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iPhone developer TouchGrove, who brought us the retro '70s LED Football [App Store] for the iPhone and the entertaining Air Harp [App Store] for the iPad, has released another retro remake, Castle Bash [App Store] for the iPad.

Castle Bash is a remake of Atari's 1980 arcade release Warlords, which is probably best known for its release on the Atari 2600 console in 1981. Rated the 25th greatest video game of all time by Game Informer, Warlords allows up to four players to compete in a castle defense bout that's something of a combination of Breakout and Elimination / Quadrapong.

Warlords presents a game screen consisting four castles, one in each corner, each of which must be defended by a movable shield that can slide along the castle walls. The shield is used to deflect a fireball that bounces about the play area, knocking out bricks on impact with a castle wall. If a wall is breached and the fireball knocks out the king inside, that player gets zero points for the round, while the last player standing gets one point. The game allows for one to four human players to get in on the action.

Castle Bash is pretty much an exact rendition of the Warlords formula. The game allows either one or four human players to man each castle, the latter scenario making great use of the iPad's large screen for tabletop group gaming. There is an Arcade mode which is just one round of quick play, as well as a Tournament mode that brings round after round of play. The game's visuals are straight up retro, with blocky, glowing pixels that, along with the simple, "blippy" sound effects, will take anyone familiar with the Atari classic right back to the early '80s.

Castle Bash, like Warlords before it, is a rather simple game by today's standards — we're talking 30 year-old gameplay, after all. But it is entertaining. In fact, Warlords was recently released on the Xbox Live Arcade. The only real complaint I have with the title is the need to trace a finger along the line of the castle walls to move your shield. The arcade and 2600 releases used spinners / paddles, which would've been better approximated with a simple, linear touch slider. It's definitely more of a preference than a deal-breaker, though.

App Store Link: Castle Bash, $2.99

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One of the early classic iPhone games PapiJump is now available for the iPad. We first discovered PapiJump back in August, 2008 and found it to be a surprisingly fun experience. The game later inspired Lima Sky's Doodle Jump which has also been a massive success.

While Lima Sky is still putting the final touches on their iPad version of Doodle Jump, you can play PapiJump on the iPad for free.

I can't say PapiJump for iPad is anything more than a novelty, but it plays differently than you might expect. The iPad version will play in both landscape and portrait, though I found the landscape (steering wheel hold) more natural. In contrast, the iPhone version has always been a one-handed portrait affair. Sunflat has also added swipe and touch controls to the iPad verison.

App Store Link: PapiJump for iPad, Free

Meanwhile, James Cameron's Avatar from Gameloft is now available in an iPad version.

The iPad-optimized version does not appear to have any new content, but does have improved graphics and reconfigured controls for your iPad-enjoyment.

App Store Link: James Cameron's Avatar for iPad, $9.99

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Late last year we reviewed MiniSquadron, a 2D, side-scrolling aerial combat game that we thoroughly enjoyed and was a hit with our readers. Developers MrFungFung have followed up their original title with a content-rich sequel, MiniSquadron Special Edition [AppStore].

Gameplay in the new MiniSquadron Special Edition is identical to that in the original game, so instead of reiterating what we originally reviewed, we'll just cover what has been added.

Primarily, the fee structure has changed. MiniSquadron Special Edition is now a free to download game, offering the first two levels for free and including the remaining 6 levels in the form of 3 separate level packs for $0.99 each. Each level contains waves of progressively harder enemies that you must defeat to continue. Essentially this adds to the same $2.99 price of the first game, but it should now be more accessible to those who never got around to giving the original MiniSquadron a try.

Content-wise, there are a whopping 50+ new aircraft to unlock, which also introduce the helicopter to your squadron ranks. As expected, the helicopter can hover and brings greater manoeuvrability and control. More than that though, it changes up the gameplay you're more than familiar with by now and gives a fresh perspective on how to tackle each of the 8 new levels. MiniSquadron Special Edition also features 2 new power-ups, Freeze and Rapid Fire (which can both be used against you, too) and are rather self-explanatory. Also included is a new fireball weapon-type that is unlocked for certain aircraft.

As in the previous version, the handcrafted levels are all individually themed (you can take your dogfighting into space to fly amongst aliens, or to the arctics to play with penguins) and really present a terrific backdrop to the frantic flying action. There is still a Classic mode (which offers waves of individual challenges per level) and a Survival mode to play through. MiniSquadron Special Edition also allows for Network play via WiFi.

We're a bit disappointed that our biggest wish for the first version hasn't been provided. There is no online multiplayer, and network play is restricted to 1 v 1 battles only– overlooking the opportunity for this game to really shine by offering dogfighting between several players at once.

If you are a big fan of the first Minisquadron, then MiniSquadron Special Edition will be an obvious must-buy for you. The gameplay is identical despite the new additions, so essentially you're purchasing additional levels and a large number of new plane unlocks. We're sad that there is no expanded multiplayer functionality, as it would have offered something fresh for those that had their MiniSquadron fill in the original title.

This doesn't seem to have discouraged our forum readers though, who are already expressing their enthusiasm for the sequel on our forums.

App Store Link: MiniSquadron Special Edition, Free (With 3 In-App Level Packs for $0.99 each).

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If there's one thing RPG fans on our forums love, it's the Zenonia series. The original was insanely popular amongst our community, and the sequel seems to have the same appeal. I thought the first Zenonia [$2.99 / Free] was a ton of fun, and the sequel Zenonia 2 [$4.99 / Free] was just as good, if not better.

Here's the basic gist of Zenonia 2 from our review:

The plot of the first game followed a young boy named Regret in the midst of a war between the Holy Knights of the land and a clan of dragons. This sequel traces a new story in the same universe with one of four selectable characters as the stars. A half-naked swordsman, gun-toting blonde, animal-man hybrid melee guy, and generic, emo magician make up the cast, and each play quite differently. Choosing one character over another won't change the story in any significant ways, but each character does come with some side-quests specific to them. I wasn't extremely impressed by the quality of the game's story as a whole, but I can say with some confidence that it's an improvement over the one in the original game. …Read More

The lite version includes 5 main quests and 6 sub-quests to complete, as well as full access to the PvP arena. (Although, expect to be owned.) If you've been on the fence for whatever reason on this game, you really should give the light a spin. Also, another great thing about Gamevil releasing a lite version of Zenonia 2? I totally now have an excuse to post this awesomely ridiculous video again:

YEAH!

App Store Links: Zenonia 2, $4.99 / Zenonia 2 Lite, Free

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Gameloft's Naomi and Josh are back again to bring us another look inside of Gameloft. Like most of their video podcasts, they include a good mix of things you've likely already seen if you follow TouchArcade closely along with some new reveals.

This one is much longer than their other video podcasts, so if you don't want to sit through the whole thing, you can skip to these points of interest:

• 0:00 – Gameloft visits the New York City Fifth Avenue Apple Store and talks to some people about the iPad, along with interviewing some of their own developers who discuss how great the iPad is going to be for gaming.
• 2:51 – iPad trailers for HD versions of Shrek Kart, Brothers in Arms 2 Global Front, Hero of Sparta, and Avatar
• 5:13 – Blokus overview, including some tips and video of what playing the actual board game looks like.
• 6:26 – Iron Man 2 gameplay iPhone gameplay footage, as well as revealing that the game will be simultaneously coming to all three devices. They're not clear as to whether or not this means Iron Man 2 will be universal, or if the iPhone version will simply launch with the iPad HD version.
• 8:02 – Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction gameplay video combined with an overview of the iPhone exclusive Potomac River level which apparently is going to feature a rails shooter portion.
• 8:45 – Gameloft officially reveals Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within. They don't show any gameplay, but the cinematic trailer is pretty cool.
• 10:45 – Explanation of the various contests Gameloft is currently running to get free games and even a trip to their offices in Paris
• 11:45 – Gameloft closes their video podcast with a brief Q&A and revealed that their games generally take a year to develop from early concepts, to actual development, testing, and everything else.

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A couple of interesting releases recently hit the App Store. For various reasons we can't fully recommend them, but may be of interest.

Fast & Furious Adrenaline, $5.99

A sequel of sorts to Fast & Furious The Game [99¢ / Free], Fast & Furious Adrenaline is another arcade racer that runs at a decent frame rate with tracks filled with jumps and sharp turns. As noted by forum members in the game's thread, the physics in the game feel off and the draw distance is kind of low, but if you love the Fast & Furious movies, here's the latest game spinoff.

If you don't have a device capable of running Espgaluda II [$8.99], Icarus-X may be worth checking out. The 3D graphics are cool, but without an extensive weapon upgrade and power-up system (something which seems to be standard in shoot 'em up games) the game can feel a little monotonous. Forum members seem to be enjoying it because it does a pretty good job at throwing bullet hell at you. The control system is your standard touch to move, but your finger can easily get in the way when you are trying to maneuver your way through fields off bullets.

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Early this year we first caught wind of the hybrid poker RPG Sword & Poker [$1.99 / Free] and instantly fell in love with the game to the point of awarding it 5 stars in our January best iPhone games listing.

The basic premise of the game is explained in our review:

At the core is a card-based strategy/adventure game where battles take place by making poker hands on a 5×5 grid. When each game starts, nine cards are dealt in to the center of the grid and you take turns with the AI opponent placing pairs of the four cards you're dealt on the perimeter of the game board to form hands down, across, or diagonally. Jokers are wild, and as you play more hands a gauge in the bottom left slowly fills which allows you to swap a card for a joker as well.

There is a surprising amount of strategy in placing cards, as you need to look at what you've been dealt to try to determine the best order to play them as your opponent could also have plans for the same squares you hope to utilize on your next turn. Furthermore, as the game board fills up, you can potentially form multiple hands. A well-planned hand placed on the diagonal could also form many other hands going down or across.

The "Sword" portion of Sword & Poker comes from the roleplaying game layered on top of these poker battles, which could practically stand alone as its own game. Instead of just playing poker battles of increasing difficulty, the games are structured as floors in a dungeon and the challenge differs based on the type of monster you're fighting.

We don't really know anything yet about Sword & Poker 2 other than that it is coming soon, and the other sparse details on the Sword & Poker 2 web site. Obviously there are going to be new dungeons, and even new weapons and magic to players to wield. The story is a continuation of the original game, and from the sounds of it, Sword & Poker 2 is going to provide even more Sword & Poker gameplay.

Personally, I can't wait for the sequel. Sword & Poker really surprised me with how much fun I had with the game and I look forward to making my way through even more dungeons in Sword & Poker 2. If this is the first you've heard of Sword & Poker, please, if nothing else, try the lite version.

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NimbleBit is holding another Freebie Friday on April 23rd, this time the free game being offered is their newest release, Dizzypad for the iPhone. It's already gone free for those of you who want to jump on it early.

We gave Dizzypad 4 stars back in February for being a fun casual game.

The goal is to simply get as far as you can while jumping from lily pad to lily pad. Each lily pad is spinning in place, and a well timed tap on the screen will launch you forward. The trick is to wait until you are facing the right direction and off you go. Sounds simple, eh?

In addition to making their iPhone version of Dizzypad free for the day, Nimblebit has announced that Dizzypad is coming to the iPad as well. The iPad version of Dizzypad will be freemium, where you will get the classic game mode, 30 unlockable frog skins, and plus+ with awards and leaderboards included. In addition, there will also be three new game modes available to purchase through DLC for $1.99 each:

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.

Dizzypad for the iPad has already been submitted, so expect to see it soon in the AppStore.

Here's a video of the iPhone version in action:

App Store Link: Dizzy Pad, Free (Today Only)

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Owners of the original iPhone will remember the dark days before the App Store or even the original jailbreaks and third party software when games and apps consisted of nothing more than clever web pages, usually loaded to the brim with javascript. The games were basic, and the "apps" consisted of little more than simple database-powered applets and tip calculators, but they did the trick.

Akihabara is a HTML5 toolbox filled with all kinds of neat goodies that creative developers can use to make browser games. On the Akihabara web site there are five demo games ranging from a simple Tetris-like game to a basic Zelda clone. The cool part is, these games work on every modern non-Internet Explorer browser, including the browsers of the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and apparently even other touchscreen phones like the Palm Pre.

Depending on what platform you're playing on, all of the proper controls appear on screen or you use the keyboard and arrow keys. On the iPhone, virtual controls pop up at the bottom of the screen and while they're not as responsive as a native game, it's still pretty amazing to think you're essentially playing a web page– Without even a smidge of Flash.

All of the games on the Akihabara site are free, and really worth a spin both because they're really impressive pieces of web development but also so you can appreciate what things were like before the App Store came around.

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Chaos Rings [$12.99] producer Takehiro Ando posted a note on the Square Enix Facebook page today that confirms the existence of Chaos Rings HD for the iPad. Ecstatic with the success the iPhone version of the game has seen, Ando has the game running on the iPad, but admits it needs quite a few tweaks to get everything how it needs to be before it's ready to be released.

Chaos Rings seems to be a massive success so far, annihilating the top grossing charts in multiple markets and even beating out the $14.99 MLB.com At Bat 2010 app- A particularly massive feat, especially considering how early we are in the baseball season. The Facebook notes doesn't give much detail beyond the above photo showing the game running full screen on the iPad Ando thinking that Chaos Rings on the iPad is a "good idea".

If this is the first you've heard of Chaos Rings, go take a peek at our review. We enjoyed the game a ton. It's not entirely clear right now whether the iPad universal compatibility is going to be updated in to the original Chaos Rings as well or if Chaos Rings HD is only going to be its own standalone game. If you haven't picked up the game yet and own an iPad, it might not be a bad idea to wait for more news on Chaos Rings HD to leak out of Square Enix first.

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