One thing about this week: you'll save some money if you're looking to stock up for a big drive or just content to use as "Ignore Family" fuel. The worldwide leaders of Sonic games, for example, is holding a fairly comprehensive sale, so if you were in the mood for a, uh ... more historic afternoon of App Store appreciation, then get your download fingers ready.

The big ticket items, as usual whenever Sega holds a sale, are its Sonic series games. It seems like the general fan audience is mixed on the quality of these, but at prices like one dollar, it's hard to feel too conned by the much-beloved, yet also heatedly criticized publisher. Also, of note? The oft-featured Monkey Ball games have been lowered to a buck.

• Altered Beast - $2.99 → $.99
• Gunstar Heroes - $2.99 → $.99
• Samurai Bloodshow - $4.99 → $.99
• Sonic Spinball - $1.99 → $.99
• Sonic The Hedgehog - $3.99 → $1.99
• Sonic The Hedgehog 2 - $3.99 → $1.99
• Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 - $4.99 → $2.99
• Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing - $2.99 → $1.99
• Super Monkey Ball - $2.99 → $.99
• Super Monkey Ball 2 - $2.99 → $.99
• Super Monkey Ball 2 Sakura Edition - $4.99 → $.99
• Streets of Rage - $2.99 → $.99
• Streets of Rage 2 - $2.99 → $.99
• Streets of Rage 3 - $2.99 → $.99
• Virtua Fighter 2 - $1.99 → $.99

Any pinball fan reading this post can be no stranger to Gameprom and their quality iOS pinball collections, Pinball HD and War Pinball, and related, standalone tables. Last summer, the studio partnered with Sony Music Entertainment to add a little rock and roll to the pinball equation in the form of Slayer Pinball Rocks HD [App Store], a fast and furious Slayer-themed table. Gameprom has recently rekindled the Sony relationship to release AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD [App Store], a standalone table that makes you want to scream out, "Angus!"

The first thing you'll notice about AC/DC Pinball Rocks is that it's a pretty ornate table, over the top in a fashion that, I think, well fits the band. Arrayed about the table are various bits of AC/DC stage memorabilia, including the Rock 'N Roll Train, Hell's Bell, the For Those About To Rock cannon, and the Highway to Hell, itself. As you work the table, AC/DC tracks, including "Thunderstruck," "Highway to Hell," and "You Shook Me All Night Long", play along with the action as pyrotechnics blast sparks across your screen. The occasional vocal quip from lead singer Brian Johnson can also be heard during gameplay.

As far as the table itself, it's quite a different experience from the fast-paced Slayer Pinbal. AC/DC Pinball Rocks features slower-paced ball action than the other rock title and notably lacks the two main bumpers typically found above a table's central set of paddles, leaving the center of the table pretty much wide open. This may seem to be the formula for a bland game of pinball at first, but after playing the game for a short while I realized I was able to be rather more strategic and precise on this table than most others. It's possible, on the AC/DC table, to aim for targets as distant as the far corners, thanks to the ball pacing and the open central area. That's really not something you can do on a more traditional table and makes for a non-typical game experience. What's more, the sides of the table are nicely busy, with elevators, lightning bumpers, and the mission-lending TNT bundle.

The main reason that the central area of the table is left open is the mini game that takes place there. There are three mini games in all, in fact. On the right side of the screen is a guitar mini-game featuring a small ball pin with paddles, while on the left is a mini-game involving the aforementioned stage cannon. The central area mini-game raises a barrier and challenges you to score in the lower portion of the table, ultimately in a mission to open the Trap Door to Hell. AC/DC Pinball Rocks is definitely more mini-game focused than any of the studio's other pinball offerings.

The game features both single- and dual-player modes and offers a variety of camera angles, just like Gameprom's other pinball titles that came before.

See an extended gameplay video here.

AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD is a fun table that definitely feels like Gameprom pinball. I won't call it my favorite of their offerings, but it's certainly worth its space on the iOS devices of any pinball fan out there.

Da Vinci Pinball Update

Another bit of news from Gameprom is a video posted a few weeks back that contains (among other previews) a brief walk-through of the incredible-looking upcoming Da Vinci Pinball table that we previewed back in August.

The Da Vinci table is expected to arrive as a DLC item for the studio's Pinball HD collection. It will be made available soon for both iOS and Mac OS X, and is one we're very anxious to get our hands on. Stay tuned for a close look.

It's the little things that matter. You know what I'm talking about, right? It's not the bacon that he brings home, it's the breakfast he wakes you up with. It's not the fact that Ravenmark: Scourge of Estellion [$2.99] is probably going to be one of the definitive names in turn-based strategy for the iOS, it's the way the commanders bellow at their troops to merit their wings.

Food metaphors aside, there's a lot to like about Witching Hour's debut title. If you're anything like me and have spent some amount of time bemoaning the paper-thin worlds that populate the App Store, Ravenmark: Scourge of Estellion is going to make your heart beat faster. The setting is exhaustive. Every character has a detailed biography, every unit type a set of statistics and a matching description. There are social hierarchies, self-serving matriarchs and imperial ranks. There is history. There is substance.

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I sat down with Blueprint 3D [$0.99 / HD] last night, planning to get a feel for it. When I got back up, I'd 3-starred every level and earned every achievement. It isn't terribly hard, and it's short enough to be completed in under an hour, but I'm not complaining. Rarely do you find a game that's so simply entertaining.

When you launch a level in Blueprint 3D, you're presented with an explosion of scribbles. With single finger swipes you rotate those scribbles until they start to line up into a recognizable image. Tweak and reposition it until it's right, rotate it with two fingers, and you're done. This only takes a few seconds once you get the hang of it.

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Playing Junk Jack [$2.99] for the first time, you may experience a strong sense of déjà vu. It brought to mind my first delve into Minecraft, with the feeling of overwhelming choice, the lack of any clear idea what to do next, the need to visit YouTube and wikis to learn exactly why I was punching all those trees. But while there are any number of blatant Minecraft knockoffs on the App Store, Junk Jack distinguishes itself in nearly every category -- but one.

One of Minecraft's biggest weaknesses (one that's improved over the course of its development) is its lack of direction, and Junk Jack takes that flaw and runs with it. For a game designed around crafting, building and exploration, Junk Jack is aggressive in its lack of assistance, leaving you without even a way to keep track of your craft notes (schematics) until you find the right note for the job. Luckily, developer Pixbits has already acknowledged that problem and is working up a fix as we speak, so we can focus on this game's charm and potential.

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On November 10, FDG Entertainment, makers of Beyond Ynth [$1.99 / HD] and Cover Orange [$.99 / HD], is planning to release its next big thing: a puzzle game going by the name of Blueprint 3D. That name might not be the imaginative one in the world, but it appears as though the is poised to offer a lot of amusement, if not some possible head-scratching challenge.

In a nutshell, Blueprint 3D is one a rotation-based puzzler with a natural world twist. In the game, you start out with a chaotic blueprint that you'll need to manipulate and torture until the mess of lines form a coherent picture. As its name implies, you'll be working with all the planes of reality available to mortal men, which sets this apart to some degree on a mechanical level and also introduces the possibility of some crazy puzzles. But if anything, it'll rock a lot of content: 240 levels and seven themes, including architecture, medieval, and electronics, have been confirmed to be in the release version.

Not many of these games nail their look and tone, so this this'll definitely be something we'll follow as it hits the App Store in a couple of days. Speaking of that, expect to pay $.99 on the iPhone and iPod Touch or $2.99 on the iPad.

DanLabGames' DynaStunts [$2.99] places itself in a difficult spot from the start. Motocross games, trials games and even racing games are genres that are already looking well stocked on the App Store. Just in the last few months we've seen several motocross games pop up, including a few solid ones, but while DynaStunts might initially look like another trials game, it might be best to think of it as something else altogether -- a platformer.

For anyone who has played a significant amount of motocross games, this is the most evident in the control scheme. It's reversed, as in, the gas and brake are on the left, while the tilt is on the right -- like a platformer, but not like most other games of this ilk, where the tilt is usually on the left. There's no option for customization either, so if you've been playing a lot of say, Bike Baron[99¢] recently, you'll have a hard time grasping the controls. The developer has mentioned in the forums that customization is on the to-do list, along with adding Game Center achievements, but if you train your brain to think of DynaStunts like a platformer, you should get the hang of it quickly.

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Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave (see what Trendy did there) will be released as a free update to the iOS versions of Dungeon Defenders: First Wave [$2.99] tomorrow, the developer has told us via an e-mail release. According to Trendy, Second Wave addresses "many of the issues" from the first game, including the horrendously cluttered UI and clunky menus that kept us from enjoying its first try at an iOS port of its downloadable game.

In addition to these improvements, Second Wave will see "performance improvements," and a player-versus-player content package called "Arena." If you pop out your eyeglasses, you'll be able to see some of these tweaks and adds in its newly-released trailer.

In case you didn't know, Dungeon Defenders is now available on Xbox Live Arcade and as a PC release on Steam. These versions are particularly good according to media types, so you might want to consider checking those out if you're into the game's hack-and-slash meets tower defense action.

Blosics [99¢ / HD] is a casual object-flinging game like Angry Birds, but this is no clone, as it feels fresh and unique with plenty of different features to unlock. FDG Entertainment, the makers of Cover Orange [99¢ / HD],  advise that the online version of Blosics has been experienced by over 40 million players, which is quite a lot of people, but personally I prefer to play my games on iOS devices. Thankfully, that is now possible with the arrival of Blosics in the App Store.

The idea is to throw balls at unfriendly colored blocks, which are often stacked into piles or structures. The grumpy blocks have little faces which are always frowning as they mutter comments like:  "Yada yada" , "Nom nom nom", "Watch it!", "Hey!" and my personal favorite quote: "Blurgh!" No wonder people throw balls at them.

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When it was initially released for DSiWare last year, Shantae: Risky's Revenge [Free / $2.99 IAP], was an underappreciated gem on a service that most people didn't bother using. Now, thankfully, the game might find a little more grounding with the wider release on iOS, but as we've seen time and time again, platformers are a difficult sale on touchscreens, and Shantae, despite its pedigree, will have to keep up.

The game is a sequel to the Shantae, which was released for the Gameboy Color well into the rein of the Gameboy Advance. It follows the story of the belly-dancing, hair-whipping Shantae, as she seeks out her arch nemesis, Risky Boots, in order to get a magical lamp.

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'Tis the season for Halloween-themed updates, and you betcha' that Phosphor Games decided to celebrate the spookiest of days with a free update to its horror game, The Dark Meadow [$2.99]. The biggest game-changing tweak we've seen is the increased level cap, which has been bumped to 50 from its previous high of 40. This update also packs in optimization for the iPhone 4S, a few more save slots, some notable bug fixes, a new game+ mode, and lowered creature spawning inside the level "Montclair Hospital."

Oh! And the game is now cheaper. Until October 31, you'll be able to grab it at $2.99 instead of its premium-ish price of $5.99. That's quite a savings for a game we liked a lot. You can read our criticisms and praise in our full review right here.

Just for fun, here's a, uh… decidedly uncreepy shot of the game. Chew on this:

The price change is live now, and the update is going live in the "very near future," so keep an eye out for it.

Not to be left out in the holiday liquidation going on in the App Store at the moment, Namco Bandai has been conducting some price-slashery magics of its own. Starting today and rolling into the weekend, you can save oodles on the publisher's stable of titles. Games like Pac-Man and Mr. Driller and even its Universal selection of titles including Fossil Feast are available at either at $.99 to $3.99. That's not bad, really, considering what price these things usually sit at when there isn't a holiday to celebrate. Yay, Halloween!

Here's the full list of the sales we've caught so far:

• Buccaneer Blitz - $2.99 → $.99 [Universal]
• Fossil Feast - $1.99 → $.99 [Universal]
• Isaac Newton's Gravity - $2.99 → $.99
• Mishap - $4.99 → $1.99
• Mishap for the iPad - $4.99 → $1.99
• Mooniacs - $1.99 → $.99 [Universal]
• More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima - $4.99 → $1.99
• More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima for the iPad - $6.99 → $1.99
• Mr. Driller - $1.99 → $.99
• Ms. Pac-Man - $4.99 → $1.99
• Ms. Pac-Man for the iPad - $4.99 → $1.99
• Pac-Man - $4.99 → $1.99
• Pac-Man for the iPad - $4.99 → $1.99
• Pole Position: Remix - $2.99 → $.99
• Pool Pro Online 3 - $1.99 → $.99
• Pool Pro Online 3 for the iPad - $1.99 → $.99
• Puzzle Quest 2 - $4.99 → $3.99
• Star Trigon - $1.99 → $.99
• Tamagotchi: 'Round The World - $4.99 → $1.99

I'm a huge fan of Puzzle Quest 2, and even though it's hovering around a "premium" price point during this ale, it's still worth picking up. The match-3 component is as rich and strong as ever, and the dungeon-crawling and RPG aspects do wonders for the title. You can check out our review here.

I discovered tower defense late in my gaming career. I have no good justification for this. Perhaps I was too busy burying my face into all the RPGs and sidescrollers I could find. However, my intro game into the genre was PixelJunk Monsters, and if you gotta discover late, it may as well be with one of the genre's best entries. Ever since, I salivate Pavlovian-style every time someone murmurs the words "tower defense," and I had the same reaction when Gem Keeper [$2.99] was mentioned around the Touch Arcade office. I also was digging the fact that NCSoft made it, because I like them and I wanted to see how their skills would translate to iOS.

Like any proper tower defense title, Gem Keeper has plenty of levels to keep your building skills busy. 30 are available in total, and over the course of gameplay you have the ability to earn 14 different towers to use to strategically keep baddies out of your fortress. You'll start slow, with only a basic gunfire tower and a few bombs at your disposal. However, soon enough you'll be slowing em down with sticky goo and firing giant spiked cannonballs. I loved that you had the option to switch between Easy, Medium and Hard difficulty at anytime, even right before you start a level. Gem Keeper doesn't disappoint when it comes to the challenge either, but I'll return to that later.

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I have a weird amount of respect for the Worms franchise because not only has it lasted for almost two decades, it has consistently been a solid, albeit unchanging experience. The problem is, I've never actually been able to really get into the games, but with Team17's Worms Crazy Golf [$2.99 / HD], it's the first new experience that takes the oddness of the franchise and converts it into something a little easier to pick up and play.

If you've ever played any of the Worms games dating back to the Amiga, you should have a good idea of what to expect with a golf game. The difference is that you're only controlling one worm instead of a battalion and your goal isn't to crush the opposing team, it's to hit a ball into a hole. The same control scheme from other Worms iOS ports comes into play here, you can slide your finger around for a better view of the course and you'll move a small aiming reticle to line up the trajectory of your shot. You'll hold a button to set the strength and whack it as far and accurately as you can.

Perhaps you've already been clued in by the "crazy" in the title, but just so we're all on the same page, this isn't a set of normal golf courses. They're essentially tricked out, massive mini-golf style puzzles, with exploding sheep, suicidal worms, cannons, magnets and more.

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One of the biggest games of the year has its own iOS companion app. Warner Bros. in collaboration with Brady Games just tossed out Batman Arkham City Map App [$2.99] for use with Batman: Arkham City. With it you'll be able to track and collect all the crazy little bits and bobs hidden around Arkham City's open-ish world. It also shows you where stuff is, which should take some of the edge off marking everything in-game.

Earlier this summer I managed to get pretty stoked about Dead Island's map app, which seems to be pretty similar to this one. I just love being able to relegate task manager-type duties to a separate device -- it frees me to hunker down and focus on the big picture by providing a slick conduit to all the side-stuff I can now choose to miss until I'm good and ready to get my collect-a-thon on.

Also, this is totally Batman. Dude would use this if he could.

[Via Destructoid]