Preview: Jules Verne’s Secrets of The Mysterious Island

Following on from the immersive RPG that was Return to Mysterious Island, iPhone publisher Chillingo have announced they’re bringing a sequel to the store, announcing Jules Verne’s Secrets of The Mysterious Island is coming to both iPhone (and iPod touch), shortly. The first of the series hit App Store shelves in May of this year, and like most adventure based titles seemed to go down in a storm with the iPhone crowd. Recently I seem to be saying that a little too often about various titles, but having actually owned (and played) this title myself, I can say quite honestly say the adventure was thoroughly enjoyable to play through.

Based on a graphic novel by Jules Verne’s, and carrying on from titles such as 1112 and Cassandra’s Journey, the game sees you take the role of Mina, a sailor who becomes stranded on an island, somewhere in the Pacific ocean. As you trail and tap your way around the island, trying your up-most to survive, and finding objects and (more importantly) food along the way, you try to unlock the mysteries hidden within.

Described by Chillingo as an experience which will mirror that of Robinson Crusoe, this new release will carry on from where you left off. The game will start off with a helicopter crash, and continuing the theme of being stranded, you will have to guide Mina to safety. This time will also see you visit new locations including: Captain Nemo’s base and scouring the ruins of an unknown civilization. Eventually, you will realize the cause of the threat to the island, and will aim to prevent it.

For approximately 700 Mb, the player will find out the end of the adventure of Mina. Jules Verne’s “Secrets of The Mysterious Island” contains stunning 3D graphics, many ambient sounds, music designed to enhance the mysterious atmosphere and feel.

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Garters & Ghouls Preview

I’ve had a few days now to play through a preview version of Garters & Ghouls, the first original IP that Namco have created for the iPhone. It’s great to see one the the giants of the video game industry developing new games on such a new platform as the iPhone.

The story of Garters & Ghouls is very fitting for the Halloween season. You have been brought back from the dead to fight the Thrum (think multi-species zombies). The game is a dual stick shooter with various weapons and enemies to hunt down. Your goal is to clear each level by destroying the portals and the evil creatures that come from them. You do this through 25 different levels set in many different scenes including graveyards, churches, and various carnival-like areas. There are of course power-ups that can be bought with gold collected from the dead Thurm.

The game itself, while a little rough around the edges still, has done something that most games of this genre haven’t, it’s held my attention. I’m not sure what that says about the game or me, but it has interested me. Could be the garter belts.

Garters & Ghouls is expected to launch right around Halloween. We’ll let you know as soon as it has launched.

Hit the jump for more screen shots.

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E3 Wrap-up: Red Rocket Games Shows Little Runner, Mevo

Red Rocket Games is new to the iPhone, and their first game, Little Runner is a fun, simple casual game where you level the path of you never-stopping little runner. You do this by raising and lowering pieces of the road before the runner gets there. There are slight changes to keep things interesting with each increasing level. Take a look at the trailer here:

The music is good, and it’s a good simple little game at $0.99.

Mevo – Simplified Rhythm Game

Red Rocket also announced a new music based rhythm game, Mevo. It’s a simplified rhythm game with just left and right on screen buttons, instead of the usual four, in time to the beat of the songs. The better you are with the rhythm, the better your little guy moves.

The app should be submitted to the app store soon and looks promising as a perhaps more casual rhythm game. Screen shots are below.

Real Racing Revs Up

I got a pleasant surprise in my inbox today, and I hardly slept last night for playing it so much.

Hot on the heals of their great update to Flight Control, Firemint have submitted to the app store a completely different game, Real Racing. Possibly the best racing game we’ve ever see on the iPhone, it’s coming really soon and I’ve got a final build ad-hoc copy. I’ve commented before about how great of a game this is. The final version is even better. It has amazing fit and finish and looks even better than the previous versions I’ve seen. Well done Firemint!

The racing game features 12 tracks, 26 cars, and five different game modes. The most interesting feature, to me, is the asynchronous multiplayer mode. Very well done, and a ton of fun to play.

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow the game specific Twitter account, or become a fan of the Facebook page.

No word yet on price, we’ll see that when the app goes live. And we’ll have a full review ready for when the app goes live. That is if I can stop playing it. For now, check after the jump for the official trailer video, more screen shots, and the official app description.

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Rolando 2 Teaser Trailer

The Rolando 2 website continues to reveal more information about the game as we get closer and closer to the launch of the title (Considering the game hasn’t been released yet or given an official release date, it’s safe to assume that each day that passes is at least one day closer to the launch of the game.) Since we last had a chance to take a look at ngmoco’s Rolando 2 website, five of the locked Rolando’s down bottom have been revealed and as of today a teaser trailer for the game has gone live (You can watch the trailer below!)

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Preview of a New Futuristic Racing Game from Handmark

We got a few juicy screenshots in the mailbag today from Handmark. They show a new futuristic racing game currently under development by Pazzazz (developers of Hellfire and GTS World Racing, both published by Handmark). The as yet untitled game is a fast paced Wipeout like racer with a variety of vehicles, tracks, and weapons. This game is the first of quite a few iPhone original titles Handmark/Astraware are working on. Up until this point they have focused mainly on ports of their portfolio of mobile games.

I was lucky enough to get a little hands on time with the app at GDC and it’s fast and smooth already. The release date is not yet known, but you can take a look at the shots below for a little preview.

We’ll have more info on this racer for you as soon as we get it.