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We still really don't know anything about Square Enix's upcoming iPhone-exclusive RPG that we haven't already mentioned, but this trailer for Chaos Ring is absolutely amazing. The graphics are insane, and the game looks like a Playstation-era RPG. Needless to say, we're extremely excited about this:

Originally I suspected this might not be released for quite some time, since the only release date we've found anywhere is simply 2010, but the trailer looks like a surprisingly complete game. I wish we had more details to share right now, but needless to say, we're going to be following Chaos Ring very closely.

Update: Forum member GDSage has done a phenomenal job at piecing together tons of details about Chaos Ring in the Chaos Ring thread on our forums.

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There is something special about skin-tight spandex and inverted underwear that positively warms our hearts. Chillingo and Traplight Games have captured the essence of that specialness and synthesized it for the iPhone, with the release of The Hero [AppStore].

The Hero is a largely understated title for a game that puts you squarely in the rubber shoes of a top-heavy, Mr. Incredible-esque crime fighter with a penchant for destruction derby and loop-the-loops. Our brave hero zooms in from space, taking it upon himself to fly around each gorgeously crafted city to complete a number of tasks (by ramming them with his head) to keep secure his charges (the fair citizens), whilst causing as little damage as possible to the surroundings itself.

Of course, asking our Hero to go about his duty of catching falling babies, putting out fires, culling down the army, killing giant insects or downsizing orbital laser-barraging satellites (to scrape but the surface of his repertoire) without the occasional high-five would just seem rude. If The Hero has started to sound absolutely insane, that's only because it is. That simple fact can also be credited with why collecting High Fives from the town's citizens is the fuel source for your three super powers — Freeze, Blast or Zap– each of which help cut down your foes when you're feeling overwhelmed.

And overwhelmed you will be, as though The Hero starts of at a very relaxed (almost boring) pace for the first 5 or so levels, those who stick with it are rewarded with a manic adventure that will test your digit reflexes. The Hero has two control options to direct his flight, a virtual analogue stick or a tilt option; your Hero handling much more like a bi-plane than a Batman. This may seem frustrating at first, as you attempt to wrest your Hero into pulling tight turns to little avail, until you realise that the controls more closely resemble games like MiniSquadron, requiring you to loop to turn around. You attack enemies by simply ramming them, assisted by a boost button or by letting loose with one of your superpowers, which are gradually unlocked in the Campaign mode.

The Hero measures your progress each level by your ever present Fame meter. If you fail to stop the incidents being brought to your attention or if you receive damage yourself, your fame will decrease. If your fame reaches zero before completing all the assigned tasks it's "Fame Over", and you have to restart the level, something you'll see quite regularly as The Hero is certainly no walkover. The Campaign levels pose their own individual challenges too, tied together in a very loose but very funny storyline. There are 15 Campaign levels to complete on both Easy and Hard difficulties. There is also a Survival mode with 4 increasingly large and challenging cities that are gradually unlocked, where your Hero faces all manner of obstacles to build up the best score possible.

It's hard not to recommend The Hero simply due to its terrific style and over the top humor. Whilst some may find the airplane-like handling of The Hero to be counter-intuitive and awkward, those open to the gameplay will undoubtedly enjoy cannonballing through an army of enemies, including a number of challenging boss archetypes too. The open-ended Survival mode will whet competitive appetites and potentially add many more hours to The Hero's already substantial content. Oh, and did we mention you get to fight Zombies?

Be sure to check out the gameplay trailer above for a further look at The Hero. Impressions from our discussion forums are flowing in thick and fast, and are overwhelmingly positive. And a heads up to you lucky 3GS owners, there's an easily overlooked option which switches on a 'high' 60-fps mode.

App Store Link: The Hero, $1.99.

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To say details are sketchy right now on this game would be an understatement, but what we do know is that Japanese developer Media Vision has a job posting [Translated] up looking for developers for a new RPG for the iPhone coming in 2010.

French Final Fantasy fan site, Final Fantasy Ring via Famitsu noted the game is called Chaos Ring and also in their story [Translated] mention that the team behind it also created the Playstation RPG Wild Arms, a personal favorite of mine.

That's all we know right now, the rest is open to speculation. There is an awful lot of time left in 2010, and if Media Vision is only looking for people now, we might have a long wait in front of us to get our hands on Chaos Ring. Regardless, we're anxious to hear more on the game and will post whatever we can dig up from our Japanese sources.

In the meantime, you can swing by the Chaos Ring thread on our forums and join in on the excitement.

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During last night's iPhone Developers Union party, here at GDC 2010, I had the chance to sit down with Dan Bliss of BinarySquare and have a look at his new, retro-styled block elimination title Kerplinkus [App Store].

Now, many of you out there are surely thinking you need to see another block elimination game like you need a hole in the head, but Dan has managed to deliver a fresh take on the formula that's simple and highly challenging — in fact, it can be downright panic inspiring. It works like this: you start off with a playfield consisting of upwardly advancing rows of differing blocks. Particles that match the rising blocks fall from above and, in the case of a match, eliminate the blocks they hit (and any bordering blocks of the same design) or, if the shapes don't match, add a block to the column in question. The goal of the game is to see how long you can keep the tallest column from touching the top of the screen. The real strategy lies in the fact that you can swap any two of the advancing blocks by tapping one and then the other. The trick is to wisely determine which columns to focus on to keep the game going. It's a pretty frantic affair.

Like BinarySquare's earlier title, Space Out [App Store], the game features a highly-retro, pixellated graphical treatment that lends the title a distinctive look that some gamers (like me) will love. Old school music and sound effects, created using the Commodore 64's famous SID chip, are also featured.

While it's true that the App Store is flooded with block elimination games, Kirplinkus really does deliver a fresh twist on the formula. See BinarySquare's demonstration video for a look at the gameplay.

App Store Link: Kerplinkus, $0.99

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Back in 2008, Adam Atomic and Danny Baranowsky, two of the three masterminds behind Canabalt created a flash game called Gravity Hook originally based on a typing-tutor game called Gravity Key by Arne Niklas Jansson. After securing permission to develop an endless mouse-based version of the game, the original Gravity Hook was created in five days utilizing the beginnings of what is now the flixel framework.

A year later, Danny and Adam revisited their game and added new graphics, sound, controls, and gameplay to create Gravity Hook HD. Much like Canabalt, a free flash version is available that allows players to experience the game in its entirety, with global leaderboards reserved for the upcoming iPhone version.

If you have flash installed, you can try out Gravity Hook HD by clicking below. The game has sound, so make sure you mute your speakers before clicking if you're playing somewhere that epic soundtracks are frowned upon.

The developers aren't ready to discuss specific release dates, but hope to have Gravity Hook HD on the App Store sometime this month. We plan on spending some time at GDC with the entire Semi Secret Software crew, and might have more information on Gravity Hook HD then.

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Late last week we posted a preview of Vector Tanks Extreme, which was released just hours later through author (and retro lord) Peter Hirschberg's new operation, BlipTime Studios. As I had the final build in-hand a few days before its official release, I knew the game was something to get excited about, but since then I've spent a great deal more time with the title and, well, I haven't been disappointed. (I have, however, been blown to bits more times than I'd like to confess…)

First, let's step back a moment and take a look at the overall Vector Tanks situation. Peter's original Vector Tanks appeared in the App Store, published by Chillingo, just over one year ago. It delivered a stylized iPhone take on Ed Rotberg's 1980 arcade classic Battlezone, with a large helping of modern-day retro, thanks to the lovely glowing vector effects that make the iPhone's screen feel more like an Atari Quadrascan display than a 3.5-inch LCD. It's some of the best retro gaming to be found in the App Store.

Early this year Peter parted ways with publisher Chillingo and formed his own studio, the aforementioned BlipTime Studios. In that transition, he brought Vector Tanks along — and with an update — but was unable to provide said update for free to those who purchased the Chillingo Vector Tanks release.

As Peter explains it,

…I apologize that there isn't a way to upgrade. I worked with Apple to try and establish and upgrade path for my current customers but the final answer from Apple was that once you change the account under which an app is published, it will always appear as a "new" app and upgrading is NOT possible. I sincerely apologize. I did try and I know it sort of stinks. My hope is that the reduced price will serve as a good-faith gesture to my current customers who wish to pick up this updated version of Vector Tanks.

To soften the blow of the situation to those who purchased the original, and in honor of the release of Vector Tanks Extreme, Peter is offering the latest version of the original, Vector Tanks (Classic Version) [App Store] for free for one week. Everyone reading this post should just go grab it right now.

Now that we've got all that sorted, let's move back to Vector Tanks Extreme. I had, earlier, described the original Vector Tanks as Battlezone on crack. Given that, Vector Tanks Extreme can only be described as Vector Tanks on crack — squared (and on fire, screaming while giving out wedgies). It's one of the most intensive, white-knucle shooters I've ever played on any platform. And this is true even on the easiest setting. But, when you play at the INSANE difficulty level or in the game's unlimited-lives, balls-to-the-wall, 2-minute Rage mode, it's enough to necessitate a heavy dose of beta-blockers.

The game is basically an exercise in GO GO GO, watch the map to dodge enemy fire, swing behind an obstacle for shielding, and lay down the smack as fast and as hard as you can. And if the aforementioned obstacle is slowing you down, just blow it away. Like the original, Vector Tanks Extreme is controlled by left and right thumb sliders at the edges of the screen that guide the action of your tank's tracks. It's a tap to the screen to fire your weapons, and this time around there are more to be found lying about the battlefield. Canons, rapid fire turrets, rockets, rail guns, nukes — not a very good place to get caught in the crossfire.

Notching up the intensity of the virtual battlefield carnage are the encouraging quips of your in-game crew, consisting of the voices of both Jon St. John (the voice of Duke Nukem) and Jeff Straub. When I try to capture the essence of the game experience, I keep conjuring the image of the famous, '80s Memorex advertisement. It's pretty much like that, but on an iPhone. And with glowing vectors.

Vector Tanks Extreme uses the network to track global scoring, but things should get even more interesting when Peter releases the first major update, which will enable network competitive play. I'm quite anxious for that to land, but until then, single play against the game's vicious AI is definitely keeping my hands full.

If all that gets your juices flowing, go grab Vector Tanks (Classic Version) [App Store] – for free (for a few more days) — and give it a try. And if you want to take that experience a fair piece beyond the next level, you know where to look. Vector Tanks Extreme. Can you take it?

App Store Link: Vector Tanks Extreme, $1.99

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Hey what do you know it's Friday and once again we've got a huge list of games that are on sale and free. As usual, because of the nature of iTunes pricing, these can change at any time. All prices are current as of this posting, but if you've had your eye on any of these games you're better off not waiting around because you never know when they'll return to normal price.

One game you should really check out while it's on sale is Revolutionary Concepts' Cobra Command [$4.99 → $1.99], especially if you've never played an old laserdisc game. We enjoyed the game in our review and even included it in our year end listing of best retro games.

There's also a free version of the game and to celebrate their one year anniversary, Revolutionary Concepts is also making the two games developed by their sister studio Collect3 free as well: SNAP! and Animal SNAP!.

To promote the launch of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, Square Enix dropped the price of most of their other games. They haven't drastically slashed prices, but if you've been looking to pick up some of these games, Square Enix sales are fairly rare:

• CRYSTAL DEFENDERS, $7.99 → $5.99
• Hills and Rivers Remain, $6.99 → $4.99
• SLIDING HEROES, $2.99 → 99¢
• SONG SUMMONER: The Unsung Heroes – Encore, $9.99 → $7.99
• VANGUARD STORM, $4.99 → $3.99

And of course there is a whole bunch of freebies:

• AirBear, 99¢ → FREE
• Compression, 99¢ → FREE
• Kachina, $1.99 → FREE
• Rasta Monkey!, 99¢ → FREE
• Sky Force Reloaded, $1.99 → FREE
• Vector Tanks (Classic Version), 99¢ → FREE

TONS of great games are on sale this week, this is just my pick of games we've covered that have had price drops:

• B-Boy Beats, $2.99 → 99¢
• Battle Blasters, $2.99 → $1.99
• Battle of Puppets, $1.99 → 99¢
• Bird Strike, $1.99 → 99¢
• Bridge Odyssey, $2.99 → 99¢
• Castle Frenzy, $1.99 → 99¢
• Doodle Bomb: Physics Puzzle with a Bang, $1.99 → 99¢
• Geared, $2.99 → $1.99
• Giana Sisters, $2.99 → $2.99
• GROUND EFFECT, $1.99 → 99¢
• Isaac Newton's Gravity, $3.99 → $2.99
• Riddim Ribbon feat. The Black Eyed Peas, $2.99 → $1.99
• Robot Rampage, $4.99 → $1.99
• Speed Forge Extreme, $2.99 → 99¢
• Space Harvest, $1.99 → 99¢
• Scoops – Ice Cream Fun For Everyone, $1.99 → 99¢
• VANQUISH: The Oath of Brothers, $2.99 → 99¢
• Zombie Cannon Carnage, $1.99 → 99¢

And while we haven't given The Quest series much love here on TouchArcade, I know quite a few people who absolutely love these old school style 3D RPG's.

The Quest Gold, The Quest, and all the expansions are on sale:

• The Quest Gold, $9.99 → $5.99
• The Quest, $5.99 → $2.99
• The Quest – Hero of Lukomorye I, $2.99 → $1.99
• The Quest – Hero of Lukomorye II, $2.99 → $1.99
• The Quest – Hero of Lukomorye III, $2.99 → $1.99
• The Quest – Islands of Ice and Fire, $2.99 → $1.99
• The Quest – Mithril Horde, $2.99 → $1.99

This is just a small selection of games with recent price changes. For the full list, check out AppShopper where you can find all games and popular games with recent price drops.

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Facing the possibility of bankruptcy in 1987 after a string of failed titles, SquareSoft (now Square Enix) only had the resources left for one final game. Hironobu Sakaguchi was in charge of the seemingly insurmountable task of saving the company. Aptly named, Final Fantasy needed to succeed, and with the help of artist Yoshitaka Amano and composer Nobuo Uematsu, Final Fantasy not only was massively successful, it also spawned the series that has since become the benchmark that nearly all roleplaying games are compared to in one way or another.

Final Fantasy tells the tale of four "Light Warriors" with mysterious backgrounds that have joined forces to restore light to the world and vanquish the evil that has spread across the land, illuminating four elemental orbs in the process. While the plot of the game is entirely cliche by today's standards and the in-game dialog is succinct and non-sensical at times, Final Fantasy was unlike anything console gamers of the late 80's had ever seen before with an epic world map spanning three continents, party customization, and unmatched gameplay depth.

Final Fantasy

The original Final Fantasy [App Store] was not an easy game by any means. The magic system didn't make much sense, the death and save system was extremely unforgiving, and some of the later dungeons required tons of grinding to earn experience and money to buy the provisions needed to make it through alive– And even then, a string of random encounters could put an end to hours of progress. A strategy guide was practically required, and in its day, Funco Land (now GameStop) sold the used Final Fantasy NES cartridge for far more than its original retail price after the supply dwindled following the surprise success of the game.

Final Fantasy has since been remade and rereleased several times over the years, and while the basic story and gameplay mechanics have remained the same, many tweaks and refinements have been applied in the process. The iPhone port of Final Fantasy includes the high resolution graphics and reworked soundtrack of previous revisions, the additional "Soul of Chaos" and "Labyrinth of Time" dungeons, as well as a greatly reduced difficulty level which has served as a point of contention amongst Final Fantasy fans.

Your party seems to level up much faster, you can save anywhere outside of battle, and ineffective attacks are a thing of the past. (Previously if you assigned a party member to attack a monster and that monster dies before they attack, they just swing at nothing instead of the next available target.) Like any good iPhone game, your progress is saved when you quit the game. When you load the game again, you will be able to resume from where you were in a dungeon or on the world map. This has one side effect though, in that you can cheese your way through skipping random encounters by just quitting the game when you enter battle. On your next launch, you'll be right where you were before the battle and can keep on truckin' through the dungeon.

SquareSoft never imagined Final Fantasy would be a smash hit, as the game in no way lends itself to a sequel. A year after the original Japanese release of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II hit the streets, starting the trend of releasing Final Fantasy sequels that all feature a similar theme with a new game world as well as tweaks, refinements, and modifications to things like the battle and leveling systems. Again you play as a party of four (this time without the ability to customize which classes were in your party like the first) and once again save the world from evil.

Final Fantasy II

The most drastic change in Final Fantasy II [App Store] is way your characters level up. Instead of strictly increasing in level as you earn a certain amount of experience, the more you use certain abilities, the more powerful they become. For instance, by taking damage you will eventually earn more hit points and by casting spells you eventually earn more magic points. This often confusing cause and effect system was supposed to allow players greater customization of their characters instead of the rigid class types of the original Final Fantasy, but also allowed several opportunities to cheat the system to artificially inflate the various attributes of your party members.

Final Fantasy II also comes with a new system to interact with the various in-game characters where players can memorize certain key terms, then recall them to question townspeople. While there is more interactivity than finding the correct character and talking to them until they tell you the next part of your quest, the new dialog system introduces tons of trial and error as you explore multiple conversation trees with each character you come across.

While advancing the plot may be tedious at times, Final Fantasy II is the first game in the series where you can have less than four party members, with new characters rotating in and out as the plot progressed instead of playing the part of silent protagonists in the first. New vehicles were added, and the chocobo was first introduced, a rideable bird that allows players to move around the game world without random enemy encounters.

Final Fantasy II wasn't available in the US until 2003, as before then what we knew as the Super Nintendo Final Fantasy II was actually Final Fantasy IV, a confusing numbering scheme that wasn't rectified until the release of Final Fantasy VII for the Playstation. The iPhone port of Final Fantasy II also comes with bonus content released in previous remakes of the game. Both the "Soul of Rebirth" and "Arcane Labyrinth" dungeons are included.

Final Fantasy II features the same save system, allowing players to save anywhere. The game also will resume where you left off, and is susceptible to the same random battle cheesing as the original Final Fantasy where you can just quit the game and load it back up before the random battle occurred.

iPhone Adjustments

Both Final Fantasy games are controlled via an on-screen D-Pad for character movement and a button to run while in town or dungeons, with similar menu systems as previous releases, except now the various menu items are all touch sensitive. Movement and menu navigation works well enough to get the job done, but the D-Pad feels stiff and much larger than it should be. Also, navigating the menus can be irritating at times, as the touch areas for scroll bars and some menu options are annoyingly small. Regardless, this didn't hinder gameplay much as neither Final Fantasy game really requires quick or precise movement or menu work.

In battles, the menu system as you may remember it is gone, instead replaced with a row of icons on the bottom of the screen to attack, cast magic, use items, etc. Targeting is as simple as touching the party member or monster you want to select, and overall the battle system works well although like most games with random battles, can get very tedious, especially when backtracking and potentially fighting much lower level enemies that you can kill in one hit but still have to go through all the motions of attacking and targeting.

Conclusion

As far as which game you should get, both are substantial pieces of gaming history. If you weren't around when Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II were released, keep in mind these early RPG's lack many of the features that have since become commonplace. Because of that, you might require a trip to GameFAQs to figure out what to do or where to go next as it's not always spelled out for you. There's also no quest log if you forgot where you were supposed to be going.

Personally, I love the original Final Fantasy. I've played through the game more times than I can even remember, on more platforms than I'd even care to admit starting with the NES and ending with the iPhone. I'd recommend anyone who considers themselves a fan of RPG's or the Final Fantasy series to download the iPhone port immediately. If like me, you've been around since the beginning, the iPhone version is a competent port and an excellent blast from the past, even with the mediocre controls.

The sequel is good as well, but I've never been a fan of the wacky leveling system, and the new dialog trees that are the result of the key term memorization system will quickly have you heading to GameFAQs. I'd really recommend playing through the first before downloading the second, as if you can't make it through Final Fantasy, you likely won't have the patience for Final Fantasy II.

As an aside, I'm absolutely ecstatic that Square Enix has decided to start porting Final Fantasy games to the iPhone. I think I speak for every iPhone-owning fan of the series when I say: Please, don't stop. Bring them all.

App Store Links:

• Final Fantasy, $8.99
• Final Fantasy II, $8.99

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As a child of the 80’s I grew up on Transformers. As a mobile strategy fanatic I’ve been in love with turn-based strategy games for years. It should come as no surprise then that Transformers G1 Awakening ranked pretty high on my most wanted list. But it also ranked fairly high on my list of concerns. After all – Transformers has had countless reinventions over the last few decades, none of which could hold a torch to the series that started it all. Likewise the series has had a number of video game spinoffs, nearly all of which have managed to disappoint. Could a Transformers game released more than 25 years after the series inception possibly live up to the expectations of series purists and strategy fans alike? As mobile gamers first learned in 2008, the answer is a resounding yes.

Originally available for mobile phones back in 2008, Transformers G1 Awakening is a solid strategy game that takes fan service to a whole new level. If you grew up on the original Transformers cartoon from 1984, you’re going to squeal like a 6 year old when you see some of the choices the game has made. The cast is comprised of series mainstays like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, but the game happily makes room for fan favourites like Grimlock and Ironhide. True to the television storyline, the story starts with the crash of the Ark and continues through to the Space Bridge built by the Decepticons. Jetfire’s first appearance is even true to his back story, starting out with the bad guys and quickly switching sides.

Gameplay here should be familiar to anyone who’s played turn-based strategy games like Rogue Planet or UniWar. Each unit will be able to move a certain number of squares, attack opposing forces, and capture important structures. Unique to Transformers however, is the ability to -– well -– transform. Every character can transform from robot mode to vehicle mode and back again. Vehicle mode offers a major advantage if you need to cover ground as you’ll be able to move around with much greater ease, but it also comes with a major disadvantage as you won’t be able to defend yourself from attacks.

Unlike many of the games that G1 Awakening draws inspiration from, the gameplay emphasizes strategy over sheer force. Certain levels play out more like puzzles than tactical combat situations. By offering up actual characters instead of generic unit types, you can never have more than one of a certain unit on screen at the same time. Like the morale boost Optimus gives his troops, but also enjoy his high attack rating? He can’t be in two places at once, so you’ll need to place him where he’s needed the most.

Some of the characters will share similar stats and abilities, but no two Autobots play exactly alike. Prowl and Sideswipe both utilize ranged attacks, but their distance and power are different. Ironhide had a great chance to deflect damage, but his mobility is severely limited. It’s very rare that you’ll ever have more than 4 or 5 characters on screen in any given level, so knowing the strengths and weaknesses of every character (including those of the Decepticons you’re trying to destroy) is essential to your success.

Having a limited number of characters doesn’t mean you can’t introduce more into the battlefield, it just means you’ll need to be selective on who you introduce. New units can be purchased by spending Energon, which you’ll earn on each turn. The amount you earn depends on the number of pylons or power stations you’ve captured. As strange as it may sound, unit production became one of my favourite parts of the G1 Awakening – not for any gameplay reasons, but because it’s a shining example of the crazy amount of fan love that went into the game design. Units aren’t created in a factory or rolled off the back of a truck – they’re introduced into the battlefield by Metroplex, the Autobots living battle station. The only thing that could have been better is if Blaster was able to produce units like Eject and Rewind, and guess what? He can do that too. If anyone tries to tell you that G1 Awakening isn’t everything an old school Transformers fan has been waiting for, you just tell them to shut their lying mouth.

G1’s campaign is 17 missions long and should take the average gamer 3 or 4 hours to work through – not a bad package, but not necessarily as long as similar turn-based strategy games on the App Store. In addition to the story mode G1 Awakening also offers Showdown mode, a series of challenges that pit the Autobots against the Decepticons in a number of unique situations.

Rounding out the package is Cybertron Arena, G1’s fancy name for multiplayer. Cybertron Arena earns serious points for finally letting us play as the Decepticons, but it loses just as many for its limited gameplay options. You can’t play online, you can’t play over local wifi -– the only option for multiplayer is single device pass’n’play. It’s a good fit for this style of game, but on its own it just feels like too slim an offering. Still, if you don’t have another friend to play with sitting next to you G1 Awakening at least offers up a Cybertron Arena AI option.

Outside of the slim multiplayer options, the only real disappointment here came from the visuals. The game was ported from a 2008 mobile phone release and when you’re issuing commands on the map it really shows. It’s not just that the graphics are ripped from a mobile phone, it’s that the design decisions made for the mobile phone version just made no sense. Each character has a constant animation when standing still that has their torso and arms moving in a way that mimics breathing (which, I’m pretty sure robots don’t do), so we know they can do animations. Yet when characters move around the map in robot mode their feet don’t move. It’s like moving asthmatic chess pieces. The terrible command mode visuals are a stark contrast to the battle visuals which easily rank amongst the best in the genre. Cel-shaded graphics come to life in a quick battle animation that looks like it could have been ripped right out of the series. If anything, they reminded me a lot of the visuals in 2002’s Robotech: Battlecry for home consoles. If you’re not familiar with the game, trust me, that’s a compliment.

As a strategy game, Transformers G1 Awakening offers up enough twists to help it stand out in a sea of similar games. As a Transformers game, it offers up anything and everything an old school Transformers fan could want to see. G1 Awakening isn’t simply a great strategy game, it’s the greatest Transformers game I’ve seen to date.

App Store Link: Transformers G1: Awakening, $4.99

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When Plants vs. Zombies [App Store] was originally announced on April 1st last year, PC gamers everywhere (myself included) were unsure if Popcap's newly revealed game was part of an elaborate April Fool's Day hoax or not. A little more than a month later, the game was released and not only saw universal acclaim from the gaming media resulting in an 88 on Metacritic, but also earned the title of Popcap's fastest selling game of all time.

In Plants vs. Zombies, Popcap takes the standard tower defense formula and greatly simplifies it. Instead of a path to build towers along, you drop seeds in your yard which then grow in to plants that have various offensive or defensive capabilities. The yard is organized in a grid, and zombies move straight across the row they spawn on, munching (or in some cases jumping or flying over) anything that they come in contact with.

A gauge on the top of the screen shows how close you are to the end of the level, with flags indicating when big waves of zombies are going to come. When you clear a stage, you're often awarded with the seeds of one more of the nearly 50 included plants. This seemingly constant progression does a great job of keeping you interested, as it always seems like you have a new toy to play with. To shake things up even more, mini game levels are mixed in, including a bowling game of sorts, a whack-a-mole game with zombies, and others.

Originally designed to be played with a mouse, Popcap did an excellent job of porting Plants vs. Zombies to the iPhone. The resource required to build your defenses is sunlight, and in the PC version feverishly moving your mouse around to click on the small suns falling from the top of the screen got tiring (especially when playing on a laptop with a touchpad). On the iPhone, the sunlight mechanic is also in place, but seems to work so much better when you only have to tap the falling suns to collect them.

Interface elements have been made smaller to dedicate more screen space to your yard, and some things have been moved around. Your available seeds have been moved from the top of the screen to the left, and to plant one all you need to do is tap it then tap the grid square of your lawn where you want it placed. Alternatively, you can tap the seed icon then drag your finger around your lawn. This causes both the X and Y axis of the square you're currently selecting to light up which effectively put an end to me accidentally placing seeds in squares I didn't mean to.

Plants vs. Zombies is absolutely loaded with high quality animations, excellent cartoonish zombies, and silly dialog between your neighbor/shopkeeper Crazy Dave and even notes from the zombies themselves. Throughout the game you'll defend your front lawn during the day, at night, then defend your back yard which introduces water plants that can only be planted in your pool.

As you advance through levels you will come across many more zombies than just the standard run of the mill mindless brain-muncher. There's a Michael Jackson zombie that causes others to rise from gravestones following a Thriller-like dance. There's also zombies that have armored themselves with screen doors, traffic cones, buckets, football pads, and other equally ridiculous equipment. 25 different zombies in all are included, and one end-boss. Each zombie even has their own profile inside the in-game almanac, and they're really worth a look once you unlock it.

Plants vs. Zombies performs well on both my iPhone 3G and 3GS. I did experience some slowdown when there were tons of zombies and projectiles on screen, but overall this didn't cause a problem playing through the game as the only time there was enough things happening on-screen to cause slowdown was at the very end of some levels where you already have your yard fully covered and are just waiting for the last wave of zombies to die.

On the iPhone, Plants vs. Zombies only includes the main story and a quick play mode that is unlocked once you've beaten the game that will allow you to play a few different scenarios and the various mini games you came across in story mode. The endless survival mode from the PC version is nowhere to be found, which is very disappointing, especially since I imagine quite a few people excited about Popcap porting the game to the iPhone have already completed the story mode on the PC.

There is only one difficulty level, and if you're a veteran of tower defense games, Plants vs. Zombies will likely be very easy for you. Personally, I love the tower defense genre, and being able to make it all the way through Plants vs. Zombies without much difficulty at all hasn't stopped me from playing through the game multiple times on my computer, and I'm enjoying the iPhone version just as much. I'm not sure what it is about Popcap games, but similar to Peggle and Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies never seems to get old.

The 88 Metacritic score of the original Plants vs. Zombies (complete with 100's from multiple sources) just goes to show how great this game is. The iPhone port is absolutely phenomenal, and even though it's lacking a few game modes, there's always hope for them to be implemented in the future either via an update or a DLC add-on. There isn't a lite version, but there is a free Flash demo that I highly recommend trying if this is the first you've heard of Plants vs. Zombies.

App Store Link: Plants vs. Zombies, $2.99

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