The serialized story idea is tough to wrap your head around in a RPG and figuring out a way to balance gameplay with variety and story is going to be a serious challenge moving forward. If they can pull it off, Emissary of War could be something truly special.

If you have even a passing interest in puzzle or physics games, you need iBlast Moki 2 in your life.

There are plenty of games out there that respect my time and money, and this isn't one of them.

A game with well-done visuals and a system in place that at least keeps you coming back.

You won't do anything wildly new in Tower of the Elephant, but what you can do is enjoy some good old fashioned gameplay where you kick butt and take names, enjoy quests, and rack up achievements for it.

This unique sphere-tossing game has awesome cube-explosions, and that's always worth paying for.

With the exception of infrequent trips to the Roadshow, there's none of the cool historical information that gives the television show its redeeming qualities. Throw in the painfully repetitive tapping, the abysmally unresponsive nature of all iOS hidden-item touchscreen inputs, the irritatingly unfair dust-on-the-screen mechanic, and a dash of insultingly simple mini-games and there's just no excuse.

Freemium experiences on iOS just keep getting better.

If you love Phoenix Wright, this purchase is an absolute no-brainer – just do it.

Croma isn't a bad game, by any stretch – in fact, I enjoy it a lot. But it is a simple game, one that might endure in the same way that Canabalt endures, something to come back to when an errant OpenFeint notification reminds you how easy it is to kill an afternoon chasing the dragon.

One of the biggest concerns I have with Hired Gun 3D is the overall lack of variety.

Fatcat Rush is lovely to look at and fun to play, and I have a feeling that it'll capture a lot of attention, especially at such a reasonable price.

The water physics in this game look wonderful and are definitely the main attraction.

It's a beautiful, challenging experience.

Despite these shortcomings, and the fact that retro RPGs have been done to death, Dragon Fantasy offers a lighthearted and enjoyable take on the genre that practically everyone can enjoy.

While it certainly succeeds at creating a collection of games that are just as much fun if not more so than its previous title, the dreaded star currency makes a return.

A solid tower defense game which rewards intelligent play, has a lot of depth and improves on the aesthetics of its earlier version.

Don't get me wrong, the lack of multi-player does not take the shine off the overall package here. It is a smartly produced and full experience as it currently exists, and the value proposition is assuredly there.

Oh, there's even a whopping 23 music tracks, including some from the original, which brings back happy memories and the new tracks sound as great as the original ones.

It oozes character without beating you over the head with it, and, you know, its colors and contrasts also look pretty sharp on 'HD' devices.

Who I really expect to sway into checking out Madden NFL (11) 12 are the casual sports fans, or people like me, who are vaguely interested in sports games but found the various technicalities of football games to generally be annoying.

While Treemaker is a lot of fun to play and really lovely to look at, I have to admit that I was disappointed with the lack of variety when it came to the appearance of the levels.

Jetpack Joyride doesn't need any kind of "if you like randomized endless games" or any other disclaimers. It is a game you simply must own.

While the gameplay on the whole is a bit thin, Space is Key is pretty entertaining for a 99¢ title. At times you'll feel like breaking your device over your knee due to the difficulty, but completing the game is a fairly quick and satisfying experience.

There are certainly adventure game mechanics at play here, but the bulk of the game combines hidden object and escape the room tropes more than anything else.

With 40 levels to play, each with StarFruit to collect and ranks to earn, you'll get hours of fun out of Gesundheit!. It's a real charmer.

Cordy doesn't bring a whole lot of innovation to the table, but, even with some slightly off physics, it's a game that makes a lasting visual impression first and plays well-enough second.

A gorgeous 2D shooter that offers up challenging stages and lots of competition.

If you're willing to overlook a few missing features, you'll soon find that the biggest challenge is leaving your job at ASYNC Corp. to get back to the real world.

If you're exceedingly patient, or don't often find yourself endlessly retrying levels in games like this to perfectly clear each level, Amazing Breaker is an effortless recommendation.

A competent continuation of the franchise featuring solid wit, devilish puzzles, and one of the most inventive adventure game characters: Scoggins. If you're a fan of Puzzle Agent, there's no need to skip this.

Excellent gaming, folks. Do not miss it.

Sword & Soldiers might be shackled to side-scrolling RTS convention, but it's smart and vibrant where it counts.

The controls are precise and work terrifically, even if the campaign isn't particularly amazing, the survival mode is well executed.

Ant Raid might be a little light for the serious RTS crowd - its focus is on frantic action far more than management or organization. For anyone who wants some strategy in their action games, though, it's a perfect fit.

VineKing is very loveable, with charming art and a soundtrack that keeps things stressful. It's also a strikingly original game.

The metagame aspects of Puzzle Family are a little lacking.

The game still plays and feels like it always has, but now it looks fantastic in high resolution on the iPad and Retina Display devices.

The well-designed puzzles and ability to float objects, all within a physics-based platforming game, with retro pixel-art and a nod to H.G Wells, is a winning combination.

The competition for high scores is intense.

The actual game of Ascension is a somewhat refreshing spin on fantasy-based card games in that instead of building a specific deck that you use in battles, you're building your deck on the fly from game to game.

The thruster physics feel great, the level design is excellent, both in looks and layout, and it all works very well, but it doesn't quite mesh with the story.

When it comes down to it, Quiz Climber is an extremely straightforward game. If it weren't so totally addictive, I'd have a hard time recommending it.

At first glance, Z might scare off people, but once you figure out how it works it's perfect for fans of both casual and deep RTS games, it's just too bad there isn't a little more handholding from the outset to bring in new fans.

But looks aren't everything, and thankfully Kard Combat makes up for its weak points with a great personality.

It's bite-sized, but versatile, which means you get a lot of length out of it even if it's pretty simple to get through initially.

Connectrode is everything I look for in a puzzle game. The game design is smart, and strikingly creative.

If you were already a fan of the original game, then the new goodies in Alien Space Retro are certainly worth checking out.

Fans of Puzzle Quest and Magic: The Gathering will likely find Orions 2's gameplay pretty irresistible. The learning curve is a bit steeper than the aforementioned titles, but after a few rounds with the card battles, you'll find yourself right at home.

The inclusion of two multiplayer modes was an unexpected, but pleasant surprise.

Its biggest strength and weakness is in its diversity and although it'd be nice if it took a little more time with its more innovative mechanics, the fact most every level is wholly its own is a decent trade-off, even if it does feel like some great ideas get left behind.

Pixelbite and Polarbit have succeeded in bringing some of the best aspects of Reckless Racing into Reckless Getaway while offering a very different gameplay experience.

It's rare to find a game that embraces such an enjoyable mechanic.

Just about the only flaw I have found with Deathsmiles isn't something that's the fault of the game itself, but rather it's an inherent problem due to actually controlling the game right on the touch screen.

It's deceptively deep, riddled with charming animations, colors, and characters, and offers a huge bag of things to do. It also runs well enough and is tuned well enough to recommend it on the iPad, which obviously is a huge plus.

A faithful rendition of a Trials-style game, but it would have been nice to see a little more innovation in the environmental art or at least more of its own style instead of a nearly direct clone of Trials.

If you're willing to roll the dice on Bean's Quest and the developers following through with their update plans, Bean's Quest is an effortless recommendation.

It helps that Battle Slugs throws in a ton of character to keep you entertained.

The sheer volume of content is Dream Track Nation's main selling point.

Magnetic Billiards' free-to-play model is pretty much perfect.

Even though you might already have a ton of similar word games on your device, the clever refrigerator magnet-powered gameplay feels surprisingly fresh, and makes the UI used in previously released word games flat out seem archaic in comparison.

There's heaps of defense-type games, but Zombie Gunship stands out because of it's stark realism.

Given a few tweaks, Army of Frogs could be well worth the price of admission. Until then, though, I'd caution you to only hop in if you've got someone local to play with. You'll find a well-designed game that's a lot of fun to play -- but the pond is awful lonely if you go it alone.

What sets Squirmee apart is its intuitive, albeit slightly complex control scheme.

If you've got the patience to stick it out, though, Dice Soccer will give you more content than you can handle.

Groove Coaster is a good game with a fundamental flaw. It also has a few nit-picky problems, too, like it's spectacularly abrupt ending and horrible "How To," but the strength of its presentation, music, and RPG-lite systems make up for anything that could sour the experience.

As an overall experience, it doesn't offer much new to the table, but it does expand on the ideas of the original in a way that changes how you'll approach it.

Think of MecaPix as Tetris with guns, but also in reverse.

While the gameplay hasn't aged so well and there isn't an excessive amount of bells and whistles, the iOS X-Men is a totally decent conversion and an easy recommendation for fans of the original.

Overall, this game is definitely fun and it's always satisfying to watch your black oil slurp its way into the mouth of a strange, big-eyed, oil-craving cartoon land-creature. Hopefully they deliver on the additional levels, but any game that mixes elements from Enigmo, World of Goo and Cat Physics is sure to do well.

If you're not motivated by the high score chase, the game's done once you unlock all the hats. I'd love to see achievements and maybe a (cheerier) future level pack to pad the game out. An endless mode that actually gets harder and faster as you progress would be a nice addition, too.

Robo Surf is lighthearted and fun, with enough hooks to turn it from a momentary distraction to one of my new favorites.

The real question is whether or not I'll actually want to keep coming back for that long. I can't say for sure, but right now I really want to see what each day has to offer.

The touch control options presented here are some of the best I've seen for an iOS arcade conversion, and Galaga 30th Collection really is worth a spot on any arcade shooter fan's iOS device.

Sure, the physics kind of blow and you'd ideally like to see more out of its constituent components, but there's a simple pleasure to making bridges that jive in the game's world. Give it a spin.

The game feels slower than it should. Each time you open the app you have to wait for your games to update, and then you have wait to load your game.

Dream:scape is so close to being amazing that it's hard for me to say this, but the problems just killed what enjoyment I would have otherwise had.

A great little package. It's even Universal. If you like your word games to come with a big dose of strategy and logic, you should definitely check it out.

Match Panic confirms that the one-man dev studio is chock full of good ideas.

It's a casual, easy to pick up and play hockey game that has a surprising amount of depth and skill hidden inside of it for those willing to give it the time.

Rocket Bunnies never completely grabbed me. It's a solid, even game that's good across the board that is never quite great. If you're looking for a new physics platformer, you certainly won't go wrong grabbing this one. It's not quite a universe of entertainment, but it's a galaxy or two for sure.

Despite the ambiguous name, iDaTank is a surprisingly in-depth adventure game with a thin, but adequate layer of RPG elements added on top to keep you coming back for more.

I know the matching-game pool is crowded, but Monster Soup distinguishes itself with style and original matching mechanics.

A simple, arcade-style game that should appeal to a wide variety of high-score fans. It has a surprising amount of production value for a game of its type, most of the objects are animated, the character deaths feature amusing flying people and the shadows from clouds and planes add a nice touch.

It's still as enjoyable as the first and considering the game already makes use of slightly weird physics and non-traditional gameplay, the 'extreme' version is a better representation of what Flick Golf is all about: a casual, leaderboard driven golf game.

With my headphones in and the music on, the feeling of loneliness was so visceral that I found myself actually missing my chats with the wrist computer.

Darkly cynical fun, but fun nonetheless.

Don't write this off as just another knockoff. Hard Lines takes the formula further with six great game modes. Yes, you can play Snake mode, where your line grows ever longer as you gobble up glowy things.

The whole thing happens to the beat of an original techno soundtrack – make sure to wander into the music menu and play with the different songs. They take Current from a pretty interesting Puzzle Bobble clone to something really cool.

If you're a fan of '90s RPGs and have been craving something that doesn't hold your hand or guide you along on the iPad, this is the perfect game for you.

I've been having a great time with Juice Belts, and I highly recommend giving it a try if you've got room on your device for yet another fantastic physics puzzler.

Tiny Tower is another great, free game from the guys at NimbleBit, and you should definitely check it out. Just try not to get too caught up in the lives of your little Bitizens – it's important to put the game down once in a while.

It's a playful light-hearted game, rather than a racing simulation and the characters and courses are based on Sonic and Sega game-worlds. Seriously, if you like Kart racers, just go download it.

I'm pretty anxious to see where this goes. If you dig the retro, don't miss P1XL Party.

If you've been desperately craving an Assassin's Creed game set in an 18th Century pirate wonderland to play on the go, this will do the trick, but don't expect too much from it. If you can deal with all the bugs, you'll certainly be taken on a bizarre ride and you'll have a ton of stuff to do in the world.

You really shouldn't pass Continuity 2 up if you're a puzzle-game fan. Screenshots don't do it justice – the minimalistic style works beautifully in motion-and both the music and sound effects are great.

Personally, I'm completely hooked on 1-bit Ninja, and if you think you're able to accept some of the design decisions in the game and you're a fan of its retro aesthetics, then I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

The art style is what drew me to the game, and it looks as good as I could have hoped. The whole thing has a layered paper craft aesthetic that's simply adorable. Everything looks hand-made: the backdrops, the monsters, the levels and even most of the interface elements.