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Like many other Gameloft mega-hits, Hero of Sparta II has more than a few traits in common with a big-name console franchise. Just like in God of War, you play as a blood-frenzied Spartan whose ongoing feud with the gods forces him to face mythological beasts and colossal bosses. Hero of Sparta II is probably the closest we’ll get to a real God of War game on the iPhone.

God of War’s incredible quality is difficult to match, but Hero of Sparta II puts up a good fight. The story is almost completely forgettable, but the important thing is that your hero Argos ends up traveling to several interesting and beautiful-looking environments. The most impressive of these is a rocky mountain area, where sphinx statues from The Neverending Story will shoot laser beams at you from their eyes.

You’re swung pendulum-like between action sequences, where you have to brutally hack apart creatures like minotaurs and blue-skinned warriors (perhaps left over from Gameloft’s Avatar game), and simple environmental puzzles. Puzzles never get more complicated than hitting an action button and performing a quick series of alternating taps on the screen, but the combat is much more satisfying.

Instead of cluttering the screen with multiple buttons for different attacks, Gameloft has come up with an ingenious workaround. One attack button handles all your moves, but you can slide it up, down, or to the side to perform smashes and launch enemies into the air.

You’ll also gain a total of five different weapons along the way, and though we preferred our trusty sword most of the time, it’s fun to experiment with weapons like the razor-sharp Icarus wings or double-bladed spear. You’ll even find a pair of tethered boxing gloves that would make Kratos feel right at home.

It may not be fair to expect boss fights on the same level as God of War’s, but in Hero of Sparta II they tend to be downright anticlimactic. One Pegasus-back escape from a water elemental feels more like Canabalt than God of War. You’ll rarely fight bosses yourselves, as many are dispatched in cutscenes.

When you compare it to just about any other action game on the iPhone, Hero of Sparta II is a marvel. It looks absolutely stunning, and ran smoothly on our third-generation iPod Touch. The action is continually varied, and you’ll almost never perform the same platforming or puzzle task twice. There’s even an endless Arena level accessible as a departure from the main adventure, if you just want to chain together combos and upgrade your weapons.

It’s great to see the iPhone handle a cinematic action game like Hero of Sparta II, and Gameloft’s dedication to polish and sheen is immediately apparent. This ambitious title makes great use of the iDevice hardware, and will keep you playing happily until the end.

The Way Back is a nice looking exploration platformer inspired by Cave Story where you control a bunny.

From the Homepage: -Charming Characters -14 Intense Bosses -Large Atmospheric Environments -3 Difficulty Settings -Intriguing Storyline -Over 20 Musical Tracks -Detailed Pixel Art

Words from the developer MeadowHare: “It will be done fairly soon, though, as There are only 2 bosses left to be programed, and most areas in the game are complete. The total number of bosses is about 14, and the total playtime looks like it will be around 4 to 5 hours for the first playthrough.”

Link to Trailer (by Developer)

One of our favorite turn-based strategy games, Highborn, has just received a new update and has gone free for today only. Released in early June of this year, Highborn has a wonderful art style, clever writing, single player campaign, and an asynchronous multiplayer mode. Using the typical top-down grid view of most strategic games like this, once you engage in battle with an enemy the game switches to a 3D animation of the ensuing fight between your troops and the enemy. It's a really neat effect, and the overall presentation of Highborn really impresses. As you can see from this excerpt, we really loved the game in our full review:

Highborn comfortably sits as one of the best turn-based strategy games we have played on the iPhone. Beyond its dialogue and characters, which raise the bar entirely for humour, creativity and personality (and ability to plough right through that fourth wall); Highborn looks and plays fantastically, with a depth and attention to detail in its presentation that constantly surprises (just take a look at the character descriptions to see what I mean). If you look past the Facebook integration (which we understand some of you won't, though we strongly urge you to), Highborn also has a lasting and engrossing multiplayer mode that is excellently paced and perfect for portable devices. With additional campaigns promised beyond the 8 lengthy missions currently available (they'll take you hours to complete), Highborn is a robust and content-heavy turn-based strategy game that will surely leave you impressed.

What you can also see from that snippet is that while we loved the way the multiplayer mode worked, we absolutely hated that it forced you to use Facebook to take part in it. I'm sure many other players felt the same, and likely shied away from the multiplayer aspect because of this. Developer Jet Set Games recognized this, and in an update released a couple days ago Facebook was taken out in favor of the OpenFeint social network. While not everyone is a fan of OpenFeint either, it at least affords a way to enjoy the multiplayer in the game without having to add strangers to your own personal Facebook friend list, and doesn't even require an email or any personal info to sign up for. There's even the inclusion of player chat thanks to OpenFeint, not to mention the 30 million strong user base.

Besides Highborn for iPhone being free today, there's also an iPad version that has just been released. The iPad version adds the usual benefits of sharper graphics and a larger play area due to the bigger screen, but essentially the two versions are identical. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, as the iPhone version is of such high quality and the introductory price for the iPad version is only $2.99. And while Highborn has a fairly decent single player campaign already, what I'm really waiting for is the addition of the second chapter that is hinted at in the game. Still, for one of the best strategy games available on the App Store there's no reason not to at least grab the iPhone version of Highborn while it's free for today only.

Hell’s Deep is a cancelled action adventure that was in development in 2002 by Qube Software for the Playstation 2 and PC. The project was meant to be an ambitious sandbox game, similar to GTA3, but set in a big medieval city, during a dark and menacing time. As the main focus of Qube has [...]
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Yar har fiddle-dee-dee. Just when you've convinced yourself that Internet overexposure has whittled the appeal of pirates down to something that's as interesting as bog water, out comes Plunderland by JohnnyTwoShoes. In this side-scrolling title filled with destruction, cannon fire, strategy, and booty, you are a pirate-- and it couldn't be any sweeter.

Plunderland is simple to pick up and play, but sea dogs of all skill levels will have a swashbucklin' time. The object of the game is more or less stated in its title: Pillage, plunder, loot, and then upgrade your ship to wreck landlubbers' days with more efficiency. Not everybody loves a pirate, though. Your adversaries include island natives who are pretty handy with rocks, and the British navy, history's greatest spoilsports.

The gameplay is reminiscent in some ways to titles like Angry Birds and Crush the Castle: Your pirate crew fires cannonballs at the British navy and topples their towers with a helping hand from physics. Tiling the iPhone back and forth sends you swishing over the waves, and dragging your finger adjusts your firing trajectory. Defeated enemies drop loot that must be dragged and dropped into your ship. When your men are thrown overboard-- and they will be-- you must likewise pluck them from a watery grave and put them safely on deck.

The ride through Plunderland isn't entirely smooth, however. The game is easy to dive into, but at times you feel like you're sailing without a sextant. A tiny bit more on-screen instruction would be welcome at points. What's more, getting your ship to simultaneously retreat and return fire in the heat of a battle can be a finger-tangling experience. And bringing up the pause menu involves tiling your iPhone a certain way instead of hitting an on-screen button.

Those are minor complaints, hardly comparable to a raging case of scurvy. Plunderland's few shortcomings are forgotten in the thrill of sending yet another British vessel down into the drink. And when you set eyes on the smooth graphics and their adorable ragdoll physics, you'll be hooked. Ever scruffed a pirate like a kitten and thrown him around? Now you can.

(Slide To Play apologizes for the gratuitous pirate references contained in this review.)

Organizers of the Independent Games Festival China, which runs in conjunction with the Game Developers Conference China, have officially announced its call for indie game submissions from the pan-Pacific area now through Wednesday, September 15.

Following on its 2009 success, GDC China -- part of the UBM TechWeb network, as is this website -- will continue to host the three main elements of IGF China, including the Independent Games Summit, which provides valuable conference sessions specializing in the challenges of independent game development.

These include the Independent Games Festival Pavilion, an onsite exhibition of the very best in local indie games, and the Independent Games Festival Awards, which honors the work of the talented pool of local independent game developers.

The 2010 IGF Main Competition will give out awards in five categories, including Best Game, Mobile Best Game, Excellence in Audio, Excellence in Technology, and Excellence in Visual Arts. Finalists in all categories will receive VIP and expo passes to attend GDC China and the IGF awards ceremony on December 5, 2010.

Finalists -- who will compete for RMB 20,000 ($3,000) will be chosen by a panel of expert jurors including Kevin Li (CEO, TipCat Interactive); Monte Singman (Main Coordinator, IGDA Shanghai Chapter); Xubo Yang (Director of Digital Art Lab and Assistant Professor; Shanghai Jiaotong University's School of Software), and jury chairman Simon Carless, IGF Chairman Emeritus and Global Brand Director of Game Developer magazine and Gamasutra.

Last year's event saw more than 200 entries for the Main Competition and the Student Competition, including entries from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Pakistan, Australia, South Korea, India and more. Winners from last year include titles like acclaimed Best Game winner Captain Forever (Farbs – Australia), Donovo (Magic Day Studio – China) for Excellence in Art Direction, HurricaneX2 (You Yun Tech – China) for Technical Excellence and Armor Valley (Protege Production – Singapore) for Excellence in Audio.

Key dates for IGF China include:

* July 7th, 2010 – Submissions are Open * September 15th, 2010, - Submission Deadline * October 25th, 2010 – Finalist Announced * December 5th-7th, 2010 – Game Developers Conference China 2010 * December 5th, 2010 – Independent Games Summit at GDC China * December 5th, 2010 – IGF China Awards Ceremony (Winners Announced!) * December 5th-6th, 2010 – IGF China Pavilion at GDC China

"We're proud to have IGF China as an integral part of the 2010 GDC China event," said IGF Chairman Emeritus Simon Carless. "IGF China 2010 further broadens the scope of games, not just in geography, but in new and exciting game play ideas as well."

"The world of gaming, and independent games in particular, has benefitted immeasurably from the influence of a diverse set of voices and perspectives," he continued. "IGF China provides the perfect showcase for an emerging group of developers."

GDC China returns to the Shanghai International Convention Center in Shanghai, China for three days, December 5-7, 2010. For more details and information on IGF China please visit the event's official website.

Organizers of the Freeplay Independent Games Festival have announced the finalists for the Freeplay Awards, a new competition for indie game developers to participate with their game projects, prototypes and even concept arts. The finalists in all eight categories are as follows:

Best Australian Game Up Down Ready (Sword Lady & The Viking), Jolly Rover (Brawsome), Colourbind (Finn Morgan)

Best International Game Bo (Mahdi Bahrami, Iran), TryFail (Anders Højsted, Denmark), Last Hope (Yellow Jam, Brazil)

Best Design in a Game Up Down Ready (Sword Lady & The Viking), Hazard: The Journey of Life (Alexander Bruce), Train Conductor (The Voxel Agents)

Best On-Paper Design Epic Adventure (Tobye Ryan), iCrazy Man (Timothy Ryan), Galaqua (Katie Murphy)

Best Art in a Game Captain Forever series (Farbs), Hazard: The Journey of Life (Alexander Bruce), Doodle Find (KlickTock)

Best Concept Art Exodus (Fiasco Studios), City Ruins (Evan Raynor), Speed Demon (Catbus Interactive)

Best Technical Innovation Captain Forever series (Farbs), Colourbind (Finn Morgan), Up Down Ready (Sword Lady & The Viking)

Best Game Writing Captain Forever series (Farbs), Hazard: The Journey of Life (Alexander Bruce), Transumer (PVI Collective)

Best Audio Train Conductor (The Voxel Agents), Gamebook Adventures 1: An Assassin in Orlandes (Tin Man Games), Jolly Rover (Brawsome)

Winners of the Freeplay Awards will be announced on the final day of the Freeplay Independent Games Festival (15th of August 2010). More information about Freeplay 2010, program schedules, and ticketing information can all be found at Freeplay's official site.

Note: Fastar! is currently available in some international App Store markets, and will be appearing for download in others throughout the day until it finally arrives in the US App Store at 11:00 PM EST. In the interest of our readers abroad, we've published our review early. If iTunes is telling you that Fastar! isn't available in your region, simply check back later.

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When John Kooistra of Cat in a Box Games first contacted us about Fastar! and we ran our preview post, I really wasn't sure where they were going with the game. Reading the promotional materials and watching the trailer (embedded below) sounded promising, but I wasn't sure if the game was actually going to be fun to play, or just a satirical jab at the repetitiveness of action RPG's filled with generic enemies of different sizes and colors, vague fantasy worlds, and tons of button mashing. The emphasis on speed runs sounded interesting, but in order for speed runs to be appealing you need to have compelling gameplay, and I just wasn't sure whether or not Fastar! would be up to the task.

I'm happy to report that Fastar!, or Fight Angry Squares: The Action RPG, is a ridiculous amount of fun. So much so, that working up the motivation to stop playing the game to actually write this review has been something I've spent the better part of this afternoon doing and once I'm done I'm going to go right back to working on completing a hard mode run through, despite the fact that the siren call of StarCraft II has been taunting me to actually play it since it came out this Tuesday.

The object of Fastar! is delightfully simple. Basically, all you do is run to the right, kill everything that moves, collect coins, spend those coins on upgrades, and make it to the finish as quickly as possible. What makes Fastar! so much fun is the insane amount of variety in the game. While all the enemies you will come across are squares of different sizes and colors, they all behave differently. Some are extremely aggressive and lunge right towards you as soon as they appear on screen, while others will do everything they can to avoid your attacks including jumping clear over your character's head. There are giant squares that move slow but do tons of damage, very fast moving small squares, and the different squares can even use the several magical spells included in the game. It's really strange how much personality these squares manage to have, and how you get to know them once you spend some time with the game. (Argh, damn you, green squares!)

On top of all the different enemies, there are 24 different game modes which all manage to feel different even though the gameplay itself is essentially the same. For instance, there are three standard game modes ranging from easy to hard that provide the "classic" Fastar! experience which pits you up against various enemies to complete the game as fast as possible. Alternatively, there is "profit" mode which emphasizes making money and puts the player to the task of collecting as much money as possible in five minutes, "showdown" mode where you fight 25 enemies as quickly as possible, "sudden death" mode where you only have 50 hit points and basically one hit will kill you, and many others. I'm preferring "arena" mode which is a survival mode of sorts with an endless supply of squares to kill with high scores measured by the number of rounds you're able to survive.

The RPG elements of Fastar! are fairly basic, but do the trick just fine. At points throughout the game, you'll be given the option to upgrade your character. For instance, in the standard game modes you come across towns, or in the "arena" mode a store pops up every 10 rounds. From there, you're able to spend the coins you've collected on boosting your offense or defense as well as healing yourself. This adds yet another layer of complexity on top of this seemingly simple game as you're forced to make decisions such as running back to the previous town to heal at the cost of lost time, or running forward hoping to run across one before dying, thus ruining your entire run.

At the start of each game mode you can choose one of nine magic spells to use on your quest (except in "battlemage" mode where you can choose two). These spells cover the standard array of RPG spells such as fire or lighting attacks to damage opponents, temporary defense boosts, healing, and there's even a spell to instantly warp you back to the previous village. Activating these spells is as easy as tapping a button in the top right corner of the screen, and each spell uses different amounts of power which is displayed in a gauge that slowly refills over time.

The best part about Fastar! is how far above and beyond Cat in the Box games went with polishing this game before its release. I know how incredibly cliche it is to describe a game as "polished" and I hate doing it, believe me, but I can't think of a more accurate way to describe all the little touches here and there that combine to make Fastar! even more awesome. Every part of your Fastar! character is customizable with different colors, and each game mode has its own online leaderboard where your little dude appears exactly how you tweaked him out along with showing which spell you chose for your adventure. There's even four different control modes to play with on-screen controls, swiping, tilting, or one handed.

Fastar! also behaves fantastically as an iPhone game, a pet peeve of mine that far too many games fall victim to. It loads quickly, resumes quickly, and saves your progress exactly where you left off when you quit the game to do something else. It even remembers the last game mode you chose to play and has a big button to mash to replay that mode on the main menu. The game over screen is even fun, as just like when the squares explode in to glorious showers of coins, your character does as well when he's finally slain, and the square that killed you hops on top of your corpse then back and forth collecting all your loot.

The thread in our forums is filled with people in love with the game, and I can't help but agree. Fastar! is a ton of fun, and has all the quick pick-up-and-play-ability of App Store classics like Doodle Jump with a level of depth and complexity that makes Fastar! a blast to play in both the quick game modes that barely last for a minute, and the long difficult game modes that can last for hours… And on top of that, it's launching for a buck.

Anyway, I've spent far too long reviewing this game and can't handle listening to the epic background music of Fastar! loop any more from my phone sitting here on my here desk without playing it. I've got to get back to getting far too involved in slaying squares, yelling at my phone as they drop coins, then eventually getting greedy and dying before reaching the goal. (Or at least that's how the majority of my day has gone so far.)

App Store Link: Fastar!, 99¢ - Not available in all regions yet, will be available for purchase in the US App Store at 11:00 PM EST

City planners and future politicians rejoice: SimCity Deluxe has just appeared on the App Store. The game rings in at $6.99; click here to check it out in iTunes. Deluxe features many improvements to the original, including an improved user interface, a graphical upgrade, and several starter cities.

We'll have a full review soon, but for now check out our preview, as well as the informative developer interview video below.

We've recently updated our GameFinder app with a new list, based on your suggestions. It's called Short But Sweet, and it includes games that may not last long, but they're fun the whole way through.

Some of your suggestions, which we requested in a Tuesday Twitter Giveaway a few weeks ago, include Fruit Ninja, Pro Zombie Soccer, and Pix'n Love Rush. All of these are great for a few minutes at a time, but somehow nail that desire for quick, quality entertainment.

If you have suggestions for an upcoming GameFinder list, let us know in the comments or hit us up on Twitter.

Hero of Sparta II-- the sequel to the hugely popular original, the homage to (or rip-off of) the God of War series, the game in which you make gods and mythical creatures kneel before your almighty power-- has been released on the App Store. It costs $6.99, and you can check it out on iTunes here.

While we eviscerate our way through the game for our review, be sure to look at our preview coverage of the game, including screenshots, trailers, and hands-on videos. Speaking of screenshots, here are the new ones they submitted to Apple.

We got word this afternoon that the Parrot AR.Drone Quadricopter is going to be sold exclusively through Brookstone and is available for pre-order right now for $299.99. Brookstone plans on shipping orders on September 3rd, and the first 300 orders get a free flight bag. (Tempting, I know.) Currently, Brookstone is only willing to ship the Parrot AR.Drone to customers inside of the USA, and optionally available is a $49.95 bundle which includes a additional hull, battery, and an iPhone 3G/3GS case. They're also selling two and three year service plans for $39.99 or $49.99, although it's unclear whether or not breaking your AR.Drone by crashing it in to something is considered "normal wear and tear."

We got our first hands-on at CES 2010 earlier this year and thought it was incredibly cool-

The device is currently controlled using an iPhone/iPod Touch app which communicates through Wi-Fi to the AR.Drone itself. Simply tap on Launch and the AR.Drone takes off and hovers over a stationary spot. On screen controls are easy and effective.

Left/right buttons allow you to rotate 360 degrees in one spot, while up/down buttons control altitude. Pressing on a special button activates tilt-control on the iPhone/iPod Touch itself. This allow you to fly the device by naturally tilting the iPhone itself. Meanwhile, the on screen controls are overlayed with live video coming from the front-facing camera of the Drone itself.

In picking it up for the first time, I found it very easy to maneuver. The main thing I had to get used to was using the drone's point of view to steer, rather than my own. Check out our video:

The Parrot AR.Drone has some serious technology built in to it with its ability to auto-level itself, and pilot itself if it loses the connection with the device you're controlling it with. Remote control helicopters (which require much more skill to fly) sell for upwards of $1,000, making the $299.99 they're asking for everything the AR.Drone is capable of doing seem surprisingly appealing. For more information on the Parrot AR.Drone check out the web site and make sure to take a peek at their gallery of augmented reality games that you can play for the device.

I can't wait to get my hands on one.

The game that put Crescent Moon Games on the map, Ravensword: The Fallen King [99¢ / Free] is on sale this week for 99¢. Originally released in late 2009, Ravensword was incredibly anticipated on our forums, and we really enjoyed playing through it. Since our initial review, the game has been updated with more items and quests, and provides an incredible amount of content for a buck.

Give the lite version a shot, or swing by the thread in our forums which has been going strong since last November. Either way, if you're at all interested in open world RPG's, picking up Ravensword will probably be the best dollar you spend today.

Graveyard Shift [$2.99/Lite] is a new physics puzzle game where you are literally working a graveyard shift in a graveyard putting back skeletons that have inexplicably decided to pop out of their coffins. It features a charming art style that's Retina Display ready, a multitude of levels, and best of all some great level designs that are hard not to appreciate. It also doesn't hurt that the game is universal, and there's a lite to try before you buy. If you like games like Saving Private Sheep, Angry Birds, and Ragdoll Blaster, then Graveyard Shift should be right up your alley.

The premise is that you're a boy looking for a job to earn some extra cash, and you come to find that the local graveyard is hiring. For some odd reason, the skeletons from the graves have popped out of their coffins and perched themselves precariously amongst objects throughout the graveyard. It's your job to use the different properties of these objects and the physics in the game to get the skeleton back into their coffin homes. Some blocks can be touched to make them disappear, some must be touched by the same type block to eliminate them, and some just can't be removed from the level at all. There are also boxes of TNT that can be used to launch objects or the skeletons themselves to aid the task of getting them back to their eternal resting place.

The graphics in Graveyard Shift are nice, with lovely hand drawn backgrounds and crisp in-game elements that look especially great on the iPhone 4. The music is also very catchy and fitting, but the thing that really stands out about the game is the excellent level designs. Some levels are very straightforward, with the skeleton on top of stacks of blocks that must simply be cleared in order for him to fall into the coffin. But others are more complex, and almost Rube Goldberg-esque in their execution. For example, you may pop a box of dynamite that sends a ball rolling down an incline, that will then cause a latch that is holding back a giant pendulum to disappear. Gravity will then cause the pendulum to swing, and once it hits it's apex another box of dynamite is used to blast the pendulum further upwards into a platform where the skeleton resides, catapulting him into the nearby coffin. There's plenty of examples of situations like these during the game's 72 levels, and I certainly had my fair share of laugh out loud moments as I stared in amazement while the level played out.

As much as I enjoyed playing through Graveyard Shift, it's not without a couple problems. The biggest issue is the extremely finicky physics system. While it does create for some hilarious moments with the ragdoll skeleton, it can also cause objects in the game to behave wildly different from one play to the next. As a result, some of the levels can be frustratingly hard as you try to get things to do what you want them to, and completing each one is more luck than anything else. Somehow this doesn't really hinder the enjoyment though, and levels are easy to instantly replay at any moment, which you'll be doing often. The other issues with the game are very minor glitches where sometimes graphics don't display properly or levels load without any objects. These are easily fixed by simply reloading a level, and the developer is already working on an update to iron out these kinks.

Minor issues aside, I had a ton of fun with Graveyard Shift. The moments of figuring out how a level should work and then executing it, all while the ragdoll skeleton is flailing about the screen, brought a smile to my face every time. As an added challenge each level has a par for completion time and taps used, so beyond just completing each one you can also shoot for these goals. Unfortunately there's no sort of social network like OpenFeint to tie these accomplishments together, but at the very least it still adds replay to the game. If you are a fan of these physics games you should definitely try out the lite version of Graveyard Shift, and join in on the forum discussion for further player impressions and developer responses.

As we noted in our EA Hot For The Holidays roundup, the successor to the original SimCity for iPhone SimCity Deluxe [$6.99] is now available in the App Store. While not exactly a sequel, this new version is more of an enhanced version of the original iPhone iteration. From our preview of the game:

This sequel of sorts is basically little more than a makeover of the original SimCity [$2.99], it's a little disappointing that EA is releasing this as a separate game instead of applying these fixes to the existing one, but I suppose you could say the same about most EA sequels. SimCity Deluxe is going to have seasons (and disasters to go with each) as well as graphics that look a lot like SimCity 4 for the PC. In the game you will finally be able to modify the terrain with touch controls, which actually was a lot of fun. The new UI is also substantially less clunky, although still suffers a little just because there's so much you can do in the game and packing all those functions in to a sensible touch-based interface is never going to be easy.

After spending a little time with SimCity Deluxe, it certainly is an improvement over the original, and works rather well on the iPhone touch screen. If you have yet to own SimCity on your device and were thinking that the cheaper original version would suffice, that doesn't appear to be an option anymore. Curiously, the original SimCity for iPhone seems to have been removed from the App Store to make room for its deluxe big brother. I'm not sure if this is a permanent removal, but for the extra few dollars you're probably better off going with this newer version anyway.

Oddly enough, SimCity Deluxe isn't universal, and an iPad version of the game is nowhere to be found in EA's lineup of upcoming games that they've announced. The larger screen seems to be a natural fit for a game this complex, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that EA eventually realizes this as well.

We aren’t here to dispute Frogger’s importance to gaming. The little amphibian has not only become an iconic figure to gamers and non-gamers alike, but it was one of the pioneers in the early arcade days. But, lets face it, any game from that era that comes out unchanged on modern platforms can feel pretty lackluster.

This version of Frogger has the one level from the very first version of the game, as well as a choice of two graphical themes: retro and slightly more modern. These can be swapped at any time in-game through the pause menu. As always, you must help Frogger cross the road and river five times, jumping into another slot each time, to advance to the next round. Each round becomes increasingly faster and adds more obstacles. The flick controls work decently, although the tilt and tap controls need some serious tweaking.

Without new level designs or any new mechanics, this game gets old quickly. Konami did add a few achievements, although we doubt many people will care about these, as half of them simply require you to reach a certain level. We would have liked to see online leaderboards, but the only hint of these we’ve seen are over Facebook.

It’s Frogger: It’s not terrible, but it just doesn’t hold up when you’ve got incredible clones like Banzai Rabbit competing for the same dollars. Unless you must have this game for the sake of having it, go for something a bit more interesting.

We've decided: If you're going to make the millionth tower defense game, you have to bring something new to the table. On the other hand, a great twist isn't worth much if the basic gameplay doesn't work well. Cowboys vs Zombies brings a unique concept to this familiar genre, but its game engine just isn't up to the task.

The twist is this: Instead of a top-down view, you control a 3D camera set just above an Old West town called Undeadwood. You can place your cowboys, which act as turrets, anywhere on nearby roofs or in the street. Zombies stream in from the end of the street, and as you pick them off you'll earn more bucks to hire additional firepower.

So far, so good. But it's apparent after the brief tutorial that the controls are not up to the task. You can pick up and move a cowboy just about anywhere, but the target that shows where they'll land bounces erratically as you move over possible positions.

Swiping up and down the screen will move the camera in and out, but you can't move it up or down, which means some positions will always be out of frame. You can rotate the device to view the action at a slightly different angle, but this isn't a proper replacement for better camera controls. You'll also often try to move a cowboy and accidentally move the camera, which can lead to a lot of extra tombstones on Boot Hill.

If you want to avoid having your cowboys die, and effectively break the game, there's a trick to that: Just pick up and move your cowboys constantly. Since you can fly them to any position in town (provided you're able to pick them up and not move the camera), and zombies will always chase the closest cowboy, you can keep moving your cowboys and spare them the indignity of dying.

Cowboys vs Zombies also contains just six short levels, which is not a very good value for the price. We're told that OpenFeint will be added soon in an update, but we'd still have to see more levels, modes, or challenges to recommend this game.

It's too bad that this interesting concept doesn't receive the proper presentation. It's clunky to play, often buggy, and isn't too pretty to look at, either. The Old West is a great setting for a tower defense game, but Cowboys vs Zombies doesn't do it proper justice.

Area 51 is a cancelled action / shooter game planned for Playstation 2 and Xbox that was in development by Midway Games West in 2000/2001. It was meant to be a direct successor to Atari’s 1995 light gun shooter which saw a re-release on PlayStation, PC and Saturn in the same year. Sadly in 2003 Midway [...]
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Semi Secret Software seem to be making a name for themselves as developers of games with great pixel art graphics, fantastic music, and high-score centric gameplay that in the case of Canabalt [$2.99] has kept me coming back for just one more try for the better part of a year now. Gravity Hook HD [$2.99] hit the App Store tonight, and provides much of what I loved about Canabalt, only in a vertical climb instead of a side scrolling run. In the game you play as a lovable little robot with a grappling hook who ascends to, well, wherever he's climbing to, by grabbing on to a randomized series of orbs, reeling himself in, then flinging to the next one. Unlike Canabalt which you could hand to anyone with it running on your phone and say "tap the screen to jump," Gravity Hook HD has a bit of a learning curve as you get used to the physics of the game.

The different orbs you can latch on to have different properties, ranging from the green orbs which you can touch without issue, grey orbs which are chained together and fall if you hold on to them too long, and blue orbs which turn in to bombs and explode if you get near them. You're also able to kick off the wall if you can swing your robot towards one, and mastering wall jumping as well as how to handle the different orb types are all required to get very far in Gravity Hook HD.

Just like Canabalt, Gravity Hook HD is playable in its entirety online for free in any browser with the Flash plugin. We've even embedded it below, just make sure you either have your speakers muted or are in an area where you can play sounds before clicking:

Gravity Hook HD is universal, and looks great on both the iPhone and iPad, although I've found myself leaning towards preferring it on the bigger screen. Scores are tracked online via Semi Secret's proprietary system which breaks scores out in to top daily, weekly, and monthly submissions as well as the best scores of all time. Gravity Hook HD translates very well to touch controls, and while you can play the whole game for free with a mouse, it really is a much better experience with your finger.

Nyalamander is a mouse-controlled 2D scrolling shooter in the style of Salamander and the Gradius series, featuring six levels to beat and a handful of power-up items for the player to collect. Upgrades are in effect the second you pick them up, and when your ship is destroyed you can still save the options if you gather them before they disappear into space.

The level orientation switches from horizontal to vertical after each boss fight, and you have the option to continue playing from any stage you've beaten previously at the main menu screen. The autofire feature can be activated by scrolling up with the mouse wheel, and to turn it off you just need to scroll down using the same wheel.

Note that the game does not store a record of your unlocked levels between browsing sessions, and you'll have to start playing from stage one again if you close or switch browser windows. (source)