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Everyone around these parts has to be familiar with lite versions by now. These stripped down free versions of games allow us gamers to get a taste of what's in store for us if we buy the full game without costing us a cent. More often than not these lite versions just get released and are mostly forgotten aside from potentially implementing a major feature of two that might be important for players to sample. Gamevil just did something we don't see very often and updated their lite version of Baseball Superstars [Free] to include the full game with a few ads here and there.

The Baseball Superstars series are a great mixture of arcade style baseball with light RPG elements that really seem to make the game appeal to both fans of baseball and people who don't normally care about sports games in the slightest. Training up your players is a surprising amount of fun, and the sprite-based graphics are an awesome blast from the past for anyone who was around for all the great 16 bit baseball games from days of yore. The ads aren't really that obnoxious either.

I'm a huge fan of the Baseball Superstars series, and if you like this game, you really should consider picking up the most recent iteration of the game. Baseball Superstars 2011 [$4.99] is a great upgrade that we liked a lot in our review. But if you just want to dabble in training your super batters or pitchers, this freebie more than does the trick.

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This has been quite a week for iPhone game releases and news, and somehow in the process Adult Swim's new Amateur Surgeon 2 [99¢] got lost in the shuffle of typewriters, triplicate carbon copies, punch cards, and tape reels that make up the TouchArcade mobile command center. Not anymore, as after spending some quality time with the game this afternoon, the latest installment of the Amateur Surgeon series is an effortless recommendation to anyone with a dark sense of humor and a taste for gore.

Much like the original Amateur Surgeon [$2.99 / Lite / HD], the sequel follows the adventures of Alan Probe and his series of gruesome surgeries that involve advanced surgical instruments such as a pizza cutter, a car battery, a dust buster, and even a zippo lighter. Similar to the Trauma Center series for the Nintendo Wii and DS, you slowly learn to use all of these tools to successfully complete medical procedures on a number of different patients. We liked the first one a lot, and really my only complaint was that sometimes things were a little too difficult due to the inherent lack of precision from my fat fingers on the iPhone screen. A new pinch to zoom feature completely alleviates this, allowing you to make precise incisions with your rusty pizza cutter. (Or, as precise as a pizza cutter could be, I suppose.)

All in all, Amateur Surgeon 2 is a fantastic sequel. They took everything that was good about the original, tweaked the things that weren't, made the game perform a little better, and loaded it with new content. If you're on the fence, the lite version of the first Amateur Surgeon is a good place to start, as the gameplay is similar enough to give you a fantastic idea of what you're getting involved with in the sequel.

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Despite the overwhelming popularity of the genre, I fully admit I've never been able to get in to most hunting games. The ones I've played on the iPhone either seem entirely too basic, diluting the sport of hunting down to basic wild animal shooting galleries with a few gimmicks or attempting to recreate arcade light gun style gameplay by tapping on the screen. In Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 [$4.99], Activision takes some steps in the right direction to make a hunting game that's more entertaining than most by injecting a single player adventure campaign in to the mix.

Instead of just choosing a location, selecting your hunting load out, and just shooting whatever animals are on the horizon, Dangerous Hunts has you actively stalking prey. Also, more often than not, your prey is also stalking you. It sounds like the workings of a real cool game, as you're left wandering about the African wilderness after animals that are just as interested in killing you as you are in killing them. Unfortunately, the cool premise is about all there is to it.

Dangerous Hunts is controlled via a dual-stick setup that anyone who has played an iPhone first person shooter should be immediately familiar with. Virtual buttons handle things like changing weapons, reloading, looking down your sights (or scope), and other tasks. Gameplay consists of following various checkpoints on your mini-map, completing tasks that almost always involve hunting some animals, and making your way to the end of the level.

There's a foundation for something really compelling here, especially in a genre that is overloaded with games that don't offer a whole lot of freedom of movement, story, or gameplay. Sadly, the graphics of the game make it really hard to ever feel immersed in the game world. One of the early levels involves slowly creeping up a winding path to a village that has been decimated by some kind of feral animal. After taking a detour to make your way around a closed gate, you find yourself attacked by wild bloodthirsty hyenas.

There's room for lots of suspense here, as the buildup has potential to really lead to something, but the incredibly low resolution textures, barren landscape (save a few low-res trees and shrubs here and there) and the low polygon poorly animated hyenas themselves all ruin it. Following that, you get alerted via your radio that there's a lion nearby. Moments later, he's pouncing on your face, leading up to what could have been a neat quick-time event. Instead, an image of a lion appears on screen and you simply have to tap the circles that appear to kill it.

A second shooting gallery mode is included in the game as well, but it is basically what you'd expect out of a game that really needs a light gun but instead just has you using your finger to tap. Interestingly enough, Activision did bundle OpenFeint with Dangerous Hunts, so there is a bit of replay value to be had if you find yourself getting involved in the online leaderboards for who can mow down the most wolves.

I admit I was totally stoked to hear that Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 was coming to the App Store when we first got news, having followed some of the insanely cool previews of the home console version (which also comes packed with its own light gun). However, visuals that look incredibly dated make any kind of immersion impossible and ultimately ruin what could have been a really cool blend of hunting and adventure/survival games for the iPhone.

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Engine licensor and creator Unity has surely put a hop in Dicework Games and Crescent Moon's step of late. Yesterday, Unity's own award show wrapped up and the two studios' turn-based RPG, Rimelands: Hammer of Thor [$.99], took home the award for Best Mobile Game, according to Develop. This is a huge deal; the engine is widely used by solid App Store developers for their own financially successful and technically solid games.

And if you want, you can check out this award-winner for a lower-than-normal price. For a limited time, you can grab Rimelands for a measly $.99 instead of the usual $4.99. That's not a bad slash considering the well-earned acclaim that we can substantiate with our own review.

In other related news, developer Crescent Moon is working on a universal update for Rimelands that is set to hit before this Christmas. We spoke with Crescent's Josh Presseisen this morning about the update. Here's a list of what he said to expect, and do note that it favors those who have finished the game:

• Native resolution support, including higher-resolution images for cut-scenes.
• Bug fixes and AI tweaks
• New end game content, including more challenging bosses, art, and a dungeon that resets itself after you finish it.

The cost of this update is, of course, free.

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Last month we posted about The Quadsphere's FMX Riders, a really cool looking freestyle motocross game with a load of features:

FMX Riders will come packed with four game modes: Race, freestyle, time attack, and hotlap time attack. There will be a career mode with 9 tours and over 40 events. The best part, it will utilize Game Center for online multiplayer with auto-matchmaking. Game Center integration doesn't stop there, there's over 15 different leaderboards, achievements, and you'll even be able to save and share replays with your Game Center friends. Oh, and the cherry on top– Retina Display graphics.

A trailer was just released today that shows the game in motion, and it looks just as good as the description makes it sound:

According to the trailer, FMX Riders will be available this month… And I really can't wait. Everything about this game looks and sounds awesome.

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If you were paying attention to the gaming trends of last month, then you probably remember hearing about a little game called Game Dev Story [$3.99/Lite]. We originally reviewed Game Dev Story in mid-October, and were wholly impressed with how much time the game was able to suck away from our lives. From there, buzz for the game spread like wildfire. Sure, all of the heavy hitter gaming websites covered Game Dev Story, but it extended well beyond that to just about every tech or gaming blog across the entire web. I'm pretty sure I even spotted the recipe for the perfect RPG over on FoodNetwork.com. It was a well-deserved phenomenon for one of the finest hidden gems in the App Store.

If every Tom, Dick, and Harry talking about Game Dev Story still hasn't convinced you to pick up the game, then you're in luck, as a lite version has just been launched in the App Store. Just as a quick recap, Game Dev Story lets you run your own virtual video game company. You decide the name of your company, what kind of games to make, and what consoles to support. You'll need to manage a staff of game designers who can level up and learn various skills, as well as managing your entire financial situation so as not to run your company into the ground. The hook in Game Dev Story is coming up with your own ideas, seeing how well your team can execute them, and the surprises of watching whether or not they end up being successful in market. The game should also hold a special place in longtime gamers' hearts in the way it vaguely mimics the actual history of video games, and uses mock versions of just about every famous name or brand possible.

This video from The Game Trail demonstrates the various kinds of gameplay in Game Dev Story nicely:

I honestly cannot recommend Game Dev Story enough. It has some sort of mystical power that urges you to keep on playing it even when there are more pressing matters to attend to, such as eating and sleeping. It may not be the prettiest looking game around, but the retro-style graphics are actually really charming in their own way. And the graphics play second fiddle to the overwhelmingly enjoyable gameplay anyway. I could imagine that some people might be hesitant to spend $3.99 on Game Dev Story based on screenshots or video alone, even despite all the positive fanfare, and that is why I urge every gamer to at least download and try the lite version.

The full version gives you a 20 year campaign to play through, with the option of continuing it infinitely without high score tracking. The lite version lets you play through 2 years of the campaign, which should be sufficient enough to get the general idea of if you will like it or not. If you need further convincing or help with Game Dev Story, check out the lengthy thread in our forums that has exploded with activity since the game's release.

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Originally one of the gorier games of the time, Splatterhouse is a side-scrolling beat 'em up released to arcades back in 1988. To coincide with the franchise reboot being released on consoles November 23rd, the original version is making its way to iOS devices on November 18th. From what I can tell from these screenshots, this version will be a port of the arcade game rather than the toned-down Turbografx-16 version, though I'll have to see the game in action to be 100% sure if all the original gory bits will make their way in here.

In addition to containing the 7 stages of West Mansion from the original game, Splatterhouse for iPhone will also contain an exclusive Splatter Rush Mode. This new mode has the protagonist Rick facing off against waves of enemies attacking him in a single room in what essentially sounds like a survival mode. It isn't known whether or not a system like Game Center will be in place for tracking online high scores or achievements.

I was a huge fan of Splatterhouse on the Turbografx-16 back in the day, but I always felt like I was missing out by having a "censored" version of the game. I'm really hoping the iPhone version will be nearly pixel perfect to the original arcade game, as the gore and haunting atmosphere really added a lot to the experience. I also remember Splatterhouse as being an especially difficult game, so it will be interesting to see how well that translates to virtual touch screen controls.

Splatterhouse will be launching next Thursday for iPhone and iPod touch at a price of $2.99. There is a discussion for the game going on in our forums, and we'll be looking forward to checking out the iOS version of Splatterhouse next week.

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I wish I had any details on this. Any details at all. But, instead, all I have is the following image which Firemint sent us mere moments ago announcing Real Racing 2:

We loved the original Real Racing in our review, and really, it's hard to imagine what they could even be including in its sequel. My personal list of things I hope to see include a more fleshed our career mode, car customization similar to Gran Turismo, and even more tracks. More details are coming "soon" from Firemint. How soon is anyone's guess, but my money is on Real Racing 2 being a holiday release.

We'll have to wait and see!

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According to the Veteran's Day Wikipedia entry I just edited, Veteran's Day is a day in which "young Americans commonly pretend to listen to old people talk while they secretly fondle their phones." Being the expert that I am on this hallowed holiday, I know exactly why the entry makes a passing mention of phones — the entire galaxy often celebrates Veteran's Day with handheld game sales. So, it is with great pleasure and honor that I bring you this post on the Internet about the sales the App Store is throwing today. And, boy, are there some good ones.

Zen Bound®, Free Zen Bound is one of those unusual-in-a-good-way kind of games. I say this up front because this proceeding sentence, if you’re not familiar with Zen Bound, is going to throw you for a loop: Zen Bound is a game about wrapping wooden figurines with rope. I know, I know. But tell you what, go ahead and give ye’ old ZB a try. It’s free today, as developer Secret Exit notes, in celebration of a Mac and PC version of the title, which is set for a November 16 release.

Tilt to Live, $0.99 Tilt To Live is one of those games that just keeps selling and selling, so I’m surprised there’s a few dudes who don’t have the reverse, top-down dual-stick shooter. As I mentioned this morning, Tilt To Live is good according to our review, so there’s little reason not to grab it at its sub-one dollar price point.

Sonic The Hedgehog 4™ Episode I, $6.99 I heard on the Internet that Sonic fans are crazy. I’m not sure if that’s accurate or not, but I’d kinda like to see Sonic 4 get into a many more people’s hands just in case this is true. I feel like if I were successful in making this happen, I’d kinda be like the Scarecrow, minus the whole “gas” thing.

Geometry Wars™: Touch, $0.99 Geometry Wars was a surprise hit on Xbox Live Arcade during the Xbox 360’s fledgling years, and while it’s iDevice counterpart isn’t bad, it’s not quite as good as playing it with a real Xbox controller. Your finger tends to get in the way of the dual-shooter’s action (especially on the iPhone). Still, sub-one dollar makes this really hard to pass on considering this universal game usually sits at six bucks.

ChuChu Rocket! HD, $4.99 A lot of people want a new Chu Chu Rocket title and the only way to make that happen is to give SEGA a lot of money… by buying ChuChu Rocket! and its HD counterpart on the App Store. Luckily, the price is just about right today.

Textropolis, Free Textropolis is a cool word game that may even help you expand your vocabulary. For example, today I told Eli that he was a “sadist” because he beats me all the time. I did good, right? Thanks, Textropolis!

Geared for iPad, Free Geared is a unique puzzle game that has you — wait for it — placing gears to solve puzzles. The iPhone version is great, and the iPad version is even better as the big screen makes moving and placing gears even easier.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, $1.99 THPS2 was the definitive skateboard game of its day, and to some extent, still is. It was designed for a physical controller, so you might not be able to string those infinite combos together on the iPhone as easily as you could the N64, but otherwise this isn’t a game you should miss.

Whoa! Talk about Veteran's Day blowout. What are you grabbing today?

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Mobigame's Edge [$2.99] is a game that really shouldn't need an introduction if you follow the App Store gaming scene at all. In a nutshell, it's an incredibly fun minimalistic 3D platformer that seems to be almost universally loved by anyone who tries it. Mobigame was the target of a completely ridiculous trademark battle that went on for entirely too long which resulted in the game being pulled from the App Store. Recently it returned, and mere moments ago it was updated to version 1.5 which among other tweaks adds Retina Display graphics and universal compatibility for the iPad.

Check out the trailer, if you haven't seen it yet:

Now is as good of a time as ever to download Edge, or if it's just been sitting in your iTunes library (It has been out for quite a while, after all.) make sure you update it and re-sync it to your Retina Display device or iPad to check out the new high resolution graphics.

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