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If you're like many people who have been anxiously awaiting upcoming top-down racer Reckless Racing (formerly Deliverace), then today brought about some good news. We previewed the game way back in the beginning of March, but the weeks just kept on passing by with no game release in sight. When developer Pixelbite suddenly went silent in the Reckless Racing discussion thread in our forums, we knew that something had to be up. Thankfully, what we've learned is that Reckless Racing has been picked up by EA Mobile and is still very much on it's way to the iPhone and iPad.

Here's a screen from the iPad version and information given to us in the press release for Reckless Racing:

Roaring engines, squealing tires and amazing graphics. Reckless Racing mixes old-school top-down racing game play with state of the art graphics and engaging multiplayer features. Perfectly balanced controls let players skid, slip and slide through the most beautiful tracks ever seen on a handheld device – leaving nothing but mud-splattered opponents and skid marks behind. Reckless Racing features a fully stocked internet multiplayer mode, on-line leaderboards and the ability to trade ghost races with other players from all over the world.

EA pegs the game's release date as Summer 2010, so by our best estimation if it's not out by the end of this month, then it should be coming sometime in August. After so many months of waiting, we're just as anxious as everybody else to get our hands on the final version of the game. We'll report on any new information we get for Reckless Racing, such as a release date, as well as outline the upcoming lineup of other games from EA Mobile being released this year.

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There are already a plethora of Tron inspired games on the App Store, predominantly in the form of light bike games. And while some of them are indeed quite entertaining, none of them are actual Tron licensed games. That changed this weekend as Disney has released its own officially branded Tron game in anticipation of the Tron Legacy movie and Tron Evolution console game, both due for release later this year. While not the greatest game you'll ever play, Tron for iPhone is still pretty cool, and has a great visual style that should appeal to fans of the movies franchise.

What you initially get for this free Tron game is a dual stick tank shooter which we previewed during E3 last month. It's surprisingly fun to play, albeit a little uninspired. Fifteen single player levels have you fighting off enemies as you trigger switches that eventually unlock the end goal of the level. Your tank weapons can be upgraded giving you some satisfying firepower, although these upgrades don't carry over level to level. It can be frustratingly hard at times as enemies swarm you from every direction and can deplete your entire health allotment in the blink of an eye. Still, for a game that cost you nothing to try, it's not bad.

What's more interesting than the single player offering is the multiplayer mode. At the beginning of the game you'll choose what color faction you want to be associated with, and a running total of the weekly performance of each faction can be viewed from within the game. It's a neat idea and gives you the feeling of being part of a team, and apparently according to our forums the orange faction is the unofficial faction of TouchArcade, if you'd like to show your TA pride. Online matches connect very easily and you can choose to partake in 2, 4, or 6 player matches. It's pretty fun, but it's hard to get into matches where people are taking things very seriously and expect to get your own teammates killing you fairly often.

A clever bit of cryptic information is to be found in the games description, which is essentially just a string of binary code. Once solved, it reads “This TRON app will evolve. ComiTRON coming 072210”. Not coincidentally, 7/22/10 is the start of Comi-Con in San Diego, with a Tron panel discussion scheduled for this very same day. We're not sure if that means they'll just be unveiling new information regarding the iPhone game or if Disney actually has the first update to Tron set for release on this day. Either way, we'll be eager to find out, as they've confirmed that Light Bike and Discs modes are planned additions to the game.

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Justin Smith, the man behind cult phenomon (and the best bear-driving-a-car simulator we've ever seen) Enviro-Bear 2010 [99¢], has just sent out a tweet showing in-game video of the iPhone port of So Long Oregon, Let's Go Find El Dorado (previously known as F*** Oregon, Let's Go Find El Dorado on PC). Developed under the newly monikered Captain Games studio, So Long Oregon is the punk rock alternative to the classic edutainment title The Oregon Trail.

The game is a right to left scrolling wagon combat/racing game, featuring subtle nods to concepts found in the original Oregon Trail. You'll race against other wagons across the great North Western terrain, but rather than ending up in Oregon (which “only has dirt”), your settlers decide to hang a louie and make their way south towards the gold-rich hills of Northern California. Wagons can shoot, catch diseases, and feature incredibly silly physics as they launch over mountains and crash into woodland creatures.

Information and video taken from the So Long Oregon website:

Drive a wagon across the American west, then veer south in search of the legendary ancient lost city of GOLD known as "El Dorado". Oregon only has dirt! Wouldn't you rather be rich?

Test your conestoga wagon driving skills in 4 Challenges, including the Historical Oregon Trail for those of you who don't want gold.

Compete for high scores and achieve achievements on the OpenFeint power-up system.

Experience physically accurate terrain collision rendering. So much more than just going left!

For those of you who were endeared towards the simple graphics of Enviro-Bear should be pleased to know that So Long Oregon features a similar visual style, as well as a comically absurd premise. You can follow along at the game's website or on Jusin's Twitter as more information becomes available, or sound off in the thread in our upcoming games section. We'll be looking forward to getting our hands on this game which is said to be coming “really really soon”.  The PC version (complete with the original F-bomb in the title) can be downloaded here.

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iPad owners are in for a treat heading into this weekend, as TowerMadness HD has gone free for today. Not only is it a rare occurrence to get a full fledged iPad editioin of a game for free, but this particular game normally sells for $7.99. TowerMadness HD is a fully 3D tower defense game, and the iPad version features same device multiplayer for head to head competition. We previewed the game back in May shortly before it's release, and you can take a look at our review for the original iPhone version that was released over a year ago for more information.

This short developer video showcases the added multiplayer mode of the iPad version:

Even if you're not typically a fan of tower defense games, there's no reason not to give TowerMadness HD a spin during this free promotion. More information and player impressions can be found in the game's thread in our forums.

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It was just a couple weeks ago that we were previewing the iPad version of the iPhone hit Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor. At the time, developer Tiger Style had yet to submit this enhanced version of their critically acclaimed game. Well, good news Spider fans, as since that preview the game had been submitted and approved, and is now available for download from the App Store. As mentioned, this version includes some extra features that set it apart from it's iPhone counterpart. From our preview:

Like similar HD releases, Spider HD is little more than the iPhone game with the resolution of everything cranked up to fill the screen of the iPad. This allows you to see much more of your surroundings, making clues regarding the secrets of Bryce Manor much easier to spot than on the iPhone version, where your somewhat limited viewpoint could result in missing certain things if you weren't properly exploring some levels. Also, like most games built around fantastic art, the entire game experience is so much better in high resolution.

All four of the game modes from the iPhone game are included, as well as a brand new two player "sidekicks" game mode where two spiders are on screen, and each spider is controlled by the finger nearest to it. It's actually a surprising amount of fun, as like most games played in cooperative mode it's entirely up to you whether you want to help each other build webs, or simply race all over the screen trying to munch up bugs before the other player.

This developer video demonstrates the high resolution visuals, larger play area, and iPad exclusive same-device multiplayer:

If you're an iPad owner who's never played Spider, then now is the best time to become familiar with the franchise as Spider: Bryce Manor HD seems to be the definitive version of the game.  Besides the additions mentioned above, it also includes all the Director's Cut content that was added to the iPhone version towards the end of last year.  As always, further impressions are being collected in the game's forum thread.

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Proud to be indie developer NimbleBit leaked some vague details to us this afternoon regarding their next iPhone game, Pocket Frogs. The story of Pocket Frogs starts back with their previous game, Dizzypad [iPhone: $1.99 / iPad: Free + DLC], a simple jumping game that we loved in our review which recently received an update adding in iOS 4 fast app switching and Retina Display support for the iPhone 4.

Figuring they'd make the various Plus+ awards a little more fun than just increasing your overall Plus+ gamer score, NimbleBit linked these awards with unlocking differently colored playable frogs. The unexpected side effect of this for NimbleBit was it turned out that for many players, the goal of playing Dizzypad for them was to unlock every frog rather than shooting for high scores as originally intended. NimbleBit released several updates to the game which added even more frogs, so when searching for inspiration for their next game, it seemed only natural to make a game with the sole purpose of collecting as many frogs as possible.

Pocket Frogs is a game of raising, breeding, and trading frogs. Each of your frogs will have three specific genetic traits that they inherit from their parent frogs, which according to NimbleBit will result in "many thousand possible emergent species." There are going to be multiple customizable habitats to raise your frogs in, and players will be responsible for keeping the frogs healthy, happy, and well fed by taking them out to explore the Pocket Frog pond.

Aside from breeding frogs, players will be able to get new frogs by ordering them in-game as well as trading frogs with friends via Plus+. There are also plans to have various challenges to breed certain frogs which rotate on a weekly and monthly basis and the frog store will rotate on a daily with new frogs to buy with in-game currency. NimbleBit is still hashing out plans on exactly how they're going to monetize Pocket Frogs, but have assured me that players will be able to access absolutely everything in game for free and whatever in-app purchases they finally decide on will be intended for serious frog breeders and otherwise entirely optional.

One of the core features of Pocket Frogs that NimbleBit feels has been missing from some many of these free social games is a full featured offline mode. If you're an iPod touch user, you will be happy to know that you can play Pocket Frogs without ever connecting to the Internet, you just won't be able to buy any of the in-app purchases or participate in frog trading while offline. Otherwise, you can breed your own little frogs to your heart's content, buy new frogs, and even participate in all the breeding challenges.

Pocket Frogs is currently being developed for all iOS platforms and will include Retina Display support. NimbleBit isn't getting specific with release dates yet, and instead have just told us to "expect to have a handful of little frogs this summer." We've yet to hear whether or not players will be able to release their army of frogs on unsuspecting virgin ecosystems, but for what it's worth, I've got my fingers crossed.

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Last weekend we posted a preview of Ratloop / Chillingo's upcoming illumination puzzler (well, that's really the best way to describe it) Helsing's Fire. This weekend the game went live in the App Store [link] and we've had a chance to spend some time with it.

Helsing's Fire sends you on a quest to destroy Dracula, placing you in 90 randomly generated, dungeon-like levels across three different worlds (The Abandoned Village, The Haunted Forest, The Cursed Castle), peopled by the 13 different monster types that comprise Dracula's horde. The challenge is to eliminate said beasties by moving your torch about the screen, which casts brilliant beams of light and dark shadows about the play area. Light up as many ghouls as you can and strike with a powerful tonic, banishing them to oblivion. But, be careful — not all that dwell in The Shadow Blight are creatures of darkness, and those that aren't must be spared. It's a highly innovative puzzle mechanic, which we've never encountered before.

In each level you control the placement of your torch by either dragging it about the screen with a finger or tapping on a new target destination. In the majority of the Story Mode at the core of the game, you use these controls to arrange your torchlight just so, and then trigger the colored potions when you're ready. But, as I came to find out after getting my hands on the title, at the completion of each world lies a boss battle, of sorts, that puts your fingers in motion at a rather quick clip. In these encounters, a sinister being of evil leaps from the top of one obstacle to another, firing at you all the while. Only during these brief jaunts can you illuminate and decimate, while dodging his attacks, of course. It's nice to find a touch of arcade action thrown into the mix, like this.

Survival Mode is a timed affair where the pressure's on to figure out the proper potion sequence and get your torch placed as efficiently as possible. Because enemy creatures are sometimes wrapped in several multi-colored layers of protection, it really can put your brain through the ringer to get the potion sequence and torch positions laid out in sound order. And, midway through the game, the arrival of ghosts — which can only be seen in shadow — are no help at all. Deliciously frustrating, it is.

Integration with Chillingo's Crystal social game network allows online achievement and score tracking.

While the screenshots and preview video definitely piqued my interest, Helsing's Fire is even better than I expected. Dark gothic creatures wrapped up in amusing sequences of Victorian dialogue and, not to be forgotten, that excellent light and shadow puzzle mechanic. It's one of the most unique games I've ever played and is a true App Store gem. Surely only a creature of darkness would let this one slip by them.

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Resolution Interactive recently gave us a peek at their upcoming aquatic racing game, Aqua Moto Racing 2. This sequel to the original Aqua Moto Racing [$1.99] improves the game in nearly every way imaginable, and after going back and playing the first entry in the series, it's really hard to believe that this game is even running on the same platform in comparison.

The game plays much like the classic Nintendo 64 game WaveRace 64 (and other similar racing games), with buoys that you must either pass on the right or the left, with a healthy helping of ramps strewn about to get massive amounts of air off of. We really liked Aqua Moto Racing in our review when it was released last year, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the sequel is even more fun, especially now that our main complaint from said review has been completely rectified.

Aqua Moto was (and still is) a great game, which did an excellent job providing nearly everything you'd want out of a wave-runner arcade game, except movement in the water. Every track in Aqua Moto was remarkably calm, but not anymore. Aqua Moto 2 introduces an entirely new dynamic water system, which not only looks great in motion, but also makes the game both more fun and challenging as a sudden wave as you're trying to come around a corner can either result in getting wicked air, or going off course entirely.

The stunt system is cool too, as with a flick of your phone over a jump the game goes in to slow motion and allows you to select a variety of different tricks for your racer to perform. You can see how this all goes together in the following gameplay video:

This is still an early development build, so it's hard to really get a good idea of what the full game is going to be like yet since so little is included in the preview version. The few tracks I were able to play were a ton of fun, I just really hope that the developers do something to improve the sound of the engine, as the short loop of sound they're currently using really sticks out once you notice it. Resolution Interactive isn't getting any more specific than "Summer 2010" for the release date of Aqua Moto Racing 2, but once the game finally hits the App Store, expect a full review.

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Last week we previewed developer Nine Pound Studios post-apocalyptic open world RPG Xenome: Episode 1, and the game has since been released worldwide. We've had a chance to give the game a spin, and while it's hard not to be impressed with the scope of the game, there was still a lot left to be desired. Xenome is an ambitious game, claiming 5 square miles of in game territory to explore with nary a load screen to be seen. And while this technically does hold true, it's at the expense of a poor framerate and occasional stutters while the terrain is being drawn.

In fact, due to the immense scale of the game, it's only currently playable on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, or 32 and 64GB 3^rd gen iPod touches. An update is in the works to make it playable on 2^nd generation iPod touches, but anything older than that will likely not be able to run Xenome. For those that are able to play, the gameplay wasn't particularly enthralling to me. Your character can equip different armors and weapons, and generally level up in traditional RPG fashion, though the combat seemed a bit tedious. There does seem to be a decent storyline to the game, but the presentation of this story amounts to walls of text. The draw distance is phenomenal but the landscape in general is somewhat barren.

This isn't to say that there aren't some good aspects about Xenome, and it's certainly offering a game unlike anything currently available for the iPhone. The developer's roadmap for the franchise is that Episode 1 and 2 of Xenome will be stand alone single player affairs, with Episode 3 being a full blown MMORPG, all set in this same game world. In that regard, Xenome: Episode 1 feels a bit like a working demo for what they have planned down the road.

The developers are actively discussing the game and further player impressions (both positive and negative) are being collected in our forums.

(Only works on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS or 32/64GB 3rd Generation iPod Touch)

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Pocket God [99¢] is a game that hardly introduction around here. With meager beginnings as a simple sandbox with an island full of pygmies you can toss around, Pocket God has since turned in to a seemingly unstoppable monstrosity that now includes mini-games and tie ins from all sorts of iPhone games such as Harbor Master [$1.99 / Free] and even Doodle Jump [99¢]. Other features have been added such as the ability to create little in-game movies with your islanders, turn them in to zombies, and more things than I can even list off the top of my head. What started as a game that was so basic it was hard to even describe as a "game" has turned in to an iPhone game with a surprising amount of things to do and discover.

This fall, Pocket God will be coming to the iPad. Pocket God for the iPad will be a completely new game, as creator Dave Castelnuovo told CNN, "I don't really believe in taking an existing title and cranking out an exact same clone of the game on every different console out there. If we have a really hardcore fan that has it on both iPad and iPhone, we want them to have a different experience."

This new Pocket God will have the same humor that Pocket God fans have come to expect, with the first installment being titled Journey to Uranus. The pygmies will quite literally take to the stars, and Bolt Creative sent us the following screenshots that show how this is all going to look on the iPad:

Since our forums served as one of the original infestation points for the Pocket God army, you can bet that as soon as we hear more details on either Pocket God for the iPad, or the upcoming Pocket God comic book, we'll post everything we find.

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