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Back in December, Hudson somewhat surprisingly released an emulator app for their cult-classic 16-bit console TurboGrafx-16. This emulator, called the TurboGrafx-16 GameBox [Free], features a free-to-download shell that includes the full game of World Sports Competition and houses a hefty selection of other titles that can be unlocked via in-app purchase for $2.99 each. There's also one new rotating tile per day that gives you a chance to play that particular game for 10 minutes, up from the initial 3 minutes offered on the app's release, as a sort of demo to decide if you want to purchase the full version.

We really liked the TurboGrafx-16 GameBox in our review, noting that its virtual controls were about as good as they come on an iOS device that emulates games designed for physical controls and a favorable save system ensured that you could retry tricky sections easily without causing too much frustration. The initial selection of games available for in-app purchase in the TurboGrafx-16 GameBox featured a range of very good to mediocre titles, with a couple of must-haves like Bonk's Adventure, Ninja Spirit, or R-Type. Today Hudson has released an update for the TurboGrafx-16 GameBox that adds 5 new titles to the in-app catalog which are listed below:

Bonk's Revenge by Hudson Soft

Detana!! TwinBee by Konami

Kaizouchoujin Shubibinman by NCS/extreme

Double Dungeons by NCS/extreme

Benkei Gaiden by Sunsoft

Like a few of the games in the initial release of TurboGrafx-16 GameBox, 3 of the 5 new titles are the PC-Engine versions of the game, the Japanese counterpart to the TurboGrafx-16. As such, their menus, dialogue, and instruction manuals are entirely in Japanese with no option for an English version. For a game like Detana!! TwinBee this isn't as much of an issue, as it's just a vertical shooter and knowing what's going on is secondary to blasting stuff out of the sky. But in the case of Benkei Gaiden, it's a heavily dialogue-driven RPG which will be hard to enjoy if you aren't able to read Japanese text.

Also worth noting is that the full version of Bonk's Revenge is currently free to play as part of a special promotion. Seeing as this will likely be the title that most people are interested in, it's a great chance to actually try it out yourself before committing the cash to unlock the full version. Make sure to update your game to the latest version and give Bonk's Revenge a spin and check out the other 4 new titles in the TurboGrafx-16 GameBox.

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Early last month we took a look at Bug Heroes [$1.99], a dual stick shooter of sorts that borrows gameplay elements from many different genres. In the game, you play as one of three bugs, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. You must switch between them to protect your pile of food, and dish out punishment to the invaders looking to steal it. We went in to detail in our review:

The bulk of Bug Heroes takes place in the Adventure mode. Here you battle in 4 different environments using a combination of three different characters as you defend a stockpile of food from an onslaught of hungry insect enemies. Money is collected as you defeat enemies which can then be used on various types of upgrades. You can add several different types of turrets to your food pile to protect it while you are away, or you can buy better weaponry to increase the offense of each character. Gameplay involves exploring each environment to collect additional food to add to your stockpile while simultaneously fending off enemies. The game ends when all three characters die or your entire food reserve is depleted. …Read More</a

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You have to hand it to the Telltale Games’ crew behind Back to the Future Episode 1. Not only did it manage to create a terrific licensed-based game, it also innovated within the IP without stomping on what makes it great. From the voice work to the music, to the clever writing and look, this is faithful, though more light-hearted, extension to the series.

I tend to imagine of this game as a virtual melting pot filled to the brim with the stuff that makes Back to the Future great — the dialogue, the boyish adventure, the characters, the audio, and the inventions of a madman scientist. Telltale stirs this all together and makes a harmonious whole, but I think the audio in particular stands out. The voice work from the sound-alike part of the cast is stunning, and while Christopher Lloyd can expose his advanced age with some of his exasperated deliveries, he does a great job reprising his role as Doc Brown. The original series’ music also gives the game a satisfying movie vibe, which is fitting as a result of its strong point-and-click roots and cinematic flair.

One spot I would have liked to see a bit more oomph in would be the tale itself, as its has a much lighter tone than the movies. The repercussions of the time-splitting shenanigans of Brown and Marty seem distant, the dialogue is less crude, and Biff isn’t as dark of an antagonist. Overall, the tone mimics the cartoonish visual style.

That said, the story is good for what it is, which is to say, a more gleeful romp filled with Telltale’s warmth and humor on top of the franchises’ own blend. And that’s not mentioning the amount of callbacks and reverence distributed throughout. As a fan of the flicks, you’ll hear the lines you’ll want to hear come out in natural ways, and see the characters you love react as you’d imagine they would. Good, fun stuff all around.

The plot goes something like this. Marty, six months after the events of "Back to the Future III," is beginning to miss Doc Brown. And soon after he goes back to peruse Brown’s old lab, he finds himself attempting to save the old man once again. This time, though, the rescue is in a swingin’ Prohibition-era version of the series’ fabled town featuring a young Doc Brown.

The puzzles in Back To The Future are shaped for a wider audience, no doubt. Most are disposable, easily passed by with a dash of thought and basic game-side item use logic. In stark contrast, the more action-oriented puzzles linger beyond their welcome and feel as if they’re artificially elongated to milk a certain scene. And that's not to say that the puzzle experience is bad, especially if you’re looking for a more lean back kind of experience, but Monkey Island-style involvement this does not require.

On an unrelated note, this probably isn't an port of the PC version in the traditional sense, but the mouse-centric menu navigation leaves much to be desired. However, Telltale's slick virtual stick interface rears its head in this game providing a native-like movement experience. You can walk or run wherever by dragging your finger or, optionally, by pointing and clicking on an item of interest.

So, yeah, if you’re in the market for a Telltale Games point and click joint or an actual, quality Back To The Future game, hit iTunes and get playing. There's a ton to like about Back to the Future.

Note: While this game is currently available in most international markets, it won't appear for download in the US until 11:00 PM EST.

Note 2: On performance: there's some slight frame rate chugging in some of the action-heavy sequences. Also, while the characters and the prominent textures look fine, you'll notice a smattering of low-res texture work on unimportant objects. This stuff is distracting to some degree, but it never kept me from enjoying the game.

App Store Link: Back to the Future Ep 1 HD, $6.99

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Remember the trailer for the Crescent Moon Games' upcoming title Gears? No? Well here it is again, and it's really worth watching a second time just to marvel at how they've manage to clip together gameplay footage of a ball rolling game to make it seem this epic:

Sure, Crescent Moon is known for their RPG offerings like Aralon: Sword and Shadow and Ravensword: The Fallen King, but there's no disputing the fact that ball rolling games have worked great on iOS devices, especially when combined with both adventure and puzzle elements. Dark Nebula Episode 1 [99¢] and Dark Nebula Episode 2 [$1.99] are fantastic examples of this.

Developer Josh Presseisen provided us the following hands-on video today, and while I'm not entirely sure it will live up to everyone's expectations after that crazy of a trailer, it does look pretty cool:

Gears is scheduled for release as a universal app in early March, and while they're not discussing final pricing yet, they've said it will be comparable with similar games on the App Store. We can't wait to try a finalized version of the game to see if the Crescent Moon magic that made Ravensword and Aralon is capable of transcending genres or not.

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Even developers who don’t normally fiddle with their prices are now fiddling with their prices. For the first in almost two years, Imangi Studios tells us, the price of Imangi: The Game [Free] has been dropped. But get this: it’s free and will remain so for “the foreseeable future.”

When we took a look at the game back in 2008, we praised the word game’s hook. It’s something of a cross between Scrabble and a Rubik’s Cube — you’re presented with a cluster of lettered tiles that you need to arrange in as many words as possible horizontally and vertically with mighty swipes of columns.

It’s a neat game and, well, pretty popular amongst the word game and puzzle crowd. So popular, in fact, that the husband and wife crew who created it were able to eventually build a company around the success of it and their other titles. Dig Max Adventure [$2.99] ? Thank Imangi.

Check out this video of the game in action to get a better sense of what I’m talking about if I failed you with words.

Or, hey, just go download it. It's free! Duh.

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After seeing a ton of success with their massive holiday 99¢ sale, the folks at EA Mobile are once again going on a discount binge. While not quite as extensive as that previous sale, a number of EA titles have temporarily dropped to 99¢ as part of an "I  ♥ 99¢ Sales" sale. Check out the following list of discounted games which are directly linked to the App Store:

iPhone/iPod touch games:

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Mirror’s Edge
• Tetris
• SimCity Deluxe
• Pictureka!
• The Simpsons Arcade

• Need For Speed Hot Pursuit
• Need For Speed Undercover
• Need For Speed Shift

• The Sims 3
• The Sims 3 World Adventures
• The Sims 3 Ambitions

• Monopoly
• Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition
• Scrabble
• Risk: The Official Game
• The Game of Life Classic Edition

• FIFA 11
• FIFA 10
• NBA Elite 11
• NCAA Football
• Madden NFL 11

iPad games:

• Reckless Racing HD
• Pictureka! for iPad
• Snood for iPad
• Yahtzee HD
• Clue: Secrets & Spies

The sale is said to run for 48 hours, so make sure and grab whatever you like while it's currently discounted. We'll keep our eyes on AppShopper.com to see if any new titles are added to this sale, as several new games were added to the sale just as I've been working on this post. Also, there's still a load of EA titles that are still 99¢ from their last big sale, so it may be worth rummaging through their catalog to see if there's anything you may have missed.

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Just a quick heads up here on a major weekend sale that's underway on the highly popular Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episodes One [$0.99] and Two [$1.99], both down from $7.99 for 87% and 75% price reductions, respectively. Both titles are also available on XBLA, PSN, and Windows, but these are the lowest prices we've seen for them on any platform.

As described by creators Penny Arcade and Hothead Games,

On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is an RPG-Adventure game set in the comic-book-meets-pulp-horror-meets-H.P. Lovecraft deranged 1920s universe of New Arcadia, delivering mature and compelling entertainment to gamers via accessible episodic delivery. The creative collaboration between Penny Arcade creators Mike ‘Gabe’ Krahulik and Jerry ‘Tycho’ Holkins, legendary game designer Ron Gilbert and veteran producers Hothead Games results in a 100% authentic Penny Arcade experience that pushes bizarre characters, outrageous combat, and adult humor to the precipices of darkness.

Players join Gabe and Tycho, the crime-solving team of the Startling Developments Detective Agency, to combat savage enemies and solve mysteries hidden deep in the sinister heart of New Arcadia. The ominous 1920s landscape features distinct artwork and characters designed exclusively by Krahulik and brought to life by the Hothead team.

Gamespot called the adventures well worth the initial XBLA price of $20 USD for any Penny Arcade-loving gamer. Any Mac user who meets that description should find this weekend sale an absolute steal.

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Crescent Moon Games, creators of the hit RPGs Aralon: Sword and Shadow [$9.99] and Ravensword: The Fallen King [$2.99 / Free] provided us a trailer today with one of their upcoming games, which oddly enough, isn't an RPG at all. Gears is a steampunk themed ball roller that also happens to have an oddly intriguing premise behind it.

Check out the trailer:

Per the trailer, Crescent Moon plans to "redefine the ball-rolling genre"– A lofty goal. Either way, ball rolling games have worked great on the iPhone, especially when crossed with an adventure theme. Dark Nebula – Episode One [99¢] and Dark Nebula – Episode Two [$1.99] are great examples of this.

We'll have to wait until the vague release date of "Spring 2011" to see how Gears stacks up, but we haven't been disappointed by a game from Crescent Moon yet.

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