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My favorite game that I played at the Glu iPhone Games event was Gun Bros. Gun Bros. is a top-down dual-stick shooter with a completely over the top style in just about every way. You play as one of two brothers, Percy or Frances Gun, as you destroy wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies. The game is set on a series of planets in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world, and each planet has 10 levels (called revolutions) with 50 waves of enemies per revolution. You'll earn XP with every enemy that you kill, which goes towards leveling up your character. You will also earn something called Xplodium, which is an unstable ore that can be refined after each level and sold for gold to buy new weapons, armor, and equipment.

The greatest thing about Gun Bros. is the huge arsenal of crazy weaponry. Sure, we've all played games with a shotgun or a spread gun, but what about a triple barrel shotgun or a gun that spreads in seven directions? If you fancy gatling guns, why not up the ante and add three together for a triple gatling gun. Don't even get me started on the Shuricannon (cannon that shoots shurikens) or the Machete Mayhem (a dual pistol that shoots – you guessed it – machetes). These are all realities in Gun Bros., and it makes mowing down enemies a ton of fun. In all, there will be 30 different weapons across 6 different weapon classes, and your character can carry two weapons at a time and switch freely between them.

Besides the regular weapons in Gun Bros., there's also a number of special items and tons of different armors. The special items can be pulled up in a small window during play and give you benefits like health refills, increased damage for a short time, or powerful full screen attacks. The armor in the game is almost as cool as the amazing weapons, and give you many options for enhancing your attributes and customizing the look your character. There will be over 40 different pieces of armor, each capable of upgrading your character in areas like defense, strength, and speed. With the right combination of armor pieces you can choose which areas you are most effective in, and look bad ass while doing so.

Another key element to Gun Bros. is the social aspect of the game. Since you are a pair of brothers, there is always an AI controlled partner blasting away at baddies with you while you play. You'll have the ability to add friends in the game, and then import their specific character to play as your AI companion in your own game. If your friend happens to have some seriously upgraded gear compared to yours, you'll get the benefit of his extra firepower on your computer controlled character. You will also both keep all the XP you earn, which will transfer back to your friend's game when you're done playing. There is extra incentive to play with your friends as you can earn daily bonus items by doing so. Perusing the in-game friend list allows you to check out what bonus items are available for each friend, as well as how their various characters are equipped.

Much like Glu's other game Magic Life, Gun Bros. will launch fully featured for free, but of course there is a way to spend money on the game if you wish. You can purchase additional types of chambers for refining your Xplodium at the end of levels, thus earning more cash per unit and getting to buy weapons and armor much more quickly. This isn't necessary, however, and those who don't want to pay and have patience can still see everything the game has to offer. Gun Bros. was the game I played the most at Glu, thoroughly enjoying every minute of it, and I'll be impatiently waiting for its late October release.

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One of the more interesting titles I was able to play at the Glu iPhone Games event is called Magic Life. Imagine the colorful, cartoony world and customization aspects of Animal Crossing; add in heaps of RPG elements, quests, and magical spells; and top it off with a strong social integration and you will start to see what Magic Life is all about. You'll begin the game as an amateur magician, but can slowly learn new spells as you complete quests and level up your character. New spells have a certain “recipe” and you must find or buy the ingredients while exploring each world, and then combine them in cauldrons in the Guild Hall of whichever town you are in. There will be plenty to do in the single player portion of Magic Life as you evolve your character, get new items and spells, complete quests, and explore multiple environments.

A major aspect to Magic Life is the personalization of your character and living space. There are quite a few different options for body and clothing customization, and many more can be added during the lifetime of the game. You also have a living quarters that can be adorned with various furniture, windows, and other décor to make it personalized to your tastes. Sadly, these rooms aren't 3D spaces like the rest of the game, and are more single-plane side views of a room. The feng shui factor of placing objects and furniture in Animal Crossing was one of my favorite parts, but the room and character customization in Magic Life still seems really cool.

The social part of Magic Life lets you import your friends from Facebook into the game. Even if they don't actually play the game, it will import their name and generate an in-game avatar for them, so you can see your buddies roaming around the world as you play. If they do play Magic Life, then it will import the actual character from their game into your own. You can cast a spell on one of them, then they will get a Facebook notification that they have been turned into a toad or whatever the case may be, and will be able to fire up their own game and turn themselves back (and most likely retaliate against you as well). Also, you'll be able to visit your friends living spaces and check out how they are decorated, and vice versa.

As a huge fan of Animal Crossing on the DS, I really liked what I played of Magic Life as it definitely had a similar feel. The one thing that worries me is that the game did not run very smoothly on the iPod touch unit that I played it on, but there is still plenty of time for optimization before release. The game will be free, with optional IAP for people who wish to progress faster, but it is in no way required or limits the game for those that don't wish to pay. Keep your eyes out for Magic Life to be launching in early October.

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Just a couple of days ago we revealed DeceasedPixel's latest project, Super Mega Worm [$2.99], a game based on the original Death Worm concept by JTR, later made famous by the popular Flash game, Effing Worms. Super Mega Worm is a pixel-art take on the giant worm theme, and is now available.

Super Mega Worm opens with an 8-bit retro cutscene explaining how humans have consumed the earth, and how mother nature now has a bone to pick with us. She tasks her favorite pest exterminator, Wojira the Death Worm, with wiping humans from the earth and restoring balance to the force…you get the idea. It's a nice little setup for the mayhem that is the hallmark of the giant worm game, and an introduction to the glorious mario-like pixel art

In our preview we were ultimately left wondering as to whether Super Mega Worm included the levelling system that propelled Effing Worms to stardom, and we're pleased to find that it has in fact done so. In Super Mega Worm you start as a tiny wormlet, tasked with destroying a number of humans (indicated at the top right of the screen) by burrowing through the ground and erupting from under them (or over them, if you get enough height). To begin with, you can't really jump that high, but as you keep reaching your targets you level up and eventually can propel yourself higher and higher.

Wojira is controlled by either a slider or tilting option, but we found the slider option worked best. Additional buttons appear on your screen as you unlock your spitting attack, EMPs, fireballs, slam attacks and other abilities as you work your way through the worm's 24 levels. One problem we had with Super Mega Worm was that the pacing between levels felt a little off. To start with, you don't actually unlock your first ability until well into the game, and by that stage tedium has settled in as you essentially are attacking the same way over and over. When you finally unlock spit, you have another toy to play with, but this pacing trend persists between each new skill unlock. The game feels as though it has as many peaks and troughs as the path of your worm.

What does help this is the myriad of different food sources you encounter. From talking cows and horses, to elephants, birds, balloonists, moms with strollers (and flying babies), army men, police cars, tanks and airplanes to name a few. You can even reach orbit by propelling yourself from vehicles and chew through the earth's many satellites and UFOs hovering about. Many of these fight back too of course, with RPG-toting army men dropping mines and shooting rockets that are best avoided.

Though it is a lot of fun chewing through everything with a giant worm, we can't help but feel there's more that could be done with the game, particularly to address pacing issues and make it more gratifying early on. There are also no online high scores or achievements in Super Mega Worm; something we thought would have been staple in a game like this, considering its flash origins and focus on scores and multipliers. With the official Death Worm game by Playcreek on the horizon too– toting a number of added game modes, locations and features– we can't help but feel gamers may want to wait to decide for themselves which version is best.

On the plus side, developers Deceased Pixel have also promised additional levels, enemies and modes in future updates, so it seems the battle for worm king has only just begun. In any case, be sure to play Effing Worms on Flash and check out the trailers to see what you're getting yourselves into and visit our forums for our readers' opinions on just how juicy this worm really is.

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It's about that time for many gamers to start heading back to school, and it can be a difficult task to say goodbye to the lazy days of summer. Your friends at Sega want to make this transition just a little bit easier by offering just about all of their App Store titles at a discounted rate until September 1st. And Sega's not alone, as developer Meridian is celebrating the one year anniversary of their popular dual-stick shooter Alive 4-ever by putting their entire selection of games on sale for the next three days. If you haven't had a chance to pick up any of these titles before, now is your chance to do so and save a bit of cash in the process.

Sega titles on sale:

• Sonic the Hedgehog, – $5.99 → $2.99
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2, – $5.99 → $2.99
• Super Monkey Ball, – $2.99 → $1.99
• Super Monkey Ball 2, – $5.99 → $2.99
• Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition for iPad, – $7.99 → $3.99
• Shining Force, – $2.99 → 99¢
• Ecco the Dolphin, – $2.99 → 99¢
• Streets of Rage, – $2.99 → 99¢
• Golden Axe, – $2.99 → 99¢

Meridian titles on sale:

• Alive 4-ever, – $2.99 → 99¢
• Alive 4-ever RETURNS, – $2.99 → 99¢
• Armageddon, – $2.99 → 99¢
• Abigale: Revenge of the Princess, – $1.99 → 99¢
• Ace Commando, – $1.99 → 99¢
• Against the Fire!, – $1.99 → 99¢
• Amy's Dessert Shop, – $1.99 → 99¢
• Are You Alright?, – $1.99 → 99¢
• Stick Dunk, – $1.99 → 99¢

Besides these specific sales, there's pretty much always other titles with price drops at any given time, as most App Store shoppers are aware of. Make sure you check out the latest price drops on AppShopper to stay on top of your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad bargain hunting needs.

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Back aboard the Gameloft party bus at E3 we got our first look at Ultimate Spider-Man Total Mayhem. When we saw it, the game played a lot like Gameloft's other third person action games, but totally drenched in all things Spider Man which any fan of the movies, comics, or cartoons will appreciate. The following trailer was released earlier today, which has a bit of gameplay footage towards the end:

Along with the trailer Gameloft also sent us a set of Retina Display resolution screenshots:

Spider Man is hitting the App Store September 1st, so if your spider sense is going crazy about that time, that may very well be why. In the meantime, swing by Gameloft's Ultimate Spider-Man Total Mayhem site which has quite a few details about the game including a listing of all the villains that you will come across.

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Not long ago classic iPhone tower defense game geoDefense [$1.99 / Free] version 1.5 hit the App Store, adding support for the Retina Display of the iPhone 4 as well as the framework for DLC level packs. The first of those level packs was just released this afternoon, and a 99¢ in-app purchase unlocks brand new set of 3 medium levels and 3 hard levels. Also, these levels are immediately playable once downloaded so you can dive right in without needing to play any previous levels. While a game as good as geoDefense getting more levels is totally newsworthy by itself, it also gave us an excellent opportunity to pester developer David Whatley who is quite literally floating around the Caribbean as we speak.

Last time we spoke with Whatley he was extremely excited about the potential of the iPad, and told us that a sequel to geoDefense was coming which would be exclusive to the device. Since then, several things have gotten in the way such as the release of the iPhone 4, a Facebook game called Fantasy University, launch day ports of geoDefense and geoDefense Swarm for Windows Phone 7, and the never-ending question of what will make a worthy sequel to a game with the notoriety of geoDefense.

According to David, the recent update to geoDefense had a lot of work done behind the scenes to eventually ramp up in to an iPad version of geoDefense which is going to be the next title to be released by Critical Thought Games. From there, they're going to be testing the waters of the iPad App Store to see whether or not sticking to their guns regarding the iPad exclusivity of geoDefense 2 makes sense or not. Whatley admits that not doing an iPhone version of the sequel would likely be a big mistake, especially given the size of the market.

When talking to David about geoDefense 2, he mentioned the amount of pressure he's under to deliver something that will impress gamers, but not stray too far from what everyone has since come to expect out of the geoDefense series. He wants to take geoDefense to the next level, but he's still not entirely sure what that next level is. The situation seems eerily similar to Galcon [$2.99 / Free] and its successor Galcon Labs [$2.99] which despite the popularity of the original saw a lackluster response from gamers as it felt too much like an expansion pack, and not enough like its own game.

If you've beaten every level in geoDefense over the last year and a half since its initial release, now is a great time to re-download the game and try out the new levels. Admittedly, I'm fairly rusty but so far the six new levels completely live up to the difficulty level we've come to expect of geoDefense and are highly recommended for any fan of the game.

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We've been following Dodonpachi Resurrection [$4.99] for a while now, from its first announcement, to the first gameplay trailer, and even the pricing and release date.  And after all this anticipation, developer Cave's follow up release to the excellent Espgaluda II [$8.99/Lite] actually lives up to the hype. In fact, I like it even more than Espgaluda II, though I'm not necessarily saying one is better than the other. They're very different beasts, and really it's worth owning both if you like top-down shooters. But Dodonpachi Resurrection feels like a more well rounded experience, and caters really well to both casual shooter fans and the most hardcore of them all. There's near endless replayability due to an ingenious scoring system, and Dodonpachi Resurrection deserves a spot on every shmup fan's home screen.

Visually, Dodonpachi is a very striking game. There is no fancy Retina Display support, as this is originally an arcade game running at an entirely different resolution, and it would be unrealistic for Cave to redraw all of the artwork to suit the iPhone 4. That said, the game still looks damn good. There are three different screen sizes to choose in the options. Small has a huge border area but makes the graphics look the sharpest. Large fills the iPhone screen with the game and a small border on the bottom, but the sprites and text look slightly blurry. Medium is the default and it's in-between the other two settings. I fancy the large setting, as I don't really like borders in my games and the blurriness honestly isn't that bad. The game is filled with tons of huge explosions, humongous transforming bosses, and dozens of enemies and bullets onscreen at any given time. No matter what screen size you play with, it all ends up looking really impressive.

There are two game modes in Dodonpachi, the original arcade mode and a new iPhone mode. Arcade has you choose from three different ships and three offensive styles. These styles can give you unlimited bomb use, a more powerful alternate cannon to switch to, or a combination of the two. They all can help you in different ways, and as such each ship and style combination has its own leaderboard in OpenFeint. The arcade mode is a lot of fun to be sure, but the iPhone mode with its unique scoring system and brand new Hyper Cannon weapon are what really stand out in the game.

In iPhone mode, there is no need to pick styles, just which ship type you want to use. A divided gauge in the upper right of the screen is used for the SM scoring system. A circular area surrounds your ship, and narrowly avoiding these bullets but letting them pass through this area (known as “scraping”) fills the gauge towards the M side while also building up a multiplier in the upper left of the screen. You can continue to do this all the way until your multiplier hits x1000, if you wish. When the M side of the gauge is full, you can hit the Hyper button to start your ship firing wildly, and control the direction of fire by touching the ship and turning it. If you touch the ship and spin it in circles during this time, you build up your Hyper Cannon which unleashes an enormous beam of destruction that obliterates everything on the screen.

Killing enemies in rapid succession is what fills up the S side of the gauge, and once it's completely full you will gain whatever your multiplier is at for every enemy you destroy. Essentially, you use this SM gauge in a yin-yang like harmony of avoidance and utter destruction in order to achieve incredibly high scores. It's really brilliantly designed, and it may sound complicated on paper but it's pretty easy to grasp onto after playing for a bit. Admittedly, I'm not a hardcore bullet hell shooter guy. I love me some shmup action, but more the typical brand of them, and I've always been apprehensive of the bullet hell type because they just seemed so difficult. Not so with Dodonpachi, and I really understand now how different a bullet hell shooter is and the different type of gameplay it brings to shmups.

And this brings me to what I really appreciate about Dodonpachi Resurrection, you don't have to play it any particular way. Yes, you can endlessly scrape bullets and build huge multipliers, then strategically destroy many enemies in search of massive scores and coveted leaderboard spots. Or you can play it much like a normal shooter, using the bombs and special weapons to destroy the many enemies and bosses in spectacular fashion as you progress through the levels to the end. Heck, I beat the game twice before I even fully understood the scoring system, and had a total blast doing it. This is one of the first games of this kind where I've felt like any type of gamer can get a lot out of the experience.

There's a lot more to Dodonpachi too, like the absolute spot-on relative control system, the excellent brand new music for the iPhone mode, many OpenFeint achievements to unlock, multiple options and difficulty levels, hidden modes, and more. But the bottom line is that if you're a fan of shooters in any way, you'll want to pick up Dodonpachi Resurrection. There's not currently a lite of the game (there's one on the way), but the introductory price of $4.99 will be going for the next few days before jumping to the regular price of $8.99. Also worth noting is that you'll need a 3^rd generation device or higher, or an iPad, to run the game due to the insane amount of sprites it pushes at any given time. A veritable love-fest is going on with players in our forums who are enjoying the game as much as I am, and as far as shooters go on the iPhone it doesn't get much better than Dodonpachi Resurrection.

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Last week, in a post featuring new screenshots from the upcoming iPhone version of Riven from Cyan Worlds, we pointed to clues of a new, previously unheard of forthcoming title spotted on the studio's website. At the time, all we saw of Stoneship was an ad banner commanding, "Never let your timbers be shivered!" and a tiny screenshot. Today, Cyan shared with Touch Arcade exclusive details and screenshots to help give readers a feel for what Stoneship is all about.

The upcoming Stoneship represents "a lighthearted new direction" for Cyan Worlds, the studio indicates. The game is a casual, top-down, turn-based, strategy puzzle game "with a bent toward the whimsical," we're told. The game sets you and your first mate on the high seas, charged with exploring, controlling, and protecting vast oceans and islands, under continual threat of a pirate siege. There are eighty three included levels to play through, with additional levels to come later, it appears.

Granted, there's still room for gameplay specifics and other details on this one, but what we've got does paint an overall picture. And the screenshots provided us should help flesh out that picture, further.

Cyan plans to submit Stoneship to Apple in the next few weeks and, as well, confirms that Riven for the iPhone is still on track for a release this fall. We expect to post a full review of Stoneship coincidental with its release in the App Store. Stay tuned.

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Retro game fans — especially those with friends in meatspace — are in for a treat with Revolutionary Concept's latest release, Karate Champ XL. Shortly after Karate Champ for the iPhone hit the App Store we reported that the studio was hard at work on an iPad version that would feature a two-player, split-screen play mode. The wait is over and we're happy to report that Karate Champ XL for the iPad [App Store] has arrived.

Karate Champ, which was rated one of the 10 most influential games of all time by IGN, is a 1984 arcade fighter that was one of the very first 2D, side-perspective, face-to-face fighters to hit the arcades. In Karate Champ, the player controlls a karateka with two joysticks, one for movement and one for attacks, that together allowed for a wide variety of attack combination. It is a match for points as well as a race against the clock; if both fighters are still standing when the timer runs down, he with the most points wins. It's simple by today's fighter standards, but is appealingly so to many, myself included.

Karate Champ XL features everything that the iPhone version has to offer, and then some. There are 12 different environments, two-player Bluetooth and WiFi support, the original '80s sound effects, all original bonus rounds, and a Super Large Chracter option. The onscreen graphics take advantage of the iPad's large, high-res display — well, at least the cabinet fascia graphics do, as the in-game graphics are (happily) as pixellated as ever. The big feature of this version, however, is the split screen mode that allows two players to go literally head-to-head in a martial arts match. This mode looks great and plays like you'd hope; it's a smooth one-on-one fight experience that actually works quite well.

Karate Champ XL should be an instant buy for any fan of the game who's got an iPad and someone to go head to head with. But, even in single play the game looks better, with sharper graphics on the iPad than the scaled-up iPhone version.

A version 1.1 update of the iPhone version of Karate Champ [App Store] (which is priced 50% off at $0.99 for a limited time) is currently under review by Apple. It will allow for iPhone to iPad gameplay.

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