One game that I have really been looking forward to ever since it was revealed in early February is Kami Retro [$1.99] from Gamevil and Paw Print Games. We had a chance to get some hands on time with Kami Retro last week at GDC, and today the game has officially launched in the App Store.

Kami Retro is a puzzle platforming game that draws influence from several similar games before it, like Jet Set Willy, Rainbow Islands, Super Mario Bros. and Lemmings. In each of the 65 single screen levels, you must get several Kamis from an entrance at one point in the level safely to the exit at another. You'll use various items like springboards, fans, and cannons which need to be placed at specific points in order to accomplish this.

Kamis will automatically move, and a simple swipe gesture is used to make them jump when needed, which sounds a bit suspect but actually works well in practice. The game gets hectic as just when you are getting one Kami into the exit, another is popping out of the entrance which you must then quickly bring your attention to before they go and get themselves killed.

I've only spent a brief amount of time with Kami Retro, but so far my impressions are good. The levels are cleverly designed and require subtle precision in how you place objects in order to be successful. The art style is absolutely fantastic, with blocky pixel graphics that are rendered in 3D. Each level is full of color and the animations bring everything to life. There are more impressions from gamers in our forums, and if you like retro-inspired visuals and puzzle-platforming gameplay then Kami Retro is definitely one to check out.

Firemint has just temporarily dropped the price on the iPad version of their highly popular, feature-filled chaos management title Flight Control. For just 24 hours, Flight Control HD [App Store] will be available at an 80% discount for $0.99, down from its regular price of $4.99.

For those somehow unfamiliar, Flight Control turns you into an air traffic controller, routing helicopters and airplanes of various sizes and speeds into the proper (color coded) airports � hopefully without incident. It's game that should handily dispel any aspirations you have to become a real-life air traffic controller.

Flight Control has been extremely well maintained since its release and now features leaderboards, achievements and online multiplayer via Game Center, local WiFi / Bluetooth multiplayer and, specific to the iPad version, shared (same device) multiplayer, both cooperative and competitive.

Flight Control brings a great balance of easy pick-up gameplay, ramping difficulty and that "just one more time" draw. If your iPad lacks Flight Control HD, now's the time to take care of that.

App Store Link: Flight Control HD, $0.99 (iPad Only)

Last week at GDC 2011 I sat down with developer Booyah! to take a look at their new game DJ Rivals [Free]. In the game you will create your own DJ and cruise around a city battling rival DJ's using rhythm-based gameplay mechanics. You can choose any real city in the world which will use Google Maps information to populate it with real locations, and as you win DJ battles you'll earn experience and money which can then be used to level up your character and buy a ton of different items to trick him or her out with.

I quite enjoyed DJ Rivals when I previewed it, and today the game has launched for free in the App Store. There is a story mode to play through with 4 different chapters and dozens of different kinds of quests to complete. You can also obtain "house DJ" status at the various locations by performing well, and then battle the ghost characters of other real life players to either defend your house DJ status or take theirs from them.

DJ Rivals is a freemium title, and as such there is an IAP component called "ice" in addition to the regular currency in the game. I've only spent a short time playing so far, but for the most part it appears that you get a good chunk of playtime without ever having to spend a dime if you don't want to, but you'll need to have a lot of patience.

Ice can be earned just through playing and so is not strictly IAP, but battling other DJ's costs stamina points and you'll either need to spend ice to instantly refill it or else wait for it to slowly refill over a cool down period of 10 minutes per stamina point. This can considerably slow down the pace of the game, but I can't imagine playing so often that it would be a problem and I wouldn't be opposed to spending a couple of dollars here and there if I was anxious to keep going.

DJ Rivals is free to download and try, and if a rhythm-based game with RPG-esque elements sounds interesting to you then it's worth checking out. The rhythm battling is pretty fun, and there's loads of things to collect and do in the game. And at the very least it's a more fun and interesting freemium title than your average farming sim.