Apple App Store iPhone and iPod Touch gaming update for the week of June 21 through the 28

The Apple App Store gaming update is Gamertell’s weekly look at the previous week’s Apple App Store game releases for iPhone and iPod Touch. 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.

Let me get this out of the way first: Red Star is now available on the iPhone. Why is that at all important you ask? Because it’s an awesome game that once spent life in development limbo (if you still have the Xbox demo, bonus points to you) finally emerging onto the PS2 and now the iPhone. Basically, I’m really hoping its decent and if you are into Contra and the like, you will too.

Anyway, the iPhone 4 has reached the public and apparently the public was too much for the phone to handle. The new glass on the iPhone is proving to be not so impervious to the ground and .50 caliber weapons. Meanwhile if you hold the phone a certain way it becomes an iPod Touch (i.e. you lose your signal). Worst of all, you have to spend another $30 (seriously, 30 dollars for a piece of rubber that covers the edges!?) just to make sure these things don’t affect you. Oh Apple, you and your shenanigans. But these have nothing to do with gaming so you are free to enjoy these fine products… so long as you are in a padded room:

What You Might Want To Check Out

Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion! Lite
“Many years ago, the world existed in 8-bit harmony…until PixxelKorp arrived. Now technological advancement dominates, and evil reigns supreme. A mass-brainwashing campaign has taken over and is turning the world into a high-res nightmare. A rebellion is rising, and Linkin Park is calling on YOU to lead the fight against PixxelKorp.”

Red Star – Lite
“The Red Star tells the tale of an alternate Russia, the URRS, where massive technology and futuristic weapons are wielded by its army, the Red Fleet. Set in a Russian-inspired parallel universe, The Red Star thrusts you into a gritty futuristic world of chaotic warfare, industrial technology and arcane magic.”

FarmVille by Zynga
“Plow, plant and harvest on the go 24/7! FarmVille, the most popular game on the web, is now available on your iPhone. Current FarmVille players can access their existing Facebook farm, and new users can create a farm. Choose from a variety of seeds to grow beautiful fruits and vegetables. Earn coins and XP to decorate your farm or expand your acreage. Work faster with vehicles like tractors and seeders, and rear livestock including cows, sheep, and pigs. The more you help your neighbors, the faster you’ll level up. Exclusive iPhone/iPod items available!”

Samurai Zero: Price: $0.99
“Classic 2d action platform game. To become a Samurai Warrior you must complete a series of tasks, jump and climb your way through each area fighting ninja, zombies and wolfs.”

What’s Free

Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion! Lite
“Many years ago, the world existed in 8-bit harmony…until PixxelKorp arrived. Now technological advancement dominates, and evil reigns supreme. A mass-brainwashing campaign has taken over and is turning the world into a high-res nightmare. A rebellion is rising, and Linkin Park is calling on YOU to lead the fight against PixxelKorp.”

MarineBlue Lite
“Launch your weapon to enemies by touching screen. You can earn high combo points if you hit enemies in sequence. You will get useful items if you eliminate fishes of group.”

Tap Invaders Lite 1.0
“Destroy the space ships using missiles and laser launched by tapping your fingertips to the rhythm of fast-paced action-packed music. Score points when an enemy space ship is hit on the beat but be warned that ammunition is limited!”

Perseus Jump
“Perseus discovered the jumping man. He suprised his jumping technic. His jumping was very fantistic! After saw that he repeated jumping endlessly. He jumped and jumped.He jumped all day. Jeus was very angry because of his son. He said “Stop jumping. if you don’t stop jumping i will throw the lighting!” But Perseus could not stop jumping. Because he became a jumping hero!”

Commandogs Free
“Commandogs is a tank-action game, which is fun and addicting. Cats corp intruded into the territory in the peaceful animal kingdom. Your friend bulldog is taken to by the cats, and the peace is being threatened. You are supposed and required to rescue your friend from danger, defeat the viciousness and keep the peace. Have a pleasant time with the cute heroine MAX.”

Red Star – Lite
“The Red Star tells the tale of an alternate Russia, the URRS, where massive technology and futuristic weapons are wielded by its army, the Red Fleet. Set in a Russian-inspired parallel universe, The Red Star thrusts you into a gritty futuristic world of chaotic warfare, industrial technology and arcane magic.”

Run&Shoot Lite
“Don’t think! Just run and shoot! You have to kill as many green bugs as you can. Tap the screen to shoot, catch superguns, lifes and extra scores. Best game to relieve stress and relax! Lite version has 1000 points score limit. Buy full version to have no limits and get extra prizies: bobms and armour. Full version also has OpenFeint integration.”

Pandora War Lite
“You are now the defender of the holy temple of God. Fight the ever-striking enemies with powerful magic and mercenaries! Pandora War is an easy-to-play shooting defense game which defeating corrupted enemies that charge to the holy land of God by direct screen touch. Each enemy has its own special skills, so you’ll need to think fast and plan ahead to combat them all. But be careful how you manage your resourced-Gold and Mana. With splendid and colorful magic attack and original characters, you will be guided to the world of a new and upgraded defense game.”

FarmVille by Zynga
“Plow, plant and harvest on the go 24/7! FarmVille, the most popular game on the web, is now available on your iPhone. Current FarmVille players can access their existing Facebook farm, and new users can create a farm. Choose from a variety of seeds to grow beautiful fruits and vegetables. Earn coins and XP to decorate your farm or expand your acreage. Work faster with vehicles like tractors and seeders, and rear livestock including cows, sheep, and pigs. The more you help your neighbors, the faster you’ll level up. Exclusive iPhone/iPod items available!”

Rhythm Racer 2
“Rhythm Racer 2 for iPhone and iPod Touch is a must have for anyone who likes to ROCK and GO FAST! What’s new? MORE MUSIC. MORE DYNAMIC GAMEPLAY. BIG NAME ARTISTS. STILL FREE.”

SurvivorX Lite
“Are you thirst for quality dual stick arcade kill’em-all style game? Tired of boring games? Tired of heavy thinking even while you’re playing a game? For you guys, we offer you our brand-new dual stick arcade game : SurvivorX. SurvivorX will provide you a real taste of killing enemies. Each weapon and skill will give you different joys : Not just different power and sound.”

South Park Mega Millionaire FREE
“Join the South Park boys on Japan’s most outrageously humiliating game show, and a chance to win 10,000 Yen, in South Park Mega Millionaire! Help Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny skate their way through a ridiculous series of the most insane, disgusting, and psychotic challenges ever! Leap over diabolical death traps, tackle monstrous sumo wrestlers, and, whatever you do, avoid the bunny men! For an extra dose of fun, check out the hilarious soundboard and listen to your favorite South Park phrases from the boys! Play as your favorite South Park character, or challenge your friends and family to a special “pass-the-phone” multiplayer mode! Featuring more than 20 absurd events, three ways to play, loads of surprises to unlock, easy-to-use controls, and more, South Park Mega Millionaire is full of totally twisted fun! Will the boys win? Will they survive? Do they realize 10,000 YEN isn’t very much money? Find out today in South Park Mega Millionaire, the super best happy iPhone and iPod Touch game for everyone!”

Arena 9
“Collect the best Trading Cards as an Arena warrior and become the ultimate Arena Master! Recruit new card warriors, for battle. Challenge other world wide players online right now. Play against sophisticated AI opponents online and offline. The Arena 9 GRID is where the eternal battle between the Arena Warriors is fought. Each one of them aiming to be the the most powerful Arena Master! Begin the game with a handful of warrior cards. As you play through the game you will earn Arena points to get new Arena Warrior Cards and increase your rank. As you increase in rank so will your ability to get better Arena card warriors.”

Vampire Origins LITE
“After being trained by the ancient fathers known only as The Order, Vincent began his life as a vampire hunter. His deep hatred for the blood-sucking scourge grew exponentially after his bride was brutally murdered. Vincent’s anger grew and the destruction that lay in his wake brought him to the attention of Valafar, the evil Vampire leader.”

EXO-Planet
“EXO-Planet – the first 3rd-person shooter in ZERO G! Live Multiplayer DM and CTF action over 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth! Earn scrip to build your arsenal and decimate the competition! Free yourself from the bonds of gravity. Compete against other players on iPhone and iPod touch devices, and also against iPad players! Set in a stunning galactic vista, on a spaceborne platform in a distant orbit, deadly games are played in zero gravity! Magnetic boots let you run on floors, walls, ceilings, or anything magnetic. Detach and leap into space to surprise opponents from above, below, or anywhere they least suspect! Launch your magnetic grapple to reel yourself back to the arena walls. Don’t drift too far or you’ll disappear into the void! Leverage your arsenal of gear to dominate at Capture the Flag or Death Match online with opponents all around the world. Your exo-suit protects you from the cold vacuum of space and has flexible armor with regenerative energy shielding. Start with the LX-Automatic chain gun and acquire additional weapons including a rocket launcher and a laser sniper rifle! Outfitted with your powerful exo-suit, weapons and lightning-fast Mag-Line grapple, the action is swift and deadly. Play matches and earn your way to stronger and more versatile weapons. Earn Scrip in every match based on your performance, and spend it to upgrade the different attributes of your exo-suit, grapple, and weapons — like damage, speed, and range. Compete in 1v1 matches locally over Bluetooth or 2v2 matches online over WiFi or 3G against opponents anywhere. Capture the most flags and score the most kills!”

What’s New

Action

Samurai Zero: Price: $0.99
“Classic 2d action platform game. To become a Samurai Warrior you must complete a series of tasks, jump and climb your way through each area fighting ninja, zombies and wolfs.”

Red Star: Price: $4.99
“The Red Star tells the tale of an alternate Russia, the URRS, where massive technology and futuristic weapons are wielded by its army, the Red Fleet. Set in a Russian-inspired parallel universe, The Red Star thrusts you into a gritty futuristic world of chaotic warfare, industrial technology and arcane magic.”

Red Storm: Price: $2.99
“The Soviets have returned! It’s the year 2189 and a special mech assault unit has been sent to the planet Mars to deal with the looming threat from the Soviet base! Guide your mech fighters through a series of dangerous missions and eradicate the enemy from the planet!”

TotemHeadz: Price: $2.99
“Tired of playing slow and boring war games with creatures that don’t even have a spine? Us too! Gone are the days of slow turn-based gameplay. It’s time for realtime combat! It’s time to step up and become real a warrior, so join the mayhem by commanding a REAL TotemHead! Just how cool is that? TotemHeadz is a realtime Side-Person-Shooter with plenty of action where your shooting and ducking skills are more important than the weapons themselves. Can you handle the challenge and dominate all levels?”

Adventure

The Lost Cases of 211B Baker Street: Price: $1.99
“The Lost Cases of 221B Baker Street is a lavish puzzle game for the entire family! Solve mysteries with Sherlock Holmes! Using a mix of addictive Hidden Object games and deductive reasoning, the Sherlock Homes game is quick, fun and endlessly repeatable with little chance of ever getting the same mystery twice. Figure out the motive, suspect and murder weapon to solve the case!”

Arcade

Arena Arcade: Price: $0.99
“How long can you survive, in an arena of brutal gladiators, beasts and obstacles? Use tilt control to run and dodge harmful elements. Don’t worry! You can always pick up useful items to get well armed (shield) and powerful (invincible) against them. Can you become the toughest player in this Arena Arcade?”

iHook: Price: $0.99
“Combination of classic arcade and physics-rope game. You control the rocket with hooks: You let the hooks out to approach the hook-spot and change direction of flight. Captivating various gameplay, wide possibilities for maneuvers, dynamic scenes with physics based mechanics, gorgeous artwork with different settings.”

Tunnel Shoot: Price: $0.99
“TUNNEL SHOOT sends you in a spacecraft spiraling down a vast corridor filled with monsters, spikes, walls, and many other obstacles which are trying to take you down. Use your plasma cannon to blast your way through the hoards or fire a mega bomb to annihilate everything in sight. Build up the largest score you can by staying alive as long as possible!”

infinite Jump Jump: Price: $0.99
“Jumping ball bounce left or right. Cute Ball Jumping !!! You complete given mission!!! You have 100 stages to clear. Fun and cute stages are comming after, Enjoy this cute challenging game.”

Tale of the Zodiac: Price: $2.99
“Be the first to ever save the Zodiacs from possession of dark power.”

Crazy Parachute: Price: $0.99
“Crazy parachute is so simple and funny that gives you ease and breeze as you race down from the sky. All you must do is jump out of the airplane and reach the ground safely before anyone else makes it.”

Infection:Zombies: Price: $0.99
“Infection zombies is a game that can make zombie world by infecting and eating people. You can enjoy this game with easy and simple controls. You are gonna fascinated by the combination of dynamic actions factors and simulation factors which make more and more zombies.”

Board

NOTHING

Card

NOTHING

Casino

NOTHING

Dice

NOTHING

Educational

Math34: Price: $0.99
“Timed practice for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Top-10 online high score rank for 5 level.”

Family

NOTHING

Music

Nickelback Revenge: Price: $4.99
“UNLEASH YOUR INNER ROCK STAR IN NICKELBACK REVENGE Tap to 11 of Nickelback’s biggest hits -including How You Remind Me, Photograph, and Rockstar- and enjoy all the fast-paced, blood-pumping gameplay you’d expect from the makers of Tap Tap Revenge, the biggest music game on the iPhone/iPod touch.”

Puzzle

Psychoban: Price: $2.99
“Psychoban takes you through an entirely new dimension of puzzle-adventure experience, as you must make your way through actual 3D challenges. A non-stop concatenation of challenges, hilarious situations and gorgeous visuals will squeeze you out of any remnants of sanity.”

Rubik’s® Cube: Price: $2.99
“The official Rubik’s(r) Cube iPhone game is here! Play anywhere, anytime on the most authentic digital representation of the Rubik’s Cube available. Of course the classic 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube is included but there are many great variations to play: four different sizes, timed mode, free play, CRAZY Cube and the custom picture cube will keep you coming back for more!”

iLines Pro: Price: $0.99
“Classic, famous and addicted ball lines game has come to your iPhone/iPod with iLines. Simple to learn yet challenging to master. Entertained at all ages. Excellent to play everywhere and anytime. This beautiful game is a must-have in your pocket.”

Vampire Defense: Price: $0.99
“The sky is shrouded by endless darkness without shining stars and the moon. A crowd of vampires are invading your village without being noticed. They are so eager for fresh human blood that they will not think twice to kill the people they meet.
And now a vampire is approaching your house. Don’t be frightened, because you can find some weapons in the pots in your backyard, however, you may make great efforts to find them. You should stay calm in the moment between life and death. Don’t let your fear carry you away. Good luck!”

EVANGELION MAGI ANGEL ATTACK: Price: $2.99
“In “EVANGELION MAGI ANGEL ATTACK”, you search for and eliminate pairs of identical panels. In addition to “Normal Panels”, which depict characters, there are also “Special Panels”, which are used to shuffle the panels on the screen, double the score for a certain period of time, and more. There are four game modes to choose from: “EASY”, “NORMAL”, “HARD”, and “TIME ATTACK”, where you try to complete as many stages as you can within 1 minute.”

Racing

Office Racing: Price: $0.99
“So you’re bored at work? Cant wait for the weekend? Counting down the days, minutes, hours? Ever wished you could just have more fun at the office? Owning this game solves all your above problems, now you can have fun at the office as you move the desks and enter some racing excitement. With all the paper work done and your targets reached its time to feature in the annual competition of ‘Office Racing’. Work your way through 4 office environments with 5 courses in each, become the fastest racer and earn the bragging rights! Look out for the Power Up Boost, learn when to use it! Think you’ve mastered the controls? Well work your way round the different obstacle courses avoiding all objects within the specified time frame! Don’t want no pressure? Not a problem, roll up to the ‘Physics’ arena and just have some fun smashing into objects!”

Role Playing

NOTHING

Simulation

NOTHING

Sports

Ace Tennis 2010 Online: Price: $4.99
“iPhone4 Retina display support – 960×640 pixel graphics!
Play a new generation of tennis matches on your iPhone or iPod touch! Play on 3 different courts (grass, sand and indoor) against challenging computer players or players from around the world. We have optimized the controls for touch screen and included a tutorial which helps to master the game. Play with virtual directional pad and swipe left,right,up or down to play lobs or short balls, or play with the innovative drag move system where you just tap on the left or right side of the screen to move your player and tilt the device to influence the direction of the shot. The game features high-resolution graphics, effects and videos.”

NCAA® Football by EA SPORTS HD: Price: $7.99
“**COMPATIBLE WITH iPHONE 4 ONLY** FASTER. BETTER. BRIGHTER. DESIGNED JUST FOR iPHONE 4! Get the pure passion and true intensity of real college football along with the stunning visual impact of the Retina Display. Represent your school and lead them to glory in the BCS National Championship. With rules and plays reflecting the real NCAA Division 1 experience, play the game the way it’s meant to be played – now in amazing HD!” (Standard version also available for 3GS and 3G)

jHoops: Price: $2.99
“jHoops is a basketball simulator. Tap on the ball to dribble. Tap and hold to hold the ball, then pull back and release to shoot.”

PES 2010 (US): Price: $1.99
“You make the moment – The champion of football video games has finally arrived on iPhone and iPod touch! Immerse yourself in unprecedented football atmosphere and the true PES experience with PES 2010.”

Strategy

Crystal War: Price: $2.99
“The [Crystal War] is a Real Time Simulation Game that adds a strategy element of using natural resources on a defense genre game. The world was maintained by a holy crystal power until that day. One day, the elf and human were attacked from the Goblins who accidentally knew the means to use the holy crystal power and the balance of world was broken. Now, It is going to begin the counterattack from elf-human alliance who had taken their world away.”

Robin Hood: Rebellion: Price: $1.99
“This game is adapted from legendary story of British hero Robin Hood. The game is 2D cartoon style including scenes: prisons, forests, castles and so on. There are 7 chapters which every is made up 4 stages, 28 stages total, through the game. There is a boss waiting for you in every chapter. Robin Hood becomes stronger after collecting crystals and gold coins to upgrade weapons and weapon skills and defeat enemies even bosses. The game play is simple and shows a variety of different fights, combat skills with magnificent effect.”

The battle of Shogun: Price: $3.99
“Conflicts, assassin, war, survival… are shown clearly in the Edo period – one of the famous period in Japanese history. Be a part of Warring states period, the battles between powerful Shoguns is not over yet! The culmination battles will be revived in “The Battle of Shogun” Flying, moving underground and invisibility were abilities of enemy armies attacking our castle. So, the dramatic, drastic and suddenly are rising time to time. Victory or defeat depends on your commands to prevent enemies’ attack waves.”

Trivia

Borls: Price: $0.99
“BORLS stands for Brains Over Really Loud Sounds. Basically, can you think and answer questions while loud annoying sounds are playing? A fun game with attitude. Challenge yourself or play with a group of friends. Just hand the game to another person when you have finished you turn. Choose from general knowledge questions or of you think you have an edge on a specific subject simply choose your preferred subject to see if you really have the BORLS to win!”

Word

Word Gem Extreme: Price: $2.99
“It’s simple, all you have to do is select the corresponding gems with the letters of the word you would like to spell. As you select the gems you will see the word being formed and if the word is in the dictionary you will see the points below the word. You are scored by the color of the gem instead of by the letter.”

HangTunes: Price: $0.99
“HangTunes rocks! That’s what I’m hearing from folks who have played this unique twist on the classic Hangman game. How well do you know you’re own music library? How about all those albums you haven’t listened to in a while? Get re-connected with the music you love through HangTunes. With HangTunes, puzzles are based on songs from your own music library. Check out the song’s cover art and quick audio samples as hints when solving each puzzle. HangTunes features a CLASSIC game mode in which you solve the puzzle from scratch, and a LIGHTNING mode for even faster play. Finish the puzzle and be the hero! HangTunes creates an interesting concert environment as your game setting, and spotlights the beautiful cover art from your favorite tunes. Try it on an iPad too, it’s a terrific experience. When a song comes up that you haven’t listened to in a while, feel free to take a break and listen to the entire song before continuing to the next puzzle. If you’re a stats person, HangTunes will track complete stats for you including hit rates and longest win streaks.”

WordBlox: Price: $2.99
“WordBlox is an addictive game in which you form words by aligning and rotating falling blocks. Words can be formed either vertically or horizontally. Use bonus items to help you. WordBlox is different from your usual “touch and form word game” and the best thing is it costs less than a Sandwich and lasts longer!”

Vowel It Up!: Price: $0.99
“Get ready to sharpen your spelling with Vowel It Up! Give your brain a daily exercise through arcade style play. You will be presented with a definition and a word with missing vowels. Shoot the descending game pieces with the correct vowel to rack up points and earn a high score. Shoot the blocking game pieces to earn extra points. An all ages game, five levels are included. From simple words to SAT and spelling bee puzzlers are included.”

iPhone and iPod Touch Links of the Week

Appletell: [Free Apps Roundup for June 25th, 2010] [More information revealed on initial iPhone 4 issues] [iPhone 4 day one: reception issues and screen discoloration]