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We’ve been following GameStop’s entry into the tablet gaming world for some time now. Rumblings started when GameStop started taking iOS devices on trade-in, which we determined utilizing the latest tinfoil hat and witching stick technology might mean they were going to start selling iOS devices soon. A few days later, news hit that GameStop wouldn’t be selling iOS devices, and instead is launching it’s own Android gaming tablet. Since then, we’ve speculated heavily on our podcast regarding what this tablet will be like, if GameStop will have a proprietary storefront for it, and whether or not that storefront will offer some kind of trade-in gimmick.

Per a recent report from PC Mag, GameStop just started a pilot program where they will be selling not one but three Android tablets in 200 locations. The lineup includes the Acer A100 at $329, the Asus Transformer at $399, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab at $499. Naturally, these are coming pre-loaded with GameStop software, and they’ll be promoting tablet-optimized games to play on them. Interestingly enough, it doesn’t sound like GameStop is going to be pushing touch-based games, as all but the low-end tablet will come packaged with a Bluetooth controller.

We’ll have to wait and see how this pilot program does, as it’s very interesting seeing GameStop respond to iOS games taking off the way they have as well as online game distributors and streaming services like Steam and OnLive eating so much of their proverbial lunch. I tend to think for this to get anywhere GameStop will need to take a much more unified and powerful approach to the whole thing, far beyond the “Oh hey, here’s three Android tablets and two of them come with Bluetooth controllers” thing they’re doing now.

[via PC Mag]

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When Top Spin was released for the original Xbox, I became an instant fan of tennis games. I would crank up the difficulty to max and give myself bad stats and play the top players, just to make it more challenging. But until recently my iOS device had no tennis games installed, even though there’s a few out there.

Flick Tennis: College Wars [99¢ / HD / HD Free] by Rolocule has come to the rescue, providing me with a challenging touch-based tennis game to conveniently carry in my pocket. The iPad version was released in August, but this review is based on the iPhone version, which has just come out. And I’m really enjoying it, because although it starts out pretty easy, the later matches are challenging and can be real nail-biters.

Three modes are provided: Story, exhibition and head-to-head multiplayer. Unfortunately, there’s no tournament mode, which would have worked perfectly with this game, although story mode does tie multiple matches together in a sequence.

In story mode, you play the role of Kevin Adams, a talented young tennis prodigy who wants to succeed on court to make his wheel-chair bound father proud and to be selected for the college / university team.  Kevin’s story spans 11 episodes, with 35-pages of comic-based cut-scenes between episodes (ie: about 3 pages worth per episode.)

Comic-strips and tennis are not an obvious combination, but the simple storyline works nicely enough, painting Kevin as an under-dog and explaining his motivation to win each particular match. If you’re not interested in the storyline, it’s easy to skip through the comics quickly to focus on the tennis. The story episodes include both single and multiplayer matches of increasing difficulty. By playing through the episodes, you unlock players, courts and subsequent episodes.

Exhibition mode includes singles or doubles matches. The doubles matches include an AI-controlled partner for you to play with. This introduces the additional challenge of ensuring the court is always covered by the two of you.  In multiplayer mode two players square off on the same device, taking turns at swiping. I didn’t try this mode with another player, but it would probably work better on the larger iPad screen.

The AI opponents play intelligently, with four different styles of play (Defensive baseliner, aggressive baseliner, volleyer and all-court players). The help screen explains the traits of each style and lists some real-world examples, listing Pete Sampras as a volleyer and Roger Federer as an all-court player. The opponents also have a skill level, ranging from beginner to professional. There are 11 courts (including grass, clay and synthetic) starting with practice courts with bird noises, to sports stadiums with an appreciative applauding audience. And an umpire announces the score verbally, which adds to the tennis atmosphere.

Flick Tennis is totally designed around swipe controls, so there’s no joystick or buttons cluttering the screen. You can do four different shots by swiping your finger. The basic ground-stroke is done by simply swiping upwards in the direction you want to hit the ball. The accuracy of the shot depends on how close you swipe from the position of the player and the timing. If you swipe too early, the shot will be inaccurate, but swiping too late will cause you to miss the ball entirely. Swiping downwards does a drop-shot, which is effective if the player is hanging back at the baseline.

The other two shots require two-finger swipes. A slice is done by swiping two fingers upwards. While a two-finger downwards swipe lobs the ball, which is useful for hitting the ball over a players head when they’ve cheekily approach the net. But be careful, because if you lob to a player at the baseline, he (or she) might SMASH the high ball back at you. Likewise you can smash it if you receive a lob in the right court position. Each of the four shots is drawn on the screen in a different color, to confirm your chosen action.

The one finger swipes are easy, but it took a little practice to nail the two finger swipes. Once you recognize that the first finger to touch the screen will draw the line, it’s a lot easier to play accurate shots more consistently. Plus, there’s an interactive tutorial which introduces you to the four different swipes. It also explains that you can tap the screen to walk in that direction, however the player will automatically run to the ball by default, allowing you to focus mostly on the shots unless you specifically want to run to the net, baseline, center or sides. One cool feature is that if you’re running, it has a bearing on the shot, so if you draw your line early, you need consider where you’ll be standing by the time you swing. Often it pays to aim a little in-court just to be safe.

A few general observations: Firstly, when two players are both at the net, the ball is sometimes hit backwards and forwards several times rapidly, with multiple sound effects in quick succession, which never occurs in real tennis and ruins the otherwise tennis-like atmosphere (only happens rarely). Secondly, there’s no leaderboard or achievements, which is desirable in a competitive sporting title. My skills deserve some recognition! And lastly, the lack of tournament thing I mentioned earlier.

Flick Tennis: College Wars is a welcome addition to my iPod Touch and won’t be deleted any time soon. The controls work well once you’ve mastered them and it’s a blast to swipe a variety of shots, making the opponent run around the screen, just like I used to on the Xbox. Or some of the time I’m getting thrashed, but either way, I’m loving it. The game is currently on sale through today only, so don’t hesitate to grab either version of the game for 99¢ before they return to their normal prices of $1.99 and $3.99.

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Old school RPG fans (and I mean old school) should be quite familiar with the Wizardry series. More than 30 years ago, Wizardry helped define the pen-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons experience as an electronic computer game, and went on to spawn many sequels and spinoffs since. The most recent of these is Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls from developer Acquire. The game was a modern homage to the classic Wizardry games, and was released on the PlayStation Network as a downloadable title this past summer.

Now we have learned that Labyrinth of Lost Souls will be making the jump from PSN to the App Store this Thursday, Novermber 3rd. Despite being a fairly newly developed game (the original launched in Japan in late 2009), Labyrinth of Lost Souls is purposely entrenched in the archaic roots of the Wizardry series. Many of the modern aspects that you’ve come to appreciate from the RPG and dungeon crawling genres aren’t present here, which is something that didn’t quite resonate with a good chunk of the PlayStation 3 audience. However, I think a quirky, old school-inspired title like Labyrinth of Lost Souls will have a comfortable home on the App Store.

Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls will feature ten characters to choose from, and you’ll need to create a party of six to take down into the depths of the two massive dungeons in the game. Leveling up your characters, finding items and weaponry, and dueling with scads of monsters are all on the agenda in Wizardry. The game will be launching for free with the first floor of the “Dungeon of Trials” available to explore and play, and a level cap of five for your party members. If you want to continue on, you can open up the rest of the game for a $9.99 in-app purchase. We’ll have more from Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls after it launches later this week.

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Every logic puzzle lover should know about nonograms. You might know them as picross puzzles, or griddlers, or maybe just the younger sibling of Sudoku, but you should know them. If you don’t, no foul: Fugazo’s World Mosaics [$1.99] is a good place to start.

If you’re not in the know, here’s the quick version: a nonogram puzzle presents you with a grid. Each row and column has numbers listed with it, and those numbers correspond to how many of its cells must be filled in. A row with 5 and 7 listed beside it would need 5 adjoining cells filled in with boxes, then at least one space before 7 more cells are boxed in. The clues intersect so you can puzzle out the solution, and when you’re done you’ll have formed a pixelated picture.

There are some great nonogram apps on iOS already, though fewer than I’d like. World Mosaics joins these after enjoying a successful career on PC and Mac. It’s not perfect, but it scratches the logic puzzle itch nicely.

World Mosaics takes roughly half its list of puzzles, the first 99, and wraps them in a globe-spanning story. You follow pictographic clues left around the world to discover the origins of the Sea People. I’d point out that logic puzzles need stories like fish need bicycles here, but the story does give Fugazo a chance to wrap the puzzles in entertaining themes. I could also stretch and say that it offers a reason to keep pushing to the end of the game, but I suspect it’s more likely there to bring in fans of hidden object games and match-3 adventures.

But these casual trappings don’t detract from the quality of the puzzles. The nonograms in World Mosaics are good, challenging and varied. Beginners will find the difficulty curve just perfect — a few introductory 5 x 5 puzzles make way for 10 x 10, 15 x 15 and eventually 20 x 20 grids. Each jump increases the difficulty, but it’s a slow climb. A wide range of challenges are available within those sets, too, with some puzzles that have plenty of large numbers and clearly defined borders, and others that scatter ones and twos to the wind and leave you to pick your way through cell by cell.

Control is a huge problem with nonogram apps on small devices, and it’s one that’s not fully addressed here. There simply isn’t enough screen real estate to tap around a 15 x 15 grid. Fugazo has included an awkward set of on-screen controls, with a direction pad for navigation and buttons to mark boxes and cross out spaces. Since these controls offer no feedback, it’s all too easy to mis-mark a cell.

Mistakes will cost you, but failure isn’t a real threat. You can make up to 8 mistakes per puzzle, and each gives a handful of hints if you need them. This is where World Mosaics goes most seriously awry. The game tracks your mistakes, hints and completion time, but it doesn’t seem to maintain that information anywhere. Without Game Center integration or any kind of tracking or ranking, there’s nothing to keep you from using each of your freebies to brute force your way through tough spots. Best put yourself on the honor system, because it’s much more fun to play properly.

World Mosaics could also be better in the looks department. The game isn’t ugly, exactly, but it’s not a looker either. Retina graphics are badly missed. They’d make the game’s large puzzles much easier to look at. On top of that, the interface is utilitarian at best. Put these things together with the lack of Game Center and World Mosaics starts to feel like a bit of a shoddy port.

It’s not a shoddy game, though. Along with those 99 story puzzles, World Mosaics offers another hundred or so that don’t fit with the story’s themes. That’s a lot of hours of entertainment to be had. If you have an iPad, I’d recommend waiting for the HD version, which is due to hit in mid-November. Nonograms are more fun when you have more space to work with. But for those of us who want good nonograms on the small screen, World Mosaics is an ample fit. Make sure to stop by our discussion thread and let us know what you think.

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Last week we posted details surrounding the then-upcoming bundles of retro Elite Collection and Elite Collection HD for the iPhone and iPad, set to launch this past weekend. As we’ve learned from Elite Systems, the collections are still upcoming, unfortunately.

Elite Systems‘ Steve Wilcox explains,

We spend countless hours tracking down the current owners of the classic 8-bit home computer games (and the associated intellectual properties) which we include in our Apps. We come across some fascinating people and stories whilst doing so.

Earlier this week, an organisation – from whom we’d previously received a written “clearance” – claimed an interest in a trademark in one of the twenty five games in the Apps. This interest does not appear on the public records.

Since one of our declared goals for the “Elite Collection” Apps is, “to restore some order to the market for 8-bit home computer games” we needed some time to check the claim. At the time of writing, that claim is still being reviewed and we felt it would be inappropriate to release the Apps until it had been dealt with.

Wilcox, at the same time, took the opportunity to share some rather good news concerning his studio’s forthcoming 8-bit offerings. He indicates that the delay should provide the opportunity to include some additional “AAA” titles to the mix when, or shortly after, they are released. The coming titles he speaks of are likely to include an excellent collection of games from Interplay Productions: the classic fantasy RPG The Bard’s Tale (I, II & III), the post-apocalyptic RPG Wasteland, as well as Dragon Wars and Neuromancer.

Elite expects the delay of the Elite Collection and Elite Collection HD to be brief — perhaps a couple of weeks. For details on the (at least) 12 titles launching in the collections, have a look at our post from last week.

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With the proliferation of camera-equipped smartphones that also double as mobile gaming systems in the last few years, the amount of augmented reality apps and games has surged. While there are a ton of ingenious non-gaming ways to use AR on your smartphone, the vast majority of the games that used the technology boiled down to slapping some graphical assets onto your device’s camera view and calling it a game, with little regard for how the augmented reality portion actually affected or enhanced the gameplay.

One title that bucked that trend and changed how I feel about most AR games was last year’s ARDefender [99¢] from French developer Int 13. ARDefender had you printing out a special diagram from the ARDefender website (or as we’ve come to find, just displaying the diagram on a separate device or computer screen) which would then be read by the game using the camera on your iPhone or iPod touch. The game would create a tower on top of this diagram, making it appear that it was actually there in the space where your camera was pointed. Then enemies would come after this tower in waves, and you’d use an assortment of weaponry affixed to the top of your tower to fend them off.

Essentially, ARDefender was nothing more than a tower defense game at the most basic level, but the augmented reality portion was so convincing and the technology worked so well that it really became quite a little showpiece for what was possible on an iOS device. Plus, while simplistic, the actual gameplay involved was also pretty darn fun, which didn’t hurt either.

Now, just a little over a year after release, and ARDefender has received a fairly substantial update just in time for Halloween. First of all, the AR engine used in the game has been upgraded, and ARDefender now runs at a solid 60fps on an iPhone 4 or iPad 2. Also, it now has high resolution graphical assets for the iPad and Retina Display devices. The game looks incredibly sharp and ultra smooth now, as these improvements have really made a big difference.

Additionally, in celebration of the holiday today, ARDefender now has an entire Halloween theme. Your tower structure now looks more like a sibling of the Bates Motel and the enemies who will be swarming the tower include skeletons, pumpkin heads, laser-shooting Frankenstein’s monsters, witches, and more. It’s all quite well done, but if Halloween isn’t your thing then you can easily switch back to the classic theme if you want.

Besides the technical upgrades and Halloween theme, ARDefender also received some other really nice improvements in this latest update. There are now new towers to unlock and use, as well as a couple of new upgrades like a defense drone that will fly around the battlefield and assist you by blasting away at approaching enemies. You can now save your game’s progress, and there are also 22 achievements to unlock, but unfortunately they are just in-game and not tied into Game Center. Finally, a host of smaller gameplay tweaks and optimizations rounds out the update.

ARDefender is definitely my top augmented reality game for the iPhone. It would be nice if the developers expanded on the solid foundation with more game modes or some sort of campaign, but what’s here now is still a lot of fun. With this new update it’s an even better experience overall, and if you own at least a 3rd generation device or higher that’s equipped with a camera then ARDefender is a dollar well spent for both a fun gaming distraction and something cool to show your friends.

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First there was Modern Combat: Sandstorm [$4.99 / HD] which we described as one of the most impressive gaming experiences on the App Store at that time.  Next came MC2: Black Pegasus [$6.99 / HD /  Free], which we called ” A new standard in online multiplayer”. Now, Gameloft has released their much anticipated third installment, MC3: Fallen Nation [$6.99], which although not revolutionary, is easily one of the best first-person shooters available for iOS devices.

This release is named “Fallen Nation” because America is under attack. The enemies are KPR (Korea, Pakistan and Russia), who have declared war on America and invaded US cities, reportedly destroying Chicago. Anyone familiar with the earlier games will find more of the same non-stop action in this military shooter, but Gameloft have extended their previous efforts to ensure this latest release is the best in the series.

Because this game has so much going on, we’ll focus primarily on highlighting the new features. If you’re not familiar with the earlier games, you might want to read the review links above.

The single player campaign has 13 missions and four levels of difficulty, with combat in different vehicles, settings, and six different countries. There are plenty of cinematic cutscenes between gun-fights to shape the story-line, some of which require swipes when directed. The voice-over acting sounds good considering Gameloft’s previous efforts, and the graphics and level of detail in the levels is already being praised as “better than MC2” in the games busy discussion thread.

The highlight for many players will be the expanded multiplayer mode which is available via local WiFi or online via Gameloft Live. It now supports up to 12 players, compared to 10 previously, and delivers six much larger maps, which is more maps than MC2 had at release. Bluetooth multiplayer mode, which was available in MC2, has now been removed. Some users have experienced lag at times, which has caused stuttering graphics, but the general indication is that it’s nothing unreasonable.

Seven multiplayer modes are provided. The four MC2 modes are still present (Battle, Team battle, Capture the flag and Defuse the bomb), but now there’s also “Manhunt”  where you hold a flag for as long as possible, “Zone control” where you capture and hold locations, and “Destruction” where one team defends multiple devices from an attacking team. Multiplayer mode also has a list of challenges to complete, like achieving a certain number of head-shots, beating each game mode, and achieving the required number of kills with each weapon / attachment.

By killing other players and completing objectives and challenges, you’ll gain the experience points (XP) necessary for promotions to higher ranks. This is important because your rank now determines which new weapons, attachments, equipment, and skills are available in the armory.

In multiplayer mode, you can pick one skill per weapon kit. A gun expert loads his weapons quicker, an athlete runs faster while an anatomy scientist heals in half the time. The meanest skill is “One more thing”, which drops an incendiary grenade upon death, as a good-bye present to anyone nearby, like the person who shot you.

The expected diverse arsenal of weapons is available, plus equipment like remotely activated C4 explosives, sensors to display position of enemies, radar jammers, mines, and camouflage to avoid satellite scans. However, the process for unlocking weapons has changed, with guns being unlocked progressively once your character reaches certain levels while in-game currency is used to buy ammunition or attachments. That’s right, you can now add various attachments to customize your weaponry, like: Red dot sights, thermal scopes, and suppressors, which help you stay invisible on enemies radar while shooting.

There are two forms of in-game currency: Blue credits are used to buy or upgrade items in the single player shop, or to unlock items in WiFi multiplayer. Gold credits are used in online multiplayer, to unlock items in the online armory. You can buy additional credits as an In-App Purchase, but this is not really necessary as playing the game can yield the same results without extra cost.

Kill signatures have been added, so you can unlock and choose a message, picture, background and sound to be displayed to your victims after you kill them.  So when your opponents die, they might get a message like: “PWNED!” or “Would you like fries with that?”  along with a flatulence or baby crying sound effect. It’s a final slap in the face for your dead opponent.

Gameloft has added rewards for killing sprees this time around as well. In multiplayer mode you can earn “kill-chains” by killing multiple enemies without dying. These kill-chains can be used to buy military support. For example, three kill-chains will get you a satellite scan, showing all hostiles briefly. You can also request air strikes, turret deployments or helicopter / bomber support. With 20 kill-chains, you can obtain the much coveted nuclear missile and drop this WMD to end the conflict in 15 seconds.

There are three different control options, including “Classic Controls” like MC2 (but with a new sliding move by pressing crouch when running), but this set-up is not the default.  You can adjust the sensitivity of the controls, which was handy as I didn’t like the default controls at all, finding them too fast and floaty and the sprint button was in an uncomfortable position. Fortunately, there’s an option to customize the position of each control individually, although this is hidden away in the pause menu. It’s worth taking a few minutes to get the controls right for you.

Your progress and ranking is stored on Gameloft’s servers, so even if you delete the game, you can re-install it and resume without needing to start over. This means you can login from another device if the game is installed. And a multiplayer headquarters menu now presents all your stats, leaderboards, challenges, match history, and military support options. Finally, there’s now an online armory where you can save your weapon sets (primary, secondary, weapons attachments and extras like equipment or skills). Additional weapon kit slots can be unlocked. This isn’t as good as having direct access to all weapons, but it’s still nice to have this ability.

A few teething issues have been reported, with some ranks being listed incorrectly / inconsistently or progress being lost altogether. This is a major inconvenience which Gameloft is likely to investigate as a priority. And if you have a hyphen in your Gameloft Live login (as one of our editors does) you may have trouble logging in for online multiplayer, so avoid using dashes if you’re signing up.

This Universal game is larger than most and requires additional room for the install process, so gamers all over the world are busy deleting other large games to free up a couple of gigabytes. If you want to play first person shooters on your iOS device, Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation is a must-buy game, so start making room for it.  Although, with Gameloft  reportedly committed to releasing frequent updates sooner this time around (in contrast to previous versions), we may have to delete even more games for the future updates.

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This week on The TouchArcade Show, we fight through conversations about Soft Paws, Modern Warfare 3, leather couches and Battlefield 3 in order to bring you the hottest front page and reviews action of the week. For example, we dig into Shantae: Risky’s Revenge and get into lengthier discussions on subjects such as battery life across new mobile gaming devices, the impact of sales on revenue, and game saves. Overall, I really dug this week and we all hope you do, too.

If you’d like to give us a try, feel free via the streaming and download links below. If you want plugged in to The TouchArcade Show and receive our episodes the second they hit, just go ahead and subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune. While you’re there, we’d really like for you to drop your positive feedback in the reviews section. We need your help!

iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
Zune Marketplace: TouchArcade.com Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-023.mp3, 42MB

The show notes are coming, but before you leave us, know this: we’ll be back next week with another regular episode of the show and another great bonus podcast.

GAMES

• Shantae: Risky’s Revenge [Free]
• League of Evil [$.99]
• Blosics [$.99 / HD]
• Riptide GP [$4.99]

JARED’S KITTY KORNER

• Cat’s Comming [$.99]

FRONT PAGE

Have a good weekend, guys!

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When it was initially released for DSiWare last year, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge [Free / $2.99 IAP], was an underappreciated gem on a service that most people didn’t bother using. Now, thankfully, the game might find a little more grounding with the wider release on iOS, but as we’ve seen time and time again, platformers are a difficult sale on touchscreens, and Shantae, despite its pedigree, will have to keep up.

The game is a sequel to the Shantae, which was released for the Gameboy Color well into the rein of the Gameboy Advance. It follows the story of the belly-dancing, hair-whipping Shantae, as she seeks out her arch nemesis, Risky Boots, in order to get a magical lamp.

As a game, Shantae takes most of its cues from Castlevania and Metroid, meaning it’s essentially a large, open-world 2D platformer, where gaining certain transformational powers will unlock new areas. You’ll be able to turn into a monkey to scale walls, an elephant to pound rocks or a mermaid to swim underwater. As you discover new powers, you’ll be backtracking and searching out new nooks and crannies to explore. On top of those powers, you’ll also get magic spells, which are purchasable in the main hub town, and performance enhancers, which enable you to attack faster, stronger and more.

Most interesting is its introduction of a somewhat three dimensional plane, where each smaller 2D area has several levels to it — like a stack of papers with levels drawn on them — you’ll bounce forward and backward through each section. It’s too bad they’re not used more throughout as it’s truly the most interesting addition to the genre.

It’s all rather clever and the level design keeps up, which is a good thing, because in general, most Metroidvania games we’ve seen so far have been lacking in their ambition. Unfortunately, you won’t find guides of where to go and the maps in the game are terrible and unhelpful — Shantae is all about exploring and figuring things out for yourself. This is frustrating at points, especially when you’re at a loss for where to go next, but the reward for finding your own way often makes up for it, even if it does make it so you never feel like your properly progressing. Despite its clear influences, it’s not derivative of either of the above games, and mostly forges its own path while maintaining the feeling of a good homage.

Most frustrating is the lack of a quicksave option, and the fact the game has a tenuous relationship with multitasking, working seemingly at random, doesn’t help. I’ve complained about this before with iOS games and you can call me weak for doing so, but when playing on a mobile device, I’d like a quicksave option for when I need to put it down for a moment — even if it’s just one slot, a bookmark to come back to but not exploit. There’s also an option for iCloud saving, but it doesn’t appear to be working at the moment, but thankfully, the IAP of the full game has no problems transferring from device to device.

Visually, the game is hit or miss. It’s weird to say, but the game actually looks better on the lower-resolution DSi screen, because the pixel matching feels more natural. On retina display, the it looks a bit muddy and it isn’t helped by the hideous bright-blue border around everything. It looks even worse on an iPad, like a blown-out tiny image. Despite itself, it still manages to be passable on the quality of the animation alone. WayForward has a way with 2D platformers that few developers can imitate and even through the pixels don’t look quite right, the game itself never feels gaudy or horrible and you’ll quickly get used to it. I don’t think they needed to invest in making everything a higher resolution, but I feel like the emulation of the pixels could have been a little more clear, especially considering the border around the game screen and characters are all converted up.

The sound too, is worth mentioning. Jack Kaufman’s soundtrack is like something pulled straight out Aladdin, with a chip-tuned, Middle-Eastern vibe pushing you along the whole way. The game was created to look and sound in the vein of SNES and Genesis classics and it succeeds in nearly every way.

Unfortunately, it’s still a platformer on iOS and the virtual controls will never have the tuned accuracy of a physical stick. It does feel like the game was loosened up a bit from its DSi counterpart to correct this, although since Nintendo doesn’t allow for downloading older games onto a different device, I can’t redownload the DSiWare version to confirm this. It’s certainly a bit easier than most of the games that inspired it, which is nice considering the controls aren’t as precise as they need to be. For what it’s worth, the virtual stick works as well as it can, but can’t be customized or moved, so if your hands don’t conform to where they’re at, you’re out of luck.

If you don’t have a DSi or 3DS, or you just don’t want to plop down $12 to play on those systems, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge is a solid port, but marred with the same problems we’ve come to expect on iOS. It’s certainly one of the better virtual control schemes and you’ll only occasionally find problems with it, especially when required to jump and attack, but overall, it retains the engaging gameplay from the original.

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Com2uS is certainly in the seasonal spirit. The publisher has added Halloween trimmings to a ton of its current line-up of titles, including Homerun Battle 3D [$.99 / HD], Tiny Farm [Free], World of Magic [Free], and even Piggy Adventure [$.99 / HD]. Starting now, you can deck out your farms with zombie horses and jack-o-lanterns, blow baseballs out of the yard while wearing a pumpkin on your head, use Warp Gates and pumpkins as pet in World of Magic, and enjoy 12 Halloween-themed levels and new musical tracks across Piggy Adventure.

In other related Halloween-ynews, Homerun Battle 3D is now just $.99, three dollars less than its standard, non-celebratory price. Piggy Adventure also sees a cut due to this event: it’s now $.99 instead of its usual $2.99.

Now, I ask you to enjoy the funniest series of pictures from a video game ever. You can catch images of the other games mentioned in this post at Com2uS’s blog.

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