Backflip Studios has released their latest free game to the App Store. The release of Buganoids follows their other summer launches including Tunnel Shoot, Graffiti Ball, and Ninjump. We profiled Backflip Studios' success in the App Store back at WWDC. As of this writing, they report that their games have seen over 48 million downloads with up to 2 million unique players playing each day.

For this latest App Store entry, Backflip enlisted the help of a developer we're very familiar with around here � Dan Bliss. Bliss' App Store career [iTunes link] has been pretty much exclusively dedicated to retro-inspired games, so his involvement made a lot of sense for Buganoids.

The developers accurately describe Buganoids as "Tempest" meets "Centipede" with a dash of "Gyruss" thrown in. The game is a circumferential shooter where your goal is to destroy the spawning bugs coming up from the planet. Your only ability is to shoot down � straight into the planet. So, in order to adjust your aim, you need to walk around the planet. If a bug makes its way to the surface, you're going to have to shoot form the opposite side to take it out. It's a pretty simply mechanic that offers a surprising amount of depth.

The game offers five different weapons across seven different globes and includes 3 levels of difficulty. Like all of Backflip's free games, they are ad-supported by offer the customer the ability to buy-out of the ads.

There's both an iPhone and iPad version of the game, and they are both free. So, no reason not to try it out.

If the Sims is your thing, EA has just launched the latest Sims sequel onto the App Store. Sims 3 Ambitions offers a number of long requested new Sim-capabilities to the App Store game. The latest version actually lets you build your own house or business as well as have babies.

The new features, as listed by EA, include:

• Career mode � For the first time ever on iPhone & iPod touch, turn your Sims' hobbies into fulfilling jobs. Will your Sim become a Firefighter? Rock Star? Artist? Teacher? Chef? Sports Star? Get down to business with new career-oriented goals, mini-games, outfits, and locations. Follow your Sims to work and see them get happier as they make their dreams come true.
• Build Mode � Think big with the improved and expanded Build Mode feature. Resize, add, or delete rooms, floors, walls, doors, and windows as you make a new home for your success-driven Sim. Buy and sell furniture and objects. And now you can also build workplaces like a Bistro, a Preschool, or a Night Club for your musical Sim to rock.
  
• Babies � Your most requested feature is here! For the first time on iPhone & iPod touch, your Sims can have babies! Feed them, play with them, and put them to bed! Watch Sims babies become Sims toddlers. Take them to the park, play hide-and-seek, or give them a little cuddle. Having Sims children changes everything!
• Import and Export � Bring in your favorite Sims from The Sims™ 3 and The Sims™ 3 World Adventures for iPhone & iPod touch. Give them the chance to pursue their dreams, too!

Here's an early gameplay video:

Meanwhile, impressions are beginning to be collected in the forums.

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu recently revealed two upcoming games based on the Gundam universe. The article itself is entirely in Japanese, but forum member Rakanishu890 offers a translation. Four apps in total are coming, two simple utility apps which are skinned to match the Gundam art style that launch other iPhone apps along with the strategy RPG Gundam G Generation Touch and Gundam Fighting Spirit which as the title may hint is a fighting game.

In Gundam G Generation Touch players will be able to collect, build, and train various mobile suits. Classic suits will be included as well as 100 others with additional suits available via in-app purchase. Gundam Fighting Spirit will pit suit-equipped players against enemies who are also piloting their own mobile suits. There's even local Bluetooth multiplayer support.

All of these Gundam apps are scheduled for release sometime this winter and we hope to get more details on them as soon as we can. In the meantime, check out the massive gallery of screenshots over on Famitsu.

As usual, there is always tons to be excited for as an iOS gamer, with new games released on a daily basis and upcoming games to look forward to. Here are four games I'm looking forward to trying out, each with their own gameplay trailer.

Danger Derby � There have been quite a few top-down racers released both for the iPhone and iPad, but Danger Derby spices things up by adding a host of obstacles to deal with. Multiple game modes, cars, and upgrades sweeten the deal even further.

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People Bucket � Games like No, Human have proven that you can take a simple physics gameplay mechanic and turn it in to an incredibly elegant game. I'm not sure if that's going to be the case with People Bucket or not, but the trailer has definitely piqued my interest.

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Silverfish � Chaotic Box posted about this game in our forums, and while they're not revealing much about the actual gameplay yet, I've had fun with their other games so it would stand to reason that Silverfish would be enjoyable as well. Either way, the graphics look pretty cool.

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Moral Decay � While I'm not entirely sure that the gameplay of Moral Decay will be half as good as the sky high novelty value of its premise, the Mega Man 2 homage at the beginning of the trailer totally sold me on it.

All four of these games are coming soon, and we'll give them each a look once they're finally released. For more upcoming games, check out both our upcoming iPhone games and upcoming iPad games forums.

According to IGN, Adult Swim's amazingly popular Robot Unicorn Attack [99�] is about to be joined by an evil App Store twin. Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal is abandoning the colorful platforms, rainbows, and sparkles for pentagrams, fire, and brimstone. Per IGN, the gameplay is identical aside from graphical changes, and one much more severe change…

The fantastic soundtrack consisting of Erasure's Always has been replaced by the equally over the top Battlefield by Blind Guardian. Adult Swim usually doesn't go public with their games until their release is imminent, so it wouldn't suprise me to see Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal pop up on the App Store any day now. In the meantime, Robot Unicorn Attack is still on sale for 99�, and I really recommend checking it out or at least trying the free flash version if nothing else.

If you've taken even a cursory glance at the top paid apps charts in the last six months, then you've no doubt noticed a game called Angry Birds at or around the #1 position. The venerable physics puzzler has you launching birds into precariously built structures in order to collapse them onto the pigs that dwell inside. Angry Birds practically needs no introduction, as between the lite and paid versions it has been downloaded more than 11 million times since debuting on the App Store last December. It has also been one of the most well supported games following release, as Angry Birds has received a number of free content updates during its lifespan adding tons of new levels and new functionality.

During this successful run and its many content updates, Angry Birds has always steadfastly remained at 99�. Plenty of gamers including ourselves have commented that Angry Birds is simply the best value for the money on the App Store. That's all well and good for the players, but how does developer Rovio expect to continue to offer high quality updates to Angry Birds with an inevitable decline in the charts looming and while maintaining the game's 99� price point? The answer is the Mighty Eagle. The Mighty Eagle will be a special bird that you can call upon to instantly complete a level that you might be stuck on. You will be able to buy a can of sardines via in-app purchase and use those to lure the Mighty Eagle into a level and crush those pesky pigs on your behalf.

This video doesn't demonstrate any in-game footage of the Mighty Eagle in action, but serves as more of a teaser and is pretty funny in its own right:

In-app purchases have been met with both positive and negative criticism from gamers before, but seeing as Angry Birds offers a tremendous amount of gameplay for your dollar I can't see too many people being upset with another avenue to give Rovio some more money for their efforts. Some concerns have risen about players being able to buy their way onto leaderboards by abusing this IAP, but the Mighty Eagle function is limited to prevent this. Once a player uses one to pass a level, they aren't allowed to use another one until they have gone back and beaten the level they skipped on their own. If anything, it just offers a way for people who get overly frustrated being stuck at a certain point in the game to progress and then give the level a shot later on.

Pricing and a release date for the Mighty Eagle haven't been confirmed, but we'll keep you posted as we learn more about this latest direction for Angry Birds as well as the long awaited Game Center update to the game.