How this crude, expletive ridden, ultra-violent little game made it through Apple’s notoriously prudish approval process is anyone’s guess. But, I for one am glad it did, because it’s  amazing!

The game puts you in the boots of Vietnam vet and all-’round bad-ass Sergeant Hooy, whose mission it is to curb a pandemic that is turning people into bombiez (an almost anagram for zombies). After a brief, but hilarious, intro in which the characters all spout dialogue that sounds as if it has been chewed up and spat out by Google translate (in a good way), it’s into the action.

Gameplay consists of a tower defense style set-up with an emphasis on split second reactions on the players part. Here, rather disappointingly, the top down perspective and in-game graphics don’t live up to the artwork of the cut-scenes or loading screens. That said, given the frantic pace of the action, there’s not much opportunity to take in the scenery anyhow.

The aim of the game is to crush invading bombiez between “the crumplers”, and rescue civilians by sliding open manhole covers for them to fall through. Tapping on-screen buttons operates these unusual killing machines, while swiping levers swings open the manholes. Sound easy? It’s not. As the game continues difficulty levels soon pick up and the game gets quite intense. Be warned, fast fingers are a necessity as you frantically try to do two things at once.

To be honest, the game’s tag-line sums it up best: tap to kill, slide to rescue, and sweat to survive.

iHooy will test your reflexes while tickling your funny bone. The title’s irreverent sense of humor, amazing comic book style cut-scenes and addictive gameplay conspiring to make this one of the most bizarre and brilliant games to crash the App Store in ages. Braineaters are definitely a developer to watch!

Score: 8 out of 10

iHooy on the App Store.

Flight Control in space might be the most obvious way to describe Nova Run, but this comparison, however complimentary, doesn’t quite cover it. Granted, the game features familiar tactics such as route plotting and collision avoidance, but developer Scott Marsden has thrown enough innovative features into the mix to differentiate this stab at the genre from similar titles already on the Appstore.

A decent sci-fi back-story and a tangible enemy in the shape of the Kortovians means Nova Run is a compelling experience from the outset. While slick graphics, complex gameplay, four skill levels and an infinite number of levels to dodge and blast your through will keep you coming back for more.

Playing like a cross between a line drawing game and shoot-em-up, Nova Run is great fun and super addictive. Controls are easily grasped. Tap a space craft to put on the brakes, or double tap to unleash an impressive EMP (electromagnetic pulse, or big explosion in layman’s terms), which obliterates any nearby enemy ships. And here’s where the shooter comparisons come in: combos can be scored depending on how many bad guys you take out, whilst a watchful eye must be kept on your energy gauges at all times (weapon and shield).

This added level of complexity, means Nova Run has a steeper learning curve than other games of its ilk, but is an all the more rewarding experience for it. There’s a great sense of achievement when you destroy every enemy on-screen, level-up, miss another space ship by a fraction of an inch, or beat a previous high score.

Production values are also high. The action is set against a beautifully rendered static backdrop of stars and asteroids, while there are options to submit high-scores to open feint network and listen to your own music as you play. My only real criticism of the game is that there’s not much variety between levels, and staring at the same red planet gets a tad tiresome.

Overall though, Nova Run is a highly polished and fun affair, which should appeal to the casual and hardcore player alike. And Its just-one-more-go addictiveness, stunning visuals and effects earn this title a stellar score.

Score: 8.5 out of 10

Nova Run on the App Store.

First things first, despite the name, Powermanga has nothing whatsoever to do with big-eyed Japanese animation. Instead it’s a 2D vertical shoot-em-up (or shmup) that harks back to coin-up classics such as Space Invaders and Galaga.

Mobila Interactive admirably throws everything but the kitchen sink into the game, and at you, including enemy ships, big bosses, asteroids, power-ups, and other miscellaneous space debris. Your job? Basically to blast anything that moves, while avoiding getting your spacecraft shot to smithereens.

The fast paced action is set across 42 ever more difficult levels, but due to the game’s inherent repetitiveness is unlikely to hold your attention beyond the initial few. Boredom soon sets in as gameplay flits from one intergalactic shoot out to the next, with the occasional Boss encounter or uninspired power-up briefly spicing things up a little.

The cartoony graphics are colorful and rigidly retro, while the old-skool soundtrack, arcade-fire effects and explosions suit the nostalgia inducing style perfectly. However a selection of equally unresponsive control methods (swipe, tilt, and finger-top) sully this otherwise passable multi-directional shooter. That said, if your on the market for a mindless blaster that can be played in quick bursts, Powermanga deserves your consideration. Good, but not great.

Score: 5 out of 10

My one painfully brief attempt at skate-boarding in the real world resulted in two bloody knees and a bruised ego…But armed with my trusty Dual Shock I could grind, ollie, and kick-flip with the best of ‘em through Tony Hawk’s Playstation outings. So suitably stoked, I jumped on-board Gameloft’s latest, Skater Nation without hesitation.

And after spending some time rolling around “Sandifornia” (the game’s fictional setting), I’m happy to report Skater Nation does a pretty commendable job of recreating the thrills and spills of console skate ‘em ups on iPhone/iPod touch. That said, some niggling problems unfortunately stop this title from being the hand-held alternative to games like SKATE and Tony Hawk Pro Skater it so obviously aspires to be.

Controls are tricky (geddit?) at first, but put in some practice on the tutorial and soon you’ll get to grips with the game’s set up. A d-pad moves your skater around, while a and b buttons handle jumps and pulling off tricks. Balancing when grinding is achieved by tilting the device. Graphics are good, but not as immediately impressive as those in some of Gameloft’s other recent titles, plus an overly zoomed-in view of your protagonist means he/she always seems to fill too much of the screen obstructing your perspective of the surroundings.

The open-world environment is equally underwhelming, and although the 3D city contains ten different skate-able areas including beaches, residential areas and the obligatory skate park, Sandifornia feels like a ghost town; with hardly anyone strolling its streets or traffic on the roads.The blink-and-miss-them loading times between areas are a positive though, as is the ability to unlock a vast array of boards, wheels, and trucks as you play. While upgrading your kit and fiddling about with wheel alignment and so forth adds depth to the title.

The “story” mode gives you the choice of eight equally gnarly dudes and dudettes to play as, but amounts to more or less the same game whoever you opt for, and has you competing against rival skaters, and completing challenges, whilst you rack up sick scores, and win trophies in a bid to be crowned champion of an annual skating competition (typically terrible writing and laughably poor dialogue from Gameloft is present and accounted for).

Free Ride on the other hand lets you loose on the streets to skate at your own pace, handily allowing you to visit any area by traveling through portals. Both modes can be good fun once you come to terms with the game’s limitations and master the challenging control scheme.

But to be brutally honest, the game feels a bit rushed and lacks the attention to detail and extra features I’ve come to expect from this developer (for example there’s no option to play your own tunes while you skate, meaning you’re stuck with the handful of generic tracks on offer). So overall Skater Nation doesn’t fall flat on its face, but never quite soars to the dizzying heights of its inspirations either.

Score: 7 out of 10

Had I grown up in Russia during the 1980′s, playing Eggs From USSR might have filled me with a warm and fuzzy feeling of nostalgia. However I didn’t. Yet still found this game to be strangely compelling experience.

Basically an unlicensed homage to Nintendo’s EG-26 “Egg” game from Game and Watch series, the simplistic, retro concept casts you as a wolf desperately to put all your eggs in one basket. While the graphics are obviously minimalistic, due to their evoking an LCD style of yesteryear, they are charming and function well.

Gameplay consists of two modes: patience and attention, which amount to more or less the same aim, catching eggs before they hit the ground by moving the wolf armed with a basket into the correct position at the right time. Large on-screen buttons control the wolf, moving him from left to right and up and down the screen. Sound repetitive? It is, but the action soon picks up pace as you frantically try not lose any points. Points are rewarded for saving the falling eggs, but smash three and it’s game over.

Overall presentation is great, and the game truly feels like a convincing replica of an old video-game. From the ability to flip the unit and examine it’s underside, to the old-skool sound-effects and music, Eggs From USSR has apparently been lovingly (re)created, with microscopic attention to detail by the developers for the iPod/iPhone generation.

Despite my being initially underwhelmed by this kitsch retro oddity, I soon fell for its charms and found myself obsessively trying to beat my best score. So if Eggs From USSR will bring back fond memories from your childhood, or even if your just looking for a refreshingly different gameplay experience, this may be eggsactly (sorry) what you’re looking for. So don’t hesitate to pop this bizarre little title in your shopping basket.

Score: 6 out of 10

Eggs from USSR on the App Store.