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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 when Sega was releasing games like Sonic the Hedgehog [$5.99], Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [$5.99], and Streets of Rage [$2.99] wrapped in their Genesis emulator we were increasingly critical of the poor performance and mediocre controls. These types of games were built to be played at a high frame rate, with gameplay that basically requires the precision found in the original physical Genesis controller and just flat out didn't work that well on the iPhone. With every one of these games that Sega released, people posted in comments and on our forums asking where in the world Sega's massive back catalog of RPG's and other games that would work phenomenally within the constraints of the emulator.

Sega finally responded by releasing Shining Force [$2.99], an effort that was hard to say enough good things about in our review. Tonight they've released Phantasy Star II [$2.99], and much like Shining Force, the slow pace of the game completely negates any performance issues of control inaccuracies and instead just provides an awesome classic RPG in your pocket.

Phantasy Star II is the sequel to Phantasy Star, a Sega Master System game which didn't see another release in North America until it appeared on the Gameboy Advance and then the Wii Virtual Console. Playing the first is by no means required to enjoy the second, as the plot of Phantasy Star II follow the now entirely cliche story of ridding the world of ultimate evil while the backgrounds of the various characters that make up your party develop. Phantasy Star II has made it on to several greatest games of all time list, and it really should be played by any fan of turn based RPG's.

Really the only thing I could ask of this port is some further refinement to the emulator. Phantasy Star II badly needs a way to speed the game up as your movement is more than a little slow by today's standards, a "problem" other PC emulators have solved by allowing you to crank the speed of the game up. I somehow doubt Sega would ever implement these kind of tweaks, but enough complaining did get them to release two fantastic RPG's so far, so who knows.

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When Sega first started releasing its emulated games like Sonic the Hedgehog [$5.99], Golden Axe [$2.99] and others, everyone wondered where Sega's array of classic RPG's were. Sega responded by releasing Shining Force [$2.99], leaving commenters and forum posters happy, but asking for the Phantasy Star series next… Which is exactly what Sega is delivering this Thursday.

Much like Shining Force, Phantasy Star II is a turn-based RPG that works marvelously with Sega's emulator. Text entry is a little dicey, but otherwise navigating the game world and engaging in battles works wonderfully. The emulator also does a great job of saving the game state when you quit the app, making Phantasy Star II surprisingly workable as a pick up and play game.

I still need to spend more time with Phantasy Star II, as like most RPG's the game is quite epic, but so far things are looking very good with this classic Genesis game on the iPhone. Just like Shining Force, all the down sides of Sega's emulator fade away when you're playing a game that doesn't require precise control or high frame rates. Stay tuned for a more comprehensive review when the game arrives on the App Store this Thursday.

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As we reported a few months ago, Square Enix's phenomenal iPhone exclusive RPG Chaos Rings was heading to the iPad. Game producer Takehiro Ando already had the game up and running on an iPad just days after the iPhone release, but wanted to take the time necessary to rework all of the graphical assets to take advantage of the higher resolution iPad screen. Now the day has finally come for Chaos Rings for iPad [$15.99] to be unleashed on iPad gamers everywhere. If you aren't familiar with the game take a look at our full review of the iPhone version and you'll see that we really, really like Chaos Rings. This sentiment should apply to the iPad version as well, just with crisper graphics and a larger area of play. From our review:

After putting the game through its paces, I can safely say it stands to not only meet any high expectations but exceed them in remarkable fashion. With stunning visuals and captivating gameplay that is tailored specifically for Apple's device, Chaos Rings defines what an RPG experience should be like on a mobile platform.

In the end, it's not really about how Chaos Rings does anything especially new, but rather how it takes all the pieces of a traditional role-playing game and packages it together in a way that feels natural to the platform. The result is something more akin to an action-adventure game with heavy RPG elements. The turn-based fighting is gratifying and never got old, and the story and character development remains immersive even in short play sessions. The entire experience feels like a high quality console offering shrunk down to portable size. Chaos Rings is executed brilliantly on just about every level, and has all the makings of a true classic.

Also, in celebration of the release of Chaos Rings for iPad, all of Square Enix's games are on sale in the App Store. You can check out all of their titles by clicking this iTunes link here, and there are some great deals to be had on some excellent games. At any rate, if you are an iPad owner and an RPG fan, don't hesitate to pick up Chaos Rings for iPad as it's not only one of the finest games available, but looks stunning on the larger screen. Hi res screenshots and player impressions can be found in the Chaos Rings for iPad thread in our forums.

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The original Across Age [$5.99 / Free] was released in February, and in our review we detailed all the things we liked about the game, ranging from its fantastic sprite-based graphics to its delightfully cliche yet somehow still engaging plot that involved saving the world from an evil magician.

Across Age is an RPG loaded with puzzles that take advantage of the game's two main gameplay mechanics: Being able to control two separate characters at once, and heaps of time travel. The game also features massive bosses, which everyone loves, and of course each boss has its own gimmick (usually utilizing an ability you just unlocked) which must be exploited to defeat it. Overall, I had a fun time playing through Across Age as it tickled both my nostalgia for similar games of the Super Nintendo era, while being just fresh enough to not feel blatantly "inspired" by those same games.

FDG Entertainment has been hard at work on an iPad version of the game, and have redrawn all of the graphics in the process. The HD version also has combat and character movement tweaks with customizable on-screen controls. There's even going to be a bonus dungeon and boss fight, which hopefully will be cool enough to give players a reason go play through the game again if they've already beat it on the iPhone or iPod touch.

FDG is planning on releasing Across Age HD sometime next month for $7.99. The screenshots they've sent us so far look awesome, and I can't wait to run through the game again on my iPad.

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Sega has released a number of classic Genesis games on the App Store- Sonic the Hedgehog [$5.99], Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [$5.99], Golden Axe [$2.99], Streets of Rage [$2.99], and as of last night, Ecco the Dolphin [$2.99] and Space Harrier II [99¢]. In the past we've been increasingly critical of Sega releasing these emulated games, as while the games wrapped in the emulator are undoubtedly classics, the emulator itself leaves much to be desired.

Revisiting these games with my iPhone 4 has revealed that Apple has finally released hardware that is fast enough to properly run Sega's emulator (although I have had weird crashing issues with Sonic 2). If you've got an iPhone 4, the games run substantially better than the 3GS/3rd generation iPod touch, leaving the touch controls as the only issue. If you're stuck in the world of the iPhone 3G or 2nd Generation iPod touch, you're still better off skipping all of these because the performance really isn't that great. The games are playable, yes, but not a good experience by any means.

Anyway, Ecco the Dolphin is an action adventure side scroller released on the Sega Genesis in 1992. In the game you play as a dolphin, ramming in to things and using your sonar to both talk to other friendly sea creatures and interact with various objects in the game world. When I played the game the first time around on my Genesis, I thought it was surprisingly difficult as you need to manage Ecco's air supply while navigating vast underwater mazes. Drowning over and over was not something I was expecting to get myself in to when I first saw the cute box art.

There's a fairly extensive library of clips on YouTube of people playing the game in various emulators:

Ecco the Dolphin is just as much of a classic as the other games Sega has released, and really should be played by anyone who considers themselves a gamer who hasn't yet. If you want to go back in time even further, Space Harrier II was a launch title for the Genesis and debuted with the system in mid-August of 1989. Like most games of the time, Space Harrier II came packed with a nonsensical story where you're searching out a distress call from the 214th sector in the year 6236. You run around on a pseudo-3D checkerboard landscape shooting your laser at anything that crosses your path.

Like Ecco, there are no shortage of Space Harrier II gameplay videos captured from various emulators on YouTube:

Space Harrier II hasn't aged as well as the other classics Sega has released, but it's still pretty cool to take a look at what was considered cutting-edge mind blowing graphics over 20 years ago. But like all these games, the touch controls of the Genesis emulator on the iPhone aren't ideal and the framerate is low on older devices. Because of this, they're all hard to really recommend, but at least they exist in some form on the App Store if you're determined to revisit these classics on your iPhone.

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I have been looking for an excuse to post about Armada: Galactic War [App Store], after overlooking its first sizeable update amidst the chaos of WWDC. It was a game I really enjoyed, despite nit-picking on a few issues. It turns out developer Pixel Stream was listening, and have addressed each of my complaints and further added a suite of features in response to player feedback and an entirely new freemium version!

First and foremost, addressing the biggest complaint that readers had, was the introduction of an offline practice mode in version 1.2. Offline mode is still in its infancy, and though you can pick the map and your race, you are restricted to playing 1v1 vs the AI. Additional AI slots and a customizable AI difficulty would all be great to see in future updates.

This update also addressed my other issue with Armada: Galactic War — the ARMS upgrade system. In our review, we took issue with how ARMS set an insurmountable gap in advantage between veterans and newcomers. In order to address this, Pixel Stream opted to completely overhaul their ARMS system. The more powerful variants of each item were removed entirely, and though the player can still equip up to 10 items, items are automatically balanced when players are matched against each other.

The player with the fewest upgrades sets the standard for the match at hand. If Player A has 2 items and Player B and C have 4 items, then only the first two items of each player will have effect in that game. In this way, the developers hope to have remedied the issue of power imbalance between players with access to more and better items.

Update 1.3, just released, further addresses issues noted by players since 1.2. It introduces player divisions by way of rooms; with a newbie room available to allow beginners to play against each other; and an extreme room rewarding bonus credits rewarded to the more daring, experienced players. The full change list is as follows:

Interface and Gameplay improvements
• newly created units are automatically selected if mothership is selected
• mech placement is easier to collect minerals
• improved selection/deselection of units
• Destroying a mothership will top up your resources
• Each mothership destroyed counts as a win

Player matching improvements
• three rooms – newbie, intermediate, extreme
• only newbies can enter the newbie room
• extreme room gives 2x credits
• a second leaderboard for extreme battles

ARMS item improvements
• lowered cost of items
• items increase stats as well as decrease other stats
• simplified the number of items

The developers have also released a new freemium version of Armada. This version is online only, and operates a little like Eliminate; in that you require 'fuel cells' to earn credits. These are used up as you play, and recharge automatically every two hours. Of course, In-App purchases allow you to skip that waiting process by purchasing additional cells.

That app has now hit the App Store, and whilst players can now play entirely for free (with a little patience) on the freemium version, the original paid app with offline mode has risen in price, too. So there are now a slew of options for RTS fans to get their game on; and with an app as feature rich as Armada: Galactic War, there's now no reason not to check out what has been dubbed Starcraft-lite on your iOS device.

App Store Link: Armada: Galactic War, $5.99 and Armada – Galactic War Online, Free (With In-App Recharge Purchases).

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Still enjoying the afterglow of just how great Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge for iPad [$9.99 / Free] is, I went scouring the App Store for other worthy "HD" versions of favorites of mine on the iPhone. More often than not these games feature little more than higher resolution graphics, but for quite a few of them, the bigger screen size of the iPad makes playing them a lot more fun, especially in instances where the game's interface felt too crowded or cramped for comfort on the smaller screen. None of these games are universal, which is a little annoying that you have to buy them twice if you've already downloaded them on your phone, but I've been guilty of re-buying my favorite movies that I already own on DVD in BluRay which is pretty much the same thing.

ORBITAL HD, $2.99 – This is a favorite around my house, and is a great game for showing the iPad off to all those annoying people who can't help but ask you, "Is that an iPad?" because it looks so cool. The gameplay is simple, and based on the free Flash game Gimme Friction Baby much like a number of other nearly identical games on the App Store. What sets Orbital HD apart is the bright colors, mellow music, and more superfluous particle effects than you can shake a stick at. Orbital looked great on the iPhone, and Orbital HD looks even better on the iPad.

Geared for iPad, $4.99 – This up-scaled version of the original Geared [99¢ / Free] features 150 levels of varying difficulty, the ability to skip to any of them, timers to keep track of how long it takes you to complete levels, and other fun stuff. On the big screen, the various gears are easier to manipulate, and while there isn't much sense in re-buying the game if you already own it for your iPhone, if this is the first you've heard of Geared and own an iPad, it's really worth checking out.

Galcon Fusion, $7.99 – This game could easily be described as Galcon [$2.99 / Free], but bigger. Fusion on the iPad has all the same gameplay and multiplayer modes that made the original awesome, only bigger, with way more planets to attack and defend. On high difficulty levels, battles get so chaotic they almost require two people playing in order to win.

Charadium for iPad, $4.99 – In Charadium, players take turns in online games drawing and guessing what other people are drawing. More screen real estate has really made Charadium much more fun to play on the iPad. You can actually draw with some level of accuracy, and the new layout with the chat screen below just generally makes the game more fun.

bitFLIP HD, $1.99 – While there are entirely way too many match 3's on the App Store, and you probably already have at least one on your device, bigFLIP HD is worth checking out. It comes with a great electronic soundtrack and multiple game modes including a two player split screen battle mode that's a ton of fun if you have another person around who shares a love of matching three similarly colored circles together.

I Dig It HD, $9.99 – The original I Dig It [99¢] along with the sequel I Dig It Expeditions [$2.99 / Free] are two of my favorite iPhone games, and I Dig It HD is even better on the iPad. You can see more of your surroundings, there's an on-screen mini map that makes navigating your tunnels a lot easier, and there's even a map editor where you can create, trade, and load your own levels. I Dig It HD is a must have for any fan of the original iPhone games.

Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD, $4.99 – What attracted me to Samurai: Way of the Warrior [$4.99 / Free] for the iPhone was its fantastic art style and graphics combined with excessive amounts of blood. This all looks even better on the iPad, and the various swiping gestures you need to do in order to attack seem to be much easier to perform on a larger device.

CRYSTAL DEFENDERS for iPad, $7.99 – This odd tower defense game by Square Enix has you utilizing familiar Final Fantasy units to attack waves upon waves of enemies. I've actually really enjoyed most tower defense games for the iPad, as you can place towers (or in this case, units) much easier and more precisely on the larger screen. Crystal Defenders got a complete graphical overhaul, and as expected, looks even better on the iPad.

Karnival for iPad, $5.99 – The original version of Karnival [$3.99 / Free] left me pleasantly surprised as the gameplay from the Tycoon series of games worked very well with the strange setting of a creepy carnival. The interface of the iPhone version felt a little cramped at times, which has been completely alleviated on the iPad.

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Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 has finally made its way to the U.S. The game was originally launched internationally back on June 14th.

The game has received favorable feedback on our forums and in a surprise move the U.S. version is priced only at $1.99. In contrast the U.K. version remains at £5.99.

Here's the official trailer:

We're not sure if the $1.99 is a temporary sale or not, but it's a great time to pick this one up if you're in the U.S.

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