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Rocketcat Games’s utterly fantastic action RPG, Mage Gauntlet [$2.99], is now bigger, better, and much more Universal. In a brand new update, Rocketcat has added Universal support and rolled in fancy new flip-screen functionality to one of our most favorite RPGs of the year. On top of this, it’s rolled in various tweaks: some spells have been changed around, the rabbit’s foot now increases hat drops by five times, revives grant a free spell, save files can now be exported via iTunes, and some levels have received some shortening to make them better.

Surprisingly, that’s not all — bug fixes and a few other notable changes have been introduced. If you’re particularly curious about what’s up, check out the game’s new patch notes here or on iTunes. It’s a long list. Also, if you’re still somehow on the fence, definitely give our review a read. You don’t want to miss this game.

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Bejeweled Blitz [Free], now a Universal app for iPhone and iPad, is a stellar game. It takes the glorious match-three mechanic of the classic puzzle franchise, pumps up the volume on the jewel and match bonuses, and then condenses it all down into frantic, one-minute bursts of eye-gasmic, point-laden play.

Do you know a dude who hasn’t see Bejeweled yet? At this point, I’m pretty sure that the only people who aren’t into Bejeweled don’t have computers or phones, which pretty much eliminates them from reading this web site. So, I feel like there isn’t much need to go on and on about how the match-three mechanic works or what makes Bejeweled feel good.

Let’s talk about what’s more relevent: what Blitz does differently.

In brief, Blitz is a super breezy and pyrotechnic take on the classic formula. Each session ends at the 60 second mark, and the goal is to score more points than people on your Facebook friends list.

What’s remarkable is how well the game supports its structure; all the high-toned sounds and explosive colors feed into the dizzying time limit, reinforcing a sense of momentum that the other versions of Bejeweled straight-up don’t have. Similarly, the off-the-wall points system bolsters the high-score aspect of the experience by giving you tons of opportunities to score ludicrous amounts of points.

Needless to say, the game part feels good as always, and the new aspects Blitz brings out in Bejeweled are solid and good, too.

Blitz has some other stuff. While not having Game Center to connect with friends and see their high scores, it does support Facebook — and superbly at that superbly. From in-game, you’ll see your friends Facebook scores or even app scores as naturally as you’d expect. It even talks to the Facebook app.

There are also some fun extra elements on the puzzle side that connect to a free-to-play or in-game currency system. Before each match, you can bring in different, multiple use abilities to change up the match. For example, there’s a whirlwind power that rotates the board. This is purchased with credits that you earn in matches and can, of course, buy via IAP. I think you’ve got to be really, really dedicated to earn enough to bring these (awesome) abilities into each match, so be aware that the F2P element will always be winking at you.

So, yeah, Bejeweled Blitz is what it says it is, and it’s smart about the whole “blitz” part, integrating some new elements while allowing the same core play to shine. While I’d love to see some official iOS Game Center love, the Facebook stuff is sharp enough to support the entire structure. Convince some friends to jump in and I think you’ll have a good time.

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One of the coolest tactical turn-based games we’ve ever seen on iOS, Hunters: Episode One [$.99 / HD], is getting a sequel. Rodeo Games, the original creator of Hunters, have revealed with us that it is indeed working on Hunters 2. And guys, it sounds and looks radical.

Hunters 2, which is slated to hit Spring 2012, will build on the same combat that made the first game so popular, but it’ll also throw in some notable new systems and weapons. For example, the team is dropping in a new mini-gun that fires blistering bursts of 10 rounds. That’s especially hip, we’re told, because it’ll show off the game’s new projectile system, which lets you see every round fired.

New enemies, environments, and mission types will naturally be part of the fresh package, but so will a fleshed out and scripted campaign mode featuring Rodeo’s new hero character Caius Black. One of the promotional images we’ve received notes that he’ll be “alone, wounded, and betrayed.”

As if that wasn’t enough, the game’s engine has been scrapped in favor of a new one that’ll integrate real-time dynamic lighting and “loads of customization options.” Get a taste below:

Speaking of customization, that’s something Rodeo is focusing on character-side, too. In Hunters 2, each Hunter will have a talent pool and you’ll assign points in specific skill and build trees. Rodeo tells us that this system “really individualizes your Hunters and brings all sorts of new tactics” to the fold.

We’ll be getting our hands on Hunters 2 in the coming weeks. If you’d like to try the original game, now is a great time — both versions are on sale now at $.99 instead of their usual $4.99 and $6.99 price points.

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Civilization Revolution for the iPhone [$6.99] and iPad [$12.99], one of our favorite simulation games on the entire platform, has just received iCloud support in a massive update that sees some notable tweaks across the two games.

Starting now, you can upload and sync your saves between iPad and iPhone, which allows you to rock out in the same conflict regardless of iDevice on-hand. Also, 2K Games has dropped in achievement support and added to the game’s visuals. New resource and unit icons compliment all new environmental animations including moving water and animated seagulls and fish. Seems small, but you’ll be surprised when you boot it up.

Civilization Revolution for iPhone, by the way, has also just received “Create Your Own Scenario” challenges, which brings it up to date with the iPad version. This mode in particular is the most entertaining and rich one that Civ Rev has to offer, so definitely give it a look. You’ll be saying, “Oh, god, it’s 2AM” in no time.

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In early February of this year, we learned that a rogue developer named Daniel Blezek was spending his spare few minutes in-between a full time job and a full time family life toiling away at bringing Bungie’s seminal FPS Marathon to Apple’s iPad. The port was in progress at the time and looking great, but there was still a bit of uncertainty whether or not a release of Marathon would completely jive with some of the rules of App Store and the open source licensing of the codebase.

Then in June, Bungie sort of shocked everyone by announcing that they had picked up the project and would be officially supporting its release. Just a couple of weeks later, on Bungie Day no less, Marathon 1 [Free] launched for the iPad and we thought it was pretty dang awesome. Perhaps the best part was the choice of business model, as the entirety of Marathon 1 was available for free, with the ability to purchase hi-res assets or a cheat mode as optional IAP. While having the entire first entry in the Marathon trilogy literally at my fingertips was fantastic in its own right, we still couldn’t help but wonder if the second and third entries in the series would make it to the App Store too.

Today we know the answer to that, as we’ve learned that the second game in the trilogy, Marathon 2: Durandal, has already been approved by Apple and will be launching this Thursday (or more specifically Wednesday night) along with the onslaught of other heavy hitting titles slated for release. And, Marathon 2 will be launching with a whole set of new features.

First, it will be a Universal app with full support for Retina Display devices, and actually it uses the same assets as the Xbox Live HD release of the game. There will be Game Center integration with achievements and leaderboards, as well as Joypad [Free] support with specific enhancements for the Fling Joystick controller. Finally, the menu interface throughout the game has been dramatically improved. Want to know the ultra secret special bit of extra news about all this? An update will also hit this week for Marathon 1, adding in all of these same new features from Marathon 2 that I’ve just discussed.

It looks like Marathon 2: Durandal will follow in the footsteps of its predecessor and launch for free, with in-app purchases available for high-resolution textures, the Master Chief Mode cheat options, and a new custom reticule pack, if you feel like throwing some money to support the effort and snag a few non-essential features. As another exciting tidbit of news, several screens from the final entry in the trilogy, Marathon Infinity, were mixed in amongst those from the first two games. So it sounds like we’ll be getting the entire trilogy on iOS before too long. If you had told my fifteen year old self that I’d one day be playing the Marathon trilogy in portable form with all sorts of added features and enhancements, it would have blown my tiny mind.

We will of course be grabbing Marathon 2 just as soon as it’s available in the App Store tomorrow evening, and until then you can join in the discussion thread in our forums.

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Stretched [99¢] is a new physics-based slingshot-platformer from Chillingo, which has been receiving praise in our discussion thread.  The objective is to fling a ball between various slingshots, collecting as many bubbles from each level as possible, before reaching the exit portal. There’s no time limit or restriction on the number of turns, so there’s no hurry, but each time you fling yourself you need to land safely, as there’s no ground or safety net.

The best feature of Stretched is that new gameplay elements are constantly being introduced as you progress through the 80+ levels and 4 worlds (Sunrise, Monochrome, Misty and Desert). Each world has it’s own features and music and it’s often a pleasant surprise to discover what comes next.

Initially you’re propelling  yourself between slingshots of various sizes and orientations, or bouncing off walls. But that’s just the start. You’ll manipulate chains and sliders, use a sticky green character to your advantage by sticking to walls, explode bombs to blast yourself across the level or to move obstacles, turn wheels with your finger to rotate items and encounter various moving contraptions to master. Some levels challenge you to balance the ball precariously on the end of a stick, while also collecting bubbles! There’s a surprising amount of variety in this game (more than I’ve described here) and each new feature is carefully explained when it first appears.

The touch controls are simple and effective: Use your finger to stretch back the slingshot and determine the direction and power of the shot (the slingshots fire in either direction). A series of dots shows the trajectory path, for aiming purposes. Once you release your finger, the ball is propelled in the chosen direction. If you’re attached to a sticky green character, you can tap it to make it disappear. Or tap a bomb to make it explode.

Your score is based on the number of bubbles collected before reaching the exit portal. Collecting over half of the bubbles earns 2-stars, while you must grab all the bubbles to 3-star the level. High scores and achievements are all managed via Chillingo’s Crystal and Game Center.

A “skip level” option is available and there appears to be no limit to how many times you can use it, as I skipped several levels in a row. However, a certain number of stars is required to unlock each subsequent world and skipping levels doesn’t earn any stars, so there’s some incentive to actually play through the levels. An In-App Purchase can be made to unlock all levels, although there’s really no need.

Stretched was released without much fanfare, so it’s quite a pleasant surprise. The bubble graphics are not overly impressive, so the screenshots don’t look too flashy, but don’t judge this game by it’s screenshots alone as the variety of gameplay is excellent. The puzzles are interesting and varied, rather than intellectually complex, and the various soundtracks sound good without feeling repetitive. You’ll get a few hours entertainment for a dollar, with more levels promised in the future, making this an easy game to recommend.

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Initially, I rolled my eyes a bit when I saw a thread in our forums posted for a game called Infinity of God. After the sweeping success of the Infinity Blade series, tacking “infinity” onto your title in any way has just about as much effect on me as if it was “doodle” or “angry.” That’s to say, the predetermination is that what I’ll find will be a low quality knockoff of the highly successful games that have made those words ubiquitous on the App Store.

For better or worse, Infinity of God actually does not resemble Infinity Blade so much, but it definitely does not hide the fact that it’s a God of War-inspired game. In fact, it appears that in the developer Calvi Game’s native Chinese, the subtitle reads as “Wrath of God of War”. And so it goes.

However, no matter your feelings on games that are very blatantly “heavily inspired” by other successful games, the trailer for Infinity of God looks mighty impressive:

A few more tidbits of information can be found at Asian gaming blog Ewtang.com, and while I’m not totally sure how much is lost in translation, it looks like Infinity of God is already in the review stage with Apple and waiting for approval, at which point it will hopefully be released this month for $5.99. We also know that the game is being developed in Unreal Engine 3, the storyline will follow a classic Chinese mythology named Shan Hai Jing, there will be 10 unique upgradeable skills for your player, and two game modes including a Story and a Racing mode. The game will be compatible with 3rd generation hardware and up, and will have additional enhancements for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S devices.

I haven’t totally figured out if this is some dodgy knockoff that will look great on the surface but contain little substance, or if this will be the type of high end action game we’ve all been waiting for but just seems dodgy due to language barriers. Either way, I’m at least interested enough to give Infinity of God a spin if and when it launches sometime this month.

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Easily one of my most anticipated games this year, and I’m sure many of yours out there as well, is Warballoon Games‘ Star Command. In case you aren’t familiar, Star Command can most simply be described as Game Dev Story meets a Star Trek-like science fiction theme, though from what we’ve seen of the game thus far I’m not totally sure that does it justice. Game Dev Story was beautiful in its simplicity, but Star Command appears to take those simplistic game mechanics and add all sorts of depth on top, creating what we hope will be a deep strategy affair that’s still not too convoluted for anybody to jump in to.

We first learned of Star Command this past March, and originally the game was slated for a summertime release. However, that didn’t quite pan out, and in August we got a look at some new screenshots for the game but we haven’t really heard anything since then. Today Warballoon sent over a quick update on the status of Star Command, along with a slew of new screenshots to check out. It sounds like they are really interested in making the best possible game that they can, rather than trying to rush something out just to hit a planned release date. This latest set of screens is to demonstrate a bit of the work they’ve put into tightening up the overall user interface.

Above are a couple of shots of the crew management screens, where you’ll be able to choose what skill trees to progress through and define the roles of each of your crew members. The below screens are of the navigation interface, where you can choose what galaxies and solar systems to explore:

The following gallery how you produce tokens, the currency in the game, as well as assign your crew members to their various duties and upgrade the rooms inside of your ship:

Lots of screenshots there, so hopefully you’ve clicked through and checked them all out. I’m totally looking forward to finally getting my hands on Star Command, but it sounds like the release may still be a ways off as right now “due out next year” is about as specific as it Warballoon is getting. They do however mention that the alpha phase of the game should be wrapping up this month, and so barring any major issues during the beta phase, we might be seeing it earlier in 2012 as opposed to later. I certainly have my fingers crossed, but I’m also more than willing to wait as long as needed to make sure the final product is just right.

You can check out some discussion of Star Command in the game’s forum thread, and we’ll be keeping tabs on its progress as it inches towards a release next year.

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As we’ve teased previously today: On this week’s bonus edition of The TouchArcade Show, we speak with Harmonix’s Josh Randall about the big-time update to VidRhythm, which will add new styles, new improvements for hardcore users, and more music. We also dig a bit into Josh Randall — who he is, what he likes, and what he does. Randall is a cool guy, and we think he’s a really good example of what Harmonix is all about.

If you’d like to listen to this episode, go ahead and do so via these handy-dandy links just below. If you like what you’re hearing, we heartily suggest that you subscribe to us on iTunes or Zune. You’ll get the episodes the second they hit and make the world a better place.*

iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
Zune Marketplace: TouchArcade.com Podcasts
RSS Feed: The TouchArcade Show
Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-Bonus-027.mp3, 22MB

We’ll be back later this week with another regular episode of The TouchArcade Show, and next week with another bonus edition of the podcast. Until then, folks!

*Downloading our podcast on a service probably won’t make the world a better place, FYI. It would make Brad happier, at least. And who doesn’t want that, right!?

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