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If you were a PC gamer back in the early 90s, you may remember a point-and-click adventure game by the name of Gobliiins [99¢]. In the game you took control of three different goblin characters who each had their own unique abilities that would need to be utilized to solve a series of (sometimes nonsensical) puzzles. A charming art style and humorous story complimented the clever use of the different characters in Gobliiins, which went on to spawn 3 sequels in the two decades since its original release.

Fans of Gobliiins will be happy to know that a port of the game, developed by DotEmu and published by Bulkypix, is now available in the App Store. The game contains all 22 of the original levels and remains largely unchanged other than having an added hint system and being slightly reworked for touch screen controls.

While the impressions in our forums are largely positive, they are predominantly from players of the original Gobliiins. It's important to note that this is a game from 1991, and lacks some of the refinement that came with later adventure games of the era. If you have fond memories of Gobliiins and are looking to scratch that nostalgia itch, then this version should be a no-brainer. If you never played the original but are looking for a new adventure game to play, the dated feel of Gobliiins may be a bit hard to overcome.

As a small word of caution, Gobliiins seems to be having some loading/freezing problems on certain devices. DotEmu has stated in the forum thread that these issues are being addressed and should be resolved in an update.

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The newest offering from Blacksmith Games, who have previously brought Plushed [99¢/Lite] and Boostball [99¢] to the App Store, is a physics puzzler called Floop [99¢]. In Floop, the goal is to launch an acorn into a squirrel's mouth using the least amount of tries as possible. Making this task more difficult are the many hazards and obstacles contained in the 50 cleverly designed levels. Floop is a game that seems so simplistic on the outside but contains quite a bit of complexity, mostly due to the interesting physics engine, and is wrapped up in the kind of visually pleasing package that we would expect from Blacksmith Games.

The mechanics in Floop are really easy to grasp. Each level begins with your acorn sitting at one spot in the level and a squirrel with a gaping maw at another. Touching the acorn and dragging away from it brings up a line that shows the trajectory the acorn will travel. Once you're satisfied with where the line is pointing, letting your finger off the screen sends the acorn flying. You'll earn up to 3 stars on each level based on the amount of launches it takes to get the acorn into the squirrel's hungry mouth. The 50 levels are divided across 4 different themes, with your total amount of launches for each theme tracked through Game Center leaderboards.

As you collect stars, you'll be able to spend them on unlocking two additional creatures to use in the game. One is a mouse which replaces the acorn with a block of cheese, and the other is an ape with a banana. Part of what makes Floop so much fun is the different behavior of each of these objects. The acorn has an odd shape and is bottom heavy, making for some crazy bounces. The block of cheese is a perfect square, with nice flat sides that can be used to your advantage. The banana has the weirdest shape of all, as it's elongated and can bounce in ways you would never expect, kind of like a football. These factors add some variety to the simplistic core gameplay of Floop. In addition to the 3 stars, each level also tracks what object you've used to complete it which adds a lot of replayability.

The physics system in Floop will either strike you as being fun or frustrating. It's extremely floaty and unpredictable, which ensures that each attempt at completing a level feels different from one another, but it can also be annoying at times. Sometimes it can take many retries just to get past a certain level, and others you will beat just with one launch because you had an incredibly lucky bounce right into the creature's mouth. Overall I think the random nature of the physics is fine, but will most likely bother you at some point. Also, the touch recognition when trying to launch can sometimes be unresponsive, and there are areas in each level where your object can get stuck, forcing you to restart.

The control mechanism is actually a bit different than what is shown in this video, but it still gives you a good idea at what kind of gameplay Floop has to offer:

These are pretty minor complaints though, and for the most part Floop really is a lot of fun. The Game Center integration with leaderboards and achievements had me hooked on trying to complete each level with the least amount of launches as possible. The graphics are cute and colorful, though unfortunately not enhanced for Retina Display devices, and I really like the assortment of animals that bring different elements to the gameplay. Floop starts out fairly easy, but the difficulty ramps up nicely and it's quite challenging to complete the later stages, let alone getting 3 stars on them. Players in our forums are really enjoying the game as well, and I would recommend Floop if you're in the market for a new physics puzzler with a slightly unpredictable nature and a good amount of content.

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This Wednesday's list of game releases is particularly crazy. The good news is, two of these games are free, so you might as well give them a try. Here's a list of things that just popped up on the App Store that we think are worth a look:

Baseball Superstars® 2011, $4.99 [ Forum Thread ] — We has a blast with both Baseball Superstars 2009 and 2010, and expect 2011 to be just as awesome. Great arcade style baseball gameplay is paired with light RPG elements which will make any fan of filling experience bars wonder where their entire day went.

Zombie Crisis 3D, $2.99 [ Forum Thread ] — A cool looking rails shooter that puts players in charge of slaughtering countless zombies by tapping on them. Throughout 21 levels you'll encounter 4 different bosses and 3 types of weapons.

Lil’ Pirates, Free [ Forum Thread ] — IUGO and Capcom teamed up to create this pirate-themed freemium game. You'll be able to tweak out your ship, recruit crew members, equip them however you'd like, then engage in ship to ship battles. IUGO and Capcom have had a track record of making some pretty cool games, making Lil' Pirates totally worth checking out.

CAPCOM ARCADE, Free [ Forum Thread ] — Street Fighter II, Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, 1942 and Commando are all packed in this freemium emulator. You can either play them using tokens which will allow you to play three times a day for free. Alternatively, you can buy additional tokens for more plays, or the games outright for additional plays.

Necronomicon, $1.99 [ Forum Thread ] — Based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Necronomicon is part collectable card game, part roleplaying game, and part board game. Judging by the trailer, Necronomicon will likely greatly entice any fan of Cthulhu Mythos.

Floop, $0.99 [ Forum Thread ] — Physics games are almost always a lot of fun on the iPhone, and Floop seems to be no exception. In the game, using a variety of different tools you blast acorns in to the mouthes of hungry squirrels (and other animals), who oddly enough just stand there and expect to be fed.

Paperboy: Special Delivery, $4.99 [ Forum Thread ] — I'm not really sure what to think about this one. Glu has taken the classic game of Paperboy and added a story mode, new graphics, new gameplay, and some kind of upgrade system that will allow you to use special skills while out delivering papers.

We're going to be powering through all of these games, producing as many reviews as possible. If you can't wait until then, swing by any of the forum threads where people are already posting their impressions on each of the respective titles.

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It was just a couple weeks ago that the highly anticipated top-down racer Reckless Racing hit the App Store. We really enjoyed the game in our review, noting that it was one of the most gorgeous racing games that we have seen and the arcade-style gameplay was a ton of fun. Despite being kind of light on content, Reckless Racing was a solid purchase for the launch price of $2.99. Now it's become an even better value, as EA and Pixelbite have decided to drop the price of Reckless Racing for the iPhone to 99¢ for a limited time.

At this price, Reckless Racing is a must download. The iPad version remains at its original price of $4.99, so if you own two devices and currently only have the iPad version then it would also be a great time to double dip and pick up the iPhone/iPod touch version for just a dollar. You can check out our original review of Reckless Racing or visit the thread in our forums for more information, gameplay videos, and impressions and we'd definitely recommend taking advantage of this 99¢ sale while it lasts.

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Most App Store gamers are no stranger to Halfbrick's Fruit Ninja [99¢/HD]. Over the last 6 months and 2.5 million sales since the game's initial release, Fruit Ninja has received some excellent updates in the form of new modes, unlockable items, and even online head-to-head multiplayer over Game Center. But one thing that has been grinding the gears of Fruit Ninja fans for months is a mysterious banana shaped icon on the game mode selection screen. Everyone wanted to know what exactly was this new “banana mode” that Halfbrick has been teasing us with? They weren't about to spill the beans though, and the curiosity in our forums reached astronomical levels.

Finally, today Halfbrick let the banana out of the bag and divulged what this mysterious new mode would entail. Dubbed Arcade Mode, you'll have 60 seconds to slice up fruit as per usual, but with the added bonus of 3 new special banana shaped bonuses fruit. One slows down time affording you more time to slice away at the fruit, a frenzy banana causes fruit to fly out at a much higher rate, and one doubles your score for a brief period of time. In addition, these bonus bananas can be activated on top of each other. So you may get a frenzy banana followed by a freeze, thus giving you a screen filled with fruit to slice and extra time to slice it. Couple that with the double points bonus and the potential for crazy high scores is through the roof.

At the end of your 60 second session your score is tallied up and bonus points can be awarded based on your performance. There will also be a brand new weekly high score board specifically for Arcade Mode scores. After so many great updates to Fruit Ninja, Arcade Mode is sounding like a lot of fun. Halfbrick has noted that the update will hit the iPhone and iPad versions of the game in early November, which basically can mean any day now, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled and grab this new Fruit Ninja update when it goes live.

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There have been a number of games that try to emulate the popular Trials series of games from developer RedLynx, and in fact, the “side-scrolling motocross game” is practically its own genre on the App Store. Up until now, each of those games hasn't quite captured the “feel” of Trials, but with the release of iTrials [99¢] from developer Tooko a couple of weeks ago, there is finally a competent Trials-like experience that you can fit right in your pocket. There are some minor issues with iTrials, most of which are being sorted out with planned updates, but the core gameplay and level design is a ton of fun and if you're looking for some on-the-go Trials action then iTrials is your most solid choice.

iTrials takes place across 27 different levels in 3 tiers of difficulty. You'll power your motorbike down a single plane level filled with jump, seesaws, moving platforms, and all sorts of other obstacles to negotiate. You're timed on how long it takes you to complete each course, and checkpoints are spread throughout so you don't have to start all the way from the beginning should you bail (and you WILL bail). A slider in the lower left controls your bike's tilt angle, and gas and brake buttons adorn the right side of the screen. It's really simple to pick up and begin playing, and the physics and weight shifting of your rider feel just how you think they should.

Besides the nice handling of your bike, the level designs are what really set iTrials apart from similar titles. They start out simple enough, with just a few jumps and drops between the start and finish lines. Slowly the levels grow much more complex, with full loops, giant rotating platforms, seesaws, and other crazy hazards designed to make you bail. Bailing is actually part of the fun as the ragdoll physics of your rider provide for some amusing and painful looking crash animations. The checkpoint system is also done really well, as most levels can be beaten with just a little persistence no matter how difficult they are. Of course the clock remains ticking as you retry each section, and for an even greater challenge you can try to complete a level as quickly and flawlessly as possible to compete on the Agon leaderboards.

This video does a much better job showcasing what's on offer in iTrials than I can by just explaining it:

My major complaint with iTrials is the awkward positioning of the slider that controls your bike angle. It's much too close to the center of the screen to be comfortable, and I've often missed it entirely while playing. Thankfully an update is already submitted that addresses this, and adds tilt functionality as well, so it shouldn't be an issue too much longer. Speaking of updates, the developer has noted in our forums that following this first update they will be adding universal iPad support and updating the graphics for Retina Display. This is welcome news, as another sore point to iTrials is the fairly jagged graphics. If this gets addressed along with the control placement problems then there will be an incredibly solid foundation to build upon for the future.

In addition, new levels and modes are being discussed for iTrials, and the developer is open to all feedback for future changes to the game. iTrials is one of those games that's a ton of fun as is for the current price, but is also incredibly exciting due to its strong potential. There is a near-endless supply of praise for the game in our forums, and if you've been searching for a great motocross platforming game for your iOS device then iTrials should fit that bill nicely.

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With election day quickly approaching in the USA, iPhone developer Super Boise has released a surprisingly fun free trivia game that pits the two major American political parties against each other in real-time online trivia battles. Political Fury: The Knowledge Battle [Free] begins by forcing you to pick sides between Democrats or Republicans. From there, it displays a bar that shows each party's score, with a scale that tips from side to side depending on who is winning more games of trivia.

After tapping play, the game searches for an opponent from the opposite political party, and you duke it out in a five question trivia battle in various categories ranging from geography to current events. Points are awarded per question based on who answers correctly first, and winning a round of trivia awards one point to your party's overall score. What's really cool about Political Fury is how seamless it all is. There's no annoying sign up process, all you do is download the game, choose a party, and you're off. It uses geolocation to figure out what state you're in, and when you're playing someone, you see their state and their current grade. Answering properly increases your grade, and obviously, answering incorrectly decreases it.

If you like trivia or have found yourself caught up in the pre-election drama, download Political Fury right away. With or without all the political mumbo jumbo, it's still really cool to be instantly matched up against another person in online trivia wars.

Update: It would appear that this game went from free to 99¢ a few moments after this story. Given the topical nature of the game and the fact that it likely won't have much appeal once the election is over next week, I can't really recommend buying it unless you'd really just love to battle members of the opposite political party for a couple days.

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Last night Chillingo's WackyLands Boss [99¢] hit the App Store, and turned gaming on its head by allowing you to quite literally play as the boss, slaying hordes of innocent knights, archers, wizards, and more leaving nothing but destruction in your wake. To sweeten the deal, you're not stuck with one boring old boss to play as either. Your boss is incredibly customizable with even more customization that unlocks as you play through the game.

Only one control option is included, and every action in the game is performed via tapping or swiping gestures. For instance, holding one side of the screen causes your boss to walk that way, tapping in a direction executes a quick attack, and swiping in a direction performs a slower but more powerful swing. Rolling to evade is accomplished by swiping up on either side of the screen, and picking up in-game objects involves swiping up on your boss.

It all sounds good, but in action, it leaves a little to be desired especially later in the game when precise control of your boss is required. As much as I hate to say it, I almost wish there was a virtual D-Pad and button option. WackyLands Boss reminds me a lot of Samurai: Way of the Warrior [$1.99] in that way too many deaths result from game disagreeing with what you're trying to get your character to do as you wildly tap and swipe trying to stay alive.

Once you do get a hang of the controls, WackyLands Boss is a lot of fun. Gameplay can be a little repetitive at times since you're basically just walking to the right murdering swaths of defenders, but this is greatly defrayed by an experience system. Leveling up unlocks more and more weapons, armors, special abilities, and evolutions for your boss. Using coins that you take from your victims, you can really trick out your boss by buying swords, clubs, shoes, and all kinds of other items that boost your stats. In addition, as you progress through the story you also unlock three simple but fun mini games.

WackyLands Boss is a game that's dripping with charm. Whether you decide to customize your boss to look like a bloodthirsty killer or any number of other silly combinations, it's a great time rampaging through the countryside tossing barrels of poison, eating princesses to regain health, and punching down castles. I'd like to see some more control options, but other than that, this is a beat-em-up that's easy to recommend.

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Developer PopCap has just dropped the price of their wildly popular zombie defense game Plants vs. Zombies down to 99¢ for a limited time. This is the first time this game has ever seen a price drop from its normal price of $2.99. Plants vs. Zombies debuted on the App Store back in February and immediately skyrocketed into the top 10 overall paid apps list, and hasn't dropped out of the top 50 ever since.

Chances are that there aren't that many of you out there who don't already own Plants vs. Zombies, based on the incredible sales numbers, but for those of you who have been on the fence this whole time now is your opportunity to pounce on this game. If you aren't sure what the heck Plants vs. Zombies is, then check out our extensive review of the iPhone version from when the game was released back in February.

Update: As was pointed out in the comments below (and so egregiously missed by myself) the iPad version Plants vs. Zombies HD is also currently  on sale for 50% off, down from $9.99.

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Ever since Apple eased up their App Store approval guidelines, all kinds of crazy things have been getting released like the fabled GV Mobile+ [$2.99] and other apps that have been stuck in approval purgatory for months (or even years). Some emulators slipped through the cracks either by appeasing Apple's wishes such as Commodore 64 [$4.99] and others that were inexplicably approved, then immediately pulled like Nescaline. Late last night iDOS [99¢] was released. Based on DOSbox, an open source DOS emulator, iDOS is a universal app that has PC keyboard support, mouse support, multiple screen modes, and more.

Forum member Menneisyys posted the following two screenshots of iDOS running Spellcasting 101 both on his iPad and on his 4th generation iPod touch (Yes, it even runs at Retina Display resolution.):

iPad left, iPod touch right. Click for full size.

Currently we've got a fairly active thread on our forums with people trying various games running in the emulator and there's another thread on the DOSPAD forums with even more compatibility testing going on. We're going to have our own retro fetishist Blake Patterson take a closer look at iDOS very soon, so if you've got any questions or want to see any specific games tested that aren't mentioned in the threads I linked, drop a comment and we'll try to include it in our followup post.

In the meantime, if you're even remotely interested in emulating old DOS games, this is 99¢ you need to spend. While iDOS technically seems to comply with all the new approval guidelines, it's hard to say whether or not this was an accidental approval or if iDOS truly does have the blessing of Apple. In any case, I'd download it now in the interest of being safe rather than sorry if the powers that be change their mind.

UPDATE: Just for an idea of exactly how deep the iDOS rabbit hole goes, and what the emulator is actually capable of: After blasting this link out to everyone I know, my friend Sam successfully installed Windows 3.0 and is currently playing Windows Solitaire on his iPad:

This is unreal. The capabilities of this emulator is insane.

Update 2: Mark just posted the following video in our comments of him running Space Quest:

Update 3: It seems that Sierra adventure games work great in the emulator, here's a screenshot of Freddy Pharkas – Frontier Pharmacist sent to us by Fish of Four Player Coop.

Update 4: Assuming your monocle hasn't blown completely off your face yet, forum member Audioteknika just got Warcraft II running:

Update 5: Aaaaannnd just like that it's gone.

Update 6: Even though it may seem like the fun is over, if you're a jailbreaker you can download this same emulator for free. It's called DOSPAD and here's how to get it. Also, just for fun, one last screenshot of The 7th Guest running from a CDROM disc image, complete with music:

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