Smashing dragons, filling online players full of lead and punching thugs in the face are all on offer in today’s Fresh iPhone games. We’re starting the party with Dragon Chaser, a side-scrolling game in which you take on the role of a viking slicing through dragons, and then moving on to Archetype Cadet, a free version of the online multiplayer shooter, Archetype. Rounding out the list is Streets of Rage 3, an iPhone port of the classic Sega Genesis brawler.
Dragon Chaser (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Vikings hate dragons, apparently, as they are dangerous, rile up local animals and attack villages. Your job is to hunt down dangerous and deadly dragons and exterminate them in this side-scrolling beat ‘em up. Dragon Chaser takes you through multiple levels, in which you’ll get into brutal melees with deadly creatures, then return home to upgrade your weapons and abilities.
Dragon Chaser is pretty simple, but also addicting in that it keeps its premise easy and rewards you by making your character stronger. Every so often, in addition to heading out into the world to fight things with your battle ax, you’ll also have to defend your village by upgrading its defenses and trap-setting abilities. Unlike the side-scrolling portions where you’ll use virtual buttons, the defense portions have you slashing away at vicious animals using your finger like a blade, adding variety to the gameplay.
Archetype Cadet (iPad) Free
Among the best quality first-person shooters on the iPhone is Archetype, an online multiplayer-only shooter that lets up to 10 players battle each other in teams of five. That game has multiple gameplay modes and lots of different levels to fight on — but Archetype Cadet is a small-scale free version to let players get a taste of the game without having to pay.
The free Archetype Cadet packs the five-on-five multiplayer action you’d get in the full version of the game, but with only two maps instead of the full version’s 20. It has a standard “deathmatch” mode, in which the two teams attempt to eliminate one another, and supports both Wi-Fi and 3G Internet connections.
Streets of Rage 3 (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
The final installment in Sega’s Streets of Rage series has now found a home on the iPhone and iPad. A port from the 16-bit days of the Sega Genesis, the game lets you take on the role of one of four characters fighting through a huge number of enemies in a side-scrolling battle royale of the punching and kicking variety.
In addition to the single-player campaign of pounding through bad guys, Streets of Rage 3 lets you play with up to two friends as well. The game supports a Bluetooth connection, so you can pound through bad guys with your buddies in the room.
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