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Awesome Saucer [$1.99] slipped stealthily into the App Store a couple of weeks ago, without receiving much attention, but this well-presented 3d space-shooter deserves some acknowledgement. Nebuleux Games has used a unique graphical style, which makes it a memorable experience to play. And because it's universal, you can install it on your iPad and iPhone. Here's the low down…

You're a saucer pilot, responsible for flying the SCR-090 space fighter. It's an old-fashioned flying saucer, shaped like a frisbee, as often portrayed circa the 1950s. You fly around space, tracking, targeting and destroying the required quota of aliens to clear each area. Do it fast enough and you earn bonus points and unlock weapons. It's basically a dogfight situation, in space. This is an arcade-style game, so there's no story, missions, trading or traveling to specific locations. Instead, you simply score points by blasting aliens. When your shields hit zero, it's game over and you restart from scratch.

The graphics are, as the title suggests, quite awesome, in terms of their uniqueness. The enemies resemble glowing stars, which leave colorful trails, which are helpful for tracking them down. The default view is third-person perspective, looking from behind your saucer, however you can switch to first person perspective by tapping the screen. There's also crystalline asteroids to dodge or shoot.  The background graphics, such as particle clouds and interplanetary skies will make you pause mid-battle to check out the awesome scenery. Movements are all smooth, fast and responsive. And if you hit the 'boost' button, things get even faster for a few seconds, with an acceleration effect. At times the game does get a little too fast, and that's on easy mode!

There's a heap of weaponry systems (12 types) and you can try them out in the free-roaming tutorial. Weapons include a rapid-fire proton-burst, gas attacks, 360 degree lazer targeting and graviton missiles. Some games offer two or three weapons slots, but in Awesome Saucer your craft can be loaded with all of the weapons simultaneously.  The weapons auto-fire when an enemy is in range and targeted, so you can focus on navigating rather than mashing the fire button, although there's a manual fire button too. Now, need something to shoot? There's at least eight different enemies. Some are fast, others aggressive, some swarm, while kamikaze extra-terrestrials will chase you down and attempt to physically ram into your saucer.

The controls are a little different, with a left "flight stick" for steering and a right stick to rotate your saucer, so it rolls like a fighter jet. I didn't understand why the rotate stick was required, until the developer explained "It helps you turn faster, and rotating can help you track a target by spiraling in. But mostly it just looks cool". There's also buttons for braking and changing weapons.

If you took away the stunning graphics, Awesome Saucer would be less awesome and more ordinary. The gameplay is fairly shallow, a bit repetitive and doesn't provide a great feeling of progression, as there's currently no story, career mode, achievements or rankings and each game starts from scratch. Although, the game does track your overall kill statistics and the developer advises Game Center integration will be a priority update.  Fortunately, the graphics transform Awesome Saucer from an average dog-fighting game, into a visual experience, which is why it caught our attention. E.T might need to "phone home" to warn the galaxy, because I'm about to board my saucer!

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If you've been waiting for Final Fantasy Tactics for the past few months… Tonight is the night. In fact, there's so many awesome games coming tonight that I'm just skipping the normal pleasantries of easing everyone into the game releases via a smart introduction.

Instead, I'll just go over how this works for first timers out there. iOS developers are able to set specific release dates for their games/apps. Since the App Store is a global market with tons of different regions, and time zones exist, that particular date arrives earlier in some corners of the world than it does other. New Zealand due to their proximity to the International Date Line gets first crack at new releases, followed by Asian markets, then European markets before things finally appear in the US App Store at 11:00 PM Eastern.

Arenas, Trial of Valor, $3.99 – Forum Thread – This universal online turn based strategy game has a feature list that has piqued my interest. There's both a PvP and PvE battle system, five types of arenas, ten available races, thousands of unique objects with more on the way, along with hundreds of different spells and creatures. We'll have to see how big of a component the online stuff is, as a $3.99 price tag combined with a (somewhat) obscure online game never seems to be conducive to building a large online pool of players.

Colosseum Heroes, 99¢ – Forum Thread – These sidescrolling beat 'em ups have been surprisingly popular on the App Store, and Gamevil seems to have nailed the formula very well. Multiple skills to use, along with several playable characters fighting their way through seemingly endless waves of varied bad guys. It looks like there's oodles of things you can customize, with 7 levels of 126 different spells.

Cut The Rope: Experiments, 99¢ / HD – Forum Thread – ZeptoLab seems to be following in the footsteps of Rovio's Angry Birds Seasons and are going it alone in self publishing this Cut The Rope pseudo-sequel. Anyway, it's safe to say that if you even vaguely enjoyed Cut The Rope, this is a game you need. More of the same with a few new twists is hardly ever a bad thing.

Desert Quest, Free – Forum Thread – I'm not entirely sure I'm sold on the gameplay of this game, but I think the art style is really slick. It's free too, so it seems worth checking out if for no reason other than it has a cool look to it.

Emberwind, 99¢ / HD – Forum Thread – This game puts you in charge of a gnome fighting off a legion of gremlins. It sounds crazy, and it looks crazy from the above trailer which seems oddly reminiscent of obscure 16-bit era action-centric platformers. We'll see how that all translates to gameplay, and I'm curious to see how the controls work.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of The Lions, $15.99 – Forum Thread – This game hardly needs an introduction. It's Final Fantasy Tactics… Finally on the iPhone after months and months of delays. We're overjoyed it's finally here.

Frankenstein Matchmaker, $1.99 / Lite – Forum Thread – This word game comes with the odd premise of needing you to match various words in order to make Frankenstein some love connections. Hopefully its difficulty level is adult-appropriate, as it seems like it could be a little on the simple side.

Kickin Mama, $1.99 / Universal HD – Forum Thread – If you've found yourself awake at night wondering what would happen if you combined Peggle-like gameplay with kicking babies… Well, here's what happens. This game.

Ninja Fishing, 99¢ – Forum Thread – Despite a hefty amount of drama with Radical Fishing, Ninja Fishing looks like it could be pretty cool– Especially if they deliver on all the planned updates mentioned in the iTunes description.

Puerto Rico HD for iPad, $7.99 – Forum Thread – This game is based on a board game which I have no experience with but it's apparently won all kinds of international gaming awards. It's rated incredibly highly on boardgamegeek.com, which has a massive amount of information on the game.

Shift 2 Unleashed, $4.99 / HD – Forum Thread – We loved all the previous Need For Speed games for iOS devices that EA has released in the past, so it would stand to reason this one would be just as good. Like most EA franchises, this seems to include tons of incremental improvements and boasts Origin support as well.

Snowball Run, 99¢ – A simple looking endless running avoidance game, only this time you're running towards the camera instead of away from it… And you play as a yeti.

Super Granny, Free – Forum Thread – The iTunes description is a little vague on how the digging mechanic of this game works, but it sounds a lot like Lode Runner and it looks a lot like Lode Runner. And hey, I remember my grandma liking Lode Runner, so it makes sense in a roundabout way.

Taco Master, 99¢ / HD – Forum Thread – This time management game puts you in charge of making… Tacos! (If the title wasn't a big enough clue on that for you.) Also, the trailer seems to be voiced by the guy from Zombo.com.

Temple Run, 99¢ – Forum Thread – We've had our hands on Temple Run a few times in the past, and it's safe to say if you love endless runners this is a game you need to get.

Toss The Ball, Free – Forum Thread – Namco's latest foray into casual gaming involves, as you may have guessed, tossing balls. It's free, and offers different bonuses for coming back every day, but the question is, is tossing balls compelling enough for you to want to?

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Last month we checked out the trailer for an upcoming platformer called Roboto from developer Fenix Fire Games, and thought it looked pretty promising. You play as a hoverboard riding robot who is chasing his female robot crush all across the galaxy, in an effort to win her affection. Gameplay appeared to fall somewhere in between a traditional platformer and a fast-paced endless running game, which seemed like a good combination.

Then last week, Roboto [$2.99] was released in the App Store, and after playing through the game it mostly delivers on all the promise that was expected from the trailer. The visuals and level design are the brightest points of Roboto, but a couple of technical shortcomings and less-than-ideal controls hold it back from true greatness. Fenix Fire is already in the process of addressing these issues though, and with just a small bit of post-release update love Roboto could be one of the finest platformers available on the entire iOS platform.

Right off the bat you’ll notice that Roboto is simply stunning visually. The crisp and colorful graphics look fantastic on the Retina Display, and there are loads of little details that give the game a great sense of character. Gameplay is strictly on a 2D plane, but the entire game is rendered in 3D and the usage of the foreground and background give a great sense of depth as you play. Killing an enemy might shoot a gear right into the screen when it explodes, and background elements like huge wrecking balls will swing into the foreground, looking like they might burst right through the screen.

Roboto’s moves consist of running left or right, jumping, hovering, and shooting. Holding down the jump button will cause Roboto to hover for a short period, a la Princess Toadstool in Super Mario Bros. 2. Roboto’s actions will expend an energy meter at the top of the screen, which can be replenished by collecting various energy pickups spread throughout the levels. If you run out of energy and come across a point where you need to hover over a gap, you’re pretty much screwed, so it’s best to keep a close eye on your supply and not overuse any of your moves.

The real brilliance of Roboto lies in its level designs. They are each designed to be completed speed run style if you choose, but if you slow down and take your time there are plenty of items to collect or enemies to defeat. At the end of each of the 30 levels in the game, your score is tallied based on completion time, enemies killed, remaining energy, and whether or not you collected each of the 3 gears hidden in the level. This gives Roboto great replay value, as after merely completing a level it can be a nice challenge to go back and try to get 100% for everything and land a huge score. Game Center integration for achievements and leaderboards adds to this as well.

My biggest gripe with Roboto is the absolutely terrible control stick used for moving your character in the game. The stick is seriously temperamental, and sometimes will drop whatever direction you’re moving without you even realizing it. This can make the game infinitely frustrating, as you’ll literally be hovering over a gap and will suddenly drop right into it due to no fault of your own. I’ve easily died more times from this one issue than from any enemy or challenge in the game. Luckily, Fenix Fire has posted on their Facebook page that an update will hit soon that adds separate left and right arrows for movement, which I think will be a much better option. But right at this moment, the control issue drives me absolutely bananas.

Another issue worth considering is that for such a graphically intense game, performance has been spotty for some players. It’s not really consistent, either, as I’ve had almost no issues running the game on my iPhone 4, except for very minor stutters when a ton of things happen onscreen at once. Conversely, some members in our forums cannot even play the game at all due to an abysmal frame rate grinding things to a halt or the game simply crashing on them. The developers also mention on their Facebook that performance optimization is coming in an update as well, but again, as of this writing you may or may not have any luck getting the game to run consistently well, or at all.

Roboto has all the makings of a classic platforming game. It’s one of the most visually impressive games I’ve seen in some time, and the gameplay itself is well designed and a lot of fun. If the controls and performance issues can be ironed out sufficiently, then Roboto will fall into the “must have” category of iOS platformers. Right now though, expect to be frustrated with the touchy control stick and potential for some technical hangups that might prevent your from playing the game. If you’re on the fence, it might be worth waiting to see how the update resolves these issues.

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Here’s something I wish I had on-hand when Phosphor Games and its partners announced its FPS-slash-horror game, The Dark Meadow: an actual web site that you can go to and then see videos and images of the game in action. I’ll let that beef slide though, now that there is an actual web site and it happens to be so handy. After gazing at the newly released teaser trailer and the images, I feel like I know the game a little better and that’s always a plus, for good or bad.

In this case, it’s for the better. The Dark Meadow has a wonderfully moody look, which will do wonders for its horror underpinnings. I’m still not so sure on how the marriage of long-range combat and Infinity Blade-inspired [$5.99] melee action has been implemented, buy hey, I guess you can’t have it all early in a marketing cycle no matter how much you stomp your feet.

One thing we didn’t know last time we covered The Dark Meadow was how it would manage movement in the world. Turns outs, Phosphor will be using nodes to help guide the player, similar to how Chair implemented movement in Infinity Blade, I’d imagine. I can hear you groaning from here already. Stop it. It’s not that bad, especially since there will be some sort of open-ish exploration element.

Dark Meadow is scheduled for a release this month. Wait, what? Neat! We'll of course have more from the title as soon as we can get our greasy but relatively germ-free hands on the game. There is a thread in our forums where you can get in on some Dark Meadow discussion, and keep your eyes peeled towards the App Store for the game to drop sometime in the next several weeks.

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As I write this, you could be designing your own Snuggle Truck [$.99 / HD] levels in the brand new update to the physics-based driving game. Owlchemy Labs’ dropped us an e-letter this morning stating that Apple had blessed the titanic update, and it also revealed that, in celebration, Snuggle Truck will be sold at 30-50 percent off the normal price. For the next 24 hours, you can grab the game on iPhone and iPod for $.99, or on the iPad for $1.99. That’s a cool deal! I think!

Just as a light re-cap if you missed our previous coverage, the level editor is a drag-and-drop deal, similar to the one in LittleBigPlanet. Also, like LBP, you’ll be able to upload your creators or play, share, and rate other peoples’ levels through a new web portal. This update also rolls in a much-needed UI flip, some balance tweaks, and other little fixes.

We’ve seen a lot of crazy updates in our time, but rare are the ones that change the face of a game. Granted, Snuggle Truck will continue to be a title about cute animals that you need to escort back to the zoo, but now it can also boast a previously unexplored sandbox aspect that really tries to tickle the creation itch. What’s next? A built-in text editor?

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On Monday, Gamasutra reported that Rubicon Development, creators of the excellent iOS strategy title Great Little War Game [$2.99/Lite], had posted over on the NeoGAF forums that they received several PlayStation Vita development kits from Sony for free, so that they could port Great Little War Game to that platform.

What’s interesting here is not just that an active iOS developer is porting a popular and previously iOS-only game to the Vita, but rather the stance Sony seems to be taking in regards to independent developers. You might also hear them referred to as “garage developers” by Nintendo, and the last time I checked, The Big N wanted nothing to do with these indies making games for their soon-to-be price-reduced 3DS console.

The thing is, independent and smaller scale studios account for some of the biggest success stories on the App Store and are a huge reason that iOS gaming, and even smartphone gaming in general, has surged so drastically in just the past few years. The barrier of entry is so low for Apple’s App Store that it allows new or risky ideas to be brought to life by almost anyone, sometimes even just one person working on a project in their down time from the tribulations of daily life.

Of course, with a user base of more than 200 million devices, the big boys have jumped onto the App Store bandwagon too, bringing many popular video game franchises to the touch screen. But by and large, it’s the independent developers who are responsible for creating the quirky and original experiences that just wouldn’t have been viable under the traditional video game creation model the industry had grown accustomed to.

So, the fact that Sony is embracing this idea and welcoming independent developers to the new Vita platform with open arms (and at least in some cases, free SDKs) is a good sign that the company is recognizing the importance of independent developers and the direction the game industry is heading. Digital distribution is the future, and it offers a significantly more even playing field where the little guys can sit on the virtual shelf right next to the big guys.

It’s unclear just how readily available the Vita SDK is to just any old person interested in making a game for the system, and Rubicon notes that their kits are only on loan and must be returned to Sony when the port is complete. But even still, if Sony can create an entry point to the Vita that is similar to the App Store’s, then they might be able to create the kind of 3rd party traction that the 3DS has been unable to attain thus far. With the Vita’s $250 starting price point and more technical bells and whistles than you can shake a stick at, it might actually become a real enticing alternative to mobile gamers currently satisfied with their iOS devices for on-the-go gaming.

It will be interesting to see how Sony plays their cards with the Vita and the digital download indie scene, and how it will affect Apple’s game (if at all). The Vita seems the most well-poised to give iOS a run for its money, and that sort of competition can only mean good things for all fans of portable gaming.

[Via Gamasutra]

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Supermono Studio, the same studio who achievement-ized standard non-game tasks like chores and scrubbing behind your ears in the stupendous Epic Win [$2.99], are close to releasing its next game, Forever Drive. Forever Drive, if you didn't know, is a futuristic racing game, complete with track building and neat customization elements, sorta like ModNation Racers. The coolest element, on paper at least, is its online, perpetual city. Supermono describes the game as “Outrun-meets-SimCity-in-the-future-online,” if you need some analogues.

Of course, it also dropped some screenshots. There’s probably a great word for this kind of art style, but because my brain doesn't work so great all the time, so I’ll just say it looks great (in a TRON kind of way) and let you tell me my business in the comments.

If you’re familiar with this project, you might be wondering why it’s now called Forever Drive instead of "Drive Forever." According to Supermono, there’s a legal reason for the flip. It didn't go into the details in the official blog's latest post, probably because the story would be REALLY boring.

It also didn't discuss release date. We've got in touch and hope to bring you that information and more in the near future.

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We've had our eye on Halfbrick's Machine Gun Jetpack for quite a while now. We got a glimpse of the game back at GDC and last month found out that it'll likely be hitting the App Store this August. We've even had Halfbrick's own Phil Larsen on an episode of The TouchArcade Show to discuss all things Halfbrick, including Machine Gun Jetpack.

Anyway, this latest video of the game entitled "Simple Awesomeness" does a marvelous job of exhibiting just how awesome Machine Gun Jetpack is going to be. It seems Halfbrick has just taken the cave flier formula, held it hostage in some kind of secret underground Australian bunker, and spent the last six months injecting various experimental performance boosting compounds into it. Lasers, energy beams, collectable coins that actually are used for things, oh baby.

Also, I'm just going to throw this out there, but I don't think it's too late for Halfbrick to either flat out change the protagonist in the game to Phil Larsen himself, or at least have Phil available as an unlockable character. I mean, Barry Steakfries was awesome in Monster Dash [99¢] and Age of Zombies [$2.99], but he's no Phil.

Needless to say, we're totally stoked for Machine Gun Jetpack and absolutely love Halfbrick's ability to take what amounts to a tired game type on the App Store and make it incredible. They did it with Age of Zombies and dual stick shooters, Monster Dash and endless runners, and I'm thinking they're going to go for a three-peat with Machine Gun Jetpack.

Sure, things could go horribly wrong, but Halfbrick has an amazing track record for great games on the App Store.

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Binary Square's Flick Rocket [$.99] is a gesture-based amalgamation of Missile Command, Centipede, Asteroid, and Space Invaders that has you firing rockets from a centralized turret into a swathe of vertical space occupied by roving beasts nabbed from its source material. Where it has the most bang is in its over-the-top presentation, which assaults your senses with its lo-fi, retro-infused arcade sound effects and vector-stylized world. Where it fails is in its lack of precision and content. As far as flaws go, those are pretty fundamental, but I feel like the rudimentary action mechanics and even the stilted content to some degree are almost perfect for a pick-up-and-play game. If you rock Flick Rocket in bursts, you’ll get something out of it, which is a vague way to say that you’ll probably get those basic, visceral thrills that all of the classics its based on have provided for eons.

As of right now, Flick Rocket boasts three different styles of play that can be accessed in either its pick-a-level campaign or its arcade score-attack mode. The most satisfying of the trio is its Space Invaders mode, which simply has you hammering a squadron of roving crabs with unlimited missiles that you flick out of your turret with a swipe. The other two styles of play are basic riffs on Centipede and Asteroid: one has you battering a squirming worm that drops a mushroom for every segment you explode, while the other has you pummeling space rocks. You get infinite ammo in all the modes, as well as access to power-ups that allow you to stop time and do fun stuff like bounce your rockets off walls.

The goal is always to protect the city underneath the action. The foes, whether its from straight-up attacking or from secondary flack, can easily obliterate the eight or so buildings you’re charged with protecting if you're not on the ball, so you're asked to stay on your toes. Overall, it’s a simple enough play formula, and its satisfies in that overly basic and cozy kind of way. Oddly, you never really feel like you have total control over where the rockets go, despite that being the central conceit of the game.

I also kinda think that the enemy spacing is a tad too close and the explosions from rocket-to-enemy impact are just a smidgen too weak. Despite the fact that you’re firing rockets half the size of the enemies, you don’t really get a solid sense of empowerment, and I think the precision factors into that, too.

But, again, this is a really simple, retro-infused title. I feel like I’m saying that Pac-Man is broke or something whenever I criticize Flick Rocket. So, to be perfectly clear, the core concepts and the mechanic at work in this game are entertaining, though these are fleeting feelings. I like Flick Rocket as a lunch break-type of game, where you just go in and get your kicks and get right out. It doesn’t have the substance to hold your attention for long anyway, but I don’t think it really needs to.

It’ll be interesting to see this game expand in the future. The campaign mode leaves several, several bubbles open indicating that new mechanics are coming. My gut doesn’t says this was a horrible choice; games that feel content-light shouldn’t really advertise the fact that they are indeed content light, but it’s nice to know  that more is planned, I guess.

Anyway, if you’re in the mood for some old-school action, Flick Rocket is definitely a good place to start looking for action. It’s entertaining enough for what little it is. Check it out if you’re intrigued, though, or need another good time waster.

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Remember Star Command that we posted about a few months ago? No? Well here's the deal– War Balloon Games took note of the success of simulations like Game Dev Story and decided to take a crack at releasing something similar, only with a Star Trek-like theme to it. Here's the developer's own description from the original unveiling on Reddit:

Players can build their vessel in their own image – if you prefer a scientific, peace oriented game style you can build long rang scanners and diplomatic facilities to encourage peace and information exchange. Players more focused on settling disputes through force can build their Starship with multiple weapon bays and reinforced hull to absorb heavy damage.
Throughout the game players can hire and manage their crew. Crew members have a variety of skill sets and each of these comes into play when performing tasks on board like research, tactical, engineering and more. Crew members gain new skills as the game progresses making them more and more valuable.

Players can explore the universe, discovering black holes, nebula’s, new planets and eventually make contact with new races. Diplomacy comes into play as some species are naturally drawn to combat while others may be more willing to join you – even exchanging officers on your crew.

Anyway, here's the three new screenshots to prove the dev team is "still alive and working":

Needless to say, I'm super excited for this. We're huge fans of the Kairosoft formula around here, and really can't wait to see a game that takes those same basic ideas and applies them to something entirely new and original instead of poorly translated ports of existing mobile phone games. If you want to know more about the game, the developers are actively posting in our forums.

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