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Early last month, dual-stick dungeon crawler Solomon's Keep was released onto the App Store. Successfully blending aspects from many similar games before it, it proved to be a surprisingly fun experience that we enjoyed in our review. As impressive as that initial release was, rather than resting on their laurels developer Raptisoft has been hard at work collecting user feedback regarding new ideas, gameplay tweaks, and bug-fixes to further improve their game. The latest culmination of this is the recently released version 2.0 update, which irons out the kinks that plagued the first version and adds a considerable amount of new content to play with.

One of the most significant improvements in 2.0 is the ability to weld offensive skills together. Combining 2 of the 3 primary attacks (Magic Missile, Lightning, or Fireball) creates an attack that carries attributes of both. As just one example, Lightning welded with Fireball creates an auto-targeting stream of fire called Flame Lash that's capable of exploding and arcing to multiple enemies at once. The characteristics of the welded attack you create depend on how extensively each individual skill has been upgraded at the time you combine them. The welding mechanic works extremely well and adds a whole new layer of strategy and customization to developing your character, as well as providing satisfying firepower.

Another welcome change is an extension to the game's length. There are now 13 dungeon floors versus 10, with an added boss fight on floor 11. After beating all 13 levels, you're given the ability to play through the dungeon over again on a harder difficulty while retaining all your previous skills and gear. This second run through the game is called Wizard mode, and once that has been completed a third even harder Archmage mode is waiting. There's also a new wizard in town that offers you specific meta-quests, called Feats, such as beating the game without using any potions or items. Acting similarly to achievements, these Feats provide even more interesting ways to play through Solomon's Keep.

In addition to these major enhancements, there's a multitude of bugs and glitches that have been taken care of, which was a point of contention in our initial review. Many other tweaks have been implemented to balance out the gameplay, as well as a few brand new items and secondary skills. Facebook connectivity also enters the fray so you can boast about your achievements (and failures) to your social networking cohorts. It's now a much more stable experience throughout, and taking into consideration all the new additions it feels like a much more complete game. With random level and item generation, and countless possibilities for character leveling, the replay value here is near infinite.

What started as a somewhat brief, quirky game now contains enough compelling content and polish to compete with other heavy-hitting dungeon crawlers on the App Store. And it doesn't seem likely to stop here, as development is already under way on ideas for future updates and DLC. These include an endless graveyard mode to test how far you can take your leveled-up character, and possible new classes such as Archer, Rogue, and Warlord each with unique skill trees and stories. With such an incredibly solid foundation in place, the prospect of additional content like this is really exciting. The price has risen to $1.99 with the 2.0 update and lite version being available, but it's still a great bargain for the amount of entertainment it contains. If you've not checked out Solomon's Keep yet, it's strongly recommended to at least give the lite a try, and to not miss out on this extraordinary title.

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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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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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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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We just got word from UK-based developer Mr. Fung Fung has been hard at work on the upcoming MiniSquadron Special Edition. We really enjoyed the original MiniSquadron [$2.99 / Free] in our review, and are expecting the same kind of arcade style shooter gameplay in this special edition pseudo-sequel.

MiniSquadron Special Edition is going to sport 8 brand new levels, 50 more planes to unlock, 2 new power-ups ("rapid fire" and "freeze") along with a new fireball weapon to unleash on the new enemy types which can be seen in the following gameplay trailer:

Best of all, MiniSquadron Special Edition will be free to download, and will include a pair of levels to try out. Following that, levels are sold in sets of two for 99¢ a pack. MiniSquadron Special Edition is coming soon, and definitely will be worth downloading if you never played the original just to see what you've been missing.

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Solomon's Keep is a casual dungeon crawler that places you in the role of Sirius, a student at wizard college who's on the brink of graduation. For your final exam you're tasked with defeating the evil wizard Solomon Dark. It utilizes a dual stick control system and plays a bit like a watered down Diablo, and it's incredibly fun.

The dungeon itself is 10 floors high and is randomly generated with each new game. The enemies get tougher and increase in quantities as you ascend. There's usually quite a few enemies onscreen at once, and they come after you much like the enemies do in Minigore. You can get swarmed if you aren't constantly backpedaling in the available open space. Some of the enemies are stationary and fire at you from a distance with arrows, fireballs, or stun spells. There are two bosses to fight on the way to the final battle with Solomon on the tenth floor.

The combat with the enemies is pretty satisfying, mostly due to the interesting magical attacks at your disposal and all the different ways you can upgrade them. Your main weapons are magic missiles, fireballs and lightning. These are fired off in whatever direction you aim with the right stick. In addition you can equip up to two sub-abilities that range from large offensive attacks to strategic moves such as teleporting. When your character levels up, you're randomly given 3 options for upgrades which can include increasing your offense in different ways or boosting stats such as life and mana.

There are treasure chests spread throughout the dungeon that are filled with gold, and occasionally special items. You can travel back to town and spend your gold on things such as potions, rings, and staffs. Gold can be traded for experience points and also be used to upgrade some of your abilities without the need to level up. In your possession is a magic key that can transport you from the dungeon back into town at any time. Once you're finished, it places you back into the dungeon right where you left off.

The only thing that really mars an otherwise great experience are the many technical problems currently present in the game. I've experienced lagging, freezing, and music/text glitches. There's also an incredibly odd bug that has everything running in fast forward upon waking your device from sleep mode while the game is running. The developer has acknowledged the problems and is hoping to address them in updates. Even with these issues, the game never once lost any of my progress and the problem was always fixed by exiting the app and restarting.

Playing through Solomon's Keep is a blast. It's geared more towards the casual side, but that actually works to its benefit being on a mobile platform. If you're the type that needs a ton of different kinds of armors and loot, and enjoy grinding, there's a chance this type of game might not satisfy you. It can be beaten relatively quickly, and it's a decently challenging ride, but with the amount of different attacks and upgrades available it's impossible to do everything on just one trip through.

The game is so much fun you'll want to go through it multiple times, which gives you a chance to expand your character in different ways each time. If the developer Raptisoft can squash the bugs that made it into this current version, as well as add a little diversity in the way of enemies and dungeon interiors, this can be one of the top dungeon crawlers on the app store. Even as it is now, Solomon's Keep is still a highly entertaining game and is recommended.

App Store Link: Solomon's Keep, $0.99

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It is said that the best ideas are often the most simple ones, and there doesn't seem to be anything quite as simple as the dot. Developers One Man Left seem to agree, as they've staked their entire game, Tilt to Live [App Store], on the premise of our beloved period; albeit the rapacious, hell-bent variety.

Tilt to Live is at its core, an object-avoidance game wholly utilising the accelerometer of the iPhone or iTouch to maneuver your arrow around the battlefield. I say battlefield, because that's exactly what is going on here– the dots are out to get you and will stop at nothing. And it is remarkable just how much personality One Man Left have managed to inject into such a straightforward concept. These are certainly no ordinary dots– these perilous periods make a point (ha!) of chasing you around the screen; coalescing into arrows and other shapes then hurling themselves at you at breakneck pace, or circling you like vultures, slowly closing in until it is impossible to escape. Make no mistake, touch even one of the hundreds of dots on screen at once, and you are history.

Sounds mind-numbing? Fear not! Our arrow protagonist has a range of very awesome weapons at his disposal to send these dots back to whence they came. Your arsenal really defines Tilt to Live because it shows an attention to detail and knack for the inventive that escapes many games we see on the AppStore. You start off with just a few basic powerups floating around the screen waiting to be collected. The most basic is a nuke explosive (Yes, a nuke is standard fare in Tilt to Live) but you also have a dot-seeking multi-rocket powerup and a haduken-style fireball which clears a portion of the screen in the direction you're facing. Each of the weapons require a different strategy to operate effectively and are useful in varying situations.

This thoughtful design factor continues through to the unlockable weapons, too, where eventually you'll unlock weapons such as a spike shield that lets you hurl yourself at dots as they literally cower away in fear or a vortex attack that sucks all nearby dots (and you if you're not careful) into a black hole, to name just a few. But it's the manner in which they're unlocked that I appreciated the most. Tilt to Live uses the AGON platform to deliver its achievements and leaderboard results. But, it takes the system one step further– integrating in-game rewards for unlocking achievement points– namely in the form of additional weapons. I'm ordinarily not one for achievements, but the added incentive of new weapons was enough to get me to actually pore through the list and attempt most of the nefarious challenges, a fact I found pleasantly surprising.

Tilt to Live is a game that draws you in with its edgy personality and inescapable 'just one more go' gameplay. It is gorgeously crafted and presented and has a wicked sense of humor to boot (just take a look at the loading screens to see what I mean). Completing its challenges and unlocking weapons has the added benefit of enabling you to achieve even higher scores and multipliers, meaning even those not normally counting themselves as completionists may be eager to experience the width and breadth of what Tilt to Live has to offer. This is one game that will remain a fixture on my iPhone for a long time to come.

As expected, impressions coming in from our readers are overwhelmingly positive. Be sure to check out the developer's YouTube trailer above for a preview glimpse of Tilt to Live.

App Store Link: Tilt to Live, $1.99.

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Shawn Inman has posted a video of his upcoming iPhone platformer that was created with partial assistance from a Makework Grant which funds artists to work on their "someday-I’d-love-to” projects.

Inman's proposal involved creating a faux 16-bit game engine which aspired to create multiple worlds, various unqiue powerups and hand crafted pixel graphics. Inman explains his appreciation of pixel art:

Good pixel art strikes the perfect balance between appreciable craftsmanship and the gestalt. A single pixel out of place, one too few or too many, ruins the illusion. There’s an unmuddied, economy of expression, the thankless result of the limitations of cartridge-based consoles.

The premise of Mimeo is that of a Mario clone but where power-ups affect the entire game world, not just the player itself. Powerups will take you from a 2-bit world to a 4-bit, then 8-bit and ultimately 16-bit scene. Enemy behavior and level behavior changes between the modes so there is an element of puzzle-platforming involved.

Inman's video explains and demos it well (Vimeo link):

The developer hopes to have the game released in time for the 2010 holiday season.

[ via Daring Fireball ]

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For those whose fondest memories of growing up in the 80s and 90s involve playing through the various iterations of Super Mario Bros, platforming never seemed sweeter. For a handheld device especially, that never looked like changing– the 80s spark that created the Mario fever isn't easily replicated and Nintendo will never share its magic. It is fortunate then that the 80s also saw the birth of an infamous title known as The Great Giana Sisters, a title that attempted to challenge Nintendo's platforming dominance.

Now on the iPhone after a re-imagination on the DS in 2009, Giana Sisters [App Store] is an enhanced version of a tongue-in-cheek attempt in 1987. The levels have everything you would expect of a Mario-inspired game– refined run-and-jump platforming, fireball power-ups, brick smashing, coin collecting and even castles with Bowser at the end (well, a look-a-like cousin at least). In fact, it is not until well into the second world that Giana Sisters even hints at an identity of its own.

By the third and fourth worlds however, an attitude easily rivalling that of their plumber pals shines through. And the sisters will need every bit it as the game is rife with pitfalls and dangers. Crumbling platforms, deadly waters and razor sharp stalagnites– as well as a battalion of terrifically crafted enemies, some of whom would as soon run you down as fire a bazooka at you– are all thrown at our heroines. Not all enemies can be defeated by fireballs and head-stomps either, often needing deft and precarious jumping to avoid. The sisters do have a little help though; dispensers spit out shakeable soda bottles to clear brick obstacles or put out fires and dispense man-sized, floating bubble gum balloons to fly around in. A handy flower pot check-point is also available in most levels to save your progress.

The original title featured 32 levels all up, which are all playable after completing the game, but it's the whopping 80 newly crafted levels that will keep you most occupied in Giana Sisters. Negotiating your way through these levels is a breeze, with both a Classic and Touch scheme available. The Classic mode works a treat and is the recommended setting, the finely-tuned left and right movement and jump and attack buttons are well-placed on the screen. As in our early impressions though we had difficulty getting used to the Touch scheme, particularly the jumping mechanic which proved too tedious. Both settings have a swipe feature for looking below or above your current platform.

The production values in Giana Sisters go beyond just a carefully crafted platform game however, as it both looks and sounds superb. The artwork is crisp and detailed with gorgeous, layered backdrops and themed levels really setting the scene to distinguish each area. The soundtrack is really something to write home about too; layering on that nostalgia thick with keyboard-heavy midi-esque tracks that run the gamut of upbeat to dark and ominous.

Giana Sisters is certainly deserving of its tremendous cult following. As a widely appealing game, it is easily recommended to all as a fresh take on classic platforming. It draws its strength from its unashamed inspiration, offering a tight, fully-featured and excellently crafted platformer that really raises the bar for the AppStore. Achievement hunters and competitive types will also be glad to know that Giana Sisters comes packaged with OpenFeint support for both achievements and leaderboards.

Impressions from our discussion forums have been wildly positive. Be sure to check out the developer's trailer above for a closer look.

App Store Link: Giana Sisters, $4.99

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Action RPGs on the App Store have been steadily improving with the release of each new game. The first, The Chronicles of Inotia, was received with mixed feelings. Later, Zenonia was greeted as a vast improvement (albeit with its own flaws) and most recently Inotia 2 stole the crown upon its release last November. Now FDG Entertainment has upped the ante once again with Across Age [App Store], an RPG that explores time travel and simultaneous management of multiple characters.

The story of Across Age is standard fare for the genre, falling cleanly into a long line of RPGs in which the goal is to save the world from an evil magician. Unlike certain other similar games on the App Store, however, the writing and translation is extremely well done, with no noticeable spelling or grammatical gaffes. These high quality production values show in the soundtrack and crisp art style as well; each environment is colorful and carries its own unique and catchy background music.

Across Age's big hook is that players control two separate characters at once, switching between them and separating them at will by touching on their icons located at the bottom of the screen. The male character, a knight named Ales, can pick up the female mage character, Ceska, and throw her to otherwise unreachable areas. This creates opportunities for fun puzzles that might require Ceska to reach a switch to open a door for Ales, or simply lead to hidden treasure.

The character separation and cooperation element works quite well to create good puzzle variation. One puzzle might require Ales to separate and engage in a simple block pushing minigame, while others could turn into a complex maze that requires the two characters to separate and help each other progress. New mechanics (like a "boat" that can be used to navigate watery environments) are introduced at a fairly consistent rate throughout the game, effectively preventing things from becoming boring and repetitive.

Across Age's other big gameplay gimmick is the ability for Ceska to time travel through the use of sparsely-located panels. This opens up plenty of possibilities, and often forces players to think creatively. In one instance, Ceska has to go back in time to drop off a wine bottle, only to return years in the future to harvest the now priceless aged wine. Special items called rebirth stones can be left along with a normal item in a magic pool located in the game's central city and returned to in the future to create special items and weapons. This system can often add special attributes to weapons and other items, and experimentation is encouraged to discover the best possible results.

Combat in Across Age might take a while to get fully acquainted with, but it works quite well after a bit of practice. Ales attacks by running directly into enemies (which looks quite stupid at first but makes sense if you think about it; why do you need hit a button to do something that can be done automatically?) and Ceska attacks with a variety of spells, usually long range attacks. Her spells can be cast by tapping the big button in the bottom right, and the game is pretty forgiving with the hit area around attacks to make up for the game's rather limiting eight-way directional movement scheme.

Boss battles might be one of the best parts of Across Age. Unlike many RPGs, which simply force players to mindlessly attack boss characters until they die, this game demands a sound strategy to earn a victory. In one instance I was faced with a giant plant monster which had to first be weakened with Ceska's recently learned fireball attack before Ales could rush in to attack in its weakened state.

Across Age does have its fair share of problems, most of which probably can't be fixed in a simple update. The equipment screen takes a fair bit of getting used to due to the small text size that makes it rather unresponsive to touch, and the game's zoomed-in camera makes some enemies lurking in the southern regions of the screen difficult to detect before running directly into them. The most glaring flaw rears its head early in the game: some areas must be revisited far too many times to progress through the story.

The lack of multiplayer might be berated by some, but since only one character can attack at once as according to the intentional design of the game, I don't think of it as a missing feature. A great combination of fun combat and good puzzle variation allows Across Age to swiftly avoid the problems that many RPGs run into, and its high production values only serve to increase the already substantial attractive nature of the game for fans of the genre. Zenonia 2 has a lot to prove if it's going to continue the trend of ever-increasingly great action RPGs being released on the App Store.

App Store Link: Across Age, $6.99

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