Junk Jack X certainly has some of the absorbing potential of the games it nods to, but the fun is harder to come by thanks to tricky controls that get in the way.

Intricate yet fun to learn, Yomi mixes fighting and card games together into a compact package that plays just as well on iPad as it does on your tabletop.

Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies isn’t a drastic re-invention of the original, but adding more content and refined gameplay to an already impressive strategy game is hard to argue with.

Even if you've played it elsewhere before, Terraria on iOS is a must-have for on-the-go exploration, building, and adventure.

While it doesn’t stray far from genre conventions, GT Racing 2 is competently executed and fun to play. There may be higher-profile racers on iOS, but few that nail the controls and upgrades quite as squarely as this does.

Duet’s elegant brilliance is starkly defined against its unforgiving difficulty, and there’s a truly entrancing puzzler lurking beneath its surface.

While the allure of setting fires cools off before long, the engaging style, story, and puzzle elements make for an enticing experience.

Boson X is easier than quantum mechanics, but don’t call it easy.

Point-and-click adventure games have always worked well on touch devices, and The Shivah makes the jump to iOS gracefully. It’s rare that a game’s plot, characters, genre, and platform mesh as neatly as they do in this short and bittersweet tale.

Riptide GP2 doesn’t reinvent the iOS racing game, but with loads of well-executed content to offer, it's still a largely great option.

Despite control quirks, LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes delivers console-quality visuals and tons of variety to bolster its familiar-but-fun smash, build, and puzzle gameplay.

Toast Time perfectly captures the chaos of a rushed breakfast; similarly, it doesn’t always sit well and it’s tough to fully digest.

Cut the Rope 2 works in some new puzzle mechanics, but we hoped the series’ first numbered sequel would feel just a bit more distinctive.

Strange, surreal, and spectacularly designed, Icycle: On Thin Ice is a one-of-a-kind platformer that only stumbles when it proves overwhelmingly punishing.

Pathogen offers a stylish and elegant tactical struggle against computer or human opponents that draws immense depth from a simple set of rules.

Hitman GO is a clever and stylish work of alchemy, bringing elegant stealth mechanics to a new platform and a fresh genre.

Equal parts Mirror’s Edge, League of Evil, and NinJump, Shadow Blade is solid, slicey fun for its duration — but that isn’t terribly lengthy.

FIFA 14 feels more at home on iOS than any of its forebears, thanks to a deep-but-approachable Ultimate Team mode and a similarly layered gesture-driven control scheme, but its A.I. still needs work.

Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol is a deceptively deep, highly polished and surprisingly addictive look at the strategy behind old-school dogfights.

Cool setting aside, Joe Danger Infinity is largely more of the same stunt biking action seen in the first iOS game. Luckily, sweet rides and vibrant characters help keep it interesting, and the underlying action is as entertaining as ever.

The Journey Down's unique setup and well-implemented adventure gameplay gets the series off to a promising start.

Karateka Classic is a superb port of an excellent (if ancient) fighting game, and is a great way to rekindle old memories or to simply see what all the fuss is about.

Even if you're not much of a poker fan, Poker Night 2 is crammed with enough entertaining banter and silliness to keep things fun — and the poker's pretty good, too.

Quadropus Rampage would benefit from more exact directional controls, but the action pacing and amusing tone carry themselves well on iOS devices.

A Ride Into the Mountains overcomes a few small rough spots to offer a challenging, intriguing, evocative, and memorable adventure of horseback archery with a stellar minimalist aesthetic.

There’s no in-app purchasing your way out of Touchgrind Skate 2's challenging learning curve, but players willing to put in some practice time will find a satisfying skating game.

Smash Hit turns the simple pleasure of shattering glass into an enjoyable arcade-style cruise through abstract terrain.

Mines of Mars puts a cool building and crafting spin on the side-scrolling action genre, though its fun is whittled down a bit by control issues and minor bugs.