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iPhone games can get confusing in that you don’t know when you’re getting a brand new game or an update to an old classic and Tornado Mania is one of those updated games. Luckily, like a good update, it distills all the good and puts it in a nice iPhone package. This makes it almost a different game all on its own, definitely worth a glance even if you’ve played the old version of Tornado Mania to death.

The lovechild of the Katamari games and the Simcity series, Tornado Mania revolves around questionable zoning and various human rights violations as you guide a man-generated tornado through a city or an area in an effort to get the best houses to make a supercity at the South Pole. The Katamari cue is first due to the controls – you don’t control the tornado traditionally as you only control the way the tornado spins. With a simple tap, you can change the clockwise spin into a counter-clockwise one.

The second Katamari cue is because you collect various houses and buildings through your tornado avatar, although not in the same way the ball in Katamari does. It is the first cue that gives Tornado Mania its unique difficulty level. Since you’re a tornado, you tend to damage things you pick up but with some carefully control and planning, you can actually and miraculously find that you’ve acquired a building with no damage at all – a rewarding experience in itself.

Of course, like any game that gives you unbelievable destructive power, Tornado Mania is rife with chances to cause untold havoc and destruction. It recognizes this temptation and in fact, it even encourages it in one of its game modes, aptly named Rampage. You get a set amount of time to wreck, devastate and destroy as many buildings as you can before the time limit expires. While you’re rampaging, you also need to avoid helicopters which are first, immune to your powers and are carrying what appears to be the tornado’s worst enemy, dry ice. It is a fun alternative to Utopia mode and all the building and care you need there, despite being one of the most feared forces of nature around.

For all its gameplay brilliance and fun, it does have a few faults. It loads oddly as if it was ported over oddly. While it doesn’t rob anything from Utopia or Rampage mode and is largely nitpicking, it does prove that it could have stood a little more time in the polishing stage. Other than that, it has definitely earned a spot in a lot of people’s iPhones.

You would think that something called “the Moron Test” would be a lot less popular, but surprisingly it’s a game that has lasting appeal around the world. What was once an online test is now one that you can carry around in your iPhone and thus, in your pocket. If you want to test the limits of your cerebrum and of the patience of yourself and the people around you, now you can do it everywhere.

For people who didn’t get the memo, The Moron Test was originally a flash based online test that flexes your brain is a different manner – it’s not about facts or figures but simply about following instructions. It is simplicity in a neat, flash-based game in that the instructions are very, very simple and yet, you can’t help but fail at them at times.

That’s all you need to do – you need to pay attention and follow the instructions precisely. As with many things it sounds simple but when you’re faced with them, you’ll suddenly find yourself at a loss as while the instructions are clear in the sense of a sentence’s structure, applying them is a different beast altogether. When you finally figure out some of the simpler puzzles lurking deep in the game, you may find yourself facepalming a lot more than your standard routine would suggest.

The gameplay as described above is very simple and that makes the Moron Test very addictive. You are simply faced with a series of seemingly tasks and that’s all there is to it – the simplicity of the premise lends itself to accessibility to people of all ages and preferences. It even has difficulty levels from Moron to Genius and with over fifty steps to play with, it definitely has immense replay value.

The translation is very faithful, from the catchy theme music to the questions themselves, although obviously some questions needed to be modified to fit the iPhone’s control scheme better. This is definitely something that you should consider getting for your iPhone, whether for you or for your friends as watching their minds explode maybe as entertaining as watching their faces the first time they discover the horror of Goatse.

If there is anything wrong with it, it’s part of its genre. Once you finish the Moron Test, that’s it – you know the answers. However, the Moron Test isn’t about finishing it – it’s all about the journey and hey, it’s a really fun journey and one you can share with others.

Peggle on the iPhone is actually fun. It doesn’t sound like fun to most men as it sounds too close to something they really don’t want to experience, but it’s nothing like that – in fact, it’s winning combination of intuitive gameplay, straightforward objectives along with multi-player makes it a great game to download and play on your iPhone.

Unlike many game updates, Peggle doesn’t rely on changes and distillation to make it a worthwhile iPhone game – it in fact, avoids that concept like the plague and instead relies on giving the public exactly what they want and exactly what they expect to get out of a well known game – the good old experience of knocking pegs down with some balls. If you liked it before, you’ll continue to like it.

You’re given ten balls and ten times that amount in onscreen pegs to destroy. You use the touchscreen to set the trajectory and with a quick press of the fire button you launch your weapon, taking out all pegs in the way. There are more precise methods of aiming the cannon, such as the click wheel but the touch and fire setup actually works well.

Luckily, you don’t need to attack all the pegs on the screen, which are primarily blue in color – all you need to attack are the pegs colored orange which incidentally is a color that provokes aggression. Once you take them all out with your ten shot cannon, you can move on to the next level to cut down any other orange pegs that dare to stand in your way. Of course, it’s actually possible to take out all the pegs, but it may just be enough for some people to eradicate the orange menace.

Peggle also gives you some green pegs, which can offer various bonuses that differ from level to level. While it looks like it is a game powered by chance, there’s actually some reason behind the cannon rhyme. You need to plan out your ten shots, clearing the right pegs to open up a clear shot to the orange pegs and to victory. It is this, along with the special powers that you can get that makes it more that a random cannon shot game but one that actually requires some skill to play.

Peggle is a game filled with fun features and multiplayer, one that fills up the value bar way up. It even rewards achievement with some iPhone trophies, bragging rights for those kinds of people. Once Peggle gets its pegs in you, you can find yourself stuck on the game for hours at a time.

More and more remakes and sequels are coming to life as the years go by. So many games are coming out with their fourth, or even fifth iterations as if to say, no, we don’t need no stinkin’ new ideas and if it isn’t a sequel it’s probably a remake. This brings us to the topic of discussion, the classic puzzle game Myst and how it fares when you bring it to the iPhone.

Pretty good actually.

For those who remember, this game was originally delivered in CD-ROM format to homes around the world, way back in the nineties. It would go on to create and inspire a legacy of point and click games. Though the legacy would not stay long thanks to the boon in casual gaming, Myst as the first one would always have a place in many gamers’ hearts.

The iPhone iteration of the classic puzzle game is one that both newcomers and veterans to Myst would enjoy. It’s actually a little larger than the original, clocking in at around seven hundred megabytes. This brings it to today’s timeline with updated graphics and video that makes sure that its age doesn’t dissuade today’s gamer.

For veterans to Myst, they’ll be pleased to know that it is more than reproduced faithfully – it’s made even better than before. With all the updates and the easier control scheme and the fact that you can carry the puzzle with you everywhere, it’s easy to see how the improvements actually make it better than the original, which is what a new iteration should be. This is among the many iPhone games around that also come with fantastic music – so fantastic that if you’re using headphones, you can actually make out the deeper layers better.

If you’re new to it you’re lucky because the controls are simple. Unlike many other games, it relies more on your brainpower and cerebral prowess than on mastering a complex series of controls. The puzzles themselves occasionally fall into the tempting trap of guess and test methodology but for the most part, they’re more puzzles that inspire Eureka rather than frustration. As for the story, it is remains as tight and as well written as its original iteration. It’s the only part of the game that received no update, simple because it works fantastically no matter what time it comes out in.

Myst remains a must play game and with this update, one that is accessible to anyone with an iPhone and some money to spare for a great experience. If you want to look for a flaw, you’ll probably find yourself nitpicking the smallest details as it is a fantastically made game in a genre unique to itself. You’ll rarely find other games like this nowadays, so pick it up and don’t miss on the fun.

The Tycoon series is one that is beloved by people around the world – or at least, was one as the series has found itself outshone by games that can take full advantage of next generation graphics and the like. Fortunately, this generation of gamers doesn’t have to be full of people who’ve never had the joy of a Tycoon game and it’s available on the iPhone to boot – the game is Lemonade Tycoon and it brings to the twenty-first century gameplay that remains fresh today.

Conceptually, it remains similar to its aged brethren. In Lemonade Tycoon, your task is to carve out a Lemonade based empire – not realistic, but it’s still a lot of fun. You start out the way most tycoons portrayed in the sixties do, with a simple lemonade stand by the roadside. From this meager and humble little stand you can begin to shape your empire through various upgrades, from your location to your equipment and even things like salesmen and advertising campaigns.

Advertising campaigns. That’s a surprising amount of depth for something that sits in your hand but it is one that launches the games playability and re-playability into the stratosphere.

If anything, the worst complaint brought on by the original Tycoon games is the way it tends to drive your through the days whether or not you’re ready or prepared. Lemonade Tycoon lets that pressure rest in favor of controlled turns that stop at the end of each hectic day.

Another addition to this iPhone port is that you can use your personal playlist as the game’s background. The music in Lemonade Tycoon for the iPhone is done well enough, but if you want the latest band to play a rock anthem to your rise to power, the option is there. The graphics of the game are rock solid – very slick, very polished and gives the impression of quality. It definitely lives up to its shine with intuitive controls and gameplay

All in all, Lemonade Tycoon stands at the forefront of a long legacy of Tycoon games and delivers exactly what it promises – the ability to make a virtual fortune with a simple glass of lemonade through a wide variety of methods. Casual and somewhat more serious players can appreciate the depth that the game can offer to either kind and thus, is definitely a good option for people who want a change of pace from the many action games littering the gaming landscape.

It speaks for the activity’s fun when a person is glad that the video game is almost nothing like it and that’s what Flick Fishing for the iPhone makes one think. It distills all the tangled lines and worms and the like and leaves you with the heart of the fishing experience – the line, the reel and the beauty of nation. If you want some fishing on the road, you may want to take a glance at Flick Fishing.

Considering it is a simulator of sorts, one would first take a look at the controls. The controls make or break any kind of simulation as it can make a good game into a great game. Flick Fishing does not disappoint in this department – the controls are intuitive and easy to learn. Flicking the iPhone forward, well, casts the line forward. Clockwise when the fish bit reels it in. It’s straightforward, simple and as always, relatively difficult to truly master.

There’s more to getting the fish into your lap than tracing circles on your screen – as with real fishing, you need to carefully control the way you reel in the fish. If you force the issue and the fish is actually too strong, the tension on your line will cause it to snap, costing you both your line and your catch. Your job is to tire out the fish, keeping it in control while giving it enough room to thrash and when it’s tired of fighting, you can rescue it from its misery.

Unlike the real thing, you don’t run the risk of sitting around, staring at your iPhone for hours, waiting for Mother Nature to throw you a bone. It never takes long for something to take interest in your line and there’re a lot of things out there for your line to tempt, from red snapper to swordfish. You can change lures and bait to attract a specific kind of fish but no matter what you go with, you’ll always have something going for it.

Flick Fishing isn’t about working your way into the best fishing spots – when you turn on the game, they’re there already. It toddles along at a leisurely pace as you can fish anywhere you want. The game keeps records of your best catches at each area. If anything, that is the flaw of Flick Fishing – there’s no real sense of achievement. Whatever you get, you don’t get anything new. There are, however, multiplayer tournaments and location based tournaments that can spice up the action and put something on the line.

Top notch graphics and sounds make Flick Fishing an easily immersive experience. There’re a wide range of places to fish with a fine attention to detail that you’ll appreciate as you play through the game. If you want some fishing fun for a cheap price, Flick Fishing is what you should look for.

Epic Pet Wars goes against everything our parents ever taught us. We’re not supposed to like it when any living thing gets hurt. We’re not supposed to make animals fight each other, but lo, have times changed, especially on a digital level. Thanks to Pokemon, it makes perfect sense to some people to hurl trained animals into battle against each other and Epic Pet Wars continues this tradition.

It’s an iPhone based App that also works through Facebook. With around 25,000 members running around, sending balls of fluff into battle, playing it allows you to step into a world filled with animal cruelty and fun. You start by picking a species of pet that appeals to you, with each species with different advantages and disadvantages, you give it a name. From there, your job is to make a strong pet to win battles with and of course, create a posse – much in the same way that a mob is formed in another famous Facebook application, Mafia wars.

It follows the standard fare of statistics, from HP to Energy and so forth. Energy is used for more than fighting, it’s used for foraging, training and of course, petting. PETA, don’t worry – it’s not that strange kind of petting. You need to give your pet some loving and reassurance whenever it loses.

As Epic Pet Wars has the word wars in it, you can expect battle to feature majorly in the game. Unlike many games with a similar system, it provokes more action than simply waiting for the results of your latest battle. If you’ve ever played a console RPG, you’ll recognize the commands immediately, in this case, Attack, Flee and Use an Item. The battle is turn-based. Just like most RPGs, you gain experience and money and you can purchase items such as weapons and armor to make your cute widdle monster into a battling fiend.

You can even invest to provide your creature with constant income. The best part about Epic Pet Wars and one that many Mafia style game players would enjoy is that battling requires no energy at all, which means you can battle as long as your pet is able to. As is always the case with games, there’s a slight hitch – one, the design of the game obviously suggests that you can only play when you’re online. The worst part of it is that there are some options only available to paying customers, which means that if you want, you can literally pay your way into the leaderboards.

Overall, it’s an App that’s really hit and miss for a lot of people, but if you’re going to play a Mafia Style Game, Epic Pet Wars should be on your list of games to try. It’s filled with enough clever innovations to make it stand out from the crowd.

Web games have apparently gotten more exposure with the presence of a recession as for the most part, they are free. You don’t need anything other than a computer and an internet connection to enjoy them and now, an iPhone will do for most games. Many flash based web games have made the leap from desktop to handheld and now, Bloon is one of those games.

Conceptually, for those who know Bloon, it seems like something that is more suited for a big monitor rather than something that fits in your hand but it works surprisingly well. It, heaven forbid for a port, actually fits the iPhone better. Control wise, it could actually be more intuitive for some people out there to try out Bloon on the iPhone.

This is in large part because the touch, rotate and pull gameplay evokes visions of arrow shooting or dart throwing which is what your monkey avatar is trying to attempt. The more you pull the stronger the shot is and in a game that has a light physics engine, this makes the gameplay what it is. Luckily, the opening levels act as a light tutorial, easing you into the controls.

Of course, it is easily one of those games that are easy to learn but rather difficult to master, due in large part to the variety of layouts and setups in each level. While shooters and puzzlers rarely mix well, in this case they do – you’ll find yourself with plenty of memorable levels to test your shooting abilities with. You’ll find that the difficulty, while frustrating at times can give you the rewarding experience you’re looking for.

It is the curse of any puzzle game that after you solve the puzzle you find that the level is largely unplayable as you are well aware of the solution – it is no different for Bloon. Well, for the most part anyway. If you’re obsessive, you can look at previous levels and try them out again to get a higher shot percentage. There’s where it beats off the curse with a bat as you can come into competition with yourself.

If there’s anything that should cause concern it’s the occasional hiccup in the collision detection, which can easily change a fun experience into an incredibly frustrating one. It really depends on your personal place experience – if you’re lucky, you may not run into this gamebreaker. Overall, Bloon is a good game that can easily deserve the space it takes up on a person’s iPhone.

Everyone’s probably played Monopoly at some point and for people who haven’t, the iPhone iteration of the game -Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition- is here to make sure they don’t miss out. While Monopoly has always been a fun game, the real question for veterans of the game is “How many times should they buy the same game?”

In fairness, Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition features some very notable updates, from changing the numbers involved in the game to reflect a more modern economy and changing the buying areas from mere blocks or areas into entire cities from around the world. It has been fine tuned into a slickly presented game that makes it unique from the boardgame. It makes no bones about it – it never tries to be the boardgame, instead recognizing and embracing the fact that it’s on the iPhone, a completely different medium. Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition features some options, such as changing the starting money and so forth. You could even manipulate the intelligence of your computer opponents.

The change in named areas might be jarring but it gives it a very different feel. To an international audience, it means that they could be buying their own city and that is pretty cool. This lets it touch upon a much wider audience than ever before. It does feel weird to purchase a city as that kind of transaction tends to not happen at all in real life.

If there is a flaw to the modernization presented in Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition it’s that it gets very strange when you realize one perfectly fine first world city is somehow more expensive than another. There seems to be little point in comparing most of the cities in the game to each other, which does drastically affect the immersion of the game. Due to this break in reality, it becomes harder to imagine yourself purchasing cities and it instead becomes a game of numbers. Flavor can add a lot of enjoyment to any game.

Of course that’s not the case for everyone, whether it comes to the flavor or the numbers. Some people like the numbers more while others like to think that they really are buying New York for a very cheap price. As a game, it brings nothing new to the table: Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition plays exactly as you’d expect a game of Monopoly to play. If you like that, this is a fantastic buy – otherwise, you may be better off investing in another game.

Scoops – Ice Cream Fun For Everyone or just Scoops for short is one of the newest contenders in the iPhone mobile gaming field, a field that seemed to come out of the wild blue. Whatever you think of the iPhone, Scoops – Ice Cream Fun For Everyone lives up to its name by being simply that: fun.

Gameplay is accelerometer powered and is of course, very simple. Armed with your trusty ice cream cone, your job is to catch as many scoops of ice cream from the sky as they play the part of the tastiest rain that ever fell on this beautiful green earth. All you need to do is tilt the phone accordingly to get the scoops into the cone. Predictably, vegetables are bad and can ruin a good high score if you happen to catch one of them.

The cone is at the bottom of the screen and the ice cream scoops drop down from the top, like a much tastier version of Tetris. Like a petulant little child, you’re supposed to get as much ice cream as you can while avoiding all the fun ruining vegetables that rain down with them. You get three chances to avoid vegetable doom – get three vegetables and the dream of your sweet tooth is ruined.

There are some ways of scoring higher in Scoops – Ice Cream Fun For Everyone. For instance, each time you get a scoop, you improve upon your score multiplier. If you want a high score, make sure to catch the same color of scoops in succession as it improves your multiplier faster.

As a game, it achieves its purpose fairly simply and fairly quickly – it’s meant to be fun. It doesn’t take much to pick up the game and enjoy it to its fullest. The developers were smart enough to make the accelerometer settings sensitive so you don’t have to flail your iPhone about wildly and tempt fate in the process. Yep, that means you can play Scoops – Ice Cream Fun For Everyone in public without looking like a loon.

It’s something that, as the title suggests, is just fun for everyone. Don’t look for depth or great storylines here – Scoops – Ice Cream Fun For Everyone is all about killing some time with some virtual sweets. It’s worth a glance if you want a simple game that you can enjoy anywhere.