As is commonplace on the App Store, several notable titles have either seen a significant sale or dropped down to free for a limited time. There are always sales going on for a ton of different games at any given time, but here are some of the more interesting titles, including an iPad game that is currently 90% off the original price. As with all price changes in the App Store, they can change at any time so it's best to grab what interests you as soon as possible.

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Rat On A Scooter XL, Free In celebration of their new game Urban Ninja [99�], Donut Games has dropped the price of Rat On A Scooter XL to free for a limited time. Rat On A Scooter XL is a spinoff game featuring the main character of Rat On The Run [99�] as he rides his scooter through randomly generated levels collecting cheese, powerups, and performing stunts. As one of the earlier "endless runner" style games, Rat On A Scooter XL still hold up all these months later, and is certainly worth a download while temporarily free.

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Banzai Rabbit, Free The modernized homage to the classic arcade game Frogger, we really liked Banzai Rabbit in our review when it first came out, but found the game to be overly difficult. Developer Revolutionary Concepts heard the painful cries of their players, and promptly released an update to Banzai Rabbit making it much more forgiving and thus much more enjoyable. Now in celebration of their recently released UFO on Tape [99�] and in part with a FAAD promotion, they have dropped Banzai Rabbit down to free for a limited time. If you enjoy great arcade gameplay with 3D Retina Display graphics, definitely take a look at Banzai Rabbit during this free promotion.

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Osmos for iPad, $1.99 One of the most highly regarded indie games of the past year, Osmos is both a relaxing and challenging artistic game that feels even more at home on a touch screen than it originally did on the PC. We really enjoyed both the iPad version and the iPhone version in our reviews, and when the iPhone version recently went on sale for 99� we highly recommended everyone take advantage of such a great sale. Well, Osmos for iPhone is still on sale for 99� [Link], but now it's older brother Osmos for iPad is getting its very own sale for just $1.99. You really can't go wrong with either version at these prices, and this is one sale that shouldn't be missed.

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Return to Mysterious Island - Deluxe Edition, $0.99 The adventure game sequel to Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island, Return to Mysterious Island was released for PC several years ago and an iPhone adaptation [Link] was released in May of last year to positive reviews. Last month a deluxe iPad version of Return to Mysterious Island debuted for $9.99, and as of just moments ago the game has received a drastic price reduction down to 99�. The iPad version features additional bonus content as well as an enhanced user interface that takes advantage of the larger screen. If you are a fan of the classic-style point-and-click adventure games popularized in the 90s, pick up Return to Mysterious Island � Deluxe Edition during this one day sale.

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As always, you can keep track of all activity in the App Store, including price changes and updates, using AppShopper.com or the universal AppShopper app for iOS devices [Link].

The current trend in iPad game releases seems to be for developers to take an existing iPhone game, append "HD" to the end of the name, and increase both the resolution of the graphics and the price� and maybe add an iPad-exclusive feature of two. iPhone developer One Man Left have significantly upped the HD ante this week, releasing one of the best HD remakes I've played in quite a while of an existing iPhone game. We loved the original in our review where we explained the basic premise behind the game:

Tilt to Live [$2.99] is at its core, an object-avoidance game wholly utilising the accelerometer of the iPhone or iTouch to maneuver your arrow around the battlefield. I say battlefield, because that's exactly what is going on here� the dots are out to get you and will stop at nothing. And it is remarkable just how much personality One Man Left have managed to inject into such a straightforward concept. These are certainly no ordinary dots� these perilous periods make a point (ha!) of chasing you around the screen; coalescing into arrows and other shapes then hurling themselves at you at breakneck pace, or circling you like vultures, slowly closing in until it is impossible to escape. Make no mistake, touch even one of the hundreds of dots on screen at once, and you are history.

Tilt to Live HD [Free] offers identical gameplay, with a major twist: Instead of simply making everything bigger, they kept all the in-game objects the same size, and quadrupled the size of the battlefield. In our early previews, I wasn't really sure how much of a difference this would make when you're actually playing the game, but after spending a considerable amount of time with it (in fact, this review itself was delayed because I simply couldn't put it down), I'm totally sold on this HD remake.

Increasing the size of the battlefield makes playing the game much more exciting because of just how many more red dots appear on screen, and how much farther power-ups spawn away from you. Not to say the original Tilt to Live was boring by any means, but this is one instance where much more going on at once on screen is actually much, much better.

To further kick things up a notch, Tilt to Live HD is available for free. With your free download you get full access to a limited classic mode with only a few of the available weapons. If you're happy with this, you can play to your heart's content, competing in a free mode online leaderboard until you're blue in the face. For a $3.99 in-app purchase you then unlock the rest of the game. This opens up additional power-ups to earn, and three additional game modes: Code Red which is just classic mode but much faster and more difficult, Gauntlet Evolved which is pure avoidance, and Frostbite which has you shattering red dots before they thaw at the bottom of the screen. Each game mode plays differently, and has its own associated online leaderboard.

Originally I was thinking that Tilt to Live HD wouldn't be that fun to play because I haven't really found myself liking tilt controls much on the iPad due to the weight of the device. Oddly enough, this doesn't seem to be an issue at all, and hasn't stopped me from sitting perched on the edge of my couch completely focused on my iPad as a bob my head to the music for hours on end.

If you own an iPad, you owe it to yourself to at least try out the free mode of Tilt to Live HD.

TUAW's Mike Schramm tracked down Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein and asked some questions on Epic Citadel [Free] and other things to do with the iOS platform. The whole interview is worth reading, but what really struck me is that the iPhone 3GS, not the iPhone 4, was what originally interested Epic Games in porting their engine to the platform:

Epic Citadel is most popular on the iPhone 4, but Rein actually says it was the iPhone 3GS that really sold Epic on the power of gaming. "The iPhone 3GS is a very powerful device," he told me, "and it was really the first mobile phone that broke over the line of something we could actually run Unreal Engine 3 on without making significant compromises." Of course, Epic Citadel is just a demo for the game code-named Project Sword, a full RPG title that Epic is releasing soon. And while I did ask, Rein didn't offer up a price or date yet.

Also of note is that Rein hinted that Project Sword, the Unreal Engine powered game unveiled at Apple's September keynote address would be more expensive than your typical iPhone game, even citing higher-priced premium titles that have succeeded on the platform.

If you haven't yet, now is a great opportunity to give Epic Citadel a try. The things the Unreal Engine is capable are able to do on iPhone hardware is absolutely breathtaking and will completely blow you away.

Now, to get back to waiting for more Project Sword details…

[via TUAW]

Japanese mobile service company DeNA has been on an absolute roll lately buying up and partnering with all kinds of different companies involved in social gaming. Lately they've partnered with and made a multi-million dollar investment in OpenFeint, acquired Gameview, creators of the Tapfish games, and invested in Astro Ape Studios who were responsible for Office Heroes. Now, they've got their crosshairs on ngmoco, who themselves recently acquired Freeverse, switching both companies over to the freemium world of social gaming.

According to TechCrunch, multiple sources have mentioned that this acquisition could set DeNA back over $400,000,000, although the specifics of the deal are still unclear. Ngmoco themselves have raised over $40,000,000 in funding, and offer a wide array of free to play social games. It has been an interesting ride seeing ngmoco come full circle, from the original release of games like Rolando [$2.99 / Free] to later releasing micropayment-powered online games like Eliminate [Free] which some TouchArcade forum members and front page commenters were sure would be the death knell of the company.

Ngmoco hasn't responded to any inquiries about the potential deal, but the fact that these kind of dollars could potentially be changing hands over a company that exclusively develops for the iOS platform is amazing.

[via TechCrunch]

TUAW's Mike Schramm is all over GDC Online this week, and managed to snag a preview of WINtA, an up and coming rhythm game from Masaya Matsuura. While that name might not be immediately recognizable, his creations surely will. Matsuura designed PaRappa the Rapper, a PlayStation game which was among the first rhythm games and featured gameplay that involved tapping various buttons along to the beat of songs. In fact, PaRappa was so catchy that I can still bust out most of the raps from the game in their entirety. (And I doubt I'm alone in that.)

WINtA is an abstract rhythm game which will be released on the App Store for free later this year. Unlike most (all?) rhythm games on the App Store, WINtA has gameplay that matches up with the lyrics of the song rather than just the beat itself. Each syllable requires its own tap, and playing the game is comparable to Elite Beat Agents in that you tap various areas of the screen at the right time.

The following video from the presentation at GDC shows a bit of gameplay:

The game will be monetized via DLC packs of songs with 100% of the profits going to charity. It all sounds pretty great to me, especially with the man who essentially created the genre developing for the iOS with all the proceeds going to a good cause. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

[via TUAW]

Gameloft's Real Soccer 10 [$6.99 / Free] successfully launched last year on the back of realtime online multiplayer, being the first iOS soccer sim to offer across the globe head-to-head. Competitors quickly took note, so that this year the focus was supposed to be on improving laggy online multiplayer and pushing the boundaries of the iOS hardware. With PES 11 just launched internationally (coming to the US soon) and the better-funded Fifa 11 [$4.99] launching last week (with Fifa 11 receiving a tentative thumbs up from us) is Gameloft's claim on the virtual soccer market dwindling? We take it for a run to find out.

Of all the soccer sims released last year, with X2 Soccer 2009 [$4.99] being the only one not already mentioned, Real Soccer 10 sadly took the back-seat in the graphics department. Things seem to have notably improved this year, with the addition of high definition Retina Display support and much more attention spent detailing each player and arena. That's not to say that you'll be able to identify any real likenesses, as in Fifa 11, as models remain largely generic. This is worsened by the fact that Gameloft lack of official licensing� many teams suffer from having randomly populated player names. Stadiums and crowds do look better this year, though again Gameloft doesn't have the licences required to emulate the former, and the latter suffer from blocky models and ugly texture work when shown up close.

One of the things Gameloft did deliver on last year, was a very fluid style of football, with an almost arcade spin on it. That's continued through in Real Soccer 2011, with performance being a real winner, particularly when compared with Fifa 11 which we struggled with in its as-yet unfixed, laggy state. Unfortunately, with all the improvements the other franchises have made to address realism and to take an accurate account of player skill, we're not confident that Real Soccer 2011's instant passes and exaggerated accuracy in front of goals will be appreciated. The AI certainly doesn't do this any favors either, often gifting the game to you (even on highest difficulty levels) through silly mistakes such as pausing when intercepting the ball, or failing to track their runners entirely.

Where Real Soccer 2011 does lead the pack, is in its approach to the control system, with an integration of on-screen gestures and sensible button combinations, and a much-needed sprint button (addressing my persistant woes with the virtual stick). Only an A and B button is present on-screen, and these two buttons handle all the inputs that other games struggle with just fine. Through balls are simply made by holding the B (pass) button, while crosses require the B button to be dragged up slightly. One-Twos are intuitive too, with a simple double tap of the B button getting the job done. Complex dribbling moves like the Marseille Roulette and flip-flop are cake in Real Soccer 2011, with just a quick circle or double tap anywhere on the screen needed

Real Soccer 2011 also boasts a ton of game modes, though very surprisingly, online multiplayer is entirely omitted. Still, you'd be hard pressed to top Gameloft's efforts here, as they've included Seasons, Leagues, Cups (Yes, there's a Champions-league-alike too, in the Euro Cup), Historic Games, Training, Penalty Shoot-Outs, and even an RS League, where your winnings contribute to an overall online ranked leaderboard. Additionally, there's an 'Enter the Legend' mode, Gameloft's take on EA's "Be a Pro" mode in past games, where you are given control of a single player in a selected team and the AI plays around you. Our time with this mode led to more frustration than anything else though, as you're left at the mercy of the sub-standard AI (even randomly subbing us off) and the on-screen controls do nothing to help your situation. We ended up giving Enter the Legend a wide berth in the end.

Though there were things I loved in Real Soccer 2011, I can't help but feel that although Gameloft have taken 3 steps forward from last year, it hasn't been enough to keep up with the improvements we've seen in Fifa 11 and X2 Football 2010 [$6.99 / Free] this year. With an emphasis amongst the big names on bringing console-quality football to the iOS, Real Soccer 2011's notable lack of licenses, average, repetitive commentating and just plain awful AI only serve to underline Gameloft's flailing grasp on the market. What Real Soccer 2011 does have going for it however, is a successful implementation of Retina support, as Fifa 11's iPhone 4 support is dismal at this stage pending a critical fix, and PES 11 seems to have foregone Retina support altogether. As far as the gameplay goes however, particularly with the lack of online multiplayer from last year that made it a hopeful contestant, Real Soccer 2011 will likely appease only the casual soccer fan, once again playing second fiddle to the big guns.