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Back in 1996, way before Max Payne and way, way, way before Alan Wake, developer Remedy Entertainment released a top-down racer called Death Rally for DOS. It was neat for its time. You played as one of several cars in a series of bullet-spewing rallies. The end goal was the finish line, but it didn’t matter if you demolished all your foes before they whiffed the checkered flag. Plus, there was a deep upgrade system that kept you re-tooling your base cars for more attack possibilities.

As you may have guessed by now, Death Rally is being re-released for iOS. It’ll land at some point this month and appears to have about it a certain mix of reverence and new age to make it fun to play in 2011. At least, that’s the impression I walked away with after seeing a brief demo of the title at GDC 2011.

As the screenshots above show, the game's undergone a huge makeover since its DOS days, bringing crisp, clean visuals which, awesomely enough, are married to what appears to be a solid racing title. I use that modifier because I’m not quite sure what I think of it yet — I was repeatedly told that levels were still being tooled and the game still needed balance testing.

One thing for sure, though, is that the weapons and effects are wicked cool. Also, expect to see some awesome cameos. I was told Duke Nukem will be one of your opponents and Barry Wheeler of the Alan Wake fame is definitely in the game, too.

This'll be an interesting release and, really, I can't wait to get my hands on it to give you a much better indication of what the game has to offer and who it might appeal to. Until then, though, look at the pretty screens!

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One game that I have really been looking forward to ever since it was revealed in early February is Kami Retro [$1.99] from Gamevil and Paw Print Games. We had a chance to get some hands on time with Kami Retro last week at GDC, and today the game has officially launched in the App Store.

Kami Retro is a puzzle platforming game that draws influence from several similar games before it, like Jet Set Willy, Rainbow Islands, Super Mario Bros. and Lemmings. In each of the 65 single screen levels, you must get several Kamis from an entrance at one point in the level safely to the exit at another. You’ll use various items like springboards, fans, and cannons which need to be placed at specific points in order to accomplish this.

Kamis will automatically move, and a simple swipe gesture is used to make them jump when needed, which sounds a bit suspect but actually works well in practice. The game gets hectic as just when you are getting one Kami into the exit, another is popping out of the entrance which you must then quickly bring your attention to before they go and get themselves killed.

I’ve only spent a brief amount of time with Kami Retro, but so far my impressions are good. The levels are cleverly designed and require subtle precision in how you place objects in order to be successful. The art style is absolutely fantastic, with blocky pixel graphics that are rendered in 3D. Each level is full of color and the animations bring everything to life. There are more impressions from gamers in our forums, and if you like retro-inspired visuals and puzzle-platforming gameplay then Kami Retro is definitely one to check out.

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Firemint has just temporarily dropped the price on the iPad version of their highly popular, feature-filled chaos management title Flight Control. For just 24 hours, Flight Control HD [App Store] will be available at an 80% discount for $0.99, down from its regular price of $4.99.

For those somehow unfamiliar, Flight Control turns you into an air traffic controller, routing helicopters and airplanes of various sizes and speeds into the proper (color coded) airports — hopefully without incident. It's game that should handily dispel any aspirations you have to become a real-life air traffic controller.

Flight Control has been extremely well maintained since its release and now features leaderboards, achievements and online multiplayer via Game Center, local WiFi / Bluetooth multiplayer and, specific to the iPad version, shared (same device) multiplayer, both cooperative and competitive.

Flight Control brings a great balance of easy pick-up gameplay, ramping difficulty and that "just one more time" draw. If your iPad lacks Flight Control HD, now's the time to take care of that.

App Store Link: Flight Control HD, $0.99 (iPad Only)

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Last week at GDC 2011 I sat down with developer Booyah! to take a look at their new game DJ Rivals [Free]. In the game you will create your own DJ and cruise around a city battling rival DJ’s using rhythm-based gameplay mechanics. You can choose any real city in the world which will use Google Maps information to populate it with real locations, and as you win DJ battles you’ll earn experience and money which can then be used to level up your character and buy a ton of different items to trick him or her out with.

I quite enjoyed DJ Rivals when I previewed it, and today the game has launched for free in the App Store. There is a story mode to play through with 4 different chapters and dozens of different kinds of quests to complete. You can also obtain “house DJ” status at the various locations by performing well, and then battle the ghost characters of other real life players to either defend your house DJ status or take theirs from them.

DJ Rivals is a freemium title, and as such there is an IAP component called “ice” in addition to the regular currency in the game. I’ve only spent a short time playing so far, but for the most part it appears that you get a good chunk of playtime without ever having to spend a dime if you don’t want to, but you’ll need to have a lot of patience.

Ice can be earned just through playing and so is not strictly IAP, but battling other DJ’s costs stamina points and you’ll either need to spend ice to instantly refill it or else wait for it to slowly refill over a cool down period of 10 minutes per stamina point. This can considerably slow down the pace of the game, but I can’t imagine playing so often that it would be a problem and I wouldn’t be opposed to spending a couple of dollars here and there if I was anxious to keep going.

DJ Rivals is free to download and try, and if a rhythm-based game with RPG-esque elements sounds interesting to you then it’s worth checking out. The rhythm battling is pretty fun, and there’s loads of things to collect and do in the game. And at the very least it’s a more fun and interesting freemium title than your average farming sim.

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During GDC, EA Mobile held a press event to display a number of coming titles under their label as well as from Chillingo. In fact, Chillingo co-founder Chris Byatte was on hand, chatting with folks and spreading a bit of wit during demos of the various games.

At the event, I took part in demonstrations of several iOS titles that will shortly be landing in the App Store, from both studios. The following is a brief run-down of the various games from EA Mobile that I spent time with.

Without further ado…

Battleship for iPad

In late 2009, EA Mobile released an iPhone version of the classic naval strategy game Battleship [link] for the iPhone. Next month, a native iPad version of the game will set sail, bringing with it enhanced visuals, detailed cutscene animations, iPhone to iPad WiFi / Bluetooth multiplayer and an exclusive (to iPad) two-player side by side game mode.

Shortly after the April release of Battleship for iPad, an update to the iPhone version will be hitting the App Store.

Max & The Magic Marker

EA Mobile's Max & The Magic Marker, winner of the IGF 2010 D2D Division Award,  is a line-drawing puzzle platformer due later this month for both the iPhone and iPad. The game puts you in control of Max, who must avoid obstacles, contend with enemies, and solve puzzles in an effort to get through 58 levels across three different game worlds to defeat the evil monster bent on wiping out Max's drawings.

The core mechanic of the game is Max's magic marker, which allows you to draw objects on the screen that come to life and fully interact with the game world. From simple single-line bridges to more complex shapes used to crush enemies, the marker's drawings take on full physics properties and allow Max to avoid various roadblocks and get to the collectible golden spheres spread throughout the levels. Ink can be collected along the way to keep the marker flowing, and shapes drawn, once having served their purpose, can be reclaimed for the reuse of their ink.

Max & The Magic Marker was originally a 15-level WiiWare title. The iOS release has split these levels into a larger number of shorter levels that are better suited to gaming on the go.

Liqua Pop

A game that looks quite lickable (well, aside from the bugs…), EA Mobile's upcoming Liqua Pop is a color-matching puzzle game with lovely, fluid graphics and animation. Your task is to match like-color droplets by dragging and merging them together to form a large enough droplet to kick off its elimination timer. A shake to the iPhone will get that done earlier, but sometimes it's best to wait, as the larger a droplet the more points are awarded as it blinks out. Don't clear the droplets fast enough and the screen fills up and it's game over.

The real object of the game is to get your friend Toadie, who lives on the left side of the screen, to the top of his leaf by releasing bugs (seven types in all) from within certain of the aforementioned droplets. With the release of most bugs, Toadie inches upwards, but certain bugs leave behind obstacles that slow down your progress. When Toadie reaches the top, it's on to the next level.

Liqua Pop is certainly one of the most polished color-matching titles I've seen, with its colorful Retina-supporting visuals and convincing animation. Facebook integration allows scores to be shared with friends.

Liqua Pop is set to land in the App Store sometime later this month.

Draw Jump

Draw Jump is a sketch-stylized game of how-high-can-you-go, where you keep little rocket man Cosmo bouncing upward by drawing strategically placed trampolines below him. Cosmo starts out on Earth but, with a bit of savvy sketching, it's out into the cosmos with him, moving upwards through six different environments across 11 levels. There are trees, planets, stars and suns to be seen along the way, as well as sunflower fuel cells to be collected for an energy boost.

The game's visuals are based on Japanese "pop" inspired artwork. Leaderboards along with Facebook and Twitter integration keep you striving for the highest altitude.

Draw Jump will bounce into the App Store in late March or early April for both the iPhone and iPad.

Coconut Dodge

Coming in late March or early April for both iPhone and iPad, the aptly titled Coconut Dodge for iOS is a conversion of the popular PSP / PS3 game to which PSNstores gave a 10/10 rating. The game puts you in touch control of Clawrence the crab who must meander his way through 30 levels of tropical-themed airborne coconut mazes, bouts of beach ball bouncing, and treasure grabbing.

The game features an Arcade mode where score is king, as well as a Maze Master mode that challenges you to intricately maneuver a gauntlet of oncoming obstacles. Leaderboards and Facebook integration are rolled in.

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When I’m not roller blading or lifting weights, I like to pretend like I can understand big words and tackle complex questions. For example: Why is Angry Birds [$.99 / HD / Lite] such a big deal and what in its usability speaks to people in such a profound way? Ah, allow me to start clicking “more” and arranging pages and pages of information. Almost done…

Crap! Someone else beat me to it AND they’re not even looking for page hits! But, really, check out Pulze UX’s teardown of the Angry Birds user experience. It’s a great article filled with spectacular insights into the draw of the title, from its mystery, to its wonky physics, and even its birds.

Let me give you an example. In the following passage author Charles L. Mauro talks about the game’s response time to user inputs. He argues that the seconds and seconds of teetering blocks after you make contact is a good thing that adds a certain depth to the experience that otherwise wouldn’t be thereif Rovio sped up the tumbling process (or straightened out its physics engine). He also discusses the leisurely firing rate of the birds. From the post:

For example, in Angry Birds, it was possible for the programmers to have made the flight of the birds fast — very fast, but they didn’t. Instead they programmed the flight of the angry flock to be leisure pace as they arc across the sky heading for the pigs’ glass houses. This slowed response time, combined with a carefully crafted trajectory trace (the flight path of the bird), solves one huge problem for all user interfaces — error correction.

… In Angry Birds game play the pigs also take a long time to expire once their houses are sent to bits. In many play sequences, seconds are consumed as the pigs teeter, slide and roll off planks or are crushed under slow falling debris. This response time of 3-5 seconds, in most user interfaces, brings users to the point of exasperation, but not with Angry Birds.

Neat, right? Mauro also digs into the game’s smart taxing on our short-term memory, the game’s sound design, and even its visual appeal. If you ever wanted to read something fun about Angry Birds, well, this is it. (Alternatively, if you're a developer and want some insight on why your grandma can play Angry Birds, this offers some insight.) Now, excuse me while I grab my smoking jacket and cigar. I’ve got some learnin’ to do.

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It’s that time again! Apple has released OS update 4.3 for the iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple TV, and the iPad, bringing some cool new features to the respective devices. I could gab for centuries about iTunes Home Sharing and the addition of personal hotspots, but I’ll can that chatter in favor of more game-related stuff about the latest update. Specifically, I want to note the enhanced AirPlay offering.

In brief, the 4.3 version of AirPlay connectivity gives both Web apps and App Store apps the ability to output video to the Apple TV. I think you can see the possible gaming kickbacks from this move. If, say, Imangi was feeling froggy, it could theoretically update Imangi: The Game [Free] to output to Apple TV, thus allowing you to play from your couch on a big screen as opposed to alone and on a toilet. That’s cool, right?

Obviously, we’ll need to play a wait-and-see game on this feature. Surely, adding in this functionality will take time, tweaking, and testing, which means we’ll likely see a lackluster adoption rate initially. Plus, who owns an Apple TV? Even at its lower price point, it doesn't seem to be exactly flying off the Apple Store's shelves. Regardless, this is exciting stuff. Guess I really need to think about putting that plasma by the toilet after all.

So what are you waiting for? Download 4.3! Also, if you happen to have an Apple TV and want to check out this new AirPlay functionality, give Air Video [$2.99 / Free] a try. Sure, it's not a game but playing videos converted real time on my computer, streamed to my iPhone, then relayed to my TV feels like magic.

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About a month ago, we were somewhat surprised by the announcement that the arcade classic Double Dragon would be getting an enhanced iOS remake. I’m a huge fan of the Double Dragon series, both in the arcade and at home with the many console ports and sequels, and to be perfectly honest I wasn’t that excited by the news. I didn’t really dig the new graphics, and I was definitely not a fan of the virtual controller that took up the bottom third of the screen. I’m all for big name titles coming to iOS, but in this case it seemed that my nostalgia for Double Dragon was poised to get dragged through the mud.

Then last week, Double Dragon [$3.99] quietly snuck into the App Store, and with the madness of GDC coming to an end I’ve finally had a chance to spend some quality time with the game. Not only was I pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this new Double Dragon, but I’ll even go as far as saying that it’s easily my favorite beat-em-up in the App Store. It just goes to show that you really can’t ever judge a book by its cover.

Double Dragon on iOS is developed  Brizo Interactive, who are also responsible for the somewhat obscure version of Double Dragon on the Zeebo. The iOS version is loosely based on the Zeebo one, meaning that it has 4 levels that somewhat resemble the arcade originals plus 2 completely new levels unique to the remake. Also, there is a huge assortment of bosses and enemies to unlock in addition to the main characters Billy and Jimmy Lee, making for a whopping total of 26 playable characters.

The gameplay remains true to the Double Dragon series as you travel from left to right through the 6 levels section by section, taking on countless waves of thugs and squaring up against a boss at the end of each level. You can choose to take on the game solo or with a buddy in local Bluetooth co-op multiplayer, which is insanely fun and works like a dream in my experience. There’s also a Time Attack mode where you can play any of the 6 levels individually for the highest score and fastest time. All of these modes have associated leaderboards through Game Center, but unfortunately something seems to be screwy with that function as I’m not able to access any of them.

Despite the additional 2 levels over the original Double Dragon, the iOS version won’t take long to complete. Brizo compensates for this nicely by adding incentive to play through the game multiple times. There’s the 24 extra characters to unlock, and even though their move sets aren’t as robust as what Billy and Jimmy have, it’s still really fun to play through the game as one of the various henchmen or boss characters. There are also a ton of achievements to earn by completing all sorts of different tasks in the game. Even though the Game Center integration is currently broken, the achievements are also accessible in-game and I’ve been having a great time trying to get them all.

Given that Double Dragon is a button masher by nature, there have been concerns on how well this will translate to the touch screen. Thankfully the controls here are as good as virtual d-pads and buttons can be, which is to say that there is the occasional misfire but nothing earth-shattering. There's even the option for either a 4 button control scheme or a simplified 3 button setup, which makes the game considerably easier to play but also limits which moves you're able to do. Some players in our forums have complained that the controls are too small, but I personally haven’t felt that this is a problem.

What is a problem, however, is the awful looking overlay where the buttons are placed. This overlay takes up a good portion of the screen and can even block enemy positions or pits that lead to instant death. For the most part it stays out of the way, but when the overlay does block the action it can be an incredibly frustrating experience. An alternate overlay or even the option to increase the transparency would be a really welcome addition.

I am firmly a fan of this new Double Dragon and stand corrected by my initial judgment from our first preview. The redone graphics actually look fantastic, giving the game an almost comic book style that retains a retro feel. The controls are more than adequate and the fighting system is fairly deep, with experience earned from playing going towards unlocking an assortment of new moves. Coupled with unlocking new characters and achievements, there’s actually quite a bit to do in Double Dragon for such a fundamentally short game.

If the developer can sort out the Game Center and control overlay problems, I really wouldn’t have anything to complain about with Double Dragon. If you like beat-em-up arcade games and can deal with the changes from the original Double Dragon, you’ll likely find this version a highly enjoyable title. It’s currently on an introductory sale of $3.99 but will increase to $7.99 before long, so if you have any interest in the new Double Dragon for iOS then now might be the best time to pick it up.

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Oh, here’s a cool one. Hacker alias “Reign Design” started up an awesome thread in our message board awhile back designed to get developers to show off their “Before and After” images. This gist is this: in the thread, you post a concept, sketch, or proof of concept image of a game, and then you post a shot of the realized version. If you’ve been following games design for a bit, you already know what to expect — rousing and dramatic differences between the images.

One of the more dramatic differences can be spotted in the first page. Hacker alias “Boovie” posted a prototype build of Archibald’s Adventures [$3.99] and then the final game.

Here’s some subtlety for. User “qwiboo” posted a shot of Aqua Globs Evolution [$.99 / Lite] in beta and then in its final form:

And here’s a big improvement, too. User “Kikekun” shared his mock-up of Pro Zombie Soccer [$.99 / HD / Lite]  and then the final version:

Hopefully, by viewing this, you'll see why a lot of us media types are so afraid of proof of concept kind of stuff. These posts demonstrate what can change between mock-up and final build, both visually and mechanically. Anywho, if you've got some time to spare and like this stuff, swing over to the thread — there's a lot of great stuff in there.

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Last week we met with the guys from Owlchemy Labs who are responsible for the highly controversial physics game Smuggle Truck. We've already posted about the controversy as well as the playable web demo, but this was the first time we actually saw it running on an iOS device.

Check out the game running on an iPad:

Owlchemy Labs plans on submitting Smuggle Truck to Apple for approval sometime around the 15th. They're using Unity for the game engine, which is allowing them to have a surprising amount of cross-platform compatibility. Once its all said and done, levels created in the level editor seen in the video will be playable across all platforms. What platforms are those? Well, Owlchemy is planning a release on the iPad, iPhone, Mac, PC, and potentially even distributing the game via Steam.

I can't wait.

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