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Have you ever signed up for a cheap vacation, only to find the room is half the size you expected and the "beach-front" view is actually a back alley and a pile of dirt? That's pretty much what Fin, the pint-sized hero of Mighty Fin [$0.99], gets when he decides to sign up for Shady Sal's suspiciously cheap Round the World Tour. Instead of dirty sheets, he's dealing with sharks and frigid waters in a vacation he'll be lucky to survive.

Guiding Fin through the deadly waters involves the same sort of one-touch gameplay that made Tiny Wings [$0.99] such a winner. You can press down to make Fin dive, and release to make him jump. He swims toward obstacles full-speed ahead while you react to keep him safe. Along with spikes, jellyfish and other deadly foes, each level is filled with points bubbles. These boost your score and telegraph the best way around upcoming obstacles. Since each level is randomly generated when you play it, this extra assistance is handy.

Mighty Fin has eight levels, with regular and endless modes for each. That doesn't sound like much, but the levels are long and some are quite challenging. Each level also has three hats to earn – one found within the level, and two for getting gold-ranked scores on regular and endless. Game Center leaderboards add a little more replayability.

The levels that Fin visits on his vacation are mostly pretty bleak – Backwater Bay, Teacup Tempest and Shipwreck Strait are as grey and unwelcoming as they sound. So it's a good thing the rest of Mighty Fin has charm to spare. The art is top-notch, especially for Fin himself. He's a goofy, bug-eyed little fish, but he looks so joyous when he leaps out of the water that I just had to root for the little guy. The hats are a nice touch too—it's a little more fun to play with a fish in a top hat or a lady's bouffant. You'll also want to catch the witty quips scattered throughout the game.

Mighty Fin's charm helps to smooth out some of its struggles. The music really needs more variety, for one thing. Also, If you're at all skilled with the game, the first couple levels won't make a great first impression – the levels are a bit too long and a bit too easy to start. The challenge ramps up, but avoid the early endless levels if you're finding the game too easy. I had to kill Fin off intentionally a couple times after I cleared a few million points. The later levels fare much better.

If you're not motivated by the high score chase, the game's done once you unlock all the hats. I'd love to see achievements and maybe a (cheerier) future level pack to pad the game out. An endless mode that actually gets harder and faster as you progress would be a nice addition, too.

It's certainly no complaint that I'd like to see Fin safely through another undersea vacation. In the end, I was entertained and thoroughly challenged by Mighty Fin. Reactions are mixed in the forums, but I think this is a winner for Launching Pad Games.

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If Tetris went out, got trashed, hooked up with an old-school shooter like Space Invaders and then spit out a video game love child, the offspring would resemble MecaPix [$.99 / Lite]. It’s a slick combination of two genres that seem like they’d mix no better than oil and water, but what Robotalism managed to make is a fun, sharp pairing that strokes the shooter and the puzzle itch with the same scratcher. I just wish it wasn’t tuned for us non-mutant folks.

Think of MecaPix as Tetris with guns, but also in reverse. In Tetris, the object of the game is to stack together a continually descending assortment of blocks in order to create a line. In MecaPix, the object is to create and shoot your own blocks upwards towards falling blocks. When a successful collision is happens, the falling blocks disappear into the ether. If you miss a block or eighteen, these rogues blocks steal a pip from your overall health bar.

The bottom area of the screen is where all the magic happens — the block creation, the firing, and at the very bottom, the pain you could potentially suffer from letting a block through your defenses. Because this area is relatively small, block anticipation is a key strategic element, as well as a good amount of precision.

Conservation has its place, too. You can’t fire willy-nilly because there’s a bar for that as well, which recharges slowly as you play.

After a few levels, you get a real sense of the push and pull and the amount of design resources that went into the enemy blocks. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill descending puzzle squares, but rather Space Invaders-like baddies. Some blocks, including clusters, stagger from right to left, while still others can shoot blocks or come equipped with armor.

It bears noting that each level in MecaPix adds another layer to the base enemy design in the same kind of satisfying manner in which the best shooters provide change of pace foes. You'll see a lot of different stuff that you'll have to kill in satisfying ways.

Perhaps the most interesting component to the action are the power-ups, which you don’t receive directly. Instead, the game’s “bombs,” and horizontal lasers and other items are embedded inside enemy block formations. Precision, then, is required to set these off for massive damage, and the game reinforces this by presenting crazy situations in which you have to nail these special blocks in order to set off a conga line of reactions.

That’s where the puzzle part of the game factors in the most, and for what it’s worth, it does feel rewarding, but as a result of the frantic pacing, you'll never feel like Sherlock Holmes . The depth is there, it's just often guarded by momentum.

The visceral thrill of collapsing large block monsters can sometimes quickly turn from merriment to frustration. MecaPix relies on astoundingly fast reaction times, but its worse sin is that it also forces a large amount of rote memorization. It’s rare when you can interpret what a new enemy is going to do, how fast its going to go, and then do something about it before you see it. The speed is stupid and the game takes for granted that you know what’s coming next.

When you are clicking with the game, however, and aware of the pitfalls, there is a lot to like about MecaPix. It mixes up the action better than most titles on store shelves and it does offer a different style of play that can be as engrossing as it is entertaining. It also offers a decent bevy of content: each of the three themed stages have around ten levels and there’s an endurance mode to have a go at. Oh, and if you’re having the same kind of troubles I had, you can turn on a baby  mode that has a serious amount of give. Still, though, some of the levels just don't feel balanced correctly.

MecaPix has earned a place among my rotation of phone games, at least. It can be hard, and leans a bit too much on the side of memorization, but it’s sharp and entertaining combination of two equally cool games.

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The iOS version of the classic Bitmap Brothers game Speedball 2: Evolution [Link] is currently free for the next few days. Speedball 2 is a sports game of sorts, a mishmash of football and hockey (or fockeyball, as I call it) with arcade elements and a futuristic theme. It’s similar to the classic arcade game Cyberball, and originally released for home platforms back in 1990.

The iOS version of Speedball 2 contains a ridiculous number of modes and content to play through, and features improved graphics over the original. All of this and more you can read about in our original review of Speedball 2: Evolution.

If you were a fan of the original Speedball or Speedball 2, and for some reason you haven't yet picked up this version, then now is your chance to strike. For those with no emotional ties to the original games, Speedball 2 is still a must download while free as it offers satisfying fast-paced arcade action with a retro feel. It’s also a universal app with Retina Display support and Game Center integration, so definitely give this freebie a look.

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Nitako's Popstar Physics (Save Toshi 2) [Free] is a puzzle game wrapped in a weird exterior. It's also a sequel to Save Toshi [Free], a game that got a lot of love for how odd it was, how gaudy it was and ultimately, how fun it was. So Popstar Physics has a lot to live up to both from a technical and a critical standpoint.

Save Toshi was all about saving a pop star who had forgotten how to walk and using physics to transport her to the dance floor. Popstar Physics picks up where the story left off with Toshi once again being kidnapped by demons, but this time they've cloned her and turned her into zombies — and no — before your eyes drift away, this isn't a zombie game, it's still a 3D physics game — it just happens to have zombies in it.

The difference between the two games is that now you're killing the Toshi-zombies instead of saving Toshi this time. It's a simple enough change that Nikato can keep the Unity-powered engine and game style, but offer a wholly new experience. On the surface, nothing has changed, you still fire balls with a tap to the screen and you'll rotate the camera around the self-contained mini-levels with a swipe of the finger. Your goal is to trigger a reaction from the environment by starting with shooting balls at the puzzle pieces and ending with those pieces collapsing onto the zombie-Toshi's. If it sounds a bit like a 3D version of Angry Birds, you'd be right, but although the premise is similar, they don't play out the same.

Much like the first game, where Popstar Physics really shines is in its level design. Simple looking puzzles quickly become more complex as you start to dig into them and some of the later levels become improvisational Rube Goldberg devices where you have to toss your balls in a specific sequence while timing your subsequent throws based on the reaction the level gives you. For the star-obsessed, there's replayability here in getting all three stars by using a limited number of balls, but most will likely begrudgingly pass on to the next level with the one or two awarded for the logical puzzle solving.

Which is why it's too bad there are only 20 levels included here. While the game is free that's nothing to complain about, but if they're going to bump it up into the paid space, they'll need to include at least another set of 20 to keep people happy. That shouldn't be too hard to do, the last five or so levels of the game begin to explore the dynamic, multi-tiered pathways far enough that by the time you finish, you'll be begging for more in the same key.

Visually, the game keeps the same simplified look of the original, all rendered in Unity and recognizable as such. That's not a bad thing, but you're not going to walk away thinking about anything other than the fact the graphics are functional. There is a lot of quirk mixed in for good measure, the zombies look like they're trying to dance and they'll moan awkwardly when you hit them with a ball, but overall there is a lack of the same weirdness the first one had, but that might just come from the lack of J-Pop dance sequences at the end of each level.

By the end of the 20 levels, Popstar Physics feels more like an add-on pack of levels for Save Toshi than a verifiable sequel, but considering it's free for the time being, it's difficult to complain. The new mechanics show a lot of promise and although the core remains the same, the switch from "save" to "crush" is interesting enough you'll likely be begging for more.

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Monster Hunter: Dynamic Hunting is a competent hack-and-slash title from the studio that brought the actual mega franchise to market. That’s a good sign. But, while all the mechanics are serviceable, in the early parts of the game, combat seems to suffer from weird design decisions that slow the frantic pace of battle it tries to conjure.

Over-the-shoulder perspective fighting games are nothing new on the App Store. Chair Entertainment, however, possesses the crown thanks to Infinity Blade [$2.99], a sharp and fast-moving action joint that prioritizes sword control. In that, you can hack wherever you desire and the movements will translate to the screen. Hunting doesn’t do this. You can only swipe your sword in two directions: north and south and east and west.

This is… odd because Hunting wants you to hit specific parts of the humungous monsters that it puts in front of you. In this sense, the game sort of requires accuracy, but the lack of fine sword movement makes this lofty requirement hard to fulfill. Instead of dancing around a monster and hacking at its ankles, I’ve instead been rolling almost aimlessly in circles until I accidentally slash at a behemoth’s legs.

To be fair, the early game, at least, isn’t so concerned with where you hit the monster, so long as you make contact. That makes this concern moot to an extent, but I think you can understand some of the frustration I’ve been experiencing — I want to drill monster’s in their obvious ‘open’ places, but I can’t because I’m fumbling with a system not really built for you to exploit such fine details.

In addition to slashing, you can also pull off some defensive moves. By placing two tips on the screen, you’ll go into a guard pose. By swiping those two fingers, you’ll roll. If you slash after successfully pulling one of these moves off, you’ll perform a counter-attack, which are some of the most devastating moves in the game.

The study of monster habits is integral to the Monster Hunter experience, so that little fact nugget doesn’t come as much of a surprise. You’re supposed to know your foe and then act on its quirks or hesitations. And when you can conquer the sword and really get into the diving, guarding, and countering the game feels great — it clicks.

The loot and grind components are fantastic drivers in the early going. You don’t level up in this specific joint, but you do earn loot from monsters each time you defeat them, which can then be used to make even better weapons and armor. Some of the enemies in the game are absolutely vicious, so it relies on this hooking you. As you beat more monsters, you can unlock more weapons to build, so I’m looking at this as the “leveling” component.

I think there is a hearty caveat that I should note about the guard and counter mechanics, though, and it ties into the game’s hearty UI. The entire bottom quarter of the screen is obscured by your health bar and the like, so when you place two fingers, you’re really eating up screen space and obscuring possible counter cues that may arise.

We’ll be doing a full review on Hunting in the near future and I encourage you to give that write-up a look. For this impressions piece, I’ve taken a narrow glance at the battle system in first "chapter," so you're not getting the full story here.

Who knows? Maybe there's a pivot point that can sway my opinion of the battle or maybe there's good justification for the rigidness and design decisions. Definitely check back with us later to get the full run-down of what Hunting as a complete product.

App Store Link: Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting, $4.99 – Available in the USA at 11:00 PM Eastern, earlier in other regions.

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Man, that was fast. Just earlier this month, word spread that Monster Hunter was coming to the App Store. Tonight at 11PM EST, said game will hit in the US for the first time. It's available in New Zealand now.

As the proper name implies, Monster Hunter: Dynamic Hunting is a pared down experience, but not one that neglects the series’ roots. In a nutshell, Hunting is all about the sweet science of bringing down monsters — the bread and butter of the franchise. You’ll also be able to collect elements from these monsters that can be crafted into armor and weapons, which is another super important part of the Monster Hunter formula.

To be more specific on the latter note, Dynamic Hunting will feature three different types of weapons — ‘Sword and Shield,’ ‘Great Sword,’ and ‘Dual Sword’ — that can be turned on their heads in about 40 different ways. There are also 13 different types of armor that you can make or, possibly, customize further.

How the battles themselves feel I can’t speak to just yet — a review is forthcoming, when the game hits the US. But, Capcom has stated the basics. When faced with a foe, you’ll be able to ‘attack,’ flick to do a fast attack, evade, counter attack, and guard. Here's a video of it in action.

If you ask me, it sounds like Capcom took some notes from Chair Entertainment which is a welcome change from previous efforts of theirs.

Looking forward to Dynamic Hunting? We are, too. The cool thing is that the wait isn’t long, nor should the one be for our first impressions. Stay tuned, folks, and keep those claw fingers nimble just in case.

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Hudson is doing a fantastic job of keeping a fresh batch of new games pouring into their excellent TurboGrafx-16 emulator app called the TurboGrafx-16 Gamebox [Free]. The app launched last December with a decent selection of titles, all of which could be purchased from within the app for $2.99 apiece with one rotating title per day available for a free timed trial. We really enjoyed the TurboGrafx-16 Gamebox in our original review, and within a couple of months a new selection of titles was added improving the game further.

Earlier this month, yet another update hit adding another 5 brand new games to the package, including the classic pinball game Devil’s Crush and the third entry in the Bonk’s Adventure series. Now, just a few weeks later we already have another new update to the Gamebox adding 5 more new games.

Likely the most recognizable of the titles is the vertically scrolling top-down shooter Raiden. Raiden was an absolute classic in the arcades a couple of decades ago, and remains one of my very favorite shmups of all time. The TurboGrafx-16 version is obviously highly scaled down from the arcade original, but while it lacks the graphical oomph it still contains excellent gameplay. Performance-wise, Raiden can slow down a bit when action gets intense on screen, but overall it’s pretty solid.

A far more exciting addition to the Gamebox, at least for me personally, is Dragon’s Curse. You may know it by its former name, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap, as it was called on the Sega Master System back in 1989. This was one of my all-time favorite action/puzzle/platforming games back then, and it still holds up extremely well today.

It has a Metroidvania vibe where you must take on the roles of different animals that each have unique abilities that allow you to access new areas of a huge non-linear world. There's a number of different weapons, armors, and items to buy which adds a nice RPG element to the gameplay. Dragon’s Curse is colorful, clever, and just plain fun, and I’m really excited to have the game in my pocket to play through for the umpteenth time.

The three other titles in this latest update to TurboGrafx-16 Gamebox aren’t as familiar to me, but they may hold a special place in your own heart. These titles are: Shockman, Moto Roader, and Out Live. There’s plenty of other classic TurboGrafx-16 games I’m still waiting on too, like Keith Courage, Super Star Soldier, and Legendary Axe, so hopefully Hudson continues to crank out the updates. Currently, I think they’re doing a pretty darn good job, and the TurboGrafx-16 Gamebox continues to be a shining example of how to do emulators right on iOS.

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Ever felt like stomping your way all over Paris or San Francisco? Zilla has you covered in Demolition Dash [$0.99 / HD]. Smash and run action will take you all around the world, to eight major cities where you'll rip down trees, kick pigeons, blow up billboards and destroy the military forces that try to stop you.

Zilla is our hero, a rather small monster with a great big roar. Following the model of other run 'n guns, Zilla runs full-speed ahead in one direction while you control jumps with one hand and roars with the other. Roaring is Zilla's only attack, but it's super effective, destroying everything in range. Demolition Dash isn't an endless runner, though. Zilla climbs out of the water, runs, jumps and smashes through each of the game's 24 stages, and dives back in at the end—if you survive that long.

Little Zilla is up against an impressive force. Police squads, vans, helicopters and tanks all get in the way, and the only way past is to roar them to pieces. Run into one of them or miss a jump and a chunk of Zilla's tail gets knocked off. Lose all three tail pieces and the next hit is game over.

On top of making it through each stage alive, there are additional challenges to master. Each stage has its own secondary goal, so sometimes you'll need to hunt down 30 helicopters, and other times you'll be gunning for a high score. There are also Game Center leaderboards for each city and 11 achievements to earn. You can improve your score by earning demolition combos and by making smart use of the game's three power-ups: chili peppers that give you mega roar, wings that let Super Zilla fly, and stars that bring out the GodZilla in our little dino friend.

Other than the adorable Zilla, it's the artistry of the game's eight cities that really makes Demolition Dash shine. Each city gets custom buildings and trees, a background featuring a major landmark, and its own arrangement of the game's theme. Clearly a lot of love was put into the music, and it paid off—I just wish as much thought had been put into the rest of the auditory experience.

I turned off the game's sound effects during the second or third city. With Zilla crashing around and roaring every few moments, police squads shouting and sirens blaring, the sound turned into a mess. The audio quality is great, but I was sick of hearing it. Thankfully you can toggle sound effects and music separately.

I also found myself wishing for a quick level reset option. Things get kind of crazy in later levels, and it sucks to lose lives early on. The only way to restart and get back into the action is to quit back to the menu and wait through rather lengthy loading screens. My 3GS struggled a bit with some of the busier levels, making this a bigger problem when I would die early to frame rate drops. A freshly reset phone performed better, though not perfectly, and the newer devices play Demolition Dash smooth as silk. It also looks gorgeous on Retina screens.

Demolition Dash should be getting an update next month to add Endless Run mode, which seems like it will be a perfect fit. Open Feint support and stat tracking are also planned. Weirdly, the game currently gives players a code that can be redeemed on the developer's Facebook page for a discount on t-shirts or web storage, if you're looking for value-added features.

Smashing up cities and making mayhem with Zilla is great fun. Our forum users are enjoying it so far, too. So if you're looking for a little destruction in your life, Demolition Dash is a game you'll want to play.

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Ah, the thrill of riddling aliens with bullets. It never gets old, ever. Fortunately for us, EA is hip to this universal truth. In an effort to deliver more bullets-against-alien-flesh action in Dead Space [$6.99 / HD], the publisher has just pushed out a brand new update that does just that in a new mode called “Survival.” It has also added a fresh pulse rifle with a heavy twist that can be purchased with in-game credits or even via the in-game store.

Survival mode, in a nutshell, is a “Horde” mode that pits you against an “all-out rush” of Necromorphs. It’s also a convenient way to collect more in-game credits that can be used for all sorts of stuff in the game, including the brand new “Heavy Pulse Rifle.”

This update also adds “Nightmare” difficulty, a fascinating way to play if you’re not into regenerating health or dumb enemies. As if that wasn’t enough, the update adds chapter select functionality to the game, meaning you can re-live your harrowing experiences as much as you feel necessary.

That’s some big deal stuff for an awesome game. If you haven’t checked out Dead Space yet, you’re crazy. Seriously. Give our review a read and click “buy."

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Back in November of 2008, Illusion Labs’ Touchgrind [$4.99/HD] was a remarkable display of what was possible on iOS devices. It had fantastic 3D graphics, a great physics system, and excellent multi-touch controls that let you interact with a skateboard in a way unlike any game before it. Now Illusion Labs is back with a new entry in the series called Touchgrind BMX [$4.99] that takes the formula into the world of trick biking.

All of the major traits that made Touchgrind so good carry over to Touchgrind BMX, and it even comes with many welcome improvements. But it’s also missing a few features that I would expect in a game like this, and the multi-touch controls come with a steep learning curve much the same way Touchgrind’s did. Such is the cost of innovation though, and Touchgrind BMX is definitely innovative. It’s also a ton of fun once you get the hang of things, and those who persist in the ways of Touchgrind BMX will be rewarded with a truly unique experience.

Like Touchgrind before it, Touchgrind BMX only requires two fingers to play. One finger controls the handlebars of the bike, and the other controls the frame. Using an assortment of different gestures, you can get your bike to perform just about anything you can think of. The gesture control is really organic, and moves are pulled off just how you’d expect them to be, like flicking the handlebars to spin them around while you’re airborne.

A simple 3 part tutorial walks you through everything you need to know about controlling your bike, and it’s all incredibly easy to understand. The challenge comes when actually trying to perform tricks in practice. It takes fast reactions and precise finger coordination to pull off the elaborate tricks and combos that will earn you the most points. It took me a few hours to actually feel pretty comfortable and start performing some more complex tricks, but looking at the developer high score challenges I know I still have quite a ways to go. It’s a lot of fun though, and improving my skills is what keeps drawing me back into the game.

One major change from the original game is the perspective. Touchgrind was strictly top-down, whereas Touchgrind BMX is more of a third-person perspective. This works beautifully, and really opens up the environments in the game and allows you to actually see where you are going, which is nice because the background visuals are beautiful in Touchgrind BMX and are a huge step up from the sterile skatepark in the first Touchgrind.

The 5 courses in Touchgrind BMX are quite varied from one another, offering an assortment of terrain that runs the gamut from very realistic to borderline fantasy settings. There are some jagged edges in the graphics that could use a dose of anti-aliasing, but by and large Touchgrind BMX is gorgeous to look at and runs at an incredibly smooth frame rate.

Another huge change is rather than having a sandbox environment where you’re able to move about freely, the levels in Touchgrind BMX are linear courses with deliberately placed jumps and obstacles. You still have a small range of movement within the width of each track, and you control your forward movement, but you aren’t allowed to stray off course and explore or go back to specific obstacles.

I actually think this design decision is for the best, as there is always a defined finish line to work towards and you must learn to maximize the scoring potential of every object in a level before you reach it. It’s more goal-oriented in this way, and each level is filled with tasks to complete that will slowly unlock new features, like different bikes, paint jobs, and new levels.

The progression in Touchgrind BMX is balanced really well, and it seems like there’s always some new reward or challenge waiting for you. It feels very much like the old Tony Hawk Pro Skater games in this way, which is definitely a good thing. The scoring system is also done really well, with a nice multiplier that rewards you for landing high value tricks, mixing up your variety of tricks, and not bailing. One glaring omission though is Game Center integration to coincide with the in-game achievements and high scores, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see that added in the future.

While the linear nature of the game makes for a better overall experience, I definitely think there should be a sandbox level where you’re allowed to ride around as you please. Part of the fun of Touchgrind was jumping into a free skate session and experimenting to your heart’s content, and this aspect is missing from Touchgrind BMX.

One of the coolest features in Touchgrind BMX is the replay system. After crossing the finish line of any level, you have the ability to watch a replay of your entire run. The game automatically presents the replay from several different camera angles for maximum dramatic effect. You can also choose to save any replay to a list that's accessed from the main menu. From there you can choose to create a video file of that replay and either export it directly to YouTube from within the app or transfer it to your computer by way of the File Sharing option in iTunes when your device is connected. The whole process is simple and works extremely well.

While it’s easy to point out some of the minor flaws, it’s impossible to ignore just how excellent a game Touchgrind BMX is as a whole. Illusion Labs has taken the concept of multi-touch manipulation of an object to the next level, and has fleshed out a great gaming experience around it. It takes a lot of practice for the controls to click, but that process is also part of the fun. There is many hours worth of content to play through, with new levels already planned for updates, so it should keep you busy for a while.

Players in our forums are definitely loving this one, and whether you were a fan of the first game or you're just interested in a challenging and completely unique type of game, then Touchgrind BMX really delivers.

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