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.

I have been looking for an excuse to post about Armada: Galactic War [App Store], after overlooking its first sizeable update amidst the chaos of WWDC. It was a game I really enjoyed, despite nit-picking on a few issues. It turns out developer Pixel Stream was listening, and have addressed each of my complaints and further added a suite of features in response to player feedback and an entirely new freemium version!

First and foremost, addressing the biggest complaint that readers had, was the introduction of an offline practice mode in version 1.2. Offline mode is still in its infancy, and though you can pick the map and your race, you are restricted to playing 1v1 vs the AI. Additional AI slots and a customizable AI difficulty would all be great to see in future updates.

This update also addressed my other issue with Armada: Galactic War -- the ARMS upgrade system. In our review, we took issue with how ARMS set an insurmountable gap in advantage between veterans and newcomers. In order to address this, Pixel Stream opted to completely overhaul their ARMS system. The more powerful variants of each item were removed entirely, and though the player can still equip up to 10 items, items are automatically balanced when players are matched against each other.

The player with the fewest upgrades sets the standard for the match at hand. If Player A has 2 items and Player B and C have 4 items, then only the first two items of each player will have effect in that game. In this way, the developers hope to have remedied the issue of power imbalance between players with access to more and better items.

Update 1.3, just released, further addresses issues noted by players since 1.2. It introduces player divisions by way of rooms; with a newbie room available to allow beginners to play against each other; and an extreme room rewarding bonus credits rewarded to the more daring, experienced players. The full change list is as follows:

Interface and Gameplay improvements
• newly created units are automatically selected if mothership is selected
• mech placement is easier to collect minerals
• improved selection/deselection of units
• Destroying a mothership will top up your resources
• Each mothership destroyed counts as a win

Player matching improvements
• three rooms - newbie, intermediate, extreme
• only newbies can enter the newbie room
• extreme room gives 2x credits
• a second leaderboard for extreme battles

ARMS item improvements
• lowered cost of items
• items increase stats as well as decrease other stats
• simplified the number of items

The developers have also released a new freemium version of Armada. This version is online only, and operates a little like Eliminate; in that you require 'fuel cells' to earn credits. These are used up as you play, and recharge automatically every two hours. Of course, In-App purchases allow you to skip that waiting process by purchasing additional cells.

That app has now hit the App Store, and whilst players can now play entirely for free (with a little patience) on the freemium version, the original paid app with offline mode has risen in price, too. So there are now a slew of options for RTS fans to get their game on; and with an app as feature rich as Armada: Galactic War, there's now no reason not to check out what has been dubbed Starcraft-lite on your iOS device.

App Store Link: Armada: Galactic War, $5.99 and Armada - Galactic War Online, Free (With In-App Recharge Purchases).

This short video uploaded to youtube shows off the ability to run an emulator on the iPad to play SNES games, while using the Wii Remote to control the character. The game being played is Super Mario World on snes4iphone [$5.99 from Cydia].

The jailbreak for the iPad has not even been out a week yet, and you can clearly see the great possibilities that can come out of this device. As the jailbreak community continues to release new iPad specific applications, that Apple does not allow in their own AppStore, expect to see some really creative ideas unfold.

If your not too sure what jailbreaking your iDevice means, Gizmodo has posted a great overview on what jailbreaking is, how easy it is, and some other common FAQ's regarding jailbreaking. But as always, like the Gizmodo article clearly points out:

And remember, be careful! Jailbreaking is unsupported and something that's very new to the iPad. If in doubt about a particular Cydia app, err on the side of caution. You're better safe than sorry, really.

Back in January, we caught wind of plans for a Sega emulator that was going to serve as a repository for all kinds of different classic Genesis games. Originally slated for release in February, the Ultimate Genesis emulator was planned to be free and come loaded with Space Harrier II. We haven't heard anything about it since then, and it's hard to say where the fate of the emulator lies as Sega is still releasing standalone emulator games such as Sonic 2 [App Store] which was released mere moments ago.

Much like the original Sonic [App Store], Sonic 2 is wrapped in a seemingly identical emulator wrapper with a fairly awkward menu system glued on top of the original game to handle the various in-game view options as well as starting and resuming your game. Sonic and Tails are controlled with a virtual D-pad and lone button to handle jumping. Just like the original Sonic, these controls work, but things get dicey as soon as you get far enough in the game to need to do more than just run to the left and jump once in a while.

The game can be played in two modes, either full screen and up-scaled or in a smaller window in the native resolution of the game. Like all the other emulated Genesis games, performance is the best on the iPhone 3GS with substantial frame rate drops in previous-generation devices. The performance drop is somewhat mitigated by playing in the smaller native resolution view, but even then significant slowdown is experienced when you drop a lot of rings or when there are a ton of enemies on screen.

The following video shows the performance differences between the devices, although it is much more noticeable when you're actually playing the game:

I feel like until Sega substantially improves their Genesis emulator, we really can just have one review for all of these games, as the following statements really apply to all of them: If you were a fan of the original game, and own a iPhone 3GS or 3rd generation iPod touch, they're worth a look. The controls are far from ideal, but having your favorite classic games in your pocket playable on your phone can be a lot of fun. If you're not particularly tied to the games Sega has released so far, they're completely skippable.

If you have a iPhone 3G of previous device, and haven't played Sonic 2 before, don't let this be your first experience with the game.

App Store Link: Sonic 2, $5.99

In Karnival, [App Store] you play as a boy with the arm of a goat who decides to take his talents on the road by starting his own carnival that travels the country offering rides, fortune tellers, snack booths, and 30 different included oddities and attractions that are slowly unlocked as you play the game.

Karnival features gameplay that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played any of the Tycoon series of games such as RollerCoaster Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, or many others. In the game you have control over every aspect of your carnival from what rides go where to ticket prices to even keeping your attractions in good repair. You have to intelligently build your carnival to maximize karma, fame, and money earned while (hopefully) keeping your taxes and payroll low enough to turn a profit each day.

Karnival has an intuitive touch based interface to handle all the different carnival management functions, and features a tutorial which does an excellent job at explaining all the ins and outs of running a successful carnival. While the controls and interface do their job well, there were definitely times where I wished I was playing this game with a keyboard and mouse.

If there's any down side to Karnival it's that once you progress in the game a bit, you could drive yourself crazy with the micromanagement of your different attractions. Like other Tycoon-like games, you can mostly let your carnival run itself, or endlessly tweak your business to maximize profits and other stat gains.

Overall Karnival is a game that is a lot of fun wth a surprising amount of depth. The art style and music give the game an atmosphere that's exactly what you would expect of a freaky carnival. With both a story mode that has you traveling across the country as well as a basic sandbox mode, Karnival should keep Tycoon fanatics busy for quite some time.

The game has received strongly positive feedback in our discussion thread, and the developers have chimed in with tips and answers to questions.

App Store Link: Karnival, $5.99

Gamevil's latest epic RPG got its own lite version today, Hybrid: Eternal Whisper Free [App Store] offers a brief look at the world of Hybrid through three included battle stages where you will be able to master nine different fighting skills.

Hybrid is an adventure roleplaying game with an extensive skill system all wrapped around a brawler-style fighting game. You play as Grey, a kid with a mysterious past protected by an equally mysterious guardian named Fairy through a quest that will take you numerous hours to complete that touches on a number of RPG cliches along the way.

With every enemy you kill, you gain experience points and in-game currency which can be spent on an impressively deep character customization and upgrade system. The combat is the star of the show in Hybrid, and as you fight through each level you eventually gain more moves, techniques, and magical attacks to dispatch your enemies. These attacks can be chained together to form massive combos, and fighting entire gangs of baddies at once can be fairly satisfying.

Like Zenonia, there are a lot of people who love Hybrid, there's a thread on our forums filled with fans of the game. I do appreciate all the work Gamevil has put in to the game, and as you level up and gain more abilities, watching Grey fly around the screen killing enemies is fairly spectacular.

Where the game fell short for me, however, was in the seemingly endless amount of button mashing and thumb swiping required to kill all the enemies on a level only to watch a cut scene with tons of dialog, then get back to mashing the attack button. Regardless, I still recommend trying the free version, because opinions on this game seem divided, and you could find yourself amongst those who can't get enough of Hybrid.

App Store Links:

• Hybrid: Eternal Whisper Free, Free
• Hybrid: Eternal Whisper, $5.99

Two new lite versions of games we can't say enough good things about appeared on the App Store recently. If you haven't already bought either of these games, I really recommend giving the free versions a spin

Baseball Superstars 2010 Free - Baseball Superstars 2010, $5.99

With a nearly flawless 4.5 star rating here on Touch Arcade, Baseball Superstars 2010 took everything that was good about Baseball Superstars 2009 and made it better. If you like baseball games or roleplaying games, Baseball Superstars 2010 can potentially consume your gaming life as you find yourself batting through just one more season before going to bed to make your super batter even more powerful.

And of course, like most Gamevil games, there's even a completely off the wall commercial for the game that is totally worth a watch just to see an angel and some type of demon having some kind of epic baseball battle.

Hook Champ Lite - Hook Champ, $2.99

Hook Champ may very well be my favorite game that has been released lately. Fantastic pixel art graphics combined with physics-based gameplay that somehow always keeps me coming back for more (even after falling in to lava for the 100th time) would be enough to interest me in this game, but there's also a whole in-game store with all kinds of both useful and useless character upgrades.

You swing through caves, evade an oddly hungry ghost, and plunder relics along the way. As if Hook Champ wasn't awesome enough, your performance in every level is seamlessly tracked online, and after you beat the game you can go back and try to make it to the top of the score boards in your favorite levels.

Korean game developer Gamevil released their latest entry in the Baseball Superstars series last night with Baseball Superstars 2010 [App Store]. According to Gamevil, the original Baseball Superstars is the best selling baseball game on the App Store, and given my experience with Baseball Superstars 2010 so far, it's safe to say they've got another hit on their hands.

Baseball Superstars 2010 is a full featured baseball game with multiple game modes ranging from simple exhibition games to full seasons or homerun derbies. What sets the game apart from the pack are the RPG elements that allow you to create your own pitcher or batter and build their statistics in "My League" mode.

Various exercises and social events are available to train your players along with items to purchase such as bats and shoes with your annual salary. Once you have built up your players (up to 4 batters and 2 pitchers), you can use those players in the full season mode where you will need to manage your team's ability to work together as well as their morale.

If this sounds crazy, that's because it is. Both Baseball Superstars games have this odd mixture of really solid Baseball gameplay and these strange RPG elements that seem silly at first but start to have the same allure as leveling up any character in an RPG. I've never really been a sports gamer, but the RPG elements in the original Baseball Superstars really sucked me in, and the sequel is doing the same.

There's an additional level to the lovable absurdity in Baseball Superstars 2010 with the included "super" players. There is a pitcher that's a robot, a batter who is some kind of nurse, and in a game I just played the opposing team's pitcher performed a super move turning all the baseballs they pitched into bombs. These crazy components to the game with the RPG elements mentioned earlier somehow really make this game appeal to me, and I'm not even a baseball fan.

Baseball Superstars 2010 also offers an interesting solution to online multiplayer. Everything is done via a asynchronous match mode where you can go online to search for teams to play. In this mode, you're essentially downloading the player statistics of the team you select and playing against them locally on your device.

Sure, it's not real-time multiplayer, but the ability to download your friend's team and play against them when you have time should fit in well with the portable gaming habits of a lot of iPhone gamers where you're only playing in small increments while you're on the go.

If you don't want to get involved in a full baseball game, the homerun derbies and missions are great for playing for a few minutes at a time. Competing in both of these game modes will earn points that you can then spend to unlock additional characters and buy items.

Gamevil released the following gameplay trailer:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Similar to how the Madden games work, Baseball Superstars 2010 is the annual evolution of Baseball Superstars. There are many small tweaks and refinements that make the 2010 edition worth owning if you enjoyed the original. If you haven't played a Baseball Superstars game, there is no lite version for 2010, but there is a Lite for the original Baseball Superstars [Free] that can give you an idea of what to expect out of the sequel.

App Store Link: Baseball Superstars 2010, $5.99

Zenonia fans will be excited to hear that Gamevil's latest game Hybrid: Eternal Whisper [$5.99] has arrived in the App Store.

Hybrid is a hybrid of action, adventure and RPG genres. It is an action fighting game at its core but with an extensive skills upgrade system, RPG elements and is tied together with an in depth story line. You play the role of Grey a young kid with a mysterious history who is looking to defend his land and avenge his brother. The story walks you through your training which teaches you how to fight. The D-Pad offers movement and an action button for attacks. Grey also has two different sword grips: standard and reverse. The two grips are more effective for different scenarios and can be combined together to form longer attacks.

Additional special attacks and skills are introduced over time and there appear to be a massive number of possibilities. The game is a series of fights strung together with a story. Surviving the fight is, of course, the ultimate goal, but you also get graded on your style and performance with each fight. As you level up and pick up items from enemies, you can upgrade your personal stats and equip stronger weapons and defensive items.

The game features 70 battles, 10 hidden stages, and an endless mode. Some of the skills and attacks are demoed in this video:

We do plan on offering a full review of the game, but, in the meanwhile, the early forum impressions are being collected in this thread.

App Store Link: Hybrid: Eternal Whisper, $5.99

For those who haven’t closely followed Showtime’s Dexter, the series is based on novels written by Jeff Lindsay. I remember reading his first book “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” years ago, and the intelligent, yet macabre storyline has kept me reading the novels and watching the show.

Coincidentally, I had just finished the latest book “Dexter by Design” when Dexter arrived on the iPhone/iPod Touch platform. Happily, the intelligence and spirit found in the books and TV series carries through into the game. For fans of Dexter, the game will not be a disappointment with good variety, engaging play, and humor with an element of guilty morbidity. However, non-Dexter fans may find themselves disoriented and will want to first familiarize themselves with the TV show or books first.

Dexter is a psychopathic serial killer who was taught his policeman father Harry how to channel his killing urges. When Dexter was younger, his urges, also known as the Dark Passenger, were released by killing animals. Instilling his own special killing code, Harry decided to focus Dexter’s talents on criminals who had gotten away with murder in the eyes of the law. In Dexter the Game, you play through the eyes of Dexter and must collect enough evidence to ensure that Dexter is killing someone rightfully deserving. Of course, the catch is that Dexter must also maintain his cover as an unfeeling psychopath.

The game focuses on the first TV season consisting of 5 cases: Mike Donovan, Dear Dexter, Coke Head, Jamie Jaworski and Robert Marelli.

The cases are presented in a simultaneous fashion with Dexter moving back and forth between the different victims each with its own set of mission objectives. This type of format lengthens the game significantly because you’re managing several cases at once with each at different levels of progress.

The game incorporates voiceovers from Dexter actor Michael C. Hall, expertly used throughout to create that Dexter atmosphere. Unlike other games, Dexter follows a steady, slower pace as you identify and stalk your victim and incorporates a mix of timed and untimed mini-games, performing and meeting task-oriented activities, and interacting with other characters. This is where the game shines because the variety of challenges keep everything moving.

Through the use of 3D graphics which run smoothly on my iPod Touch 2G, the game makes liberal use of cut scenes that show Dexter performing his actions to give it an almost movie-like quality. The characters representations can look somewhat strange, however. Dexter’s sister, for example, is not nearly as sexy as she is on the show, although the character of Sergeant Dokes looks pretty good. The various locations, however, such as Metro Police Station or a victim’s home really do show the high production values that were put into this game.

The game offers three levels of difficulty—easy, medium and hard, and the level of difficulty primarily determines the amount of available of time to complete timed puzzles and activities. You can play either in third-person (behind Dexter’s back) or in first-person mode, and choose from several types of controls—double joystick, accelerometer/tilt, single joystick, and an on/off option for strafing.

This video shows some of the controls and environments, but does carry strong language so is not safe for work:

Contextual action buttons will appear in the appropriate situations such as Examine, Open, Talk and Climb among others. Items that Dexter can interact with are highlighted such as doors, tools, and files. Use of the Talk button brings up text-based dialogue boxes accompanied by voice acting. You are then presented with three response options. The responses range from aggressive to passive and each choice affects Dexter's "Dark Passenger" score and "Mask" score. You need to strike a balance to avoid exposing yourself, while still fulfilling Dexter's inner darkness. If the Mask white bar ever depletes down to zero, the game is over since Dexter will be no better than the criminals he stalks.

The game also provides several tools that help you complete missions. The Journal located at the top of the screen keeps track of case progress and also tells you want you need to do. And since Dexter needs to travel from place to place, accessing the GPS will show different locations. By tapping on a location, the game takes Dexter instantly there. In that, the 3D environments offered are discrete locations rather than one contiguous open world.

Overall, the developers did an admirable job creating a game incorporating a relatively engaging storyline tied together through a variety of different mini games. The initial task usually involves stalking the victim without being seen, and you maneuver Dexter in a game of hide and seek. As the story progresses, you also have the bigger task of investigating an unnamed serial killer who freezes victims before chopping them up. Other tasks involve picking locks, gathering evidence, and executing the final judgment on the victim.

While you can move Dexter in any direction you want, the goals can feel very pre-set rather than providing a free-roaming alternative choices. For example, entering someone’s house involves picking a lock, but then a dog prevents you from entering so you’re left with breaking through a window. Or in another, while stalking a victim, there is only one way to accomplish the recon rather than having several options.

Dexter the Game has high production values that incorporate a good variety of challenging tasks and mini-puzzles despite the point A to point B task progression. Understandably, with this type of game, the replay value is limited, but what is there should take a while to complete. If you’re a Dexter fan, the game is a solid adventure game that admirably captures the spirit of the series. For others, however, first watching the show or reading the books will go a long way in the actual enjoyment of the game.

App Store Link: Dexter the Game. $5.99

Note: there have been reports of the game not working on OS 2.2.1

After having been in the works for over a year, the Dexter iPhone game has finally arrived in the App Store [$5.99].

In the game, help Dexter choose his next victims while always protecting his identity. Analyze crime scenes, uncover evidence and use stealth tactics to stalk your prey. Is the case best served by the courts or the Dark Passenger? The outcome of every choice and action revolves around the Code of Harry: only kill the guilty, maintain the mask, and above all, don’t get caught!

We've had hands on time with early versions of the game at GDC and E3. The game has been notable for its impressive 3D engine. This gameplay video is from a build back in March, so aspects of the game may have changed from that time, but it gives you an idea of the feel of the game:

Also remarkable in our discussions with the developers has been the efforts to stay true to the Showtime TV series. The game features a storyline written by the series producer as well as voice acting from Dexter actor Michael C. Hall.

Early reactions are being collected in our forums and we'll provide a closer look after we spend some time with the title.

App Store Link: Dexter the Game, $5.99

Ngmoco's Rolando 2 has seen its first price cut down from $9.99 to $5.99.

Rolando 2 received high marks in our own review as well as the TouchArcade community.

All in all, we are really impressed with Rolando 2 which does justice to one of the few classic iPhone originals. Like the original, the art, style and music come together in a wonderfully immersive package. And with the addition of Plus+, you'll find yourself working to perfect your scores on individual levels in order to challenge your friends.

Rolando 2 is expected to receive free level pack updates ahead of Rolando 3 which was also announced in March.

App Store Link: Rolando 2, $5.99

A little over a year ago, in the App Store's youth, Namco provided some of the first big name iPhone game titles with their release of rather faithful ports of Pac-Man [App Store] and Ms. Pac-Man [App Store] for the iPhone.  They quite recently followed these titles up with the release of Pac-Man Remix [$5.99], featuring modern graphics and enhanced gameplay.

Pac-Man Remix is indeed Pac-Man at its core, but features various enhancements that add variety to the well-known formula.  Aside from the standard maze full of dots and power-pellets, there are power-ups that enable things such as an invincible, mirror image Pac-Man ghost that helps with the dot chomping and the ability to jump over pesky, travelling arcs of electricity (a new hazard).  Many of the mazes are dual-height, with elevators and transporter pads providing access to the upper and lower areas.  What's more, at the end of each stage is a boss showdown that demands dodging skills beyond those called upon in the standard mazes of dots.  Animated cut-scenes between certain levels help illustrate play technique.

The game offers two methods of touchscreen control.  The swipe-anywhere technique introduced in the earlier Pac-Man for iPhone is available and works better, but still not ideal.  Alternatively, an onscreen directional button control mode is offered, but the layout is a bit awkward.  I'm guessing it will see little use.

Pac-Man Remix succeeds in delivering a colorful new take on the original Pac-Man formula, but what concerns me is the challenge that the game provides.  I began playing it on the default 'Normal' difficulty setting and got through all six stages in just over an hour.  The 'Hard' setting adds to the challenge, but the game just feels too easy -- far easier than either Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man.  And that certainly doesn't have you coming back for more. It's an official Pac-Man license from Namco, and that's a notable mark in the iPhone's repertoire, but at $5.99 -- big name license or no -- the game should provide more than an hour's playtime.

My recommendation on this one is to take a good look at the gameplay video to get a feel for the title and be quite aware that you're in for a short-lived gameplay experience, going in.  My guess is that only true, die-hard Pac-Man fans could find Pac-Man Remix a sound value.  The casual Pac-Man fan looking for a modern take on the formula may want to wait for the upcoming iPhone adaptaiton of the highly rated XBLA title Pac-Man Championship Edition.

App Store Link: Pac-Man Remix, $5.99

Two long awaited games for retro fans appeared in the App Store tonight. Both Pac-Man Remix [$5.99] and Q-Bert Deluxe [$1.99] are now available for purchase.

Q*Bert Deluxe

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Q*Bert Deluxe offers both classic Q*Bert as well as one with modernized graphics. This release also contains a new Jungle theme with brand new boards. There is an ongoing discussion in our forums.

App Store Link: Q*Bert Deluxe, $1.99

Pac-Man Remix

While Namco had already released the classic version of Pac-Man [$5.99 / Lite] in the early days of the App Store, this newest release is a modernized version of the original. Pac-Man Remix offers enhanced graphics, boss battles, extra gadgets and power-ups across its stages. There is also a discussion in our forums by early adopters of the game.

App Store Link: Pac-Man Remix, $5.99

We'll take a closer look at both of these titles later today.

Namco Networks has just announced that it has submitted Pac-Man Remix, a modern take on its 1980 arcade classic, to the App Store.

Based on the world-famous arcade hit, PAC-MAN REMIX showcases enhanced graphics and lots of new exclusive features like boss battles, stage-specific gadgets, and power-up items! Guide PAC-MAN through the maze and avoid the brightly colored ghosts while chomping up all the dots. Eat a power pellet to temporarily turn the tables on the ghosts. Gobble up as many ghosts as possible while they are blue. Chomp the ghosts consecutively during one power pellet to score major bonus points!

The game holds onto the core Pac-Man game mechanic, but expands greatly upon it, both as far as visual presentation and gameplay are concerned.  Pac-Man Remix is played across six different stages (with five levels each) and features various power-ups that can be acquired to help beat those familiar ghosts and their six new boss ghost friends.  These include:

• Jump -- jump over ghosts or walls
• Dash -- move faster
• Lucky Item -- all the pellets turn into Power Pellets
• Ninja Item -- Trick the ghosts with an illusion of Pac-Man

Two methods of control are offered in the game: on-screen directional buttons and swipe controls, like those used in Namco's iPhone version of classic Pac-Man.

The game appears to be an evolved / extended adaptation of the studio's well-reviewed 1996 release, Pac-Man Arrangement, which is an excellent remake I've spent considerable time with on the Gameboy Advance.  If Remix is anywhere near as good as Arrangement -- which it should certainly be -- then iPhone gamers are in for quite a treat.

Pac-Man Remix has been submitted to the App Store and should appear later this week at a price of $5.99.

Namco also took this opportunity to announce the launch of a new division within the company, dedicated exclusively to the iPhone and iPod touch.  The new 'Apple Games' division is headed up by former I-Play Mobile Gaming producer and designer Jonathan Kromrey.  And while the announcement of Pac-Man Remix brings a smile to my face, the creation of the new division within Namco focused entirely on iPhone gaming, and the studio's commitment to the platform that such a move reveals, is a much more significant turn of events.

We can't wait to see what the studio has in store.