John Kooistra and his development studio Cat in a Box Games have just dropped the price of their excellent real-time strategy title Red Conquest! [Link] to free for a limited time. Red Conquest! ties the stories of Kooistra's previous Blue Defense! [$1.99] and Blue Attack! [$1.99] titles together, and is one of the more full-featured RTS titles available on the App Store. We originally reviewed Red Conquest! last December when it was released, and while we thought it was easily one of the most robust RTS experiences we had seen, it was mired by a confusing tutorial and frustrating difficulty curve. Those who stuck with it and learned the intricacies of the game, however, were rewarded with a superb game.

Thankfully this past year has been kind to Red Conquest! in the way of substantial updates. Practically any problem we had with the original release has since been addressed, and then some. A new tutorial offered a much easier way for RTS newbies to grasp the controls and gameplay, and the difficulty was balanced more appropriately. Beyond these tweaks to the existing content, an entirely new faction, the green faction, was added in addition to the red and blue factions. Also, internet multiplayer with a chat functionality was added, and most recently the game was updated with Retina Display support.

Red Conquest! saw a 50% price drop during this past Summer, but it has never been available for free. It goes without question that everyone should download and give the game a try during this promotion. If you aren't really an RTS expert and find yourself having trouble grasping onto the play mechanics, a very dedicated group of players in our forums have put together some excellent resources for you: a visual diagram of all the unit types, an in-depth tutorial on all aspects of the game interface, a level walkthrough video from John Kooistra himself, and an additional thread where players can swap strategies or ask for assistance.

We remain huge fans of Homerun Battle 3D [$4.99 / Lite / HD] even though it's changed a lot since our review. In fact, even the name of the game has changed. And now it looks like our love will have to grow even more to accompany another, though more unconventional update. At midnight, Com2Us plans to drop Santa Clause into the game. Yeah. THAT Santa.

According to press materials, Santa will take on the role of pitcher for Homerun Derby match-ups and will reward players "x2," "x3," and "x5" gold balls or special pieces of stat-bending equipment such as shirts, pants, and helmets whenever they hit a homerun off of one of his special giftbox pitches. The gold balls can, in turn, be used to purchase an item in the in-game store, which by the way, will be updated as well with seasonal sales prices this midnight, too.

Of course, Homerun Battle 3D isn't the only Com2Us joint scoring a holiday-themed update. Slice it! [$.99] (above)�has received 20 new stages, Christmas carol BGMs, and new themed visuals. Starting now, actually, you'll be able to hack away with all the holiday pride you can muster at lush evergreens, snowmen, or even lit candles. Go get 'em, Tiger!

Hey, guys, did you know Christmas is less than 20 days away? Yeah, just thought about that and my mind was blown. I wonder what Eli is getting me?

If you were App shopping around Thanksgiving, you probably gobbled up one of two of the usually-premium priced SEGA titles on sale. If you missed out for one reason or another, well, here's your second chance at correcting that egregious error. SEGA has slashed the prices on every single bit of content it has on the App Store. From Chu Chu Rocket HD to Streets of Rage, every SEGA published or developed title's price has been permanently dropped.

Now, you can grab titles like Shining Force and Ecco the Dolphin for a mere $.99, or even grab newer ports like Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 for $6.99.�In the interest of keeping you fully informed, here's a list, provided via SEGA's own blog, of all the Apps original and new prices:

Chu Chu Rocket: THEN: $4.99, NOW: $2.99
Chu Chu Rocket HD: THEN: $6.99, NOW: $4.99
Ecco the Dolphin: THEN: $2.99, NOW: $0.99
Golden Axe: THEN: $2.99, NOW: $0.99
Gunstar Heroes: THEN: $4.99, NOW: $2.99
Phantasy Star II: THEN: $4.99, NOW: $2.99
Shining Force: THEN: $2.99, NOW: $0.99
Super Monkey Ball 2: THEN: $5.99, NOW: $2.99
Super Monkey Ball 2 Sakura Edition: THEN: $7.99, NOW: $4.99
Sonic The Hedgehog 1: THEN: $5.99, NOW: $4.99
Sonic The Hedgehog 2: THEN: $5.99, NOW: $4.99
Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1: THEN: $9.99, NOW: $6.99
Streets of Rage: THEN: $2.99, NOW: $0.99

Of course, just because these games are on sale doesn't mean you should go on an all-out Sega buying bender. For example, as cool as Shining Force is, and as fun as it still remains, SEGA didn't optimize it for touch screens. Similarly, all of the emulated games were designed to be played with a physical controller, and your fun will be limited by your ability to adapt to using the virtual controls. So, be wise, be resourceful, and use our forums before you sink all your dough.

Early this year we got word that Cyan's Riven: The Sequel to Myst, would be making its way to the iPhone. An update came in a Myst online forum post by Cyan's Mark DeForest ('Chogon') back in August, including a few screenshots and an indication that an iPad version, Riven HD, would follow the iPhone release into the App Store.

This past Saturday, DeForest announced that Riven has finally been submitted to Apple and that we can expect to see it in 10 days to two weeks.

A number of specifics concerning this release have been revealed in Cyan's Riven for iOS forum thread.

• The version that was submitted is the iPhone / iPod touch release � Riven HD that specifically supports the iPad will come later. (Of course, like all iPhone games, it can be played on the iPad in the shrunken fashion.)
• The iPhone version was not written to specifically take advantage of the iPhone 4's Retina display, but the source images that make up the game are 608�392 pixels in size, which iOS scales down to 480�320 on older displays. The iPhone 4, thanks to the way iOS handles the scaling, will take advantage of the image's source resolution to render them more clearly on the Retina display.
• This initial release contains Game Center support, but in a limited fashion. There is one achievement and a score leaderboard for the fastest time getting to the end of the game. "Tons" of achievements and OpenFeint integration will come in a future update.
• The game features an integrated Shake-A-Hint system, with various settings, that highlights action points to help stuck players along.
• The game is huge � it will require 2GB free to install (though some of that will be freed up once the install process is complete).
• Riven will launch at a price of US $5.99

We'll be sure to let readers know when Riven: The Sequel to Myst goes live in the App Store.

Cyan's classic Myst [link] arrived in the App Store in the Spring of 2009 and is currently priced at $4.99.

Back in July, we brought you word that Seaman developer Yutaka "Yoot" Saito and Digi Toys had plans to bring its simulation game The Tower for iPad to the US App Store after a Japanese release. Due in part to the language barrier, it's been hard to keep tabs on the international project, but we've received new intel via Digi Toys' official Twitter account that The Tower is slated to come "soon" to the US.

But how soon is soon? On Twitter, Digi Toys is refusing to pin down a date. Instead, it has said release is hinging on "Apple's intention." There's a couple of ways to interpret this, but we think this means that the title has been recently submitted to cert, so unless there's a "Christmas miracle" as my brother-from-another-mother Eli said to me this afternoon, we probably won't see The Tower until next year. (We've heard from many developers that Apple's cut-off for pre-holiday approvals was over a week ago.)

But we'll never see "The Tower" on the US App Store anyway. One big mention in the Digi Toys' reveal of the game's impending release is that it's been renamed to "Yoot Tower." Your guess is as good as ours on this one, we're thinking it might have to do with licensing, but we welcome flashier names.

You, me, the rest of us here, and perhaps your tech savvy grandmother are excited about this game for good reason. Yoot Tower is a simulation joint that plays like a vertical take on Sim City. In the game, you'll play as a building manager with a mission to build a massive tower. This tower, however, won't just be filled with bricks, iron, and cement. No, it'll also house people � residents and workers and the like � who all have individual stress levels and needs. Negotiating these needs, while continuing to build your tower and placing desire facilities, composes the core of a game. So, like a good sim, Yoot Tower appears to have quite the interesting juggling act between you and outside forces.

Here's a video, released long ago, featuring the game in action. You'll see the similarities between Yoot Tower for iPad and Saito's first major release SimTower for the Macintosh and PC.

We'll continue, obviously, our watch on Yoot Tower's progress and will fill you in on anything we possibly can. You'll have to excuse the ticky-tacky nature of this post, but this is an exciting game, for sure, that also presents an interesting challenge on the coverage side of things.

Ngmoco has just released Touch Pets Dogs 2 [Free], the follow up to last year's popular virtual puppy game. The original Touch Pets Dogs [Free] was generally well received by gamers barring one major issue � the constant need to feed your puppy. A bowl of food was required in order to get a small amount of playtime from your doggy, and if he or she went unfed then you were unable to do anything with them except stare at them sleeping. Of course, food bowls were available as IAP for those willing to pay to play with their virtual puppy, but the value of purchased food was pretty thin. There's no sense in playing a virtual pet game, even an attractive and entertaining one like Touch Pets Dogs, if said virtual pet is a borderline narcoleptic.

Luckily Ngmoco realized this, and Touch Pets Dogs 2 doesn't implement any cruel restrictions that prevent you from playing with your pet, rather it more closely resembles their recently released feline-themed virtual pet game Touch Pets Cats [Free]. And when I say resemble, I mean that it's practically identical. Touch Pets Dogs 2 gives you the ability to personalize your living space with a plethora of different kinds of furniture and items. These can then be "searched" by your pet which will net you some coins that can then be used to purchase more items. Coins can also be earned by taking care of your puppy and completing other types of goals in the game.

The catch is that the frequency with which you can search furniture is time limited, with longer wait times resulting in more coins. The IAP in Touch Pets Dogs 2 comes in the form of dog bones which can be used to speed up the wait times of coin collecting. You can also feed the bones directly to your dog which will send it into a state of excitement, similar to catnip in Touch Pets Cats, that will allow him/her to collect even more coins. There are other time limited events as well, like daily goals that can be completed, which can also be sped up with the use of bones. Unfortunately, when the time limits have been reached for coin collection you'll need to act quickly otherwise they will expire.

While I'm not really a fan of games that require you to keep a constant watch in order for your rewards not to expire, there are some really nice things about Touch Pets Dogs 2. The game supports the Retina Display on newer devices and the graphics have been much improved over the original. This is a very sharp looking game, and your puppy's mannerisms and personality are just adorable. There is also a staggering amount of different items to collect in the game, such as furniture, toys, clothing, and more. It's actually pretty fun to decorate your house and upgrade to premium items as you collect enough coins to do so.

If you aren't bothered by Ngmoco's freemium model and have enough free time to keep a vigilant eye on your game's progress, then you'll find a lot to like about Touch Pets Dogs 2. Honestly, I enjoy the game a lot, but I just can't get behind the limiting factors associated with playing. At the very least it's worth a download to check out Touch Pets Dogs 2 since it's free to do so, and you can leave any comments in the discussion thread in our forums with your own thoughts on the game.

In early March, Galoobeth Games first announced Aralon: Sword and Shadow on our forums. It wasn't until two months later that it popped up on our radar when Crescent Moon Games mentioned they were taking the game under their wing to undergo what they described as an "extreme RPG makeover." Since then, there have been some amazing before and after screenshots released, but it wasn't until we saw the new trailer and the original trailer back to back that our jaws really hit the floor. But after nearly 10 months of pre-release excitement, the real question is, does Aralon live up to the hype?

After sinking a stupid amount of time into the game over the last four days, without a doubt, yes, it does. In the world of the App Store, where many games can be described as "casual time wasters", it is beyond refreshing to play a game that has depth on top of depth, a game world that's easily describable as "epic," all with the potential for tons of replay value. Aralon grabs you with a mysterious story beginning with prophecies of shadow and evil, then ropes your character in with the death of Sir Roderick, who expires holding a cryptic letter from your late father.

The game begins with the selection of three difficulty levels ranging from casual to hard. Casual mode reduces all monster health and allows you to level much faster, while hard mode increases all enemy health and slows leveling. Normal is right in the middle. From there, you select one of three races: Human, elf, or troll. The race you choose doesn't seem to make any difference aside from class restrictions and starting stats (as well as the obvious cosmetic differences). Multiple hair, hair color, and face options are included, providing an impressive amount of customization right out of the gate.

So far I haven't focused on powering through the game as much as I have on dabbling in each of the classes: warrior, rogue, ranger, and mage. I've found myself very impressed that not only does each of the four classes play substantially differently, but each class can also be used strategically depending on how you spend your skill points as you level up. Skill points work a lot like a simplified version of World of Warcraft (and similar) skill trees, allowing you to specialize in and beef up various abilities.

For instance, playing as a warrior, you can invest skill points into specializing in using a shield. From there, you gain abilities that allow you to stun enemies by slamming your shield into them. Using a shield, you'll do less damage, but you'll also take substantially less damage by blocking. Alternatively, you can decide to invest points into dual wielding. After that, you can boost your parry rate, and then gain access to stun abilities following a successful parry. Further down the tree yet, there are skills that do bonus damage to stunned enemies, and it's up to you whether you're doing that stunning by whirling two weapons around, or bashing with your shield. Similarly, as a mage you can decide to dump points into powering up your fire elemental which transforms the mage into more of a pet class, or you can say nuts to it and spend points on boosting your sheer damage output instead.

Aralon controls well with multiple camera options including first person, third person, and a third person view with the camera locked behind your character. A bar along the bottom of the screen can be loaded with icons like many RPGs, and casting spells or using abilities is as simple as tapping on them. Aralon boasts an extensive menu system to handle its various functions from a huge inventory, to a map, quest log, the previously mentioned skill trees, and more. Playing through the game involves completing what seems to be tons of quests. Like many similar games, it seems like everyone in the world wants something from you or to do something for them, and there is never a shortage of things to do in game.

The game world is expansive; it's filled with boats crossing oceans, bridges crossing rivers, caves of all kinds filled with all forms of evil and so much more. Crescent Moon Games did a great job reworking the graphics, and it's very easy to just disregard your packed quest log and go exploring to just see what there is to see. There's even a day and night cycle complete with beautiful sunsets that then reveal a sky filled with stars, weather effects, and more.

I'm really not sure how we're even going to begin to truly "review" Aralon: Sword and Shadow. I've spent the better part of four days with Aralon, and I've barely felt like I've scratched the surface of what the game has to offer. Aralon is going to rewrite expectations of RPGs on the App Store, and it's just incredible to think that I'm playing a game like this on my phone. It gets better yet, the initial release of Aralon HD is going to be completely universal, and I've been enjoying the game equally on both my iPhone and iPad. All of the screenshots in this post were taken on the iPad, but it looks just as good (if not better) on the Retina Display of the iPhone 4.

Aralon: Sword & Shadow is scheduled for release on December 16th for $6.99.