Apple App Store iPad gaming update for September 5, 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, right as you are about to start that long work week.

So iOS 4.2 is due out November 2010 and only then will the iPad get to experience the joy of multitasking and unified In boxes that iPhone and iPod Touch users have been enjoying for a while. Is it me, or does it seem like the iPad has become Apple’s newest “hobby?”

Even Steve Jobs himself looked uninterested when talking about the iPad at the September 2010 event. For those of us who are interested in the device, here’s this week’s games:

What’s Free

N.O.V.A. – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance HD FREE
“With Earth no longer able to sustain life, huge artificial satellites called “near-orbitals” were constructed for people to live on. To protect themselves, the near-orbitals banded together to form N.O.V.A., the Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance. Now, a strange threat has emerged from the darkness of space. A Marine ship, reported missing just a week ago, has suddenly reappeared and is headed directly for the near-orbitals, ignoring all communications. Against his will, retired Marine hero Kal Wardin is forcefully returned to active duty to prevent mankind’s annihilation.”

Nikita Spy Training
“A secret unit of the government called Division is looking for new recruits to track down escaped assassin Nikita. As a rookie in the Division Spy Training Program you are required to successfully pass several levels of weapons training by demonstrating your exceptional skill in their multi-target firing range. Prove yourself and you could possibly be selected to hunt down Nikita.”

Word Abacus
“Test your word pool in this addictive word puzzle game! Find English words by linking adjacent letter beads left, right, up, or down. The longer the word the higher your score! Shift the letter beads like an abacus to increase word possibilities.”

What’s New

Action

NOTHING

Adventure

Alice HD: Price: $4.99
“Based on Lewis Caroll’s famous “Alice in Wonderland” Alice is bored sitting next to her sister who is reading a book without pictures … While she observes thoughtfully around her, she sees a rabbit in a frock coat, running and looking at his watch! Intrigued, she follows the rabbit into its rabbit-hole and finds herself thrown into a wonderful world, strange and without logic, populated by whimsical characters. Help her go through this strange world and return home!Visit unsusual places run hotfoot after Mr. Rabbit, shrink or grow to discover mysterious passages, talk to strange characters to find your way, and let yourself be carried away by the dream!”

A Witch’s Curse: Princess Isabella HD – Adventure Game of the Year: Price: $4.99
“Upon arriving home from a trip to town, Princess Isabella discovers her family’s castle in ruins and shrouded in darkness. With the help of a little Pixie, you’ll need to explore the castle and unravel the curse in this best-selling hidden-object adventure game. With new, iPad-specific features such as HD graphics and pinch-zooming, you can get in close to help you work your way through 135 scenes and solve more than 15 unique mini-games. Only Princess Isabella can figure out who did this, and why!”

Arcade

Gunner HD: Price: $4.99
“Asteroids of the 21st Century. A completely new spin on a true arcade classic: in HD! Bigger screen, bigger sound, bigger Gunner: on the iPad! As a young rooster gunner in space, you must prove yourself at the guns. Defend your ship from an endless barrage of asteroids, hurtling ever closer and ever faster! Grab awesome power-ups to help obliterate asteroids, shoot wicked defense mechanisms to reinforce your guns, and avoid nasty “power-downs” that will potentially lead to your destruction! Blast through with your pure skill or get massive upgrades from the hangar to better prepare yourself for pure asteroid mayhem. Add your friends to your squadron and compete for the highest score in the world!”

Star Fighter X2: Price: $1.99
“Available now, only on the iPad! Star Fighter X2 is an intense, fast-paced, head-to-head space combat game where you battle your family, friends, and neighbors to see who can stay alive the longest.”

Board

Blazing Mahjong HD: Price: $1.99
“The Blazing Mahjong is a solitaire matching game that use original Mahjong tile. You will enjoy 2 mode game play in 80 patterns with full 3D graphic. zoom in zoom out or 360 degree rotation. Update your score with open Feint. If you are the big fan of Mahjong , you shouldn’t miss the Blazing Mahjong.

Chess Knight: Price: $0.99
“Chess is a board game played between two players. It is played on a chessboard, which is a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the beginning of the game each player controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in “check”) and there is no way to remove or defend it from attack on the next move.”

Card

NOTHING

Casino

NOTHING

Dice

NOTHING

Educational

NOTHING

Family

NOTHING

Music

NOTHING

Puzzle

Toy Physics HD: Price: $3.99
“Enter the whimsical world of Toy Physics where you must draw lines to guide the falling toys into the toy crates below. The toys drop from the top and encounter many different types of physics objects on the way down making it challenging for you to get them into the moving crates. You’ll have to think fast and draw lines in the right places to win. There is more than one way to win each level! Your own creative thinking and drawing will be the key to victory. Toys will interact with spinning objects, spring-loaded beams, hydraulics, water, toy stacks, pulleys, ropes and more. There are all sorts of toys to play with too, including marbles, jacks, ragdolls, bouncing balls and more. If you’re up for the challenge, the toys are waiting…”

PAC-CHAIN: Price: $4.99
“PAC-MAN is back, and with a brand new format! Clear the way for PAC-CHAIN, the all-new action puzzler that unites classic PAC-MAN gameplay with fast-paced block-clearing adventure! The rules are simple! Clear areas by finding and touching groups of similarly-colored ghosts. Don’t forget to touch and flick the on-screen PAC-MAN in order to eat scattered pac-dots and power-pellets! Once you’ve found a power-pellet, prepare yourself for a serious buffet of blue-ghost chomping—the whole-screen is now at your disposal!”

Lamp of Aladdin: Price: $4.99
“Help Aladdin find hidden objects and match colorful ‘chips’ in groups of 3 or more to journey on his quest. Search carefully to find all the hidden objects, think logically to find the quickest path as you journey on a beautiful puzzle-adventure on the iPad.”

Racing

NOTHING

Role Playing

NOTHING

Simulation

Build-a-Lot 2: Town of the Year for iPad: Price: $7.99
“Optimized for the iPad! The hit casual online strategy franchise returns with an award-winning sequel – Build-a-lot 2: Town of the Year For iPad! It’s time to get busy building, buying and selling houses! Flip houses for quick cash or sit back and watch the rental income pile up. Use your entrepreneurial eye to spot the right locations for residential neighborhoods, parks and industrial zones. Boost your profits and raise Curb Appeal by painting and landscaping homes. There are new towns to explore, new Mayors to meet and lots of money to be made as you cast your vote for the “Town of the Year!”

The Settlers HD: Price: $9.99
“Welcome to the world of The Settlers! You’ve arrived in a wondrous place populated by Romans, Vikings and Mayans competing or cooperating to reach a variety of goals. These goals include occupying land, ensuring the supply of raw materials, or simply trying to create the most beautiful settlement. There is more than one path which leads to success – you can engage in trade, forge alliances, or lead your army into battle.”

Sports

NOTHING

Strategy

NOTHING

Trivia

NOTHING

Word

Hidden Dino – A Word Tour of the Dinosaur Land: Price: $1.99
“This game is the ultimate challenge to your dinosaur knowledge. Over the years, paleontologists have discovered hundreds of different types of dinosaurs around the world. While the scientists got the rights to name the dinosaurs they uncovered, now it is your turn to find those names from a huge 18×18 puzzle board.”

WordSurge: Price: $0.99
“WordSurge is an addicting new take on word games. As bubbles float up, tap them to release the letters inside. Make rhymes for even more points. Keep up with the bubbles or you could run out of air!”