As I’m sure we’re all aware, the iPhone (and its shy cousin the iPod Touch, pictured above) represents the newest, most promising games platform. The hardware is at least as powerful as the Nintendo DS or Sony’s PSP, and the unique input controls present the possibility for new gameplay forms. So inevitably the App Store is swimming in games, some great, most horrible. The bulk of the games are casual, which is probably as it should be, but traditional gaming genres (racing, sports) are filling out gradually.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect is price. The most money you will pay for an iPhone game is $10, generally reserved for “A-list” titles from the large publishers like EA and Sega: Super Monkey Ball, Spore Origins, Asphalt 4: Elite Racing, Star Wars the Force Unleashed. In the broader context of video game pricing, these are absolute steals – top shelf DS and PSP titles go for $30 to $50 CDN, and games for the 360 and PS3 can go above $60. However, the iTunes store has a hell of a lot of free apps, and many games in the $1 to $5 range which often rival the more expensive games in quality. Also, the cheaper games tend to show up in the “Top Paid Apps” list, which appears at the top level of the iTunes Store, and must generate great traffic and thus sales. As a consequence, games seem to be getting cheaper, and gimmicky sales are now the norm.

Anyway, it’s impossible to be exhaustive about this on account of the hundreds of games now in the store, so I’ll just make mention of the games I’ve tried enough to be able to comment on. Prices are moving targets, I can vouch only that these were the prices at the time of writing.

Must-have

Galcon
Thanks to Ram for tipping me off on this one. It’s an RTS at it’s simplest; it’s a fast-loading, fast-playing game that is nonetheless strategic. In other words, a one-hitter for strategy nerds. There’s a Galcon Lite for free that may serve your needs, or the $5 Galcon proper offers multiplayer and several different game modes.

Toy Bot Diaries
This is an excellent platformer based on grappling hook and magnetic boot gameplay. The controls (accelerometer and touch) are perfect, and the art and levels excellently made. Just an all-round great game. $4.

Aurora Feint: The Beginning
An inventive puzzler with RPG elements, like Puzzle Quest without the story. It’s fun, well-designed, imaginative and free.

Maybe-have

Blue Skies
A top-down arcade helicopter shooter controlled via accelerometer. I haven’t played much of this one, but what I have played I have loved – I have a feeling after a couple more hours logged I’d move it into the must-have category. $3; free Lite version is fairly robust with 7 levels.

Field Runners
There are a couple free tower defense games in the App Store that are like meh, and then there is this one. It’s $5, very slick and has one major flaw: there’s only one level. You can keep playing for ages, but the enemies will just march in a straight line toward your base, meaning it doesn’t really require a lot of strategy, just gradual accumulation of towers. Word on the street is that a free update will add levels, which will be a Good Thing.

Tap Tap Revenge
Very pretty rhythm tapping game. It’s free, but marred by Apple’s restrictions on 3rd party apps – namely, you can’t tap along with your own music.

Vay
This is a port of a Sega CD game. It’s an old school Japanese RPG. I was thrilled to see something a little more hardcore for the iPhone, so I shelled out the $5… and haven’t really played it much. Perhaps hardcore games don’t work well on the iPhone, perhaps I have enough of them on my DS & PSP, perhaps I have simply overdosed on JRPGs of late. Perhaps a little of each.

Meh

Sudoku (EA version)
You know what’s really annoying? Slick, well-executed animation that makes you wait for it to finish before you can keep playing. That, and paying $10 for something that is now $2. That, and there being so many sudoku apps now that even thinking about trying some of the other ones makes me want to take a nap.

Cube Runner
This is a simple, free, 3D, accelerometer-controlled flying game. By simple I mean the graphics are from 1986. But it’s good for a few minutes, and … see how ‘free’ lowers one’s standards?

Billy Frontier
Long-time mac developer Pangea has a bunch of games on the iPhone and while I’m sure some of them are good, this isn’t one of them. It’s okay, I guess – more or less a western-themed mini-game collection. But it’s slow to load and crashy, which gets in the way of the quick-fix entertainment it’s meant to provide.

Well, that’s it for now. I’m fascinated by the trunkload of racing apps out on the ‘Store now, so that may be the next thing I, er, take for a spin.