For all the remarkable games we are seeing nowadays on the App Store, we are blessed with very few epic RPGs. It seems that developers are still unwilling to invest in the content heavy, quest-driven adventures that many other platforms routinely enjoy. Publisher Nate Games has thoughtfully identified this gap in the market and have given us the next best thing-- a direct port of a critically acclaimed 2009 title for the PSP-- Crimson Gem Saga [$9.99] by Atlus Games.

As the name would suggest, Crimson Gem Saga is indeed an epic by definition, weighing in at a satisfying 30-40 hours of story-driven, turn-based combat and exploration of a colorful, mythical world. Crimson Gem Saga makes no delusions, drawing strongly from the tenets of the Dragon Quest series in doing little to crack the molds of the genre, but focusing instead on bringing that traditional RPG experience in as fine a package as possible.

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For fans of the excellent iPhone port of Street Fighter IV, you'll be happy to know that a new character is making her way to the roster. Capcom has just announced that Crimson Viper, who first made her debut as one of the four brand new characters in the Street Fighter IV franchise rebirth on arcade machines and home consoles, will be the latest addition to the iPhone conversion via a free update. This follows the previous update from Capcom that added Cammy and Zangief as playable characters, which we covered back in June, bringing the roster total to ten combatants.

Here are a couple of shots of C. Viper showing off her special moves (click to enlarge):

If you've been following along since the release of Street Fighter IV for iPhone, then you will remember that Capcom announced the addition of Cammy back in April, and didn't announce Zangief until over a month later. This leads me to believe that another character will be announced in the near future for this forthcoming update. This has not been confirmed in any way and is purely speculation on my part, but as a rabid Street Fighter fan I can only hope. Plus, it just seems to make sense to add two characters at a time, brining the total to a nice even twelve.

In the meantime, enjoy some video of C. Viper in action on the iPhone:

If you have yet to check out Street Fighter IV on the iPhone, take a look at our full review from March. No firm release date has been set for this new update other than “soon”, but we'll keep you posted if Capcom happens to narrow it down (or announce any additional characters).

If roleplaying games are your cup of tea, I would find it to be impossible to believe that you've never heard of Atlus, or if the name isn't immediately recognizable, surely you've played an Atlus game at some point in your life. Originally founded in 1986, this Tokyo-based developer (and publisher) have been responsible for quite a number of games on nearly every console going all the way back to the NES. Like many Japanese developers, games of theirs we see in the USA are filtered through an American subsidiary and the games released by Atlus USA are only a small sampling of what is actually available in the East. Their most recognizable US releases are likely the Tactics Ogre series (which I'd love to see on the App Store) and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.

Published via Nate Games, a somewhat confusing spinoff of South Korean telecommunications operator SK Telecom comes the even more confusing iPhone port of the PSP game Crimson Gem Saga [$9.99]. Crimson Gem Saga is actually the sequel to an RPG called Astonishia Story, originally published in South Korea by SK Telecom as Astonishia Story 2, then as Garnet Chronicle in Japan, and finally as Crimson Gem Saga in North America. The reasoning behind all this odd name swapping is that even though the story is actually continued from Astonishia Story, quite a few of the game's mechanics were changed, and somehow, somewhere, someone thought three different titles for the same game would make this less confusing.

Despite this twisted web of renaming and publishing, Crimson Gem Saga actually was reviewed quite well when it was originally released on the PSP. Sporting a metascore of 78 and a user score of 8.2 over on Metacritic, the gaming media seemed to enjoy the turn-based gameplay even though the game itself doesn't do anything particularly new or exciting in either the gameplay or storytelling departments.

We're still working on our review of the game, as any game that boasts over 30 hours of gameplay is going to take some time to review, but initial impressions in our forums seem mostly positive with the main issues centralizing around the somewhat expected clunky nature of the port as the game went from the physical controls of the PSP to the virtual controls of the iPhone. Clumsy controls aside, Crimson Gem Saga on the iPhone is the same game available currently on the PSP which sells for three times as much.

Few games inspire more heartfelt nostalgia than the classic LucasArts adventure games of the late 80's and early 90's. While we've still got our fingers and toes crossed that we'll eventually see similar "special edition" treatments to Maniac Mansion and/or Day of the Tentacle, we couldn't be happier that the Monkey Island series is being re-released with the level of intimate care that we've seen so far both with the previously released The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition [$7.99 / Free], and Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge [iPhone: $7.99 / Free - iPad: $9.99 / Free] which just hit the App Store mere moments ago.

Monkey Island 2 takes place after the events of the first Monkey Island where wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood is introduced and meets the cast of characters included in the game as he seeks out the pirate leaders and attempts to prove himself through three challenges. A ghost pirate named LeChuck is thrown in to the mix, along with the beautiful Elaine Marley. Without spoiling too much, the game concludes with romance, root beer, and fireworks. Even though playing the original is by no means required to enjoy the sequel, Monkey Island is filled with great writing, silly characters, funny situations, and often extremely odd solutions to the problems that Guybrush must overcome which is really worth checking out-- Especially considering the fantastic job LucasArts did on the iPhone port of the special edition release.

Monkey Island 2 opens with our familiar protagonist Guybrush Threepwood setting the scene for his next adventure. Now that LeChuck is no more, he decides to search for the treasure of "Big Whoop", and in typical Guybrush fashion, he has no idea where it is, has no way to get there, and doesn't really know if it even exists at all. Regardless, this hasn't stopped him in the past, and it certainly won't stop him now. Of course no LucasArts adventure game could ever be as straight forward as finding out where some treasure is, figuring out a way to get there, then digging it up, and it doesn't take long before you're toe to toe with Largo LaGrande, LeChuck's old henchman. One thing leads to another, and LeChuck returns, turning your simple treasure hunt in to yet another epic battle with the ghost (now zombie) pirate.

With a development team that was nearly identical to that of the original Secret of Monkey Island, the sequel shares all of the same fantastic writing and cartoonish charm. Monkey Island 2 is hilarious at times, and incredibly cheesy at others, but manages to maintain a highly entertaining witty atmosphere the whole way through. The port of the original to the iPhone was a load of fun, with the only real complaint being the control system which treated the touchscreen like a trackpad which you used to move the in-game cursor around. Thankfully, this has been replaced by a new default control scheme in the sequel which works like many other iPhone adventures games where you just touch areas in the game world that you want to move to, or objects you want to interact with.

Interactive objects highlighted on right.

The special edition of Monkey Island 2 also has several other refinements over the first, my personal favorite being the highlighting system that shows you objects and areas that you can interact with. Tapping the screen with two fingers makes everything interactive glow, easily allowing you to see things you've missed, or other things to try. This is an incredibly welcome change from the standard tap/click on absolutely everything once you get stuck in an area. This two finger tap also illuminates doors you can walk through, making it very easy to see where you're able to go so you don't miss anything on your journey.

If you do get stuck, Monkey Island 2 features the same great hint system found in the original where you can get hints which initially start out extremely vague to push you in the right direction which eventually ramp up to flat out telling you where to go and what to do. Having played quite a few classic adventure game ports on the iPhone, this really is the best approach as you never need to leave the game to check a walkthrough online, and it's usually much more fun to just get a small hint to send you in the right direction instead of just reading exactly what to do. (Of course, that's there if you need it.)

iPad top, iPhone bottom - Comparing both graphical styles.

Monkey Island 2 also has the incredibly superfluous yet amazingly cool classic graphics included which blew out mind when we first saw the previous special edition. By default you can play the game with its redone graphics, stellar voiceovers, and the toolbar of actions that Guybrush is capable of. Swiping two fingers across the screen causes the game to fade out in to its original pixelated glory with the top half of the screen displaying the original game with the set of actions below.

Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge launched with separate iPad and iPhone versions of the game, and while I would have loved there to be one universal version for both devices, the iPad game is definitely the one to have. Not only does it have the same adventure from its iPhone counterpart, but currently for an additional two bucks (assuming you own an iPad) you get high resolution graphics and audio commentary. On quite a few areas of the game, you're able to tap a microphone icon in the top right corner and listen to the creators talk about wherever you are in game. It's not exactly a killer feature that's worth getting upset over if you only have an iPhone or iPod touch, but it is a nice addition.

The one thing that is a bit of a disappointment is that LucasArts flaunts these fantastic looking high resolution art assets in the iPad version, but played on my iPhone 4, the iPhone version is disappointingly low resolution in comparison. It still looks good, but I would have loved to have seen some Retina Display support in Monkey Island 2, I'm hopeful for future updates that might beef up the graphics, but it seems doubtful that audio commentary will ever make its way to the iPhone.

I could go on and on about how great the Monkey Island series is, how wonderful any game build on the SCUMM engine is, and the genius of the original creators Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman, but really this is just a game you need to play. LucasArts is covering all its bases with this launch, with free lites corresponding to both the full iPhone or iPad versions. If you've never played an adventure game before, I can't think of a better place to start. The Monkey Island series is great, and the few minor refinements added to the sequel makes this one of the most accessible point and click (point and tap?) games on the App Store. Download the lite version and give it a try, if the game hooks you in, chances are you will enjoy the entirety of both Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2.

On the other hand, if you're ever played a Monkey Island game before, I doubt you even made it this far in this review before just clicking the first iTunes link you could find and downloading the game for whatever device you own.

After a brief appearance in the App Store two weeks ago, Gameloft's Prince of Persia was quickly pulled due to a "menu problem". Well, it's back.

Gameloft has been promising a "console-quality" game that pushes the limits of the iPhone throughout a dozen chapters filled with enemies, traps, and everything else you'd expect from a Prince of Persia game.

Overall, the response has been very positive. Forum reader Hitch left detailed impressions after the initial release.

I've been a big fan of the Prince of Persia franchise for quite a while, so this is a little tough for me to figure out. I just finished The Forgotten Sands on my PS3, and this doesn't really compare to it. But as an iPhone game, this is freaking great.

Similarly positive opinions are scattered throughout the discussion thread.

During WWDC this week we met with Michael Schade, a developer of Galaxy on Fire 2 by Fish Labs, who walked us through some of the features of the upcoming iPad game and gave us a brief hands on. This sequel of Galaxy on Fire [$5.99 / Free] has similar roots, and actually started as J2ME game that weighed in at a meager 1 megabyte. Galaxy on Fire 2 is a space conquest game, with a massive galaxy map to explore, multiple factions to align yourself to, a dynamic economy, and tons of other neat features that all add up to an impressive amount of depth.

Specifics are a bit vague at this point as the iPad game is still in development, but from our time with it we were shown an extensive listing of achievements to unlock, as well as just the tip of the iceberg of ship customization with all kinds of different weaponry. As you play through the game, the faction system will become an important gameplay component as the missions you choose to do effect your standing one way or the other with the various organizations floating about space. Combat seemed to work similar to the original Galaxy on Fire, with completely free and open battles in space with whoever you feel like shooting at (or running from).

Fish Labs recently released a developer diary discussing the art of the game. What piqued my interest the most from this is the screenshots showing the clear evolution of the Galaxy on Fire series of games.

Starting with the original J2ME version compared to Galaxy on Fire for the iPhone:

And finally, Galaxy on Fire 2 for the iPad:

Fish Labs plans to launch the game on the iPad in September for $9.99 with an iPhone version coming later at $7.99.

French development studio Coladia first crossed our radar back in December 2008 when they announced that they were developing an iPhone port of their Mac prehistoric point-and-click adventure Secret of the Lost Cavern [App Store]. The game went live last year, as did their iPhone port of point-and-click adventure Return to Mysterious Island [App Store].

We had a chance to meet up with Coladia here at WWDC and to hear about a few iPad titles they've got in the works.

The existing iPhone versions of Return to Mysterious Island and Secret of the Lost Cavern are rather abbreviated titles as compared to the PC originals (or Mac ports). CEO Frédéric Aloe informed us that his studio is currently readying iPad ports of both titles that deliver the complete original game experience to Apple's largest touchscreen device. Both iPad titles clock in at around 800MB in size.

Additionally, Coladia is bringing a feature-complete iPad port of Destination Treasure Island to the App Store. As the studio sets up the title,

Four years have passed since the end of the adventure recounted in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel. Jim Hawkins has become an upstanding adventurous young man, attentive to those around him. Imagine his surprise when, one morning, he sees a parrot enter his bedroom window : none other than Captain Flint, Long John's own companion. The bird brings him a message from his master. In the message the old pirate announces that he has buried a marvelous treasure on the secret isle where he retired : Emerald Island. Jim is going to have to hurry though. Pirates, old enemies of Long John, are on his trail.

The iPad version of Return to Mysterious Island should be appearing in the App Store any day now. Destination Treasure Island is set for a release late this month, while Secret of the Lost Cavern is slated for release in September. All titles are expected to launch at an App Store price of $9.99.

Coladia plans, in time, to bring most of the adventures of PC studio Cheops', responsible for the original aforementioned titles, to the iPad with full PC assets and a touchscreen interface.

While we're busy stuffing our faces with Moons Over My Hammies at WWDC, IGN is listening in on Take-Two financial calls where they revealed an interesting tidbit for any current or potential iPad owner: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is making its way to the big screen. Unfortunately, there aren't any details to be had currently aside from the mention that it will be available later this month.

We thought the iPhone version of the game was great in our review, and actually, GTA:CW is a game that looks quite good even running at the 2X mode on the iPad. It will be interesting to see what if any improvements Rockstar adds to the iPad version of the game aside from running at the native 1024x768 resolution, which might be reason enough for fans of the series to potentially re-buy the game anyway.

Needless to say, we'll take a close look at Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the iPad as soon as we get our hands on it.

Activision recently released a pseudo-sequel to the surprisingly popular Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies [$9.99], a first person zombie defense shooter made famous by its online four player coop multiplayer modes that we were very impressed by in our review. Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies II [$9.99], aside from having a title that's an even bigger mouthful than the first, comes loaded with the new Shi No Numa map. Shi No Numa is a very large swamp filled with buildings, new weapons, monsters, and zombie traps that fans of the original game will no doubt quickly fall in love with.

What's odd about this "sequel" is that the only thing different it has over the first, which is little more than the new map and everything in it, is available via a DLC purchase in the original. Also, Zombies II has Verruckt and Nacht Der Untoten (the two old maps from Zombies) available as optional DLC. Basically, it doesn't matter which game you have, as each one has the content of the other available in DLC packs.

If you've enjoyed Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies, be sure to check out the in-game store to give this new map a try. So far, the thread on our forums is filled with people who are having a great time with it, so if you have yet to pick up the game it might not be a bad idea to dive directly in to the sequel to have the newest map which most people will likely be playing. You can always pick the others up later.

Only a few days following the release of the movie, Gameloft's Prince of Persia: Warrior Within [$9.99] has made its way to the App Store. They're promising a "console-quality" game that pushes the limits of the iPhone throughout a dozen chapters filled with enemies, traps, and everything else you'd expect from a Prince of Persia game. We're going to be putting the game through its paces and plan on posting a full review soon.

If Prince of Persia's switch to 3D isn't your cup of tea, last week Ubisoft released Prince of Persia Retro [99¢] which short of mediocre controls is a shockingly faithful reproduction of the original game. Stay tuned for our Prince of Persia: Warrior Within review, and really, give some thought to picking up Prince of Persia Retro if for no reason other than to see where the whole series started.

Update: It seems as if the game has been removed from the App Store. Per Gameloft's Twitter: "There is a little menu problem on Prince of Persia. The game will be removed from the App Store & we'll let you know as soon as it's fixed"

Nearly two years ago now , Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D by developer Polarbit was amongst the first batch of games released onto Apple's fledgling App Store. At the time, it was an impressive example of what could be achieved on a mobile phone, and glimpsed at a bright future for iPhone gaming. Looking back on it today, however, the decidedly lackluster graphics, stuttering framerate, and deplorably short draw distance mar the otherwise very enjoyable gameplay. It's still a good game, but in the time since its release a number of competing kart racers like Shrek Kart and Cocoto Kart have raised the bar considerably in terms of graphics and notable features like online multiplayer. Now, Polarbit has reentered the fray with a sequel that - for the most part - addresses the downfalls of the original, delivering a largely familiar but wholly expanded upon experience with Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2.

The most immediately noticeable improvement in Crash 2 is the visuals. The scenery is detailed and brightly colored, and thankfully the dreadful draw distance of the first game is nonexistent. The levels are cleverly designed with multiple pathways, varying track elevations, and many different shortcuts waiting to be discovered. The character and kart models are notably better this time around, consisting of a higher polygon count and much more detail and personality. The framerate can still get choppy when there is a lot of action onscreen at once, but it's hardly ever bothersome and is significantly better than the original's. The load times are a bit long, and the audio can stutter while loading on occasion. Some users are reporting the game crashing, although this was infrequent in our time with the game. Also of note is the excellent music and sound effects throughout that bring the game to life without ever feeling overbearing.

Gameplay-wise Crash 2 features the familiar drift-heavy, combat-intensive racing found in its previous iteration, as well as most every other kart racing game since the inception of Super Mario Kart. It's a proven formula that's executed quite well here, but can be highly unforgiving. One wrong turn or attack from an opponent can cost you an entire race, but this can work to your benefit too, allowing you to come from behind and still win. It can end up being frustrating to race near perfectly only to lose at the very last stretch of track because someone launched a missile into your backside. This is par for the course in games like this, however, and the frenetic fun outweighs the frustration. Touch or tilt controls are available, and while the tilt felt a little more comfortable I found the touch option allowed for more finesse while turning. The controls are really responsive, and either option should be suitable for most people.

The number of different game modes in Crash 2 is quite impressive. The standards are here, such as Arcade, Time Attack, Cup races and more, but some others that offer more non-traditional racing. For example, Mission Mode presents one specific objective for each of the 12 courses. You may need to accumulate a certain amount of points by drifting, or collect a number of different items, all while still placing 3^rd or better in the race. These different modes offer a fun way to play through the game's content while staying fresh and engaging, although sometimes the requirements to complete them can be brutally difficult. There's a total of 10 characters, 12 courses, and 8 modes in Crash 2, the majority of which are unlocked as you progress through the game.

One standout feature is the ability to race online against players from all over the world. It works incredibly easily, as you just type in a username and connect to a lobby showing available rooms to join. You can create your own room as well, and as host can pick which mode and track to play. The types of online games are standard races, knockout-style Eliminator mode, and Collection where the goal is to be the racer who collects the most crystals by the end of the race. Our experience racing online worked well and was relatively lag-free, and adds a tremendous amount of replayability to the title.

In the end, Crash 2 is just what you would expect out of a sequel. They've taken all of the great elements of the first game, refined them, and added a ton more content on top. If you were a fan of the original game, then you should no doubt enjoy this one even more. If you have yet to pick up one of the many kart racers on the App Store, then Crash 2 is likely your best option. It feels as close as you can get to something like Mario Kart DS on this platform. The overly difficult challenges and somewhat cheap combat mechanics will likely frustrate some more than others, but overall the game is a lot of fun. With a ton of content, beautiful graphics and presentation, excellent online play, and the pedigree of one of the App Store's first classics, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 is definitely recommended.

TouchArcade Rating:

Splinter Cell: Conviction on the X360 and the PC evoked mixed reactions from reviewers and consumers alike as it departed from the traditional stealth-centric Sam Fisher formula and opted for a more aggressive, guns-blazing approach. Gameloft's portable adaptation follows in the same vein, but also seems to introduce some of its own issues.

From the onset it is clear that Splinter Cell Conviction is one of the better looking games on the App Store. This can be attributed predominantly to its terrific looking and varied level themes, from grand historical Maltese buildings to dock-side marketplaces and even a trip to the middle east, Splinter Cell: Conviction does a great job keeping the eyes engaged. The storyline on the other hand is fairly disengaging; cycling through the usual cliches and predictable plot-turns as Sam seeks revenge for his daughter's murder.

As with most 3rd person games on the App Store, Splinter Cell Conviction is controlled with a virtual analogue stick and on-screen buttons. These buttons are context-sensitive, the action button changing between firing your weapon at range and grappling enemies when up close. Though the context-sensitive controls should work well, we felt that they haven't been executed as well as they could have.

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TouchArcade Rating:

Following oodles of clones and other games directly inspired by Grand Theft Auto-style gameplay, it was great to finally see a real GTA game on the platform when Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [$9.99 / Free] arrived early this year.

We absolutely loved the game in our review, and later went on to rate it five stars in our best iPhone games roundup for January. Chinatown Wars is a complete port, with all of the content from the original version of the game when it first launched on the Nintendo DS, then later on the PSP. The sheer scope of a "full" GTA game is something you really must experience if you haven't before.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Lite [Free] includes the first three missions from the game, which won't take you very long to beat, but is more than enough to both see how the game performs on your device, as well as whether or not you like the controls. If you've never played Chinatown Wars, you really, really need to give the lite version a try.

Carcassonne developer The Coding Monkeys has confirmed with us that the iPad version of the upcoming Apple handheld title will be a universal update to the initial App Store release this summer.

Just don't expect the update to hit in the immediate.

According to developer Martin Pittenauer, The Coding Monkeys haven't started work on the larger version of the game. Instead, they've focused their efforts on the iPhone and iPod Touch versions slated for release in May.

"The iPhone version will be released this month and we plan to start work on the iPad after that," developer Martin Pittenauer told us via e-mail.

"We poured a lot of love into the game already and feel the iPad version deserves the same level of attention, so it's hard to make promises for a release date right now. But we plan to have the game universal later this summer."

Universal updates allow handheld Apps to run natively on the iPad, which avoids creators from having to juggle two similar Apps on the Store at the same time.

The Carcassonne update will be free for purchasers of the App, but the price of the whole package will be raised from its initial $4.99 price point once the update goes live on iTunes.

"Once the app is universal we will end introductory pricing and sell the game for $9.99," Pittenauer told us in a later e-mail. "So, if you buy early, you essentially get a discount on the version that runs on iPhone, iPod, and iPad."

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Still trying to justify the purchase of Plants vs. Zombies HD? Well, here's a nice video showing the one advantage of having a large multi-touch device - 11 points of contact.

It seems clear -- Popcap suggests that if you want to be a better parent, buy Plants vs. Zombies HD. Of course, you can stick with the iPhone version, but then you and your child are limited to only 5 points of contact - so you'll have to take turns.

App Store Link: Plants vs. Zombies HD, $9.99, Plants vs. Zombies, $2.99