You know what puzzle games really need? They need of bit of finger twister action. Throw out all the “right foot on green” crap, though. Having a game dictate where you place your fingers is way more fun. Does Tap5 XL rock the finger knotting game of twister, or should you just stick to matching three gems?

Tap5 XL presents a simple puzzle mechanic. All you have to do is tap on some color dots before the time bar (think Lumines passing line mechanic) hits the bottom of the screen. Don’t run off thinking you are superior in your tapping skills. Tap5 XL will crush your dreams of being a badass finger-tapping gamer before you’re through.

The game starts out with two points to tap. The time bar seems to fall nice and slow. A few successful taps and that line starts dropping faster, and faster, and…oh god why is does it have to go so fast? It is all fun until that time bar hits the bottom of the screen and you realize your opportunity to hit both tap points is gone, baby, gone.

The game will restart, but instead of nice two tap points, you now have three. Your prior two points are now obstacles in your way. This process repeats until you inevitably break a knuckle and the time bar hits the bottom of the screen again. Throw in another tap point, more obstacles, and go. Don’t worry, five points is where this sadistic game draws the line. Once the screen is full of useless, crazy-making obstacles, the game is over.

Tap5 XL does not have a lot to offer outside of creating its evil tapping frustration on three different difficulty settings. What would really make this game even better is the ability to listen to your own music playlists while playing contorting your finger in unnatural ways. The game also has local leaderboards, but nothing to brag to the world on. Aren’t these types of games begging for online leaderboards and achievements?

Those of you masochistic gamers that really enjoy broken and knotted up fingers will find plenty of sadistic fun in this app. The rest of us who like our fingers unknotted and properly functioning most likely won’t find much appeal here. Grab the free version and give this a test before you splurge on the app and impending hospital bills.

When Venan Entertainment released Ninjatown: Trees of Doom! earlier this year, it was very well received indeed – scoring highly in reviews around the web, including a very respectable 4.5/5 stars over on 148apps.com.

If you’re not familiar with the game, it sees you taking control of a cutesy, little ninja who’s hopping, climbing and roping his way between two trees – reaching heights that, well, only a ninja could. Now, Venan have upped the ante, by not only releasing an HD version for the iPad, but also updating the iPhone to version 1.3. Bringing with it iOS4 multitasking support and Retina Display graphics for those lucky enough to own an iPhone 4. As well as that, they’ve also added two new unlockable ninjas and three new warp bomb checkpoints at 2500, 5000 and 10,000 meters.

“We’re tremendously excited by the iPad version, but we wanted to make sure we had something for everyone.” said Brandon Curiel, CEO of Venan Entertainment. “With new device support, new graphics, and new gameplay, we’ve been able to deliver our biggest Trees of Doom release yet!”

This is a game that already looked very nice with it’s cartoon-like styling, so I’m sure it’s absolutely amazing on the iPad and iPhone 4 – and Brandon seems to agree: “Ninjatown has a very unique and vibrant art style that up until now we’ve been forced to cram onto really tiny screens. With the iPad, we’ve finally been able to bring Shawn’s fantastic world to life, no-holds-barred. The result is absolutely stunning.”

You thought that was all, though, didn’t you? Not only have they released a new HD version and an iPhone update, but to make sure you get the very most for your money they’ve been put into Venan Arcade’s “Back to School” sale – making them a mere $1.99 and $0.99 respectively.

Definitely one worth checking out, which you can do so here for the iPhone version and here for the new HD one.

Everybody loves a shooting gallery once in a while.  It is a good way to not only let off steam, but it also can help improve your hand-eye coordination.  Do I have any scientific information to back that claim up? Heck no.  Honestly, though, what other pretext can there be for a game that revolves around launching lawn Gnomes at a revolving gallery of baddies?  Chuck Gnome is a game that we covered in a recent iCasual and now it is back in the headlines with an awesome new update.

Not all updates are created equal.  In many cases, apps need functionality and bug updates as time goes on, just to keep things running smoothly.  While updates like this don’t normally add new functionality, sometimes developers like to go above and beyond.  The latter is the case with the new 1.1 update to Chuck Gnome from Movable Sprites, which not only adds new functionality, but an entirely new episode and much more:

Enjoy the arcade-style shooting gallery game now with new progress indicators that let you know what targets you need to hit to unlock new levels. The Chuck Gnome V1.1 update introduces a new episode, music, achievements and mini-game that add to the fun and value of this quirky pick-up-and-play title.

I wish more developers would do things like this.  it is the best way to thank fans for supporting your product.  One thing that I never expected when I started covering iPhone games is how open and honest the developers are about listening to community feedback and Chuck Gnome’s most recent iteration looks to be no exception:

“We added the graphical indicators because it was the most requested feature from our fans. We know our fans will enjoy this new episode and we hope they continue to share their feedback so we can keep delivering what they want.” — Steve Tompkins, Co-founder of Movable Sprites VIA VerticalWire.com

Simply put, Movable Sprites are doing what makes the platform truly unique, catering to the needs and desires of their audience.  Probably the best part of the entire deal is that the update is not only free, but the app is also currently on sale for ninety-nine cents.  So run out and pick it up, the Roamin’ Gnome will thank you for it someday.  Enjoy the art asset orgy below.

The gaming world is growing into an ever increasing expensive wasteland of shovelware, new gadgets, yearly console replacements, and free services going to the profit dark side. Yet, as gamers we will happily shell out money to support our habit.

Just look at the iPhone. When it came out people were skeptical if Apple had the balls to play in the big leagues. Four revisions later, we now see every company and their sister trying to duplicate what Apple has done. Where does this put iOS gamers?

The world is a funny place. When the iPhone went from iPhone slowass to iPhone 3G within a year, original iPhone buyers cried foul. AT&T saw a nice opening to snag some money and let customers upgrade at the cost of an ever-growing phone contract. Customers happily slapped down over $200 for a phone upgrade. Let us not forget the monthly pillaging of your wallet at $100+ a shot.

Next, we saw the iPhone 3GS hit the Internet and people went crazy yet again. Customers once again cried out with a fury even Kratos would be envious of. AT&T and Apple happily took more money from consumers to upgrade yet again. Another $200 for a phone, and another contract extension all in the name of shiny new toys.

We also saw the introduction of the iPad. To many this was just an overblown iPod that had a really stupid name. Yet, like the sheep we consumers are, we flocked to this new toy. Salivating at the mouth, we bought this new iPad device in massive hordes. The base price for this new toy was $500 just to get the low-end model. Do we even think that for $500 we could get a computer that does so much more….NOPE!

Consumers will drop a small fortune on gadgets at the drop of the hat. $200 every year to upgrade a phone is no big deal. $800 for a device that can’t even do everything the $200 device we have in our pockets is like buying toilet paper on a weekly basis. We have needs, and those needs need to upgrade every year.

We drop all this money, yet we piss and moan like little babies over a bad $0.99 app we bought. Really? Dropping $500 for an iPad was no big deal, but that $0.99 will have customers up in arms demanding their money back? Where did we become such whiney little kids?

It is time to take a step back and realize just what we are bitching about. If a measly buck is going to cause you to grab your pitchfork in anger, it might be time to reconsider you priorities. If this rambling didn’t put things into perspective, then maybe this comic will.

It is impossible to be a proud member of the Sonic generation and not know of the greatness that was Ecco the Dolphin. Originally released way back in 1992, Ecco led the way for an intriguingly unique collection of games that launched the SEGA Genesis into the stratosphere. SEGA’s love for the franchise has remained strong, earning it ports to everything from the Game Gear to much later iterations on Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation 3, as part of Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. Now the question remains of whether it has enough left in its gills to take on another port — this time to the analog stick challenged iPhone.

Honestly, it is somewhat surprising that it has taken this long for the game to grace the iOS platform. Traditionally, this is one of the first franchises to get the port treatment to new platforms because it is well respected, while at the same time not tapping out their premier Sonic franchises. But this is a gift horse that you will definitely not want to look in the mouth, because this is the classic game, replicated in near picture-perfect form. Every byte of the original’s 16-bits has been painstakingly restored and rejuvenated to look just like you remember it.

While the game may have been ported with care, there is something from the original that came along as well: the sluggish controls. This was an issue back in 1992 and it is still rearing its ugly head over 17 years later. When you compound that with the less than ideal analog controls that are emulated on-screen with the iPhone, you have a recipe for death and disaster.

As simple as crummy control mechanisms may be to address, they cannot protect you from the punishing difficulty of the game. One may let years of nostalgia wash away precious hours of frustration, but all it takes is a couple of minutes to realize what a horrible mistake you’ve made. The mistake isn’t in purchasing the game, it is that you have let Ecco to reel you in once again. Expect to spend hours wanting to destroy your iPhone out of sheer frustration over the trickiness of the level design.

Probably the most infuriating aspect of the game’s design, and yes, it has been a core component since the Genesis days, is the lack of direction that is given to the player. How do you defeat a boss? Trial and error. Where do you go next in the game? Trial and Error. How do you get through that narrow passageway? Trial and error. If there were any more helpful bits of guidance that were available, this might be a moot point, but the fact that it plagues the game to this day is disappointing to say the least.

For those that have been diehard fans since the Genesis era, this will be just the return to form you have been desiring. However, if you are just now tuning into the party, you may be better off just avoiding it all together. Ecco will forever swim in our hearts, just make sure you are ready when you let him dive onto your iPhone.

There is nothing better than seeing more Sega classics getting revived on the iPhone. Sure, this may be the second port that has been released in as many weeks, but they have taken the hint and pulled from their overwhelmingly impressive back library of games. Many of these titles are individual pieces of genius in their own right. One such piece of genius is Phantasy Star II, which landed on Mega Drive back in 1990. But in this era of fast paced RPGs and over-the-top action, can an old relic remain relevant? The answer is an emphatic, “YES it can!”

Are you a fan of gigantic storylines? Do you like absurd amounts of detail and party micromanagement? How do you feel about magic melding with technology? If you are fan of any of these classic game elements, you owe it to yourself to take Phantasy Star II for a spin. Not only does the game contain all of the above pieces of the puzzle, it is the grandfather of this and many other innovative features. It was groundbreaking for the time and still holds up today as one of the best experiences that you will ever find in RPG form. Yes, that is high praise for an ancient game, but when luminaries like Nintendo Power rank a game among the top all-time in the genre, people suddenly become believers.

Some of SEGA’s past ports to the iPhone have suffered a bit of a lag problem, especially when trying to render visuals that require a beefy frame rate. Luckily for them, Phantasy Star II has no need for such demanding visual requirements. In fact, some may go as far to say that the game is slow by the standards of this generation of console gamers. This actually plays to their advantage, allowing for things to run at a good clip, while not leading to any large hitches in the system performance.

Though some of the mechanics seem aged and, dare we say, deprecated, there is much that could be learned from this vintage look back at what the genre once was. There are not enough gameplay mechanisms missing to leave veterans wishing for more control or features, but it will certainly go a long way towards showing how far we have come in two decades. It really strikes a perfect balance that makes this aging classic feel like a hidden gem.

It is impossible to recommend Phantasy Star II too much. When you see how awesome the game plays on the iPhone it will be hard not to wonder why more classic RPGs are not appearing on the platform. This is the perfect example of what was old being new again. Let’s just hope that a second and third generation of gamers can appreciate it as much as the last.

If you play a lot of video games, you’re probably a little wary when it comes to those that are based upon movies – on top of that, if I had to choose one movie that would make a bad video game, there’s every possibility I’d have chosen one from the 70s about a big shark. However, in the case of Jaws on the iPhone, it’s actually quite a treat. Let me tell you a little more.

This game takes the top-down view that’s been tried and proven on this platform and puts you in charge of rescuing helpless swimmers from the clutches of Jaws’ jaws. Whilst the first stage simply requires you to swipe at the flailing figures in the ocean and guide them to shore, the game introduces several new ideas as you progress. For example, the open water levels require you to guide rescue boats of varying sizes by drawing a line on the touch screen. You then swipe the swimmers towards the boat and continue to guide the boat off-screen. Dock levels are much the same, with the rescue being completed when you guide the full boats into landing bays.

The varying levels really keep things fresh through all 10 stages in the game, while also revolving around the same gameplay mechanics to ensure familiarity and a nice learning curve. What really sets this game apart, though, it the way it puts across the feeling that you’re the one floating out in the sea, hoping not to be mistaken for a seal. The frantic nature of the game mixes with the classic “da dun, da dun” of the Jaws original soundtrack, cueing an imminent shark attack – and if the swimmers on-screen start to panic, you’d better panic too, as it’ll only attract the Great White to attack sooner.

Even once they’re aboard a vessel, you can’t deem them safe – if you misguide one boat into another, both will be sunk and everybody on board will be back in the drink with that dorsal fin ever circling. For those that are rescued, you’ll be awarded stars dependent on your performance. If you don’t save enough people, the mission is failed. Just scrape through and you’ll pass, but will only be awarded a single star – which won’t be enough if you want to unlock all stages.

This adds a little to the replayability by returning to previous levels for more stars, as do OpenFeint scoreboards and achievements. But, on the other hand, it would have been nice to see a few more included as once you get into it there’s every chance you’ll finish them all rather quickly. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though, as there’s a real treat to be had in the last level, but I shan’t spoil it – and do bear in mind that at a price of just $0.99, you’ll be sure get your money’s worth by just playing through the once.

It’s a nice little game, which takes the tension that was felt in the original movie (those sequels never happened, right?) and puts it upon the player. Achieving the full three stars on each level will take some working on, but simply finishing the game itself can be done in a short space of time. Which is refreshing to see in a way: with all the “endless” iPhone games hitting the App Store of late, it’s nice to get that feeling of “completion” for a change – and you’ll have a whole lot of fun getting there.

Quiz games on the iPhone are beginning to become a genre that is becoming seriously crowded in the App Store.  Whether you are developing a for a special genre of niche questions or an interesting presentation type, there is a serious need to do something unique in order to stand out.  Now you would think that if you were a developer you would be trumpeting your special new features from the rooftops, right?  Well, Volt Gamer is actually taking the exact opposite approach.

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, they are keeping the intriguing features of their new game, The Impossible Mission Quiz a complete secret. I have to admit, I am just curious enough to find out what that the caveman featured in the app’s icon has to do with anything.  Here is what they have for the official app description:

“So, how does the game work? Without revealing much, because that would take away from the fun of actually playing the game, we can say that this is a quiz game with a difference. If you think you have played quizzes and you know how it works, you really need to play the Impossible Mission Quiz quiz to see how it works. It is going to have you racking your gray cells right from the word ‘Go’. If you already love your iPhone, which you most certainly do, this is one more reason why you just won’t be able to do without it and will merrily be spending several more fun hours with it!”

The mystery might be enough to sell an app like this, and it seems rather intriguing, especially at the dollar price point.   If you are interested in taking a gander at the very little that is offered up, glance over the screenshots below.

As a child of the nineties, I can cop to not only being a member of the original Tamagotchi’s target audience, but I was also a proud owner of more than one egg shaped, digital beast.  Of course they were a cheap little gadget that I wasted a lot of my time on, but I was a kid, so I didn’t know any better.  There have since been numerous different iterations on many devices and even a movement to portable video game systems like the Nintendo DS, but it has yet to come to the iPhone.

Thank goodness that somebody out there realized that we need another way to waste our time on the iPhone, and thus, Floret was born.  A Floret is defined (according to FreeDictionary.com) as the following:

flo·ret (flôrt, -t)n.

1. A small or reduced flower, especially one of the grasses and composite plants, such as a daisy.

2. Any of the tight, branched clusters of flower buds that together form a head of cauliflower or broccoli.

---

[Middle English flouret, from Old French florete, diminutive of flor, flower; see flower.]

See how informative that that was?  Not only have you learned about a new game, but you also learned a new word!  But back to the topic at hand…

As the name would imply, instead of micromanaging the growth of some digital ingrate that just eats, sleeps, craps and dies, you get to raise a pixelized plant.  I have to say that despite the idea sounding slightly ridiculous I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt based on one key aspect to the game: weather.  Now we are not talking about some kind of randomly generated weather, this is the genuine weather of your location.  Here is the official description of the feature:

“Floret shows you the current weather for your chosen location and the forecast for the next three days – so you will have realistic weather conditions.  Your flower will profit from good weather like rain but needs protection against rough influences like frost or heat.” — VIA Mr. Fridge Development Blog

Not only is this a neat concept, but it is something original that I have genuinely never considered before.  Sure, raising a plant may sound a little bland, but who knows?  This might be the next wave in games.  Maybe it might be worth the purchase, just to see this new concept in action.  If you are still on the fence, check out these screenshots below and see if they help coax you along.

Star Wars featured one during Revenge of the Sith, while episode 76 of South Park delivered the somewhat more obscene “It” – now, it’s the iPhone’s turn to get one, by which I am of course referring to a “monowheel” or “monocycle.” The game is Monorace from Craneball Studios, putting you into the seat of one of these single-wheeled driving machines. Let’s see how it fares.

Basically, what we have here is a rather fast paced side-scrolling game in which your monowheel will continually be moving from left to right. Your job is to ensure that it gets to the finishing line, avoiding all manner of obstacles from deadly spikes to the edge of the screen itself (if it catches up with you, you’re done). This is all performed by the simple means of a single input. Due to a monowheel’s nature, it’s capable of driving both on the floor and ceiling – simply tapping the lower half of the screen will cause the wheel to jump, alternating between the two.

In order to progress through the game and unlock more stages, you’ll need to collect stars. These are awarded based on the time it takes you to complete a level. Before starting, the game shows you three different times, awarding you one, two or three stars respectively. Your finishing time can be manipulated not only by getting to the end as fast as possible, but also by collecting stopwatches along the way which decrease your overall time score. There’s also a nice little mechanic which means the timer counts faster if you’re lagging behind on the left half of the screen but slows if you’re on the right half.

In addition to hazardous objects such as pits, spikes and the landscape itself, other things to take into consideration are the speed up/slow down arrow sections, as well as a sort of physics mechanic. This means that driving uphill will slow you down, and that’s obviously not a good thing at all. You can, of course, counter this by simply jumping up these sections, but be sure to mind your head.

As well as an endless mode with high-score based gameplay and OpenFeint’s online leaderboards, there are two career modes to play through: “beginner” and “racer.” The latter mode raises the bar as far as difficulty is concerned. These both offer up forty stages each, meaning there’s a lot of replayabilty in there if you plan to finish them all. That said, some levels will offer a mass of replayabilty themselves as you repeatedly crash and watch your monowheel explodeing into a rather spectacular ball of fire.

However, despite the explosions looking rather spectacular, as do the menu screens and character designs (of which there are three), the actual levels in the game are a little lacklustre in terms of visuals. The landscapes are all made up of a rather dull brown or grey texture; though it obviously doesn’t affect the gameplay, it would have been nice to see the same effort put into this aspect as was put into the design of the characters and visual ephemera.

It shouldn’t put you off, though, as there’s definitely a lot of fun to be had with Monorace. It’s one of those games that (in the later stages) will frustrate you to the point where you’re about to throw you’re iPhone out the window – while at the same time you’re unable to put it down, attempting the level “one more time” in your determination to get to the end. If you can’t finish it, though, the character’s witty and humorous remarks will do just enough to keep you smiling. It’s certainly a whole lot of game for it’s $0.99 price point and shouldn’t be overlooked when your’e browsing the App Store.