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Originally released in 1987, R-Type [$1.99] is almost as classic as it gets when it comes to arcade shooters. Since its initial release, the game has seen many sequels, as well as ports to nearly ever platform ranging from the Amiga all the way up to the XBOX 360. Like most arcade games of the era, the game is framed in a vague story with the player piloting the space fighter Arrowhead to defend humanity from aliens. The original R-Type (and competent ports) have been well received by almost everyone, as the gameplay and level design are still considered by many to be among the best the genre has to offer.

If you've never played R-Type before, you might be in for a surprise as the game's notorious level of difficulty has landed it in lists such as IGN's Top 10 Toughest Games to Beat. The levels are crafted in such a way that you likely won't have much luck playing the game in a reactionary manner, and instead, will need to beat them through trial and error, learning the levels as you go. R-Type plays like what we now know as a typical shooter. You need to kill everything that moves, avoid bullets and enemies, fight massive bosses, all while collecting a wide array of power-ups on the way.

As far as the port is concerned, from a technical standpoint it's great. To make things easier on new players there's an unlimited mode with never-ending lives, as well as the standard normal difficulty and an unlockable insane difficulty. Three control options are included, touch controls which work like most other shooters where you drag your finger around the screen to move the ship along with tilt controls and even a virtual D-Pad. The virtual D-Pad is actually surprisingly cool too, as it changes the perspective of the game to look more like an arcade cabinet so your fingers don't cover any of the action. Auto-fire can be enabled or disabled, and you can move the on-screen buttons to the right or left side in the options.

The developers really did everything they could do to bring a faithful port of R-Type to the App Store, but I'm really torn on how I feel with it. R-Type reminds me of last year's Earthworm Jim port in that it's hard to imagine a better port of the game, but the control constraints of the platform almost feel like it's holding it back. Using your finger often obstructs the screen. Tilting feels off because your ship just moves at one speed regardless of how much you tilt. The virtual D-pad is good, but only as good as a virtual D-pad can be.

If you have fond memories of the original (or any of the ports), you'll likely love having the game on your phone and will be able to make whichever control option you prefer work well enough to get through the game. Also, at $1.99 it likely is the cheapest way to play the game, since it would cost at least that in quarters at the arcade to make it through the first levels. If this review is the first time you've heard of R-Type, you might find yourself frustrated with the way things used to be with brutally difficult arcade shooters designed to extract every quarter from your pocket. In that case, you might be better off checking out some of the other more forgiving shooters that feature modern day conveniences such as checkpoints.

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Earlier this month we brought you a preview of Dodonpachi Resurrection, the newest bullet hell shooter for the iPhone from developer Cave, who have previously brought Espgaluda II [$8.99/Lite] to the App Store. Dodonpachi Resurrection is a reimagined version of the arcade game Dodonpachi DaiFukkatsu, the fifth game in the Dodonpachi series. Resurrection will feature a mode faithful to the arcade game as well as an entire mode unique to the iPhone version. Due to all of the action that can take place onscreen at any given time, the game is restricted to owners of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3Gs, 32 and 64 gig 3^rd gen iPod touches, and the iPad.

Cave has sent word via press release and their official Twitter that the release date for Dodonpachi Resurrection is August 26^th and that it will be launching for a special introductory price of $4.99. This introductory price will last for the first four days after release and then rise to the regular price of $8.99.  Additionally, a lite version will follow after the full game is released, although no date for the lite has been specified.

Here is another look at the latest trailer:

We're eager to get our hands on Dodonpachi Resurrection, as I'm sure many other players are as well. You can pass the time until then by joining the discussion thread in our forums where you can find additional screens of the game. We'll have more on Dodonpachi Resurrection when it goes live on the App Store this Thursday.

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The interactive fiction section of the App Store has grown quite a bit since our original post on both the Fighting Fantasy and Gamebook Adventures series of RPG eBook apps. If this is the first you've heard of them, these game books are an evolution of sorts on choose your own adventure books that you may or may not have read as a kid. Instead of simply choosing between two forks in a book and turning to that page, they have you roll dice to determine the outcome of the story. For instance, the main character might lose his footing, at which point you're faced with a dice challenge to see whether or not you fall in to some treacherous pit or manage to grab on to something and pull yourself out. The random nature of these game books make them a lot of fun, and give them quite a bit of replay (reread?) value as the story forks a different way with each reading.

These game books all play similarly, but I've found myself leaning towards Big Blue Bubble's adaptation of the Fighting Fantasy series, as they're universal and look great on the iPad as well as existing previously as published game books. Definitely look in to Fighting Fantasy if you're planning on playing the books on an iPad, as pixel doubling works on the others, but isn't a very good experience.

Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, $2.99 Deep in the caverns beneath Firetop Mountain lies an untold wealth of treasure, guarded by a powerful Warlock – or so the rumor goes. Several adventurers like yourself have set off for Firetop Mountain in search of the Warlocks hoard. None has ever returned. Do you dare follow them?

Fighting Fantasy: Citadel of Chaos, $2.99 The Citadel holds a dark and dangerous peril for anyone foolhardy enough to venture through its gruesome gates. And yet venture you must for your mission lies at the heart of the Citadel, with the dread sorcerer, Balthus Dire!

Fighting Fantasy: Deathtrap Dungeon, $2.99 Countless adventurers before you have taken up thee challenge of the Trial of Champions, but not one has survived. Devised by the devilish mind of Baron Sukumvit, the labyrinth is riddled with fiendish traps and hideous creatures of darkness to trick and test you almost beyond the limits of endurance!

Fighting Fantasy: Creature of Havok, $2.99 You begin this adventure not knowing where you are or who you are. All you know is that you are some kind of creature of instinct, understanding little. During the course of the adventure, it may be possible for you to begin to control your bestial nature, to find out more about yourself, and even to learn your destiny. But even if you know all this, success is by no means certain, for the traps and terrors of Trolltooth Pass are many … Are you ready — to become the Creature of Havoc?

Next are Gamebook Adventures by Tin Man Games, a completely original series written by S.P. Osborne and illustrated by Pirkka Harvala. I like the presentation of the Gamebook Adventures series a lot, and I really hope they're eventually updated to be universal.

Gamebook Adventures 1: An Assassin in Orlandes, $4.99 Set within Orlandes City, nobles are being systematically murdered by a ruthless assassin no-one seems able to catch. Finding yourself thrust in the middle of a large conspiracy, you must make decisions that may put yourself and one other most precious to you in great danger. Can you locate the Assassin in Orlandes before it is too late?

Gamebook Adventures 2: The Siege of the Necromancer, $4.99 Set in the coastal town of Myr, you have returned home after a long Summer in the mines of Durath Tor to find your hometown besieged by strange creatures. A dark presence has taken over the town and you are the only one who can rid the stronghold of Erid Buul, the mysterious new Lord and his ghastly cohorts.

And last but not least, Bright AI brought the first installment Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series to the App Store. Jackson is one of the original authors of the Fighting Fantasy books, and wrote the Sorcery! series along side them targeted at an older audience as they're much longer and more complex, even offering a choice of class to play while reading the book. Unfortunately, this isn't universal either.

Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! The Shamutanti Hills, $2.99 The Shamutanti Hills is Book One in Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! series. Your epic quest will take you across the mysterious hills to the cityport of Kharé, but only if you outwit the creatures, traps and wizardry you encounter along the way.

Since all of these game books basically play the same, you can pretty much just choose whichever one(s) sound interesting to you based on their description as reading previous installments in the series to enjoy later ones isn't required either. As mentioned, if you intend on reading them on an iPad, I'd gravitate towards the Fighting Fantasy books, but any of them will be highly enjoyable to any fan of fantasy fiction.

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This isn't a game by any means, so if you're looking for the next cool iPhone game to download, keep on scrollin'. If you like games, RPG's specifically, and have always wondered what would happen if you combined the functionality of a to do list app with an experience bar, Epic Win [$2.99] is right up your alley. Created by Rex Crowle, responsible for the visual design of Little Big Planet, and Tak Fung, the developer behind MiniSquadron [$2.99 / Free], Epic Win is a list keeping app by gamers for gamers.

On your first launch of the app, you choose one of five avatars. Three are unlocked initially, with the other two available via in-app purchase. Which avatar you choose has no bearing on how the rest of the app works, and you can change them at any time in the options. Tapping the pencil icon opens up a new task, at which point you set its "epicness" and date along with what type of feat said task is. These feats range from feats of strength, stamina, intellect, social, and spirit.

As you complete items off your to do list, you're awarded experience for the level of epicness you set and your avatar gains a point on your profile page for the type of feat the task was. When each task is completed, your dude travels down a curvy road, and eventually is awarded various pieces of ridiculous loot… And that's really all there is to Epic Win. Sure, there are more full featured gettin' things done apps on the App Store, but how many of them have loot or experience bars?

Yeah, you can technically "cheat" in Epic Win really easily by just constantly making and completing tasks, but the "game" portion of Epic Win really has no competition, and only serves as a neat little bonus for checking things off of a list. If you've found yourself looking for some more motivation to get things done on your to do list, and filling an experience bar is your carrot on a stick that will actually lead you to do things, Epic Win is what you need.

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Bumps is a new physics-based puzzle game from developer Utopian Games with a cute style and clever mechanics. Aliens have captured most of the population of a circular race known as bumps, and it's up to the few who haven't been caught to collect the keys on each level in order to release their friends from imprisonment. Don't let the lighthearted style of the game fool you, however, as some of the levels will really test your puzzle solving fortitude. With 54 unique levels and a number of interesting mini-games to play, Bumps will keep you entertained for quite some time.

To play each level, you'll strategically place bumps at various spots around the screen. Hitting a button then enables gravity, allowing the bumps to fall down and hopefully collect all the keys that correspond to each ones color. Oftentimes you'll even have to “bump” into another bump to push them and get them rolling towards a key. Other elements like springboards and moving platforms can help you accomplish your goal. There's even anti-gravity switches in certain levels, so once you drop the bumps to collect keys they will then hit the switch and have to float up to grab the others. It's a bit hard to explain but easy to get the hang of, and a nice tutorial introduces you to the concepts in Bumps. The levels are all really cleverly designed and will often have you smiling once you figure out the intended solutions.

Bumps is split into six differently themed worlds, with nine levels in each for a total of 54. Medals are awarded based on how many tries it takes you to complete a level, but every level can be retried as many times as needed if you get stuck. In a nice twist, each world begins with its own distinct mini-game to break up the action, and there are four other mini-games independent of the level structure that can be unlocked as well. The mini-games include variations on iPhone mainstays like air hockey, pinball, brickbreaker, and more. They're pretty simplified versions of these games but are a nice distraction from the puzzle solving.

While the gameplay in Bumps is well designed and fun, a couple issues about the game stick out as annoying. Hitting the retry button during a level resets the position of the bumps, so if you're just trying to make a small adjustment to one bump you'll have to reposition all of them over again. Also, by default the game zooms in when you touch a bump to give you a closer view. I didn't really like this zooming feature, and it can easily be disabled with an icon in the upper corner, but the game fails to remember that you disabled it from level to level, so it must be disabled each new level you play. These are relatively minor issues that don't affect the enjoyment of the game, and Utopian Games has already stated in our forums that both issues will be fixed in the next update, as well as adding a new world with nine brand new levels.

Overall, Bumps offers a good amount of gameplay wrapped in charming sound and visuals. The bouncy, floaty physics engine makes for an interesting way to solve puzzles, and is a lot of fun. iPad owners can look forward to a native version of Bumps coming to that device in the next couple of months. This version won't be a direct port, and will feature all new levels and graphics to take advantage of the extra screen size and higher resolution. The mini-games in the iPad version will have same device multiplayer for up to four players, which should make for some hectic fun in between solving puzzles. Until that time though, the iPhone version of Bumps is a blast, and is recommended if you're looking a new puzzler with some unique ideas.

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Last month we reported the announcement that DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu is coming to the iPhone this summer from legendary shmup developer Cave, who have already released one of their classic arcade shooters to the App Store, the excellent Espgaluda II [$8.99/Lite]. Fans of bullet hell shooters were frothing at the mouth over the news, but unfortunately the trailer that came along with the announcement served as only a tease, and didn't expose much in the way of gameplay or information.

Now a few weeks later, Cave has released a brand new gameplay trailer for the game, now called Dodonpachi Resurrection, along with some screenshots and info about the enhancements to this iPhone port. Much like Espgaluda II, Dodonpachi Resurrection will feature a mode that is practically identical to its arcade counterpart as well as an iPhone specific mode. This new iPhone mode features a new scoring system and is tailored to gaming on the go. In addition to these two modes a third practice mode will be included.

The screen on the left is from Arcade mode, and the one on the right is from iPhone Mode and shows the Hyper Cannon at work (click to enlarge):

Based on the trailer for Dodonpachi Resurrection, fans of the genre should be in for the same frantic gameplay that Cave games are known for – hundreds of bullets flying onscreen, humongous enemies, and devastating super weapons. As such, just like Espgaluda II, the game will be exclusive to 3^rd generation iPod touches (32 and 64 gig), iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, and iPad. Also, brand new music has been composed exclusively for this iPhone release by notable Japanese composers Kenichi Maeyamata and Shoichiro Hirata.

Another noteworthy aspect to Dodonpachi Resurrection is that the iPhone version will mark the first time the game will have appeared anywhere other than the arcade. Espgaluda II was ported from arcade to the Xbox 360 prior to coming to the iPhone, and it says a lot to the overwhelming popularity of the iOS platform and how well suited a game like this is to the touch screen that it is appearing here first. Espgaluda II absolutely nailed the controls, and set the benchmark for every shmup to come out for the iPhone since. If they can pull off those same tight controls for Dodonpachi Resurrection, which hardcore Cave fans consider a superior series to Espgaluda, then we should be in for quite a treat when the game is finally released.

The price for Dodonpachi Resurrection has not been set, and Cave still hasn't narrowed down the release past “Summer 2010”, but rest assured that as soon as we hear anything more we'll be the first to let you know. In the meantime, drop by the thread in our upcoming games section and join in on the discussion.

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Developer MadFinger Games has just announced a followup to the popular hack 'n slash title Samurai: Way of the Warrior. We reviewed the game when it was released in September of last year and found it to be an incredibly stylish (and incredibly difficult) action game with intuitive swipe controls. With plenty of awards and high review marks from around the web, as well as three quarter of a million copies downloaded, a sequel to Samurai seems like a no-brainer.

Yesterday MadFinger started a thread in our upcoming games forum to dish out some new info and screens from the upcoming sequel, titled Samurai II: Vengeance. Here is the info straight from the developer, along with some work-in-progress screens from the iPad version (click for full size):

Samurai II: Vengeance boasts twice the gameplay of the first release and features larger levels

many new combo attacks and violent deaths

Samurai II also supports a virtual joystick for fans uncomfortable with the gesture control scheme.

Realistic violent battle sequences, more enemies equipped with new weapons including Samurai Musketeer or Archer, and epic battles with unique Bosses.

Improved gameplay and new features: solve puzzles, avoid dangerous traps, use discovered objects, and more.

Daisuke Shimada returns on a mission to avenge Kasumi's death. Follow his story through unique comic storytelling!

Samurai II also enhances its gameplay through new survival modes.

Samurai II is developed on the award-winning Unity 3D 3.0 engine supporting the latest technology.

Original soundtrack.

Samurai II: Vengeance is slated to be released this September for 2^nd and 3^rd generation iPod touch, iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, and iPad. If this is the first you've heard of the Samurai series, you can check out the original Samurai: Way of the Warrior for your iPhone or iPad in anticipation of this upcoming sequel.

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Treehouse Ltd. has just released a new take on the top-down aerial shooter formula in the form of 1951 – World War One [App Store] for the iPhone. The game takes place in an alternate history where, on June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip's gun jammed, letting Archduke Franz-Ferdinand live to see another day.

With this single mechanical failure the seed of First World War was never sown, and without the humiliation of Versaille's there was no wind to fan the flames for a second one. Adolf Hitler had to make his living as a mediocre marketplace artist at the streets of Vienna instead of becoming the dangerous, dictatorial dreamer he would otherwise have been. But without two global wars to drive the technology forward the world of 1951 remains much like the world at the turn of the century – colonialism upholding imperial economies and withering alliances cemented with royal marriages. It's Imperialism iced with biplanes and rock'n roll!

It's a rather interesting premise and — who knows — it might not be too far off the mark in that particular "what if" scenario. What I can tell you is that this game is definitely right on the mark as far as a title that's absolutely worth its 20MBs on your device. This game is just great.

1951 is a top-down aerial shooter something akin to the arcade classic 1942, but with such striking graphic realism that's it's something of a flawed comparison. The game places you high above Europe in a biplane with the simple goal of kill-or-be-killed. The scrolling landscape far below and the clouds and other artifacts of the varying weather patterns look amazing and the 3D aircraft (and the plumes of smoke that they'll soon be streaming) render in very nicely. It's a definite looker, but there's more than looks that set this one apart.

The game's entire system of control, response, and damage is much more of a realistic affair than something like 1942, which is a more "standard" shooter. Incoming enemy aircraft, which are marked with a directional star at the edge of the screen when they're out of view, do not hang about in an ever-present swarm. Rather, you need to seek them out and chase them, and it takes work to stay on their tail. It also takes work to shoot them down. Rather than simply shoot-hit-boom, in 1951 you must fire volleys of shells, smattering the target with maybe 10 to 15 direct hits before smoke gives way to flame and an earthward death-spiral.

And, of course, the enemies are shooting back at you all the while. But, I find you're much more likely to be done in by direct collision with incoming enemy aircraft than by way of their shells. As they fly onto the screen, they're usually headed straight for your fixed, centered position and it takes some maneuvering to avoid a crash which, depending on severity, inflicts a range of damage to your biplane. What's more, you need to contend with the barrel-rolls and Immelmann maneuvers the enemy pulls off mid-battle. Luckily, as you level-up, you too can acquire these special abilities, among others.

1951 features two single-player play modes: Wave Mode and Survival. The former, as the name might suggests, moves you through wave after wave of enemies, each larger than the one before, while the latter sends you on a bid to simply stay alive as long as you can. Success here is tracked via OpenFeint. The game uses tilt controls to rotate your craft left and right, with tap controls for fire and activation of certain special abilities such as repair and a sort-of auto-destroy weapon. A throttle slider to the far left regulates your speed, and successfully avoiding collisions requires frequent adjustment, here. The onscreen control response feels very smooth and precise as opposed to a "twitchy" affair — and it's a good thing too, as precision is what it takes to track an enemy and fill him with 15 pieces of lead.

1951 – World War One is a very nice variant on the 1942 shooter formula that's extremely well put together. It's visually quite impressive and works you a bit harder than a more typical fire-and-forget shooter. Bear in mind that a twitch-shooter, this is not — it's much more about precision and accuracy. I'd urge all the shooter fans out there to take a good, close look at this one.

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Famous Japanese shoot 'em up developer Cave recently revealed that Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fukkatsu will be released this summer, joining Espgaluda II [$8.99 / Free on the App Store. With similar bullet hell gameplay to Espgaluda II, which we enjoyed in our review, Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fukkatsu will share the same limitations in only running on the latest generation of iPhone and iPod touch hardware, unfortunately leaving first and second generation iPod touch users as well as original iPhone and iPhone 3G owners left out once again.

Cave isn't discussing pricing yet, and they're not getting any more specific than "Summer 2010" for a release date. Either way, while I'm sure quite a few people have never heard of this game series before those who have, will likely be very excited.

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Back at GDC we sat down with the guys from 99 Games who showed us an early build of The Jim and Frank Mysteries – The Blood River Files [99¢] which has since been picked up by Chillingo and arrived on the App Store. If you've played a Professor Layton game on the Nintendo DS before, The Jim and Frank Mysteries is a shockingly competent Layton lookalike with the professor and his sidekick Luke replaced by Jim and Frank, a team of teenage boys sent off on a quest by their grandfather as part of an odd 15th birthday celebration ritual.

Gameplay is identical to that of the Layton games in that Jim and Frank set out on a strange adventure, moving from screen to screen, talking to the various inhabitants of the game world, and solving 60 unique puzzles. Instead of the "hint coins" found in Professor Layton, Jim and Frank have "eurekas" which are similarly hidden in the game world and are collected by tapping on them. These eurekas are used as an in-game currency of sorts, which explains why Jim and Frank's adventure only costs a buck.

If you get stuck on a puzzle, you're able to unlock hints which will only cost you one of your eurekas for the first hint, and an additional eureka for the second. If you're still stumped, you can skip a puzzle entirely at the cost of many more eurekas. Of the two puzzles I've tried to skip, the first one would cost 15 with 20 required to skip the second. Aside from finding them in the game world, eurekas are currently available as an in-app purchase with 30 for 99¢, 75 for $1.99, and 120 for $2.99. Of course, if you're good at puzzle games, these are entirely optional and you could complete the entire game without burning a single eureka.

The included puzzles are your standard array of math and logic puzzles which you've undoubtedly encountered before somewhere, either in various childhood brain teaser books, similar video games, and other places. Old standbys such as figuring out how to separate liquid to a certain amount using three differently sized containers, sliding puzzles of all types, mazes, map puzzles, and others are all there. I've yet to come across a puzzle type that felt unique to this game, but as a veteran of the Layton series, that doesn't come as much of a surprise.

Mixed amongst the puzzles are several different mini games. For instance, the first one begins when you come across a creepy old man in the middle of the woods who needs help chopping wood. Naturally, this team of teenage boys fulfill the old man's desires and begin chopping away in a reaction-based mini game where you tap the screen to chop as a log scrolls from right to left. These mini games are fairly simple, but serve to offer an even wider variety to the things Jim and Frank will need to do on their adventure.

Jim and Frank includes some limited voice overs, which take over during important parts of the game. The whole beginning of your adventure is narrated, and as far as iPhone game voice work is concerned, it really isn't half bad. The story is silly as you would expect, with dialog that often left me raising an eyebrow. When we talked to 99 Games back at GDC, they seemed excited for the Jim and Frank Mysteries to continue past this first installment, so with any luck there will be many more mysteries for the teenage duo to unravel in the future.

Regardless of how you feel about the incredible similarities between The Jim and Frank Mysteries and Professor Layton games, we'll likely never see Layton on the iPhone, so a highly "inspired" game is just as good in my book. The amount of content included in Jim and Frank borders on ridiculous at its current launch price of a dollar. With hours and hours of gameplay (99 Games claims over 20), 60 puzzles, 8 mini games, and a cast of nearly 30 characters, this isn't a game you should miss.

Sure, it would be easy to get wound up over the in app purchases to buy eurekas, but these are entirely optional especially since it wouldn't surprise me if the Jim and Frank thread on our forums quickly turned in to a great place to go for when you get stuck in game.

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