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This past Friday we went hands-on with Mad Skills Motocross from Turborilla and Racer X Online, and as of today the game is now available in the App Store. Mad Skills Motocross [$1.99] is a 2D side-scrolling motocross game, somewhat similar to the classic Excitebike but with enhanced visuals and an absolutely brilliant physics system. It lacks a couple of features that we've seen implemented in similar titles over the years, namely real-time online play and a level editor, but makes up for it by being fast, smooth, challenging, and above all else a total blast to play.

The controls in Mad Skills Motocross are simple, with gas and break buttons on the left and buttons to lean forwards or backwards on the right. Additionally you have the option of flipping the position of these controls or using the accelerometer for tilting. You can perform various tricks on your bike as well, like front flips, back flips, wheelies, and stoppies. There are also a number of special moves for your bike that you will gain through playing, like a vertical jump or a nitro boost. Utilizing your entire suite of abilities is essential to performing well in the game.

The meat of Mad Skills Motocross is the Career mode which features a whopping 52 tracks spread across 5 increasingly difficult racing divisions. Levels start out modest enough, and ease you into the basics of jumping, racing, and tricking. But fairly quickly the difficulty ramps up, and it will be a true test of your skills to win out against the AI controlled opponent in order to complete all of the available levels. Thankfully, there are always a few levels unlocked at a time, so if you get stuck on a particularly challenging race you can skip it for the time being and play a later one.

Besides the Career mode, there is also a robust Time Attack mode. Here the top 5 best times are saved from each individual track, along with full replays for each one. You can choose to “attack” any of these times and compete against your own ghost in an effort to improve that time. You can also send a challenge through OpenFeint for any of these times to see if one of your buddies is able to defeat your ghost racer. OpenFeint also includes achievements as well as leaderboards for every track, which is perfectly suited for this type of game.

All of these features come together really well in Mad Skills Motocross, and the whole experience is heightened by the wonderful physics system. The most subtle nuances of how you take off or land when jumping can affect your overall performance, and this is the type of game where you will replay a level over and over again just to get that “perfect run” and shave tenths of a second from your time. It just feels so fluid to lean far back on your bike and pick up speed, lurch forward as you launch from a jump and then land smoothly down the other side. There's a real rhythm to racing that is very satisfying to learn and try to master.

The simplest way I can put it is that Mad Skills Motocross is pure fun. While it doesn't have real-time online multiplayer like the similar iOS game Motocross Challenge [99¢/Lite], the OpenFeint challenge system is a good substitute and actually might be a better fit for gaming on the go. The desktop version of Mad Skills Motocross features a level editor, and although that didn't make it into the iOS version of the game, the developers are keen on finding a way to squeeze that in sometime in the future if possible. With the 52 tracks in the game, there is no lack in variety of places to race even without an editor, although it would be a cool feature to have.

Impressions from players in our forums are overwhelmingly positive, and if you're in the market for a fast-paced arcade-style racing game it doesn't get much better than Mad Skills Motocross.

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Back in October, we posted a preview video of Bug Heroes from Foursaken Media, developers of the popular iOS title N.Y. Zombies [99¢]. The aim of Bug Heroes was to provide a dual-stick shooter combined with elements of tower defense, as well as multiple playable characters who could also level up and upgrade in a somewhat RPG fashion. It sounded like a tall order for an iOS game, possibly too tall, and we were anxious to get our hands on the game to see how it would pan out. Today, Bug Heroes [$1.99] has launched in the App Store, and not only has Foursaken come through with all their promised gameplay variety but they have surprised me with just how remarkably well it all works together.

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.

The three characters in Bug Heroes each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and play quite differently from one another. There's the ant who has average strength and defense but can use an assortment of guns to dispatch enemies from a distance. Then there is a beetle and a spider who have a melee-based offense. The beetle is slow but heavily armored, and can damage a group of enemies in one blow. The spider is quick with powerful attacks, but isn't as well protected. Each of these characters can be changed to on the fly, and it's imperative to recognize which one to use in any given situation in the game.

There are a ton of different enemies in Bug Heroes, both large and small, who will react differently and must be dealt with accordingly. Some will come after your character directly, some will bypass you and go straight for your food pile, and some will sit stationary and use ranged weapons against you, forcing you to go to them. Enemies come in waves, with their strength and numbers increasing with each new one. Your heroes will earn experience as they defeat enemies which allows you to add attribute points to their various skills as they level up.

The combination of switching characters, dealing with the different enemies, upgrading and leveling up, and worrying about your stockpile of food ensures a constant stream of action as you play Bug Heroes. There is a lot going on in the game, but it flows really well and ends up being a lot of fun and not overwhelming. If this wasn't enough, there are also timed quests that will pop up as you play, like collecting coins or killing certain enemy types, that can earn you additional money and experience. Besides the Adventure mode, there is also a more standard survival mode called Coliseum. This mode has you picking just one of the three characters and taking on endless waves of enemies. You still level up, gain money, and can upgrade your weapons, but it's a more straightforward way to play Bug Heroes and feels different enough that it could almost be its own separate game.

Visually, the game looks fantastic, with dynamic lighting effects and a day/night cycle that changes the ambience as you play. The character designs in particular are really well done, and your heroes and the many different enemies all have a lot of personality. The nice graphics do bring up my only gripe with Bug Heroes though, which is that the game has a tendency to stutter at times when there is lots of action onscreen at once. The game is optimized for all devices, and you can choose to tone down the graphical effects in the options, but it still will occasionally hang even if you do.

There is just so much going on in Bug Heroes, it's amazing that it all blends so incredibly well. What I like the most is that Foursaken has put a lot of different gameplay elements into the game, but there is a wide range of personalization in how you choose to use them, allowing you to play the game the way that suits you the best. Bug Heroes reminds me a lot of Cave's Mushihimesama Bug Panic [$4.99/Lite] in that it adds a ton of skill and strategy to the dual-stick shooter formula, instead of the typical mindless killing, and it's going to be really hard to ever find a way to enjoy a typical dual-stick shooter again. Bug Heroes is receiving a lot of positive impressions from players in our forums, and Foursaken is actively addressing feedback and suggestions. If you have any interest in the various genres present in Bug Heroes, or you just like a solid action game, then it's definitely recommended to give Bug Heroes a look.

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The Mac App Store is upon us, or, those of us who own a Mac, I suppose. After spending the day fiddling with it, buying various games, and trying out other things, there's a lot of potential here but still room for improvement. What sticks out as one of the immediate best things about the Mac App Store is how wonderfully open it seems to be. Back when it was first announced, many DRM doomsday theorists proposed that this was going to lead to the Mac being just as locked down as the iOS platform. So far, this couldn't be further from the truth.

Setting up a Mac App Store account is easy, and using that account on multiple computer is as simple as logging in and verifying your billing information. For me, this meant filling in the CV2 code from my credit card and verifying my county for tax purposes. From there, both of my computers have had full access to the same Mac App Store account, which is made even easier thanks to the "purchases" tab on top.

I hope this "purchases" functionality makes its way over to the iOS App Store, as it is absolutely phenomenal to see all the things you own, and be given the option to re-download and install them. Currently on the iOS App Store, the only way to check if your account owns something is by attempting to leave a review and/or digging through convoluted receipt listings. It's also much nicer to have the Mac App Store as its own standalone application, as many of the features in functionality of iTunes feel like they have been shoehorned in over the years (to say the least).

What's also great about the Mac App Store is just how portable everything you've downloaded is. Since Mac apps are stored inside of tight little application bundles, you can store them wherever you want. This includes dragging them over to external hard drives, and even USB flash drives. From there, you can take those same apps you purchased through the Mac App Store on portable storage and run them on any other computer authorized to your account.

The down side of this is that your saved game files are stored in ~/Library/Application Support/, so while you can play games on any computer authorized on your account that you plug your storage device in to, synchronizing save data will take some Dropbox (or similar) trickery.

The Mac App Store is even recognizing things purchased outside the store. I purchased Transmit 3 from Panic a while ago, entirely through their payment and serial key system, and the Mac App Store shows it as one of my installed applications. I will be interested to see what effect this has on the update process, and if Transmit (or other outside software) will be updatable via the Mac App Store.

What I'm not liking so much is how purchasing something automatically adds it to your dock. I understand that this is a great user interface method to make it clear that you're buying something, where it's going on your computer, and its download progress as the bar fills up. It would be nice to be able to turn this off, as I imagine most serious OS X users like managing their docks themselves, and don't appreciate the Mac App Store barfing icons everywhere.

The initial offers of the Mac App Store seem a little lackluster. I fully understand that many of these games are just iOS staples that were relatively easy to port to the Mac, but so much is lost in a game like Flight Control when you strip away the multi-touch drawing interface and replace it with a mouse pointer. Sure, it's still technically the same game, but it was that line drawing mechanic that worked so well on the touch screen that made Flight Control the classic game that it is today.

It's also a little annoying how so many games initially force full screen mode, and don't offer any kind of interface element to switch back in to windowed mode. Thankfully Command F kicks everything I've tried back in to windowed mode without issue and other OS X system-wide shortcuts work fine such as Command Q to quit whatever it is that you're playing.

Overall the Mac App Store shows a ton of potential, and I really can't wait to see how it evolves over time. The iOS App Store didn't get as awesome as it is now overnight, and I expect that there will be a lot of changes on the Mac App Store as developers figure out what works best on the platform, what price people are willing to pay, and other things like that. All in all, this is an incredibly exciting time to be a Mac user.

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The iOS platform is home to some great input methods. Developers have utilized multitouch, tilt, and, in some cases, even the gyroscope and microphone for some incredibly creative games that would only be possible on iOS devices. But what about more traditional games that can't be controlled this way? As many of you know, that's where the highly debated virtual joysticks and buttons come into play. The problem with these virtual controls is that for as great as multitouch input is, no iOS device can offer any kind of tactile feedback for virtual controls.

Depending on how adept you are with working with them and how cleverly developers design them, the effect of virtual controls ranges from being largely game-breaking to not that big of a deal. Still, over the lifespan of the App Store, it's not hard to think of several games that would be much better using a real controller regardless of how good (or bad) the virtual controls may be. This is a problem that Ten One Design hopes to solve with the Fling Game Controller for iPad.

The Fling is a cleverly designed device with two suction cups on one side connected to a plastic ring. Inside of the plastic ring is a spiral that suspends an electrically conductive joystick in the center. This spiral works like a spring, always returning the joystick to the center, and providing more resistance the closer you get to the edge of the plastic ring. It's made out of clear plastic with a Fling logo that comes in three different colors: black, blue, and purple.

NOTE: The preview units are from the initial prototype run, the final units will be made of completely clear plastic, not the slightly yellowish material these are made of.

Using the Fling is as simple as loading a game that you want to play that uses some kind of virtual control, and sticking it on the device with the attached suction cups. If you're playing a game with floating virtual joysticks like most dual stick shooters, all you've got to do is position it wherever is most comfortable to you, press down both suction cups, and you're ready to roll. Games with controls that are static take a little bit more fiddling around. Sometimes you need to get creative with which direction you're going to have the Fling facing in order to hit the center of the touch point while still having ample room for the suction cups to stick.

The build quality of the device seems sturdy enough to do the job, but the way the internal spiral is constructed makes me a little nervous to just haphazardly pocket it or throw it in my laptop bag. I'm reluctant to really do any durability tests since these are preview units, but according to Ten One Designs, the Fling is made of a type of resin which very difficult to break and they've subjected it to "major torture" without issue. Still, there is no escaping the fact that the Fling feels like a piece of plastic, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence when considering the price at which they are selling them.

Ten One Designs is currently taking preorders of the Fling for $25 each, or $38 for a pair, which seems expensive for a piece of plastic. The price, however, is probably in line with what most iPad accessories cost. Either way, Ten One Designs is expecting the Fling to begin shipping towards the end of this month.

The good news is, for many games, the Fling is absolutely outstanding. Playing dual stick shooters using the Fling is, in a word, glorious. I easily decimated my Geometry Wars [99¢] high scores. With real joysticks, Max Adventure [99¢] is a joy to play. Age of Zombies [$2.99] feels like it was made to be played with the Fling, with the secondary weapon buttons positioned perfectly outside its plastic ring.

First person shooters work great as well. In fact, I almost felt like I was cheating in N.O.V.A. 2 HD [$6.99] my overall accuracy improved so much. It's really incredible just how much of a difference it makes, almost making N.O.V.A. 2 feel like an XBOX game with a real controller. Similarly, the Fling works really well in every Gameloft game I tried, as the ability to move the various on-screen controls around allows you to perfectly position the Fling wherever you're comfortable, while also placing the buttons within reach.

Games that use a single virtual joystick also work awesomely, as expected. LEGO Harry Potter [$4.99] and our own game of the year's iPad counterpart Space Miner HD [$4.99] are both great with a real joystick.

As far as what doesn't work so well: any game that relies on swiping instead of a virtual stick with both a center point and a maximum that are inside of the Fling's range of motion. Aralon: Sword and Shadow [$9.99] was on my short list of games I really wanted to try with the Fling, and while the movement joystick works fantastic, camera controls don't. Positioning a second Fling on the left side of the screen only moves the camera as much as moving your finger around would, so you hit the limit of where the Fling can move, and that's as far as the camera goes.

Games that you can't move interface elements around that have buttons close to the virtual joysticks also don't work. I was really excited to try Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light HD [$9.99] following our not so positive first impressions but by default, buttons are positioned under the Fling's spiral, making them impossible to press. It seems like you might be able to move them around in the game's settings, but it crashed 100% of the time when I tried.

I suppose now it comes down to the inevitable question of do I recommend preordering the Fling? Well, it all comes down to what you do with your iPad. If you're the kind of person who loves dual stick shooters and FPS games, and do the majority of your gaming at home or somewhere that needing to fiddle around with accessories is not out of the question– and if you can swallow the $38 –I say go for it. However, if you primarily use your iPad as a ultra portable tablet that you also game on, I'm not so sure I'd want to cart my Fling(s) around wherever I go.

The beautiful thing about both the iPhone and iPad is you don't generally need to haul around extra junk. They do so much as is that all you might ever need is a pair of headphones for most outings. Also, it really comes down to how much of an issue virtual controls are for you. If the inherent lack of precision generally found in virtual controls doesn't really bother you, then you likely won't see much of a benefit from using the Fling. Also, don't bother buying a Fling if you don't have an iPad: it's too wide to attach well to the iPhone and obscures over half the screen.

Personally, all too often I find myself saying, "This is good, but it would be so much better with real controls." A Fling still isn't a substitute for a real analog controller, but it sure is a step in the right direction… Assuming you can put up with yet another accessory, of course.

Product Page: Fling for iPad

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Regular readers have seen us mention the classic Amiga platform in various capacities over the years. An extremely influential gaming platform, the Amiga outperformed all of the consoles of its day and delivered to users the best home gaming experience that could be had (not to mention robust general purpose computing, to boot).

The Amiga's game library includes thousands of titles, many of which are just superb. We've been fortunate to see a number of Amiga classic ported to the iOS platform, opening these titles up to a new generation of gamers. A few such titles that come to mind are Flashback, Krypton Egg, Qwak, Beneath a Steel Sky, Giana Sisters, Pinball Fantasies, Pipe Mania, Babylonian Twins, and the upcoming Speedball 2, not to mention the iAmiga emulation system.

I'm happy to report that another Amiga classic is about to make its App Store debut as a native iOS title: Cope-Com's vertical shooter Battle Squadron, one of the very best Amiga shooters ever developed and a particular favorite of those of us here at TouchArcade that have spent time in front of an Amiga.

We've been in talks with Martin Pedersen and Torben Larsen of Cope-Com for weeks regarding their soon to be released iOS title. We've been tracking the game's progress and have just gotten the heads-up that it's now complete — start to finish — with only menu and transition elements left to be put in place. And, in honor of the new year, the developers have given us exclusive access to a brief demonstration video showing a bit of in-game action from the iPad version.

I've been gaming for 30 years now, and can honestly say that Battle Squadron is probably my favorite 2D shooter of them all. It's a sequel to Cape-Com's Amiga shooter Hybris, which will also make its way to the App Store sometime later this year. I can't wait to get my hands on both of these titles and share reactions with our readers. Stay tuned.

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Brick and mortar game peddlers will never die thanks to the creative minds of Kairosoft, the creators of Game Dev Story [$3.99 / Lite]. Hours before we donned our tinfoil hats and celebrated the New Future Year of 2011, the studio released a new game called "Waiwai! The Game Dealer" across the Japanese App Store.

Here's what's so exciting: as its name and the studio's pedigree implies, Waiwai! The Game Dealer is a simulation title that puts you in the role of a game store manager, much like GDS put you in the role of a game studio manager. Hilariously, it appears as if you'll also dabble in the video game stock trade (in order to boost profits) and even play around with food. To be frank, we're not sure what the latter has to do with the game, but hey, GDS had a monkey that could program.

We've e-mailed the fine folks at Kairosoft to see if Waiai! The Game Dealer will be localized and we'll let you know when we find out. I think, though, that it might be safe to assume it will, eventually, provided Japanese sales are strong enough. As we've noted in the past, Kairosoft dug the reception of GDS and have confirmed that its sequel will see an English-language release. I'd imagine GDS2 won't be the end of the line for its localization efforts.

[Additional translation help given to me by owner of Rockmelon Soda, Topher! Thanks, dude!]

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While our iPhone game of the year took tons of deliberation, the iPad game was far more clear cut. Since the device's release, we've yet to really see much in the way of killer iPad-exclusive content. Most developers instead have somewhat understandably have chosen to use the iPhone and iPod touch as their target platforms, then either eventually release a universal update or a completely separate "HD" version of the game. 2D Boy really knocked it out of the park in releasing an iPad-exclusive version of their hit indie PC/Mac/Wii game World of Goo [$9.99]

We really couldn't say enough good things about it in our review, as adding a multitouch interface to the game enhanced overall gameplay more than I could ever have imagined. On the PC/Mac, you built up huge towers of goo balls utilizing the mouse pointer, which seems to be impossible to go back to after being able to hold a single goo ball with each finger while panning the camera around with the other hand.

If you own an iPad, this is a game you need to have. If you've played World of Goo on another platform, it's still worth playing through again just because of how much better of an experience it is on the iPad.

Runner Up: Plants vs. Zombies

We had a great time with Popcap's Plants vs. Zombies [$2.99] for the iPhone, but we thought the game was substantially better when played on the iPad with Plants vs. Zombies HD [$6.99]. Very similar to World of Goo, we enjoyed Plants vs. Zombies a ton playing on our computers, but with the multitouch screen of the iPad, the game turns in to something else entirely.

Plants vs. Zombies is an incredibly casual tower defense game that's easy enough for people who have never played a tower defense style game to get in to with any more explanation than the tutorial offers, yet deep enough for even hardcore players to get in to. Progressing further in to the game unlocks additional seeds to use to plant your defenses, and the seeds you choose offer a surprising amount of variation to the game and it's balanced well enough that you can generally focus on using the seeds you like instead of using the seeds that are the "best".

This is a game that everyone with an iPad needs to own, and it's available on so many platforms, if you haven't yet you really need to try Plants vs. Zombies on something.

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