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Splinter Cell: Conviction on the X360 and the PC evoked mixed reactions from reviewers and consumers alike as it departed from the traditional stealth-centric Sam Fisher formula and opted for a more aggressive, guns-blazing approach. Gameloft's portable adaptation follows in the same vein, but also seems to introduce some of its own issues.

From the onset it is clear that Splinter Cell Conviction is one of the better looking games on the App Store. This can be attributed predominantly to its terrific looking and varied level themes, from grand historical Maltese buildings to dock-side marketplaces and even a trip to the middle east, Splinter Cell: Conviction does a great job keeping the eyes engaged. The storyline on the other hand is fairly disengaging; cycling through the usual cliches and predictable plot-turns as Sam seeks revenge for his daughter's murder.

As with most 3rd person games on the App Store, Splinter Cell Conviction is controlled with a virtual analogue stick and on-screen buttons. These buttons are context-sensitive, the action button changing between firing your weapon at range and grappling enemies when up close. Though the context-sensitive controls should work well, we felt that they haven't been executed as well as they could have.

The stick-to-cover button doubles as the multi-kill button, but often when the multi-kill option is present, Sam will instead opt to stick to cover (despite that button not even being visible at the time it was pressed). In fact, we found the cover system to be unresponsive in general, often impeded our control of Sam. Only designated objects can be used as cover (despite some looking blatantly like they are there solely for cover), and when in cover, even the slightest movement of the analogue stick can cause Sam to jump out in the open.

A similarly arbitrary feel permeates the shooting system in Splinter Cell Conviction, arguably the largest aspect of the revised not-so-stealthy gameplay. Rather than being able to shoot at whatever is under your cross-hair, it appears that Sam can only engage in enemies when the crosshair turns red. On many occasions, this is despite the enemy being in plain sight and well within range. In other situations, Sam can headshot an enemy at great range with a pistol– when the red crosshair permits of course.

The AI is another problematic area, but not to the degree that some readers have suggested in our forums. Enemies will sometimes run at Sam without restraint, gratuitously falling to his bullets, and at any difficulty level below the hardest, will take a very, very long time to take Sam down. Enemies seem to be a more than a little light sensitive too, often ignoring Sam despite him standing on their toes, so long as he remains out of the light. Despite this, enemies flow thick and fast and provide enough of an obstacle to keep the pace up and Sam constantly engaged.

As do the levels themselves, as though they are predominantly about taking cover and dispatching enemies, they are varied in both theme and substance too. Some levels force Sam to engage with the few gadgets at his disposal, such as peeking under doors or throwing camera grenades to get an edge over his enemies (though usually these are not at all required to actually complete a level). Another level has Sam aboard a speed-boat, a graciously on-rails sequence that lets you deviate from the ordinary pace of the game and mow down approaching enemies with a chain-gun. It's good fun that helps break up the 11 available levels.

Ultimately though, we think Splinter Cell Conviction's biggest problem is how successfully it recreates that Splinter Cell feel. If the game didn't look and sound so great, then its obvious mechanical and AI hitches wouldn't seem so glaring in contrast. While we may be holding the game to somewhat higher console-like standards as a result, that feeling is something that was inescapable and interfered with our overall enjoyment of the game.

App Store Link: Splinter Cell Conviction, $9.99.

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The release of Denki Blocks! [App Store] and Denki Blocks! Free [App Store] sees the critically acclaimed Gameboy Advance puzzler by Denki finally in our hands and well on its way to turning our grey matter to mush over the last week that we've spent with it.

The concept in Denki Blocks! is simple: join all the like-colored blocks together each level. The solution is far less straightforward however, requiring you to navigate the blocks around each level– easily done by the tap of a finger in any direction– in an attempt to force them together. All the blocks on-screen move in the same direction simultaneously unless they are blocked by a wall or obstacle, a mechanism that is paramount to get them to meet.

Once they have done so, they'll stay fastened together, allowing you to focus on the next block and the next, and so forth. In many ways it's like lego; only, there's no instruction manual, and you can't pull the pieces apart if you place them incorrectly (well, technically you can, as there is an undo option and you can restart each level if you're really stuck) . It's a devious formula that starts off easy but ramps up to become very challenging.

To further add to the difficulty, each level has a Master Challenge for you to tackle, and it's usually not for the faint of heart. Whether tasked with completing a particular shape or finishing in only a set number of turns or seconds, these master challenges will require lots of forward-thinking and less reliance on that undo button (which takes up time). Fortunately, your efforts do go rewarded, unlocking bonus levels when 12 of these Master Challenge stars have been collected (though we're not sure your brain will thank you after being reduced to paste only to be given additional challenges!).

There are over 100 levels in Denki Blocks!, making it the equivalent of Disney Land for puzzle fans. The levels and blocks are all rendered in colorful and vibrant hues to keep the game visually stimulating, and the soundtrack is appropriately light-hearted to encourage healthy synaptic firing. The level designs themselves have a lot of character too, some appearing with a maze of obstacles to negotiate, and others as locking mechanisms or contraptions completely enclosing your blocks.

We were a little disappointed that Denki Blocks! doesn't include online high score tables right off the bat, as we couldn't think of a more fitting model than the time and score challenges offered here. Perhaps it's something to look forward to in a future update (take note developers, if you're reading this).

In any case, Denki Blocks! has enough content to keep your puzzle needs satisfied for a very long time. We're confident that even the puzzle prodigies amongst you will be challenged by Denki's formula (particularly the Master Challenges) but we encourage even beginner puzzlers to give it a go as there is a ton of levels to see and not all of them need to be completed to progress.

At the very least, check out the Lite version of Denki Blocks! (link below) for a hands-on preview of the gameplay and to see for yourself what all the fuss is about.

App Store Link: Denki Blocks!, $4.99, Denki Blocks! Free, Free.

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Where Doodle Jump spawned a host of simple tilt-controlled casual games, Dizzypad seems to have done the same for the one-finger tap rotating-platform genre (we should trademark that one!). Jump o'Clock [App Store] by Glu Games falls squarely in this category, but instils its own steam-punk themed gameplay elements to differentiate itself from similar games.

Aptly named, Jump o'Clock gives you control over Leo, a rather cute robot, who propels himself up a clock tower from rotating cog to rotating cog by well…jumping. It's a simple concept that belies a captivating, challenging and surprisingly action-packed gameplay premise.

Initially, Jump o'Clock is more forgiving than other games of this variety. In the same way as Ninjatown, Leo can stick to and propel himself off the walls of the clock tower too, meaning miss-timed jumps aren't immediately fatal. As he climbs the tower though, so too do the dangers Leo encounters increase. In not too long, you'll be faced with cogs that are booby-trapped with spikes, walls that cannot be grasped and bouts of steam that will throw Leo off whatever he is currently clinging too. If Leo can't grab onto anything when he falls, it's game over.

Along the way are a myriad of golden bolts to collect. As you accumulate these, a bar at the bottom fills up. When it is completely filled, Leo can activate a super jump, propelling him upwards a significant amount whilst completely ignoring any traps in his way. Though this is the only power-up available to Leo, some level elements themselves lend a hand too, such as the springy cogs that produce a greater leap. We only discovered this through trial and error though, and we're a little disappointed that there's no help screen in-game explaining the different types of cogs and their effects.

Both the pitfalls and the aids that permeate the levels push the gameplay to an eventually breakneck pace where precision timing again becomes an important element. The 15 challenges available in the separate challenge mode further accentuate this skill and bring out different flavors in the gameplay by imposing a number of different conditions on you (such as reaching a certain height without using any walls or powerups).

Jump o'Clock boasts a flashy exterior that really brings the clock tower theme to life. Special mention should go to the sound designers too, as they have created a chirpy, light-hearted soundtrack that quickens in tempo as you climb further up, only adding to the great atmosphere.

We really enjoyed our time with Jump o'Clock and recommend it as a great casual time waster that will keep you at it for a long while trying to beat the challenges. OpenFeint integration provides high score leaderboards and achievements too (some of which do not apply at all to the main game mode, but are rewards for completing the challenges– something that may not be apparent at first).

Please note, the initial release seems to have an issue with submitting high scores to OpenFeint, something the developer has identified and will be fixed in a patch to go out shortly. We'll keep you updated.

App Store Link: Jump o'Clock, $0.99.

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A couple days ago we first posted about NoCanWin.com's Cubed Rally Racer [$1.99] and the few screenshots along with the trailer saw a huge response both in comments and on our forums. Two days later, and the game is here. The original teaser line the developer emailed us of "RC Pro-Am meets Canabalt [$2.99]" couldn't be a more apt comparison, as Cubed Rally Racer does a great job of combining both the retro feel of isometric NES-era racing games with complete randomization to never play the same track twice.

The goal of Cubed Rally Racer is simple, make it to the end of the track without running out of fuel. You control your car with a set of buttons to turn right or left along with a gas pedal button to accelerate. The controls do take a few races to get used to, as they work exactly like the retro racing games Cubed Rally Racer is based on, and it seems like you have much more control over your car if you tap a direction instead of holding it.

Your car can be refueled by picking up gas cans scattered around the track, as well as golden gas cans with provide a turbo boost for a short period of time. Depending on how cruel the random track generator is, there can be obstacles and jumps all over the place, and there is nothing quite like having the finish line in sight, only to crash in to a cow and need to start over. (Yes, you really can crash in to cows.)

At the end of the race you have three options: You can generate a brand new track to race on, re-play the same track and race against your ghost for more points and a better time, or send an OpenFeint challenge to a friend which includes your track and ghost for them to race against. Something I'd love to see in the future is the ability to save a track, as I've come across some that are beyond ridiculous filled with jumps, gophers, and, draw bridges complete with a ship sailing back and forth that were simply impossible, or far above my ability, to beat. Another thing that has been suggested in our forums is an endless mode, which I also imagine would be absolutely awesome.

While I love in-depth games like Chaos Rings [$12.99], Baseball Superstars 2010 [$4.99 / Free], and the many other games on the App Store that you can sink an immense amount of time in to progressing through the game, the games I always come back to are the ones you can pick up and play for a minute at a time. Doodle Jump [99¢] is highly praised around here because of how perfectly Lima Sky nailed the ability to just load up a game, play for as long as you have time, and do it all over again the next time you're bored. Cubed Rally Racer really seems to have a similar appeal to it in that the tracks are short enough to play a few while you're standing in line somewhere, and like Doodle Jump, the randomization factor always keeps things feeling fresh.

The controls may be a tad too finicky for players who weren't around for racing games before the advent of analog controls, but if you loved RC Pro-Am, Rock n' Roll Racing, and the many other similar games of the era, Cubed Rally Racer will become your de facto "I have two minutes what should I play?" game. Personally, I expect Cubed Rally Racer to live a long life on my iPhone comfortably nestled between the Doodle Jump and Canabalt icons.

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As explained by developer Chris Watts in the official thread on our forums, many parts of Mole – Quest for the Terracore Gem! have been completely reworked, and due to an international naming snafu, the title has been changed to simply Terracore Adventures [Free]. (As it would turn out, in some areas of the world, "mole" is seen as a bad word and was actually getting censored to "m**e" in some App Store listings.) We enjoyed the original version of the game in our review, and with the recent changes, there's no reason to not download this game while its free.

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

Mole is a game that, on the surface resembles classic Dig Dug, but is really a deeper game (sorry) that's much more about scoring up in order to better equip your character than simple arcade action. In Mole, you start off as a rather ill-equipped Mark the mole that can't do much beyond burrow about the top-most layer of the six-layer underground world that hides the fabled Terracore Gem (in the deepest layer, of course). While burrowing, you can pick up various precious metals and gems, and they can be used to up your gear in the equip shop — and better gear is what really opens up the game. It's a gear-to-gameplay dynamic that's reminiscent of that in Hook Champ.

Aside from the renaming, Mole, now Terracore Adventures, has had a graphical overhaul of most of the UI elements to make everything more clear and easy to read. In addition, power-ups have been added along with 16 unique treasures to be found while you're on the hunt for the terracore gem. Also, the controls have been tweaked and new medals have been added for players to unlock.

In the next update, there are plans for an entirely new level with both new gems and dirt types to explore. We liked the game before this update and name change, and it's really hard to come up with a reason to not download Terracore Adventures while it's free. The freebie promotion lasts until Wednesday, and after that the game will be 99¢.

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Last weekend, Assyria Games' unleashed The Mirror Maze [$1.99] on the App Store. Like any good puzzle game, the entire premise of The Mirror Maze can be explained in a single sentence: Control a red and a green ball, and get each of them in to their matching color zones on the other side of the screen.

This goal is accomplished by touching where you want the red ball to go. The green ball then goes in the opposite direction. The first few levels are very easy, and it doesn't take you long to understand the remarkably simple concept of the game. This is the exact moment that The Mirror Maze starts throwing increasingly difficult mazes at you which require a surprising amount of brain power to complete once the levels advance to the point of not being symmetrical at all.

Not only do the mazes become completely asymmetrical, but they eventually start being composed of both moving barriers and the warp gates seen above which act like little portals warping your ball between them. All of these obstacles must be successfully avoided using a single input for both balls, and it's really surprising how much thought goes in to figuring out the movements of both balls using a single touch input.

The Mirror Maze has online leaderboards powered by Agon, and while there are currently only 36 levels included in this version of the game, the following gameplay trailer makes mention of more levels coming soon:

There have been a ton of maze games released on the iPhone, but few offer much variation on just getting a single ball to the end of a maze. It would be nice if there were more levels, and there is an odd pause as mazes reload upon each retry (of which there will likely be many), but The Mirror Maze is worth trying just to see how difficult it can be to not only avoid obstacles with the ball with regular controls but also constantly thinking in reverse while you manage the other ball.

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Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior [$4.99 - iPhone / iPad] is an officially licensed 3D fighting game featuring the iconic martial arts star Bruce Lee. The game was released on the iPad almost two months ago to some user complaints of serious AI deficiency and control issues. Those issues have been mostly resolved in an update issued for the iPad version in conjunction with the release of the updated game for iPhone and iPod touch. The result is a visually striking fighting game that leans towards the casual side, with a core combat functionality that likely won't appeal to some hardcore players. It still remains a fun affair, and has a wealth of content and a stellar presentation that makes it well worth checking out.

Right off the bat, you'll notice that the graphics are incredible. There are 10 fighters in the game, each one distinct and well designed. The character models are colorful, although not highly detailed or complex. They end up looking marvelous in motion though, thanks to the game's excellent animations. The movements are fluid and lifelike, and each character has a ton of personality with their different facial expressions and fighting styles. There are only 5 different locations to fight in, but they are all richly detailed and beautifully rendered in 3D. There are small details such as leaves blowing in the wind or birds flying about that bring the stages to life, and each one can be played during day or night increasing the variety somewhat. All these elements work together wonderfully to create an experience that is visually top-notch.

The meat of Bruce Lee is the Story mode, although there are Arcade, Survival, Time Attack and Training modes present as well. Strange for a fighting game, there's no sort of multiplayer functionality at all, although there is a Versus mode against the CPU. Unlike most fighters, there's actually a fairly captivating and cohesive plot underlying all the action. The different story segments are told via text and comic book style character art. You'll start out as a young Bruce Lee, trying to make a name for himself partaking in street fights around Hong Kong. You're noticed rather quickly by a member of a local martial arts school, and after proving your worth by beating him in a fight, you are invited to study there. This springboards you into the storyline, and lets you enter Tournaments and compete against rivaling schools in addition to street fighting as you evolve into a martial arts master.

You progress through the game by choosing from a collection of events on an overhead map, one of which is always the next step of the Story mode. The others are various types of challenges, such as survival matches, one-on-one fights, time trials, and more. Experience is earned as you progress, and playing in these non-story related events can net you some extra XP. All kinds of rewards are unlocked as you level up from experience, like new characters, levels, and artwork. But most interesting of all is the ability to unlock the different offensive moves of your opponents. An option called the Style Editor allows you to swap out your default special moves with ones you've unlocked through play. Mixing and matching the different attacks provides a simple but enjoyable level of customization with your own character, and is a really nice aspect of the game.

The actual fighting gameplay mechanics are where Bruce Lee is hit or miss. The controls work well, with either a d-pad or analog stick for movement and single punch and kick buttons. The methods for different moves are simple combinations of directional inputs and/or attack button presses. The system is easy to execute with touch screen controls, but still contains a decent amount of depth. A special Chi meter fills up as you fight which let's you pull off special attacks or finishing moves, some of which zoom in on the action and give you a closer look at the punishment you're dealing out. There are plenty of moves and combos to learn, and a decent computer AI to compete with.

It's the makings of a solid portable fighting game, but the one oddity that sticks out is the way the game queues your button presses. Commands that are input will still carry out even after you've been knocked down and get up, or are furiously trying to perform a different move. Many fighting games allow for command queueing, but the way it works in Bruce Lee is funky and can be disorienting. You can learn to work with it, and there's a certain rhythm to the fighting that once learned alleviates the queueing problem to an extent. Based on the impressions in our forums, some players are having more difficulty with it than others. In my experience, it's caused me to lose a match here and there, but never derailed my enjoyment or ability to progress.

Despite these shortcomings, Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior is a high quality and entertaining (albeit casual) fighting game. There is a lot of content to unlock, a competent AI to play against, and plenty of modes to keep you busy for quite some time. It's not as deep as Street Fighter IV, but is much more so than the similar Blades of Fury. As a result, if you crave a highly precise and complex fighter, this may not satisfy you. It's also really disappointing that there's not any sort of multiplayer present. Still, it works exceptionally well as a single player game and offers a lot of entertainment for the money. The game is available for $4.99 for either the iPhone or iPad versions which, aside from the iPad's upscaled graphics and the iPhones slightly easier to wield form factor, are virtually the same.

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Warblade Free [Free] is the free version of Warblade, a vertical shooter that has an insane amount of history behind it, starting all the way back on the Amiga as Deluxe Galaga. When it made the hop to the PC, it became Warblade, and since then has amassed an amazing amount of various shareware awards, all of which can be seen along the right side of the Warblade site.

The goal of Warblade is similar to that of any vertical shooter. You fly up while swarms of enemies fly down, stopping to lob salvos of bullets your way. Tons of power-ups are in game, ranging from different kind of weapons, shields, and other bonuses to your ship's performance.

One of the coolest things about how the power-up system works is that if you like a particular weapon you can just buy it from the tons of available upgrades in the store between levels. These items are purchased with coins your enemies drop. Oh, and there are even power-downs, which I couldn't help but pick up such as "drunk mode" which reverses controls, and a single shot that removes all your weapon upgrades.

Warblade has tons of graphical flare. The enemies are colorful, explosions are plentiful, and overall the game is jut really cool looking while still feeling retro enough to be able to tell that there's still a little bit of Deluxe Galaga in there. Two control options are included, one where you tilt your device to control your ship with a fire button on the bottom of the screen and another where two arrow buttons also appear along the bottom to manage your movement.

The free version of Warblade comes with 25 levels and a time trial mode, which should be more than enough to whet your appetite for the eventual full release of Warblade. If you're at all interested in retro-inspired vertical shooters, you really need to download this game.

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Ace Tennis 2010 Online

Eurocenter's newest release, Ace Tennis 2010 Online [App Store] is self-described as "the first real tennis game on the iPad."

An iPad adaptation of Eurocenter's early iPhone release, Ace Tennis Online [App Store], Ace Tennis 2010 Online is an over-the-shoulder tennis title that features three different court types (grass, sand, and indoor) and matches against computer AI as well as online players from around the world.

The game features region tap controls (you control where your player runs on the court, but the swing is automatic) with tilt influencing volley direction. The iPad version features enhanced graphics that take advantage of the device's large screen and features gameplay similar to the original iPhone version, which saw a successful run in the App Store in its day.

I'm far more accustomed to triggering the swing as the main play dynamic in most tennis titles– so the gameplay felt strange to me.

The biggest feature of the game like its 2009 iPhone counterpart is online multiplayer play. Eurocenter is well known for their online multiplayer features across many of their games.

As the game just recently landed in the App Store, we haven't been able to really test the multiplayer functionality. Eurocenter is planning on launching the iPhone version of Ace Tennis 2010 in the coming few weeks which should expand the player pool.

App Store Link: Ace Tennis 2010 HD Online, $4.99

TowerMadness HD

Limbic Software has just released the HD version of TowerMadness.

TowerMadness HD is an open-field or fixed-path tower defense game where you can create your own path to defend off the enemies (Aliens) from reaching your base (herd of sheep). The game has full 3D graphics with pinch-to-zoom capabilities to view the game from any angle, all the way down to first-person viewing of the action.

One of the most intriguing new features coming to the HD version is the split-screen multiplayer mode. The way it works is that each player is controlling different games, but they are fighting the same linked waves of aliens, allowing each player to have their own strategy. Sending waves in early will result in both you and your opponent having to fend off the incoming aliens. So if your confident in your defenses, you can overload your opponent with waves and win, but this could also result in your own demise if your not careful. There are also new multiplayer specific features, like 'Panic Your Opponent', where you can accelerate the aliens on your opponents side for a little while to hopefully get past their defenses. Another one is a new character called 'Robosteal', who will travel down your opponents path and steal a sheep if he reaches them, and give it to you.

If you haven't tried it before, a free version of the iPhone game called TowerMadness Zero remains available to download.

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Back in the early '90s when I was in college, with some sorrow, I replaced my lovely Amiga 2000 with a Mac LC in order to crank out higher quality print documents for my classwork. And, in that capacity, it excelled. Sadly, as the weakest color Macintosh one could buy, it was not much of a game machine — not that there were that many Mac games out there to play, anyhow. One game, however, was huge fun and played rather well even on the meager LC. It eased my pain at having to part with the veritable gaming powerhouse that was the Amiga. The game I speak of is Spectre, and it actually made that little LC feel like a proper game machine.

Spectre is a 3D, filled-vector tank battle game something akin to Battlezone. The simple objective was to drive your tank around various obstacle-filled battlefields collecting flags and dodging the fire of AI enemy vehicles. The game also supported local multiplayer over the Mac's integrated AppleTalk networking hardware. It was followed by Spectre VR, an overall enhanced, network-centric title. Both versions were highly rated at the time and were awesome to play on the Mac's relatively high resolution, color display.

As a lover of that 1991 title — pretty much the only game I played on that Mac — you can imagine my thrill when Spectre 3D [link] made its debut in the App Store. And the iPhone release is not just a port of Spectre; the game includes iPhone versions of both Spectre and Spectre VR, including four different multiplayer games. It's pretty much an old Spectre jockey's dream come true.

Let's start with the single player scenarios. Both Spectre and Spectre VR are pretty much straight conversions of the Mac originals, although on the iPhone they play glass-smooth thanks to the device's processor and graphics hardware, both of which are far more powerful than that found on even the very highest end Mac systems of the day. (There's even anaglyph 3D — red / blue glasses –support.) You move from battlefield to battlefield, collecting flags and power-ups and blasting enemies using one of three different view modes: first person, over-the-shoulder, and 2D top-down. Direction and weapons are controlled via touch; steering is accomplished via either an analog virtual stick (default) or a digital control square in the lower-left corner of the screen while weapons and jump are controller by virtual buttons at the lower-right. The controls, analog in particular, are responsive and work quite well. It's simple but a lot of fun, especially for those who remember the days of 68020 and 68030 Macs.

Things really get interesting in the multiplayer modes, however. As I mentioned, there are four multiplayer games: Arena, Capture the Flag, Flag Rally, and Base Raid. Up to four players can compete locally via Bluetooth and up to 16 players can get in on the fun over the Internet or local WiFi. The game has just hit the App Store and, as such, there are not that many players online — no surprise. But I was happy to see that most of the game servers available feature AI bots that offer up a rather solid online game experience. The action gets downright frantic. It's Spectre as I never saw it back in '91 — pretty "white knuckle," really.

As I said earlier, Spectre 3D is an absolute instant buy for anyone who enjoyed the title back in the day. And, while it doesn't steal the crown from Vector Tanks Extreme for the ultimate iPhone Battlezone experience, Spectre 3D has multiplayer support going for it, and is a good deal of fun. I hope to see kill you online sometime soon.

App Store Link: Spectre 3D, $4.99

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