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Few App Store ports have more history than the original Puzzle Quest [$4.99 / Lite]. It started its life back in 2007 on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, then slowly made its way to other platforms over the years before finally winding up on the iPhone. The original release of the game sold for $9.99, and was host to a number of game breaking bugs ranging from incredibly blurry graphics to players just flat out randomly losing their progress. 1.1 was released shortly thereafter, and as a bit of a consolation prize to early adopters, an entire additional episode of content was later bundled in as a free update. After that, a third episode was eventually offered as a DLC pack, but still, Puzzle Quest was never a very good port.

So because of all the lackluster developments with the original Puzzle Quest on the iPhone, I admittedly was not expecting much at all from the iPad version… But how very wrong I was. Puzzle Quest HD [$4.99] is without a doubt the definitive version of the game. To make things even sweeter, it even comes bundled with all three episodes of content for five measly dollars. This not only makes Puzzle Quest HD the best version of the game, but also the cheapest.

Blurry graphics and weird performance issues have been replaced by crisp iPad-resolution interface elements, text, and puzzle pieces. Really, the only negative I can even find is that the game seems to prefer you to tap pieces to swap them around instead of swiping like most match threes, but this only took a few moments to get used to before I was in complete Puzzle Quest bliss.

Puzzle Quest HD is a natural fit for the iPad. It looks great, it plays great, and is going to keep me busy for quite some time. I'm not really sure if the HD version is worth rebuying, especially if you've already played through it on another platform, but for me Puzzle Quest is just one of those games I can play again and again.

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Back when the original Samurai: Way of the Warrior [$1.99] was released on the App Store, we thought it was an incredible display of what the current iPhone was capable of. Awesome cell shaded graphics were combined with some of the most gory gameplay available at the time which unfortunately was sullied by a cumbersome swipe-based control scheme. However, this didn't stop Way of the Warrior from topping over 800,000 downloads and winning a number of awards including being listed among Apple's Best Games of 2009.

Samurai II: Vengeance [$2.99] was released last night as a universal app, and after putting it through its paces I can safely say that this is a worthy sequel in every regard. First off, if the cell shaded graphics of the original Samurai wowed you, to put it lightly, you ain't seen nothin' yet. The game looks great in screenshots, but seeing it running at 60fps on the Retina Display of the iPhone 4 or on the iPad is downright incredible. Utilizing the latest version of the Unity 3D engine, MadFinger Games has made the entire game world even more detailed, making me stop quite often while playing the game to just look at my surroundings to take note of just how great something like a patch of bamboo looked– Something I really can't say for too many video games, console titles included.

Especially on the Retina Display, Samurai II: Vengeance looks like a comic book in motion and the game's camera always makes sure you're focused on the action. For instance, when you're fighting an array of enemies, it will pan in and out whenever you're executing any of the varied combo finishing moves. When you get a hang for the combo system, this results in an incredible display of swords flying, blood splattering everywhere, with the camera zooming in to show the blood spurt emanating from a decapitated foe, then (if you can keep it up) repeating the whole thing on the next enemy– Only this time, you might slice them in half.

All of these combos are reasonably easy to pull off too, since the convoluted swipe system of the original has been replaced with a much more sensible virtual joystick and array of buttons. One could argue that the swipe system made it feel more like an iPhone game, and to some extent I agree, but actually being able to pull off the moves you want instead of what the original Samurai thought you wanted to do makes playing the game a lot more fun. Also, with your hands fixed in one position, you can actually enjoy the graphics and overall mood of the game instead of constantly obstructing the screen with wild swiping and tapping motions.

Unfortunately, with all this awesome comes a bit of, well, not so awesome. Samurai II: Vengeance is an extremely linear arcade style brawler to its core, which is great if all you're looking to do is slaughter wave after wave of baddies, but not so great if you like games with a little more variety than just repeating your most effective combos over and over. Some light puzzle elements are included, and there are a few gauntlets of fairly menacing traps you'll need to navigate, but other than that, it's just straight up bloodbath action which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. Personally, I found myself getting bored at times during the game especially early on before you see a little more variety in enemies and have some upgraded combos.

Speaking of upgrading, Samurai II has a barebones experience point system of sorts that allows you to buy new combos, upgrade existing ones, and add some extra pixels to your health bar. The rate that you unlock new things seems pretty good, but again I found myself wishing there was more you could do to customize your character. In comparison, Gameloft's Hero of Sparta 2 [$6.99 / Lite / HD] offers a silly amount of character customization through various unlockables.

The difficulty level of Samurai II: Vengeance, even when playing on normal, can be a little too challenging. There's no way to heal aside from when you're refreshed when battles are over, which can often result in an incredibly frustrating series of do-overs especially later in the game with some of the gauntlets of enemy warriors Samurai II throws at you. Also, instead of any kind of tutorial to speak of, the game begins with a completely overwhelming four screen slideshow detailing every function of every UI element. While this might not be an issue for the hardcore gamer types that populate the TouchArcade forum, I'm not sure how well it will go over with the general populace.

If you are the hardcore type, you'll be happy to know that the endless survival mode dojo has made its return, complete with Game Center-powered leaderboards. Also, each of the seven chapters has its own leaderboard, and if achievements are your thing, there are a bunch of those as well.

While Samurai II: Vengeance isn't going to knock Epic Citadel [Free] off its throne of having the most jaw-dropping graphics available on the platform, this is an actual game, and is a must-have if you're looking for another way to show off the Retina Display. I'd love to see more variety in the gameplay, upgrades, and a more forgiving difficulty mode, but otherwise Samurai II: Vengeance is everything a great sequel should be.

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Reckless Racing [$2.99/HD] is one of those games that almost needs no introduction. Ever since we posted the first video back in early March, when it was called Deliverace, gamers were impressed with the incredibly detailed graphics engine and arcade-like physics in the game. Later that same month, our hands-on video and an additional gameplay video only served to intensify the fervor of anticipation for the game now known as Reckless Racing. While initially developer Pixelbite Games had pegged the game for an “early 2010” release, suddenly everything went quiet regarding news on Reckless Racing. The weeks past with no word from Pixelbite on the status of the game or a release date, and fans in our forums started to doubt if the game would even be released at all.

Then in late July, nearly five months after the game's announcement, we finally learned that EA Mobile had picked up Reckless Racing and would be publishing the title for Pixelbite. This was good news as it meant the game hadn't been cancelled, but we were still left without a solid release date. Meanwhile, the hype continued to swell in our forums to an astronomical degree as the weeks again began to pass without any sign of Reckless Racing. Then, just this past week, EA announced that the game would finally be coming out on October 21st, and there was much rejoicing.

Common sense would tell us that practically no game could match the incredible amount of hype that Reckless Racing has garnered in the past 7 and a half months, but casting that aside now that the final game is in our hands we can at least say that this is an incredibly enjoyable top-down arcade racing experience – just as we had hoped it would be. It definitely feels lacking in terms of track and vehicle options, especially taking into account the long development time, but what is here is super high quality and becomes an easier pill to swallow thanks to a really reasonable price point. Like many of the best games on a mobile platform, the biggest problem with Reckless Racing is that there just isn't enough of it.

Upon starting the single player game, you are thrust into a simple but very useful tutorial. Here you can choose from one of the five different control schemes (that include various onscreen buttons, virtual steering wheels, or tilt controls) and test them out to your heart's content on a practice track until you've found the one that suits you. Quitting the tutorial takes you to the main racing menu where you can choose either Dirt Rally, Hot Lap, or Delivery mode and pick from 6 different cars and 5 different tracks to race on.

Dirt Rally is like a championship mode where you'll race 3-4 laps on each of the 5 tracks on bronze, silver, and gold medal difficulties. Once the first 5 tracks have been completed, a reversed version of each one must then be played. The Hot Lap mode has you racing your choice of track over and over again trying for the very best lap time you can get, with medals earned by beating certain time requirements. The ghost from your best lap races along with you to give you something to compete with, and any of the ghosts from the online leaderboards can be downloaded and raced against as well.

Delivery mode is fairly different from the rest of the game, and is quite a lot of fun. It takes place on its own map that is both larger and more open than the regular racing tracks. You're given either 3, 5, or 8 minutes to complete as many deliveries as you can before time runs out. A package will be picked up at one point on the map and taken to another to complete each delivery, with a handy waypoint guiding you in the right direction at all times. The dollar value of each delivery decreases the longer you take to complete it, and at the end of the time limit your total number of deliveries and cash earned serve as the score for Delivery mode.

All of these single player modes include online leaderboards, and there is also an excellent online multiplayer mode that lets you race in Dirt Rally or Hot Lap modes with up to 3 other players over WiFi or 3g. The online portion works really well in my experience, always remaining smooth on my end although occasionally other racers would lag and teleport around the tracks. Overall the online high score tracking and multiplayer mode add a ton of incentive to keep playing Reckless Racing after you've earned every medal in the single player portion.

The two things that really stand out about Reckless Racing are the stunning Retina Display graphics and the fun physics system. The attention to detail in the game is incredible, with dust and dirt flying behind your vehicle's tires, tire tracks that remain on the course until the race is over, environmental objects like street signs and fences that can be destroyed, and excellent use of lighting and shadows to really bring the game to life. Driving is a blast as you drift around every turn on tracks comprised of both cement and dirt portions that both behave quite differently from one another. The tracks are designed really well, with plenty of jumps or small shortcuts to take and dangerous cliffs to fling yourself off of if you aren't careful. Racing around is just flat out fun, and it's hard not to be impressed with how beautiful everything looks while you're doing so.

Really the only thing I don't like about Reckless Racing is that it's all over too soon. The online leaderboards and multiplayer mode go a long way in lengthening the experience, but inevitably you'll have every nook and cranny of every track down pat before you know it. Owners of the iPad version get 3 additional tracks (each with a reversed version) on top of the original 5 included in the iPhone version. If you have a choice between the two, Reckless Racing HD is worth the couple of extra bucks for the added content. Player impressions in our forums are largely positive, despite being short on content. I sincerely hope that EA and Pixelbite continue to add content to the game with future updates, as the core of the game is done so well, but even as is Reckless Racing is a fun ride that is well worth taking.

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This evening Rovio Mobile released a Halloween themed supplement to the original Angry Birds [99¢ / Lite / HD] with the somewhat obvious title of Angry Birds Halloween [99¢ / HD]. There's not a whole lot to say about it other than it's another 45 levels of Angry Birds set in a Halloween theme. There is a new spooky theme, ghost pigs, and pumpkins to smash everywhere.

I'm not sure what else needs to really be said about this. Angry Birds has been at the top of the iTunes charts for quite some time now, and even complete strangers at gas stations who see me fiddling with my iPhone seem to know about the game. We posted a review back in December of last year when the original game first came out, and since then its been updated a ridiculous amount. It's hard to say if this special Halloween edition is going to see the same update love, but both the original Angry Birds (if you don't already have it) and Angry Birds Halloween will likely be the best $1.98 you've spent today.

If you at all enjoyed the original Angry Birds, you need to download this Halloween special.

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An update recently propagated across the App Store for the classic jumping game Doodle Jump [99¢] in honor of the upcoming holiday of Halloween. If you're looking for something to get you in the spirit of Halloween, this new update should do the trick. The Doodler has undergone the terrible transformation to the Frankendoodler, and all of the monsters now are Halloween themed.

Something to be aware of is that this update is a bit of a double edged sword. While the new theme is pretty cool, to stay under the 20MB over the air download limit, Lima Sky nuked last year's Halloween theme. This one seems to be tons better, but if you're partial to the previous ghost theme you might want to back up your Doodle Jump.ipa somewhere to revert back or just flat out skip this update.

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The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital posted some interesting details today regarding a potential acquisition of Chillingo by the hand of gaming giant EA. Neither company needs any kind of introduction around here, and it's really amazing to see all these huge multi-million dollar deals flying around lately over iPhone games. Price estimates of the purchase range from $80 million to $200 million, and there apparently are a number of companies interested in Chillingo ranging from DeNA, Activision, Gameloft, and oddly enough, even Microsoft's gaming unit.

We're waiting for comment from both Chillingo and EA.

Update: Reuters is reporting the sale price to be $20 million, but the full details have yet to be made public.

Update 2: We just heard from Chris Byatte, General Manager (former President) of Chillingo and got a brief comment on the buyout. In his words, "The acquisition will allow us to marry our expertise in identifying and cultivating the ideas of independent developers with the publishing power and reach of EA mobile. It is going to be BIG!"

We expect to get more details soon, as both Chillingo and EA seem to be inundated with requests currently. An official press release explaining the acquisition can't be too far off.

[via All Things Digital]

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If you're lucky enough to live in New Zealand, these games are already all available. Otherwise, as the world turns and it slowly becomes Thursday in your neck of the woods, all of these games should appear for download on the App Store. For those of us who get our games from the US App Store, this means 11:00 PM EST tonight, or earlier if you're east of us.

Reckless Racing, $2.99 [Forum Thread] – We've had our hands all over Reckless Racing when it was previously known as Deliverace. The project got picked up by EA Mobile, and has seen several substantial improvements including multiple gameplay modes and even online multiplayer. Reckless Racing HD [$4.99] is also coming to the iPad, if you prefer your racin' on the big screen.

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Angry Birds Halloween, 99¢ [Forum Thread] – Rovio Mobile is apparently abandoning Chillingo with this self-published Halloween themed version of Angry Birds. 45 levels are included along with a new story of the golden egg of terror, and there's plenty of pumpkins to smash. Much like the original Angry Birds an iPad version is available in a separate download as Angry Birds Halloween HD [$1.99].

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Samurai II: Vengeance, $2.99 [Forum Thread] – This universal ultra-gory hack and slash is also being released tonight, and with how great the original looked, I really can't wait to see this game in action on the iPad. They're even promising 60 FPS frame rates at Retina Display resolutions on newer devices.

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Other games being released tonight include Gameloft's Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus HD [$9.99] and a sequel to Namco's Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima [$4.99 / Lite] cleverly titled More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima [$4.99]. Keep an eye out for more coverage and reviews on these games later this evening.

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A few weeks back Rocketcat Games, creators of Hook Champ [$2.99/Lite] and Super Quick Hook [$2.99], announced yet another hooking title for the iOS platform titled Hook Swing Worlds. Now called just Hook Worlds, this new game will contain three different variations of endless hooking action, all featuring some elements from Rocketcat's previous games.

Essentially three games in one, the first game in Hook Worlds stars Theodore "Gramps" Hooker swinging through different locations while being chased by a guardian spirit, similar to the original Hook Champ. The second game features Hook Champ's downloadable darling Zelle as she collects coins while using a shooting ability to take out barriers and enemies. The final game in the trio features a futuristic version of Super Quick Hook's Gnomey character as he dodges obstacles by hooking and using a gravity flipping mechanic that is inspired by fellow developer We Are Colin's own pixel based running game Gravity Runner [99¢].

All of these different game elements are displayed beautifully in the brand new trailer for Hook Worlds:

Rocketcat is shooting for an early November release for Hook Worlds at a price of 99¢, with a special early buyer bonus in the form of a fourth hooking world inspired by the Atari and C64 era. As Kepa Auwae of Rocketcat puts it in our forums, this world is their "lowest bit world ever". For those that don't pick up the game during the early bonus period, this fourth world will be available as an unlockable after the game's first update. Other update plans include additional hats and costumes for the different characters, and depending on how well Hook Worlds does there can be additional worlds added to the game in the future.

Being a huge fan of Super Quick Hook and especially Hook Champ, the release of Hook Worlds really can't come soon enough. Drop into the upcoming games thread in our forums where Kepa is dropping additional info on the game, and we'll keep you up to date on any new info regarding Hook Worlds as it nears release.

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I can still remember the release of I Love Katamari [$4.99/Lite], the iPhone iteration of the popular Katamari Damacy console series. In an App Store that was still in its infancy, quirky indie titles made up the bulk of releases, with Sega's Super Monkey Ball and Activision's Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart being among the only recognizable brand names on a platform struggling to assert itself as a mobile gaming contender. Nowadays, big name IP's are common in the App Store, and iOS gaming is hotter than ever. In December of 2008 however, the appearance of I Love Katamari was an exciting and surprising move by Namco that hinted at great things to come for the platform.

Unfortunately, the game was initially plagued with performance issues that rendered it nearly unplayable on the Apple devices of the time. It was a shame too, since the ball rolling nature of I Love Katamari was really well suited to the accelerometer capabilities in the iPhone and iPod touch. Namco quickly issued several updates over the next few months following release that addressed the performance of the game, and eventually I Love Katamari became a mostly stable game that has lived a pretty happy life on the App Store ever since.

Now nearly two years after its initial release, Namco is again surprising us by showing I Love Katamari some love in the form of a substantial content update. There is now an entirely new level to play through titled Resort that has you rolling up items that you might find while on vacation. Additionally, I Love Katamari now features Game Center integration, with online leaderboards for every level and 14 achievements to unlock. Also worth noting is that with the latest generation of iOS devices, I Love Katamari runs without much issue. There are some slight frame skips when your ball increases in size, but nothing detrimental. The game runs admirably on 3rd generation devices as well, but is noticeably better on 4th generation iPhone and iPod touches.

We're happy to see so many old titles getting updates since the releases of both iOS 4 and Apple's Game Center social network. It really has the ability to breathe new life into these games, and the latest update to I Love Katamari is no exception. It is a game that I struggled to enjoy on my old device due to the poor performance, and with so many games coming out every day I had all but forgotten about it. Seeing the update in iTunes brought it back onto my radar, and I've been having a total blast playing through the game again. If it's been a while since you've taken I Love Katamari for a spin, and especially if you own one of the newest devices, make sure and check out the latest update and enjoy one of the strangest titles in the App Store.

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If you're looking for an iPhone motocross game to get excited over, this very well may be it. The Quadsphere, creators of Icarus-X [$1.99] announced on our forums this morning that their next iPhone game is going to be an online multiplayer enabled motocross game called FMX Riders. We don't have anything right now other than a set of screenshots and a feature list, but FMX Riders looks (and sounds) incredibly promising.

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.

We'll be closely following FMX Racers, but in the meantime, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to keep an eye on the thread in our upcoming games forum.

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