I’ll just get the bad news out of the way first: No Final Fantasy Tactics this week, it seems. The good news, though, is that unless there’s some substantial SNAFU with Squeenix and the Apple approval process, we should be playing FFT next week. (Assuming of course they don’t hold the release date for marketing reasons, which would be evil for how highly anticipated this game is.) Oh! And there’s even more good news! There’s a ton of great releases out this week that will keep you busy until you’re waist-deep in turn-based bliss next week.
If you’re new around here, here’s how these Wednesday release posts work: Developers are able to set specific release dates for their games on the App Store. Since the App Store is a global marketplace (which recently includes 33 new countries) and due to the modern-day wizardry that is time zones, these release dates happen at different times. New Zealand, for instance, gets first crack at everything because of their proximity to the international date line. Us North Americans get our games last, at 11:00 PM Eastern. Everyone east of us gets ’em earlier, basically whenever it gets close to being Thursday in your neck of the woods.
Here’s some noteworthy games being released:
Dice Soccer, Free – Forum Thread – This game has me torn. As an American, I have to muster some serious effort to care about soccer, but I love dice games. Nissa had a great time with a preview version of this game, and her review will be up closer to its US release tonight!
Gesundheit!, 99¢ / HD – Forum Thread – We had a great time with an early copy of this game that we got our hands on. Hand drawn art combines with an adorable premise of a pig with allergies. Seriously, it’s good.
Groove Coaster, 99¢ – Forum Thread – Brad has had his muscular hands all over this game today and plans on providing a review closer to the US release. It’s from the same mind that brought us Space Invaders: Infinity Gene [$4.99] which basically makes it an automatic purchase for people who enjoyed the style of Infinity Gene. Wait, you haven’t played Infinity Gene? You should fix that.
Heli-Awesome, 99¢ – Forum Thread – As we should have mentioned when we first caught wind of this game, Heli-Awesome looks Hella-Awesome. (See what I did there? Eh?) It’s a tilt-controlled see how far you can go kind of game, and it seems like I’ve always got room on my phone for another one of those, particularly if it involves spiders with propeller butts.
Hungribles, 99¢ – Forum Thread – Hey it’s the weekly physics-based ultra-cute puzzle game with tons of levels, updates coming, and a three star grading system! Sure, it’s the same old song and dance, but I seriously just can’t stop playing games like this, and if the iTunes top charts are any indication, neither can you.
Mad Wheels, 99¢ / Lite / HD – Forum Thread – Judging by the above trailers, the developers took Twisted Metal and turned it into a isometric 3D racing game… And you have no idea how OK I am with that. Three game modes are included, but the cherry on top has got to be online multiplayer. I can’t wait for the player base to build up to play.
Pollen Count 99¢ / HD – Forum Thread – This game features that all too familiar line drawing mechanic to help bees pollinate things. According to the iTunes description, it’s even the best looking casual game on the App Store. Anyway, a variety of bees are included to mix up gameplay, and there’s even zombie bees. Yeah, that’s right, zombie bees.
Ranger Rocket, 99¢ – Forum Thread – I really couldn’t tell you how you play this game, but the iMovie trailer template sure makes it feel epic. A wide array of enemies are included, that must be dealt with using various power-ups, and I guess a black in white to color mechanic comes into play somehow too. Mysterious. I can’t wait to try it.
Roads of Rome HD, $2.99 – Forum Thread – This is a PC game that has made the hop to the iPad. Roads of Rome is a time-management game centralized around building the Roman empire. That’s certainly a much more intriguing premise than a beauty salon!
Roboto, $2.99 – Forum Thread – This 2.5D cel shaded hoverboard powered platformer just looks awesome. Just watch the trailer. There’s even a free Flash version you can try out online.
Silent Ops, $6.99 – Forum Thread – This third person action adventure game features three different agents with different abilities, a 7 level single player campaign, and online multiplayer. Oh, it’s even universal, a trend that I really hope Gameloft keeps up.
Silverfish MAX, $2.99 – Forum Thread – We were totally stoked about this when we heard about it a few days ago. We loved the original, so playing it on the iPad with the iCade naturally should be totally awesome.
The Marbians, Free / HD – Forum Thread – This free fling-powered physics puzzle game looks awfully nice, and it has an incredibly well done trailer… Which really makes me wonder what the catch of it being free is.
