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Bumps is a new physics-based puzzle game from developer Utopian Games with a cute style and clever mechanics. Aliens have captured most of the population of a circular race known as bumps, and it's up to the few who haven't been caught to collect the keys on each level in order to release their friends from imprisonment. Don't let the lighthearted style of the game fool you, however, as some of the levels will really test your puzzle solving fortitude. With 54 unique levels and a number of interesting mini-games to play, Bumps will keep you entertained for quite some time.

To play each level, you'll strategically place bumps at various spots around the screen. Hitting a button then enables gravity, allowing the bumps to fall down and hopefully collect all the keys that correspond to each ones color. Oftentimes you'll even have to “bump” into another bump to push them and get them rolling towards a key. Other elements like springboards and moving platforms can help you accomplish your goal. There's even anti-gravity switches in certain levels, so once you drop the bumps to collect keys they will then hit the switch and have to float up to grab the others. It's a bit hard to explain but easy to get the hang of, and a nice tutorial introduces you to the concepts in Bumps. The levels are all really cleverly designed and will often have you smiling once you figure out the intended solutions.

Bumps is split into six differently themed worlds, with nine levels in each for a total of 54. Medals are awarded based on how many tries it takes you to complete a level, but every level can be retried as many times as needed if you get stuck. In a nice twist, each world begins with its own distinct mini-game to break up the action, and there are four other mini-games independent of the level structure that can be unlocked as well. The mini-games include variations on iPhone mainstays like air hockey, pinball, brickbreaker, and more. They're pretty simplified versions of these games but are a nice distraction from the puzzle solving.

While the gameplay in Bumps is well designed and fun, a couple issues about the game stick out as annoying. Hitting the retry button during a level resets the position of the bumps, so if you're just trying to make a small adjustment to one bump you'll have to reposition all of them over again. Also, by default the game zooms in when you touch a bump to give you a closer view. I didn't really like this zooming feature, and it can easily be disabled with an icon in the upper corner, but the game fails to remember that you disabled it from level to level, so it must be disabled each new level you play. These are relatively minor issues that don't affect the enjoyment of the game, and Utopian Games has already stated in our forums that both issues will be fixed in the next update, as well as adding a new world with nine brand new levels.

Overall, Bumps offers a good amount of gameplay wrapped in charming sound and visuals. The bouncy, floaty physics engine makes for an interesting way to solve puzzles, and is a lot of fun. iPad owners can look forward to a native version of Bumps coming to that device in the next couple of months. This version won't be a direct port, and will feature all new levels and graphics to take advantage of the extra screen size and higher resolution. The mini-games in the iPad version will have same device multiplayer for up to four players, which should make for some hectic fun in between solving puzzles. Until that time though, the iPhone version of Bumps is a blast, and is recommended if you're looking a new puzzler with some unique ideas.

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Earlier this month, we detailed an update for the Commodore 64 iPhone app that developer Manomio had been busy working on for the past several months. This update would bring some much needed control optimizations both to the overall functionality of games and added flexibility for specific titles that would need more than a standard control stick and button setup. And of course, a nice selection of new downloadable titles would be included in this update as well.

As of earlier today, the update has gone live in the App Store. Here is the list of features from the App Store description:

• NEW – Lots of new games, including Last Ninja series, International Karate, Armalyte and Druid
• IMPROVED – Upgraded to OpenFeint 2.5
• IMPROVED – Reimplementation of control layout system, to support the complex controls scenarios for games like The Last Ninja
• IMPROVED – Display OF notifications at top rather than bottom
• IMPROVED – Removed bottom bar in full-screen landscape to prevent obscuring screen in games like Wizball
• NEW – Fixed-mode joystick in landscape mode, automatically selected for specific games
• NEW – Option to force fixed-mode joystick in landscape mode for all games
• FIX – Borders correctly drawn in landscape (Wizball)
• FIX – Corrected dead zone area at side of screen in landscape, rendering controls unresponsive
• NEW – Added grouping to In App Store to separate downloaded / purchases
• IMPROVED – Hi-res icons added for retina and iPad displays
• NEW – Option to adjust dead zone / sensitivity of joystick
• IMPROVED – Shop now separates downloaded games

I've given the update a spin and can really tell the improvement in controls across all of the games that I tried. I'm especially fond of being able to adjust the dead zone of the control stick, as that has been a point of frustration for me when playing certain games before. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, not every new game is available in the in-game store. Apparently the problem lies on Apple's end at the moment, and developer Stuart Carnie has stated in our forums that he contacted Apple to correct the situation, and is hoping to have the games become available in the next few days.

Until then, definitely make sure to update your C64 for iPhone app to take advantage of the revamped controls, as well as the other tweaks and optimizations contained within.

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Bas Tossings' Loopy Laboratory has gone free for the day. The game was originally released in October 2008 — nearly 2 years ago. I really enjoyed the game at the time:

One iTunes reviewer has described this as a remake of Chip's Challenge/Tile World which it does seem to resemble though the developer says he was inspired by a number of older puzzle games which came together for this project.

The game is set in the laboratory of the evil Dr. Heissenbad. You play the character of Lara. Your job is to escape the laboratory by collecting batteries to turn off electrical fences — at least that's what the developer description said. But there's actually a lot of variety in the level obstacles and battery collection is only one small component. There are 50 levels of play in all with a gradually increasing difficulty.

Loopy Laboratory is a level-based puzzle game where you need to collect all the batteries on each level. The same 1.0 version still runs will on the iPhone 4 and iOS 4.0.

The game has a certain charm that I really enjoyed at the time. My main criticism was that it stayed too easy for too long, and unfortunately the developer never followed up with additional levels. I do recommend picking it up while you can.

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One Man Left's Tilt to Live [99¢] has been a favorite of mine for quite a while now. In our review we discuss just how much fun its avoidance based gameplay is, and since then they've updated the game to add new power-ups and game modes not once, but twice.

Announced mere moments ago is Tilt to Live HD for the iPad, which according to developers One Man Left won't just be a simple up-scaling, and instead will be a similar game with an arena that is four times as large… Best yet, it will be free to try with a demo mode and a $3.99 in-app purchase to unlock the rest of the content in the game. Tilt to Live HD will be tilt controlled much like its iPhone counterpart, and although the developers are claiming the controls have been optimized for the iPad, I'm curious to see how well the game works in practice as many tilt controlled iPad games get tiresome due to the weight of the device.

Tilt to Live HD is due to be released on the App Store this September, and as soon we we get our grubby little hands on it, we'll post some more details on the game.

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Ponos is one of the App Store developers that always gets my attention when they release a new game. Their first title was the underappreciated Puzzle Prism, a 3D-tower take on Tetris. Their followup titles included the enjoyable and original Mr. AahH! and Mr. Space!!.

With Puzzle Cosmos they return to their block dropping roots and have released what can best be described as a cross between Tetris and Lumines.

In Puzzle Cosmos you are presented with dropping square shaped pieces made up of up to 4 different colored blocks. The goal is to match up to 4 different like colors in order to eliminate them from the board. Once a piece falls down, you are able to move it to the left or right on the board. The piece "rolls" along the board changing its orientation (along with the colors it is composed of). Once you are happy with the position, you can drop it into place. If you match up four colors they begin to glow. After a short period of time, those pieces are eliminated from the board. However, you can continue to add like-colored pieces during that small window to build up chains and increase your score.

Throughout the game, the board steadily rises pushing the entire board towards the top of the screen. So, it becomes a fast-paced race to stay ahead by eliminating blocks as quickly as possible.

The game comes with both flick and customizable button controls. I thought the button controls worked perfectly and never bothered switching from the defaults. Global high scores are included as well as 4 different game modes: Standard, Time Attack, Dead Line, and Flash / Rain.

In some ways, I love this game. There were a few people in our forums for which the game never seemed to "click". But for me, the fast paced nature of the game really gave me a frantic Tetris vibe that I hadn't had in a long time. Little design decisions like being able to rotate a block in place when it is up against a tall structure adds some strategy/skill beyond the luck of the drop. That said, this game is hard. Unlocking the additional modes require you to score 50,000 or higher in Standard. I've only been able to hit that score a handful of times, and when I do it seems as much to do with luck of the pieces as it does with my skill as a player. The game just ramps up really quickly, and I'd love to see a more casual mode where you could take your time.

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MapleStory is a 2D MMORPG developed by South Korean company Wizet which has well over 100 million subscribers across the world. The MMO itself is completely free to play, and is monetized by selling various customizations and enhancements from an in-game shop purchasable with real money or gift cards which are even sold at Wal-Mart. MapleStory works like most MMORPG's where you fight monsters, earn experience, and otherwise develop your character while chatting, trading, and forming guilds with other players. Unfortunately, the social aspect is missing in the single player iPhone game, but otherwise the gameplay (or as much gameplay as I'm familiar when I had dabbled in MapleStory) seems intact.

On-screen controls move your little dude around and handle all the other functions in the game. There are two playable classes, both the thief and assassin with over 70 different pieces of swag to outfit yourself with. The graphics look like they're straight out of the original game, and in the brief time I've spent with it, it seems like there is tons to do with all kinds of quests to complete.

The appeal of MapleStory for me was always the sheer scale of the game world with tons of players, and Thief Edition just feels lonely in comparison without the constant chatter of other players in the game world. The game does play well enough with virtual controls, and I really hope that Nexon Mobile is just using MapleStory: Thief Edition to test the waters of the App Store before releasing a full MapleStory client because how awesome would that be.

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We haven't done a roundup of recently released lite versions to try in quite some time now, which means there is more than a heaping helping of them to download. I'm only going back through the past month or so of releases, and cherry picking the more interesting lite versions of games we've already mentioned in one way or another, but to see everything that has come out that is free, swing on over to AppShopper. Anyway, here is an alphabetical list of lite versions that you should try as all of these games are pretty awesome:

A PHYSICS GAMEBOX FREE, Free We thought Physics Gamebox was a great fit for the iPhone in our review, and now not only is this pair of physics puzzlers free to play on NewGrounds, but there’s also a lite version on the App Store. If you liked Ragdoll Blaster at all, make sure you try Physics Gamebox.

Cubed Rally Racer Lite, Free The full version of Cubed Rally Racer is one of my favorite racing games, as it combines RC Pro-Am style retro racing with a fantastic random track generator and OpenFeint to send and receive ghost challenges between your friends. To see me gushing over the game even more, check out our review.

Daredevil Dave: Motorcycle Stuntman! FREE 2, Free There’s already one free version of Daredevil Dave, but this one adds another two jumps to try. This is basically a trial and error based trajectory game, but you hardly even notice because it has so much personality. Take a look at the trailer in our review to see exactly what kind of punishment is in store for poor ol’ Daredevil Dave.

Flick Fishing HD FREE, Free If you own an iPad and you’ve been looking to try Flick Fishing HD, here is your chance. The iPhone version has been downloaded millions of times and is almost constantly being featured in various “best of” and “most downloaded” listings on the App Store. The iPad version features high resolution graphics and slightly modified controls like most HD-ized games.

Giant Moto Lite, Free If you have fond memories of Excite Bike for the NES, you should give Giant Moto a try. It’s a little basic, and desperately needs some kind of randomized track and/or track builder mode since even the full version is a little light on content… But as we mentioned in our original post on the game, it’s hard to not see the potential for this game to be really rad with some updates.

iHook Lite, Free I thought the full iHook was cool when it was first released, but the unconventional control scheme was a little hard to describe, and since that’s such a main part of the game I’m glad they finally released a lite version. Gameplay involves shooting out grappling hooks, attaching to pylons of sorts, and releasing once your trajectory has been altered enough.

Infect Them All Lite, Free Previously known as Infection:Zombies, Infect Them All is a cool tilt based game where instead of killing zombies, you play as a zombie trying to convert as many humans as… humanly possible. I thought the premise of the game was neat when it first came out, but the lite version might just be enough for the novelty factor of turning humans to wear off.

Max Vector LITE, Free As mentioned in our mini-review, Max Vector is fairly basic like most Game Salad games, but the developers more than make up for this with heaps upon heaps of old school retro charm and fantastic chiptune music by 8 Bit Weapon. If huge pixels are your cup of tea, you should at least try the lite version of Max Vector.

Meowcenaries Lite, Free Yet another crazy game from Adult Swim, this time you play as a platoon of cats much like the classic game Cannon Fodder. Meowcenaries is loaded with tired memes and lolcat jokes, which will either amuse you or annoy you. We posted it when it first came out with a few other weird games if you like this one.

MrOnionsLite, Free If you’ve ever enjoyed one of the many physics-powered bike jumping games on the App Store (of which there are many), you really need to give Mr. Onions a try. The art is cute, the gameplay is fun, and the odd twist of needing to not only make it to the finish, but make it there with your basket full of groceries is awesome. For more details, read our review.

NAMCO GAMES PORTAL, Free Namco bundled up Pac-Man Lite, Ace Combat Lite, Galaxa Remix Lite, Dig Dug Remix Lite and Time Crisis Strike Lite in to one app. I guess the one download is convenient, but looking at these games side by side just kind of makes you realize how lackluster Namco’s efforts on the App Store have been so far.

Need for Speed Shift FREE, Free Both Need for Speed games on the App Store have been awesome, and believe it or not, Shift actually feels a lot like the console versions of the game. It doesn’t have all the content of the 360/PS3 game, but it’s just as much fun. Take a look at our preview for some gameplay video.

PREDATORS™ Lite, Free From the guys behind Guerilla Bob comes this fully licensed Predator game which bucks the trend of terrible movie games and actually is quite a bit of fun. We have a fairly in depth review, but if you like dual stick shooters or the Predator universe you can just skip straight to downloading this game.

Psychoban Lite, Free This clever twist on classic Sokoban drops you in a hospital ward where you’re forced to solve a series of puzzles after going through a “procedure”. The controls work well, although at times the camera perspective can get a little wonky. We liked it in our review, and if you like puzzle games you should totally snag this lite.

X2 Snowboarding Base, Free If you have even a vague interest in snowboarding games, you need to have X2 Snowboarding on your iPhone. We explained how awesome it is in our review, and this is a game I’m still playing months later.

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