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Angry Birds [99¢] was released in 2009 and became a global sensation, dominating the iOS game charts. However, several months earlier, Armor Games released the popular, but lesser known title: Crush The Castle [99¢] – where players fire projectiles at architectural structures, governed by physics, to kill or squash enemies. Sound familiar? That's right – Armor Games got there first and their series enjoyed some success (the developers report 224 million plays). Despite their early start, the cute graphical characters from Angry Birds had mass appeal and became the ultimate money-making juggernaut, completely redefining success on the App Store. Undeterred, Armor Games has now released a new game in the same vein, Siege Hero [99¢ / HD].

Siege Hero offers 63 levels, with 10 additional special levels which unlock as you progress. Each level involves killing or squashing knights, vikings or samurais by propelling the allocated sequence of rocks, oil barrels, fire-jars or gunpowder (bombs). The fire-jars destroy wood and ice structures. The oil barrels do collateral damage, taking out humans without damaging the surroundings. Some levels include peasants or maidens who add extra points if spared death, or deduct points if harmed.

The realistically styled graphics from Crush The Castle have had a make-over, to become more cartoonish, giving the game an unmistakable Angry Birds feel. This is further emphasized by cartoon cut-scenes without narration, and the enemies laugh at the end of each level which are all distinctive traits of the unhappy birds. Clearly the developers are evolving their original title, but also incorporating some learnings from the most successful game in the App Store.

Siege Hero brings some new ideas: First off, Angry Birds features a 'profile' perspective, with projectiles being thrown across the screen, from left-to-right. Siege Hero uses a first-person perspective so we're viewing from the perspective of our unseen catapult.

Secondly, Angry Birds requires multiple attempts and adjustments to get the trajectory right and provides the previous flightpath to help you to aim.  In contrast, Siege Hero offers a telescopic view, so players can target and consistently hit the exact desired spot. You never miss, making the game more about strategic hits and less about repetition.  It also means levels are completed faster than Angry Birds. A tap on the screen fires the projectile, while a press activates the telescopic sights, which conveniently relocate to avoid your finger. The telescopic view is the key feature of this game.

The physics engine is implemented using Cocos2d / Box2d libraries which work well; objects fall where expected. Achievements and rankings are integrated with Game Center. Instead of scoring three stars per level, the goal is to earn a golden crown. The epic music score is cinematic which suits the game.

Siege Hero has a couple of weak points. The levels are varied and interesting, but it only took an hour to complete two thirds of the game. Granted, it would take longer for those seeking golden crowns for each level. The developers advise additional campaigns are coming. The storyline in Angry Birds is conveyed in short unvoiced cartoon cutscenes between chapters. Siege Hero uses a similar approach, however their story is harder to interpret, which detracts from bringing the characters to life, which has been a key part of Angry Birds success. Lastly, the ability to zoom in and out is available, but limited, at least on the iPhone version. Despite these drawbacks, the game successfully draws you in, to complete "just one more level".

There's also a popular online flash version of the game, released in 2010, named Sieger however this features the old Crush the Castle graphics and is not representative of the new iOS release. Interestingly, the flash version includes a level editor and the ability to access shared levels online, although that functionality is not provided within the IOS release.

If you enjoy games like Angry Birds or Crush The Castle, but want something slightly different, Siege Hero is for you. The first person perspective is a neat change, and seeing how they differentiate themselves from the competition in future updates will be interesting to see.

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Capcom has been a big contributor to the App Store. So when they announced a new smartphone-focused publishing arm last month, I was looking forward to seeing what they'd come up with. Beeline Interactive has now released its first two games: Who's That Flying!? [99¢], which we enjoyed, and Glo Flo [99¢ / ], a casual puzzle game created by Gametantra.

Glo Flo is a simple little game. The only goal is to connect matching glowing bugs on a grid by drawing lines. The lines can never cross, and there are often several groups of bugs to match. It's a nice mechanic, one we've seen as a mini-game or the foundation of other puzzle games. It's probably best suited to those roles, because once you've got the hang of Glo Flow, there isn't much challenge. What works when you're connecting two pairs of two bugs still works when you're connecting three triads. Though things get more complex as you move through the game, nothing ever gets terribly hard.

If you're into it, though, there are 60 levels to play and Game Center achievements to mark your progress through them. If you get stuck, Glo Flo offers a hint system that will show you how to connect one of the level's pairs. Playing through the Puzzle mode also unlocks different backgrounds for Time Attack mode.

Time Attack mode is the one area where Glo Flo shines. It gives you 100 seconds to get through as many screens as you can. It also twists the game's formula – the longer the path you make, the more points you earn. To compete on the leaderboards, you'll need to try to hit every point on the grid every time, because doing so gives you bonus points and an extra 10 seconds on the clock. It's a frantic game mode that's surprisingly fun.

All in all, though, Glo Flo is a bit too casual for its own good. If you like puzzle games but generally find them frustrating, this could be a great little time waster. But if you're looking for a mind-bending challenge, you probably won't find one here.

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When it comes to campy, over-the-top horror movies that should theoretically make good games, nothing really tops Army of Darkness. Despite its seemingly perfect fit, its cult following and its pedigree, there have been very few games based on the Evil Dead universe. Thankfully, Backflip Studios took on Army of Darkness: Defense [99¢ / HD] with their own spin on the castle defense genre slapped with a thick layer of fan-service paint.

At its core, Army of Darkness Defense is a casual castle defense title with light RPG elements. Despite those RPG elements, you're not going to get a very deep experience here, but if you're a fan of the series you'll probably be happy with the end result. Most notable among the fan-fodder is the massive collection of voice clips found throughout — something around the ballpark of over 100 different clips from the movie are included and scattered randomly about. Even with that many clips in the mix, they do get a bit repetitive as the game moves on, but that's what the mute button is for.

Visually, AoD Defense stays true to its inspiration as well. Where Army of Darkness ran with the slapstick elements from Evil Dead II, the game uses a cartoonish look to convey the same feeling. The same can't be said for the menus and UI overlay, which aren't exactly the most pleasant things to look at, but they function well enough.

The twist on castle defense comes in the form of allowing you direct control over Ash, the main character. It seems like a big step in the right direction, but considering you can only move him left or right and have little control over what he's actually doing, it ends up being more of an exercise in keeping your brain entertained while you're calling on backup troops than a big innovation. That's especially true considering you're basically stuck on a two-dimensional plane.

That plane is the cause of another slight problem in the game, balance. Since your troops will basically just walk forward and form a single-spaced, stacked wall, regardless of their type, it doesn't matter much which troops you're using. There are no counter-tactics at play here and if you happen to upgrade one of the early, cheap units to its maximum level, you can spam it against every enemy you run into with little trouble.

The game doesn't push you to do otherwise either. There are probably certain units that are better against certain waves than others, but for the most part, an upgraded unit will do fine against anything it runs up against. Because you're restricted to the 2D plane, you can't stack units or coordinate a complex defense and for the most part, the combat feels slightly random.

If you're especially lazy, you can utilize the in-app purchases to upgrade your units at your fancy, but as mentioned above, it's not particularly necessary. At no point during the 50 waves did I feel the need to grind or like I didn't have enough gold to upgrade my eleven different units enough to get through it. On top of standard unit upgrades that up the health and attack power, you can also upgrade Ash, his weaponry, a few different special skills and your castle's defenses.

A standard wave pretty much goes like this: you'll start with the intro screen where you'll see the units that are part of the oncoming wave, you'll pick your defensive units, then your skills and you'll pop into the game. You'll control Ash by touching the left or right of the screen and he fires automatically when you're near an enemy unit. Your smithy will be forging iron, which can be used to call-in new units to your defense.

From there, it's pretty much just making sure you've got enough backup to deal with the waves and waiting for the completion screen. It gets a bit repetitive over time and it would have been nice to see more diversity in the environment or the enemies, but the campaign is short enough (around two to three hours) that you probably won't really notice.

By the end of it all, fans of the film won't be disappointed with how Backflip Studios handled the IP. They are clearly admirers of the film and were able to create a game based in the AoD world that looks and feels like its inspiration all while including enough Easter eggs to appease fans but not so many that casual players will be turned-off. The RPG elements certainly add a layer of depth, but it's too bad there is no real strategy to using them. At a glance it seemed like Army of Darkness Defense was going to offer more strategy and RPG than the usual castle defense titles, but it ends up being a bit shallow. It's still an entertaining title and you'll likely enjoy your time with it as long as you keep your expectations in check.

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The BAFTA-nominated Home Sheep Home [$.99] began its life as a free Flash game. Now, after 80 million impressions, it can be found on the App Store for 99 cents. I tend to dig what indie houses do with their Flash ports. There are some sloppy ones, sure, but as a whole, small studios tend to push out phenomenal, detail-oriented variants of their core game on touch devices. Home Sheep Home doesn’t deserve this level of praise, however it is still a sharp puzzle game with the right amount of content, color, and character.

The setup is simple: Home Sheep Home gives you control of three sheep, each of which has different attributes based on its respective weight. The goal is to take all three sheep from one side of a level to the other while navigating a physics puzzle molded around the fact that one sheep is small, the other medium, and the other huge.

Perhaps this is a kickback from its mobile roots, but Home Sheep Home's puzzles are designed with few variables; in fact, the game as a whole is casual-focused and linear, so don’t expect to cranium-busting challenges. On average, I get the gist and start executing on the correct solution within a minute or so of viewing a level.

For what it’s worth, I never feel like the design robs me of “A-ha!” moments despite its for-the-browser simplicity and breeziness. Each of the game’s 15 levels features a unique challenge with different obstructions, so that helps, too.

I imagine the fact that you're 'only' getting 15 levels might rub some the wrong way, and I get that, but I see it as a strength; Home Sheep Home has a focus and each of its levels has a unique vision — there’s little regurgitation, recycling, or repetition.

I’d like to think that the activity required also adds to the overall value. You switch sheep constantly in order to fiddle with various triggers, push environmental objects, or simply reach the other side of a chasm. You’re doing a lot even though the solutions are clear.

Art is a real feature in Home Sheep Home as you’ve probably noted. It features a hip washed out, scribbled kind of look that informs the light-hearted puzzles and gives the sheep, which would be otherwise flat, some actual character. Plus, doesn’t the art just give off the vibe that this is a friendly, calm, and whimsical world?

You can check out this video of the Flash version of Home Sheep Home to get an idea of the gameplay, but be warned that this is a walkthrough video and will spoil the solution to all 15 puzzles. Watch at your own discretion:

While the puzzles are tight and the art is great, Home Sheep Home does stumble with its control implementation. Movement is forced via a little slider at the bottom that can be hard to nail when attempting to juggle multiple actions. Also, the response times seem to be off, though that might just be a fault of the physics engine, which can at times be a bit too low-gravity. These issues are nothing you can’t get over, but you’ll note them.

Rare do I come to enjoy a puzzle game in such a small wrapper, so I’m thrilled to be able to share my thoughts on this game with you. There is a thread in our forums for discussing Home Sheep Home, and if you’re in the market for a quick, cute, and warm puzzle title with a fun mechanic and a few fun twists, give this a shot.

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Released in July of last year, Villain’s Archetype [99¢] was easily the most robust online first-person shooter available on the App Store at the time. It featured smooth Team Deathmatch multiplayer for up to 10 players over WiFi, 3G, or EDGE connections. We really liked the game in our review, and in the months following release Archetype received several updates adding Capture the Flag and Free For All modes, new maps and game types, and loads of other enhancements. An iPad native version, Archetype HD [$2.99], was released as well.

While other FPS games have since offered similarly impressive online multiplayer functionality, Archetype has remained a popular choice among fraggers on the go. Now you can test drive the game for free with the recently released Archetype Cadet [Free/HD]. Archetype Cadet gives you access to 5-on-5 Team Deathmatch on 2 available maps, Invidia and Pride Rocket Arena. Check out our gameplay video of the release version of Archetype to get an idea of the gameplay:

The full version of Archetype has you creating a persistent profile that is tied to your device. Archetype Cadet simply assigns you a generic gamer tag that is unable to earn experience or rank up in any way, so there’s no hassle with trying to sync profiles between the two versions if you decide to upgrade to the full. If you’ve been wondering what all the fuss is about with Archetype but haven’t yet been able to pull the trigger on purchasing the game, then grab Archetype Cadet for a free glimpse of the gameplay.

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Sony’s half-hearted effort to get into the low-cost digital downloads space with the PSP Minis initiative has been disastrous. Its lead platform has been floundering at retail, and I’ve heard from several sources that its support structure is hobbled. That blows for everyone involved, but there is reason to celebrate Minis: good games have, in fact, made it to release. One of those being the ostentatious 2D, shoot-‘em-up called “Who’s That Flying!?” [.99]

Like Flying Hamster [$2.99 / HD] before it, Who’s That Flying!? has been ported to iOS devices and given a cleaner, larger look as well as natural-feeling touch controls. I missed out on the initial release of WTF, but I don’t feel like I did — this port is so sharp that I mistook it for being a native game. That’s really important to me as I become increasingly grumpier about a studio’s effort in this arena. If it’s not tight, get it out of my face, you know?

WTF begins with a trial — not of the tribulations variety, either. Think “Law and Order.” In Space. You’re Earth, one of the nine total super heroes charged with protecting its respective planet in the solar system. You’re in trouble because monsters have appeared on your planet, and the actual game-part of WTF unfolds as you illuminate this cape-clad jury.

As with most shooters, WTF is straight-forward: Earth flies and can shoot bullets out of his arm, which comes in quite handy when he’s confronted against waves and waves of inky monsters that move in elaborate patterns across the screen. Each level takes place in a Earth city broken up into three different stages, the third of which has a boss that dwarfs but jives with the themes presented.

What I really dig about it isn’t so much the action as it is the lack of punishment. If a monster happens to crawl across the screen, a single health pip out is deducted from the city Earth is protecting at the time, meaning there’s a lot of room to mess up, recoup, and get back into the WTF’s frantic groove of evading and shooting.

Also, Earth doesn’t have a health meter; when he’s hit with an enemy projectile, it simply stuns him and pulls him out of the action for a second or two. Being stunned, then, is an issue, of course — you can’t kill guys when you’re woozy, but it’s not a deal breaker.

Not to be dismissive, but there is a lot on action front there to like. There’s a simple, satisfying sort of strategy that goes into choosing appropriate targets and a lot of the larger enemies requires a good deal of dexterity to avoid their acid spit or frontal attacks. Plus, there’s a cool God of War-like mechanic in the game with the mid-level monsters; when you bottom out their health, you need to do a melee-based move that also wipes out a good portion of the enemies on the screen as well.

You can also earn power-ups as you chain together kills. These are pretty constant, too, which really help to establish the game’s frantic, fun groove. As a guy who requires a special “thing” out of his shoot-‘em-ups, I found this mechanic in particular to be an enticing reason to keep picking the game back up.

It’s implied by the purposeful acronym of the game, but I’ll go ahead and note it anyway: WTF has a certain sense of over-the-top humor that it injects in its action, as well as its cut-scenes and loading screens. It’s tiresome the majority of times, but it’s hard not to at least smile at the attempt to throw a little personality into a standard, genre-based game.

I’m walking away from WTF with some really, really positive feelings and thoughts. I love its assortment of mechanics and systems most of all — they’re tuned for guys like me who want more and don’t want to be beaten over the head for small errors. But I can also get behind its multitudes of levels, it’s super bright and colorful look, and its unique enemies that do provide a level of thought, strategy, and creativity on the battlefield.

I highly suggest you check this out if you’re in the market.

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Let's start by making one thing clear, MaxNick's Spider Jack [99¢ / HD] is Cut the Rope [99¢ / HD] reimagined slightly enough that it will appeal to the rope-cutting fans out there who've been dying for new levels, but certainly won't convert anyone who isn't a fan of physics based puzzlers. It's also impossible to get through this review without comparing them to each other every step of the way.

It's probably easiest to look at the few differences between the two games first before moving onto the similarities. Where Cut the Rope tasks you with delivering a piece of candy to little Om Nom's mouth, Spider Jack wants you to deliver Jack the spider to his dinner. To do this you'll be spinning you spider web out to knobs, using physics to swing around and eventually cutting the web to capture your dinner. The main difference is that you have to create the ropes before they're cut here. Other than that, you'll find a remarkably similar experience.

Spider Jack's commonalities with Cut the Rope don't just lay in its gameplay. The visuals are remarkably close, albeit not nearly as polished and the music is the same, quirky and upbeat style. There are also differently themed rooms where you're tasked with completing puzzles by grabbing up to three stars scattered across the level. Before anyone cries out that it's a clone, consider that Chillingo published both games, so clearly someone out there seemed to think the differences were strong enough, or maybe just didn't care if they weren't.

Unfortunately, the one thing the two don't share is solid level design. Cut the Rope was imaginative and capable of introducing new techniques to keep the game interesting. Spider Jack's 75 levels are considerably easier, which for anyone who struggled with Cut the Rope might be good news, but if you've already three-starred everything and are looking for more, you'll be able to blaze through Spider Jack in around an hour with little trouble. That's partially due to the lack of multi-touch puzzles — no two-finger swipes are necessary here and that alone makes it a considerably easier experience. Of course, in Chillingo style, more levels are supposedly incoming shortly.

If you played Cut the Rope, you're not going to be surprised by the puzzle variety. Blowing air, electricity, timers, portals — they're all here. The tutorial portions are nearly identical too. That said, it has some annoyances with its mechanics. Since you're controlling a spider and not a falling ball of candy, some puzzles rely on you climbing up the web, but Jack moves so slowly and unpredictably it's harder than it needs to be to get your timing right and it ends up feeling like luck more than skill when you do.

For those looking to show off their skills, there is full Game Center and Crystal support as well as the ability to gift levels to friends. This means you'll be able to unlock five levels per stage for your friends if you're in the giving mood.

All this is to say that Spider Jack does get the job done and if you find yourself itching for more slicing, cutting physics-based games, it won't be a disappointment. The final chapter introduces the portal mechanic and even though it's similar to Portal and Cut the Rope's magic-hats, it's probably the strongest part of the game. Hopefully in future updates MaxNick will take the unique portions and expand on them to create something wholly their own.

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Laser Dolphin [.99 / HD] is a criminally under-produced game plagued by issues that wouldn’t be permissible if Laser Dolphin was anything else but a mindlessly fun game about a dolphin with a laser gun strapped to its back.

It’s obvious that Laser Dolphin is a game built on a tight budget or the end product of a rookie game development team. Its animations are stiff, while the story presentation is even stiffer; the assets are endlessly regurgitated, the level design is haphazard, and the action is loose, unpolished, and lacking substance, control, and refinement.

But, again, this is a game about dolphins with laser beams on their heads, meaning that you control a dolphin with a gun attached to its spine. I can’t quit pushing this point because it’s the sole reason why I keep being drawn back to Laser Dolphin and see it in a positive light. It embraces its humorous title in both style and tone, and expresses these two defining characteristics with its mechanics.

Presented in 2D, Laser Dolphin puts you in control of a dolphin in search of an undersea void that leads to the next area and then the next. The hook is within the gun strapped to its head, which can, of course, be powered up with a variety of explosive-laced pick-ups that dot the game’s minimalistic landscapes.

With a flick of a virtual stick, you can rotate and move the dolphin wherever the level’s borders allow you. A troubled physics engine gives you a measure of momentum as you progress, which in turn, can give you the speed needed to hop out of the ocean for tricks or even traversal when the waves meet the horizon.

While moving, you can also shoot lasers with taps from your opposite hand, which makes Laser Dolphin something of a dual-stick shooter, minus a true second stick. This is where the game suffers. Often Laser Dolphin isn’t quick to understand your secondary input, so it’s hard to shoot and move at the same time — a requirement, I should add.

In the worst cases, the dolphin will refuse to turn towards where you want it to shoot. In the best of cases, you’ll fumble with the movement stick while your right hand hovers over all the game’s action, obscuring the field of view.

And it’s important to see a level; each one is laced with enemies, most of which shoot back at your dolphin.

The good news is, I suppose, that your health meter is rather generous and the game doesn’t require absolute enemy domination. If you’re good at moving, you can simply push through the groupings of vicious sharks, spore-spitting flora, and rocket-equipped fish and bomb-dropping pelicans.

Of course, pretending that the enemies don’t exist isn’t the most satisfactory way to play through the game. If anything, these monsters are the expression of the game’s over-the-top style and tone, and as the laser-equipped dolphin, you want to be able to destroy them with your lasers, bullets, and rockets. That’s kind of what’s promised. And when the game is cooperating and you’re hitting on all cylinders, it does feel great. Just don’t go into it expecting perfection or polish — you’ll get neither.

Laser Dolphin tries to conjure Adult Swim’s Robot Unicorn Attack [.99 / HD]. The hilarious titling and embracing of the laser dolphin vision is definitely its strongest hooks, just like Robot Unicorn Attack’s are its unicorn and jumping, but Laser Dolphin is missing some key components that could make it truly, truly good. As it is, it’s unpolished, dull in places, and the action doesn’t feel right.

But… dude, it has a dolphin with a laser strapped to its back.

I know! Anyway, give this a spin if you're looking for some mindless fun. If you require complexity or depth, or solid mechanics, this definitely won't be up your alley. As a side note, steer clear of the "HD" version, it upscales poorly.

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Back in March Rovio Mobile released Angry Birds Rio, a version of their incredibly popular bird-themed physics game Angry Birds that tied into the also bird-themed movie Rio.

Normally movie tie-in games aren’t very good, but we were pleasantly surprised with Angry Birds Rio in our review, even awarding the game 5 stars. More than just a Rio re-skin of the original game, it actually contained a few new elements and improvements that made it almost feel like a full-fledged sequel.

In following with Rovio’s practice of adding plenty of new levels to the original Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons, they have released a trailer for the first update that is set to hit for Angry Birds Rio, subtitled “Beach Volleyball":

Rovio has stated on their Facebook page that this new update is set to hit sometime this week. If you’ve been enjoying Angry Birds Rio as much as we have, then keep your eyes peeled for an App Store update badge these next few days to check out the new Beach Volleyball levels.

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One of the strongest entries in an overcrowded castle defense genre is Liv Games’ Legendary Wars [Free]. We reviewed Legendary Wars back when it launched during Macworld in January, and found it to be highly enjoyable due to the variety of gameplay types, interesting upgradeable abilities, and wonderful artwork. Liv Games didn’t stop there, either, and offered up a substantial update to the game in March that added Retina Display support, Game Center integration, and a number of other enhancements and optimizations.

Legendary Wars is a game that seems like it would lend itself very well to the larger screen of the iPad, and indeed many players in our forums have been enjoying the game a lot just playing on the iPad in 2x pixel doubled mode. There’s no need for that anymore, however, as the iPad native Legendary Wars HD [99¢] is now available. It's essentially the same exact game content-wise, but the bigger screen allows more of the battlefield to be shown, requiring less scrolling and giving you a better view for planning your strategy.

Legendary Wars HD looks and plays wonderfully with a properly formatted screen and native resolution graphics for the iPad. As a special launch promotion, and as a bonus for current owners of the game who may want to double dip with the iPad version, Legendary Wars HD can be purchased for just 99¢ through the weekend. Plus, if you don't already have the iPhone/iPod touch version, you can currently pick that up for free this weekend as well. It goes without saying that you should definitely give the regular version a download while free, and if you own an iPad then Legendary Wars HD is an easy recommendation at the launch price of 99¢.

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