Apple App Store gaming update for the week of January 25 through February 1, 2010

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 (Tuesday this week), right as you are about to start that long work week.

Okay, so that happened. Even though it’s two months out, that hasn’t stopped anyone from speculating on every detail of the questionably named iPad. Regardless of what anyone thinks, we can all agree that this thing will sell gangbusters upon release.

So what do you consumers think about this device? More importantly (at least to this website) what do you iPhone and iPod Touch gamers think about it? Sure it gives us more power and a better screen at a decent price, but is worth sacrificing mobility and even more importantly – buying yet another device? This is probably one of those questions that will have to wait until later this year when Apple announces its annual change to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Though, who really cares? That’s two months away. You want games now, so without anymore interruptions here’s this week’s App Store update lead by the notable Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, ESPN Linebacker, Fruit Farm Tycoon, and Jane’s Hotel.

What’s Free

New York 3D Rollercoaster Rush FREE
“Take a thrilling ride through the city that never sleeps with 3D Rollercoaster Rush NY! Play 3 insane repeatable rollercoaster rides with 3 challenge races in the Free Version. Want more? Purchase the premium Full Version to experience all 40 action-packed New York City tracks full of steep, sky-scraping peaks, huge drops and gut-wrenching curves! Pull off Extreme Air, Crushing G’s and other insane stunts as you overcome challenging breakable tracks, loop-the-loops, chasm jumps and more! Speed increases your excitement meter, multiplying your score, but even small jolts are enough to send carts hurtling down to the Streets below!”

PairPair
“A memory game that tests your skill to remember cards you turn over. Seemingly easy at first, the pace picks up as you move along. Some special cards will assist you in combating the pace. Check your progress on the world rankings!”

JIRBO Stealth Bomber
“The ultimate side-scrolling action army adventure!”

War Next Lite
“War Next, a strategy card game, is a new approach to the classic card game, War. The core concept is the same with the highest card winning, but the player is dealt four cards with three battles waging simultaneously per round. The strategic challenge involves the cards you choose to play and the card you decide to bring with you to the next round.”

SLS AMG
“Discover the game of the film. Steer the SLS AMG through challenging tunnels and see how you measure up against other drivers. Experience an exclusive preview of the new SLS AMG thanks to this special iPhone game.”

Cave Helicopter
“Fly a helicopter through the caves. Be careful not to crash into the flying rocks. You have to collect gas tanks to get more fuel – if you don’t collect more fuel in time, you will crash . You can also collect repair kits to repair damage on the helicopter. Collect the coins for additional points. To control he helicopter, you just touch the screen and move the finger right, left, up, and down.”

Biathlete Lite
“In the game Biathlete you can practice skiing and shooting to get ready to compete with rivals in the biathlon. Championship consists of 3-ski races, 3-firings, as well as the distance penalty for missed shots. In the shooting could be used 3 types of guns: light, medium and heavy. The heavier the rifle, the easier it is to get to the target, but heavy rifle will not be easy to transport to the ski race. Walk ski distance is not too easy to get as accurate as possible skiing in a rut. Good luck!”

Shaun White Snowboarding : Origins LITE
“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!”

Crazy Penguin Party FREE
“There’s no party like a penguin party! Release your inner penguin with this fun party-game pack full of addictive action and arcade mini-games! Sample the hilarity with 2 crazy mini-games and an addictive board game in the Free Version – Or buy the Full Version and enjoy a pack full of wacky penguin antics, including 12 fun mini-game experiences, 35+ challenges and over 10 unique game boards! Instantly brag about your high scores on Twitter! Challenge your friends head-to-head in Hotseat Tournaments on a single iPhone! Warning: this game is easy to pick up, but difficult to put down!”

Planet Protector
“Planet Protector” is an exciting 360-degree shooter. Kamikaze ships are attacking your planet. Your mission is to destroy them before they make contact. If an enemy ship strikes your planet your planet will take damage. This is represented by a meter on the bottom of your screen. Once the meter reaches zero, your game will be over. If an enemy ship collides with your ship you will be momentarily immobilized, however your planet will take no damage. Some enemies drop health, others drop special weapons. Connect with these items to collect them. Tap your screen to fire. Replay and try to beat your high score.”

ShipFighter Lite
“Do not let ANY enemy ships get past your fighters! Each enemy ship that makes it past the bottom of the screen will attack your ship, and you lose a fighter. Use your fighters as weapons! Crash into enemies to destroy them before they can get past you. Strategic suicide is a powerful tactic! When you launches a new fighter, it releases a high energy burst which destroys all enemies in range. Self-destruct to preserve your ammunition! A touch will cause your current fighter to self-destruct. Before the ship blows up, it ejects its ammunition so that the next fighter can pick it up.”

The wheel show lite
“The wheel show is television game show. The user compete against each other to solve a word puzzle for cash and prizes. The show’s main premise is word puzzles, which are presented with an appropriate category and none of the letters revealed. The player spins the Wheel to determine the cash value of a letter in each turn, or buy a vowel if he or she has at least $50. The Wheel also contains special spaces which affect the course of gameplay, as well as special prizes.”

What’s New

Action

Iron Commando Pro: Price: $0.99
“it is the year 2046. an anthropomorphic extraterrestrial species has overrun planet earth, and is unleashing its destructive forces on major cities across the globe. apocalypse threatens as rumor spreads that the invaders have scheduled a 7,000 megaton nuclear detonation. You are all that stands between your planet and a nuclear winter. now is the moment of determination, iron commando…”

ShipFighterM: Price: $0.99
“Do not let ANY enemy ships get past your fighters! Each enemy ship that makes it past the bottom of the screen will attack your ship, and you lose a fighter. Use your fighters as weapons! Crash into enemies to destroy them before they can get past you. Strategic suicide is a powerful tactic! When you launches a new fighter, it releases a high energy burst which destroys all enemies in range. Self-destruct to preserve your ammunition! A touch will cause your current fighter to self-destruct. Before the ship blows up, it ejects its ammunition so that the next fighter can pick it up.”

Adventure

The Quest – Hero of Lukomorye III: Price: $2.99
“You received the rich province of Cologreve as the Tzar’s reward for your completing your last mission, but before you can govern, you need to investigate the wrongdoings of three criminal bosses, kill assassins looking for your head, find missing Agent Kolobok and the whereabouts of your mortal enemy, Kozney the Deathless. At the end, you will have to choose one of three belts that will determine how you begin the next Hero of Lukomorye expansion. If you thought fighting moles was too hard, now while solving 52 quests, you’ll face fierce mandrakes, evil ents, hungry tigers and crocodiles, even harder than moles to kill. But brute force by itself will not get you very far – you’ll have to pick strange plants in the Dangerous Garden and learn a new ability (Healing) to cure several patients from hydrophobia, toothache, allergy and other diseases.”

Sprite Adventure: Price: $1.99
“Considered as one of the best adventure games for the iPhone and iPod touch,A must have! Differing from Doodle Jump,you must keep going down rather than up.Fresh experience does this game bring! A lovely sprite is seeking food in the morning forest.Keep far away from other animals and look out dropping down.Take it!”

Arcade

Ace Yeti Trapper: Price: $1.99
“Ace Yeti Trapper is a fun, fresh take on a classic maze video game genre. Assume the role of world famous Ace Yeti Trapper Jack Bivouac on an exciting 40-level trek though Nepal. Help Ace Trapper Jack capture animals for a Yak Farmer, Tangboche Monk and a Sherpe before attempting to haul in the elusive YETI on Mount Everest. Arcade style action with simple, intuitive controls, great graphics and addictive game play make for hours of fun!”

Bird Ville: Price: $1.99
“Bird Ville is a fun game where you try to catch lots of magical birds. You need to catch as many as possible to get SUPER points! All the birds are flying around your screen! Tap on the screen to start catching birds. This will start a chain reaction that will let you catch more and more birds. Longer chain reactions will give you BONUS points. Each bonus point will give you an extra life in the BONUS rounds!”

Board

NOTHING

Card

NOTHING

Casino

NOTHING

Dice

NOTHING

Educational

BabyFirst’s Number Time: Price: $0.99
“BabyFirst’s Number Time application introduces numbers 1 – 9 and the magic of counting. This interactive game is based on the hit show from the popular children’s TV channel, BabyFirst. As your toddler watches the screen, familiar objects appear. Count along with your child and touch the correct number that correlates to the objects.”

FarmerHowl: Price: $1.99
“FarmerHowl is a fun educational toy for your little one. Kids will be charmed by adorable animals cooing sweet sounds and peeping enchanting animations. So cute, FarmerHowl could make Walt Disney melt. A little education and fun in one sweet toy package.”

Family

Thomas Game Pack: Price: $2.99
“All aboard for the newest adventure on the Island of Sodor with 3 new games featuring Thomas and his friends. Start your little engineer on the right track with matching games, puzzles and mazes, guaranteed to entertain for hours.”

Grown Up!: Price: $0.99
“Grown up is a girlish gardening simulation game where you nurture plants and fairy breed flowers, experiment with increasingly rare and valuable species. Breed and cross breed flower canes until your dream flower girl grows up! Grow plants and flowers, organize and harvest seeds, monitor your plants’ health and maturity, and protect your plants from infestations and dehydration. It is the perfect sim experience!”

Crazy Pengiun Party: Price: $2.99
“Race inflatable blowfish! Belly-hop polar bears! – There’s no party like a penguin party! Release your inner penguin with this fun party-game pack full of addictive action and arcade mini-games! Join in the hilarity with 12 crazy mini-game experiences full of turbo charged fun! Take on 35+ challenges full of wacky penguin antics – Survive the Blowfish Rodeo! Race jet packs! And more! Instantly brag about your high scores on Twitter. Challenge your friends head-to-head in addictive Hotseat Tournaments as you compete for mastery over 10 unique game boards. Warning: this game is easy to pick up, but difficult to put down!”

Elmo’s Monster Maker: Price: $3.99
“Elmo wants you to make a monster friend! It’s easy! Choose a monster body and touch its face to give it eyes, nose and a hat—there are lots and lots and lots to choose from. When you’re done, Elmo will dance and play with your monster! This is going to be so much fun!”

Music

Dance Your A*s Off:Salsa w/ Vaitiare Au-Harehoe: Price: $1.99
“From Lisa Ann Walter, creator of the hit TV show “Dance Your A*s Off”. Have fun dancing – Lose weight as a bonus! Your iPhone/iPod touch will show you how to do the dance combination, then measure your dance accuracy AND calories burned! Want to throw down with your moves at parties with friends – or just hanging out by yourself? This App is an instant Dance-off!”

MusicMemory: Price: $0.99
“Music Memory is a twist on the classic memory game with picture pairs. Instead of matching pictures you have to find pairs of music jingles. But be quick, the clock is ticking! There are three difficulty levels and a high score list based on how fast you complete the game. You need to have good memory and a sense for music.”

Puzzle

iGetThem – Valentines: Price: $0.99
“Welcome to iGetThem – Valentines! Second episode of iGetThem puzzle game series! This time you’re a cupid who has to collect all the hearts from 30 levels. Each level consists of various tiles, which will interact with the player’s character, hearts and roses. Solve all puzzles enjoying Valentine’s Day atmosphere created by both music and graphics!”

iLoveZoo: Price: $0.99
“iLoveZoo is a puzzle game where you select two neighboring animals to swap them and make a match. iLoveZoo is based on the classic match 3 game concept. But if you have got bored with them, try this awesome puzzle game. It will be great fun and easy to play.”

Bloxomo²: Price: $1.99
“Bloxomo² (“Bloxomo Squared”) is a unique twist in the falling blocks genre. Instead of falling down a well, the shapes fall towards the center of a square grid. Completed squares around the center block are removed and the rest of the blocks move inward.”

Rozzle: Price: $0.99
“Rotation puzzle game. Rotate the colored balls so the color matches the hoop. Many different levels. Levels are randomly scrambled, you never solve the same puzzle twice.”

DivideSquare: Price: $0.99
“Divide Square” is not the complicated old style puzzle game that use only number. Especially not the dull and bored game to assemble the block simply. It is the new conceptual puzzle game to solve the problem by using various and cute blocks and numbers.”

Easter Game: Slider Puzzle: Price: $0.99
“Happy Easter! Remember those little slider puzzles? If so, then you’ll like this game. Includes 16 different images to choose from.”

Racing

NOTHING

Role Playing

Fruit Farm Tycoon: Price: $2.99
“Main character, player of the century, only wants to play and does not want to take care of the fruit farm. One day, he accidently hears the conversation between his father and a village man about how he almost died and came back alive after eating the heavenly fruit. Around the same time, ‘Fruits’, the heavenly agriculture fairy, came down to earth to find lime orange tree. However, lime orange tree was only left with its trunk as Jeje’s dad decided to cut down the tree. So, Fruits took the trunk of the lime orange tree and was resting near the spring located in the village. At that moment, the main character’s dad appeared in front of them. Heavenly people were not supposed to be seen by the people on earth, but the main character and his dad were able to see them because they previously touched and ate the heavenly fruits.

The main character goes into a deep though after hearing that he came back to life after eating the heavenly fruit. He wants to be mature and grow up but heavenly agriculture fairy Fruits and lime orange tree forces him to cultivate the heavenly fruit by holding his dad a hostage. They were in need of the heavenly fruits in order to recover their health and move on with their plans. Therefore, they took the dad’s soul which caused him to be hospitalized.

After finding out that he only has 3 years to cultivate the heavenly fruit, the main character goes on to take care of the farm in order to raise the medical fees and cultivate the heavenly fruits for his dad…”

Simulation

Jane’s Hotel: Price: $2.99
“Join millions of PC players! Help Jane make her dream come true and build a beautiful 5 star hotel in Jane’s Hotel! You begin with a small 2 star hotel at the outskirts of town and work your way to the top by upgrading accommodations and achieving an excellent reputation. Keep an eye on customer moods and make them happy by building a gold course, serving them exquisite drinks and good meals, or simply cleaning their room.”

Tattoo Me: Legendary Ink: Price: $4.99
“Introducing TATTOO ME: LEGENDARY INK, the 3D tattoo simulation game from Bloodthirsty Games! Create, customize and personalize your male Tattoovatar character with a wide variety of tattoos from four different artists. Develop a unique style for your Tattoovatar by choosing, sizing and placing tattoos in creative ways on his body. Strike a pose in the Photo Booth & save your character portraits to the iPhone Camera Roll. Post your character portraits on Facebook to share with friends. Earn respect to advance through the game and to unlock new artists, new tattoos and new hangouts. Earn cash at the Job Center for your full-body ink projects. Your body is your canvas in TATTOO ME: LEGENDARY INK!”

The King of Terror: Price: $2.99
“Bored of being the hero “saving the world today”? Have you ever imagined of being the guy who destroy the world? You, the King of Terror arrived this over civilized world in December,1999. By simply moving your finger or shaking your iphone, you can create earthquake, typhoon, volcano eruption, meteorite and all sorts of destruction to the Buchi, the residents of the Earth. There are more than 10 endings available according how you destroy the world within December. And if you want the game to be more challenging try “Challenge mode”. Games available in Challenge mode include “One-minute time attack”, “Kill thousands” and “KOT vs UFO”

Sports

Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games: Price: $4.99
“Sonic and friends are heating up the ice and snow! Prepare for an Olympic Winter Games experience like no other!”

ESPN Linebacker: Price: $0.99
“Move the Linebacker using the joystick, or tilt the iPhone/iTouch in accelerometer mode. When you have caught the running back, you automatically tackle him. If you are too far away, press the dive button for a hard hitting distance tackle. You are given 5 defensive stands (lives) to start. You can earn more as you progress through the levels. Submit your score to the global leaderboard to see how you stack up against other Linebackers.”

Strategy

Logic Football: Price: $0.99
“Logic Football is a turn-based strategy game. The rules are simple but the game is very challenging. The game board is a football field divided in square boxes. The objective is to kick the ball through the goal posts at the opponent’s end zone, advancing through the marked points. You take turns drawing a line from one point to the next, moving the ball as you go. You can’t move back across lines that have already been drawn. If you touch a point where it has been moved before or a point that is part of the border line, you get to move again.”

Trivia

Avatrivia: Price: $1.99
“A great new trivia game for fans of the Avatar movie. Avatrivia features compelling game play, fresh trivia, and beautiful graphics that enhance the experience. The game begins by flicking an ancient spinner carved out of stone. As players answer more questions correctly, the spinner ramps up to match their success. Three different scoreboards give players multiple opportunities to compete with friends and other players around the world. And different profile settings allow up to 5 friends to share the same copy of the game.”

Word

The wheel show: Price: $1.99
“The wheel show is television game show. The user compete against each other to solve a word puzzle for cash and prizes. The show’s main premise is word puzzles, which are presented with an appropriate category and none of the letters revealed. The player spins the Wheel to determine the cash value of a letter in each turn, or buy a vowel if he or she has at least $50. The Wheel also contains special spaces which affect the course of gameplay, as well as special prizes.”

iMakeAWord: Price: $0.99
“Amazing game to Test your vocabulary!! English Dictionary containing 81536 words. Need to enhance your word skill, with quick response time, must play this game!! Letters will keep falling at a fixed time interval in the play area. User has to make the meaningful words from the letters so as to empty the play area soon. As the play area is filled completely with letters the game will finish. It checks the spontaneity and ability to recollect the words in very less time. It keeps a record of all the words that the player made during the game. It is very good educational game for people of all ages to check their vocabulary.”

BuzzWord English: Price: $1.99
“BuzzWord, the Word Game from GooBox, is finally available on the iPhone & iPod Touch. The concept is simple: Score a maximum of points by forming 5 words out of the 16 letters at your disposition. You can submit better words until the time lit is reached!! You can also connect to your Facebook Account & compare your scores with your friends directly on your iPhone!”

iPhone and iPod Touch Links

Appletell: [Appletell reviews Camera Plus Pro and POV for iPhone] [Appletell reviews Dracula: The Path of the Dragon for iPhone, iPod touch] [Free Apps roundup for January 29th, 2010] [Appletell reviews contraption-based puzzle games for iPhone, iPod touch]