Remember Shining Force? It was a turn-based RPG created by the dudes over at SEGA for the Genesis. It's since been ported and sequel-ized to all hell. Little Brad Nicholson and huge Brad Nicholson is a big fan of the original game. It managed to make the turn-based experience engaging without punitive design constructs, a clever pairing that has somehow been lost to the ether. Well, not completely lost. Hunters: Episode One does a great job in being interesting, tactical, and precise, without making you want to pull your hair out or turn off your iPod Touch or iPad.

That's high praise from me, folks. I've got the patience of a bear standing in front of a car filled with raw salmon. But I suppose I should slow down. Hunters: Episode One is a turn-based strategy RPG with all the trimmings � a top-down camera, characters who can move a select number of spots per turn, devastating range and melee attacks, and tons of brain-tickling scenarios. Unlike the high fantasy of a Shining Force, Hunters is based in a dystopian sci-fi universe that, according to a text crawl, runs purely on the almighty dollar. Mercenaries, it seems, are much in desire, too.

A solid tutorial sequence will set you up with these essentials: each level, which can be plucked from a central hub, earns you cash upon completion. And as you use each of your characters you'll earn experience points that can be used, in turn, on pumping them up in the usual core RPG categories. Swords are not a part of this future as far as I can tell, but massive hammers as well as sub-machine guns, assault rifles, and shotguns are.

Each character can move a certain number of spots depending on who they are, and a generous amount of war fog obscures the map and keeps you from knowing what's around the corner. This, as always, adds a major strategic edge to the AI, which in this specific title, seem rather cunning and ruthless. Attacks, by the way, can also be triggered depending on range.

I'm digging Hunters. It's an ambitious, deep title with tons of equipment and stat options and a lot of menus. It's also content heavy heavy � with a quirky catch. Five levels will be added to the game on a daily basis and you'll only be able to play those levels during this period. However, on the IAP end, the game will be supported by ten-or-so level "story packs" that'll add to the barebones core narrative and give you levels to play whenever, without restriction.

What I like the most about Hunters, I think, is the lack of punishment. If one of your guys eat it, he doesn't croak forever, nor does he lose his experience points. Sure, he won't be able to continue in the current mission, but you'll have him around for the next one. Seriously, it's nice to be able to breath while playing a turn-based strategy RPG again. The camera isn't too shabby, either. With pinch and zoom, you can do just about anything you want to with it.

Oh! And I can't forget about the difficulty. The game's earlier missions, at least, are tuned well. Enemies are neither too all knowing nor oblivious. They react and respond just like you would in a given situation, leading to actual, engaging fights. The level design, which features a lot of corners, is a boon, as you'll never really know what's around the bend as you split up troops to get accomplish minor level-based goals.

Developer Rodeo Games tells us that Hunters: Episode One is "on the precipice of launching," so we'll definitely post a more detailed review when it hits the App Store. We're particularly curious to see how the daily content gimmick works out, we're thinking that could be real cool.

In the iOS gaming world, sometimes the simpler a game is, the better. Sure I love more complex, "console-like" experiences, but it seems that the more boundaries a developer tries to push in adding complexity to an iOS game, the more chances that some aspects will fall short given the inherent limitations of the device. In that case, Tiny Wings [99�] from first time iOS developer Andreas Illiger leaves very little room for falling short of expectations. Games doesn't get much simpler than the one-touch mechanic found in Tiny Wings.� Combined with the fantastic art style, delightful music, and brilliant gameplay, Tiny Wings approaches what I would consider the perfect iOS game.

In Tiny Wings you play as a bird who has been pecking a bit too much at the seed bell, making you a bit on the heavy side. You're not able to fly like most normal birds, as your tiny wings can't support your weight. But you dream about flying all the time, and with the help of your environment, you make this dream a reality. Using the hilly terrain to your advantage, you'll gather speed sliding down the slope of a hill and then using the upslope of the neighboring hill as a launch ramp. No matter how hard you flap your little wings, you won't be able to stay airborne for long, so you must continually land and relaunch yourself in order to keep flying.

Your overweight avian will automatically move to the right, and not touching the screen at all causes him (or her?) to vigorously flap its wings trying desperately to stay in the air. Holding down on the screen ceases all flapping and causes your bird to become nothing more than dead weight. You'll use this weight to accelerate into the downslopes while immediately letting go after an upslope to launch yourself in the air. This mechanic takes a few tries to fully "click", but works wonderfully well and there's an almost zen-like rhythm to coasting in and out of the slopes of the terrain.

Each journey starts at sunrise, and your score is based on how far you can make it to the right before nightfall. Collecting coins or perfectly hitting the curves of the hills can add to your score and increase your speed. The terrain is broken up into a series of islands which are procedurally generated and change in real time each day. Completing a short list of specific tasks will earn you a nest upgrade, which in turn increases your overall score multiplier. The required tasks change with each nest upgrade, adding a bunch of interesting goals to shoot for while you play.

The simple gameplay in Tiny Wings is sublime, but there's an intangible aspect to it that makes it a total joy to play. The charming graphics and music make me feel good, and I find myself rooting for the plump little bird and sharing in his jubilance each time he takes flight. It's such a great feeling to hit several perfect slopes in a row, pick up a ton of speed and just soar through the air. All the while my birdie is yipping and hollering for joy, and I just feel happy for him. It sounds silly, but it's unlike anything I've ever felt from an iOS game in recent memory.

While I don't hesitate to label Tiny Wings a 5 star game based on the initial release, some simple additions could serve to make it a more fulfilling experience. Currently OpenFeint offers a number of achievements and a single high score leaderboard, but Game Center integration is in the works along with additional leaderboards to cover a wider variety of statistics. More nest upgrades and possibly even additional bird types would be welcome as well. Retina Display support would be nice, but at the same time it might ruin the unique watercolor-esque look the game currently employs.

I could go on saying more nice things about Tiny Wings, but I'd rather get back to playing. There are a ton of positive impressions in our forums, and I can't think of the last time I've seen a game so universally loved by our members. Tiny Wings has found itself a permanent spot on my device nestled snugly next to games like Solipskier [99�] and SpikeDislike [99�/Lite] as simple to play, hard to master, and endlessly replayable titles that are perfectly suited to the platform. If these are the types of games that interest you, don't even hesitate to give Tiny Wings a download.