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Last year, Capcom released an entry from its classic franchise Ghosts 'n Goblins to the iPhone, titled Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights, which we reviewed on release. If you were a fan of the original series a couple of things really stuck out about the game. First and foremost was the change from 2D sprites and pixel art to 3D character models and backgrounds. It looked blocky and lacked detail, and just didn't have that charming, colorful look of the originals. Still, I could look past the graphical change as long as the game still played the same. The problem was… it didn't. Gameplay was sluggish, and the poor virtual controls made playing through the game an exercise in frustration. To top it all off, for one of the most notoriously difficult game series of all time, Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights was a total cakewalk.

Now, nine months after the first release, Arthur is back in Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights II. Did Capcom learn from their mistakes and improve upon the fairly disappointing first game? Well, sort of. Visually, everything is practically identical to the first game, and running side by side they are almost indistinguishable. Game mechanics are also similar in regards to health, powerups, level progression, and so forth. In addition to Arthur, you do get a new character to play as in place of Lancelot from the first game. Perceval is also a sword wielding hero but plays much differently than Lancelot in that he cannot shoot at characters and has a much bigger focus on magical attacks. Also, he can dash attack through certain walls, which can affect what route you take through the game and is a cool addition.

Where Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights II really improves over its predecessor is in performance and controls. The game now runs a great deal faster, and feels much closer to the originals when jumping from platforms and fighting with enemies. Best of all is the addition of an analog stick for movement rather than a finicky d-pad. Moving your character is much, much easier now, and you can even place the virtual controls wherever you want on the screen in the options. These changes improve the game drastically over the first, and I'm actually having a lot of fun playing through it this time around.

Game length appears to be about the same as the first, based on the scrolling map view you get before starting a level. The difficulty is still on the easy side, and hopefully this gets improved with an update like the first game received that added a Hard mode. There's also the same type of cheats that can be purchased for 99¢ each as IAP that the first game had, if you find the game isn't easy enough for you to begin with. It's still not the prettiest game around, but it's not the ugliest either, and overall Ghosts 'n Goblins Gold Knights II is a huge improvement over the first thanks to the overhauled performance and controls.

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For fans of the excellent iPhone port of Street Fighter IV, you'll be happy to know that a new character is making her way to the roster. Capcom has just announced that Crimson Viper, who first made her debut as one of the four brand new characters in the Street Fighter IV franchise rebirth on arcade machines and home consoles, will be the latest addition to the iPhone conversion via a free update. This follows the previous update from Capcom that added Cammy and Zangief as playable characters, which we covered back in June, bringing the roster total to ten combatants.

Here are a couple of shots of C. Viper showing off her special moves (click to enlarge):

If you've been following along since the release of Street Fighter IV for iPhone, then you will remember that Capcom announced the addition of Cammy back in April, and didn't announce Zangief until over a month later. This leads me to believe that another character will be announced in the near future for this forthcoming update. This has not been confirmed in any way and is purely speculation on my part, but as a rabid Street Fighter fan I can only hope. Plus, it just seems to make sense to add two characters at a time, brining the total to a nice even twelve.

In the meantime, enjoy some video of C. Viper in action on the iPhone:

If you have yet to check out Street Fighter IV on the iPhone, take a look at our full review from March. No firm release date has been set for this new update other than “soon”, but we'll keep you posted if Capcom happens to narrow it down (or announce any additional characters).

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Gameloft and Capcom have recently dropped some of their games down to 99¢, and while some of these titles have been on sale before, there's a couple of great deals to be had out of the bunch.

Gameloft titles on sale:

• Modern Combat: Sandstorm, $4.99 → 99¢
• Dungeon Hunter, $4.99 → 99¢
• Skater Nation, $4.99 → 99¢

Capcom titles on sale:

• 1942: First Strike, $2.99 → 99¢
• Mega Man II, $2.99 → 99¢
• Dark Void Zero, $2.99 → 99¢
• Are You Smarter Than A 5^th Grader? 2010, $1.99 → 99¢
• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2010, $1.99 → 99¢

My personal pick on the Gameloft side is Modern Combat: Sandstorm, which is a very good Call of Duty-like FPS with online multiplayer. On the Capcom side I recommend Dark Void Zero, which is an 8-bit “demake” of the console game Dark Void. It really nails the look and feel of the classic NES games, and even has you blowing into the mic of your iPhone to simulate blowing into a NES cartridge, as was customary when you couldn't get a game to work.

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When bringing up the topic of vertical shoot 'em ups, it's nearly impossible not to mention Capcom's seminal 194X series. Since the original 1942 was released way back in 1984 the series has spawned a number of sequels and has been ported to practically any system you can think of, minus the iPhone. That changed tonight however as 1942: First Strike is now available on the App Store.

1942: First Strike is said to be inspired by the game 1942: Joint Strike that graced the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network a couple years ago. While those games were slightly mundane gameplay-wise, they at the very least showcased some excellent 3D high def graphics that really brought the classic franchise into this new generation. This is not the case here. The iPhone version features tiny plane and enemy sprites and boring backdrops. It's colorful, but not very interesting. The music is really quite excellent, but the sound effects lack any substance and destroying enemies is met with a whimper rather than a boom.

I could excuse the disappointing graphics if the gameplay was entertaining, but sadly this isn't the case either. The major fault of 1942: First Strike is in the controls. The gameplay area is fairly wide, which makes the screen scroll left or right when you fly in those directions. The sensitivity in the scrolling is just way off and creates a totally disorienting experience. If a row of enemies is coming towards you, and you need to scoot just a smidgen over to line up your aim, likely that will send the playfield scrolling too hard and your plane slamming right into enemies or incoming fire. Adjusting the sensitivity or using tilt helps a tiny bit, but not really. It's just not something I could get used to, and it ruins a game that requires high precision.

Even if the controls worked better, there's nothing here you haven't seen before. Enemy attack patterns and your own special weapons are all garden variety, and if not for the controls, the game would likely be too short and easy. There are a couple things to like about the game, though. As mentioned the music is well done, as are the different menu graphics. Some nifty full motion cutscenes are shown prior to beginning levels or fighting a boss, although they seem to repeat often.

None of these good marks outweigh the bad though, and at best 1942: First Strike feels like a Java game that might have impressed on mobile 5 years ago. It's unfortunate and surprising that such a beloved franchise received such poor treatment.

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Back in early March of this year, a port of Street Fighter IV was released for the iPhone to much positive fanfare. The graphics and sounds were incredible, but the biggest doubt on everyone's mind leading up to release was how well the game could work with virtual touch screen controls. In the end, SFIV for iPhone turned out to be a highly playable and fun affair. Rather than the controls, the biggest complaint from gamers regarding this otherwise excellent fighter was the slim roster of characters. Featuring just 8 playable combatants (the same number of the original SFII mind you), many fan favorites from from the Street Fighter universe were notably absent.

A little more than a month later, Capcom took a step to address those complaints by announcing the addition of Cammy to the roster in a forthcoming update. But the weeks passed by with no sign of Cammy, and fans of the series grew increasingly impatient and even skeptical that Capcom would follow through on their promise. Then earlier this month, they announced that another new character – Zangief – would be entering the fray as well. With such a long span of time since their previous announcement, gamers who had been anticipating the arrival of Cammy weren't feeling especially confident that they'd be playing either character anytime soon.

Thankfully those concerns proved erroneous, as earlier this week the update featuring both characters finally arrived on the App Store. And it's pretty much exactly what you would expect – it's the Cammy and Zangief you know and love now playable in Street Fighter IV for iPhone. While not exactly surprising, they are a welcome free addition to arguably the best 2D fighter available. They fit right into the roster and feature just about all of the moves of their console counterparts. Hopefully this leads to more and more characters being added down the line, and were E. Honda to enter the mix then the original cast of characters would finally be complete. Like many others, I'm personally keeping my fingers crossed for an Akuma appearance someday.

This update was free, but it remains to be seen if future updates will be too. If you're a fan of Street Fighter IV for iPhone, then make sure you download this latest update and give Cammy and Zangief a spin for yourself.

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Capcom has finally released screenshots for the iPhone version of its classic shoot 'em up 1942. It was hinted that 1942 would make its way to the iPhone back at E3 2009, but we haven't heard much of the game again until now:

1942 was first released in 1984 for the arcade. It gave way to the sequel 1943: The Battle of Midway. Stay tuned.

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Last month Konami made a cryptic announcement about an iPhone exclusive Castlevania game in the works. Billed as a "action-puzzle RPG", we weren't really sure what to expect of the game. Well, a trailer was posted on IGN today that shows quite a bit of gameplay, but I'm still left scratching my head as to why Konami is utilizing the Castlevania IP by releasing a block matching game instead of… anything else.

With gameplay very similar to Capcom's Puzzle Fighter games, players will make their way through a puzzle adaptation of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, battling monsters with split screen block battles. I'm anxious to take a look at this game when it's finally released on the App Store, and doubt I'm alone in hoping that there's more to Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night than a tired matching mechanic with heaps of Castlevania fan service.

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Capcom's Phoenix Wright [$4.99] started its life as a Japanese Gameboy Advance game all the way back in 2001. In 2005, a touchscreen-enhanced port of the game made it to the Nintendo DS and the rest of the world. Five years later, and the game is here on the App Store at a fraction of its original DS price.

We described the basic premise of the game following its announcement late last year:

Phoenix Wright games are a strange mixture of a visual adventure game that play a lot like mixture of a hidden object game and a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book. The game is segmented in to two portions, the investigation and the trial. While investigating, you visit various location and gather evidence by looking around and interviewing anyone who is around. When you're finished with that, you go to court where you cross examine witnesses, present evidence, and object to the arguments presented by the prosecuting lawyer.

Even just from looking at screenshots alone, it is amazingly apparent that this is a fairly direct port from the DS game, with the output of the two screens just stacked on top of each other on the iPhone. When playing through the game, the bottom half is loaded with all kinds of buttons and menus depending on if you're investigating or arguing in court, and these UI elements seem to be reworked from the original to be finger-friendly instead of built around the Nintendo DS stylus.

All of the Phoenix Wright games are a fun, and often silly adventure through crime scenes and court rooms. Successfully completing the game requires a keen eye both when gathering evidence and when arguing your case in court. Because so much of the game is based on finding/noticing little things between hidden evidence or inconsistencies in testimony, Phoenix Wright has little if any replay value.

Five cases from the original game are included, and each case should take you a few hours to go through depending on how quickly you read or how much you goof up in court. Phoenix Wright is an insane value at its launch price of $4.99, as when it first launched on the DS it was the kind of game you couldn't find anywhere in stock, and when you did, it was at least $40.00 because of how rare it was.

It would have been nice to see Capcom do more to the game in its port to the iPhone. It seems like Phoenix Wright would be the perfect kind of game to offer with a single case for free to act as a lite version of sorts, with the rest of the cases (and cases from other games in the Phoenix Wright series) available as individual DLC packs. Regardless, I'm just glad the game is finally here, as it was one of the best and most creative games I played on my DS, and a fantastic fit for the iPhone.

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In early December of last year, Famitsu covered Capcom's announcement of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney's impending arrival on the App Store. Today we got word that Capcom hopes to have Phoenix Wright available for download next week for $4.99. Ace Attorney will include with all five cases from the Nintendo DS game, and judging from screenshots, very little has been modified from the original short of just stacking the output of the two DS screens on top of each other on the iPhone.

Back when the news first hit that the game was coming to the iPhone we explained the basic premise behind Phoenix Wright:

Phoenix Wright games are a strange mixture of a visual adventure game that play a lot like mixture of a hidden object game and a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book. The game is segmented in to two portions, the investigation and the trial. While investigating, you visit various location and gather evidence by looking around and interviewing anyone who is around. When you're finished with that, you go to court where you cross examine witnesses, present evidence, and object to the arguments presented by the prosecuting lawyer.

Something interesting of note from the original announcement was during the unveiling at the Apple Store in Japan, Capcom mobile content head Takeshi Tezuka assured everyone in attendance that the game would be more than a simple port. From the few screenshots that have been released so far, it's hard to say what else has been added to the game, but needless to say, you can expect a full review shortly after the game hits the App Store.

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Since the inception of the App Store, and specifically since the big-name studios started throwing their hats in to the ring, iPhone gamers have been clamoring for big name series on the iPhone. Capcom brought Street Fighter 4 [$9.99], Square Enix developed an entirely new iPhone RPG, Chaos Rings [$12.99] and Konami is releasing a Castlevania puzzle game, Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night.

According to Konami, Encore of the Night is an "addicting puzzle-RPG" where players will play as Alucard, the son of Dracula also seen in the classic Castlevania title, Symphony of the Night. The only details we know right now is that the game will involve playing as or against characters from Symphony of the Night, and completing puzzles will provide weapons and spells to help along the way.

It's hard to say if Encore of the Night is going to be closer to Puzzle Quest [$4.99 / Free], or more battle oriented like Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter games– Or something else completely different. As for why they're releasing a spin-off puzzle RPG instead of any of the other games in the series, your guess is as good as ours.

Konami rarely announces games like this without having them ready for release very soon. Their last game to appear on the App Store, MLB Power Pros Touch 2010 [$7.99], was first announced hardly even a day before it appeared for download. So, Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night really could be available any time now.

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