I am guessing some of you may have squealed � like a small child � just now.

Don't try and deny it. There are those out there who will certainly have had that reaction to the pair of screenshots to the right. Those presently excited individuals would be the oldschool gamers who recall the incredible excellence of Geoff Crammond's seminal Stunt Car Racer (aka Stunt Track Racer), originally released for the Commodore 64 in 1989, but perhaps most popular on the Amiga and Atari ST.

What's tha�ahh, you're still squealing! Well, then, I should put you out of your misery and say right now that � no � an official port of Stunt Car Racer is not (as far as we know) headed to the iPhone platform. But something pretty close, and quite solid looking, is.

Andrei Nadin, Senior Producer of Australian studio Sector3 has given us a heads up on their upcoming Fumes Stunt Racer, a "retro-inspired" (and not just generally so…) iOS racer with native support for all three iOS screen sizes. The game features 15 varied tracks, each full of huge jumps, banked corners, fast straightaways, humps, switchbacks, and drops.

Pretty much everything those of you who know Stunt Car Racer have come to enjoy about the best acrobatic stunt racer out there. And that's because Fumes Stunt Racer is a clear remake / homage to the superb Crammond original. And when it comes to Stunt Car Racer � I'll be honest � we fans will take it however we can get it.

We should be getting a preview build of the game shortly and I promise to personally provide a similarity / awesomeness factor on Sector3's title as soon as I'm in a position to do so. Until then, have a look at the studio's trailer video, and feel free to compare it to Crammond's original in action.

Stay tuned for more on Fumes Stunt Racer.

We've gushed at length many times before about Adult Swim's Robot Unicorn Attack [$2.99] for the iPhone between our initial preview, release announcement, its subsequent updates such as when it gained OpenFeint and even the recent announcement that Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal was in the works. If this is the first time you've heard of it, you really need to just stop whatever it is you're doing and get to a browser with Flash to play the free online flash version.

The gameplay of the recently released Robot Unicorn Attack HD [99�] is identical to that of both the iPhone and flash versions of the game, except it runs at 1024�768 and the graphics are noticeably improved. The robot unicorn is much better looking, along with everything else. The terrain looks a little rough in screenshots, but it isn't apparent at all when you're actually playing the game.

If you own an iPad, you need to have Robot Unicorn Attack HD on it� especially at its launch price of 99�.

It wouldn't surprise me if I went back and ran the numbers that Donut Games is responsible for more favorable game reviews than any other developer, or, at least, somewhere near the top of that list. Each Donut Game always seems to include so many things that make for great iPhone games such as online scoring, a tiered scoring/star system to enhance replay value, and gameplay mechanics that somehow go from incredibly simple to insanely difficult as the games progress.

Urban Ninja [99�] has all of these features and more. In the game, you play as a fat French ninja looking to escape whatever obstacles are in between you and the rope dangling from the bottom of your escape helicopter. These often include a number of different types of bad guys, platforms, ropes, buildings, and other things. An energy meter on the top left corner of the screen serves as both your health meter, and an energy meter.

Getting from the start of the level to your escape helicopter involves careful jumping, as each jump depletes your energy and you die once you run out. To refill your energy (and increase your score), stars are scattered throughout each level that can be picked up. Also, a score bonus is awarded by ending the level as far down the helicopter's rope as possible, something that is usually easier said than done.

Like other Donut Games, Urban Ninja features a three star grading system for each level. Clearing the 40 included levels with a single star should be easy enough for most people, and scoring two stars is usually much more difficult. Scoring three stars, it seems, is a matter of completing a level absolutely perfectly. If you're the kind of person who can get sucked in to earning stars like this, Urban Ninja will have a ridiculous amount of replay value.

If you're looking for another quick pick up and play game to spend some time with, Urban Ninja is a great choice. If you like it, give some of the other Donut Games a look. Some favorites of mine include Cat Physics, Comet Racer, and Action Buggy.

Trudging through the forums of TrendyEnt's Dungeon Defenders, an upcoming game on PC that recently caught my eye, has upturned some pretty juicy developments. Apparently, Dungeon Defenders' release in November and a console version on the way hasn't prevented the busy developers at TrendyEnt from finding the time to post their work on an iOS port of the game, too. And it's looking mighty fine, even at this early stage.

The Dungeon Defenders website describes the game as a hybrid between a Tower Defense game and a Co-op Action RPG, where 4 players take on the role of heroes tasked with defending the onslaught of enemy creep waves by building defenses and directly attacking the horde themselves. There seem to be rich underlying RPG concepts driving Dungeon Defenders, as heroes collect loot, level up, lay traps and even get their own familiars along the way.

It seems as though Dungeon Defenders' iOS release may not be too far away, either. A video released by the developers on YouTube (below) shows Dungeon Defenders already being played co-operatively on 4 different iOS devices. On initial observation, it looks to have many of the features of the PC version, with the touch interface effortlessly replacing the standard point-and-click and the bright, colorful, cartoon-like graphics remarkably in-tact in its translation to the handheld device.

The PC release is described as having an extensive campaign, lots of planned DLC, detailed stat tracking and the ability to seamlessly mix both online and local participants, all features we'd love to see carried over to the iOS port too. Little information is actually known on the project so far, beyond what has been released in alpha demonstrations. We have contacted the developers to see what else we can get from them, and will keep you up to date on any further developments.

11 is somewhat of a milestone for EA Sports, being the number of players each team has on the field. As such, there were lofty expectations of Fifa 11 [App Store] to deliver something really special. Things start out great with Fifa 11� when you first load up your first game, you are treated to some of the best looking soccer ever created on the iOS platform. Retina support is crystal clear and ultra sharp, but even the older models will enjoy the brilliant and believable life-like animations and the finer details as EA have tried (and succeeded, we think) to give a fair bit of recognition to their player models and stadiums.

Of course, EA's licensing credentials mean that all the 31 leagues and their respective squads are well represented, and appear to be largely up to date. There are also a very respectable 50 stadiums to play on, fortunately only a few of which are generic models. The iconic stadiums from around the world nearly all feature here and look terrific in both the day and night settings available.

Regretfully, the overall visual appeal of Fifa 11 was marred for us during our review with a frustrating slowdown bug. This affected both our 3GS testing device and the iPhone 4, with many users on our forums indicating similar problems. We're hoping that EA address this in a fix soon, as we could barely get through a game without requiring a restart to get the game back to speed.

That problem aside, when it was working well, the gameplay in Fifa 11 is definitely a more measured approach than what we're used to. No longer can you press for a through ball and get a perfectly weighted pass to your runner. Passes now have a power indicator, and a degree of skill is required to do what was previously effortless. Of course, this is dramatically altered by your difficulty setting, with the lowest settings giving you that extra helping hand.

If you do struggle with the controls, you'll appreciate the default 'casual' settings, which offer a limited, but descriptive control set. Instead of the advanced A, B and C buttons, casual mode includes a context sensitive pass, shoot and through buttons, which change to switch, tackle and slide when you're in defence. Pressing longer on the pass button will intelligently lob the ball, as the game tries to second-guess your intentions. If you're after greater control though, you can't pass up the Advanced mode, which offers the more skill intensive slide-off buttons, where lobbing requires you to slide your thumb off the pass button, and through balls are performed by sliding from the middle C button to B.

This latter button combination caused more frustration than it should have, particularly for an action as frequently used as the through ball. It took alot of wrestling with the controls to get used to, and I can't help but feel there was a better way to go about this. On the flipside, I really liked the new touch gestures in Fifa 11. Tapping on the screen would perform a skill move such as a step over; dragging on a teammate would cause them to sprint forward into space; and tapping a player in defense would switch control of that player to you. I appreciated the fact that a little thought has gone into making the most use of the iOS interface.

The Fifa series is reknown for the quality of features that support the actual gameplay. In some respects, Fifa 11 doesn't depart from this. The fully voiced commentary (that thankfully doesn't seem to make as many mistakes as previous versions, and has the voice-work for even the smallest of teams) that contributes to the hefty 858mb filesize is easily the best of these. The availability of 3 game modes on top of the exhibition games (a cup mode, league mode and practice arena) also serves to keep things fresh. I've yet to see a comprehensive manager mode as the console versions have enjoyed, and it seems like we may need to wait a while longer for that to happen.

The menus and options in Fifa 11 also depart a bit from the expected standard. There seem to be far too many greyed out and inaccessible features in Fifa 11, the largest of these being an exciting multiplayer mode which I cannot wait for. Team strategies present a large list of toggleable options with only few of these actually available for each formation, which are largely rigid and canned. I'm not sure what the deal is with this, but it's certainly odd to see a lack of tactical flexibility. I're also disappointed to see no tooltip assistance is given on any of the options, making them prohibitive to new users and those not familiar with the soccer jargon.

I can comfortably say that Fifa 11 is the prettiest soccer game to grace our devices. I can't overstate just how life-like the player interactions are, whether it's jostling on the ball, celebrating goals, or performing cute dribbling maneuvers; the iOS platform has closed the gap dramatically with its console cousins and is a definite step up from last year's offerings. Unfortunately, the release build's nagging performance issues really hampered my time with Fifa 11, so we do advise caution until a fix is released. That aside, the scaleable difficulty and greater emphasis on player input and skill should prove a blessing to both experienced fans and newcomers alike. Ultimately, the verdict is still out on whether Fifa 11's gameplay can stand up to the other heavy-hitting soccer sims such as Gameloft's recently released Real Soccer 11 and Konami's Pro Evo 11 (if it ever arrives). We still feel there's room for improvement though, particularly where the finer controls are concerned, and we're sure that EA's starting 11 will have to look a little different next year to continue to impress.

Last week we reported that premier '80s game studio Elite Systems would soon begin bringing classic ZX Spectrum game titles to iOS (via emulation) with the coming release of ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection (Vol. #1) [App Store]. This weekend the game went live in the App Store, shortly following a press release issued by Elite, meant to manage expectations of the unreleased title.

In the release, Elite's Steve Wilcox said,

The media and consumer�reaction to the announcement, in late September, of Apple's approval of ZX�Spectrum: Elite Collection has been extensive and enthusiastic. Our concerns�now are to ensure that both groups understand that Vol. #1 of the App is a�work in-progress, a rough diamond if you like and that we're committed to�developing the App (eliminating some of its more obvious shortcomings and�adding new features) over the weeks and months ahead.
…
If we're to achieve our goal of offering (and enabling others to offer) access � via mobile and wireless devices � to many of the thousands of fantastic ZX Spectrum games, we need to restore some order to the market and adjust expectations amongst developers, publishers and players.

Wilcox promises that the application will always be priced at��0.59 (Euro 0.79, US $0.99) and that within a month, six more game will be released via a free update (Vol. #2), with a further free update to come within the following month (Vol. #3), bringing with it an in-app game shop.

This Volume 1 release features the following six popular Spectrum titles:

• Turbo Esprit
• Saboteur
• Chuckie Egg
• Harrier Attack
• Frank Bruno's Boxing
• Buggy Boy

The bundled games in this release features on-screen, directional "key" controls configured for each specific title. Gameplay can be carried out in either portrait or landscape mode, depending on player preference. Audio is fully reproduced, as well, bringing the Spectrum's lavish soundscape to discerning iPhone gamers. (A bit of wit there…)

See Elite's brief trailer video.

I've not yet spent a great deal of time with this one, but can say that the emulation seems to be running games at full ZX Spectrum speed. (And I'm happy to say I've not hit a single R Tape loading error.) We'll be following Elite's progressive releases in this series closely.

The popular PC and console puzzle game Peggle [99�] was released in the App Store way back in May of 2009. Curiously, Peggle came without the background music found in other versions of the game, with developer PopCap promising that it was in the works and would be released in a future update. Many months passed without any news of music being added to the game, and it seemed that it would never come. Then this past June, more than a year after Peggle's App Store release, PopCap shocked everybody by nonchalantly releasing the long-promised background music update for the game.

Earlier tonight, PopCap once again released a surprise update to Peggle. This new update adds the entire sequel Peggle Nights to the original Peggle as an in-app purchase for $2.99. There are 6 demo levels for you to try before you buy, and the full Peggle Nights upgrade features 60 new levels across four game modes, with new challenges and trophies to earn. This video from YouTube shows some gameplay excerpts from the PC version of Peggle Nights:

Ever since the release of Peggle, people have wondered if Peggle Nights would also be coming to iOS platforms, but I don't think anyone ever imagined it would come as an in-app purchase to the original game. If you've played Peggle to death on your iOS device and are craving more, then make sure and grab the latest update and buy the Peggle Nights add-on for $2.99. If you don't already own Peggle, now is a great time to pick it up as it's currently still on sale for 99�.

Fishing games are a niche genre, little heard of before the popularity of the iOS touch and tilt interface. Games like Flick Fishing and Fishing Kings have introduced many newcomers to the sport in a more arcade-like way that has proven quite successful. So much so in fact that mega-publisher Activision have ported their take on angling to iOS, in Rapala Pro Bass Fishing [App Store], a universal app for the iPad and its smaller siblings.

Rapala Pro Bass Fishing starts off with a gutsy speedboat cutscene, in typical Activision flair. The intro movie kicks off what becomes a trend in your fishing career, as each victory is met with an over-the-top cutscene looking more like an MTV award night. Fortunately, everything in Rapala Pro Bass Fishing looks as great as these movies do, particularly the in-game environments which are fully fleshed out landscapes across many fishing hotspots.

In this respect, Rapala Pro Bass Fishing has addressed the crticisms of similar games that have come before it, and ensured a wide variety of locations that are completely explorable in your trusty speedboat. There aren't just several static fishing locations to cast your line at, but instead at each locale you unlock, there are a number of potential fishing spots to set your anchor at, necessitating your use of a trusty map to find the exact one with the species you're currently looking for.

There are two modes in Rapala Pro Bass Fishing, a Seasons mode and a Free Fishing mode. The latter is self-explanatory, but the Seasons Mode is ultimately where the majority of your fishing time will be spent. You start Seasons mode at the rookie level, where you are given 6 tasks to complete before being able to take on tougher challenges at other locations. Tasks include things like finding a particular type of fish, or catching a fish above a certain score grade, or even full blown fishing tournaments against several computer controlled opponents. Tasks are usually timed, with tournaments extending to 15 minutes at times. With as many of these as there are in Rapala Pro Bass Fishing, expect to be in for the long haul, as this is one heavy tackle box of goodies.

The actual fishing technique varies slightly between these games, but I was disappointed that Rapala Pro Bass Fishing opted for a much more casual, arcade heavy approach to the more technical fishing mechanics. This translates to a monotonous, toned down process of steering your boat via accelerometer to a large beacon of light (selected on your GPS map), casting your line by flicking your device forwards, then engaging in a series of gestures to hook your fish. Gestures change depending on the lure you have selected, but all are a simple combination of device tilts that help to pad out the fishing process.

Once your bait has been taken, you must tilt your device again to hook the fish (a bar will appear to show you the best time to do so) and then start reeling by circling the on-screen reel. Then the fun should begin, for as any salty sea dog will tell you� it's the thrill of the fight that counts. And in Rapala Pro Bass Fishing, this process is simplified so much that we may as well be playing kindergarten fish magnet games. Reeling in your fish is as simple as staring at the tension meter, waiting for it to rise, then tilting your device to one side. Your rod is always centred on your screen, and the only movement possible is left and right movement. Dipping your rod, lifting it to pull taut your line, pulling it from side to side to tire the fish…none of that is emulated here, which is disappointing.

If it weren't for the huge number of unlockables available; from rods, lures, fishing spots and new locations (that you buy through money earned in Seasons mode), that fact alone would steer us away from Rapala Fishing. iPad users are at least treated to a special local multiplayer fish-off that we can only hope makes its way in some form to all the devices. That aside, the fishing never seems to get truly challenging; and unlike some of the better fishing games, the whole process here does get repetitive. Still, you do have to appreciate the efforts put into Rapala Pro Bass Fishing. With 60 individual events, voiced commentary and multiple explorable locations, Rapala Pro Bass Fishing high production quality could still appeal to the more casual fishermen.