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Marking a significant improvement over the recent Justin Bieber Revenge [$4.99] comes tonight's release from Tapulous, Nirvana Revenge [$4.99]. Following the same formula as the rest of the Revenge games, Nirvana Revenge comes with thirteen Nirvana song from several different albums (and live performances) to tap along with for less than you could buy the same songs from iTunes for.

The track list should make any 90's alternative fan happy:

• "All Apologies" (In Utero, 1993)
• "Breed" (Nevermind, 1991)
• "Breed" (Live at Reading, 2009)
• "Come As You Are" (Nevermind, 1991)
• "Heart Shaped Box" (In Utero, 1993)
• "In Bloom" (Nevermind, 1991)
• "Lithium" (Nevermind, 1991)
• "Lithium" (Live at Reading, 2009)
• "Rape Me" (In Utero, 1993)
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Nevermind, 1991)
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Live at Reading, 2009)
• "Stay Away" (Nevermind, 1991)
• "You Know You're Right" (Nirvana, 2002)

If this is the first you've heard of Tapulous's rhythm games, they're the finger tapping equivalent of Dance Dance Revolution. There are free versions you can try to see how the game works before diving in to any of the paid licensed games. For the iPhone you can either download Tap Tap Revenge 3 Boost [Free] or if you have an iPad, grab Tap Tap Radiation [Free]

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The iPad version of Flight Control introduced a mechanic that allows users to safely fast-forward the game, essentially snuffing the "every plane has a destination" slow-going doldrums. A new update to the iPhone / iPod Touch version appears as if it'll do the same.

According to a recent post on developer Firemint's blog, the creator has pushed out a new update to the handheld version of Flight Control that adds the fast-forward mechanic introduced in the iPad version of the game, as well as a new map, more "vibrant" visuals, and enhanced sound options.

Firemint describes the new airfield as a "winter wonderland," but it could easily be dubbed a nightmare. Runways will close and open due to manic bursts of wind, ensuring a frantic play experience.

Users can also give themselves a hard time on even the base map by over-utilizing the two-speed fast-forward mechanic, which can be activated by the press of a button. The first tier gently speeds up the game but will automatically slow down if planes get too close to each other. The latter option ignores warnings and stays fast regardless.

While it's true that the colors are more saturated, the visual update isn't an overhaul. Its utilitarian purpose is to make flight paths more pronounced, which it certainly does.

Firemint's post also makes mention of a performance update alongside all these goodies. Without a side-by-side comparison, we'll just have to take the developer's word on that one. Or better yet,  your word. The update is just as free as you are to comment on this post.

App Store Link: Flight Control, .99

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Nearly one full year ago, the original PewPew was released onto the App Store during the height of dual-stick space shooter popularity. Despite the massive influx of similar games around this time, PewPew managed to gain some notoriety for its retro-inspired vector graphics, responsive controls, frantic game modes, and the reasonable price tag of free. Many players even commented on feeling slightly guilty for having scored such a quality game for nothing at all. Luckily for them, and for the rest of us, the chance to show monetary gratitude is at hand as PewPew 2 is now available for $1.99. It expands upon everything that made the original so successful and adds a challenging single player campaign, enhanced graphical effects, and a couple of other neat surprises.

The biggest new addition is the Campaign Mode, made up of ten separate levels. Each of these levels are incredibly unique from one another, and some pose a devastating difficulty. (Note, the difficulty has been a point of discussion in our forums). Every gameplay element that was present in the first game is utilized in some way throughout the campaign, as well as many clever new ideas. As just one example, the level Spring Theory tethers your ship to a point in the middle of a room and tasks you with trying to avoid ever-increasing enemies within the limited mobility, and once you've survived the onslaught for 50 seconds, shooting every last one of them. More so than any other game, PewPew 2 tests your ability to dodge enemies just as heavily as it does your ability to blast them, and the campaign is a satisfying and varied experience that exemplifies that.

If you get stuck at a particularly hard spot in the campaign, you can always take a break and jump over to Infinity Mode which houses all the modes that were present in the original game (MegaGore, Dodge This, Assault, and Chromatic Conflict) in addition to two brand new ones. The first is called Highway and has you racing around a circular track dodging and shooting enemies while trying to collect orbs as quickly as possible. The other new mode is Amalgam, and is somewhat like Assault but with the added element of many enemies. Both new modes are a lot of fun and fit in well with the rest of the game. Amalgam and Chromatic Conflict are locked initially, and can be accessed by completing the Campaign Mode at 50% and 100% intervals respectively. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals can be earned in every mode and used to unlock five additional ship styles. Also, every mode has a local and online leaderboard, with the full replay of each player's entry being easily viewable.

There's already a lot of great content in PewPew 2, and there's even more on the way. The developer is working on another campaign that will be at least as long as the first and two additional game types for Infinity Mode. This, along with universal iPad support, will be coming soon via free updates. There's also a desktop version in production for Windows/OS X that will give players the ability to create their own levels, which could conceivably be added into the iPhone version at the developers discretion. It will be interesting to see how this exciting project and the future of the iPhone version turn out.

The current version of PewPew 2 is one of the best dual-stick shooters available, and is well deserving of its modest price tag.  The original PewPew is free, and will eventually be updated as a proper lite version for the sequel, so if you want to get a taste of the gameplay give the first game a try.

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After being in review for over two weeks, Dizzypad HD [Free] is now available for your iPad. We gave the iPhone version of Dizzypad [$1.99] 4 stars back when it was released, and are enjoying the all new experiences the 'HD' version brings already. Even if you already own the iPhone version, you are going to want to still pick up the iPad version, especially since it is free.

In Dizzypad HD, the goal is to get your frog as far as you can by jumping on spinning lily pads. You tap the screen once your frog is facing the correct direction to reach the next lily pad, if you miss, you lose a life. There are also bonuses to gain extra lives by skipping a lily pad and jumping for the next furthest one, or jumping into a dragonfly and eating it. And that is just classic mode.

In addition to the free classic mode, there are 3 brand new modes to purchase via DLC at $1.99 each that are all new experiences in their own:

Sliders: A fun twist on the classic mode. Test your timing with pads that slide back and forth instead of rotating in place!
Memory: Be a froggy matchmaker and test your memory by picking frog pairs. Guaranteed to sharpen your wits!
Battle: Duke it out on the pond with a friend in this 2 player mode! Try your best to gobble each other up until your frog grows the largest.

I've had the most fun playing the two player mode 'Battle'. Where you play against a friend, jumping around the map on lily pads trying to eat your opponent, and first player to get to 3 wins. There can be some intense competition with this mode that you should try out if your looking for an iPad game with local multiplayer on the same screen.

The Plus+ Online service is also included so you can unlock awards, and compete on the online leaderboards in Classic, Sliders, and Memory modes against everyone. With each award you unlock by completing different tasks in the game, you also are given a new frog skin to choose from to play with. You have a total of 30 skins in all to use in the game after you finish the specific achievements.

Dizzypad HD offers a great new experience over the iPhone version that you should definitely check out and see for yourself. Here is a video of the iPad version:

App Store Link: Dizzypad HD, Free

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Gamevil, creators of the Zenonia and Baseball Superstars series are bringing another RPG of sorts to the App Store. Much like the Baseball Superstars games, it sounds like Soccer Superstars is going to offer a very similar sports RPG experience wrapped in a soccer game, according to what Gamevil has revealed so far.

Soccer Superstars is said to come with multiple game modes, ranging from single exhibition games to full seasons. However, the meat of the Superstars games, at least in my opinion, comes from the "My League" mode. If you're the kind of person who can get hopelessly sucked in to games where you're improving stats and watching bars fill, you will lose entire afternoons to playing series of games to improve your customized teams and players.

As you make your way through entire seasons of games with your team, you'll be able to train your stats, buy items, and (at least in Baseball Superstars) do ridiculous things like send your players out to sign autographs or even go on dates as part of building the best team of players imaginable.

We will have a full preview of Soccer Superstars in the not too distant future, and Gamevil expects to see the game on the App Store sometime this month. In the meantime, this is as good of a time as any to check out Baseball Superstars 2010 [$4.99 / Free], we loved the game in our review, and with Gamevil dangling another Superstars carrot in front of my face, I've found myself once again sucked in to grinding up my super batters.

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Over the weekend I got some hands-on time with Disney's upcoming action-packed racer, Split/Second. Developed in house utilizing scaled down versions of the assets from the XBOX 360 and PS3 version of the game, Split/Second for the iPhone is a fun racing game with a great sense of speed and a cool gameplay mechanic that involves blowing up portions of the track to change the layout of the course and sabotage opponents.

In Split/Second, you compete in a fictional reality television show where you compete for fame and fortune. Included are three gameplay modes: Season mode where you play through the TV show, quick race where you can play any unlocked track, and multiplayer mode which not only can be played locally via bluetooth and WiFi but also online.

While racing, you build up your powerplay meter by driving well, drifting, going over jumps, and other things you're going to be doing anyway as you rocket around courses. You can then spend this earned powerplay resource to do things like cause a bus to explode and come flying out on to the track, or even take out entire bridges in one massive fireball to act as a shortcut for the rest of the race.

The pace of the game is incredibly fast, so much so that I couldn't help but crash once in a while, without the AI opponents needing to sabotage my race. The framerate great on my iPhone 3GS, and Disney did a good job of replicating the feel of the console version which currently has free downloadable demos available on both the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network store.

Of course the down side to having a freely available console demo to compare this game to is you can see exactly how much they needed to strip out of the game to get it to run as well as it does on the iPhone. The XBOX 360 version is loaded with particle effects, insane explosions, and all sorts of other graphical flare that does a great job at setting the action-packed mood of the game.

Split/Second for the iPhone is still pretty cool, but I can't help but feel that a little of what makes the console version so great was lost in translation. Check out the series of gameplay trailers compared to the above gameplay video to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Regardless of what may be missing from the iPhone version of the game, the online multiplayer functionality could turn out to be the true killer feature of Split/Second. If the community takes off, I could see having a ton of fun with this game– I suppose we'll see when the game launches on the 18th of this month.

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Last year we took a look at Flower Garden [App Store] from Snappy Touch, the virtual flower garden for your iPhone or iPad (it's a universal app). And while it's more of a simulation / eToy / work of eArt than a game, we found it to be something special. For Mothers' Day weekend, author Noel Llopis is making the game available for free download through the App Store. Why send dear ole' Mom a physical bouquet when you can put a Flower Garden in her pocket?

In Flower Garden, you can plant different types of seeds, water them and watch them bloom. Some flowers bloom immediately, while others may take some care over time. Once you have a collection of flowers, you can even cut them and send them to your friends in an electronic bouquet. There's no real goal to Flower Garden, though there are various seeds you can unlock as you grow more flowers.

We've had the pleasure of meeting up with the game's author Noel Llopis at several West Coast iPhone-related events and are impressed by the maintenance he's given the app; in the past year there have been 12 updates in all. It's a fun little app to spend time with. Those who like what they're hearing and who enjoy the pitter-patter of little feet about their home might want to have a look at Noel's spinoff title, Lorax Garden [App Store] — Flower Garden with the Dr. Seuss touch.

App Store Link: Flower Garden, Free (weekend sale)

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Our April game ratings are in place now, and here are the top of the heap. Our monthly "best of" round-up summarizes the top rated games that we looked at in the previous month. Each game reviewed receives a 1-5 star rating relative to the other games from that month. Generally, a 3 or higher is considered a "good" rating.

Our final scores are not the product of any traditional measures such as graphics or sound, but simply reflect the games we would most recommend to others.

5 Stars

Chaos Rings – One of the most ambitious RPG games we've seen so far for the iPhone. The graphics and gameplay are exactly what you'd expect out of a Square Enix RPG. Battle in parties of two in classic turn-based battles as you make your way through a story that's just as ridiculous as any other Japanese RPG. (Review, App Store: iPhone)

4.5 Stars

Babylonian Twins – Sixteen years in the making, Babylonian Twins delivers an amazingly challenging yet satisfying iPhone and iPad puzzle platformer. In many modern platformers, I've felt like I'm just mindlessly going through the motions to make it to the end of each level. Babylonian Twins, however, really keeps you enthralled throughout. (Review, App Store: iPhone, iPad)

Pocket Legends – This free online multiplayer game for both the iPhone and iPad that is a ton of fun and playing in a party with your friends is especially impressive while you're playing via 3G as the netcode does a great job in providing a lag-free experience. Additional content is available via in-game DLC, but you can really get a good feel for the game before you ever need to buy anything. (Review, App Store: iPhone, iPad)

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 – A surprisingly competent port of the classic skateboarding game. Everything is included from the original, and once you get used to the virtual controls, you'll be performing endless combos in no time in the many included skating locations.(Review, App Store:iPhone)

Espgaluda II – Bullet hell at its best on the iPhone. Even not being a huge fan of the genre, we fell quick and hard in love with Espgaluda II. It is the best 2D shooter experience in the App Store with great touch controls. Note: It will only run on the latest generation devices. (Review, App Store: iPhone 3GS, 3rd Gen iPod Touch, or pixel-doubled on iPad)

Honorable Mentions

There were several additional games this month that we felt we should highlight even though they didn't fall in the highest tiers.

Warpgate – A space conquest game with an amazing sense of scope. Warpgate has cool graphics, an interesting faction system to get involved in, and a dynamic in-game economy that can keep you busy for as long as you remain interested in the game. (Review, App Store: iPhone, iPad)

Geometry Wars iPad – A marvelous port of the XBOX Live Arcade game, it includes all the different game modes and has individual online leaderboards for each of them. The graphics are great, the music fits perfectly, and overall we just really want this game on our iPhones as the dual stick control method doesn't feel ideal for the iPad. (Review, App Store: iPad)

Sketch Nation – While the gameplay of the games created in Sketch Nation are generally just simple vertical shooters or other very basic games, the ability to draw and create your own game is one of the best uses of the iPhone camera we've seen. Even if you can't draw, you can still have a great time making a terrible game based on your own art that you photograph. (Review, App Store)

The rest of April game ratings can be seen in their respective rating categories (also found in the sidebar navigation): 5 Stars, 4.5 Stars, 4 Stars, 3.5 Stars, 3 Stars, and 2.5 Stars.

As always, we expect there will be some debate about relative scores, but keep in mind that everyone's personal ratings may vary based on individual tastes.

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The multi-award winning game Edge [$.99] by Mobigame returns to the App Store again, in the U.S. and United Kingdom. If you haven't heard by now, there has been an ongoing legal battle over a trademark dispute on the name "Edge". Resulting in the game being pulled off the App Store multiple times and being resubmitted with different names like EDGE, EDGY, and Edge by Mobigame. Well it looks like the battle is over, as the game has reappeared and Mobigame says:

Thanks to us the word "edge" is now free to exist on the App Store like on any other marketplace, and games like Mirror's Edge, Shadow Edge, Killer Edge Racing or Edge by Mobigame can live on our iDevices.

Edge is a game where you are in control of a colorful cube that you must guide through multiple 3D isometric mazes, packed with puzzles to solve and challenges to overcome. With the choice of touch or accelerometer controls, as you can see in the video, the game requires quick thinking and skill to make your way through all the mazes.

Overall, Edge is a great game that we thoroughly enjoyed playing and recommend that you pick it up. Especially since, the game is on sale this weekend to celebrate its return to the App Store once again. Normally $4.99, the game is currently only $.99, so now is a better time than ever to pick up this excellent game. And hopefully Edge is here to stay for good.

App Store Link: Edge, $.99

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