Forum Thread: Cat Raid - (by Ho't unite)

iTunes Description:

Defend your castle from the evils that lurk below in this unique strategy game! You will need to dig deep into the earth to uncover treasures and destroy the enemies threatening your castle.

Forum Thread: CastleMine - (by Stephen Yap) [Universal]

iTunes Description

Fun-filled multiplayer fish racing:

- Challenge Yello fans from all over the world!
- Race against your friends in real time!
- Endless number of random tracks!
- Avoid the obstacles and catch all the power-ups to get to the finish line first!

Forum Thread: Chasing Yello Friends - (by dreamfab) [Universal]

iTunes Description:

ERA Deluxe is here! A beautiful Sci Fi TD game for iOS!

Forum Thread: ERA Deluxe - (by Forest Moon Games)

First Impressions: Upcoming Release 'Fire And Forget: The Final Assault' Isn't So Great, Interplay Apparently Still Around

Fire & Forget: The Final Assault is an arcade post-apocalyptic racing game that's set to debut tonight alongside a bunch of other new releases. You can catch a look at it below, but you should probably avoid the actual product. It's not good. The driving feels super floaty, the car-to-car combat is bland, and the production elements aren't stellar. That isn't to say there aren't some neat ideas buried in it. After all, who doesn't like the idea of driving around a laser-equipped car that can spontaneously morph into a fighter plane? But, the execution isn't great, making it a pretty forgettable game as a whole.

Forum Thread: Fire & Forget The Final Assault - (by Microids) [Universal]

First Impressions: 'Frozen Synapse' Hitting Tonight On iPad

Frozen Synapse on iPad is one of the few notable "core" kinda releases this week, and it is what you think it is: a pretty straight-up port of an imaginative PC title that got a bunch of awards and praise. This version sees the addition of one-tap touch controls, as well as cross-platform play.

Forum Thread: Frozen Synapse - (by Mode 7)

First Impressions: 'Gravity Guy 2' is a Big Departure from the Original, but Fun in Its Own Right

The original Gravity Guy [Free / Free (HD)] popularized the whole "gravity flipping" mechanic on mobile back in 2010, but the long-awaited sequel does away with that entirely in favor of a more traditional – though still innovative – endless runner formula. Gravity Guy 2 won't have you frantically switching between running on the ground or the ceiling in order to get through its puzzle-like levels, as in the original.

Forum Thread: Gravity Guy 2 - (by Miniclip.com) [Universal]

iTunes Description:

A small boy, his big new friend, and a huge problem.

Join Camp Eagle Feathers’ newest ‘Brave’, Jacob Jones, on an amazing adventure to uncover just what is going on at Camp Eagle Feather.

Forum Thread: Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery : Episode 1 - (by Lucid Games) [Universal]

First Impressions: 'Karateka Classic' Brings the 1984 Apple II Original to iOS

Last year, Jordan Mechner teamed up with Liquid Entertainment to create a modern remake of his 1984 beat 'em up classic, Karateka. The modern, 3D recreation of Karateka [$1.99] (which we reviewed in December) does an excellent job of conveying the tragic tale of the poor, imprisoned princess Mariko and the bold quest to rescue her to today's gamers using modern visuals, an original score, and unique, new fight mechanics. Another thing it does is give old school gamers a real itch to go back and play through the 8-bit original. Happily, as of tonight, that itch is easily scratched.

Forum Thread: Karateka Classic (By Kareteka LLC) [Universal]

iTunes Description:

Run, jump and slide from ropes, dodge rocks! Not enough? There is much more in Manuganu. Avoid swinging hammers and jump over moving ice blocks. Don’t get burned and jump between walls to collect coins and medallions. Break stone blocks and activate platforms before you fall into fog and much more...

Forum Thread: Manuganu - (by ALPER SARIKAYA) [Universal]

First Impressions: 'Nikko RC Racer' Nails the Nostalgia of RC Cars, but Feels Underwhelming as a Racing Game

...That's what caught my eye about Nikko RC Racer from Paladin Studios, who you might remember as creators of the awesome Momonga Pinball Adventures [$2.99]. This is an official Nikko-endorsed racing game featuring 10 actual RC cars from across the company's 55 year history. The download itself is free and comes with 2 cars unlocked and 1 unlocked via "Liking" a Facebook page. The other 7 cars are 99¢ each to unlock or you can unlock the whole bundle for $2.99. You can also get a promo code to unlock cars by buying an actual Nikko RC car in real life, so there's that too, I guess.

Forum Thread: Nikko RC Racer - (by Paladin Studios) [Universal]

I actually spent a bit of time with this today, and while this game is going to be hard to write about in a "full" article, it's free, and driving around with any kind of precision in a semi truck is actually surprisingly difficult- Particularly while backing up.

Forum Thread: Trucker: Parking Simulator - Realistic 3D Monster Truck and Lorry 'Driving Test'