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Given the incredible success of Street Fighter IV [$9.99] since its release on the App Store, I've always wondered if its 90s arcade competitor Mortal Kombat would ever grace our touch screens. Just a few days ago, it was confirmed that indeed an iOS version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was in the works from the folks at EA Mobile. And just like that, yesterday Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 [$6.99] was released in the App Store.

I'm a diehard Mortal Kombat fan, going back to the very first release in arcades almost two decades ago. I've since owned just about every version of every Mortal Kombat game for every console over the years. I even bought and suffered through the abomination that is Mortal Kombat Advance on the GBA, so I can definitely recognize a terrible MK game when I see it. And Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for iOS is far from terrible, and in fact it's pretty good. It gets a lot of things right, and even does some interesting new things, but some of the changes will alienate longtime fans who are looking for a trip down nostalgia road, and the poor execution of the controls can make the game difficult to enjoy.

The most significant thing to notice about Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is that despite its name this is in no way a direct port of the arcade game. The biggest change is that the game is completely rendered in 3D. Purists will likely cry foul at this design choice, but I have a more positive feeling towards it. The characters are comprised of fairly basic 3D models but they look like their originals for the most part, and this also allows them to appear extra crisp, especially on the Retina Display. I can't imagine the old digitized sprites looking especially great on iOS screens, and the many frames needed to animate them would likely cause performance issues. Because of these points, I understand and accept the decision to go 3D.

One huge disappointment though is the lack of available characters. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 in the arcades boasted a healthy roster of 22+ fighters, whereas the iOS version only has a selection of 11 including two unlockable characters, and I believe the two bosses are playable though I have yet to verify that myself. Hopefully they take a page out of Street Fighter IV's playbook and offer frequent updates with new characters, because as it is now the roster feels lacking.

The best part about the game being in 3D is that the redone backgrounds look downright gorgeous. Again there is only a selection of 10 stages from the original arcade game's 16 or so, but the ones chosen here are the best of the bunch and contain all of the levels with stage fatalities. There's really nothing like knocking someone in front of a subway train or into a pit of spikes in 3D. On that note, all of the fatalities, babalities, friendships, and animalities are included for each of the characters. Some of these look better in 3D, and some I would prefer the original, but either way it's still hugely satisfying to pull off a finishing move on a defeated opponent, and that's what's important.

Regardless of your feelings about the graphics, none of it would matter anyway if the game didn't control well. Here is where Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 slips up the most. It offers two control schemes and the ability to move the buttons for each wherever you want on the screen. The joystick remains fixed, but it's in a pretty good default position anyway.

The first “pro” control scheme has all 6 buttons of the original arcade game, and all the moves are performed just like in the original. This is my preferred way to play because it's what I know, but it also makes it difficult to pull of moves that require multiple buttons to be held down at the same time, like Sub-Zero's slide for example. The second “easy” control setup features only 5 buttons – punch, kick, block, run, and special. This scheme changes all the special moves and fatalities into simple combinations of the special button and joystick directions. Both setups have their strengths and weaknesses, and neither is completely ideal, but they are both competent enough to get the job done.

The real problem with the controls has to do with the responsiveness. It's a strange phenomenon, really, because at the beginning of the match they work just fine. But as the match prolongs they stop responding as well. Button presses have a way of getting bunched up, and moves that you were trying to perform will play out much later than you intended. There's no way to stop this from happening either, so you'll just have to sit there until the string of button presses is completed before you can focus back on the action of the current moment. It doesn't render the game unplayable, but it's a frustrating problem that definitely needs to be addressed.

Content-wise, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 contains an arcade mode with 4 tiers of difficulty, a local multiplayer mode over WiFi or Bluetooth (complete with the 6 symbol code entry functionality of the arcade game), a survival mode, and a Shao Karnage mode. Shao Karnage mode is brand new, and is actually pretty neat. It pits you against Shao Kahn using the character of your choice, sans health bars for either character, to see how many points worth of damage you can do to him in 99 seconds. There are supposedly online leaderboards for both survival and Shao Karnage modes, but for some reason I have yet to get them working.

Initially I was turned off by Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, but I stuck with it and the game grew on me by leaps and bounds. I've had a lot of fun playing it, and there's all sorts of potential here for it to be a stellar Mortal Kombat game. Assuming you can get past the lack of characters and the new look of the graphics, the only actual problem with the game is the laggy controls. They're workable now, but I'd really like to see them improved in the future. Of course, adding more characters couldn't hurt either. For being the first Mortal Kombat game on the App Store, I ended up being pretty impressed, and there's a lot of positive impressions of the game in our forums as well.

If you're a fan of Mortal Kombat then you'll likely get enough enjoyment out of this version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 to justify the purchase, but if you're looking for a comparable fighting experience to the iOS version of Street Fighter IV then you may want to hold off and see how this game evolves over time.

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I always like the good news first, so here it is: Secret of Mana for the iPhone will be released this year, presumably before the App Store freeze on the 23rd. The bad news? That's really all we know. The game's producer, Masaru Oyamada, isn't giving out any details on the Squre Enix Facebook page aside from the fact that it's done, and he's happy. Look how happy:

In addition, they're also not discussing pricing aside from the fact that it won't be 99¢, and it will cost less than Chaos Rings. So, basically, what we know for sure is that the game is being released at some undetermined point in the future, and it will cost money. Also, here are three new screenshots:

Secret of Mana was one of the many classic RPGs that SquareSoft released for the Super Nintendo. Instead of turn-based battles like previous games, Secret of Mana is played in real time, similar to a Zelda game. Also, Secret of Mana had a really awesome coop mode where you could play through the game with the help of another player. Last month, I would have doubted that this mode would make its way to the iPhone, but with Sega implementing Bluetooth multiplayer in their Genesis games, I'm not even sure what to think anymore.

At least it sounds like we won't have to wait much longer to find out.

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The absolute best puzzle games can all be described in a single phrase. "Fling the birds at the pigs," or "feed the monster candy," or in the case of Geared 2 [99¢], "connect the blue gear to the yellow gear." Following on the success of the original Geared [Free], the second installment of the series is everything a great sequel should be.

If you haven't played the original Geared (and really, there's no reason not to, especially now that it's free), I'll explain how the game works in greater detail. Each level is composed of a set of gears, one yellow gear and one (or more) blue gear(s). Utilizing gears of different shapes and sizes, you must connect the two so everything spins. Neither Geared and Geared 2 have any kind of grid the gears snap to, which allows you to place the gears anywhere you want inside of the game.

The challenge comes from the limited set of gears available for each level, in addition to obstacles in each level such as crossed off areas where gears can't be placed but the can be dropped in to. While it all might sound fairly easy, it won't take long until you're flat out stumped on a level, and are left sitting there desperately trying to figure out how in the world to position the two gears you're given with the five you have to spin. Thankfully, the Geared games allow you to skip forward a few levels in the event that you're really stuck.

Geared 2 takes this excellent gameplay formula and expands upon it in every way imaginable. Obviously, the sequel comes with a whole new array of levels– These levels also introduce new gear types that apply additional layers of complexity and depth to the game. For instance, in later levels, there are ghost gears that must first be illuminated by nearby sun gears before they can be utilized, gears that apply different gravitational effects, and more. 60 levels in all are included, with another 20 on the way in a planned update.

But what happens when you finish those 60 levels? Well, that's where the level editor comes in. Players can create their own levels, utilizing all of the obstacles and gear types available in the game, then submit them online. Similarly, if you're more interested in other people's creations than your own, you can download any of the player made levels within the game for free. To prevent the issue that so many games with user-created content have (in that a lot of it is junk), the Geared 2 developers have built their own little approval process where they play through levels first, and assign their own difficulty rating to them– A welcome addition considering many games with similar level sharing systems are clogged with simple "hello world" levels. Currently it looks like there are around 20 great player-made levels online, a number I expect to increase as the game becomes more popular.

We're told that the entire game engine has been completely rewritten from scratch, allowing for all kinds of new tweaks and additions. Instead of just congratulating you for completing a level, the game now displays your completion time in addition to not only the number of moves you made, but also the distance that your gears were dragged in total. This new game engine not only allows for the different types of gears mentioned previously, but also future gears. In the next update, they're adding a water gameplay element with gears that create droplets and other gears that float.

The new types of gears are what truly makes Geared 2 a worthy sequel. The difficulty in the original Geared often seemed to stem from pixel-hunting as you nudged your gears around to find the perfect spot for them to spin against the other gears. Geared 2 seems to rely much more on puzzle solving skills than touchscreen accuracy, which is an incredibly welcome change. Also, a cute little hamster has been introduced, oddly adding much needed character to the fairly sterile original.

If you haven't heard of Geared before, stop whatever you're doing and download it while it's free. If you enjoy it, you're going to have a great time with the sequel. Similarly, if you followed along and vanquished every level in the original, you're going to have just as much (if not much more) fun playing through Geared 2. It's even universal for the iPad and comes packed with Retina Display graphics. All in all, the Geared games are just as classic as Angry Birds or Cut the Rope, and really shouldn't be missed.

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It seems like whenever a holiday rolls around in the US, all of the major developers put their catalog of iOS games on sale in an effort to ride a wave of publicity into the top app charts. Electronic Arts is no stranger to this practice, and in observance of a very special holiday this Winter they have dropped a huge number of their games down to 99¢. Yes, that's right, EA is having a sale to celebrate forum moderator ImNoSuperMan's birthday. Just kidding. It's a Christmas sale. Or rather, a "Holiday" sale.

Whatever the politically correct reason for this event is, the bottom line is that you can get a ton of EA games for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad for just a dollar each right now. (Note that some of these titles actually launched at 99¢, or have been that price for a while, but have been added to the list anyway):

iPhone/iPod touch Games:

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2, 99¢
• Cause of Death: Can You Catch The Killer?, 99¢
• Heroes Lore III, $1.99 → 99¢
• High Caliber Hunting, $2.99 → 99¢
• Pictureka!, $1.99 → 99¢
• Reckless Racing, 99¢
• Mirror's Edge, $4.99 → 99

• Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, $4.99 → 99¢
• Need For Speed Shift, $4.99 → 99¢
• Need For Speed Undercover, $4.99 → 99¢

• NBA Elite 11 By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• MMA By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• Fifa 11 By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• Fifa 10 By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• Madden NFL 11 By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• NCAA Football By EA Sports, $4.99 → 99¢
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour By EA Sports, 99¢

• The Sims 3, $6.99 → 99¢
• The Sims 3 Ambitions, $4.99 → 99¢
• The Sims 3 World Adventures, $2.99 → 99¢
• SimCity Deluxe, $2.99 → 99¢
• Spore Creatures, 99¢
• Spore Origins, 99¢
• Lemonade Tycoon, 99¢

• Monopoly, $2.99 → 99¢
• Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition, $2.99 → 99¢
• Risk: The Official Game, $4.99 → 99¢
• Battleship, 99¢
• Connect 4, 99¢
• Boggle, 99¢
• The Game Of Life Classic Edition, $2.99 → 99¢
• Clue, 99¢
• Trivial Pursuit, 99¢
• Yahtzee Adventures, 99¢
• Scrabble, $2.99 → 99¢

• R Type, $1.99 → 99¢
• Star Trek, 99¢
• Skate It, 99¢
• The Simpsons Arcade, $2.99 → 99¢
• Dragon's Lair, 99¢
• Surviving High School, 99¢
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert, 99¢
• Zombies & Me, $1.99 → 99¢
• Mass Effect Galaxy, $1.99 → 99¢
• Wolfenstein RPG, $1.99 → 99¢
• Anytime Pool, $1.99 → 99¢

• Tetris, $2.99 → 99¢
• Sudoku, 99¢
• American Idol: The Game, $1.99 → 99¢
• Littlest Pet Shop, $2.99 → 99¢
• Pandemonium, 99¢
• Snood, 99¢
• Mystery Mania, $1.99 → 99¢
• Jewel Quest Mysteries, 99¢

iPad Games:

• SimCity Deluxe for iPad, $6.99 → 99¢
• Need For Speed Hot Pursuit for iPad, $9.99 → 99¢
• Need For Speed Shift for iPad, $9.99 → 99¢
• Madden NFL 11 By EA Sports for iPad, $12.99 → 99¢
• Mirror's Edge for iPad, $9.99 → 99¢
• Reckless Racing HD, $4.99 → 99¢
• Pictureka! for iPad, $4.99 → 99¢
• Tetris for iPad, $7.99 → 99¢
• Yahtzee HD, $4.99 → 99¢
• Boggle for iPad, 99¢
• Scrabble for iPad, $9.99 → 99¢
• Command & Conquer Red Alert for iPad, $4.99 → 99¢
• Clue: Secrets & Spies – A Hidden Object Game, $4.99 → 99¢
• Snood for iPad, $4.99 → 99¢

Whew, that's some list. If you still have a few dollars left over after the absolutely ridiculous amount of new releases this week, there are definitely some gems to pick up out of this selection of games for 99¢, especially for iPad gamers where some of these games have been drastically reduced. You could practically buy every iPad game listed here for the regular price of Madden 11. That's just insane. Also, don't forget that you can peruse our brand new price drops forum for all of the latest deals, and can also pick up the universal Appshopper app [Link] which was recently updated with push notifications letting you know when price drops and updates hit while you're on the go.

Note: These links are for the US App Store only, but the EA sale is worldwide. If you happen to be outside the US market, then these links will not work for you but you can find these games by searching in your country's App Store.

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The story behind the creation of Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD [$6.99] is almost as interesting as the game itself. Aralon started as a project by the two developers, Jason and Sam, that comprise Galoobeth Games. They created an incredible RPG game engine for the iPhone that was more robust than anything previously seen on the platform, allowing for multiple character races and classes, the ability to mount and ride animals, a touch of alchemy and item combination, and oh so much more. All of this functionality was set in the expansive open world of Aralon, but as exciting as the framework for the game was the visuals were completely lacking.

Then back in May of this year the guys at Crescent Moon Games, who had previous experience in open-world action games with their own Ravensword [$2.99/Lite], stepped in to give the entire Aralon game a complete visual makeover. The stunning transformation can be seen in the comparison screenshots we posted in June, but it really hits home just how far the game has come when you watch the original trailer side-by-side with an updated one. All of this pre-release hype had caused Aralon to be one of the most anticipated game releases of this year, which was reinforced by an upcoming games thread in our forums that has achieved more views than any other in the history of TouchArcade.

Today that anticipation comes to a head, as Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD has finally been released in the US App Store. It's a moment that's bittersweet in that as happy as I am to see the game finally arrive, I'm equally as sad due to how much fun it has been following along with the game's progression. Any feelings of sadness quickly fade away, however, because as soon as you fire up the expansive world of Aralon on your iOS device you realize that you're in for an experience that's unlike anything you've ever seen on the platform before. I could literally write for hours about all the different aspects to Aralon, but instead I will try to touch on the major points as well as my feelings about playing this masterpiece of an iOS game.

You start off in Aralon by choosing one of three races – a human, elf, or troll – and from there you further refine your character by choosing its class. Both humans and elves can be male or female and pick from warrior, rogue, ranger, and mage classes. Trolls can only be male and either a warrior or a rogue. Each class has its own skill tree to master as your character levels up, and they all play quite differently from one another giving plenty of reason to play through the game as each. You then customize the look of your character model using a decent selection of hair and face choices, and although the options here aren't as robust as what you would find in a console game, it's certainly the most extensive on the iOS platform.

The story of Aralon then begins, and follows a tale of betrayal and a Kingdom on the brink of collapse. As fate would have it, you are the key element to solving these problems and restoring The Kingdom of Aralon to its previous state of peace and harmony. It's certainly the kind of story that follows clichés of the role-playing genre, but it's interesting nonetheless and serves as a good motivator to carry on and see things through.

After you're introduced to the premise, a very nice tutorial gets you acquainted with the controls in Aralon. A small directional stick controls character movement, and contextual buttons handle interacting with people and objects in the environment. You can scour chests spread throughout the environment or the bodies of fallen characters to collect items. There's an impressive amount of weapons and armor to equip, each of which will actually change the look of your character.

The real fun begins when you are let loose into the world of Aralon to explore and complete quests. The expansiveness and detail of the lands is jaw-dropping. The draw distance is limited and you'll notice an occasional wonky texture here and there, but by and large the huge world of Aralon is wholly impressive. There are main quests that pertain to the storyline as well as a number of side quests to complete, all of which are neatly tracked through a helpful quest log. The log will give you plenty of information on where to go, who to talk to, or what to do in order to complete each quest. This is aided by a map that points out the different areas in the game and your location relative to them, and at no point during Aralon did I feel lost or have a hard time figuring out what to do if I'd taken a break from the game for a while.

During your exploits you will run into countless enemies roaming the land. Battles take place in real time, and while they are largely button-mashing affairs there are some strategic elements to consider. A single button performs an attack based on what your character is equipped with, like a sword or a magical attack, and a second button handles defending or parrying. The defense system is timing based, and it's quite fun to work out the correct rhythm of attacking and quickly holding up a shield to block an attack. You also have a number of special skills which you slowly unlock and enhance through the skill tree as you level up. These skills, along with practically any other item or ability, can be assigned to up to 10 quick slots at the bottom of the screen. This ensures easy access to them and lets you mix up your tactics when taking on the enemies in the game.

For as much as I could wax lyrical about all the great thing in Aralon, the reality is that it does have some problems. The most glaring of these is the sometimes sketchy animations and behaviors of the graphics in the game. You'll notice things like when you mount a horse that it immediately teleports the creature to the correct position for you to hop on, or that as you're running through the world the game will occasionally freeze for a moment while it tries to catch up with drawing the environment. Given the incredibly expansive nature of the game, these are largely forgivable and don't hinder the experience too much, but they are there.

My other issue has to do with the controls. For the most part they work incredibly well, and the ease at which you can navigate menus and the many options contained within turns something that could easily be frustrating and overwhelming into something that is pleasantly simple. The problem comes with how the game highlights characters or objects in the game world that you can interact with. The range at which it highlights something is much too far, and it will remain locked on a character even if I'm in a building and on a completely different floor than they are. Also, if a character is standing close to an object like a chest, the game has trouble determining which one you want to interact with. You can remedy this to a degree by actually touching the object you intend to engage, but it still causes some cumbersome moments when navigating through the game.

Finally, it has to be said that with the incredible amount of quests associated with the main storyline as well as the many side quests, a lot of them can tend to feel repetitive. Don't get me wrong, they're still very enjoyable and the developers do a great job of trying to add variety to them. But in the end the majority of quests boil down to fetching or delivering items, killing a certain character or stable of enemies, and the like.

There is so much more to Aralon that it isn't even funny, like joining guilds, combining and creating items, or becoming an outlaw. But these things either don't fit within the scope of this review or are things that can only be experienced firsthand, like the first time the sun sets and gives way to a breathtaking night sky overlooking the vast land before you. I used to look at my iOS device as a small window into new worlds and fun experiences, and with Aralon I feel like I actually have a fully realized living and breathing universe sitting snugly in my pocket.

Even with some of the warts that come with an initial release, Aralon is one of the most enjoyable games I've played on the App Store. Additionally, Crescent Moon has an excellent track record with collecting player feedback when considering game updates. They have already created an Aralon suggestion thread in our forums, and are monitoring the feedback in the official release thread as well. I have no doubt that a game of this magnitude will continue to evolve and improve over time with new content, gameplay tweaks, and bug fixes. Still, it's a thoroughly enjoyable game as it is now, and I don't only suggest Aralon for fans of Western RPGs or expansive open-world action games, but I think every iOS gamer needs to pick up this title just to experience what is possible on this constantly expanding mobile platform.

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Today is the eve of the final Thursday in December before the pre-holiday iTunes Connect freeze. Starting on December 23rd and running until the 28th, developers won't be able to release new games or updates, or change any of the prices of their games. Last year the top sales charts also got frozen, and no one knows if that's going to be the case again this year or not. What we're seeing now is the mad rush to get everyone's games released before the freeze. If you were looking forward to a game with a holiday release date that isn't in this list, it's still possible that it will get released, but it's looking more and more unlikely as we get closer to the 23rd.

All of these games should now be available worldwide. Get mashin' that buy now button-

Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD, $6.99 – [Forum Thread] – The highly anticipated collaboration between Crescent Moon Games and Galoobeth Games is almost upon us. We were impressed with the depth of the game in our preview last week, and the excitement for Aralon couldn't possibly be higher in its massive thread in our upcoming games forum.

Real Racing 2, $9.99 – [Forum Thread] – Last week Firemint revealed the full details on just what to expect in Real Racing 2. A career mode, licensed cars, and tons of track are all some of the goodies that we're going to be in store for. Oh, yeah, and there's also 16 player online multiplayer that basically rewrites what to expect of iPhone online multiplayer gaming.

World of Goo for iPad, $9.99 – [Forum Thread] – As mentioned in our recent review, World of Goo on the iPad is simply incredible. It was a remarkable game before it hit the App Store, winning buckets full of awards and scoring many 10/10 reviews… and the touch interface only serves to make the game even better. I've been unable to put this game down since we scored our preview copy. If you have an iPad, you need this game.

Dungeon Defenders: First Wave, $2.99 – [Forum Thread] – This is the second game available on the App Store that utilizes Unreal Engine 3, but the graphics aren't what's impressive about Dungeon Defenders. What's truly awesome about it is the Game Center-powered multiplayer that allows four players to play together in a cooperative mix of tower defense-like gameplay mixed with an action RPG. It's even universal.

N.O.V.A. 2 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, $6.99 – [Forum Thread] – Gameloft is back again with a second installment in the N.O.V.A. series. This one will have you battling through 12 chapters in the singleplayer campaign, which I have a feeling will take a back seat to the 10 player online multiplayer. 10 maps are included for online play with 5 different game modes which include standard and team based deathmatch, capture the flag, freeze tag, and instagib.

Geared 2, 99¢ – [Forum Thread] – We loved the original Geared, and its sequel seems better in every way. Gameplay amounts to figuring out how to place gears to make the target gears spin, and unlike other gear-based games there isn't any kind of grid for the gears to lock on to, allowing you to place them wherever you like. Oh, and to make things better, it's launching at a buck and is universal.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2, 99¢ – 15 missions are included as well as 4 player online multiplayer. In comparison to other games being released today, that doesn't sound like a whole lot, but it's a game from a popular franchise that's also launching at 99¢– A price I'm not sure many expected.

Shadow Guardian, $6.99 – [Forum Thread] – Gameloft's take on the Uncharted series. Gameplay involves lots of running, gunning, jumping, climbing, and of course, treasure hunting.

Hook Worlds, 99¢ – [Forum Thread] – Evolving the Hook Champ and Super QuickHook world even further is Hook Worlds, a swinging game that Rocketcat Games is calling four games in one. Four game worlds are included, and while they all rely on swinging of some sort, each world looks and plays different thanks to four different characters with their own abilities.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, $6.99 – [Forum Thread] – An incredibly unexpected release by Square Enix, especially as I (and I doubt I'm alone on this) were expecting their next games to be their classic ports of RPG's they've been talking about forever now. Sadly, the port leaves much to be desired as mentioned in our first impressions post. Definitely wait for an update to fix critical issues before buying.

Altered Beast, $2.99 – [Forum Thread] – My mother would literally murder me if she had any idea just how many quarters I pumped in to the local Altered Beast machine. I'm surprised it took Sega this long to release this game, as in my eyes it's just as classic as Sonic. Either way, it comes loaded with their new bluetooth multiplayer compatibility for two player beasting.

Broken Sword – The Smoking Mirror: Remastered, $6.99 – [Forum Thread] – The continuation of the Broken Sword series, in a universal app. We loved the first installment, and are expecting great things from its sequel.

The Game of Life for iPad, $6.99 – [Forum Thread] – While The Game of Life is nowhere close to as near and dear to my heart as Monopoly is, I love board games on the iPad. This version has a few exclusive features such as being able to view the whole board and local multiplayer with up to 6 players at once. I'm still waiting for my iPad version of Mouse Trap!

Pix'n Love Rush DX, $3.99 – [Forum Thread] – I still can't get enough of the original Pix'n Love Rush for the iPhone, and the iPad version seems to be dripping with even more high scoring retro charm.

ZombieSmash HD, $2.99 – [Forum Thread] – We thought the original was great in our review, and from the looks of it, the iPad version provides even more zombie punishing action. The HD version adds multitouch controls for even more zombie mayhem.

Pocket God: Journey To Uranus, $4.99 – [Forum Thread] – This not-so pocketable version of Pocket God comes with an awesome new space interface, two new minigames, and other fun things. And of course, Bolt Creative is promising tons of updates.

Space Miner HD, $2.99 – [Forum Thread] – We absolutely adored the original Space Miner in our review, and while it would be cool if the game was universal, this is one HD we don't mind re-buying.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, $6.99 – [Forum Thread] – Mortal Kombat with Retina Display graphics? Street Fighter proved that a fighter could work well on the iPhone, and hopefully Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 continues that tradition.

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Back in the early 1980s, when the game machines of the day were the Atari VCS, the Intellivison, the VIC-20 and the like, a small video game studio known as Imagic was formed by several ex-Intel and -Mattel employees to create games for the game machines of the day. The studio, which many who were gaming at the time might liken to Activision in its early days, released around 20 titles in its five-year existence, but were probably best known for Demon Attack, Microsurgeon, and Atlantis. The last, we're happy to report, has been faithfully recreated by Nemo Games as the Universal release Atlantis Invaders [link] for the iPhone and iPad and is currently available in the App Store.

In Atlantis Invaders, the underwater city of Atlantis is under aerial attack by the deadly Gordon fleet. It's your job to save the day by manning three, fixed defense turrets in a bid to knock the enemy fighters out of the sky before they can lay waste to your city with their horrible deathray.

In the game, the leftmost turret is aimed at a fixed point toward the top-right of the screen, while the rightmost turret is aimed at a fixed point toward the top-left of the screen. Between the two is a mid-screen turret aimed directly upwards. Each turret can be fired by tapping on it, and the trick is to use the three in concert — where timing is key — to blow up every ship that buzzes the city. If an enemy ship makes it across the screen intact, it will reemerge at a lower altitude again and again until it's low enough to bring the deathray. It sounds extremely simple, and it is. But somewhere in there is an addictiveness that makes the rather basic gameplay pretty engaging.

Regarding the iOS adaptation, Mojtaba of Nemo Games said,

We tried to make the exact clone of this fantastic game with its marvellous atmosphere in every possible aspects of the original game (sounds, graphics, gameplay, scoring, etc.) and added few touches here and there, like adding OpenFeint for online scores. We took pictures of the original game and placed all parts of the city with high accuracy, we also recorded videos of the original game on emulators to calculate the speed changes of enemies and missiles one by one and used the results in the clone. We also thought about adding features like combos, more enemies, etc. but we realized that they'll change the original feel of the game and its fantastic gameplay atmosphere, so we changed our minds and tried to do a perfect clone instead.

See a video of the Atari 2600 version of Atlantis running in an emulator.

Atlantis Invaders, like the original Atlantis, is basically a re-jiggered take on the Missile Command formula that, to today's gamers, will exude a retro feel. I was a big fan of most of the Imagic releases I encountered and, as such, have enjoyed spending time with this one, but gamers without a particular retro bent may want to try the free, lite version [link] before making the jump.

Right now Atlantis Invaders is on a 50% off sale at $0.99 [link].

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Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for consoles and PC is a great, isometric action-adventure that successfully combines the exploration, the high-octane action sequences, and the puzzle elements of a solid Tomb Raider title with the combat of a good dual-stick shooter. It's not a perfect game. I think the setup to larger tasks is often are redundant (go here; grab this; repeat) and the crowd control options are lacking, but overall it's a fun game with a satisfying level of depth, especially in its item and equipment systems which allow you to boost Lara's skills by doing optional tasks or finding items scattered throughout the world.

Surprisingly, Guardian of Light will soon be available on the iOS in North America, and it appears to be a faithful port in regards to mechanics and game world, which is why I've mentioned all this. But during my playthrough of this version, I've discovered that the things that don't come across so well are the visuals, sound, frame rate, and control. I know — bummer!

Let's parse this. A lot of textures in the game look terrible, while some needed sound effects simply aren't replicated. Take, for example, the tumbling bridge section right outside the Spider Temple. No crumbling sounds are emitted in the cut-scene that betrays the two muddy bridges' stability. And while that's bothersome, the fact that Lara can clip through the final bridge's geometry and fall to her doom is even worse. I don't even know what to chock that up to other than poor implementation.

This scene, despite all of its action and stupid missteps, manages to hold up well in regards to frame rate, which makes it all the more mystifying whenever frames start dropping during low-octane portions of the game.

You can deal with these things; I can deal with these things. But, I think the real deal-breaker is Guardian of Light's on-screen controls, which make shooting, jumping, rolling, and basic item navigation a nightmare. The game is playable, sure, but it's obvious the game's enemy balance wasn't tweaked, nor were its action sections, for an on-screen UI. Guardian of Light is, essentially, still a game built for users with a controller. That's a problem because the UI  too poorly spaced and and just not responsive enough to replicate the experience and demand of a controller.

The iOS is the first platform that Guardian of Light has successfully launched its fantastic online co-op component alongside, which has one player playing as Lara while the other handles a warrior named Totec. What makes this such a compelling addition is that the game changes in meaningful ways with two people; puzzles that demand interdependence and unique action scenarios are made available in this mode.

Sadly, this iOS version of the co-op appears a bit on the shoddy side. Between Eli and I, our game's crashed a total of five times while starting up a match and our invites to each other didn't work in the first place. We had to, hilariously, use random matchmaking to find each other. I shouldn't say this component is broken exactly , but it's obvious Square Enix needs to take a look at this component's implementation.

What kills me here is that there's a great game buried in Guardian of Light iOS — a game that has satisfying combat, great loot systems and upgrade paths, a fun story, a good co-op component, and some stellar puzzles. But… these silly problems are killers. The good news is that all this stuff is fixable, particularly the ticky-tacky visuals, sound, and network stuff. The question is, will Square Enix address this stuff? I hope so. Guardian of Light is fantastic and I wish I could enjoy this version just as much as the others. We'll hold our official in-depth review until we see a patch since it's really hard to recommend this game as it is on launch.

App Store Links – Note: This game is currently available internationally, but won't be available in the US App Store until 11:00 PM Eastern.

• Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light, $6.99
• Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light HD, $9.99

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Well this came totally out of left field, but there are few surprises that I appreciate more than "Oh hey, by the way, there's a new Monkey Island game." Monkey Island Tales 1 HD [$6.99] is the first part of a five episode series of adventure games that was originally released for the PC and Mac, as well as making appearances on both WiiWare and PSN. The game takes place in a 3D environment where (much like other Monkey Island games) you guide Guybrush Threepwood through a series of misadventures. These puzzles are very similar to other adventure games and involve clever use of the environment, items, and dialog choices.

We haven't gotten official word yet on when the rest of the series will be making their way to the App Store, but the original episodes were released on the PC about a month apart, so I've got my fingers crossed for episode 2 sometime in January. We plan on taking a closer look at the game, but with the onslaught of releases today we've got quite a huge pile of games to go through. In the meantime, swing by the thread in our forums.

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In a world collapsing in on itself under the weight of its machine-churned puzzle games, World of Goo was a breath of fresh air when it was released in 2008. It was smart, varied, deep, gorgeous, and, above all, entertaining. The iOS version of the game will be hitting the US App Store tonight, and to no-one's surprise, it's still just as good.

The truly surprising thing is that this iPad version is easily the definitive version of the game oft-praised puzzler. You get a real sense of connection with the game's world as you dip your finger or fingers into it, and the technical mastery displayed in this port is near unparalleled. Everything just feels perfect. It's as if this was the version of the game we all should have played first.

At first, World of Goo is about manufacturing bridges and towers with the stretched tissue of little balls of goo. The point is to provide a path that other goo balls can follow into a metal pipe, the end point. Physics play a key role in this process: you'll need to build sound structures, which sounds easier than it is. Goo isn't concrete.

Each level requires a set number of goo balls to reach the pipe, and each goo ball you use for a structure counts against the total provided. This constant negotiation of goo resources is pleasing because it forces you to think around the obvious solution, which is often one of brute building.

The game doesn't rest on this basic formula. It has a bevy of twists and spins on this concept and mechanic in each level, providing a stream of different looks at what is possible to do in the game. A lot of levels even introduce new goo balls with very different, game-altering properties. There's a change of pace opportunity around every corner, be it from the introduction of helium-filled goo balls, vicious gusts of wind, and so on.

Diversity can become a bugbear in because explanation and experimentation are often required in large amounts. Developer 2D Boy mitigates this by walking the fine line between handholding and intuitive design. Levels are presented in such a way that it's clear what needs to be done, while signpost text written by the game's clever Sign Painter provides subtle hints and teases if a structure is too strange.

The Sign Painter is a perfect example of the game's character and tone. This writer of signs is bizarre and cheery, much like the game's unusual art. And if you doubted the power of a hand-drawn approach in this day and age, just take a look at this game. The art is detailed and beautiful and full of character-defining quirk.

On a related note, the sound design is stupendous in that it helps to add even another layer of character to the goo balls by allowing you to identify them simply by ear. Very cool stuff.

There's little wrong with World of Goo. I tend to think the physics on the larger balls introduced later in the gamer are a bit too wonky; there's a degree of luck almost in dealing with them as they tend to bounce wherever they like. I'm also not a fan of the fact that you can't pinch and zoom to get an overview of a level. 2D Boy keeps the camera tight and forces you to scroll sideways to see other parts of a map.

To be clear, this is a port. I've yet to see a level or a mechanic that wasn't present in other builds of the game. But it's a fantastic recreation, so much so that I've become convinced that this is the best version available. The touch controls are responsive, simple, and precise. Your finger, it turns out, is just as good as a mouse or a Wii Remote pointer. The intangible here is what it feels like to directly interact with the game's world. It just feels right. Picking up and applying goo is natural, as if your finger was intended to be used with this game in the first place. It's wild, man.

Puzzle games are a dime a dozen on the App Store, but World of Goo is easily one of the best ones available. It's charm, level of polish, and stream of new mechanics and ideas will keep you invested, while its other qualities will probably make you wish that every game from this point forward could be as imaginative and intuitive. Check it out.

App Store Link: World of Goo for iPad, $9.99 (Available in the US at 11:00 PM Eastern)

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