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Anyone who reads Touch Arcade regularly knows that I'm a pretty hardcore retro gamer. Not so long ago you could spot me on the street sporting my European carry-all filled with mobile devices such as the GP2X, a hacked PSP, and a DS, all to enable an on-the-go retro gaming fix when I just had to have it. Happily, all that's changed since the App Store arrived. And, yes, there are now games for every sort of gamer out there for the iPhone — tens of thousands of them — and that's great news for gamers. But what's so surprising to me is just how many retro conversions and remakes have made their way to the App Store. It really is heaven for die-hard retro nuts like myself.

I'm happy to report that the latest member of the App Store's excellent retro line-up is Data East's classic arcade hit Karate Champ [App Store], which has been ported to the iPhone by Revolutionary Concepts, the studio that brought us the classic Cobra Command. And they've ported it wonderfully.

Karate Champ, which was rated one of the 10 most influential games of all time by IGN, is a 1984 arcade fighter that was one of the very first 2D, side-perspective, face-to-face fighters to hit the arcades. In Karate Champ, the player controlls a karateka with two joysticks, one for movement and one for attacks, that together allowed for a wide variety of attack combination. It is a match for points as well as a race against the clock; if both fighters are still standing when the timer runs down, he with the most points wins. It's simple by today's fighter standards, but is appealingly so to many, myself included.

Revolutionary Concepts' iPhone conversion is done superbly. The dual-stick control mechanism is handled via on-screen joysticks which, while no match for physical controls, work rather well. Enhancing the experience are a number of iPhone-specific option settings, such as display scan-lines, a "super large" character mode, two backdrop cabinet designs, and three difficulty settings. A two-player mode has been included that allows local WiFi or Bluetooth fights between iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users.

As far as I can see, aside from the necessary control alterations for the iPhone's touch screen, Karate Champ for the iPhone is a perfect conversion. If you liked the game as a kid in the arcade, you will definitely find the iPhone title well worth the $1.99 asking price. And if you're a modern fighter fan who cares little for the retro, the simplicity of this formula might just tickle your fancy, despite the jaggies. Our readers are loving it.

App Store Link: Karate Champ, $1.99

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That's right, Konami has announced that they will be bringing Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

They also go on to say that the game will not be a port from any other existing version, "we wanted the iPhone/iPod touch game to be its own special one". Their goal is to target the quality of the PSP version:

Firstly because we thought graphics on the PSP looked fabulous, secondly because of the iPhone's processing speed and display capacities being potentially comparable to those of a "small" PSP.

It seems as though soccer games are becoming more and more plentiful on the App Store with EA, Gameloft, X2 Games, and now Konami all competing for the best one. Resulting in the quality of these games to really raise the bar on iPhone gaming, and only benefiting the end users for the best possible soccer experience available for their iPhones and iPod Touches.

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One of the mainstays on our devices since its release almost a year ago is Cobra Mobile's aerial bombardment game, iBomber. Evidently many of you liked it too as it enjoyed long bouts as the #1 best selling game on the App Store last year. And now, Cobra Mobile has bought us the long-awaited sequel as iBomber 2 [AppStore] finally deploys.

iBomber 2 theatre of war takes place over North Africa and Europe between 1943 and 1944, prompting a change in scenery from the Pacific Island setting of the original game to also include deserts, frozen tundras and forests too. The game engine otherwise remains untouched, so expect no graphical improvements beyond the new landscapes, which are all richly drawn and detailed.

Instead, iBomber 2 focuses on a few added features to sell its sequel. Naturally, the stars of the show– the artillery– had to receive an update. They now include torpedos and depth charges (specifically designed to fight submarines), artillery strikes (which places a marker for a broad-ranged attack to commence) and carpet bombs (a lot of ordinance, all in a neat row). Other new, non-artillery power-ups include the wingman ability, which calls in 2 wingmen to fly below you and soak up your damage for a time.

Missions and enemies are the second spruced up feature in iBomber 2. There are now tanks to contend with, some of which may even fire surface-to-air missiles (leaving a great looking smoke trail) that you have to avoid or suffer a huge damage hit. Additionally, some of the 12 new missions require you to protect or destroy a number of fleeing vehicles, assisting to mix up the usual search and destroy objectives of other levels. We were particularly fond of one level where you supported a spy to flee after he comes under fire when infiltrating an enemy base. Seeing other units benefiting from your actions gave added context to the ongoing war, something we felt should have featured more prominently.

Another major inclusion to iBomber 2 is the new touch control scheme. Cobra Mobile have listened to cries for a non-tilt option, and have implemented a virtual thumb-stick of sorts. Swiping your finger on the left of the screen reveals a small analogue stick, indicating the direction you are currently heading. Swiping left and right steers the bomber, whilst swiping up and down changes your speed. We felt that while the new touch controls were a thoughtful addition, they proved too fiddly to master and were prone to causing your ship to spin erratically. For a change, the tilt mechanism is tried and true, and continues to work best here.

We were surprised to see a rather paltry list of added features in iBomber 2, appearing to be little more than a map expansion despite the addition of a few fun new weapons. We were really hoping for an improvement to the core gameplay of the first game, but aside from the abovementioned chase missions, other objectives are largely the same. That said, when your original game is met with the sort of success that iBomber enjoyed, perhaps more of the same is exactly what customers are demanding.

If this sounds to your liking, then we're confident you'll enjoy playing through the 12 missions in iBomber 2 and seeing how you'll fare against your friends via the new Plus+ high score integration. If you're still not sure though, check out the developer's trailer above for a look and flick through other users' impressions on our forums.

App Store Link: iBomber 2, $2.99.

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Gizmodo found an awesome video of someone in Korea playing the recently released Taiko no Tatsujin [App Store, Japan Only], a drum game which hasn't made its way to the US or European App Stores yet. Taiko Drum Master, as its known around these parts is played with a set of thick drum sticks and a matching drum pad that plugs in to whatever console you're playing the game on.

Naturally, the iPhone port utilizes your fingers on the touch screen, but obviously fails to provide the feel of actually using the drum sticks. Since the iPhone uses a capacitive touchscreen, you can't just use any old drum stick to beat on the screen as you need something electrically conductive. (Which is why your finger works, but a typical stylus doesn't.) Thankfully, it would seem cased meat products are the perfect replacement for Taiko drum sticks:

I had joked with friends who were complaining about the lack of a stylus with the iPad that they could just use a hot dog. At no point did I really think someone would actually decide to use cased meat to beat on the screen of their iPhone. Perhaps the hot dog stylus will be more popular than I originally thought.

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Retro gaming fans can add another item to their "things in life to be excited for" list, as we just got word that Manomio, who brought us the C64 for iPhone [App Store] emulator, is currently working on bringing an Amiga emulator to the App Store.

Retro Gamer magazine recently talked with the developer, Stuart Carnie, who indicates that games will likely be distributed as individual, packaged apps to keep the Amiga operating system hidden, allowing the player to focus only on the games themselves. There's not much information right now as to just which Amiga games we'll be seeing on the iPhone, but Retro Gamer indicates that, among the games on the way, is Archer MacLean's classic fighter International Karate +.

"We've ported an Amiga system and have secured some great games," says Stuart. "It runs at full speed on a 3GS and similar hardware and at a respectable frame rate for the 3G devices. IK+ plays very well."

For readers unfamiliar with the Amiga, it is a 16-bit computer released by Commodore in 1985. While it did not see enormous popularity in the United States, it was wildly popular in Europe and is considered by many to be one of the very best game platforms ever created. (And it's a platform I happen to hold quite close to my own heart.)

The Amiga was so capable a game machine back in 1985 that even today's gamers without any particular retro inclination should enjoy the vast majority of titles with which Manomio is about to gift us.

Have a look at this nice sampling of 100 Amiga games in 10 minutes.

You can be sure we will bring additional information on Manomio's latest as we receive it. I can't wait to see what's in store for iPhone gamers from the world of Amiga gaming.

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From Revolution Software, the same people who brought the iPhone the fantastic remake of Beneath a Steel Sky, comes Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars: The Director's Cut [$6.99], a remake of a point-and-click adventure from '96 that many consider to be one of the greatest games within its genre. As we covered in our preview two different versions of this remake were already published on the DS and Wii in March of 2009, and the new iPhone version is a bit of a mixture of the two, adding full voice acting and other features that the DS version lacked.

Broken Sword, which was renamed Circle of Blood for its release in the USA, has been given a significant facelift. Whereas the original version of the game focused almost solely on the male character, George Stobbart, The Director's Cut does a better job of fleshing out the back story of the game's female protagonist, Nicole Collard. The game opens as Nicole prepares for an interview that unexpectedly becomes a murder investigation when the man she was set to interview is shot by a mysterious mime. Other modifications to the game include new puzzles that are specific to the iPhone platform and new art and animation from Dave Gibbons, who you might be familiar with through his work on Watchmen.

The story in Broken Sword, as in most point-and-click adventure games, is the most important element of the game, so those who haven't played a version of the game before will be pleased to find that Broken Sword's writing is excellent, and the story is quite gripping. I particularly enjoyed the self-depreciating sense of humor that Nicole occasionally displays with her commentary, and George is a comedic parody of an American from a European perspective, making him a fairly amusing character as well.

For a point-and-click adventure, Broken Sword does a lot to make itself easily accessible. In an intelligent move by the developers, a simple finger swipe will reveal everything that George or Nicole can interact within a single screen, preventing players from having to poke around the screen randomly until they find something that they can interact with. The game's many puzzles range from brain games wherein an abstract combination of collected items must be used to progress to a lock-picking game that's nearly identical to the iPhone's own Blocked to a ridiculously complex cypher that players must harness incredible code-breaking skills to crack.

Luckily, the game has a built-in walkthrough in the form of a hint system that can be easily accessed if players want to give up and find the answer to a puzzle. For each puzzle there are several hints, each one more explicit than the last, with the last one usually being a straight-up answer to the puzzle for players who just couldn't figure things out. The genius of both the "swipe-to-reveal" mechanic and the hint system is that it's possible to never use either if a player doesn't want to. Some of the hardcore fans of the original PC version of the game that're picking up the iPhone version will want a more "pure" experience, and that option is available to them, but softies like myself can still enjoy the game without having to resort to an online walkthrough.

Broken Sword's creative touch interface works like a charm on the iPhone screen, but it was the one-two punch of the game's fantastic soundtrack and art that really hooked me. The piano-heavy orchestral soundtrack is so good that I purchased it from the iTunes store so I could listen to it later, and the fact that every line of dialogue in the game is voiced makes this a game that must be experienced with headphones. Dave Gibbon's contribution to the art and animation was an invaluable addition, as the painted backgrounds and the fluid animation adds a certain appealing touch to the game.

Even though I've never been a huge fan of point-and-click adventure games, the story and all around high-quality production values of Broken Sword sucked me in like a good book. Whether you're an old fan of the original game, a newcomer to the series, or even someone who's never played a point-and-click adventure before, Broken Sword is a game with mass appeal that will draw you in.

App Store Link: Broken Sword: The Director's Cut, $6.99

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We're not entirely sure if this release was intentional, or another iTunes Connect fat-finger like Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II Discovery, but Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was released this evening in several European countries. We will have more details shortly, including a gameplay video.

For the time being, here are the screenshots from iTunes:

App Store Link: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, $9.99 – Currently available in European countries only.

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The iPhone has attracted a notable number of Amiga game ports since the App Store went live. Worms, Pinball Dreams / Fantasies, Krypton Egg, Beneath a Steel Sky — the list goes on. For those unaware, the Amiga was an extremely innovative platform, released in 1985 by Commodore, that saw rather limited success outside of Europe. It featured a lean yet powerful operating system and a great deal of custom hardware that made it the choice gaming platform of the day (for those that were aware of its existence). Despite Commodore's demise in 1994, a few stragglers still carry the Amiga torch.

In an App Store first, the iPhone is about to receive a port of a highly praised Amiga game…that never was.

In 1993, Iraqi developer Rabah Shihab, part of the Mesopotamia Team, began work on the Amiga title Babylonian Twins (with basically no budget), inspired by what he saw of other games' depiction of Iraq. As he explained in an interview with Amiga Games That Weren't,

…My real dedication for this theme came during the early nineties after I saw a computer game in which you control a warplane with the goal of bombing Iraq. Putting the bombing aside (I was in Baghdad during the first gulf war and I saw the human suffering that resulted from the real bombing ), I didn't like the way they depicted Iraq in the game, as a primitive and uncivilized place. I wanted to build a game that counter that image, a game that shows the vibrant history of Mesopotamia. In Babylonian Twins, the game takes you to different historical places, from Babylon to Assyria. We relied on authentic history books to design many of the graphics in the game.

Shihab was impressed by the smooth scrolling of Team 17's Amiga title Superfrog and set out to deliver similar visual finesse in his title. Another inspiration was Konami's MSX release Maze of Galious. The team released a very well-liked demo version of the game, but no full Amiga release ever came. And although he, later, targeted the Xbox Live Arcade, it's the iPhone that will at long last receive the final release. And, befitting the game's history, the full Amiga release is also imminent.

The forthcoming game is a puzzle platformer with an authentic historic feel and unique two-character gameplay. It features the puzzle elements of Maze of Galious with the multi-character control of Lost Vikings, along with the glass-smooth animation of Superfrog. The author indicates that the iPhone version features an original soundtrack, excellent graphics, and over a dozen large levels.

See the developer's trailer video for a look at the updated version.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Videos of the original Amiga demo version can be seen here, here, and here. Amiga screenshots are also available.

UPDATE: In putting together this post, we sought further information from the developer, but he got back to us a bit after the post went live. Shihab wants to make sure readers are aware that the iPhone version of Babylonian Twins is an entirely new game that borrows no graphics or audio from the Amiga version. He assures us that all aspects of the game have been enhanced specifically for the iPhone by a dedicated team (and this time around on a healthy budget) over the course of the game's six-month development cycle.

We're quite anxious to get our hands on the final product and will bring further news of the iPhone release of Babylonian Twins as we get it. Stay tuned.

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The iPhone has attracted a notable number of Amiga game ports since the App Store went live. Worms, Pinball Dreams / Fantasies, Krypton Egg, Beneath a Steel Sky — the list goes on. For those unaware, the Amiga was an extremely innovative platform, released in 1985 by Commodore, that saw rather limited success outside of Europe. It featured a lean yet powerful operating system and a great deal of custom hardware that made it the choice gaming platform of the day (for those that were aware of its existence). Despite Commodore's demise in 1994, a few stragglers still carry the Amiga torch.

In an App Store first, the iPhone is about to receive a port of a highly praised Amiga game…that never was.

In 1993, Iraqi developer Rabah Shihab, part of the Mesopotamia Team, began work on the Amiga title Babylonian Twins (with basically no budget), inspired by what he saw of other games' depiction of Iraq. As he explained in an interview with Amiga Games That Weren't,

…My real dedication for this theme came during the early nineties after I saw a computer game in which you control a warplane with the goal of bombing Iraq. Putting the bombing aside (I was in Baghdad during the first gulf war and I saw the human suffering that resulted from the real bombing ), I didn't like the way they depicted Iraq in the game, as a primitive and uncivilized place. I wanted to build a game that counter that image, a game that shows the vibrant history of Mesopotamia. In Babylonian Twins, the game takes you to different historical places, from Babylon to Assyria. We relied on authentic history books to design many of the graphics in the game.

Shihab was impressed by the smooth scrolling of Team 17's Amiga title Superfrog and set out to deliver similar visual finesse in his title. Another inspiration was Konami's MSX release Maze of Galious. The team released a very well-liked demo version of the game, but no full Amiga release ever came. And although he, later, targeted the Xbox Live Arcade, it's the iPhone that will at long last receive the final release. And, befitting the game's history, the full Amiga release is also imminent.

The forthcoming game is a puzzle platformer with an authentic historic feel and unique two-character gameplay. It features the puzzle elements of Maze of Galious with the multi-character control of Lost Vikings, along with the glass-smooth animation of Superfrog. The author indicates that the iPhone version features an original soundtrack, excellent graphics, and over a dozen large levels.

See a video of the Amiga demo release of the game. (Screenshots in this article are also taken from the Amiga demo release).

Other Amiga demo videos can be seen here and here. Screenshots are also available.

We're quite anxious to get our hands on the final product and will bring further news of the iPhone release of Babylonian Twins as we get it. Stay tuned.

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As part of the iTunes 12 Days of Christmas promotion, Gameloft has provided their game Let's Golf game for Free for download. While the promotion is typically limited to Europe, it appears the free Let's Golf pricing is reflected in App Stores worldwide.

Let's Golf was listed amongst the best games for 2009 and offers a great arcade golf experience for the iPhone.

Let’s Golf plays remarkably similar to the Sony PSP’s Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee and does a great job in duplicating all the fun things about the Hot Shots series. The graphics are superb for an iPhone game and the only noticeable frame rate dips are minor and only seem to occur when the camera pans out quickly.

If you haven't picked this up yet, this is certainly a must-download while it is free.

App Store Link: Let's Golf, Free (for a day)

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