You may not realise it but there are an awful lot of fantastic games and already beloved property's heading to the iPhone and iPod touch very soon. Some are completely new IPs while others are revisits from an existing franchise, even some of the big names you usually associate with them fancy next-gen kajiggers make an appearance!
Although it caused us great pain, we have filtered the huge list down to 10 games that will command your App Store money as the year unfolds. Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then we'll begin...
10 - Touch Pet Dogs
Brought to you by ngmoco:), the same publisher as Rolando and Dropship, there is every reason to be at least moderately excited about this pet simulator. Everything about it screams Nintendogs, this time with more of a cartoony vibe. As you might guess feeding, playing and petting your dog is all part of the fun but Touch Pets Dogs is bringing a little more to the table than this. The game has social networking functionality, in this way all puppy owners can connect through a newsfeed a bit like Facebook, invite each other over for “play dates” and post achievements to an “event log”. The potential is there, hopefully Touch Pets Dogs won’t let us down.
9 - Circuit Strike.One
Circuit Strike.One looks to be a potent mixture of Asteroids, Geometry Wars and Rez, theoretically combining the best aspects of each into one concept. If ever there was a recipe for success, this is it. The screenshots and video released so far look gorgeous, particularly because the background is a music visualiser that is affected by your in-game actions, actions which will also change the tempo and add fills to the music. Fans of shooters and retro gameplay would do well to come back closer to the games release for a full review.
8 - Resident Evil Degeneration
With such prestigious franchises as Resident Evil now coming to the iPhone, it’s clear that developers are ready to take the device seriously. Not much is known about this title yet, all we do know is that Resident Evil Degeneration will be an over the shoulder affair with aiming achieved through swiping the touch screen and movement controlled with a virtual D-pad. Over the shoulder eh? Sounds promising. Watch this space!
7 - Sonic The Hedgehog
Everybody’s favourite hedgehog is fastening his sneakers in preparation for his sprint onto the App Store. Although the original game has seen countless ports over the years, Sega are confident that an iPhone version will be as fresh and exciting as playing it for the first time. Gameplay will be supported in both portrait and landscape modes, as well as an iSave feature similar to ngmoco’s Rolando. Despite poor recent outings on the home consoles, there’s every reason that the iPhone version should be a success. Hopefully in the near future, the iPhone will be treated to it’s own, exclusive Sonic title, built with touch technology in mind, until that day however, Sonic’s first outing will more than suffice.
6 - LiveFire
After the announcement of the game mere days ago, ngmoco’s multiplayer shooter LiveFire quickly became the most talked about iPhone game on the internet. Taking full advantage of the iPhone’s upcoming 3.0 OS upgrade, LiveFire will allow the real world purchase of new weapons, which can then be used in game. As well as this, LiveFire features integrated friends lists, meaning you can pester friends for matches at the touch of a button. Bringing a successful FPS to the touch screen was always going to be hard work, but judging by the recently released video of the game, Live Fire looks set to more than do the genre justice.
5 - Bioshock
Bringing an FPS of Bioshock’s pedigree to mobile devices was always going to raise a few eyebrows. Many argued that bringing the atmosphere of Rapture to the small screen just wouldn’t work, but developer IG Fun aren’t deterred by this. A lack of any real info means that our imaginations have been running wild with questions about the game, all we know is that they “want to bring it to iPhone“. Where will it fit into the narrative of the main game? How will it use the iPhone technology? Will the game even take the form of an FPS? All these questions could well never see an answer considering the game has yet to be actually confirmed for the iPhone. It’s looking quite likely that the game will be making its way to App Store at some point however, so keep those fingers crossed.
4 - Real Racing
Those that have seen Real Racing in action will be the first to testify that the game looks incredible. Firemint’s Real Racing intends to be the Gran Turismo of the iPhone, the genre defining game that will set the benchmark for other racers to follow. Making use of both the touch screen and accelerometer, Real Racing utilises a control scheme that reflects driving a real car. With little in the way of jaw dropping racers on the device so far, this looks likely to cause quite a sensation when it hits the App Store later next month.
3 - Rolando 2
Ngmoco’s Rolando has set a new bench mark for gaming on the iPhone, proving that the device can support games with just as high production values as any other handheld. With the original seeing over 700,000 downloads to date, it’s not surprising that the game will be granted a sequel. Although there are no details as of yet, Rolando creator Simon Oliver is already said to be hard at work on the sequel, after moving out of the bedroom and into a new development studio. Rolando 2 will be met as all sequels to a console defining game are; with bucket loads of hype.
2 - Assassins Creed
The console version of Ubisoft’s free running meets assassin adventure was one of the biggest releases of 2007 and a game we savoured here at AppGamer. Now that game is preparing to make the leap to the iPhone. Also a French studio, Gameloft will be handling the development of the game, which is a comforting fact considering that they developed the Nintendo DS adaptation of the game; Altair’s Chronicles. It’s currently quite hard to conjure up an image of what the game might look like, but it’s said to involve free-running across ancient cities such as those in the main game.
And our most anticipated iPhone game...
1) - Legion Of Amon
If there’s one genre that the AppStore is severely lacking in, it’s the RPG. Thankfully, On the Rocks Productions took note of this, and have responded in the form of Legion of Amon, an action RPG not dissimilar to the immensely popular Diablo franchise. Although the game places a firm emphasis on weapons and items, On the Rocks have also confirmed the game will feature an in depth story as well as other narrative driven mechanics. The artwork and screenshots recently released for the game look mighty impressive, and have been the cause of many RPG fans foaming at the mouth, desperate to get their hands on the game. Keep an eye firmly on this one; it could very well be the definitive iPhone role playing experience.
