Welcome to another installment of Fresh iPhone Games of the Week. We bring you some of the highlights of some of the more interesting games released so you can catch up over the weekend.
Street Fighter IV update (iPhone) $9.99
Already one of the most impressive games on the iPhone, Street Fighter IV just got an update that adds two new characters to the iPhone version of Capcom’s iconic fighting game, as well as new costumes that can be downloaded as premium content for two other characters.
If you haven’t seen Street Fighter IV in action, you need to. The game carries with it some of the iPhone’s best graphics, and a virtual control scheme which faithfully recreates the console and arcade fighting game experience. The price is a little high, but Street Fighter IV is the kind of iPhone game that can blow you away. If there’s an app that’s worth 10 bucks, this is it.
Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner (iPhone) $4.99
I’ve been excited about this game since I heard about it a few weeks ago. Falcon Gunner lets you recreate the classic Star Wars: A New Hope scene in which Luke and Han climb into the gunner seats of the Millennium Falcon and take on a squadron of TIE fighters. But instead of being a straight turret shooter, this app uses your iPhone’s camera and augmented reality to add attacking TIE fighters to the world around you.
The video the developers of the app took has a player standing on a New York rooftop, spinning around to take on attacking ships, but I think Falcon Gunner would be a lot more fun to play in some less interesting places. Imagine fighters turning toward you for attack runs next to the sink and fridge, or out of the shower, or from around the heads of other riders on the bus. That sounds like a good time.
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (iPhone, iPad) $4.99
Fans of the Nintendo DS version of LEGO Harry Potter, which also appears on various consoles, will recognize this iPhone game. It carries almost all the features of the Nintendo portable equivalent for a great price. It’s deep, engaging, and offered just in time for the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in theaters.
Using swipe and touch controls, players guide LEGO versions of the Harry Potter characters through the events of Harry’s first four years at Hogwarts. The action-adventure game combines elements of customization with various LEGO blocks with some platforming, all with the classic LEGO humor and aesthetic. Harry Potter-loving iPhone gamers would do well to pick up this one — there’s a lot to do in this humorous and interesting take on the wizarding world.
Astronut (iPhone) Free
The thing that sets Astronut from other casual jump games is the level of action involved. You’ll constantly be running into aliens and enemies as you bounce from planet to planet, trying to scale as much vertical space as possible.
Developer Iconfactory packed 24 levels into the game, which is free for the time being, and it includes 40 achievements. Expect to spend quite a while bouncing through this game.
Amateur Surgeon 2 (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
The sequel to Adult Swim’s Flash game Amateur Surgeon has hit iPhone and iPad, and it’s pretty hilarious, in addition to being well-suited to touch screen controls like its predecessor.
As amateur surgeon Alan Probe, your job is to help all manner of patients with all manner of gross problems, using the unconventional tools of whatever happens to be lying around. You’ll switch tools using various tabs at the top of the screen to remove shards of glass, cut through ribs, sew up cuts and cauterize wounds. Amateur Surgeon 2 takes a measure of precision, but is simple enough to pick up for a few minutes and then put down.
