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If you're in the mood to indulge in something completely off the wall crazy, then you're in for a treat. Meow Meow Happy Fight [99¢] is a new dual stick shooter with an incredibly wacky Japanese style. Before you bemoan the existence of yet another dual stick shooter, this one actually throws some novel ideas into the mix to set itself apart from the pack. Oh, and did I mention you get to play as a cup of noodles? If that's not a selling point of the game, then I don't know what is. With multiple stages to play, a slew of diverse characters to unlock, and colorful graphics with a unique style, Meow Meow Happy Fight will bring happiness and destruction to your iPhone.

Happy Cat comes from the future, where everything is just too darn happy. He travels back in time to the present day to encourage the characters in the game to battle each other, and take the future happiness down a notch. While Happy Fight functions like most traditional dual stick shooters (left stick for movement and right stick for firing), rather than fighting off hoards of enemies in a survival marathon you'll be directly battling the other characters in the game deathmatch style. Each of the 24 levels in the game has you fighting against multiple opponents, and the character who has the most kills when the match time runs out wins.

There's 15 different characters in the game, including a hamster in a ball, a vending machine, and of course a cup of noodles. Defeating enemies causes them to drop a number of different happy pickups, which are just as odd as the characters themselves and include various food items, toiletries, and designer fashion accessories. It truly is bizarre, but in a good way. Some of these items will replenish a small portion of your health, and others contribute to your total of Happy Points at the end of a match, which act as the currency in the game for purchasing and unlocking additional characters.

The arenas in Happy Fight are all locations around Tokyo, and provide relatively small but adequate quarters to engage in battle. Each new location must be unlocked by coming in first place in the previous one, and they get progressively harder as you go. A number of cool powerups also begin to appear as you make your way through the game, and the arenas have interactive elements like teleports and explosive barrels to add strategic variety. Icons at the edges of the screen point you towards enemies and powerups, and battles are fast and action packed as you search out opponents to destroy or scramble to pick up a health pack as you're on the edge of death. It really is a lot of fun.

The one negative aspect of Happy Fight that sticks out to me is that you can only play against computer controlled opponents. This game is just screaming for some online play against real live human opponents, but sadly this is not the case. The AI is very good though, and the game is still a lot of fun, but I can only imagine how much better it could be with some sort of online multiplayer component. Still, it will take you a good amount of time to beat all of the games levels, and unlock every character. Plus there is OpenFeint integration for leaderboards and achievements, as well as some detailed stat tracking.

This is the first dual stick shooter in a while that's been entertaining enough to hold my interest, as the gameplay is fast-paced and the style is the most absurd I've seen since MUST.EAT.BIRDS. [99¢/Lite]. Players are loving the game in our forums, and the developers are there answering questions and collecting feedback on ways to improve the game. If you're looking for something that feels familiar but adds some interesting new twists, check out Meow Meow Happy Fight right meow.

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I'd say the best possible way to start any morning is with a massive cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee and a downloading whole pile of App Store freebies. There are quite a few free games available today, but some of these promotions have been running for a couple days now. Given the temporary nature of most freebie sales, I'd say there's a decent chance of some of these games returning to their original price very soon so be sure to grab any/all of the games you're interested in ASAP.

Babo Crash HD – If you like puzzle games where you're able to pull off massive chains of blocks being cleared, intentionally or unintentionally, Babo Crash HD is right up your alley. It follows the familiar Bejeweled style gameplay model with gems you swap around to form matches of three or more. What sets Babo Crash HD apart is the ridiculous array of power-ups in the game that can clear out entire swaths of gems at a time. Free, fun, and universal– What's not to like about that?

Crystal Quest – Originally released in 1987, Crystal Quest was one of the first game to support the color display of the Macintosh II and since then has been ported to a number of different platforms including the iPhone. Gameplay is fairly basic and amounts to surviving through waves of enemies and collecting crystals. It feels a little dated, but if you were around for the original Macintosh release this should be an awesome blast from the past.

DinoSmash Online – An extremely cool online deathmatch game which piles up to 16 players in to a 2D map filled with platforms to jump around (or use your grappling hook) on and weapons to pick up. It was recently updated to support the Retina Display of the iPhone 4, and the game seems to play well on both WiFi and 3G networks. Also, the title screen music absolutely owns and DinoSmash Online is worth downloading just to listen to it, even if you have no intention of ever playing the game.

Dr. Nano – 3D Artery Adventure – We first got a peek at this game back at PAX East, and while the controls feel a little clunky the game is based around the amusing premise of shrinking yourself small enough to solve medical problems in the human body by running around and shooting them… You might even learn something about human anatomy in the process.

Max Vector – This is a Game Salad game so gameplay is a little basic and performance is on the mediocre side, but Max Vector has so much awesome retro flare to it that it's worth checking out for that alone. The graphics and music are awesome, and like any good shooter, it has a heap of screen-filling bosses to spam massive amounts of bullets at.

Mecho Wars – A turn based strategy game with some cool gameplay mechanics such as a day and night cycles which does things like freeze water so your troops can walk across it, forcing you to take time of day in to account with both your attacks and defenses. Mecho Wars has a full single player campaign as well as four different OpenFeint-powered online multiplayer modes.

Piyo Blocks – This match three is loaded with bright pixel art and a ton of personality. Piyo Blocks features three different game modes, along with full OpenFeint integration for online leaderboards, achievements, and all that other fun stuff. Doing well hinges on pulling off massive combos, and it's fairly rewarding when you get your score multiplier going like crazy.

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Early last month we posted about Cyan's plans to bring the childrens' adventure game The Manhole: Masterpiece Edition [$1.99] to the App Store. The game just became available for download this morning, and I must admit, approaching the game for the first time as an adult is a little odd. The Manhole really has no goal other than exploring the fantasy world laid out in front of you after you climb a beanstalk which grows out of a manhole. As a gamer I'm almost trained to try to figure out where to go, or what to do, or what item I need to solve a puzzle, or countless other things. It's just really strange to be thrown in to a game universe where you don't do any of those things, and instead, you just see what there is to see.

The original version of the game was released in 1988 using HyperCard, an early hypermedia authoring system that anyone who used an early Macintosh is likely familiar with. The game was then re-released a few times over the years and finally ended up on CD-ROM as The Manhole: CD-ROM Masterpiece Edition which is where the App Store version is derived from. The Manhole on iOS devices plays very similar to Cyan's Myst [$4.99 / Free] in that it's basically a highly interactive slide show of pre-rendered scenes.

The Manhole sports a full soundtrack and voiceovers for the various odd characters you will come across while exploring such as a poetry reading pig, a cool dude of a dragon, and many others. Check out the following video of the Windows version of the game, which seems to be nearly identical to the iPhone game aside from the obvious differences between the touch and mouse interface:

I don't think The Manhole will appeal to anyone who doesn't have fond memories of playing the game when it was originally released. Friends of mine who loved the game when they were younger are enjoying The Manhole as a fantastic piece of nostalgia, but I don't have any special ties to the game and while I can appreciate it for the piece of gaming history that it is The Manhole isn't doing much for me.

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Freebies are universally awesome, whether they're free samples of pizza bagels at the grocery store or great iPhone games. We've favorably reviewed both of these games, but you might as well just download both of these and give them a try for yourself while they're free.

Truckers Delight: Episode 1 – While Mobigame is likely best known for the controversy surrounding Edge [$2.99], they've also brought both Cross Fingers [$1.99 / Free] and Truckers Delight: Episode 1 [Free] to the App Store as well. Truckers Delight is an episodic iPhone game based on the not at all work safe video of the same name. In the game, you play as a trucker driving down a highway pursuing a blonde girl in a red corvette. Your truck is controlled by tilting, and along the way you'll need to run police, motorcycles, and many other vehicles off the road with the help of an array of increasingly odd and vulgar power-ups.

We liked Truckers Delight: Episode 1 quite a bit in our review, and really can't wait for the rest of the episodes in the series. The game does a great job of preserving the feel of retro racing games while providing a good difficulty curve that gets really exciting as you're just barely making it to the next checkpoint with one second to spare. Don't miss this game while it's free.

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Luxor – Initially released in 2005, Luxor has lived a long life on many platforms including the Mac, PC, and several game consoles both through its initial release and subsequent sequels. The iPhone port is done well, and features gameplay similar to Puzzloop [$7.99 / Free] and many other marble shooting color matching games. Luxor has a bit of a notorious reputation on our forums due to the role that developer Mumbo Jumbo played in StoneLoops! of Jurassica's removal from the App Store, which explains the tsunami of negative reviews in iTunes despite the fact that the game is quite fun.

As mentioned when we first took a look at the game, Luxor is host to a heap of levels, power-ups, and achievements to inflate your Plus+ score. If you've been looking for a marble shooter, grab this one while it's free.

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The original Across Age [$5.99 / Free] was released in February, and in our review we detailed all the things we liked about the game, ranging from its fantastic sprite-based graphics to its delightfully cliche yet somehow still engaging plot that involved saving the world from an evil magician.

Across Age is an RPG loaded with puzzles that take advantage of the game's two main gameplay mechanics: Being able to control two separate characters at once, and heaps of time travel. The game also features massive bosses, which everyone loves, and of course each boss has its own gimmick (usually utilizing an ability you just unlocked) which must be exploited to defeat it. Overall, I had a fun time playing through Across Age as it tickled both my nostalgia for similar games of the Super Nintendo era, while being just fresh enough to not feel blatantly "inspired" by those same games.

FDG Entertainment has been hard at work on an iPad version of the game, and have redrawn all of the graphics in the process. The HD version also has combat and character movement tweaks with customizable on-screen controls. There's even going to be a bonus dungeon and boss fight, which hopefully will be cool enough to give players a reason go play through the game again if they've already beat it on the iPhone or iPod touch.

FDG is planning on releasing Across Age HD sometime next month for $7.99. The screenshots they've sent us so far look awesome, and I can't wait to run through the game again on my iPad.

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One of the coolest things about the App Store is the sheer amount of obscure ports it exposes us iOS gamers to that we would have otherwise missed. Prior to the news of the iOS port hitting our forums, I had never heard of Battle for Wesnoth [$4.99 - iPhone / iPad] and tonight its creators are unleashing another open source game on to the App Store, Frogatto & Friends [$1.99]. Frogatto is a platformer with some of the most blatant classic video game influences I've seen in quite some time, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Everything from the style of the fantastic pixel art that makes up the game, to the way Frogatto deals with enemies, to interface elements all seem to be lovingly lifted from memories of the sixteen bit era. In the game you play as a tiny unemployed frog who sets out for adventure and employment. It doesn't take long before the villain of the game, Big Bad Milgram, is revealed, and your sights are set on restoring order to the world. Fighting through various boss fights, solving puzzles, and making your way through tons of enemies and platforming obstacles are all vital parts of Frogatto & Friends.

Much like Battle for Wesnoth, Frogatto is freely available online to play on either Mac or Windows machines (as well as some out of date Linux builds). It's really a toss up as to which version is better, as platformers like this really need the physical controls that playing on a keyboard provide. On the other hand, the iPhone port is great, but I'd really love to see some better game save handling.

Currently if you quit the game for any reason, you lose your progress from the last save point. Save points are plentiful throughout the game, but I really think we're at a point now where if you're releasing something more than a simple time waster you should really include better save state handling. Even using fast app switching loses your progress, which is a total bummer given how awesome it has been with iOS 4 to quickly and easily switch between checking your email or browsing the internet while playing a game.

If you can get past losing a little bit of progress if you quit the game, Frogatto is totally worth checking out. I've been completely captivated by both the art of the game, and the game world itself; so much so that while playing through the other games that have been released tonight to write about I kept wanting to go back to Frogatto & Friends. I'm a total sucker for games like this, and I doubt I'm alone on that. If nothing else, at least give the free PC version a try.

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Late last week we reported that the new update to one of our favorite iPhone games, Jet Car Stunts, was in review and just waiting on Apple to give it the go ahead. Yesterday afternoon the update finally went live on the App Store, and as great as this news is for fans of the game, it also comes with some minor (temporary) disappointment.

First let's start with the good news, and that of course is the addition of 26 brand new levels that can be purchased within the app for $1.99. I've given the new levels a quick spin and they seem to be of the same high quality design as the original levels, and possibly even more so. There's no shortage of crazy jumps, loops, and even driving on ceilings in these new levels. Another nice feature is that the 8 levels that were previously exclusive to the lite version of Jet Car Stunts can now be downloaded for free in the full version. This may not be especially exciting to those who have played the lite version to death, but it's nice not having to have both icons taking up space on the springboard. Other improvements include iOS 4 support for anti-aliasing and fast app switching support for iPhone 3GS and 3^rd generation iPod touches.

As for the not-so-good news, the graphical enhancement that would have brought retina display support for iPhone 4 seems to have hit a bit of a snag in its journey to the App Store. While the other iOS 4 features are working flawlessly, something seems to have gone awry with the part of the update that was to add the retina display support. All is not lost though, as the developer immediately sprang to action, found and fixed the problem, and has already submitted a new update to Apple – all within a matter of hours. If all goes well with the approval process, this extra eye candy should be available within the next week or so.

One other very cool bonus with this latest update is the addition of a cheat menu. This menu gives you the option of a couple different vehicle colors, as well as the ability to unlock every level without having to beat all the previous ones. This is great news if you want to dive right into the different tiers of levels, and while I won't completely divulge how to access the cheat menu, I will say it's pretty easy to find if you “poke” around the right screen within the game. With the 36 levels of the original, 26 brand new levels available as DLC, and the 8 levels from the lite version, all together Jet Car Stunts has 70 available levels to test your platforming and racing prowess.

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One of the first top-down shooters worth playing to appear in the App Store was Lazrhog's iPhone port of Kenta Cho's 2003 "bullet hell" shooter rRootage. This weekend, Miko Wohlgemuth released his own iPhone adaptation of Cho's vector-based shooter, rRootage Online [App Store].

rRootage Online is, of course, rather similar to Lazrhog's early App Store offering, but comes packed with a number of additional bells and whistles. It features music and sound effects, multitouch controls, online scoreboards, and a number of different playmodes, which really notches up the experience.

• Normal Mode — This is the standard playmode. Your special weapon (two finger tap) is a bomb that wipes out enemy bullets.
• PSY Mode — The trick here is to closely graze enemy bullets. With each graze, an onscreen graze meter increases. Once full, your ship becomes invincible for a short period. Your special weapon is the ability to roll, slowing the ship and widening the range with which your ship can graze bullets.
• IKA Mode — A nod to Ikaruga, in this mode your ship is either black or white. The special weapon is to change your ship's color. Bullets, as well, are black and white and those the same color as your ship cause no damage upon impact.
• GW Mode — In this mode, your special weapon is a reflector, which reflects enemy bullets away from your ship, tied to an onscreen reflector meter.

In each mode, the overall goal is to shoot shoot shoot and dodge dodge dodge. And, perhaps the most noteworthy feature of this release versus the earlier App Store version is full playability under iOS 4.

Anyone who enjoys a nice 2D shooter should grab this one instantly. After all, it's free, funded by iAds on the high scrore screen. Our forum readers are loving it.

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Few games inspire more heartfelt nostalgia than the classic LucasArts adventure games of the late 80's and early 90's. While we've still got our fingers and toes crossed that we'll eventually see similar "special edition" treatments to Maniac Mansion and/or Day of the Tentacle, we couldn't be happier that the Monkey Island series is being re-released with the level of intimate care that we've seen so far both with the previously released The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition [$7.99 / Free], and Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge [iPhone: $7.99 / Free - iPad: $9.99 / Free] which just hit the App Store mere moments ago.

Monkey Island 2 takes place after the events of the first Monkey Island where wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood is introduced and meets the cast of characters included in the game as he seeks out the pirate leaders and attempts to prove himself through three challenges. A ghost pirate named LeChuck is thrown in to the mix, along with the beautiful Elaine Marley. Without spoiling too much, the game concludes with romance, root beer, and fireworks. Even though playing the original is by no means required to enjoy the sequel, Monkey Island is filled with great writing, silly characters, funny situations, and often extremely odd solutions to the problems that Guybrush must overcome which is really worth checking out– Especially considering the fantastic job LucasArts did on the iPhone port of the special edition release.

Monkey Island 2 opens with our familiar protagonist Guybrush Threepwood setting the scene for his next adventure. Now that LeChuck is no more, he decides to search for the treasure of "Big Whoop", and in typical Guybrush fashion, he has no idea where it is, has no way to get there, and doesn't really know if it even exists at all. Regardless, this hasn't stopped him in the past, and it certainly won't stop him now. Of course no LucasArts adventure game could ever be as straight forward as finding out where some treasure is, figuring out a way to get there, then digging it up, and it doesn't take long before you're toe to toe with Largo LaGrande, LeChuck's old henchman. One thing leads to another, and LeChuck returns, turning your simple treasure hunt in to yet another epic battle with the ghost (now zombie) pirate.

With a development team that was nearly identical to that of the original Secret of Monkey Island, the sequel shares all of the same fantastic writing and cartoonish charm. Monkey Island 2 is hilarious at times, and incredibly cheesy at others, but manages to maintain a highly entertaining witty atmosphere the whole way through. The port of the original to the iPhone was a load of fun, with the only real complaint being the control system which treated the touchscreen like a trackpad which you used to move the in-game cursor around. Thankfully, this has been replaced by a new default control scheme in the sequel which works like many other iPhone adventures games where you just touch areas in the game world that you want to move to, or objects you want to interact with.

Interactive objects highlighted on right.

The special edition of Monkey Island 2 also has several other refinements over the first, my personal favorite being the highlighting system that shows you objects and areas that you can interact with. Tapping the screen with two fingers makes everything interactive glow, easily allowing you to see things you've missed, or other things to try. This is an incredibly welcome change from the standard tap/click on absolutely everything once you get stuck in an area. This two finger tap also illuminates doors you can walk through, making it very easy to see where you're able to go so you don't miss anything on your journey.

If you do get stuck, Monkey Island 2 features the same great hint system found in the original where you can get hints which initially start out extremely vague to push you in the right direction which eventually ramp up to flat out telling you where to go and what to do. Having played quite a few classic adventure game ports on the iPhone, this really is the best approach as you never need to leave the game to check a walkthrough online, and it's usually much more fun to just get a small hint to send you in the right direction instead of just reading exactly what to do. (Of course, that's there if you need it.)

iPad top, iPhone bottom – Comparing both graphical styles.

Monkey Island 2 also has the incredibly superfluous yet amazingly cool classic graphics included which blew out mind when we first saw the previous special edition. By default you can play the game with its redone graphics, stellar voiceovers, and the toolbar of actions that Guybrush is capable of. Swiping two fingers across the screen causes the game to fade out in to its original pixelated glory with the top half of the screen displaying the original game with the set of actions below.

Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge launched with separate iPad and iPhone versions of the game, and while I would have loved there to be one universal version for both devices, the iPad game is definitely the one to have. Not only does it have the same adventure from its iPhone counterpart, but currently for an additional two bucks (assuming you own an iPad) you get high resolution graphics and audio commentary. On quite a few areas of the game, you're able to tap a microphone icon in the top right corner and listen to the creators talk about wherever you are in game. It's not exactly a killer feature that's worth getting upset over if you only have an iPhone or iPod touch, but it is a nice addition.

The one thing that is a bit of a disappointment is that LucasArts flaunts these fantastic looking high resolution art assets in the iPad version, but played on my iPhone 4, the iPhone version is disappointingly low resolution in comparison. It still looks good, but I would have loved to have seen some Retina Display support in Monkey Island 2, I'm hopeful for future updates that might beef up the graphics, but it seems doubtful that audio commentary will ever make its way to the iPhone.

I could go on and on about how great the Monkey Island series is, how wonderful any game build on the SCUMM engine is, and the genius of the original creators Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman, but really this is just a game you need to play. LucasArts is covering all its bases with this launch, with free lites corresponding to both the full iPhone or iPad versions. If you've never played an adventure game before, I can't think of a better place to start. The Monkey Island series is great, and the few minor refinements added to the sequel makes this one of the most accessible point and click (point and tap?) games on the App Store. Download the lite version and give it a try, if the game hooks you in, chances are you will enjoy the entirety of both Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2.

On the other hand, if you're ever played a Monkey Island game before, I doubt you even made it this far in this review before just clicking the first iTunes link you could find and downloading the game for whatever device you own.

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Every now and then the App Store divulges something that actually surprises me; a previously unheard of game design that sinks its claws into me before I even know it. From its outward appearance, Doodle God [App Store] seems less of a game and more of a periodic table gone wrong, an experiment only of interest to scientists of questionable sanity. It's not until you experience it for yourself that you realise the true genius behind Doodle God's alluring gameplay.

The premise starts off simple: combine the four basic elements of earth, fire, water and air to create 140 objects (referred to within as elements, but not strictly so) in the world around us. Your job is to find the specific combination of two individual elements, or by-products of elements, or by-products of by-products, et cetera; to do so.

And elements don't always bond as you believe they should; the developers employ a far more abstract thought process than a logical one in creating the Doodle God universe. So while combining earth and fire to create lava might be logical, the combination of fire and water into alcohol requires a greater stretch (and that is a tame example). Dare I say it, but God knows what needs to be added together to create a Wizard, of all things.

The end result is that what seems like a relaxing, thought provoking experience, is instead a manic adventure of 'out of the box' thinking, with many results and accidental discoveries evoking laughter just as often as they do sighs of relief as a piece of the puzzle is secured. Because while Doodle God doesn't impose any time constraints on your discovery process, it will test the limits of your imagination and patience.

Elements are neatly categorised into 15 groups that are only made available when they are discovered. Pressing a group will open its list of elements to select from, displaying the groups again on the left of the screen. Selecting one of these groups will in turn display its list of available elements on the left. Choosing two elements from the selected groups will then attempt to fuse them together (if possible).

A successful bonding results in either a quirky or philosophical quote concerning the resulting reaction. Of course, chances are your selection won't succeed (there are literally thousands of possible combinations, after all) and that's where Doodle God's nifty hint system comes to the rescue. Hints are doled out on a timer, so you never feel too bad resorting to that oft-needed light bulb. They take two forms; either showing a feasible byproduct to work towards, or showing two possible groups that have an available reaction.

If I had to put my finger on what specifically appeals to me about Doodle God, it would have to be that insatiable 'just one more go' pull, with the knowledge that some other inane discovery is just around the corner.

If you're open to a new gameplay experience and not liable to just throw out a crazy concept from the get-go, then I recommend giving Doddle God a whirl. An online flash version is available to try first. And let your friends and family in on it too– you won't be short a laugh or two, that's for sure.

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