In what is likely the calm before the storm of an onslaught of pre-holiday iPhone releases, here are a few games that were recently updated or put on sale (along with a few freebies) that are worth a look:
Minigore, 99¢ – The recent episode 3 update that we previewed last week has finally arrived, bringing several new playable characters in to the mix as well two characters that are unlocked via a 99¢ in-app purchase. A grenade launcher, upgradeable weapons, and a day/night cycle were added as well– And of course, Minigore fans are already going crazy in the Minigore thread.
Implode!, $1.99 – IUGO’s best-selling physics-based demolition puzzle game was updated with 20 new levels (10 of those sporting a holiday theme) as well as a bunch of other tweaks and improvements like saving the locations of your bombs between attempts, replays, and decreased load times.
Video by AppBank
Geared Free, FREE – The lite version of Bryan Mitchel"s wildly popular Geared [99¢] received an update recently doubling the amount of content in the free version of the game. If you haven’t tried out this fantastic gear alignment puzzler, you have 16 levels waiting for you. If you need any more reason to try the lite version, take a look at our review.
Dark Raider S, FREE – The enhanced version version of the original Dark Raider [$2.99 / Free] is now free for a limited time. This dual stick shooter adventure game features all kinds of fancy lighting effects and bump mapping and serves as a decent little tech demo for what the platform is capable of in those areas. This version of the game only will work on the iPhone 3GS and 3rd generation iPod touch– Sorry previous-generation device owners.
Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition, FREE – Adult Swim recently released what amounts to a holiday re-skin of their silly surgery game, Amateur Surgeon [$2.99 / Free]. Five levels are included where you will use Christmas-themed instruments to patch up elves, yetis, and even Santa himself. If you like the Christmas Edition, I recommend giving the full Amateur Surgeon a try for even more of the same wacky gameplay.
Polyhedra, FREE – The Appvent Calendar revealed Polyhedra, a relaxing gravity-powered puzzler, as the free game today. Different levels provide different shapes to work with, and to complete a level 66% of the screen must be filled with those shapes, and you only have a limited number of shapes that can be used on each level. Unique, and totally worth a download especially while it’s free.
Mass Effect Galaxy, 99¢ (Originally $1.99) – Today’s entry in EA’s holiday sale series, Mass Effect Galaxy is somewhat disappointing with tilt to move mechanics, a combat system that doesn’t make sense, and extremely long-winded dialog segments. But, if you’re a fan of the Mass Effect universe, Galaxy might be worth picking up just to take in the small bit of Mass Effect lore inside of this game.
Pocketball, 99¢ (Originally $1.99) – Yet another physics based puzzle game, Pocketball asks you to navigate colored balls in to their respective bins using ropes that you connect to pegs on the game board. This is one of my favorite puzzle games that has been released lately, we enjoyed it in our review and there’s even a lite version to try.
Cobra Command, 99¢ (Originally $4.99) – Last but certainly not least is Revolutionary Concepts’ fantastic port of Cobra Command, a laserdisc arcade game of the 1980’s. It was hard to recommend to people who weren’t retro fanatics, but at 99¢, Cobra Command is a game anyone who even had their interest remotely piqued by the above video should snag. If you need something else to push you over the edge, check out our review.
