Category: Friday Five »

Dark Void Zero:
Dark Void on the consoles may have bombed on the review charts, but the iPhone version is an utterly different story. 8-bit visuals, achievements, online leaderboards, and so much more make this side scrolling shooter a highly addictive game. Capcom, being the devilishly nice company they are, is even feeling a bit generous and letting you get it for a lousy $0.99 this weekend.

Mega Man II:
The Blue Bomber is back and better than ever. Enjoy the original NES game without having to do any funny stuff with ROMs and emulators. Enjoy all 14 levels and 8 bosses in this side scrolling shooter. Even better, this game is rocking a sweet sale right now. Capcom, we thank you for giving us a reason to skip out on chores this weekend.

Gangstar: Miami Vindication:
Gameloft is back at it with another edition of Gangstar. Hit the streets of Miami for over 75 missions of enemy sniping, car stealing, escorting, and car chasing entertainment. Of course, a criminal needs a sleek way of getting around town. Boost cars, motorcycles, boats, and helicopters to give those walking legs a break. Crime has never looked so good, or consumed so much time on the iPhone.

iA Writer:
Sometimes you just need a distraction free writing zone. No noise, no auto correcting of grammar or words, not even toolbars bars stand in your way with this app. iA Writer will give you a distraction free writing area. Once that draft is completed, look at how long it will take to read with the included reading time feature. Sometimes you just need a minimalistic writing space to get your thoughts out. iA Writer is that place of writing Zen.

Numbers:
Numbers is not a new app by any means. What is new about it is a patch that now makes this app worth your money. Exporting to Excel files is FINALLY available after a long waiting period. All the complaining can finally be put to rest over this issue. If you need a good-looking, yet powerful, spreadsheet editor, this is worth your coin.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within HD:
That crazy Prince of Persia is back on the App Store. This time he is looking to conquer your iPad with some sexy HD goodness. Take on 12 chapters of fighting, platforming, and puzzle solving goodness. Gameloft has taken their successful iPhone game, beefed it up and brought it for all to enjoy on the iPad. See what console fans have enjoyed for months.

SEED 2 – Vortex of War:
Chillingo brings on a grindtastic sequel to their RPG series SEED. SEED 2 is set five years after the first game. 200 battlefields, 160 different monsters, hours of leveling, and an engaging store lie in this action RPG. Setup your hero and tackle quests, monsters, and a world that is ever changing. Even compete to rock the leader boards thanks to Crystal integration.

Time Crisis 2nd Strike
Namco is here to bring you another fun on-rails shooter just for the iPhone. Ten levels of shooting goodness are here to suck away hours of time. Players can even unlock achievements or see how well they can do in the Competition Modes. The only thing missing here is a lightgun and a slot to pump in a weeks allowance worth of quarters.

AppShopper:
AppShopper takes looking for new apps to the next level. This app brings the power of the AppShopper internet site directly to your iOS device. Look through popular apps, see what's new, track apps you own in the My Apps section, and create an app wish list. This is a great addition to any App Store Junkies iDevice.

CBS Sports Pro Football:
Football season is now in full swing. All this excitement and you have to work?! What ever will you do to monitor the games while you slave away? CBS Sports Pro Football is here to help. You get up to the minute NFL scores, streaming previews, reviews, and interviews, and the ability to watch all 32 teams dueling it out for the change at Super Bowl Glory. If you need your NFL fix in a pinch, grab this free app now.

Every week, we endeavor to point the way to the games and apps that most made an impact in the App-o-sphere. Here's this week's picks:

Zombie Highway – Cars, guns, and zombies bring smiles to all the kids faces. What else do you really need to know to not already love this game? Steer the car to avoid obstacles that creep up in the way. Shoot zombies that are looking to get some juicy brain matter. Repeat until you are king of the Facebook rankings. Time to prove just how awesome those zombie survival skills are.


The Hero HD – Those who don’t spend their days saving babies, putting out fires in a single breath, or stopping crime with a pinky finger can live vicariously through The Hero. Take up that iPad and enjoy the fun comic book style graphics. Prove those heroic deeds with online leader boards and achievements. Just leave the Superman costume in the closet, you are only playing an iPad game.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD – Time for iPad owners to rejoice and sing songs of praise. GTA: Chinatown Wars is finally getting the proper HD treatment. New controls specifically for the iPad are just the start here. Bigger, sweeter, and sexier visuals will grace your pupils. Game play will suck away hours of your time. Download this now…just do it!

GetGlue for iPad – GetGlue is a social network for entertainment buffs. Now iPad owners get to see what all this fuss is about. Check-in when you crack a new book or fire up that B-rated horror movie. Check out what friends are up to. Even find some new jingle that might become a new ring-tone. Round off all this fun with stickers for all those ratings your slapping down on those TV shows.

PhotoArtista: Oil – Time to take those boring vacation photos and add some punch to them. PhotoArtista will take that photo and turn into and oil painting that even Van Gogh will be envious about. Choose from several oil styles, bush sizes, stroke variations, and effects. There is enough here to keep artists busy playing around for hours.

Dodonpachi Resurrection - Dodonpachi might be hard to roll off the tongue, but the game play is very familiar. This is a flying shooter in the ever popular R-Type style. Your ship resides at the bottom of the screen and you blast everything reigning down on you from the top of the screen. Was R-Type to simple for your gaming masochistic pleasures? Try your hand at this sadistic bullet fest.
NOTE this app is designed for iPhone 3GS/iPhone 4/iPad/iTouch 3rd Gen.

Epic Citadel - That’s right, Epic’s little tech demo has made the list of apps you need to put on your iPhone/iPod/iPad. We saw a bit of this at the Apple press conference this week. This app does away with the battles, but gives you the castle to freely roam around in. Why you need this app: IT IS FRICKING GORGEOUS. There is no other game on the App Store than will blow your mind like this.

The Settlers HD - The Settlers HD takes mid-evil strategy games and sexily throws it onto your iPad. Build a town, amass an army, and prove you have the bigger finger of doom. There is plenty to do and hours of play tucked away here. Any fan of strategy games should not pass this one by.

Fly Delta - What could be easier than checking into your flight while on your way to the airport? Delta has kicked out an app that will allow you to check-in to your flight, check the flight status, store your parking location, and even access your boarding pass. It is great to see airlines making use of the iPhone. This headache saving app is free.

NASA App HD - The NASA app has finally made its way to the iPad. NASA App HD will allow you to see NASA videos, browse through thousands of images from NASA IOTD, APOD, and NASAImages.org. You can also have fun tracking the ISS and share your favorite stories on Facebook and Twitter. That iPad screen was destined to view these lovely images from space. The app is free for your enjoyment.

Phantasy Star II - SEGA's classic console RPG finally finds a home on the iPhone. Hundreds of items to find, dozens of places to explore, and countless hours of your life gone to this addictive RPG.

R Type - That’s right, EA's 80’s classic side scrolling shooter is finally available for play in the palms of your hands. Think you got the cojones to beat this abusively hard game?

Knight’s Rush - Knight’s Rush is the follow up to the immensely popular A Quest of Knights Onrush. Unlike Knights Onrush, you take control of one character and guide them through side scrolling beat 'em up mayhem adventures. Think Castle Crashers meets the iPhone. Knights Rush will have you battling through eight worlds, fifty baddies, eight bosses, and the urge to curse Chillingo for their addictive gaming drugs.

Photoburst - There are times when your fingers just can’t tap the camera button fast enough to capture all the action of a scene. Photoburst will do all that tapping for you, right down to the millisecond. Capture all the action without all the finger frustration.

Blancspot - Put a new spin on your music news with Blancspot. This image centric news app puts you right in the shoes of the photo journalist. Live Twitter feeds keep the news relevant and up to date. This is news you have to see to appreciate.

Top Gun 2 - With great graphics, a great score, and a seriously cool movie meme going on, this second iteration in the series is bound to give us more of what we liked from the first game and improve on what we didn't.

MonoRace - Pilot your monobike (honestly, it really looks like a marble) through ever increasing speeds and tracks in this challenging, mind-bending, and just downright fu-looking game from Craneball Studios.

Zombie Escape - This one looks eerily familiar, but the iTunes App Store swears it was released this week. Add line drawing precision to real-time offensive tactics, and you have chaos with a rotting undead flavor, and who can resist that?

Elements - Dropbox Powered Text Editor - Oh, man is this gonna come in handy on stage. I keep all our disco band's lyrics in dropbox, and another copy on my iPad for use with GoodReader. Now I can eliminate the dual app setup with Elements, allowing me to see -- and change on the fly!!! -- lyrics and setlists.

Chicago Tribune - We all wish we had network signal wherever we go, but sometimes that just ain't happening. The Chicago Tribune app allows for offline access and saving favorite stories right to your device, regardless of connectivity.

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Make sure you keep your teenagers locked in tonight, and don't let them talk to anyone named Jason. With that warning out of the way, here's your weekly dose of what's new and interesting in the App Store.

The Incident - A severely polished and classy take on the sky is falling genre. Dodge wave after crazy wave of falling cars and major appliances, only to use those same items to climb ever upward to your destination, the stars.

Ninjump - Jump like a ninja (because that's what you are) up through the levels, between buildings and over laundry. Attack various creatures in match three stealthiness for stupidly awesome score and height boosts. Brag to all your friends.

Ghosts N Goblins Gold Knights II - Capcom brings the sequel to its hardest game ever from the 1980s direct to your iPhone. You think you have what it takes? Well, do ya?

Times for iPad - Takes your RSS feeds and turns them into a lovely newspaper-style layout. If you long for the simpler days of flimsy newsprint paper and fingers stained with ink, this may be the app for you.

Slate Magazine - In a world of iPad apps that continually ask you to pay more for their content (I'm looking at YOU, Wired), Slate asks you to read their magazine, for free, on your iPad. What more can you ask for from their asking of you? Wait, what?

Dang, it's August already. Time for Back To School Specials and the slow waning of summertime, at least in the northern hemisphere. Here's another weekly dose of new releases onto the App store from the past week. Enjoy!

Osmos - Apple's App of the week. Our first look here.
The #1 hit iPad game, now available for the iPhone, with full Retina display support! Enter the ambient world that GameAndPlayer called "a work of genius," and IGN called "a beautiful, absorbing experience." Osmos features elegant, physics-based gameplay, dreamlike visuals, and a beautiful electronic soundtrack. Your objective is to grow by absorbing other motes; propel yourself by ejecting matter behind you; but be wise: ejecting matter also shrinks you. Progress from serenely ambient levels into varied and challenging worlds.

Yertle The Turtle and The Big Brag - If you're like me, you've grown up on Dr. Seuss books. They're a cultural touchstone for many of us, reaching deep into our consciousness, ethics, and worldview. Now that I have kids of my own, it's become important to me to pass along these treasures. I can do so, now, right on my iPad or iPhone. These apps will read to your child, either with a tap on each page to advance the story, or auto advancing through the whole book. They'll also allow a more traditional book experience, with the "Read It Myself" option, for those big boys and girls in your life that are reading on their own.

Feeddler RSS Reader Pro for iPhone - Big Google Reader user? RSS fan? Feedler has quickly become the cream of the crop with their Universal App for the iPhone and iPad. They've just released an iPhone-only version, which comes in at 2.8 Mb, as compared to the 5.0 Mb of the Universal App. They're also selling it for $.99 as a launch special, so if you want just an iPhone version to help your device save a bit of space, this is the one to grab. The devs continue to add great features to the app, like unread list filters, mark as read synchronization and the like.

Loopseque for iPad - As a musician, I'm always having fun with music in some way. This new app looks to be a cross between a music beat creator and a rhythm game. The developers have tried to make it as simple and intuitive as possible, which could lend itself to some great experiences for kids as well as adults. Two modes provide the interface for pattern creation, Big Wheel mode (for easy pattern creation) and Wheel Matrix mode for switching quickly between patterns. There's even two team play modes, Tap and Sync. Save your patterns and load them for further editing or just listening.

LIFE Wonders of the World Photography Book - Retailing for $22 in the dead tree edition, this truly breathtaking photography coffee table book from the amazing photojournalists at LIFE magazine is priced for launch at a much lower $4.99. It's for your iPad, and wow won't you love paging through this. Wait, I mean wow won't you love showing your iPad off with a total of 100 images of 50 wonders of the world. While it doesn't look like you can set it up as a slideshow (yet), there is a clickable Table of Contents and a filmstrip tool for easier navigation.

Where is the summer going? My apologies for last week's lack of a Friday Five. We're back this week, though, with five interesting apps from the past week, just like always. Enjoy!

Hellsing's Fire
Hellsing's Fire is a beautifully illustrated puzzle-adventure game from Clickgamer (Angry Birds, anyone?). Dr. Hellsing's illuminating torch and his assistant Raffton's tonics are both necessary to defeat the undead hordes. The puzzles are trumpeted as being "quick but rewarding"...sounds great for pick-up-and-play or, you know, losing hours of your life. With 90 monster-packed levels, Crystal integration for leaderboards and achievements, and wry dialogue, Hellsing's Fire looks to be a great new App Store game.

Audible
Audible.com is one of the biggest audiobook sites on the web. Subscribers to the website enjoy a market of digital audiobooks that's hard to beat, and now with the Audible app, said users can download their Audible.com libraries to their iPhones. The Audible app runs in the background with iOS 4 on multitasking-enabled devices. It also support chapter navigation, Play as You Download, bookmarking, Button Free Mode, and Sleep Mode. It's a great app if you want to listen to your Audible.com audiobooks, but unfortunately this app doesn't yet allow you to buy them in-app.

Wheel of Fortune Platinum Edition
This app brings the famous TV game show to the iPhone...finally! Test your wordly wit against the app or with others via multiplayer mode. The wheel and the sound effects are true to the show, and the puzzles are written by the producers themselves. You can customize your characters, too. Multiplayer comes in the form of pass-and-play, local multiplayer (Bluetooth / WiFi), or network mode (yes! online multiplayer!). "Theme Weeks" featuring custom puzzles and wedges will be introduced, too. The app itself looks pretty good, though some players have apparently experienced crashing...so proceed with caution. As famous as Wheel of Fortune is, though, I'd expect a bug-fixing update soon.

Mapquest 4 Mobile
Remember when MaqQuest was practically the king of online mapping? It's no longer the undisputed champ, but MapQuest is still as solid a service as ever. MapQuest 4 Mobile finally brings it to the iOS platform, with awesome features such as turn-by-turn spoken directions, quick re-routing, backgrounding support on iOS 4, and even pedestrian directions. Best of all, however? It's free! It might not be brand-new, but the latest version of Mapquest 4 Mobile is such a step forward that I felt justified in including it here.

Fly Vs. Car
On the surface, Fly Vs. Car is simple. Playing as a small fly, you must tilt your iPhone to avoid being hit by oncoming traffic. Simple, simple, simple...even OpenFeint and Facebook / Twitter score posting can only add so much to such a basic premise. But what makes Fly Vs. Car unique is that the developers at Snow Day Games have pledged to donate half of all profits to Child's Play Charity, a not-for-profit group that donates toys and games to sick children. Now that's a mission we can get behind.

Wow, is it July already? Fancy that. In just a couple of days (literally!) we'll be celebrating July 4th...not that the App Store hasn't already released a slew of sales in the name of Independence Day.

Here, though, we're concerned with new releases from the past week. Without further ado, I present...our weekly Friday Five! Hope you find them interesting!

Diptic
Diptic is a simple little photo app that lets you combine two or three images, creating a diptych or triptych, respectively. It also includes brightness, saturation, and contrast tweaks, as well as custom border controls and five different layouts. The function is simple, but then, sometimes simple is what you need. Diptych and triptych creation is a rather popular means of making photos more "meaningful," especially among teens, so I expect that Diptic will see some use.

Cineast
Cineast is a "movie companion app" that allows you to search for movies or people, watch trailers, find release date or cast info, and more. You can also mark movies and people as "Favorites," to easily return to them later. It relies on the website themoviedb.org. Cineast is a universal app, so iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users alike can get in on the movie-info action.

The Twilight Saga - Memory Quest
Love it or hate it, the Twilight series is a hit. (Just look at the performance of Eclipse, which released this weekend.) The Twilight Saga - Memory Quest is a tile-flipping memory-match game featuring the stars of the series. You can play as Bella, Edward, or Jacob. Presumably this game is relying heavily on rabid fans...still, it looks like a decent tile-matching game.

The Elements for iPhone 4
The Elements was one of the highlight apps for the iPad at launch, and now it's got an iPhone incarnation..though only for the iPhone 4. Phooey. Still, if you're the lucky owner of a brand-new iPhone, you can take advantage of The Elements and its highly visual, comprehensive periodic table. You can examine each pictorial representation of each element, and extensive information is pulled from Wolfram Alpha's database.

Tap Tap Revolution HD
...and this has nothing to do with Tapulous, or the other Tap Tap Revolution games, or even music games in general. Tap Tap Revolution HD is a rather amateurish-looking app for the iPad which features a large, red button. And guess what? The "game" is all about how quickly you can tap that button. Kudos to them for grabbing the Tap Tap Revolution HD moniker, though...looks like Tapulous missed the boat - for now.

With iOS4 and the iPhone 4 hitting this week, it's not so surprising that we've seen tons of new apps. This week's Friday Five features a number of big-name efforts, many of which highlight the features of the iPhone 4 and iOS4. Let's get started!

Farmville
The productivity-sucking, Facebook-spawned plague has been unleashed upon the App Store masses. Someone say a prayer for us all. The iOS version is supposed to sync with the Facebook version, so if you already have a farm, don't worry about maintaining two! Just like on Facebook, you "grow" both plants and livestock and earn coins and XP for your troubles. This app also includes in-app purchase options for both coins and premium "Farm Cash."

Eliminate:GunRange
I don't know why Eliminate:GunRange is missing spaces in the title. I can tell you, however, that it's ngmoco's brand-new, iPhone 4-exclusive title. A spin-off of the popular Eliminate FPS series, GunRange is designed to take advantage of the iPhone 4's gyroscope and Retina display. The game drops you into one of three shooting ranges and lets you blast away at targets using any of twelve weapons. Support for the iPhone 3GS and additional content are promised in the future.

Windows Live Messenger
Despite the whole Apple/Microsoft battle, Microsoft has apparently seen fit to release a messenger client for its Windows Live service. It's pretty much your typical IM app, with hooks in most major social networks (Flickr, Facebook, Youtube, MySpace, etc). In addition to chatting and sharing photos, you can access your Hotmail email account from within the app.

NPR Music
NPR is a wonderful, wonderful organization. It's simply incredible how much they give away, for free. NPR Music follows their long-since-released NPR News app and gives you access to NPR's musical selections. Listeners can choose from Classical, Hip-Hop, Jazz, and more. Live streams from over 75 public radio stations are available. Folks with new iPhones can take advantage of backgrounding, listening to music even when the app is closed.

DC Comics
DC makes its iPhone debut with many familiar comics: Batman, Green Lantern, the Justice League, Sandman, and more. The app itself is something like a comic-store, from which you can download individual comics via in-app purchase. Most comics run $1.99 apiece. (A few freebies are available, too.) For viewing comics, there's either a full-page view or a Guided Reading option; with the DC app, all of your comics are contained in one simple app. Comic lovers should at least download the free app and check out the full selection.

It's Friday! Hurray! Of course, for me it's summer vacation and Fridays aren't quite as exciting. But, we've still got our traditional sampling of delightful new releases from the past week, so that's something. Big names like ngmoco and Illusion Labs make an appearance this week, as well as a few more mainstream companies like ESPN. Enjoy!

Godfinger
Godfinger from ngmoco allows you to build up a little world of cartoony followers and exert your godly powers on them. In Godfinger, you can be a kind, caring deity—performing Wonders and helping your civilization prosper—or a wicked demagogue, leaving a path of destruction in your wake. You can control sun, rain, lightning, floods, and fire. As you play Godfinger, your actions shape the terrain and your populace's opinion. It's almost ngmoco's answer to Pocket God. Go on, give it a try and test out your godly abilities...Godfinger, like many of ngmoco's newer games, is free.

Geometry Wars: Touch
Geometry Wars was already a classic Xbox game, but it made its iPad debut back in March. Now, it's a universal app, meaning that iPhone and iPod owners can get in on the action! Geometry Wars is a simplistic arcade shooter with basic, geometric graphics and a strong retro theme. It also was one of the first major games to make good use of the dual-stick shooter system that's so popular on the App Store today. The iPhone/iPad version also includes a brand-new mode, Titan, in which you gradually break giant foes apart into swarms of smaller pieces.

ESPN Pinball
In honor of the World Cup, ESPN has a released a pinball app with some football-themed tables (ahem, soccer for us Americans). There's also a Basketball table. The new pinball app is full of flashy graphics and boasts pass-and-play multiplayer, global and local leaderboards, and voice-overs from ESPN Sports Center host Jay Harris. It's a marriage of a TV network, sports, and pinball...if that sounds a little strange, well, it is, but the game looks like some solid pinball fun nevertheless.

Onion News Network
Where would we be without the Onion? In case you haven't heard of this magnificent publication, the Onion is a completely satirical news network with both an online and a print publication. (Yes, that's right: you can get a real Onion newspaper.) Their stories are funny, witty, snide, and clever; you'd be crazy not to enjoy browsing them. The Onion's new app gives you mobile access to the entire Onion archives, including both textual stories and videos. There's not much more to say: it's a typical newspaper app. The only difference is that the Onion is anything but a serious, esteemed publication. It's here to make you grin, and, perhaps, think.

Foosball HD
Illusion Labs has long expressed an interest in touchscreen gaming on larger screens (think back to their tabletop demo of Touchgrind) and now they've released an impressive iPad-only title: Foosbal HD. Foosball HD takes full advantage of the iPad's large screen, transforming it into a top-down view of a foosball table designed perfectly for "local multiplayer": both you and your friend just play foosball! You can also play against the computer, of course, but multiplayer is the real draw. Foosball seems like a natural fit for the iPad, and it's great to see Illusion Labs putting the iPad to good use. Sorry, iPhone users; this one isn't for us.

Aaaand...we're back! Phew. Is it Friday already? Well, here are our weekly five app selections, culled from recent App Store releases. We've got plenty of new stuff this week, from feed readers to music games, so let's get started!

Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero was demo'd at the WWDC keynote earlier this week, and made its official App Store debut shortly afterwards. Talk about big-name apps. The game costs $2.99 and comes with six songs, allowing you to unlock others via in-app purchase. (The included songs include hits like "We Are the Champions" by Queen and "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer.) It looks a lot like the Tap Tap Revenge and Rock Band games on the surface, but Guitar Hero introduces some new "swipe" and "strum" mechanics that add some new spice to the somewhat-stale tapping games. To put it succinctly, the game looks awesome—we'll have a full review up later, of course.

Camera+
Camera+ comes from TapTapTap, makers of excellent, succinctly named apps like Convert and Voices. It includes tons of tools, ranging from digital zoom to an image stabilizer to a grid that helps you avoid crooked pictures. There are also plenty of scene modes (Beach, Night, Sunset, Backlit, etc) and filters (from a dirty Grunge effect to the more humorous So Emo). Toss in a digital flash effect, borders, and the ability to share photos across a variety of social networks, and Camera+ has just about every feature covered. The app itself is elegantly designed, and on the whole, Camera+ seems to be another worthy addition to the ranks of photo apps in the App Store.

HECTOR: Badge of Carnage
This is not your typical adventure game, folks. HECTOR proudly declares itself to be "half-decent," but don't let that fool you. This point-and-click adventure game stars Detective Inspector Hector and is cheekily irreverent. The dialogue is crude (not for the young'ins) and witty, and the game features genre mainstays like interactive locations and an expansive inventory. HECTOR certainly takes a different tack than most App Store games. Point-and-click fans should check it out.

Sudoku 2 Pro
Sudoku 2 Pro is (you guessed it!) the pro version of the popular Sudoku port. This version strips out the ads, tracks your "runs" (uninterrupted win streaks), auto-deletes solved notes, and allows you to hide the timer if you so wish...among other things, of course. Naturally, the features that make Sudoku 2 loved by so many App Store customers are still intact: ease-of-use, graphics, etc. If you're looking for a good Sudoku game and don't want your screen cluttered with ads, check out Sudoku 2 Pro.

Pulse News Reader
And finally, one for your iPad owners. Pulse News Reader was also demoed by Steve Jobs at the WWDC. Pulse is a clean and visual news reader for iPad. It imports up to 20 news sources and then creates an elegant mosaic of your news stories. Tapping on a block brings up the article in full. Just take a look at the picture...the app looks gorgeous, and even supports both landscape and portrait. Yum!

Fridays at 148apps mean a new Friday Five post, and here we are! Below are five apps that we've chosen to highlight from the past week's releases. Some are silly, or functional, or simply fun, but we hope that all of them are interesting.

Color&Draw
Remember coloring books? Color&Draw takes that experience and attempts to translate it to the iPhone's screen. You can draw on a blank screen and use it as a sketch app, or pick from the 50 included outlines, including various animals and cute things. Color&Draw even lets kids open up an existing photo and doodle on it. (Want to give Uncle Joe a mustache / wacky eyebrows / devil horns? No problem!) The limited color palette and the absence of a "paint bucket" filler option help bring Color&Draw even closer to the classic crayons-and-paper coloring books we all loved so. The app's interface is clean and it appears well-designed, but naturally its best feature is the delight of the kids using it.

Pocket Creatures
Pocket Creatures starts you with an egg and lets you raise your own adorable cartoon critter. In this 3D sim, you spend your time caring for and interacting with your creature. Don't be fooled, however; your creature isn't normal, as it can do things like summon lightning. How you interact impacts its personality: make it sweet or mischievous, devilish or gentle. The various achievements unlock costumes for your creature, from Ninja to Viking to Gladiator. In short? It's a little 3D garden with you and your pet, and plenty of playthings to torment. (Exploding anteaters, anyone?)

Bistromath
Splitting a check in a restaurant isn't easy—a seemingly endless litany of complications can turn a simple division problem into a mind-numbing headache. Bistromath is an app that aims to eliminate that exact problem. Normally I'm not a fan of "tip calculator" apps and the like, but Bistromath goes much further. You can enter each item individually, then specify who pays for it, even assigning an item to be split between multiple people. Bistromath also calculates the sales tax and tip, and takes care of tricky division (like dividing 10 by 3). Whether you need such a complex focus on fair paying in your life is your prerogative, of course, but if you do, Bistromath should be a great help.

Strike Knight
Backflip Studios' other games have been met with acclaim—the hugely popular Paper Toss, Ragdoll Blaster, and Harbor Havoc 3D games among them—and now they've released a new game, this time for free. Strike Knight is a puck bowling game with some arcade flair. The scoring system is different and places a focus on timing, but if you've ever played shuffle-board bowling, Strike Knight's setup should be familiar. The game is great for quick sessions and even supports pass-and-play for up to four players. Of course, Strike Knights is ad-supported, but that's a small price to pay for a polished, free game.

X2 Soccer 2010
X2 Soccer 2010 succeeds X2 Soccer 2009—a solid foundation by anyone's reckoning—and adds plenty of improvements. The controls are sharp and snappy, the computer AI is well-tuned, and with over 150 club teams you'll have plenty of variety. The included modes are Quick Match, Penalty Shootout, Training, Tournament, Dream Team, and Multiplayer; Multiplayer includes both local and online options. But while I could go on and on listing the game's bullet-point features, perhaps the simplest one is this: it simply works. Fans of X2 Soccer swear by it as the App Store standard, and it's certainly an excellent, realistic soccer game. Soccer fans should be very, very interested in this new release.