A while ago we were let in on a secret project in the works by iPhone developer Christian Whitehead. He is responsible for the iPhone Retro Engine and Retro Engine Development Kit or RDSK. Using the RDSK, Whitehead is able to develop classic 2D games in a fraction of the time it would take to build them from scratch with performance levels that literally blow the games Sega has released so far out of the water.
He built this Sonic CD proof of concept, without the use of the original game's source code or a disassembly. The video is really impressive and shows Sonic CD running at 60 frames per second on an iPod Touch.
Whitehead has actually been in contact with Sega regarding doing an enhanced port of Sonic CD for the iPhone, but Sega's challenge to their fans to come up with what they want to see them produce next has pushed the developer into making this project public.
If this is what you want Sega to release next, let them know. For more information on this remarkable Sonic CD port, check out the thread in our forums.
Last week I posted about a mysterious video of an upcoming iPhone game. Forum members played a bit of a guessing game as we all speculated what the game would be about. Some were sure it was a trailer for Cartel, an MMO-type game currently in beta, others through some internet detective work traced the site back to Gameloft and hoped that we were looking at an upcoming Grand Theft Auto styled game.
Those of you who thought we were watching a trailer for Gangstar were correct. We just got some news and exclusive screenshots of what Gameloft has in store for us, and it sounds like a pretty ambitious title for the App Store.
Gangstar: West Coast Hustle is slated to be the first iPhone full-3D open-ended crime sandbox game. Players will be immersed in L.A. gang life and able to explore an entire city filled with buildings, cars to steal or crash in to, and missions that can either be completed or ignored as you drive around wreaking havoc.
Driving controls are said to be intuitive, with both accelerometer and touch controls. The gun fights you will undoubtedly find yourself in are controlled via a touch auto-aiming system and Gangstar comes loaded with several radio station options as well as the ability to play your own tracks.
Also included is some type of rags to riches progression system, where you will connect with people in the city, increase the strength of your gang, and generally grow in wealth and power. Naturally, this all needs to be accomplished while avoiding the police.
Meanwhile, German iPhone site iFUN.de just attended a semi-public preview of the game and posted this brief gameplay video:
The game will, of course, support all iPod Touch and iPhone models and is expected to be available "by the end of summer".
We figured with the launch of the iPhone 3G S and the introduction of the $99 iPhone 3G, the number of iPhone users will have grown massively just over this past weekend. As a result, we expect we'll see a number of new visitors looking for the best iPhone and iPod Touch games available in the App Store.
While we compiled a list of some of the best games from 2008 back in December, we haven't done much of a wrap up since.
So, here's list of notable games that have been released in 2009. It should be a great list to catch up on some of the best titles this year. Game titles link directly to the app store. Most review links contain gameplay videos.
Required Reading
It's hard to come up with a must have list for the App Store, but you should be familiar with these titles that seem to have already become App Store classics.
Fieldrunners ($2.99) - Ok, this one didn't come out in 2009 but thought it needed a mention. The tower defense game that really started it all on the iPhone. (review)
Flight Control ($0.99) - deceptively simple and addictive game that has hit over 1 million sales (review)
Doodle Jump ($0.99) - Dead simple and crazy addictive. Jump higher and higher. (review)
Only on iPhone / iPod Touch
Some standout titles that use the iPhone / iPod Touch controls in a unique way that couldn't easily exist on most other platforms.
Space Ninja ($2.99) - space shooter without the shooting. Dodge your way around enemies in "bullet time". (review)
iPhone developer Manomio has been secretly working on a major App Store project for the past year that has just been completed, but may never see the light of day in its current form. Readers may remember Manomio as the developer behind the iPhone version of classic game Flashback. Manomio's slogan is "In Retro We Trust" and their mission statement is to bring classic game titles to the leading handheld devices such as the iPhone.
What Manomio has done is to create a fully licensed Commodore 64 emulator for the iPhone that can play classic games and even run Commodore 64 BASIC. The full list of features are as follows:
Full speed, Commodore 64 emulator
SID sound emulation
Auto-save, to continue exactly where you left off
Realistic joystick and beautifully crafted C64 keyboard
Portrait and Landscape play
Vertical and Fullscreen gaming (auto rotate for iPod users)
Did I mention it was legally licensed?
Despite some initial work on the project last year, Manomio had originally decided to abandon the project for two main reasons. 1) a lack of licensing rights for the Commodore 64 and 2) the question of whether or not an emulator would be allowed in the App Store.
Manomio, however, ended up connecting with Kiloo Aps who happens to own the license for the Commodore 64 and ultimately managed to sign the proper deals with both Kiloo and Commodore Gaming.
Manomio then contacted Apple Europe in the UK and detailed what they were planning to accomplish and according to Manomio's CEO Brian Lyscarz, "Apple seemed really excited" and so he felt safe that they would sanction the final app. With that assurance in hand, Manomio proceeded to secure the necessary licensing from individual publishers and finalize work on this major project.
It all came to a head last week, however, when Manomio confidently submitted C64 for iPhone along with 3 individual gamepacks (officially licensed) to use along with the emulator. All seemed fine until Manomio received the dreaded App Store rejection email:
Thank you for submitting C64 1.0 to the App Store. We've reviewed C64 1.0 and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it violates the iPhone SDK Agreement; "3.3.2 An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise. No interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple's Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s)."
As originally feared, Apple had rejected their app based on the SDK clause specifically prohibiting interpreted or executable code.
Even aside from Apple Europe's early assurance, Lyscarz pointed out to us that there are a number of apps in the App Store that do exactly the same thing from CHIP-8 emulators, programmable calculators and, of course, Frotz, a Z-machine interpreter. In fact, Sega's Golden Axe and Sonic iPhone games are nothing more than emulators packaged with the original game ROMs. Lyscarz is understandably frustrated with the process after having spent so much of his company's time and money into the project. Lyscarz continues to hope that C64 might still be approved in one form or another.
Here's a video of the game in action. Not all the games shown would be included in the initial launch, but Manomio hopes to eventually obtain licensing for these games as well.
A while ago we were let in on a secret project in the works by iPhone developer Christian Whitehead. He is responsible for the iPhone Retro Engine and Retro Engine Development Kit or RDSK. Using the RDSK, Whitehead is able to develop classic 2D games in a fraction of the time it would take to build them from scratch with performance levels that literally blow the games Sega has released so far out of the water.
We figured with the launch of the iPhone 3G S and the introduction of the $99 iPhone 3G, the number of iPhone users will have grown massively just over this past weekend. As a result, we expect we'll see a number of new visitors looking for the best iPhone and iPod Touch games available in the App Store. 
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