Apple App Store gaming update for the week of December 1 through 6, 2009

The Apple App Store gaming update is Gamertell’s weekly look at the previous week’s Apple App Store game releases. We cover them all – good and not so good – in their respective categories with a breakdown of the great games and the free games right where you want ‘em, at the top and in your face. The list is available every Monday, right as you are about to start that long work week.

If you need a little help getting into the holiday spirit with three weeks remaining, there are plenty of games on this App Store update to help you. For starters we have Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition and Air Hockey Christmas Edition. But the biggest games this week include Song Summoner, Ace Combat XI and Inotia – A Wanderer from Luone.

What’s Free

Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition
“Celebrate the season by slicing into Santa and his helpers to save Christmas in this follow-up to Adult Swim Games’ Amateur Surgeon. Set 10 years after the original, Alan Probe is now a hot-shot surgeon zooming around the globe in his own private jet. An unfortunate mid-air collision with a flying reindeer crash-lands him at the North Pole and he’s the only one qualified to operate on the wounded. With a steady hand, a palette of do-it-yourself tools from the elves’ workshop, and a little luck Santa will be on time to make his rounds this year.”

Cookie Challenge
“It’s the tastiest of food contests brought to virtual life! Challenge yourself and your friends to eating virtual cookies. Can you eat 5 cookies? 10 cookies? How about 20 cookies before the buzzer is up? Like the fun of being in a real eating contest at the county fair without having to wait for summer to come again and you can enjoy this as a post food game anytime you’re out with your coworkers or hanging out with your friends after work.”

Zombie Dash Lite
“In your search for treasure and glory you find yourself trapped in a tomb infested with zombies! Plunge deeper into the tomb each day and use the treasures you’ve found for upgrades. Watch out for bats, floor spikes, snakes and …of course… zombies!”

Blackjack Mobile
“Quick and simple blackjack game. Use finger swipe gestures to hit or stand. Good times.”

America’s Next Top Model Free
“Ready to become America’s Next Top Model? Fight your way to the top through gameplay that includes strutting on the catwalk, posing for the camera, surviving in the house, choosing your avatar, and watching video clips. The long awaited lite version of our hit full-version game is here!”

Haunted Cemetery Lite
“It’s 9:32 pm and your taking the subway home. Everyone around you starts to look grim as their tired souls begin to take on a zombie look themselves. Instead of panicking, you pull out your iPhone and try out some “zombie killing” survival skills on Haunted Cemetery! You can never be prepared enough when Z-Day comes.”

Big 2 Fairyland: Journey to the West Lite
“Attention! Hold on to your iPhone! Challenge the monkey, the monk, or even the vicious but cute villains from the classic story “Journey to the West”! Your enemies’ funny moves will drag you down! Focus on winning and ignore those distractions! Don’t just win. Win with skill! Challenge different ways of winning and collect the classic gadgets in the story!”

The Anvil
“The Anvil is a skill game based on speed, dexterity and balance. At first you might not understand it’s purpose. Only those who take the time to study The Anvil and it’s environment will succeed. The frame holds the key to high scores.”

Warrior Epic: Sagas
“Warrior Epic: Sagas is based off of “Warrior Epic,” the popular, free-to-play, online, action RPG game for PC. Set in an exciting fantasy world, Warrior Epic: Sagas is a grand adventure story wrapped in classical role playing gameplay. Players who enjoy the stat side of gaming will find a new addiction in Sagas, which makes intelligent use of the iPhone’s unique gaming style.”

What’s New

Action

ACE COMBAT Xi Skies of Incursion: Price: $4.99
“Join the Falco Squadron and take off towards the enemy-infested skies in this new original adventure exclusively for the iPhone/iPod touch.
Choose from multiple planes and fly through beautiful vistas made from real satellite imaging! Downloadable content, including new missions and planes keep the action fast and furious! Ace Combat Xi Skies of Incursion features amazing graphics that push the limits of iPhone/iPod touch gaming!”

OMG Pirates!: Price: $1.99
“Take on the roll of the ninja, and defend your homeland against your evil pirate nemeses. Yes yes, its a little ridiculous, but its really just an excuse to bombard your eyeballs with AWESOME NINJA ACTION.”

Alpha Wars: Price: $0.99
“Fly, shoot, kill and die in the Orion Constellation. The Andromeda Army is approaching to your home planet in Alpha System and you will defend it at all costs with your small but fast and powerful fighter, Rigel. Avoid asteroids while you aim your enemies, fighters, frigates or destroyers, use your rockets and lasers to defend your home. You will be placed in three different scenarios surrounded by enemies and asteroids, kill as many as you can to get the best score.”

Skylander Mia: Price: $1.99
“Her village is destroyed. She is the one who survived. No home. No family. The only reason to live – revenge. Her fate is between sky and ground now. The way of her life is to understand the meaning of being… a Skylander… Feel unforgettable experience in a new steampunk anime arcade/action shooter. Spend your time with a great story. Enjoy the Skylander Mia!”

Astro Wars: Price: $0.99
“Astro Wars is a real-time shooter action packed space fighting game for solo and WLAN battles. The truly engaging solo mode will allow you fight alone and the WLAN multiplayer will allow you to play against up to 4 iPhones to the same WLAN. Dual-stick controls provide total control of your spaceship fighter. Pickups can power-up your spaceship fighter with classic spray and rapid fire munitions, stealth invisibility mode, vehicle shields and gun spray. Single player matches include AI Bots that include decision making for avoidance, entrapment and persecution, which will give you hours of fun; while still managing to be predictive enough so that hardcore gamers can practice their movements and beat the game with a perfect score. In this retro, multiplayer deathmatch game, we’ve implement state-of-the-art client-side prediction and other techniques, which in the past made FPS games great LAN games. What are you waiting for?”

Adventure

Mystery – Gallery Homicide: Price: $2.99
“Conan O’Brien was expecting nothing more than a leisurely evening of observing art work when he was invited to the pre-exhibition party. Then he ran into Detective Christopher Columbo at the party, he sensed there might be something more going on here. And all of a sudden, all lights go out, and shortly after the party host, Steven Hilton is discovered dead. Steven’s death was caused by a heart attack from being electrocuted. But Conan O’Brien’s keen detective sense investigates the scene and soon discovers evidence against ruling out Steven’s death as being purely accidental. It appeared that was only the beginning of a long night of continuous mysteries…shortly after, another blackout and another murder… The pre-exhibition party was an invite only party and now with two murders on the same evening! The murderer must be someone among us in the gallery now! No way in and no way out from the party! Two murders and no suspects…The murderer is among us…”

Arcade

2XL Fleet Defense: Price: $1.99
“Caught in the middle of an international crisis, you are the naval aviator charged with the defense of your carrier and the lives that depend on it from the enemy’s relentless attack. Fortunately, you are in control of the world’s most advanced jet fighter. The F-35 is a modern marvel, centralizing all information and controls at your command. With the ominous threat of a looming nuclear attack, millions of lives hang in the balance. Can you navigate the perilous political waters to save the lives of your crew while preventing a nuclear war? The entire world is watching your every move…”

Crazy Ninja: Price: $0.99
“A crazy band of ninjas have invaded our towns! They have been doing crazy stuff! Only ONE crazy ninja can be crazy enough to defeat them! Did I mention these ninjas are crazy!? It may sound crazy, but YOU are our only hope! So drop your chop-sticks and help us beat the crazy ninja clan that took over our streets!”

Cobra Command: Price: $0.99
“In 1984 Data East released what was the most cinematic and immersive gaming experience the world had ever seen, an arcade machine called Cobra Command that featured movie-like visuals and surround sound that were years ahead of their time, to put you in the pilots seat of a futuristic attack helicopter. Now 25 years on Revolutionary Concepts and licensor G-mode bring that same game in all it’s glory to the iPhone and iPod Touch! Better yet, the addition of touch screen controls, tilt steering, enhanced h.264 widescreen video, vastly improved graphics and online scoring, makes for a game unlike anything you’ve likely ever experienced. Incredibly this is only possible on the iPhone and iPod Touch and not todays most powerful gaming consoles.”

STRIKERS 1945 PLUS: Price: $4.99
“Winter of 1945, the ashes of WWII have not yet cooled when a secret organization know only as CANY attempted a coup to revive militarism. Their effort failed, but to a battle-weary population, it seemed a new shadow had spread across the world. Meanwhile, a similar threat, code named: “F.G.R.” successfully stole top secret Department of National Defense files covering new ammunition data. By using the information provided by their spy network, the F.G.R. will do their best to return the world to the chaos and upheaval of global warfare.”

A Christmas Santa: Price: $0.99
“Calling a strike at Christmas time is an annual event for Rudolph who works for free. Poor Santa Clause! He is broke to pay him. 45 days left until Christmas. He made up his mind…. He will fly alone.”

geoSpark: Price: $0.99
“Get ready for geoSpark – a collaboration between the acclaimed developers of geoDefense and Harbor Master. It’s the fastest game on the App Store! An assortment of colorful neon Sparks are flying across the screen, and it’s your job to prevent any two different Sparks from colliding. Chain similar Sparks together by dragging them with your finger. The more Sparks you eliminate at a time, the more points you get. But be careful! As your chain gets longer, your finger becomes a gravity well that draws all nearby Sparks inwards, adding even more entropy to the mix. Be on the lookout for bonus Sparks with special powers – they’re the key to mega success. See how high you can score, then brag to your friends via OpenFeint!”

Miriel the Magical Merchant: Price: $0.99
“Conjure up fantastic delights in this wonderful time management game from the hit PC series! Miriel is an ordinary girl with extraordinary talents ready to use them for the good of her kingdom. Help her use magical powers to manage the family mercantile and provide food supplies for the townspeople in this rewarding adventure! Prepare fresh breads, cakes, jams, and other delectable goodies for customers in more than 60 levels of fast-paced fun. Use magical devices and special abilities to deliver one-of-a-kind treats. Mix and match ingredients, fix potions and follow recipes that you can use in your own home! Featuring an interactive storyline with multiple endings, a variety of shop locations, a separate mini-game and hours of family-friendly fun, Miriel the Magical Merchant is the very special treat you’re looking for!”

Board

NOTHING

Card

Canasta: Price: $4.99
“Canasta is one of the most popular card games, played all over the world. Canasta follows the most common game rules and is beautifully designed in a classical style. The sophisticated Canasta AI is a challenge for all players.”

Casino

NOTHING

Dice

NOTHING

Educational

It’s Potty Time: Price: $1.99
“It’s Potty Time – Get your little one happy and motivated to do the big deed! Now it’s easy for your child to learn the potty time basics with this cute game and song. If successful, your king-of-the-commode can reward themselves with an interactive prize chart! Now your child can be the supreme commander of their emissions=the fun way!!”

Family

iSlinky: Price: $0.99
“Now the CRee8 Group is bringing the SLINKITY fun you enjoyed as a kid to your iPhone & iPod touch with iSlinky 1.0!. With the tap of your finger you can bring the classic sights and sounds of yesteryear to your iPhone or iPod Touch. With iSlinky there’s no stairs to climb, because your iPhone or iPod Touch puts you in control of a life-like Slinky and lets you slink, shuffle, or walk the plank, anytime, anywhere!”

Make Me A Princess: Price: $0.99
“For the girl who loves to dress up like a princess! Create your own princess character. You get to choose her hair, dress, tiara, and more. Who needs a fairy godmother? You can create different princess characters with beautiful gowns. Kids will have lots of fun trying different combinations of items.”

Music

Beat It!: Price: $2.99
“Beat It! is a fresh take on music games. Part beat machine, part rhythm (re)creation, totally addictive fun! Listen to the track. Lay down the notes. Match the beat. Voila!”

MeowWalker: Price: $0.99
“Moonwalk like never before! MeowWalker brings an addictive action game to the iPhone and iPod Touch starring a stylish cat who knows all your favorite dance moves. Designed exclusively for the iPhone, tilt and swipe your way to success as you try to impress the crowd. Survive level after level by wowing the crowd with your moves, dancing under spotlights, and deflecting projectiles thrown by hecklers. Compete with your friends AND the world for the highest score as levels progress into a frenzy!”

Puzzle

MEAN GIRLS: Price: $0.99
“Defiant divas and social misfits beware! Inspired by Paramount Pictures’ film “Mean Girls,” you take on the role of a new student who must decide if naughty or nice will rule North Shore High by fighting opposing high school cliques in Match 3 battles. Players can achieve perfect social harmony or completely control the cliques of North Shore High – their choices will determine how far they rise up the social ladder. Battle Your Way to Queen Bee Status: Go head-to-head with characters from the “Mean Girls” film. Match heartbreak icons to bully them into doing your bidding or match special heart icons to make a new BFF. The battle ends when you’ve depleted their Stamina or filled their Loyalty meters. More than 20 levels included.”

Santa’s Atelier: Price: $0.99
“Help Santa prepare for Christmas Eve by arranging his gifts for the kiddies.
Once you or your kids start playing you won’t want to stop. But don’t worry, you’ll have fun all night long until Santa arrives ! Children of all ages will be taken by the magic of the game!”

Racing

NOTHING

Role Playing

Inotia: A Wanderer of Luone: Price: $7.99
“Inotia: A Wanderer of Luone begins another epic adventure through the vast land of Inotia! Choose from 5 different classes: Knight, Magician, Priest, Thief, Templar. With over 200 Single player quests and never-ending playtime on Online Match up mode, this game is bound to give iPhone gamers endless enjoyment. Save the land of Inotia and free your people from the Evil Lord Gorgon. Available for OS 3.0 and above!”

SONG SUMMONER: The Unsung Heroes – Encore: Price: $9.99
“A boy’s search for his kidnapped brother sets him against scores of mechanical minions in SONG SUMMONER: The Unsung Heroes – Encore. As the Conductor of legend, Ziggy has the ability to give physical form to music, summoning soldiers to battle from the songs in your music library. The song you choose determines which one of the over fifty unique Tune Troopers will answer the call and fight by your side. This encore performance expands on the original Song Summoner experience, offering all-new Tune Troopers and a reworked storyline twice the size of the first, with surprises for fans both old and new.

MUDMaster: Price: $1.99
“MUDMaster is a telnet client especially designed for MUD & MUCK gameplay.”

Simulation

NOTHING

Sports

Shaun White Snowboarding : Origins: Price: $4.99
“Grab your board and hit the powder with snowboarding’s hottest property. Choose who you’ll shred to victory – pick from Alex (female), Mats, Gordon or Mario. Each has their own unique style and clothing and specialities in either control, tricks or speed – depending on how you want to rock the slopes! Shaun provides a personal tutorial to enable you to get to grips with the game. Attempt and nail over 50 different snowboarding tricks combinations including nosegrabs, melons, method and indys as you ride fresh powder all over the world. The game spans four different countries – Chile, Japan, Spain and USA as you take part in the most exhilarating snowboarding experience the iPhone has ever seen. Become part of the Shaun White community and take on the players all over the globe to climb up the world ranking leaderboard. Find your friends via Facebook and Twitter’s connections managed by OpenFeint and get them hooked up with a board to see who can pull the maddest tricks and gain the highest scores. Keep connected with them by enabling the chat option and compare progress to make sure you stay ahead!* Choose one of four ways to play the game. You can either freestyle, use the “ghost” option to record your game which you can then use to play and beat yourself, or challenge your friends to play your “ghost” or if that’s not enough challenge players across the world to see if they can thrash your score by beating your “ghost”!

Air Hockey Christmas: Price: $0.99
“Air Hockey Christmas is a new full featured AI or multiplayer driven Air Hockey game with a nice Holiday flavor added in. Play one of five different computer AI difficulty levels or compete with your friends live in multiplayer mode. With sounds, music, different backgrounds, it’s an overall great app that will satisfy your Air Hockey needs.”

Bobble Boxers: Price: $2.99
“READY FOR THE MOST UNIQUE BOXING FIGHTER GAME EVER? Bobble Boxers let’s you choose from the most unique Bobble Head fighters you have ever seen. You will face tough opponents from many different parts of the Bobble Boxing world. Ever seen a Bobble Head box before? Now you have a chance to and have fun doing it and become the champ. If you just want to see the fighters fight on their own, you can! The main screen exhibits two fighters randomly fighting every single time! You will never see more unique opponents than these cool Bobble Boxers! Fight every character till you are the King of the Bobble Boxing world!”

Strategy

Battle of WWII: Price: $6.99
“Place yourself in the position of the 9th Division of the US Army and fight through the hostile territories of the Normandy in World War II. Assist the allies in Operation Overlord, in order to destroy the German supremacy in Europe. In this realtime strategy game, you control various units such as solders, tanks, guns, jeeps and artillery. Crush your opponents with clever tactical attacks and do not allow any setbacks happen. Explosions, fire and smoke come from all directions. When in the towns however, ensure that you do not raze your friends´ remaining buildings to the ground.”

World Wars – A Dice War Games: Price: $0.99
“World Wars is a unique new turn-based strategy game from Powerise Interactive. Using nothing but dice and a randomly generated territory map made of hexagons, the game is similar in gameplay to that of the board game, Risk, though much simpler and quicker to play. The objective is to conquer all territories and eliminate all your opponents by attacking them with dice. World Support Single and Multi-Player games. The single-player game may be played with up to five (5) computer opponents, selectable at the game’s main menu. Simply choose a number and let the game begin. The Multi-Player modes support play against your friends on same machine.”

Trivia

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2010: Price: $2.99
“Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2010 challenges players to correctly answer 15 questions of increasing difficulty with the help of four lifelines – Ask the Audience, Phone a Friend, Double Dip and Ask the Expert. Ten experts provide answers to the game’s library of questions. Just like on TV, players must answer before the game clock runs out, and any time remaining on the clock is banked for the million-dollar question.”

NFL Trivia Matchup: Price: $2.99
“Think you know football? Put your knowledge to the test. Not so up on your NFL stats and records? Then you need this game even more! Take real NFL teams on a trivia ride up and down the field. More than just a trivia game, use your knowledge of the NFL and play calling skills to lead your team to victory. You pick the play, get it right and move the ball, but lookout for that defensive blitz! Play a full game of football while answering trivia questions. Think you know more then the guy next to you, challenge him to a game in Multiplayer mode. A must have for any NFL fan and a must play while watching the games on Sunday.”

Word

Word Space: Price: $0.99
“About the game: There are 14 questions in this game. The questions are composed from 4-5-6-7-8-9-10 letters. The time allowed for iWordSpace is 4 minutes. Every question on the screen is valued at multiplying 100 points with the number of answer box. Remaining time is on the left of the screen, the total score which is green is on the right of the screen and also the worth of the question which is red is under the total score. The questions are answered by help of the keyboard that is seen on the screen. For the questions which are not easily predicted, a letter can be taken with pressing a pink button that is placed on the right of the keyboard. At the end of this action, a random letter is opened from the answer. Every opened letter means luck of 100 points of that question and the time of opening the letters is including to 4 minutes. If you want to answer the questions, you can stop the main time with the help of pressing the green button. After the stopping the main time, you have to write the right answer in 30 seconds. If there is any letter that has written wrong, the new letter can be written with the help of touching that box. After the right answers the boxes will automatically appear pink, the winning point will be added to your total score and the game will continue with a new question. Else if the answer is wrong, the right answer can be written in 30 seconds. At the end of the 30 seconds, the right answer will be automatically seen on the screen in red if the answer is still wrong. As a result of a wrong answer, your total score will fall and a new question will appear on the screen.”

iPhone and iPod Touch Links

Appletell: [Macintosh/iPhone software update roundup - December 4, 2009] [Free Apps roundup for December 4th, 2009] [The Legend of Zelda on the iPhone?]

Gamertell: [Phoenix Wright to set up his practice on Japanese iPhones]