Oozoo’s new title, Brandnew Boy boasts some of the best hand to hand combat controls we’ve seen for the iPhone and its siblings.  Powered by Unreal Engine’s 3D platform, the game offers beautiful settings, creepy and funny monsters, and oodles of exceptional combat.

Action, action, and more action is the name of the game.  Yes, you’ve got items to acquire and upgrades to manage, and there’s a narrative… but you can sleepwalk through that part as long as you enjoy kicking ass. And while hand to hand combat has had a less than impressive showing in the App Store, Brand New Boy is about to change all that.  With one ferocious young boy, stranded in an unknown world.  “Rookie” is all you’ll know your character by when you begin, because the poor little fella has lost his memory.  To assist him, maybe, is a television-headed robot of some type known as OnaOna.  While OnaOna clearly knows more than it’s letting on, it seems to be unable to reveal more about Rookie’s past. In the meantime, everyone on this world seems out to turn Rookie into a smear of gore. Time to fight, and maybe pick up some clues to identity along the way.

The controls that manage Rookie’s combat skills are one of the most impressive aspects of this new game.  Rather than turning Brandnew Boy into a gamer’s headache with too many onscreen controls, or a gamer’s idea of boredom by just tapping your way to victory, Oozoo came up with something a bit different.  Yes, the controls are entirely tap and swipe based—but they’re also rhythm based.  By tracking the yellow status bar that appears whenever you’re in a battle, you’ll be able to break bad at the right moment—and if you keep it up, you’ll score amazing combos.  That might still sound oversimplified, but given the number and variety of enemies and their skills, it’s a whole new flavor of challenge.

In the first couple of stages, Brandnew Boy lets you heavy-hand your way through.  But that’s just letting you get warmed up.  The enemies you first encounter will be lower level eggy types.  Yes, eggs.  These guys do get much deadlier as you progress, but they don’t get any less silly looking.  Later, you’ll start running into an entirely different species—tall, thin, and talented at various casting and weapons abilities.  That’s when managing your own upgrades and weapons will become more important.  These mysterious humanoids don’t show their faces, but they are very willing to show off how vicious they are.  They’re spooky, but  nothing compared to the bosses.  The very first one you encounter is called “Franken-tiger” and that whimsical name does nothing to prepare you for the monstrous masked horror you’ll be facing off against.

Oozoo pushes the Unreal Engine factor pretty hard, and they’re right to do it, because the 3D combat is phenomenal, especially for an App Store offering.  Suffice it to say that good “camera” work, dramatic combos, and a fully rendered 3D setting make high speed martial arts against bizarre opponents awesome. But Unreal alone isn’t what makes Brandnew Boy so darn good. The game’s overall design and aesthetics make it a high quality, engaging experience.

Brandnew Boy retails for $3.99 in the iTunes App Store, a phenomenal value for an incredible adrenaline rush and a great looking game!

I thought I’d seen just about enough castle defense games on iOS to last me the rest of my life.  There’s a trend for dumbing games down so much to appeal to the casual audience that’s been way overused in my opinion.  Fantasy Defense doesn’t do that; in fact, with added RPG elements and fast-paced action, it should appeal to gamers who want something a tad more substantial.  But it also has lots of potential to suck in the casual player, too.

Fantasy Defense gives you a standard goal and then dresses it up with plenty of features. Keep monsters from smashing the gate to your fortress—but do it by planning strategies, thinking on your feet, and managing your gold, mana, and hero points effectively.  Some nice customization features make learning as you go possible for those who aren’t familiar with all of these bells and whistles, while letting you blaze ahead if you don’t need the practice.  Your fighting force is human, and you’re defending your own fortress (and the world) from the army of the Wraith King.  The Wraith King’s minions are a motley lot of monsters, zombies, vampires, and mythological baddies, each with their own characteristics that you’ll do well to learn.

Placing your forces is a drag-and-drop event. You need to use mages, archers, and warriors effectively, considering their attack power and range, in order to keep your gate in one piece.  Waves of enemies will pour out of the Wraith King’s gate along increasingly complex paths that increase your challenge.  As you kill enemies, you’ll gain gold, which you use to place more fighters.  Be thrifty, or the game will get a lot faster paced than you can handle.

Really, this game has a lot going for it that should attract a lot of fans.  The devs are obviously veterans of designing these types of games, judging from how well-executed the upgrades, currency, and combat systems are.  Twelve different units of fighters and three hero types give your defense variety. I haven’t gotten around to counting the types of bad guys—there’s a truckload.  Three modes of gameplay give this great replay value, and break it up some if it becomes monotonous.  Changing the speeds of play is another very nice feature that allows users to tailor Fantasy Defense to their own levels of proficiency.

Graphics are not innovative in this game, but they’re pleasantly nostalgic.  The only real issue I had with the look of the game is that it’s a bit cramped when the screen is overflowing with fighters and enemies. Since you can (and will want to) direct your fighters to prioritize from time to time, sorting out who you’re tapping on is necessary.  This is more of a symptom of screen size than anything else, and Fantasy Defense does a good job of keeping on screen menus out of the way, so the bother is minimal.

It’s a great big li’l time waster, and it sells for only $2.99 in the App Store.  It’s definitely worth trying out.

A lonely cowboy faces a deadly gang of gunslingers known as The Crimson Jackals. He will have to fight through towns, deserts and canyons crawling with bandidos before finally defeating the four leaders of the gang to bring peace to the land.

Name: Cowboy Guns| Download from: iTunes | Price: 3$

Touch to the rhythm! This game offers exhilarating groove-filled roller coaster action with simple one-finger controls! The more you play, the more the game levels up! Persistance is rewarded, with new characters and other elements unlocked through play! Create an original stage that grows and changes according to your progress through the game! Impress your friends! The music included covers a wide spectrum, from rock and pop to hip-hop and techno!

Name: Groove Coaster| Download from: iTunes | Price: 3$

DM1 is an advanced vintage Drum Machine. It turns your iPad into a fun and creative beat making machine. Easy and fast to use, loaded with 24 superb electronic drum kits and beautiful hyper-realistic graphics, DM1 has been designed for a lot of instant fun.

Name: DM1 | Download from: iTunes | Price: 6$

Who’d a thought robbing the bank would be the easy part? Now comes the real challenge - to escape with your hard-earned loot having the fuzz hot at your heels! Weave in and out of oncoming traffic; dodge, outrun or ram pursuing police cars and just generally crash, smash and thrash your way through 16 varied levels.

Name: Reckless Getaway| Download from: iTunes | Price: 3$

Enter a world overrun by hordes of monsters. Explore trap-filled dungeons and face mighty bosses. Collect piles of treasure and items and invest in dozens of abilities and unlockable equipment. Test your skills against the oncoming darkness. Pocket RPG is a dual-stick action dungeon-crawler. In it you can choose from three distinct classes, each with their own combat style.

Name: Pocket RPG| Download from: iTunes | Price: 3$

Play as the mighty optimus prime, or fan-favorite bumblebee, and stop the evil decepticons from taking over the universe! Crush your enemies in fierce robot combat, or change into a vehicle and blast your foes on the road.

Name: Transformers: dark of the moon | Download from: iTunes | Price: 3$

SwitcherSettings allows you to have your settings toggles when you open your application switcher. SwitcherSettings is fully compatible with all your SBSettings toggles, and present them directly directly into iOS, offering a native user experience : a quick access to your settings, exactly like Apple would have coded it. And don’t mention respringing after removing, adding or reordering toggles. Every time you install a new toggle in Cydia, it will be available in the app switcher right away. And it’s retro-compatible for all the toggles you already have. SwitcherSettings is compatible with iOS 4, for both retina and legacy display. Need help jailbreaking your phone? These guides and tutorials will show you how to jailbreak your iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch.

Name: SwitcherSettings| Download from: Cydia| Price: 3$

With “I’m Busy SMS” you can decline an incoming call and send a predefined SMS text message to the caller with a single finger slide. Have you ever been in a meeting or another situation that did not allow you answer an incoming call? But you wanted the caller to let know that you will call back as soon as possible? With “I’m Busy SMS” this is finally possible. Define your message text in the device settings. If there’s an incoming call simply slide the button and the call gets declined and your message is sent to the caller with an SMS text message. Please note that the caller may be redirected to Voice Mail by declining the call. An accoustic signal confirms the sending of the message. Costs for sending SMS text messages may apply, according to your price plan. Need help jailbreaking your phone? These guides and tutorials will show you how to jailbreak your iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch.

Name: Im Busy SMS| Download from: Cydia | Price: 3$