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Way back at E3 in June of this year, developer Venan announced Space Miner Blast [Free], an arcade-focused spinoff of their full-fledged RPG-style shooter Space Miner: Space Ore Bust [$4.99/Lite]. The introduction of the iPhone 4 and iOS 4 threw a wrench in the development of Space Miner Blast, and the game that had once been "coming soon" was delayed for the next several months. Just over a week ago Venan released a trailer for Space Miner Blast to celebrate that the game was finally submitted, and indeed just a couple of hours ago the game went live in the App Store.

Space Miner Blast is free to download and play, but comes with ads in the menu and title screens and 10 second countdown timers that must be endured before beginning the game and in between levels. In addition to the default ship, there are three additional ships available through in-app purchase. Each one can be bought separately for 99¢ or purchased all at once with the Blast Pack for $1.99. Buying any ship or the Blast Pack disables all ads and timers, and as an interesting bonus unlocks Retina Display graphics for 4th generation iPhones and iPod touches. While the game looks quite nice in standard definition anyway, it's simply stunning with the high resolution Retina Display graphics unlocked.

I've had a ton of fun in the short amount of time I've been playing Space Miner Blast. It offers a focused approach on the type of action found in its older sibling Space Ore Bust, and stands really well on its own as an arcade survival shooter. Game Center leaderboards and achievements come with the free version, and there are dedicated leaderboards for each of the three IAP ships as well. As a small heads up regarding the IAP, I found the way it works to be slightly funky. After choosing to purchase a ship from the ship selection screen, the game will actually prompt you to input your iTunes information before popping up with a menu showing the available pricing options for purchases. This left me wondering if I was about to be charged for something before even seeing what that something is, but alas you will have the opportunity to choose to buy either a single ship or the Blast Pack after entering your iTunes login information.

Space Miner Blast is a fun game, and player impressions in our forums have been positive as well. It's free to download and play, so there's really no reason not to give it a try. If you enjoy this sort of gameplay but are looking for a fantastic storyline and a whole lot more depth to go along with it, check out our original review and the lite version of Space Miner: Space Ore Bust as it is a highly recommended title as well.

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The newest offering from Blacksmith Games, who have previously brought Plushed [99¢/Lite] and Boostball [99¢] to the App Store, is a physics puzzler called Floop [99¢]. In Floop, the goal is to launch an acorn into a squirrel's mouth using the least amount of tries as possible. Making this task more difficult are the many hazards and obstacles contained in the 50 cleverly designed levels. Floop is a game that seems so simplistic on the outside but contains quite a bit of complexity, mostly due to the interesting physics engine, and is wrapped up in the kind of visually pleasing package that we would expect from Blacksmith Games.

The mechanics in Floop are really easy to grasp. Each level begins with your acorn sitting at one spot in the level and a squirrel with a gaping maw at another. Touching the acorn and dragging away from it brings up a line that shows the trajectory the acorn will travel. Once you're satisfied with where the line is pointing, letting your finger off the screen sends the acorn flying. You'll earn up to 3 stars on each level based on the amount of launches it takes to get the acorn into the squirrel's hungry mouth. The 50 levels are divided across 4 different themes, with your total amount of launches for each theme tracked through Game Center leaderboards.

As you collect stars, you'll be able to spend them on unlocking two additional creatures to use in the game. One is a mouse which replaces the acorn with a block of cheese, and the other is an ape with a banana. Part of what makes Floop so much fun is the different behavior of each of these objects. The acorn has an odd shape and is bottom heavy, making for some crazy bounces. The block of cheese is a perfect square, with nice flat sides that can be used to your advantage. The banana has the weirdest shape of all, as it's elongated and can bounce in ways you would never expect, kind of like a football. These factors add some variety to the simplistic core gameplay of Floop. In addition to the 3 stars, each level also tracks what object you've used to complete it which adds a lot of replayability.

The physics system in Floop will either strike you as being fun or frustrating. It's extremely floaty and unpredictable, which ensures that each attempt at completing a level feels different from one another, but it can also be annoying at times. Sometimes it can take many retries just to get past a certain level, and others you will beat just with one launch because you had an incredibly lucky bounce right into the creature's mouth. Overall I think the random nature of the physics is fine, but will most likely bother you at some point. Also, the touch recognition when trying to launch can sometimes be unresponsive, and there are areas in each level where your object can get stuck, forcing you to restart.

The control mechanism is actually a bit different than what is shown in this video, but it still gives you a good idea at what kind of gameplay Floop has to offer:

These are pretty minor complaints though, and for the most part Floop really is a lot of fun. The Game Center integration with leaderboards and achievements had me hooked on trying to complete each level with the least amount of launches as possible. The graphics are cute and colorful, though unfortunately not enhanced for Retina Display devices, and I really like the assortment of animals that bring different elements to the gameplay. Floop starts out fairly easy, but the difficulty ramps up nicely and it's quite challenging to complete the later stages, let alone getting 3 stars on them. Players in our forums are really enjoying the game as well, and I would recommend Floop if you're in the market for a new physics puzzler with a slightly unpredictable nature and a good amount of content.

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Most App Store gamers are no stranger to Halfbrick's Fruit Ninja [99¢/HD]. Over the last 6 months and 2.5 million sales since the game's initial release, Fruit Ninja has received some excellent updates in the form of new modes, unlockable items, and even online head-to-head multiplayer over Game Center. But one thing that has been grinding the gears of Fruit Ninja fans for months is a mysterious banana shaped icon on the game mode selection screen. Everyone wanted to know what exactly was this new “banana mode” that Halfbrick has been teasing us with? They weren't about to spill the beans though, and the curiosity in our forums reached astronomical levels.

Finally, today Halfbrick let the banana out of the bag and divulged what this mysterious new mode would entail. Dubbed Arcade Mode, you'll have 60 seconds to slice up fruit as per usual, but with the added bonus of 3 new special banana shaped bonuses fruit. One slows down time affording you more time to slice away at the fruit, a frenzy banana causes fruit to fly out at a much higher rate, and one doubles your score for a brief period of time. In addition, these bonus bananas can be activated on top of each other. So you may get a frenzy banana followed by a freeze, thus giving you a screen filled with fruit to slice and extra time to slice it. Couple that with the double points bonus and the potential for crazy high scores is through the roof.

At the end of your 60 second session your score is tallied up and bonus points can be awarded based on your performance. There will also be a brand new weekly high score board specifically for Arcade Mode scores. After so many great updates to Fruit Ninja, Arcade Mode is sounding like a lot of fun. Halfbrick has noted that the update will hit the iPhone and iPad versions of the game in early November, which basically can mean any day now, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled and grab this new Fruit Ninja update when it goes live.

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Venan Entertainment has been teasing us with their free spinoff of Space Miner [$4.99 / Lite] for months now. We first caught wind of the game at E3, and since then have been patiently waiting for their upcoming arcade twist on Space Miner. The basic premise of the game was explained in our preview:

Space Miner Blast will be supported by unobtrusive in-game advertising, with optional DLC which will add features to the game and disable advertisements entirely. Most of the original Space Miner has been stripped out in favor of a quick survival game with a very basic upgrade system. All you do is see how big of a multiplier you can keep going by blasting as much ore as you possibly can (while defending against enemies of course).

Unfortunately, along the way Venan hit some roadblocks. Namely the release of the iPhone 4, iOS 4, and all the other fun things that Apple sprung on developers between E3 and now. The good news is, Space Miner Blast was submitted to Apple a few days ago, and is pending approval before its unleashed to the masses on the App Store. In celebration, Venan released the following gameplay trailer:

In addition, they've provided some more details of what the game will include. Basically, it will be completely free to download and play with a few unobtrusive advertisements in menus, but nowhere when you're actually playing the game. Three different ships are available via a 99¢ in-app purchase that each have different bonuses to attack, defense, and mining. Buying one of these ships disables advertisements and unlocks Retina Display graphics which likely are part of their new content delivery system mentioned in the previous post to offer high-definition games while staying under the critical 20MB file size for over the air downloads.

Either way, we'll find out how it all works soon. We'll have a review of Space Miner Blast as soon as it docks with the App Store.

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Last night Chillingo's WackyLands Boss [99¢] hit the App Store, and turned gaming on its head by allowing you to quite literally play as the boss, slaying hordes of innocent knights, archers, wizards, and more leaving nothing but destruction in your wake. To sweeten the deal, you're not stuck with one boring old boss to play as either. Your boss is incredibly customizable with even more customization that unlocks as you play through the game.

Only one control option is included, and every action in the game is performed via tapping or swiping gestures. For instance, holding one side of the screen causes your boss to walk that way, tapping in a direction executes a quick attack, and swiping in a direction performs a slower but more powerful swing. Rolling to evade is accomplished by swiping up on either side of the screen, and picking up in-game objects involves swiping up on your boss.

It all sounds good, but in action, it leaves a little to be desired especially later in the game when precise control of your boss is required. As much as I hate to say it, I almost wish there was a virtual D-Pad and button option. WackyLands Boss reminds me a lot of Samurai: Way of the Warrior [$1.99] in that way too many deaths result from game disagreeing with what you're trying to get your character to do as you wildly tap and swipe trying to stay alive.

Once you do get a hang of the controls, WackyLands Boss is a lot of fun. Gameplay can be a little repetitive at times since you're basically just walking to the right murdering swaths of defenders, but this is greatly defrayed by an experience system. Leveling up unlocks more and more weapons, armors, special abilities, and evolutions for your boss. Using coins that you take from your victims, you can really trick out your boss by buying swords, clubs, shoes, and all kinds of other items that boost your stats. In addition, as you progress through the story you also unlock three simple but fun mini games.

WackyLands Boss is a game that's dripping with charm. Whether you decide to customize your boss to look like a bloodthirsty killer or any number of other silly combinations, it's a great time rampaging through the countryside tossing barrels of poison, eating princesses to regain health, and punching down castles. I'd like to see some more control options, but other than that, this is a beat-em-up that's easy to recommend.

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In July of last year, Team17 released their classic artillery battle game Worms [$2.99/HD] onto the App Store. It was great to see such a beloved franchise hit iOS devices, but unfortunately the game was plagued with a number of problems. Performance was subpar even on a then-new and more powerful iPhone 3Gs, and fans complained of certain missing weapons and lack of online play. The game was updated a number of times which resulted in much improved performance, but the promise of additional weaponry and online matches never actually materialized, though they did add a very nice Bluetooth multiplayer mode to the game.

Now Team17 has just released Worms 2: Armageddon [$4.99] to the App Store, and it essentially feels like what the first game was always meant to be. There is an incredible amount of weaponry in Worms 2, and local multiplayer with up to 4 players or 2 player battles online. A single player campaign contains 30 missions to play through across 5 brand new locations, with tons of different modes to try out. Also, many options are available to customize the look and sound of your worm teams as well as a number of unlockable items to earn.

In many ways, Worms 2: Armageddon feels more like Worms 1.5. The UI feels just like the last game, slightly clunky but manageable. The graphics also don't look any different, save for when running on the iPad, and the lower resolution visuals stick out on a Retina Display device. Online play is a nice addition but I can't help but wish for full 4 player support, as that's when Worms is really at its best. Overall it's a good game if you're a fan of Worms and are looking for the best available version for your iOS device, but if you were expecting leaps and bounds of progress over the first game then you will likely feel disappointed with this latest installment.

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Villain and Munkyfun's online first-person shooter Archetype [99¢] received a massive new update over the weekend, adding some new features to the original game for free and and even more new stuff through an available in-app purchase. The game has once again dropped to 99¢, and it sounds like that may be the new permanent price for the “base model” of Archetype, which is now referred to as Chapter 1. This new update adds a new arena for multiplayer called Shotgun Arena and a new advanced training level.

Buying the IAP Chapter 2 will add even more content to Archetype. The major addition with this purchase is a capture the flag mode, which has been oft requested since the game's release. There are also 3 brand new environments in this chapter, and 6 new arenas. Crimson Moon and Aqua Lock each have team deathmatch and capture the flag variants, Obsidian Skirmish adds a brand new team deathmatch arena, and previous arena Avarice has been reworked for capture the flag play.

Both chapters now feature story elements that are gradually unlocked as you play through multiplayer matches and earn experience, adding a cohesive campaign to go along with your online fragging. Game Center support has also been added for unlocking achievements and tracking high scores. Rounding out this giant update is a number of fixes and optimizations to Archetype, which smooth out the entire experience and improve matchmaking speeds considerably.

Perhaps the best part of all this is that the additional chapter available through IAP launched on Saturday for $2.99, but has since been discounted to just 99¢. This move was probably made to increase the amount of people playing the capture the flag mode. If you already own Archetype I would definitely recommend updating to the latest version and purchasing Chapter 2 while it's only 99¢. If you don't yet own Archetype, but like first-person shooters, check out our original review as we think it's one of the best ones available in the App Store.

You can drop by the game thread in our forums for more information or to find some people to add to your Archetype friends list. As it seems the new game model for Archetype is this downloadable chapters system, we're eager to see what more will be added to the game in future updates. The enhancements found in this latest update to the iPhone version of Archetype are expected to hit the iPad version soon too, presumably after the release of iOS 4.2 sometime next month.

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Freeverse has recently released — in the Canadian App Store — a social arcade-style bowling game called We Bowl [CA App Store] that utilizes Flick Bowling mechanics and lets you play friends online with integrated Plus+ awards and leaderboards. It's a freemium game that serves as the launch platform for the studio's Wii-like avatar system that could see use in many upcoming Freeverse titles.

Trigger crazy game changing power-ups (or whammies) in head-to-head competition with friends, or hone your skills to level up and win great prizes. We Bowl is fast paced frenetic action — bowling has never been this much fun!

Features include the following, listed by Freeverse:

• Awesome Powerups: Why bowl boring when you can bowl gonzo? Aim for the powerup icon and trigger an amazing assortment of powerups like Shotgun Ball, Thumper Ball, Boulder Ball and more! But watchout for those Whammies!
• Flick Fun Avatar System: Customize your avatar with cat eyes, ponytails, X-Ray glasses and crazy moustaches, then show ‘em off in head to head play with friends
• 2 Great Game Modes: Unlimited multiplayer games with friends, or solo bowling whenever you want, the action never stops.
• Unlockables, Prizes, Collectibles and Achievements: Collect tickets to buy decorations for your lane and whacky accesories for you Avatar

Our forums members are digging it. The game should land in other App Stores shortly.

(Canadian)

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Freeverse has recently released — in the Canadian App Store — a social arcade-style bowling game called We Bowl [CA App Store] that utilizes Flick Bowling mechanics and lets you play friends online with integrated Plus+ awards and leaderboards. It's a freemium game that serves as the launch platform for the studio's Wii-like avatar system that will see use in many upcoming Freeverse titles.

Trigger crazy game changing power-ups (or whammies) in head-to-head competition with friends, or hone your skills to level up and win great prizes. We Bowl is fast paced frenetic action — bowling has never been this much fun!

Features include the following, listed by Freeverse:

• Awesome Powerups: Why bowl boring when you can bowl gonzo? Aim for the powerup icon and trigger an amazing assortment of powerups like Shotgun Ball, Thumper Ball, Boulder Ball and more! But watchout for those Whammies!
• Flick Fun Avatar System: Customize your avatar with cat eyes, ponytails, X-Ray glasses and crazy moustaches, then show ‘em off in head to head play with friends
• 2 Great Game Modes: Unlimited multiplayer games with friends, or solo bowling whenever you want, the action never stops.
• Unlockables, Prizes, Collectibles and Achievements: Collect tickets to buy decorations for your lane and whacky accesories for you Avatar

Our forums members are digging it. The game should land in other App Stores shortly.

(Canadian)

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