Back in September, developer CAVE announced they were creating an original iPhone game based on their Mushihimesama series titled Mushihimesama Bug Panic. The next month they released a video showing gameplay in Bug Panic, and we've been anxious to get our hands on the game ever since. Tonight, Mushihimesama Bug Panic [$3.99] went live in the US App Store. With CAVE's previous releases Espgaluda II [$8.99/Lite] and Dodonpachi Resurrection [$8.99/Lite] setting the bar rather high for iOS games, I was curious to see how Bug Panic would stack up considering it was out of their typical comfort zone of bullet hell shmups. I'm happy to report that Bug Panic meets the high expectations of a CAVE title, offering a fun and unique adventure that's perfectly suited to the platform.

Mushihimesama Bug Panic would be considered a dual-stick shooter, but not exactly like the ones we've previously seen flood the App Store. Your main character, the adorable “Insect Princess” Reco, moves around the environment with a left analog stick that can either be fixed in the corner or appear wherever you place your thumb. The right stick controls a cursor that represents where you will toss your Burst Seeds, the ammunition in the game that function similarly to grenades. Placing your thumb on the right stick allows you to move the cursor around and releasing your thumb actually fires. As your thumb is held down, a meter at the bottom fills up allowing you to charge your Burst Seed shots for extra damage and splash range.

Adding to this interesting offensive mechanic is the ability to lock your targeting reticule on up to three enemies. This effectively lets you toss your Burst Seeds in three completely different directions if you want, or target three enemies in the same group to deliver a wider area of damage. This lock-on feature can be disabled at any time, giving you full manual control of where your shots land, but I actually found that it added tremendously to the strategy of the game. Choosing which enemies to lock onto and when to charge up your shots is what really sets Bug Panic apart from other dual-stick shooters, and it will be hard to go back to one where the right stick just mindlessly fires bullets in a single direction.

The bulk of Bug Panic is the Adventure mode that follows the story of Reco as she battles against the bugs in her world that have seemingly gone wild. There are five different worlds to play through, each with four levels and a boss level. Each level is fairly large, with multiple pathways and hidden secrets to find. As with any good CAVE game, a multiplier system lets you chase crazy high scores by killing multiple enemies in succession. After you complete a world by defeating its boss, that world is then unlocked in a Score Trials mode. As fun as playing through the Adventure mode is, Score Trials mode is what will bring you back to Bug Panic for a long time to come. Here you can play against the enemies of each unlocked world in a 2 minute timed trial or an endless survival trial, with scores for each being tracked with Game Center leaderboards.

There are many other nuances to Bug Panic as well, like specific goals to achieve for each level and hidden puzzle pieces that are part of a bonus mini-game. It features the same wonderful pixel art and massive amounts of onscreen sprites that the developer is known for, and offers a unique take on dual-stick shooting that controls like a charm and mixes beautifully with the bullet hell style action. There's a tremendous amount of replayability with the different modes and unlockables as well. Like other CAVE games, Bug Panic will only run on 3rd generation devices and higher. The game is currently on sale for $3.99 for the first four days before returning to the regular price of $4.99, and a lite version should be launching in the very near future. Our forums are full of positive impressions of the game, and I'd have to agree that Mushihimesama Bug Panic is another excellent entry from the folks at CAVE.

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

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

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

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

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

We loved Beyond Ynth [$3.99 / HD] in our review, but went as far as to mention the fact that the game can be frustrating in the review title. Don't get me wrong, I love a good puzzle game that can leave me stumped at times, but needing to redo entire levels due to minor errors in execution caused my shiny new iPhone 4 to nearly become an airborne projectile more times than I'd care to admit. Before I get ahead of myself, here is a brief overview of the gameplay poached from our review:

Kribl (the bug you play as) will start at one side of a level and use a series of boxes to get to the exit on the other side. Boxes come in various shapes and sizes, and once you crawl inside of one you can tilt the box over by pushing on one of the inner walls. You'll “roll” these boxes by tilting them over and over to progress through the level. The puzzle element in Beyond Ynth comes from being able to align the openings of the boxes together so you can make your way from one to the other without accidentally getting yourself stuck. You must also think ahead in order to properly deal with the environmental hazards and other various objects present in each of the levels.

The gameplay mechanics work well, but later levels are incredibly brutal, and to say they test your patience is an understatement. FDG Entertainment thankfully came to the realization that the game could still be fun and difficult without being frustrating by introducing a new rewind system. When the upcoming 1.1 update lands, players will be able to rewind back up to a minute of play. Fall in some lava? No big deal, just hit rewind. They even have an awesome VHS-style effect when you do it:

The only catch? Your score gets reset to 0 as soon as you tap the rewind button. Otherwise, you can rewind whenever you want, as much as you want, with the only limit being that you can only go back up to a minute. I think this is a great compromise, because hardcore types shooting for high scores can still do that, and people like me, who just want to have fun playing through the game don't need to shout a series of expletives when I fall in lava inches from the level goal. In addition, 1.1 will come with Game Center support and onboard videos that show the solutions to the levels if you find yourself really stumped.

1.1 has already been submitted, and according to FDG, its release is "imminent".

Czech development studio Cinemax has recently released a rather unique sort of role-playing game for the iPad. Designed to feel like an oldschool video game machine, Journey of Fortune: Dragon's Fire [App Store] seeks to turn your iPad into a digital board game. And here, it succeeds.

The game, which can be played solo or against up to three other people on the same device, puts you in the role of a mage (or magic user) on a perilous journey to kill the dragon and save the princess. Your journey is marked by an illuminated indicator somewhere among the 67 "lights" that make up the meandering path to victory. The lights are set in an illustrated, vertically scrolling "board" that artfully indicates what perils and actions / bonuses lie where, along the way.

Journey of Fortune is a dice-driven game, but the roll-of-the-die mechanic is handled via an illustrated wheel that spins with a finger-swipe. You progress forward along the board the number of paces indicated by the die face on the indicated wheel segment. You may end up landing on an uneventful spot along the path, but more likely you'll encounter a beastie to contend with, a bonus of some sort, or a teleporter that sends you many paces back whence you came (which, though frustrating, mixes up and extends the gameplay nicely).

When an enemy is encountered along the way, it's time for combat, and that's also handled via the spin-wheel dynamic. In combat mode, artifacts of both offense and defense become illuminated along the wheel, and a spin determines what your next combat move will be. These consist of:

• Melee Attack: Magical Dagger and Sword
• Attack Spells: Fireball, Lightning, Wall of Fire and Poison Strike
• Defense Spells: Heal, Heal II, Shield, Shield II, Mana, Mana II and Fear

In standard RPG fashion, your character has a certain level of Hit Points and Mana at any moment. Sustaining a monster attack drains Hit Points, and casting spells saps your Mana. Both can be recovered by Defense Spells on the wheel and by landing on certain bonus spots on the board. The combat wheel also allows you to indicate how much Mana the next attack should use, the more the mightier your attack, of course.

While I enjoy spending a bit of time with a nice RPG, they're really not my forte. I just don't have the time to put into them. And I've never really spent any time with RPG-style board games. But Journey of Fortune is strangely appealing to me. The single-player game (how I've spent my time here) hits the ground running and moves things along at a pace that seems well suited to play on a mobile device, where you're not really looking for a game consisting of hours upon hours. And, for a title that strives to deliver a digital board game experience, what device is more ideal than the iPad? It's a game that feels quite "right" for the platform, but this first release is not without a few issues.

The game takes a little while to get the hang of, on first approach. The title screen provides a brief list of play rules, but it doesn't send you into the game feeling very well educated. Gameplay is a fairly straightforward affair, however, and a sufficient comfort level shouldn't elude most gamers for very long. The developers, who are active in our forums, indicate that they'd like to improve the help / hint system in a future update, but prefer not to employ any sort of window overlay, which would shatter the board game feel of the title. Another criticism I might raise is the lack of a save feature; when you jump to another app, the game is gone for good. However, the developer indicates this will be remedied in the game's next update. Global leaderboards and a choice of difficulty level for the single-player mode are also on the way.

That said, Journey of Fortune: Dragon's Fire has quite impressed me. I've found it to be surprisingly engrossing to play and a title I would reach for to demonstrate the iPad to a friend unfamiliar. It's an experience I can recommend to any iPad gamer, even if RPG's aren't their thing.

If all this sounds appealing, today would be the day to jump, as Journey of Fortune: Dragon's Fire is on sale (today only) for $.99 -- 75% off the standard $3.99 asking price. A brief video of the gameplay can be seen here.

Typically I'm not a big fan of the sim-management type games. Back in the day I was hopelessly addicted to SimCity on the SNES, but future iterations of that game and of similar franchises just never appealed to me. They all seemed a bit too complicated, or required a hectic style of time and resource managing that turned me off to them, and nothing has quite captured the particular mix of simplicity and subtle depth from that classic SNES title. That changed yesterday when I discovered Kairosoft's Game Dev Story [$3.99] on my iPhone. It offers a sim-management experience that's not overwhelmingly complex, but at the same time has a lot of different elements that meld together well to create compelling gameplay. Plus, it's just a ton of fun to create your own games and see them go on to be huge successes (and sometimes total flops).

In Game Dev Story you'll play the president of a fledgling game development company as you direct your crew of designers, artists, and coders in an effort to create a string of successful video games over a 20 year time period. Beyond just making games, you'll need to grow your own brand name by running a game convention booth, attending awards shows, advertising, and managing an ever-changing fan base. As your company expands, you'll have the opportunity to move into larger offices and hire a bigger team of employees, all of whom can be leveled up and trained (at the expense of  higher salaries) so as to create better games. If you really become a big company, and have employees with the right skill sets, you can even create your own console and compete with the well established big boys in the hardware game.

To start off, though, you're just a tiny company with a few employees and a small amount of start-up capital to work with. You can choose to make games for home consoles or PCs, but each console requires you to purchase a license before you can develop games for it. To earn some extra funding for licenses or projects, outside contract work can be accepted. It's not the most exciting work, but it will pay the bills and help you earn enough money to make games of your own. Once you have the money to make a game, you'll choose which platform, genre, and style of game you want to make. Your own employees can be used to create the story, graphics, and sound, or you can source out that work to other professionals for a fee. A number of factors can affect how your game sells, including your fan base, what time of year you release (holiday season is best), and how the media reviews the game.

One aspect I especially liked about Game Dev Story is how it parodies every major console released for the last 20+ years, and loosely mimics their individual success levels. So when Intendro introduces the first portable game system the Game Kid, you can bet it will be a really popular system to support given the Game Boy's history. However, when they come out with the newfangled Virtual Kid, with its headache-inducing 3D goggles, you'll see it disappear from the market fairly quickly. These are the types of things that you must consider before shelling out the dough for a console license, although one extremely popular game can rewrite the history of a failed console as well.

While the gameplay in Game Dev Story is fun and engaging, the overall presentation falls a bit flat. The 16-bit style pixel graphics are charming and certainly get the job done, but they are a far cry of what is capable from even the oldest iOS devices. The screen size is also oddly small, with plenty of wasted space on the top and bottom. It almost seems as if it's a port from a different device, like an older smartphone or PDA, but I couldn't find any information to that effect. The menu navigations work just fine and the game is still very easy to play, it just seems strange. Another minor annoyance is that despite having an in-game manual hardly any of the game mechanics are explained very well, although the game is simple enough that you catch on after playing for a bit.

Game Dev Story won't impress you with stellar visuals or an iPhone specific feature set, but it is a well thought out and thoroughly enjoyable time sink, and is even more intriguing if you're familiar with the last few decades of video game history. It took me roughly five hours to play through the 20 year career of my company, and at the end of that time your highest selling game and biggest profits serve as the final score, though you can keep playing beyond that time period indefinitely if you choose. There really is just something about this game that keeps me coming back for more over and over again. Further impressions and help discussion are taking place in our forums, and if you've ever had a hankering to create your own video games then Game Dev Story is one you should definitely check out.

The current trend in iPad game releases seems to be for developers to take an existing iPhone game, append "HD" to the end of the name, and increase both the resolution of the graphics and the price-- and maybe add an iPad-exclusive feature of two. iPhone developer One Man Left have significantly upped the HD ante this week, releasing one of the best HD remakes I've played in quite a while of an existing iPhone game. We loved the original in our review where we explained the basic premise behind the game:

Tilt to Live [$2.99] is at its core, an object-avoidance game wholly utilising the accelerometer of the iPhone or iTouch to maneuver your arrow around the battlefield. I say battlefield, because that's exactly what is going on here– the dots are out to get you and will stop at nothing. And it is remarkable just how much personality One Man Left have managed to inject into such a straightforward concept. These are certainly no ordinary dots– these perilous periods make a point (ha!) of chasing you around the screen; coalescing into arrows and other shapes then hurling themselves at you at breakneck pace, or circling you like vultures, slowly closing in until it is impossible to escape. Make no mistake, touch even one of the hundreds of dots on screen at once, and you are history.

Tilt to Live HD [Free] offers identical gameplay, with a major twist: Instead of simply making everything bigger, they kept all the in-game objects the same size, and quadrupled the size of the battlefield. In our early previews, I wasn't really sure how much of a difference this would make when you're actually playing the game, but after spending a considerable amount of time with it (in fact, this review itself was delayed because I simply couldn't put it down), I'm totally sold on this HD remake.

Increasing the size of the battlefield makes playing the game much more exciting because of just how many more red dots appear on screen, and how much farther power-ups spawn away from you. Not to say the original Tilt to Live was boring by any means, but this is one instance where much more going on at once on screen is actually much, much better.

To further kick things up a notch, Tilt to Live HD is available for free. With your free download you get full access to a limited classic mode with only a few of the available weapons. If you're happy with this, you can play to your heart's content, competing in a free mode online leaderboard until you're blue in the face. For a $3.99 in-app purchase you then unlock the rest of the game. This opens up additional power-ups to earn, and three additional game modes: Code Red which is just classic mode but much faster and more difficult, Gauntlet Evolved which is pure avoidance, and Frostbite which has you shattering red dots before they thaw at the bottom of the screen. Each game mode plays differently, and has its own associated online leaderboard.

Originally I was thinking that Tilt to Live HD wouldn't be that fun to play because I haven't really found myself liking tilt controls much on the iPad due to the weight of the device. Oddly enough, this doesn't seem to be an issue at all, and hasn't stopped me from sitting perched on the edge of my couch completely focused on my iPad as a bob my head to the music for hours on end.

If you own an iPad, you owe it to yourself to at least try out the free mode of Tilt to Live HD.

Back in July we brought word that Gaijin Games had teamed up with Namco Bandai to develop an iOS adaptation of Gaijin's Wiiware rhythm action title BIT.TRIP BEAT. We're happy to report that the fruits of their labors have just made their App Store debut, with a version for both the iPhone / iPod touch [link] and the iPad [link].

One of a series of four Bit.Trip titles by Gaijin (published through the Wii Shop by Aksys Games), Bit.Trip Beat is something like a cross between Pong and Rez as an accelerometer-equipped Atari 2600 might play them. The game puts you in tilt or touch control of an on-screen paddle with the goal of bouncing waves of oncoming blocks whence they came. The impact timings of the aforementioned blocks are synched with the excellent chiptune audio track while abstract / futuristic animations float in the backdrop, both of which give the game its sort of Rez dynamic. And, it's all done up in brilliant colors and oh-so-lovely jaggy, chunky pixels, with a chiptune soundtrack appropriately accompanying the on-screen action.

The further you progress through the game, successfully returning oncoming blocks, the more complex and evolved the visual presentation becomes. Miss too many blocks, and the visuals slowly regress to a simple, black and white state, in another apparent nod to Rez.

Says Gaijin founder Alex Neuse,

“We're very excited for the BIT.TRIP series to join in the fight against digital boredom alongside the rank and file of legendary Namco franchises, such as PAC-MAN, Katamari Damacy and Mr. Driller. When considering a publishing partner for our series on mobile devices, Namco was among our top choices. After playing the final iPhone version, we positively freaked out. Namco has brought an absolutely pure BIT.TRIP experience to the mobile market and we look forward to continuing the series with them."

And I'd have to agree with Neuse as regards the "pure" nature of this game on the iOS platform, if "pure" speaks to a faithful, well-implemented conversion. I've spent significant time with the Wiiware original, and the game plays wonderfully on the iPhone and iPad. In fact, I find that the game offers more precise controls on the iOS devices than it does using the Wiimote -- in touch-control mode in particular (though tilt is also an option). In my opinion, it's more enjoyable on the iPhone or iPad than on the Wii.

BIT.TRIP BEAT features local and online multiplayer (through Game Center), but at the moment it's only two-player head-to-head -- four-player is coming in a future update. What's more, three additional levels (for now) are available as in-game, downloadable content. (One of the complaints about the original is the somewhat limited gameplay content.)

See the developer's short trailer featuring a bit of gameplay, or have a look at the Wii video we posted earlier, featuring nearly identical game content.

BIT.TRIP BEAT is one of those games that draws you in and sends you to a sort of 'zone' where much of the mundane meatspace world just kind of falls away. Anyone who enjoys rhythm gaming or retro-styling in general should have a really good time with this one.

BIT.TRIP BEAT for the iPhone and iPad are currently on a limited time, 50% off sale at the time of this writing.

One of the great things about the App Store is the many retro titles that have either been ported or remade for iOS devices. In terms of role-playing games, they don't get much more classic than Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II from Square Enix. These two titles were remade for the PSP a few years back with improved graphics and tweaked gameplay, and earlier this year those enhanced versions made their way to the App Store. Both games made the transition to the touch screen rather well, and offered a great old-school RPG experience for gamers on the go.

Just a few hours ago, both Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II were updated to include Chinese and French language support. To celebrate these updates, Square Enix has dropped the price of each title from $8.99 to $3.99 for one week only. Admittedly it's kind of a weird thing to celebrate with a 55% off sale, but if you've previously been on the fence about picking up either game then I don't think you'll be arguing about their decision. Here's a lengthy video showing the first ten minutes of gameplay from Final Fantasy on the iPhone:

Make sure to take a look at our extensive review of both titles from February for more information. Additionally, you can join the discussion in the Final Fantasy thread or Final Fantasy II thread in our forums if you're looking for help or just want to talk about either game.

App Store Links:

• Final Fantasy, $3.99
• Final Fantasy II, $3.99

Just a little more than a year ago, indie developer Krabl released a quirky puzzle platforming game with interesting mechanics titled Ynth [$2.99]. You controlled a tiny bug who rotated boxes from the inside in order to traverse a hazardous marshland. In our review of Ynth, we noted that the game was clever with cute graphics and plenty of content, but the trial and error factor of completing levels could be really frustrating. Now, Krabl and FDG Entertainment have collaborated to bring a sequel to the original game called Beyond Ynth [$3.99/HD]. It still retains some of the frustration factors of the first game but also expands on it in every way and ends up being a fun puzzler with a tremendous amount of content.

Beyond Ynth uses beautiful graphics that are optimized for Retina Display. An illustrated story with voiceovers explains the tale of the main character, the tiny bug named Kribl, as you progress through the game. Beyond Ynth takes place in four distinct environments - forest, volcanic, desert, and snow. Each environment has its own hazard to deal with, like getting burned by the sun in the desert or freezing in the snow when you are out of a box for too long. There are 80 levels to play through across each of the environments, accessed from an overhead map. The levels are more openly accessible with at least a few available to play at any given time, rather than the linear progression found in the original Ynth.

The core gameplay remains the same in Beyond Ynth. Kribl will start at one side of a level and use a series of boxes to get to the exit on the other side. Boxes come in various shapes and sizes, and once you crawl inside of one you can tilt the box over by pushing on one of the inner walls. You'll “roll” these boxes by tilting them over and over to progress through the level. The puzzle element in Beyond Ynth comes from being able to align the openings of the boxes together so you can make your way from one to the other without accidentally getting yourself stuck. You must also think ahead in order to properly deal with the environmental hazards and other various objects present in each of the levels.

The entire game is incredibly unique and each level is cleverly designed from beginning to end. As mentioned, however, it can be pretty tough figuring out how to advance past a certain part, and the instant death from touching a hazard that causes you to restart the level can wear pretty thin after a while. There's nothing more frustrating than meticulously working through a level only to suddenly die near the end and have to start over. Moving in the boxes can be slow-going, and it sometimes feels overly tedious to play through the same sections over and over just to get to the point you were previously stuck at. Each level also has a set of diamonds that can be collected in order to earn a medal, and some of these diamonds seem nearly impossible to collect which adds greatly to the challenge.

While this may sound pretty negative, I actually really like Beyond Ynth a lot. The artistic style and story are really charming and you can't help but appreciate how cleverly designed some of the levels are. For me, it's best taken in small doses though, and if I'm feeling frustrated with a certain level I'll try a different one or take a break from the game altogether. With 80 levels to play through plus the added replayability of obtaining gold medals for each one, Beyond Ynth will keep you busy for a long time. There's also achievements and leaderboards tracked through OpenFeint, with Game Center integration set to appear with the game's first update. There are already a lot of players enjoying the game in our forums, so if you like puzzle or platforming games and have a fair amount of patience, Beyond Ynth is worth taking a look at and is definitely a huge leap forward from the original game.

One Man Left's Tilt to Live [99¢] has been a favorite of mine for quite a while now. In our review we discuss just how much fun its avoidance based gameplay is, and since then they've updated the game to add new power-ups and game modes not once, but twice.

Announced mere moments ago is Tilt to Live HD for the iPad, which according to developers One Man Left won't just be a simple up-scaling, and instead will be a similar game with an arena that is four times as large... Best yet, it will be free to try with a demo mode and a $3.99 in-app purchase to unlock the rest of the content in the game. Tilt to Live HD will be tilt controlled much like its iPhone counterpart, and although the developers are claiming the controls have been optimized for the iPad, I'm curious to see how well the game works in practice as many tilt controlled iPad games get tiresome due to the weight of the device.

Tilt to Live HD is due to be released on the App Store this September, and as soon we we get our grubby little hands on it, we'll post some more details on the game.

When it comes to racing leagues, MotoGP is to motorcycle racing what NASCAR is to stock car racing and IRL is to indy car racing. It's the premiere league for street racing of the two-wheeled variety, and has a fairly long history as a video game franchise. The MotoGP series of games are known for being something of a hybrid of simulation and arcade racing, and this still rings true with the release of MotoGP 2010 for iPhone. The iPhone version of the game, however, really doesn't impress much visually, and there are several quirks that keep it from being a very good racer.

(more...)

As someone who's been a gamer for 30 years now, I must say things have come a long way from those distant, humble beginnings.

A few crude black and white blocks turned into somewhat less crude color blocks, which became much nicer looking high-palette pixel art and -- flash forward 20 years -- we've got expansive 3D worlds rendered sharper than a high-definition feature film. Technology marches ever on and, along the way, has brought gamers a vast array of computers and consoles, each a step forward from the one that came before. And the largest single step forward along these lines that ever took place was unquestionably the arrival of the Amiga from Commodore.

At half the price of the Macintosh and a quarter the price of IBM's meatiest desktop, the Amiga, which PC World called the seventh greatest computer of all time, delivered vastly more capable hardware than either, along with a fully preemptive multitasking UNIX-like operating system. Nothing of the likes of its graphics and audio capabilities had ever been seen before. It excelled in gaming and this new sort of thing called "multimedia" that, at the time, people really didn't know what to make of. It really was 10 years before its time.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Amiga and a number of tech sites are taking the opportunity to pay tribute to this infulential platform with retrospectives and historical pieces. And, we're happy to report that Amiga and iPhone developer Rabah Shihab is honoring the occasion by dropping the price of Babylonian Twins for the iPhone [App Store] by 75% this weekend.

We took a close look at this reimagining of his 17-year old Amiga title back in April and found it to be one of the very best iPhone games out there (we gave it 4.5 stars). An iPad version is also available [App Store].

Babylonian Twins is s a puzzle-platformer with two-character tag-team type play. You control brothers Nasir and Blasir in order to solve each levels. Each character has some special abilities, but only one can be active at once. Switching between the two is as simple as tapping on a button — leaving the unplayed character as a statue. You'll find you need to tag team to make your way past puzzles and obstacles, and even use the other character as a springboard to jump higher. Blasir can jump higher, and dash into walls, while Nasir spin to break through weakened floors. The game is a collaborative effort between the two characters.

The game has been entirely revamped since the original Amiga version and includes all new graphics and audio.

And, while Babylonian Twins is a truly excellent title, it's not the only quality Amiga conversion in the App store. Not by a long shot. And, thanks to Manomio, among others, we're in for a lot more Amiga game goodness in the App Store later this year.

Related Amiga links:

• Amiga: 25 Years Later
• Shadow of the 16-bit Beast: an Amiga gaming retrospective
• Ars Technica's A History of the Amiga (parts 1 - 6)
• Amiga.org community

We've posted about Sword of Fargoal [$3.99] and its iPad counterpart Sword of Fargoal Legends [$6.99] numerous times now, even including it in our Best iPhone Games of 2009 listing. The thread on our forums has been going strong since March, and is filled with close to 2000 posts of people suggesting new features and telling tales of their adventures, with the developers participating constantly in the discussion.

From reading comments we get on articles, as well as endlessly pouring over our forums, it seems above all what our community seems to unanimously love is any developer who sticks with their game, and there is a short list of developers I can even think of who have done as much with their games as the Fargoal team has done over the life of Sword of Fargoal. Since its initial release on the iPhone, all kinds of new items and treasures have been added, along with new monsters, sound effects, potions, dungeon levels, and graphical effects. New traps have been thrown in, as well as multiple difficulty levels to make the game both more forgiving to new players and more brutal to veterans.

This latest update adds high resolution graphics, allowing players with iPhone 4's to enjoy the game at full Retina Display resolution. If you've been following the development of the game, specifically its pre-iPhone origins, it's really great to see how far Fargoal has come while still maintaining a retro feel. The original Sword of Fargoal was a 40x30 dungeon tile game with monster sprite graphics that ran on the Commodore 64, which can be seen in the bottom corner of the following comparison screen shot::

On the horizon for Fargoal in future updates is a complete overhaul of the random dungeon building system. Instead of the current 40x30 tile area that every dungeon floor is made of, floors can be any length and width. The developers are hoping that this will give Fargoal a much more "architectural" feeling to the dungeon generator. Dungeon generation is also said to be getting more purposeful, with things like guard rooms, store rooms, underground lairs, vaults, oubliettes, and other rooms for players to come across.

There is going to be more environmental interaction and danger outside of combat, and with these two things are coming even more descriptive text to help set the scene a little better. Fargoal will also eventually have an even wider variety of monsters that vary in intelligence and ability. Some will even use battle tactics and strategy, with certain enemies organizing with other enemies when appropriate to quicken your demise.

If you haven't updated Sword of Fargoal recently, now is a great time to do so. If you still haven't downloaded Sword of Fargoal, it's among the best roguelikes available on the App Store, and certainly the most approachable, especially with the recent difficulty settings. Sword of Fargoal is one of my favorite games, and it's really easy to recommend, especially with how committed the developers have been to both updating the game in the past and continue to update it in the future.

Last week at WWDC we ran in to Kevin Beimers, the writer, programmer, and game action director for Straandlooper, creators of Hector: Badge of Carnage [$3.99]. Hector is an episodic point and click adventure game where you play the role of a disgruntled police officer in the town of Clappers Wreake. Like similar games, advancing the plot involves solving puzzles using items found in the game world either by themselves or combined in interesting ways with other items. There are also dialog trees to work through with the various citizens of Clappers Wreake and your conversation skills also become a large part in accomplishing the goals set out in front of you.

We really enjoyed the game in our review, and after hearing the story behind Hector, I can't help but enjoy the game even more. Before the filthy world of Hector was even imagined, the guys behind the game actually created a 52 part childrens' series, Lifeboat Luke, which is currently being aired in Ireland. Lifeboat Luke goes on nautical rescue missions and teaches children about safety at sea. Interestingly enough, Hector originally was pitched as a TV show as well, and there was even ground work for a pilot episode laid. Some clips of Hector can be seen in Straandlooper's showreel of animated clips they've worked on:

Aimed at a primetime UK time slot, Hector was meant to go up against South Park and other raunchy evening shows. Unfortunately, the insane popularity of reality TV has significantly cut in to the willingness for anyone to fund an animated project. Or, as Kevin put it, with reality TV all you need is a dozen people in a room with a camera and you've got a show. With the future of Hector as a TV series getting increasingly bleak, Straandlooper decided to turn their ideas in to a point and click adventure game.

Originally they debated building it as some kind of Flash game, but the lack of any strong way to monetize Hector as a browser game pushed them to the App Store-- A place where, as Beimers explained, people are more likely to pay for and appreciate the amusing gameplay and animation quality of Hector: Badge of Carnage. Since the developers have been long time fans of point and click adventure games, the transition from animated short to interactive adventure was fairly natural. (And as fans of the genre, Kevin noted how awesome it was to have his works compared to classics such as Day of the Tentacle or Monkey Island.)

The project so far has been a success for Straandlooper, as from the first episode on the App Store alone they've already made more than they have on any of their other short animated projects. Hector's initial popularity has practically guaranteed the release of the second episode, where players will explore the police station that Hector works with as well as spend time getting to know Hector's various coworkers. They hope to release episode 2 within a year.

Some other fun Hector facts came out of our conversation such as the entire game being voiced by a single person. As many people in our forums have mentioned, Hector is a shockingly raunchy game to be approved on the App Store. Straandlooper actually planned for this, and had contingencies in place to do things like replace the porn shop with a store similar to Wal-Mart. Hector was under development for 6-7 months, with another 2 months spent on the "last 2%" of the game making sure everything was as refined as Straandlooper wanted it.

An iPad version is in the works, but since so much was tweaked and customized for the resolution of the iPhone screen, it may be a while until we see its release. However, they do plan on releasing the second installment on both the iPhone and iPad.

If you haven't played Hector: Badge of Carnage yet, you really need to give the game a try if you've ever enjoyed a point and click adventure game. For more about the game, take a look at our review.

Irish animation studio Straandlooper is really pushing the suggestive limits of the App Store with the first installment of their episodic adult adventure game, Hector: Badge of Carnage [$3.99]. This point and click adventure game (or, more accurately, point and tap I suppose) puts players in charge of Hector, a police officer from the town of Clappers Wreake. The game opens with a fantastically drawn and voiced over animated cut scene which really sets the bar for the rest of the game.

In the first episode, Hector is called in to do some hostage negotiation at a building being guarded by a sniper who has been picking off any policemen who enter his line of sight. Progressing through the game, like any similar adventure game, involves analyzing your environment, picking up items, and combining or using them in creative ways to overcome obstacles. For instance, getting out of the room you start in will require clever use of a old shoe, a spoon, a condom, and a paperclip.

The rest of the game continues in this manner, and aside from manipulating objects you will also need to interact with various characters in game through extensive dialog trees. The first instance of this requires Hector to talk his way in to making a young thug locked up at the police station to quite literally give him his pants. All of this dialog both pops up as text on screen and is accompanied by a voiceover, and the voice work is actually quite enjoyable.

I'm reluctant to mention much more of what happens in the game since so much of these kind of adventure games can be spoiled by mentioning future items or situations you'll find yourself in, what I will say is that Hector: Badge of Carnage will be a joy for any fan of adventure games or suggestive humor to play through. The writing is funny, the things you have to do and the actions required to do them are often hilarious, and the cut scenes are fantastic.

Really, the only down side to Hector: Badge of Carnage is the lack of an easy to use in-game hint system. Playing through the game I sometimes found myself flat out stumped as to what to do next, resorting to just tapping everything imaginable on screen, attempting to combine every item, and/or using every item on every nearby object. I suppose I'm spoiled by The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition [$7.99] which comes with a hint system that starts out very vague in attempt to point you in the right direction with additional hints that eventually just flat out tell you what to do-- A much better alternative than puzzling hints given to you by your partner Lambert who you need to get to first before you can get any assistance.

The first episode of Hector: Badge of Carnage will likely only take you a few hours to play through, or substantially less if you're constantly looking up what to do next online. Beware, it ends in a cliffhanger, and I really can't wait to see what happens next.